Thaal tales

Buffet nor à la carte. Catering in my community is unlike any other.
At a meal time, it throws together 8-9 people. This is mostly a random mix, so you may be seated with a motley of individuals. Convention is to greet every person in this this circle which has received you with a smile and a customary handshake.
Old, child-bearing, child-rearing, teenager, newly-wed, every person is welcomed with the same warmth as we prepare ourselves to share the next 30-40 minutes in each other's company sharing our food, serving and setting up the dishes, sharing soup spoons, breaking chappatis into pieces, pouring out the cold drinks and sipping water from the same glass.Everyone's opinion is taken at the commencement of a dish, asking if they want more. The shy ones are urged to eat, teasingly asked if they are on a diet.
The host and hostess have their extended family helping them serve the food in an undisturbed rhythm to several of these bands, so that at no point until the salt has touched every guests lips again should they be idling. This would be considered an irrevocable insult. And if the food has even slightly cooled down, plates of steaming hot rice, and bowls bubbling soup replace them in a flash.
Undoubtedly, conversation centers around how often we do these gala events, and its affect on our health. Often there is an NRI in the blend who has raving stories about how manage these collosal dos.
Me, for most part, tend to distance myself on the role of the silent bystander, giving hollow smiles whenever eyes meet with someone else, quietly refusing to be served any more than a small morsel of the richly-laden food.
Yes, I know, I am a total bummer.