HOW TO EAT

HOW TO EAT

This morning I committed the sacrilege of “grabbing a bite”.

Of late, I have been “multitasking” while eating.

It is easy to give advice to others, but it is difficult to follow the same advice yourself.

So, I pulled out my Foodie Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL and read what I had written 15 years ago on THE ART OF EATING.

I thought it would be a good idea to post this self help article once more on my blog for you to read.

Happy Eating !!!

THE ART OF EATING 
By
VIKRAM KARVE 

THERE IS NO LOVE GREATER THAN THE LOVE OF FOOD

Are you in the habit of “grabbing a bite”...?

Do you ever eat in the office while continuing to work or just skip meals altogether...?

Do you multitask while eating...?

Do you have power breakfasts, working lunches and business dinners...?

Do you eat fast and hurriedly, finish meals well ahead of everyone else and eat in bigger bites without savoring the taste of food...? 

Can you vividly recall the taste of all the dishes you ate during your last meal? 

Do you eat when you eat...?

Do you want to master the Art of Eating and learn how to enjoy your food...?

Remember, there is no love greater than the love of eating – so read on, learn and try to master the Art of Eating...  

Good food must be savored delicately; slowly, attentively and respectfully; in a befitting manner, with finesse and technique, with relish and appreciation and you will experience true gustatory delight.

That’s the essence of the Art of Eating.  

ART OF EATING

It is sacrilege to eat in a ravenous and rapacious manner.

Never eat when tired, angry, worried, tense, hurried, and at mealtimes refuse to think or talk about unpleasant subjects.  

It is best to eat alone, mindfully, with yourself, in glorious solitude, in a calm, serene, conducive and unhurried environment.

If you must have company, you must always eat with friendly, relaxed and tranquil people who love food and whose company you enjoy; never eat with “toxic”, “harried” or “stressed-out” people or in a tense or hurried atmosphere.  

FIRST PLAN YOUR “EAT” and THEN EAT YOUR “PLAN”

If you want to do full justice to good food, you must build up an appetite for it – merely being hungry is not enough.

And the first step towards building up an appetite for good food is to think about it – simulated imaginative gustatory visualization to stimulate and prepare yourself for the sumptuous indulgence.

An important thing we were taught at boarding school was to read the menu and prepare for the meal by beginning to imagine relishing each and every dish, from soup to pudding, in our mind’s eye.  

Remember: First plan your “eat” and then eat your “plan”. 

EAT YOUR FOOD TWICE

It is true.

I eat my food twice. Yes, I  EAT MY FOOD TWICE.

First I “eat” in my mind’s eye – imagining, visualizing, “vicariously tasting”, fantasizing, strategizing on how I am going to savor and relish the dish to my utmost pleasure and satisfaction till my mouth waters and I desperately yearn to eat it.

And then I do the honours – actually go ahead and physically eat it and enjoy the delightful experience.

That is what you must do - EAT YOUR FOOD TWICE - first “taste” the food in your mind and then relish the food on your tongue.  

Eating is not a gustatory experience alone; it is visual and olfactory as well.

Food must look good, smell good, taste good and, most importantly, food must make you feel good.

DO NOT MULTITASK WHILE EATING

The Art of Eating – a Holistic, Multidimensional experience, encompassing all domains of your inner being.

Eat in silence. Mindfully. With full awareness.

Savour the aroma, delicately place the food on your tongue, chew slowly and experience the variety of flavours as the permeate your taste buds, fully aware and sense the nourishment as the food dissolves and sinks deep within you.

Chew your food to a pulp or milky liquid until it practically swallows itself.

Never mix food and drink – alcohol dulls the taste buds, and olfactory sensation, and encumbers the unmitigated enjoyment of good food.  

You must always close your eyes during the process of eating.

When you eat, you must eat. 

Do nothing else while eating. 

No seeing, no hearing, no talking. 

No multitasking. 

That’s right – you must never multitask while eating.

Just eat.

Yes - when you eat, just eat.

Focus all your senses on your food, eat mindfully, meditatively, and you will attain a state of delightful bliss and happiness.  

It is simple. Very simple.

Create a positive eating atmosphere, an environment of happy conducive vibes, honour your taste buds, respect your food and eat it in a proper state of mind, with love, zest, awareness and genuine appreciation and it will transport you to a state of bliss and happiness.

Remember: There is no love greater than the love of eating.  

