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Foods that remind us of our childhood
As adults we all want to go back to the simpler times, when coming home from school would mean piping hot lunch, a picnic out in the park meant finger sandwiches, a guests arrival would mean a glimpse of the best snacks in the house (See ‘An Indian Take on Party Snacks’) and our relatives return from abroad would mean a chance to taste flavours from the world.
While our childhood was also met with disappointment, when the biscuit tin held sewing supplies, when the local gola seller did not have your favourite flavour, or the chai-wala did not have the biscuit you always bought, with the onset of consumerism in the 90’s, we could always count on our favourite food brands to make us happy. While home-made food in our tiffins at school always was perfect (only if it wasn’t bhindi), the snacks that accompanied were a hit, and a sense of pride that elicited jealousy and led to barters.
(Source: TOI)
These snacks paraded around the school ground during recess, had after a long day of sports in the gully and school, or distributed on one’s birthday, were a combination of the traditional Indian ingredients with a Western twist that made us swell with pride as we ate them.
Baked Goods
Ranging from bakery biscuits and nankhatai that we shared with our grandparents and relatives as they indulged in ‘gup-shup’ over tea, to the Marie digestive biscuits and Parle G dipped in milk-tea ( our only source of frustration when they dropped in the cup) that we swiftly ate as we rushed out to play, the butter biscuits in the tin that in the blink of an eye became a sewing kit, Cheeslings that we finished in one sitting, the crackers that Maa would gladly put cheese on send with us for school along with buttered toast, we always had something to crunch on.
(Source: Medifit)
Traditional favourites
During the holidays, or festivals, we were appointed as sous-chefs in the kitchen helping our mother fry, boil, bake and put together sweets and snacks. With relatives arriving, we would fry onion pakoras/pakodas and let the delicious aroma waft around the house, steaming momos, during the rainy season, rolling the pastry that wrapped around puffs stuffed with different foods everytime, spring rolls that were an essential of every rainy day plate, and the constant ladoo, that we shaped to make our own mini ladoos.
Candy and Beverages
Every school morning we gulped down Complan, Boost or Horlicks in our milk, sometimes eating it directly, with hopes of growing taller and stronger, picked up our lunches with a little bit of pocket change or snacks.
After eating ‘ghar-ka-khaana’ (home-food), we rushed to the stall opposite the school grounds, strategically placed so. Buying candy cigarettes and ringpops , one would walk cheekily on the grounds, brandishing our wares, Gems meant that one would be crowded by hands reaching out for some, while we bought bubble gums just for their temporary tattoes that made one’s arm a statement piece, and sour candy that we enjoyed despite tears coming to our eyes.
Our snacks revolved around the occasions we had in school, for when one would have sports day, Maa wouldn’t fail to give us a Glucon drink, and Vitamin chewies, or on our birthday, dressed proudly in our coloured clothes surrounded by uniformed friends, we distributed our Eclairs.
On days, when our friends came over for a school project or a sleep-over, we would enjoy one or more glasses or Rasna and Sharbat/Sherbet and if you were even more lucky, Limca or Thumbs Up that accompanied jam and milk biscuits. We’d rack our brains on what to get our crushes on Valentine’s day and choose the classic Little Hearts, Kisme, Cadbury chocolate and Candy Canes that we’d share in the school playground.
When ‘Papa’ would come back from his business trips, or was just feeling a little lenient, we would get to enjoy chocolate covered nuts and Milky Bar that had hints of the Western side.
Digestives
While our mothers struggled to get us to have medicines and digestive pills, we happily gobbled down Swad, Natkhat and Chatachat digestives, and enjoyed their long taste.
While these snacks and drinks continue to bring a sense of nostalgia, we hold the freedom of enjoying them, along the same lines that our parent constricted them in our childhoods. With online food delivery sites we get to enjoy them in our homes and offices, while reminiscing our childhoods.
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