The Box Story Park With Perfection

Real life and changing niceties.

- Bindu Saxena

The other day my grandchild returned from school and said that a child threw up in the class soon after consuming her tiffin. It was her favourite Twominute Maggi noodles that she insisted her mother pack that day.

Is it an exorbitant price to pay for a seemingly innocuous snack your children love, especially those made from refined flour? Well, the latter has never been the epitome of a nutritious snack! In a temperature that stays around 30 degrees in most parts of India, what a child eats gets packed almost 4-5 hrs before the tiffin break.

A cup of milk with fortified cereal or a nutrition powder is what children mostly prefer before they head for school.

The reason for throwing up could be multifactorial, but the mother was disappointed that the child consumed something she always had apprehensions about, especially for a school break.

Packing a tiffin that fulfils both the taste and nutritional criteria might be a big task for some mothers. It is also a feat to conjure up a meal that stays fresh for hours and has not rotten or dried up. Is it possible to pack nutrition, health, taste, and love all together in one box? Yes, it is.

Being a food enthusiast, who loves to experiment in the kitchen, this thought spurred a desire to pen my views.

Once, I had the pleasant opportunity to pack tiffin for my grand-love. She returned from school overjoyed and told me that the food was super yummy and that her best friend said, "Whenever your grandma is here, request her to send two tiffins instead of one." She also shared that her friends polished off her bonito in no time.

I didn't do anything that was a deviation from the food items she carries Mondays through Fridays.

The little box was packed with similar care and the same ingredients of love, except that I donned my creative cap FIRST.