In a nutshell, this is the “Art of Eating” 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

All Stories in this Blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

This article written by me around 15 years ago in the year 2000 - this article features in my Foodie Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL by Vikram Karve and also posted online earlier many times including at url: http://vwkarve.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/the-art-of-eating-by-vikram-karve/

A STORY YOU MUST TELL YOUR WEALTH MANAGER FINANCIAL ADVISOR and BANK RELATIONSHIP MANAGER

A STORY YOU MUST TELL YOUR WEALTH MANAGER and FINANCIAL ADVISOR
A Mulla Nasrudin Story
By 
VIKRAM KARVE

Whenever any Financial “Expert” wearing any garb (like Wealth Manager, Investment Adviser, Financial Adviser, Financial Planner, Bank Customer Relationship Manager or Insurance Agent) approaches you and tries to “advice” you regarding your investments, it may be good idea to first tell him or her this Mulla Nasrudin Story called FASHION SHOW: 

FASHION SHOW - A Mulla Nasrudin Story

One day Nasrudin went to a fashion show and his friends asked him how he liked it.

“They cheat you,” Nasrudin complained, “They show you the women – and then they try to sell you the clothes.”




That's what some financial experts, wealth managers, investment advisors and similar marketing guys do, isn't it? 
Especially when they try to sell you financial products. 


Have a Happy Monday

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this blog post?
I am sure you will like the stories in my recently published book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships. To order the book please click the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the link below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Adventures Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-8190690094/p/itmdyv7tdkhzn9vm?pid=9788190690096 

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and he is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts. 

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com        

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

    

HRD - HUMAN RESOURCE DESTRUCTION

YESTERDAY’S DESIRES BECOME TODAY’S APPETITE

THE MYTHS OF MOTIVATION and JOB SATISFACTION

By

VIKRAM KARVE


Musings on Human Resource Management


In today’s world, it is naive to assume that people work primarily to achieve professional fulfilment and job satisfaction.

As a matter of fact, they seem to work because what they get "on the job" enables them to achieve whatever they want to accomplish "off the job".

On the job, they have to “produce” - there is no time for any enjoyment.

Both Competition and Compensation levels are higher than ever before and the chief casualties are traditional so-called motivators like “job satisfaction”.

Today’s typical professional may no longer have an undivided loyalty and commitment towards his job.

Therefore, it is incorrect to believe that an employee’s work life is spent entirely in the pursuit of job satisfaction.

Perhaps, he or she is not actively seeking job satisfaction as much as aspiring towards other important needs and considerations like own career progression, standard of living, quality of life, material gain and personal gratification

For most people their job is a means to achieving their desired ends.

One of the typical propositions held by most people connected with HR is that job satisfaction is positively associated with job performance.

Does a “satisfied” employee always “produce” more?

It may be wrong to presume and take for granted a fictitious linkage between job satisfaction and employee productivity in all cases.

In some cases, one may be shocked to find that while the so-called “satisfaction” was increasing, the productivity of the individual was declining.

The reason behind this is the mistaken concept that a satisfied employee will devote his dedicated attention to his work.

A “satisfied” or “happy” employee may begin to develop an approach of self-complacency, and an overall sense of well-being, and consequently, his temperament may become one of ignorant submission and passivity rather than one of positive action and active involvement.

As a result, it is not too uncommon to see that the productivity of the employee does not always closely follow his upward satisfaction curve.

Another important aspect of this situation is the rate of constructive conflict.

If properly used and suggestively applied in the organizational context, the managerial implantation of a limited degree of constructive conflict does indeed shake these smug people and “satisfied” employees out of their lethargy and enables them to achieve a certain individuality of action.

Viewed from the perspective of the organization the key issue is not having satisfied, happy employees but maximizing productivity, the bottom line being profit and achieving organisational goals.

With changing value systems, it may be wrong to believe that increased satisfaction means increased motivation as propounded by various conventional theories of motivation ( Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, for example).

Here it is vital to understand that “need” comprises two components:

“Appetite” and “Desire”.

Appetite corresponds to that part of each hierarchical level of need, the non-satisfaction of which can be expected to normally inhibit or deter progress up the hierarchy of needs.

Desire corresponds with the greedy, relatively unjustified part of each hierarchical level of need, the satisfaction of which should not be viewed as necessary prerequisite.

With changing values, and by habit and custom, yesterday’s desires become today’s appetite. The effect of extrinsic “motivational techniques” like job satisfaction will eventually be to increase need satisfaction threshold limits and draw more energies towards the satisfaction of desires.The myth of job satisfaction exerts severe pressures upon both the employer and the employee.

The employer convinces himself that he must provide satisfaction on the job and the employee rationalizes his behaviour and anticipates satisfaction.

In this two-faceted pressure approach, the entire organization suffers from unwanted conflicts, unfulfilled expectations, and unkept promises.



VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.


http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

vikramkarve@sify.com