Dinning table mat

 In almost all old Marathi movies we witnessed the home-minister around 12 noon carry home cooked fresh food and go to farm to feed her husband and or other family members. All these family members work so hard in farms that such freshly cooked food prove extremely essential, provide nutrients and what not. The lunch menu those days used to be jawar roti, curry and onion. That’s it, very simple and straight forward. Farmers also used to feel fulfilled after having such a meal. This meal used to be kept in one simple wooden basket, and a piece of cloth used to be gently wrapped around it to protect the food and also provide air flow. This piece of cloth used to be taken from or reused from the old nine-yard sarees of mom, grandma, or other sweet, loving elders in the family. This piece of cloth used to serve as a mat too, while having lunch at the farm. Spreading this piece of cloth was used to protect food pieces if they fell off accidentally, so there were many advantages to using this cloth.

Now in this modern generation, aluminum foil is used very regularly to wrap wheat rotis or jagar rotis while getting tiffin to the office. There are many reasons behind this use of foil. Not only rotis but parathas and other items are packed in foil to office. Employees generally prefer to eat on the same desk where they work, so this piece of foil is spread gently before opening all the food boxes, and this foil serves as a mat on the table while having food. With very less time in hand, some employees perform multitasking too while having lunch so this piece of foil prove useful. In spite of using foil myself for many years, I suddenly recalled the same old process followed then, as shown in old Marathi movies, and thought of writing down my memories.

No comparison at all, whether you use cloth or foil but home cooked food is always the best, wrapped with lots of affection, prepared in neat and clean place with fresh ingredients and healthy indeed. So go for it, even though at office sometime we feel bored of eating food in cold state or form, but still its worth it.