“Why Modern Food Doesn’t Satisfy Us: My Journey from Taste to Tripti”

Why does modern food not satisfy us?

Modern food often focuses on taste, variety and convenience but lacks balance and emotional connection. This leads to incomplete satisfaction (Tripti), causing cravings, overeating and poor digestion.

“I was eating healthy. Ordering smart.
But I still felt… incomplete.

                                                                                                                                                              Notes from My Plate (and Life)

Walk into my kitchen on a weekday evening and you’ll probably find… silence. Not the comforting kind. The “let’s just order something” kind.

A few years ago, that felt like progress—efficiency, choice, convenience. Today, I’m not so sure.                                                                                                                                                                                    Because somewhere between food apps, fusion menus and “healthy” labels, I started noticing something odd:

Though I was eating well.

But I wasn’t feeling… well.

Why Modern Food Doesn’t Satisfy Us                                                                        The Day I Realized Something Was Missing

It hit me on a random Tuesday.

I had ordered what I proudly called a “balanced meal”—high protein, low oil, neatly packed, aesthetically pleasing. I ate it while scrolling my phone (of course), finished it, and within 20 minutes… opened the fridge again.

Not out of hunger. Just… something missing. Why do I feel hungry even after eating?

That’s when I remembered a word I had grown up hearing but never really understood:

Tripti (A Bengali word meaning "soulful satisfaction" or Completeness)

Not fullness. Not taste.

Something deeper.

What is Tripti in Food and What it Feels Like 

You know that Indian meal at home—simple dal, rice, a sabzi, a bit of ghee?

Nothing Instagram-worthy. No drama.

But after eating:

• You sense the feeling of completeness of eating
• You don’t feel heavy
• You don’t even think about food for hours
• It gives you the prepared feeling for the next level of your activities

You just… move on with your life.

That quiet “I’m done” feeling? That’s Tripti.

And strangely, it’s becoming rare.

My Experiments with “Modern Eating”

Like most people, I’ve tried everything:

• Clean eating
• Keto (briefly and dramatically)
• Ordering “healthy bowls”
• Weekend indulgence to “balance it out”

Each had its moment. Each felt right—for a while.

But there was a pattern I couldn’t ignore:

The more I chased taste or trends, the more my meals had become events, not nourishment and the less I felt settled, slowly realizing the damage I caused to my Mind and Body.

The Mind–Food Connection (I Learnt This the Hard Way)

Here’s something I didn’t expect:

On days I ate poorly—not junk necessarily, just off—I was:

• more irritable
• less focused
• oddly restless

And on days I had simple, home-style food?

Things felt… easier. Lighter. Clearer and induced that spark of energy that created a feeling of Tripti.

That’s when it clicked:

Food doesn’t just affect the body. It quietly shapes the mind.

And the mind, in turn, shapes everything else...... Life

No big philosophy. Just lived experience. 

Outsourcing Food More Than We Think

Now here’s the uncomfortable part.

Over time, I realised I wasn’t just outsourcing cooking.

I was outsourcing engagement.

When food comes from outside:

• it’s efficient
• it’s predictable
• it’s convenient

But it’s also… slightly disconnected.

No one cooking knows your day, your mood, your needs.

There’s no pause, no presence, no involvement.

And I started wondering:

If food carries even a little bit of the energy we bring to it…

what exactly am I consuming every day? How modern eating habits affect health?

A Small Shift That Changed More Than Expected

I didn’t suddenly become a perfect home cook. Far from it.

But I started doing small things:

• Cooking a couple of meals a week
• Sitting down without my phone while eating
• Paying attention to how I felt after, not just during
• Discussing Food, Cuisine and more 

And something interesting happened.

Meals became quieter.

Cravings reduced.

Even conversations at home felt… less rushed.

Nothing dramatic. Just subtly better.

So, Who Should Cook?

This question comes up a lot—and honestly, I don’t think it has a fixed answer.

But maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

Instead of who, maybe it’s about whether we are still connected to the act of nourishing ourselves.

