Shaad, a pre-birth celebration for the Bengali woman

Currently facing my 6th month of pregnancy, my Mother wanted to celebrate it by having a Shaad, meaning ‘desire’ in Bengali. Traditionally, the Shaad is celebrated along with the pregnant woman’s close friends and relatives, the idea being to surround the woman with as many positive vibes possible. The actual meal of the shaad is supposed to consist of all of the pregnant woman’s favourite food.

That wasn’t too tough for me to decide on what I wanted to eat, since I like almost everything of what Bengali food has to offer! Being a very unfussy person, I didn’t want to have any get together. My cook in Kolkata, Shumi prepared this lovely lavish feast for me. I have never seen or heard of a shaad before, so I had no idea that so much hard work was involved into making one. (If I’d have known earlier, I would have told my gentle cook not to bother). But Shumi insisted and when she finally laid it out on the table, I felt tears dangerously close, so touched was I to see how much she cared for my pregnancy, and my well being.

She didn’t have to ask me what I liked, she knew already I loved her cooking, so she went ahead with her imagination to what my shaad should look like. And by the way, the steel plate and the steel glass used are the very same ones that I used to use as a child when I was 4 years old onwards. The steel plate has indentations to where the vegetables or meat dishes go into. On my plate, on the top center, is the Bengali dessert called ‘payesh’, or rice pudding. To the left is the dal (lentils) and to the right is a spicy potato preparation. Below on the main section of the plate, is staple diet of Bengal, rice and alongside the rice, on either side is a collection of fried vegetables (potato, aubergine, bitter gourd, okra, cabbage) and fish. Shumi gave the final touch of garnish on the rice and water by adding a sprig of basil. Doesn’t it look sooo appetising and yummy??