Every Meal is Prasad!

प्रसाद  (Prasad) means, food, after being offered to the Gods/deities has turned into a blessing!!  Here is a shot of a kitchen of a neighbour in Delhi.  Such kitchens are fast disappearing in India.  Today model kitchens where everything is kept behind doors are more prevalent.  Although even this kitchen has that section ---but contemporary kitchens have nothing but counter that is open for all to see.  Technically, not the smartest thing in a warm country.  

But as I took this picture, actually for a research project, I remembered that one story where once an American friend, and once Hungarian roomate had asked me 'how do you say grace in India?' --and I had no answer,  Although a male friend had suggested I say, 'toot pado' --meaning attack (the food)--the actual reason for not really having a grace is that traditionally, women never even tasted the food before it was offered to the Gods.  So, every meal was  prasad, a blessed meal---and in ancient times preparation of cooking was accompanied with prayers and chanting.  No event in life was not sacred. 

So, our Gods were in our kitchens and in our living rooms and in our bedrooms.  Always a support, always a presence who participated in our lives.

Even today, many join their hands before putting their first morsel in their mouth.

This kitchen was just such a reminder--of how in India the sacred and secular cannot be separated.