Dine-in-time

So while research confirms that family meals can be an important time to develop strong family relationships,it is this rare Indian tradition that is still fondling around town ensuring that people do not lose out on their relations. Sachin Deodhar,a businessman,says,” In my childhood,the entire family would assemble in the evenings. We would then perform that evening aarti,which was then followed by

dinner together. While these practices do not continue with the same

zest and fervour,the entire family does sit down to dine together. And of course,the post dinner unwinding session and watching the television together is so much more fun.”

Yet,during adolescence,teens tend to spend less time with the family and eat more meals away from home according to a Child Trends survey. A recently released report from Child Trends found that less than half of adolescents,42 per cent,have a meal as a family six-seven days aweek. Though concerning,it is this trend that the city seems to be going against. “My 14-year-old son,really looks forward to our dinners together because that is the only time in the day when he can talk to me,both of us are football enthusiasts and so he feels like catching up with me and telling how his practice session was. I think interactions like these are essential and dinner is a good time to engage and connect with your family,” shares Gaurav Adhikari,a Chartered Accountant.

So while dinner table conversations and catching up with children maybe the reason why family dinners are so appreciated,it is also a time when children open up and try to connect to not only their parents but also their siblings. 22-year-old Gautami Sinha says,“I remember how busy my sister and I would be,both of us had different things to do the entire day,but eating together made sure that we caught-up with each other.”

In fact,dinning together is a ritual which really helps the working parents. No matter how busy they are,Prabhakar Iyer and his wife Radhika eat dinner with their sons,aged seven and 13. “Without a lot of prodding,information just spills out,” says Radhika adding,“I’ve learned so much more about them,than when we didn’t have dinner together regularly.” Interestingly,family dinners provide something much more than just improving family bonds. A study by Dr. Catherine Snow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education,followed 65 families over 15 years,looking at how mealtime conversations play a critical role in language acquisition in young children. The conversations that occur around the family table teach children more vocabulary and forms of discourse than they learn when you read to them. Ashesh Shamani,who stays in a nuclear family agrees,“It’s fun to talk to my kids over dinner,some times they enact and its so amazing that they have so much to share everyday. I wonder if we didn’t eat together how much we would be missing.”