Eating out, especially in urban India, is no longer an occasional, celebratory gesture, rather it is more of an everyday (or an ‘often’) event of convenience. The reasons for this shift has been attributed to economic independence, social culture, cognitive shifts, work-life balance, recreation etc. But we wonder if it means more than simply that. After all home food a.k.a ‘ghar-ka-khana’ or ‘ma-ka-khana’ is an obsession for Indians or at least was so till not so long back. So what happened here?

For Indians (high on the emotional quotient), home food is not only about a familiar and healthier taste but more so the emotions attached with the concept…love being synonymous with feeding in our culture. In such a scenario does eating out imply the slow spread of “disassociation from our homes”? Does the metaphorical relation between home food and love hang in jeopardy here?