Comfort Food For Thought
The notion of comfort food is universally understood as food that we have fond sentimental memories about, or as food that brings an immediate glow and warmth to us when we are feeling tired, sad or anxious. I remember the scene from the movie Ratatouille where the food critic Anton Ego is transported back to his childhood when his mother used to make a simple peasant stew (called Ratatouille) when the child-Anton used to come home tired or hurt. My go-to comfort food has always been aamti-bhaat (~Maharashtrian dal-chawal). I am sure you will have yours. Come to think of it, all comfort foods have three characteristics in common- it is simple food (nothing fancy), you never get tired of eating it and perhaps most importantly, it has strong nostalgic value, emotions or old memories associated with it.
The same could be said about ‘comfort entertainment’ which shares the same characteristics as comfort food. All of us will undoubtedly have our own go-to movies, plays, music etc that gives us comfort when life has served us lemons. For some, this could mean watching reruns of ‘Friends’ to get over a broken heart. For some, it could mean listening to Pink Floyd ad infinitum to re-live college days. And for others, it could mean putting Arijit on loop just to chill. Though I have not come across any data, I am pretty sure our music choices tend to follow pareto principle- 20% of our music repertoire will account for 80% of our play time. As an aside, Spotify & YouTube have figured this out already. That’s why Spotify curates & pushes to you the “top songs you listened last year” playlist. After all, this comfort leads to happiness, stickiness and loyalty for the subscriber base.
But, to me, the most interesting and intriguing notion is the notion of “Comfort food for thought”. Don’t google it, I have made it up! Just the way we consume food for (mainly) physical sustenance, we similarly consume books (mainly) for mental sustenance. In a way, books are the food for our brain. Amazon classifies books into 36 genres, but I like to categorise books taking inspiration from foods. Here goes:
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?Now the last category is a difficult one. “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” which would otherwise qualify as belonging to the fairy tale / time pass genre, is one of my ‘comfort food for thought’ books. It is a simple story. I never tire with reading it as I discover a new meaning every time I read it and it takes me back to my own childhood. I have a friend who swears by crime as his comfort food for thought. I am sure there are people who may find humour as the go-to comfort food for thought.
I feel the books that constitute one’s comfort food for thought may give a reflection into the person’s early years and intrinsic values.
What is your comfort food for thought?
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4 个月Wodehouse for me too!
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4 个月Amit Adarkar I love the point around nostalgia which makes a thing “comfortable“ books certainly a comfort food for thought !! That’s my read so far in 2024 . However I start each day reading some part of “The Power of Subconcious mind “ !
Former CEO & Chairwoman- South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar | Former Chairperson- CII-IWN (West) | Independent Board member
4 个月To Kill A Mockingbird, Three Men In A Boat, Wodehouse
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4 个月Insightful piece. Alice in Wonderland is amazing. Amit my fave comfort books are two classics: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - a beautiful story of this girl named Maggie Tulliver and her childhood pursuits, to her growing up days. Like when she cuts her hair all aunts admonish her and her brother Tom stands by her side and is full of wisdom - a beautiful story. And the other is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The protagonist is a governess but she gets to access all the opulent parties at home and yes she gets opulent clothes as well. It transports you to a nice fairy tale setting. We had to compulsorily read Classics in Class 12. And these have stuck with me.
Executive & Leadership Communication Coach | My work lies at the intersection of leadership and communication. I enable senior and emerging leaders to leverage the power of their presence to create influence and impact.
4 个月‘ comfort food + comfort entertainment + comfort food for thought ‘ what a Sunday it would be! And add to that ‘ comfort(ing) company ‘ though you could classify books in that category as well:). Till one starts Monday pushing self back to outside your comfort zone !