Eat and Be Merry

There was a big feast
After my father’ death
I think the largest, I have seen
Hundreds of people from the villages
Came to feast
Many I did not know.

We also had a feast after my marriage
But smaller in scale
Only family members and relatives
from both sides of the aisle came.

Still smaller was the feast
When my daughter was born in US
Only close friends came with small gifts

Birth and death
Intervened by the ceremony of
Legalizing the process of procreation
Are the land marks of our existence
Each one celebrated
The coming into life
As well the good bye

Each time
It is a feast
As if the road to the heart
Is through our mouths

Of course, that is the fact
No wonder
My wife toils for hours, even days
Cutting
Cooking vegetables, fishes and chicken
And I clean dishes
Before invitees come for dinner
Usually at Indian standard time

They come
They eat and eat
Snacks, main meal and deserts
And praise her profusely
You are such a good cook
No one said to me
You wash dishes so well

All her efforts
Disappear in few minutes
To be purged on the other side of the tube next day.

And I ask like a fool
Why are we so food centric?
She thinks I am a real nut
What kind of question is this?

We are not alone
Wherever I went in the world
People are celebrating life by eating
We eat and eat
Until we can not eat any more
And let others celebrate our departure
By eating.