My parents are just really amusing in their own very different and unique ways. But I am particularly intrigued at my dad’s patterns as he ages gracefully. So one of the things we have come to notice is how much my dad loves sweet things. But he is particularly very fond of cakes. It’s so funny; he always hints every time we go grocery shopping or if someone goes to the supermarket, that they should bring a cake.

Recently he was at the supermarket and of course he walked willingly to the bakery area and spotted a flavour, in the cake section, he had not seen before. So he decided to buy this cake to taste the flavour. He bought a burfee flavoured cake. Burfee is an Indian flavour. When I took a small slice of the cake it reminded me of the Diwali cakes we would eat at school. My sister also shared the same sentiments. The cake flavour was okay to me, but I am still a diehard carrot and cheese cake fan. My dad and sister also felt that the cake was okay but they still remain loyal to carrot and velvet flavours.

My younger brother, the last born however had never tasted this burfee flavour and to him it was unconditional love at first bite. He absolutely loved it and I can safely say he had 70% of it by himself.  My mom also took a slice and couldn’t even finish it. She felt nauseous after eating it and loathed it. I laughed as I witnessed the different reactions that this burfee flavoured cake bought to our home and I was reminded of the phrase that ‘One man’s meat is another man’s poison’.

Of course over the years this phrase has evolved into different kinds, to name just a few; One’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure; one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor; one man’s pleasure is another man’s pain; one man’s loss is another man’s profit and one man’s fault is another man’s lesson. It doesn’t matter which of the above phrases you use really, the meaning is the same. The meaning of this is everything is relative, what one person values, another may think worthless.

Okay so the point that I am trying to make in this piece is that, we are increasingly in a period where you have to be very clear about what your meat is!

I am saying this because I was having a conversation with someone and they made it seem like what I valued “my meat” was not something worth pursuing. They indicated how they had tried to pursue that and many others and failed dismally. But here’s the thing, it works for me, I am at peace and that’s all that matters.