Lunch Box

<> just wanted to share the same with everyone around..dont know if the feeling is resonating :)
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Walking from the parking lot to my office yesterday. I saw something that most of us see every day when we walk in/out of the office. Yes scores of well educated neatly dressed people carrying their “LunchBox”. The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit is a container meant to store a meal for consumption, usually at work or school. I tried to remember my relationship with the lunchbox over the last 27 summers that I have seen so far.

Seems like the lunchbox was with me since the time I was pushed out of the safe havens of my home to SCHOOL. That is the word I dreaded the most at that point of my life. Every day my beloved mother would engage herself to prepare a fantabulous lunch for me. The meal was a gourmet delight in itself. Though simple in nature it truly showcased her culinary skills she had acquired over a period of time. Little did she realize that I hated the lunch hour the most as my Lunch Box would be a target of all mischief mongers of my class. Time rolled by and it was time for my 10^th standard when I imagined myself in college and eating at canteen every day. Little did I realize that I will miss this lunchbox for the rest of the life to follow.

I still remember the time when I initially started eating out regularly at the college canteen I would fight everyday with Maa to make her understand that it was not “Macho” to carry a lunch Box everyday. It seemed so uncool in my set of cool friends to carry the dreaded lunch everyday. All of us firmly believed that only government employees carry a lunch Box and it seemed to represent the “BABU Class” of Indian system. Little did our generation realize that we were kids of the same section of people who toiled hard at work to make both ends meet. The luncheons of canteen soon became food that we all started loathe secretly. But nobody was willing to take the risk of carrying a lunchbox to College as they dint want to become the laughing stock of the rest of the gang. We were ready to starve the whole day and then hog to the hearts content as soon as we landed up at home but we were not ready to compromise with our image.

College ended and left behind memories of the canteen whose food is the last thing that I will want to remember from bygone days. Finally I started the never ending search for my perfect job. Got my first job and it landed me straight into the city of my dreams. A city that will eventually give me everything but will never be able to give me lunch prepared by maa . I would never ever accept that in my senses that I truly miss lunch cooked by maa even more than Maa herself. I really don’t know what has kept me binded to that food was it the taste? Was it the love that maa showered in form of LunchBox? Was it the fact that it was a representation of the fact that someone cared for your food even though she was not around in person? Whatever the answer to this question but the fact remains that I will never be able to comprehend it myself.

Anyways times have since changed and I have a different feeling towards the people who bring a lunchbox to office. I will try to strike an instant rapport with people who bring a lunchbox to office. The lunchbox stares everytime I grab a bite from someone’s tiffin. It seems to be laughing out aloud at me and asks me some questions “What happened to your ego” “Would you like to eat at the food court” “would you like to ridicule anyone who brings in a lunchbox” “would you like to relive the days when you never had to care about lunch” “Would you ever be able to bring a lunchbox yourself”….phew quite a plethora of feelings we can say.

In my opinion the lunchBox has become a synonym of love, care and affection of a loved one who might not find time to say “I care” at times, but who is always worried about these small nitty gritties of life which we all seldom care to acknowledge. Next time I see someone with a lunchbox in hand a smile spreads itself on my face and I can sense someone cares for the fellow carrying the sam