Because when that connection disappears completely, something else quietly goes with it. The connection between food and mental clarity

Where I’ve Landed 

I still order food. I still enjoy a good restaurant meal.

But I’ve stopped expecting those meals to give me what only Tripti can. Nourishment, the ever-needed input for a Healthy Body and Mind.

Now, I try to keep a simple rule:

• Let home food be the foundation
• Let indulgence be occasional
• And stay, at least a little, involved in the process

Because I’ve realised:

Taste impresses you for a moment.

Tripti stays with you forever.

Closing Thought

I’m not trying to eat perfectly anymore.

Just more consciously.

Because food, I’ve learnt, is not just about what’s on the plate.

It’s about how I show up to it—and what it leaves behind in me.

So now, every once in a while, I pause and ask:

👉 Am I eating for taste… or for Tripti?

De-Outsource Your Life

From Convenience to Conscious Living

Modern life has been designed for efficiency.

Tasks are simplified.
Time is optimized.
Effort is reduced.

Outsourcing has become a natural part of this evolution. It allows focus, speed and convenience.

But somewhere within this shift, a quieter transition has taken place.

What began as outsourcing tasks has gradually become outsourcing experiences.

Food is consumed without awareness.
Work is completed without ownership.
Relationships are maintained without presence.
Decisions are made without inner connection.

Life continues to move forward.

But participation begins to fade.

The Invisible Cost of Convenience

Convenience reduces effort.

But it can also reduce involvement.

When involvement reduces, connection weakens.
When connection weakens, satisfaction fades.
And when satisfaction fades, something deeper within begins to feel incomplete.

This is not immediately visible.

It appears as:

• Restlessness without reason

• Fatigue without clarity

• Abundance without fulfillment

The Question This Series Explores

This series does not question progress.

It questions distance.

In making life easier and convenient, has life become less experienced?

And if so:

What would it mean to bring that experience back?

The Journey Ahead

This exploration unfolds across four dimensions of everyday life:

• Food — Reconnecting with awareness

• Work — Reclaiming participation

• Relationships — Restoring presence

• Self — Anchoring inner authority

Each is not separate.

Each reflects the same underlying shift:

From outsourcing life… to living it.

Conclusion Manifesto

De-Outsource Your Life

A Quiet Movement Back to Self

This is not a call to reject modern life.

It is not a return to the past.
It is not a rejection of systems, tools, or progress.

It is a quiet shift.

A Shift in Relationship

With food — from consumption to experience
With work — from execution to ownership
With relationships — from contact to connection
With self — from guidance to inner authority

A Shift in Awareness

To notice:

• When eating becomes mechanical

• When work becomes disconnected

• When relationships become superficial

• When decisions become dependent

And in that noticing:

To gently return.

A Shift in Participation

Not by doing everything alone.

But by not disappearing from what is being done.

To remain present in:

• A meal

• A task

• A conversation

• A decision

A Shift in Ownership

To recognize that while systems can support life—

They cannot replace living.

Life is not meant to be fully managed.
It is meant to be experienced.

The Essence

De-outsourcing is not an action.

It is a remembering.

A remembering that:

• Attention creates connection

• Participation creates meaning

• Ownership creates clarity

The Movement

This is not a loud change.

It does not require disruption.

It begins quietly:

• One mindful meal

• One owned task

• One present conversation

• One conscious decision

And from there, it expands.

Final Reflection

In a world that continues to offer more—

The deeper need may not be to add.

But to return.

To return to attention.
To return to presence.
To return to self.

 This entire journey and experiences will be split into four parts:

• Food → awareness of self
• Work → engagement with effort
• Relationships → presence with others
• Self-Leadership — the anchor of de-outsourcing

Next, Part 1 will bring everything together into:

"You Are Not Just What You Eat — You Are How You Eat"

 

De-Outsource Your Life – Part 2

 From Execution to Ownership: When Work Loses Its Meaning

Busy… Yet Not Fulfilled

There is a familiar rhythm to modern work life. Days are full, calendars are packed and tasks continue to move from one checkpoint to another. Activity is constant and yet, beneath this movement, a quieter experience often remains unaddressed.

