My Love Affair With Chocolate | Flash Post 414

Button, she’s silky. She’s smooth. She’s sweet. She’s sultry and a temptress. and she pushes up my serotonin levels sky high. Three guesses what I am talking about and don’t ask for any more clues.

Silk Smitha?

No. Next?

Kareena Kapoor dancing to Bhaage Re Mann from Chameli.

No Button. Try again. I used the word “what”, not “who”.

You tell me.

Chocolates. Don’t you know how I crave chocolates no matter what the day, time of day or my mood swings?

I saw you sneakily pick one of those round Lindt dark chocolates—I think those are one of your favourite—at around 1 this morning!

You must be right because I do that often. Actually, I’ve had a craving for chocolates since childhood. An uncle of mine spoilt me with chocolates which of course made me podgy and fat because of the quantity I was eating. This craving continued unrelentingly and there came a time when I would often pick my father’s pocket of shiny twenty five paise coins—this was way back in 1960-61–when 25 and 50 paise coins were in circulation—and run to the grocery shop round the corner and pick up any colourfully wrapped chocolate that caught my eye.

Was it mostly Cadbury’s?

Yes. At times it would be a packet of Cadbury’s Gems or Nutties or a thin slab of milk chocolate in a dark purple slinky wrapper. The taste of cocoa, cream, butter and sugar tasted heavenly and I’d lick my chops like a big cat after a treat. My mother often wondered how I was putting on so much weight when our meals were meagre and I’d turn my face away reluctant to show her the look that said it all.

From then till this day! This must be the longest-running affair in history.

That, too, with chocolates.

Have you ever shared them with anyone?

Chocolates! Never. Not in this lifetime, Button.

Does Dost know about your affair with chocolates? I often hear him ask you very politely about the delay in getting him his cup of tea. Is he aware of your intimacy, your secret love affair?

That moment is sacred between the two of us and nothing can come inbetween. The opening of the refrigerator door and the chocolates compartment is done with minimal noise to make sure nobody hears a sound. Then comes the extraction of the chocolate container, again with minimal noise, removing the lid and picking a ball of the extra dark variety. The trickiest bit is removing the wrapper as quietly as I can to minimise the crackling noise it makes. Once that hurdle is crossed, comes the easiest and much-awaited part when the chocolate makes its entry into my mouth. The hard exterior followed by the gooey molten sweetness seeping out and coating the interiors of my mouth is indescribable.

When you enquired about the missing Godiva chocolates the other day, were you trying to cover up your indiscretion? Were you the culprit?

Never.

You don’t sound very convincing.

I’ll tell you a little about why chocolates make you feel good.

Sure.

Serotonin is the key hormone that stabilises our mood, feelings of well-being and happiness. It impacts the entire body. When the level drops, it usually leads to mood swings as well as depression. In my case, eating chocolate makes me happy and that, in turn, pushes up my serotonin that manages the mood swings. When my psychiatrist advised that I could eat chocolates once in a while, I was ecstatic.  I couldn’t have been happier and that must have pushed up the serotonin instantly.

One word you’d use to describe chocolates.

I have two.

Spit them out.

Drool-worthy and wonderfully pleasurable. And see what barididi baked for us after reading the post.

A chocolate cake?

Not just the regular chocolate cake but a gluten-free Belgian chocolate cake: An ode to my love for chocolates.

An edible ode!