Autobiography of a school tiffin box india
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My Tiered Tiffin Box
In the late s, Bombay (now Mumbai) had morphed into a rebellious teenager, the child of loving philanthropic parents but an incomplete adult, a poster-child of glitz, romancing glamour, confidently toying with risk. It had transitioned from its early years as a booming industrial city into a violent and treacherous megapolis. And my father was a decorated police officer serving the city we all loved.
The walls of our government-issue quarters were stained with the same colors, united in their purpose and the lifestyles of their tenants, the khaki uniforms and blue-lined caps of the officers, the school uniforms of the children: shorts, shirts, skirts, ties, and shoes, and the wives with their multicolored unspoken fears.
My mother used our newly purchased “Farm” away from the city to distract herself from the stresses that came with being a police officer’s wife. With each trip, she saw possibilities beyond the four walls of our government-issue living quarters, beyond the perils that circled my fathers’ life, beyond the tepid sense of security that came from the rank and regalia that constantly surrounded us. She could not escape everything, but our little farm was a good diversion from the pressures of sharing space, rank and anxieties with neighbours.
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Tiffin tales: A guide to Indias charming lunchboxes
Across the country, Indian parents lovingly prepare nourishing meals for their children, packed in the very same lunchboxes that once accompanied them to school. These ‘tiffin’ carriers blend nostalgia and practicality, ensuring hot and satisfying lunches for workers and schoolchildren alike.
Around the world, many countries from Malaysia to Hungary have taken inspiration from the stacked lunchboxes and traditional Indian restaurants in cities from London to New York serve up their specialities in those iconic metal bowls.
With roots in colonial times, the tale of the ‘tiffin’ lunchbox dates back to the 19th century, and remains a staple of Indian culture.
‘A spot of tiffin’
When the British first arrived in India, they were confronted with balmy, languorous days entirely unlike what they were used to back home. They soon realized they needed to adjust their eating rituals to fit in with this altered way of life, thus beginning the tradition of the ‘tiffin’. This term applied to the lighter lunch the British colonialists would eat in the daytime. In fact, anything eaten between breakfast and dinner would be referred to as ‘a spot of tiffin’.
The word itself is derived from the term ‘tiffing’ which the