The Eternal Cycle of Eating and Being Eaten:

Why every thing circles back to eat or being eaten. What if we never wanted to eat... Why is the act of eating so central to our existence, and what would life be like if we never needed to eat?

Ah! So many questions and so many answers...

The buffet of life! The never ending circle of the struggles of existence. Food, without which this circle is incompetent...

For most of the women, the only thought that comes to mind in the morning: what to cook, what to eat???

And still I try to recover from this dilemma almost on a daily basis: "Mama, I don't like this, I don't want to eat it."

Or

"You do know, I don't like eating this..."

Are they ungrateful?? No, not a tiniest bit. But they can't seem to have one common liking.

Every household issue! Or is it even a concern for those who struggle to make ends meet? They may not even be that poor. So, the privilege to say no to something that is perfectly edible—is this something everyone can do, or is it reserved for a certain class of entitled individuals?

Mother always said to us, whenever we said no to something, "You do know that there are millions of people who would give anything to have food like this."

One thing I learned from my parents and what they instilled in us is to never waste food. This was never an option.

I have seen them eating bread from the night before. It's not that they can't afford fresh bread—they are quite well off, at least now. But they always said, "This is 'rizk' (provision); don't ever humiliate it." And you know what Allah (God) has given them so much that there are always extra people that depend on them for the food. There are always people who are getting fed at their home.

I remember an incident vividly.

Once, I made a meetha paratha (kind of sweet peeta bread). I didn’t know how to cook then, and it turned out hard and very crunchy. I served it to my mother. She took a bite, but then had to attend to some visitors for 5-10 minutes. Feeling a little embarrassed, I took the paratha and threw it in the waste bin (for food).

Would you believe it—she went there, took it out, and ate it!

Maybe she didn't want to break my heart, or maybe she didn't want to humiliate food. Whatever the reason, I have seen Allah bless her with lots and lots of rizk.

She always says:
اس رزق کی خاطر انسان اتنے دھکے کھاتا ہے۔ اس کو ضائع نہ کرو

"People endure so many hardships for this sustenance. Do not squander it."

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And my dearest readers, if you noticed, I have included pictures of food that are still being prepared. If you're curious, I can tell you more about them.

• chicken karahi
• chicken barbecue
• fish
• pizza
• meatballs
• nihari
• mutton karahi
• Chocolate cake
• chicken biryani
• chicken pulao
• potato puffs
• shami kebab (mixture)

All these food items that I listed are in the process of being made—some are just before turning off the gas, some in the initial stages, and others in the middle of the process.

I am ever so grateful to the Almighty for giving me the opportunity to try my hand at preparing all these foods. I have the privilege to make and taste these wonderful blessings, and I never want to take any of them for granted.

Because, in the end, it's all about being consumed; we become sustenance for another entity. It's simply the cycle of nature.

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Nothing significant, just one observation: have you noticed that everything is being made or prepared in circular pots? Well, except for the potato puffs. But they are so perfectly circular that I couldn't exclude them from the great cinema—a term I recently learned from @weisser-rabe and had been itching to use ;)

This shape is remarkably useful among all shapes, isn't it?