Despite being occupied, a sense of fulfillment does not always follow.

Work gets completed. Targets are met. Deadlines are handled.

And still, something feels missing.

Not in the structure of work—but in the experience of it.

When Work Became Purely Functional

Work was not always approached this way. At its core, work is an expression of effort, thought and contribution. It carries the potential to create, to solve and to build something meaningful.

Over time, however, the nature of engagement has shifted.

Efficiency has taken precedence over involvement.

Execution has become more dominant than understanding.

Speed has replaced depth.

Tasks are completed, but not always owned.

And gradually, work begins to feel less like participation and more like obligation.

What Has Been Quietly Outsourced

In the pursuit of structure and scalability, many aspects of work have been systematized and standardised—and understandably so.

But along with processes and tools, something more subtle has also been outsourced.

Thinking has been partially delegated.

Decision-making has been minimized.

Ownership has become diffused.

The question “What needs to be done?” is often answered externally.

Less frequently does the question arise:

“What is being created through this?”

The Difference Between Execution and Ownership

Execution ensures that work moves forward.

Ownership ensures that work has meaning.

The two may appear similar on the surface, but the experience they create is very different.

Execution follows instruction.

Ownership engages with intent.

Execution completes tasks.

Ownership connects with outcomes.

When ownership is absent, work may still be efficient—but it often becomes tiring in a deeper way. Not always because of volume, but because of disconnection.

The Subtle Nature of Burnout

Burnout is often associated with long hours and heavy workload. While these are valid contributors as materialistic nature, there is another dimension that is less visible.

Work that lacks connection tends to drain faster.

When effort is repetitive without reflection and output is produced without a sense of contribution, fatigue begins to accumulate—not just physically, but mentally.

It is not only the amount of work that exhausts.

It is the absence of meaning within it.

The Role of Participation

Participation changes the quality of work.

It does not necessarily require more time or more effort, but it changes the relationship with what is being done.

When participation is present:

• Attention deepens

• Thought becomes active

• Responsibility becomes natural

Work begins to shift from being something that is “assigned” to something that is “engaged with.”

Even within structured roles, small spaces of participation can exist—spaces where thought, initiative and intent come alive.

The Illusion of Complete Dependence

Modern work environments often emphasize systems, guidelines and defined roles. While these bring clarity, they can also create a subtle dependence.

Over time, the ability to act without direction may weaken. Decisions may begin to rely heavily on validation. Initiative may reduce—not by inability, but by habit.

This creates a paradox.

The more structured the system becomes, the less confident the individual may feel in acting independently within it.

A Shift in Perspective

A complete transformation of work structures is neither immediate nor necessary.

However, a shift in perspective can begin within the existing framework.

It may start with a simple observation:

What part of this work can be truly owned?

Not in terms of control, but in terms of connection.

Ownership, even in small measures, begins to restore engagement. It brings attention back into the process and gradually changes the experience of effort.

What Begins to Change

As ownership increases, certain shifts tend to emerge.

Work begins to feel less mechanical.

Effort feels more directed.

Fatigue reduces in intensity, even if activity remains high.

There is a subtle sense of involvement—of being part of what is being created, rather than merely contributing to its completion.

And in that involvement, meaning begins to return.

Closing Reflection

Work, in its essence, is not only about output.

It is also about experience.

It raises a quiet question:

Is work something that is being done… or something that is being lived through?

Because beyond efficiency and execution, there lies a stronger possibility—

That work, when connected with ownership, can become a source of energy rather than depletion.

Series Note:

This is Part 2 of “De-Outsource Your Life.”

The next exploration moves into relationships:

In a world of constant connection, why does distance still remain?

De-Outsource Your Life – Part 1

You Are Not Just What You Eat — You Are How You Eat

A Plate Full… Yet Something Missing

It is a familiar pattern in today’s life. A conscious effort is made to eat better—less oil, more greens, perhaps millets instead of rice. Nutritional awareness has increased and meals often appear well-balanced on the surface.

