Nostalgia And Extravagance

Witness the evolution of wedding festivities over time.

- Dr Ritu Kamra Kumar

Your eyes are bigger than your stomach" we would be told as children whenever we were taken to a wedding feast or a restaurant. Our portions came pre-decided by adults. To waste even a bite was considered a sin. I remember when I was around ten years old, my maternal uncle who got selected as a judge in the judiciary (Delhi) wanted a lavish wedding, but he was made to understand how to use money and food judiciously. This is part of the economics of middle-class homes and it is good economics.

I don't know whether it can work in wedding buffets as in wedding celebrations lots of food goes to waste. I wonder if spending an infinite amount of money on feasts makes any sense. We have been taught to leave the platter clean, a sort of moral necessity.

But now I see small kids putting assorted items on the plate and mothers telling them "You don't have to eat if you don't want, Don't force it down." This is the problem of plenty, to equate the food with unwanted material, to put the plates with plenty of food in the dustbin.