Friends and Food - Thomasite Style

While thinking about writing on letter F, the first thing which came to my mind, or what would come in any of our minds would be “friends”. School friends. I am sure we can have a triology release about friendship tales in school. A small blog post cannot justify “friendship” memories. Therefore, I tried to extract a part of my memory. A summary of tales about “Friends and Food”.

As primary grade student, we were naïve. We started learning about relationships. Friendships. Those were the days, when I recall having a picnic lunch, a potluck as we adults prefer to call it. Venue used to be the school playground. A similar potluck was organized for the Christmas party as well.

As I grew up, and started middle school, the bonds of friendships grew stronger. There was no inhibition, no portrayals, no dramatization of the real self. It was pure, open simple, transparent – friendship. It still is. I am lucky.

In the pic: Class X C, 1995. One of the most notorious, yet loved my teachers. Mrs Rowena Gideon was our class teacher. Much about her in my later posts. :)

Class 7/8, year 1993. The lunch hours started witnessing commotion. No one was eating their own food. Atleast 8 hungry girls on each lunch box. Potluck became a daily routine. One chappati, split in 6 bites, fed six different mouths. This was just to exemplify the extent.

Astha’s mom used to make delicious tehri/ pulao. It was a plain dish – white rice, chane ki dal, with zeera and ghee tadka. Amazingly awesome. Astha used to get a big box of this. During lunchtime, a helping of this delicacy was put in the lunch box cover and handed over to me. The rest was gobbled up be the rest of the class.

Bharti Agarwal (love you honey!!) and her yummy bhujia patties – one was booked for me even before the box opened. And that was the only way I used to eat bhujia (Haldiram bhujia). I swear I never eat bhujia, neither then nor now. I don’t recall what used to be the contents of my lunch box, for I have never seen it. It was seen by my besties. I will ask them if they have any memory of what mum used to pack.

This food business slowly relinquished. Instead carrying food was considered oh so old fashioned. Unfortunately, not all could afford eating in the canteen everyday. So what was the way out. So simple, eat nothing, just have fun. After all lunch breaks are not meant to waste time. It is meant to do stuff which makes you famous or sometimes notorious. I stopped eating lunch from class 9 onwards. All I used to do was – teenage fun. Vandana Bhatia was my mentor, my guide – “Calling trouble by being naughty: for dummies”. Bhatia, please spare Sia from the mayhem you put me into so many times.

Bharti used to hand me the patty twice a week, which was sufficient for my tummy ad our friendship. We are still good friends, haven’t met for long, oh really long.

Mental note: Need to plan up with VB and BA soon.

Disclaimer: Astha, Vandy and Bharti are not the only ones who fed me/ unfed me, they are just top of my mind. For the sheer love in my heart for the three of you, your name showcases here. Feel proud girls. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the sixth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter F - F for friends and food. 

Linking this post to UBC too.