And yet, the act of eating itself unfolds differently.

Meals are often accompanied by screens, messages or unfinished thoughts. A few bites blend into a scroll, a reply, a distraction. Before the mind fully registers the experience, the plate is empty.

There is fullness.

But not quite a sense of completion.

Sometime later, a craving quietly returns. A small urge for something more—often unrelated to hunger.

And a subtle question begins to form:

If the food was right… what was missing?

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When Eating Stopped Being an Experience

There was a time when eating held a different place in daily life. It was not merely an activity, but an experience that engaged the senses fully. The aroma arrived first, the warmth followed and the textures revealed themselves gradually.

Even a simple meal carried depth—dal, rice, a touch of ghee—brought together not just on the plate, but through attention.

Over time, as life became faster and more efficient, this experience began to fade. Eating slowly shifted from being a moment of presence to a task fitted between other priorities.

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From Cooking to Consciousness: What Was Really Outsourced

The modern shift toward convenience is understandable. Cooking has been outsourced, meals are readily available and food is often approached as fuel.

However, what has quietly been outsourced goes beyond cooking.

Attention has been outsourced.

Participation has reduced.

Sensory engagement has weakened.

Eating, in many cases, has become a mechanical sequence—efficient, but incomplete.

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Why Healthy Food Alone Does Not Complete the Process

Nutritional awareness has grown significantly and that is a positive change. However, the human system does not respond only to nutrients. It responds to the entire experience of eating.

A meal may be nutritionally sound, yet leave behind a sense of incompleteness. This is because satisfaction is not derived solely from composition, but from engagement. And an engagement is precisely an activity of a conscious mind.

The body seeks not only nourishment, but completeness.

When that closure is absent, the system continues to seek—sometimes in the form of additional food, sometimes as cravings.

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Understanding Satisfaction: The Quiet Signal

Satisfaction is not always dramatic, which makes it easy to overlook. It is a subtle state where both body and mind feel settled.

It is different from being full.

It is a sense of “enough to please the body and mind in synchronism.”. YOG - A proven route to synchronise Mind and Body through established practices.

In its absence, patterns begin to emerge—frequent snacking, unexplained cravings or a lingering restlessness after meals. These are often interpreted as dietary issues, while the underlying gap may lie in the experience itself.

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The Role of Sensory Engagement

Traditional practices often carried an intuitive understanding of this. Eating with hands, for example, was not merely cultural—it created a direct sensory connection with food.

Touch, temperature, texture—all became part of the process.

This naturally slowed down eating, increased awareness and allowed satisfaction to emerge more organically.

It brought the individual back into participation of enjoying life.

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The Illusion of Efficiency

Modern routines often prioritize speed. Meals are shortened, multitasking is normalized and time spent on eating is minimized.

However, this efficiency has a hidden cost.

Reduced attention during meals often leads to reduced satisfaction, which in turn leads to increased consumption later—either in quantity or frequency.

What appears as saved time often reappears as scattered energy, inviting various diseases that harbour our Mind and Body.

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A Subtle Shift in Approach

A complete overhaul is neither necessary nor practical.

A small shift, however, can create noticeable change.

One meal in a day, experienced with attention, can begin to restore balance. A moment of pause before eating, reduced distraction and a gentle awareness of taste and texture can reconnect the act of eating with the individual.

The focus is not on control, but on connection.

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What Begins to Change

With this shift, changes tend to emerge naturally. The need for excess reduces, cravings soften and hunger becomes easier to recognize.

Food begins to feel sufficient again.

And more importantly, the act of eating begins to feel complete.

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Closing Reflection

In the larger context of life, food offers a simple yet powerful entry point into awareness.

It raises a quiet question:

Is nourishment only about what is consumed or also about how it is experienced?

Because true nourishment may begin not just with the right food—

but with the presence that receives it.

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Series Note

This is  “De-Outsource Your Life.” - Part 1

The next exploration moves into work:

De-Outsource Your Life – Part 2

From Execution to Ownership: When Work Loses Its Meaning