Food Emotion Memory

Food memories are powerful and can evoke strong emotions. The story takes place in 1987 in Tamil Nadu, India. Tulasi, a little girl, is excited because her police officer father is picking her up from school. She eagerly waits for him, but he arrives late. On their way home, her father stops at a watermelon hawker shop. Tulasi takes a bite of the watermelon and all her emotions disappear, leaving her feeling happy. Since then, whenever she eats watermelon, it brings her happiness, no matter what emotions she had before. Welcome back to Curate Your Memories and what today? Food memory is deeper than any other memory. Everyone will have that one food that brings your childhood memory. Sometimes those memories are emotionally bounded to you. Let's try to curate your childhood memory or any even memory that you had with your food and you're emotionally connected to that food. And this story happened in the year 1987 in Tamil Nadu, India. On a bright summer morning when our little girl Tulasi was in her bed, still sleeping. Amma screamed from kitchen, but with a naughty voice. Sun is scratching on your bum bum and you're still sleeping? Get up and get ready for school Tulasi. This is Amma's usual dialogue to make Tulasi smile. But Tulasi sighed and continued her play. Now Amma tried another trick. Tulasi, you know dad is back from his duty. Tulasi slightly opened her one eye and slowly searched for her dad. To her surprise she found daddy unpacking his stuff from a big iron trunk box. Dad is back home from his long long long police duty. She hugged him from behind clinging to his neck and whispered in his ears, Daddy can I bounce school today? Today daddy smiled. Shall I give you a better idea? Today I come to pick you up from school instead of your I.M.A. Tulasi smiled and said okay deal, but with one condition. You should come in your police uniform. It was Tulasi's best day ever because she can brag to everyone about her, her police father. And she told her teachers, her classmates, her akka's, watchman anna and everyone in her proud voice, my police father is coming to pick me. Even the walls, benches, seesaws, swings, slides know Tulasi's father is coming. In the evening the school bell rang. It was not an ordinary bell. It was a long bell. She waited in the school playground with her friends for their parents to pick them up. Her best friends got picked up by their parents one by one. Tulasi is the last one. Tulasi's eyes flooded with tears and anxiousness grew with time. Now she is the only one left in the playground. She became restless and walked between the school main gate and the playground. And suddenly she heard a clanking bell sound and it's none other than her dad's bicycle bell. Her eyes gleamed and smiled. She rushed to the gate and hugged him tight. Tears went rolling down her cheeks. But she didn't say anything. Something strange happened. Dad did not take the usual route back home. He crossed the road and parked his bicycle in front of a watermelon hawker shop. Tulasi was wondering and she was so curious to get a bite of a watermelon. Tulasi got her slice of watermelon of a crescent shape. She took her first juicy bite. The taste of the watermelon made her feel like in heaven. For all the excitement about her father picking her up from school and end of the day anxiousness and sadness as her father turned up late. And finally her tiredness after a long day at school. All her emotions vanished in a flash of the taste. From then whatever emotion Tulasi carried throughout her day when she eats the heavenly watermelon there is only one emotion stuck to her face and that is the happiness. And this is how I got emotionally stuck to this fruit watermelon. And this is how I curated my stories, my emotions to a fruit. And even now when I am sad when I take that one bite everything just flies off. Thank you for listening. Bye.