Between Jalebi And Judgement, Rethink Your Relationship With Desi Snacks And Sweets

For decades, traditional Indian food has been a source of pride, comfort, and celebration. Every major life event (a wedding, a baby’s first steps, a festival, or even a job promotion) has been marked with sweets. Ghee, sugar, oil were signs of prosperity. If someone made “thin” kheer, we called it gareebon wali kheer.

But here’s the thing your grandmom may not understand: our generation lives differently. We sit in front of laptops for 9 to 12 hours a day. We Uber instead of walking. Our average steps per day barely cross 3,000 (ask your fitness app). We sleep less, stress more, and binge-watch with chips and chai at midnight. And while dadi burned off her halwa calories by sweeping courtyards and grinding masalas by hand, we don't burn ours.

Samosas (Getty Images)

By 2050, India could have 440 million people who are overweight or obese, according to latest projections in The Lancet. So even though granny's ladoos came from love, not a factory, and her jalebis were homemade and seasonal, our lifestyles no longer support daily indulgences. You are what you eat. If you eat like you did in 1990, but move like it’s 2025, you’ll end up in a hospital by 2030.

In countries like Chile and Mexico, similar “black box” labels led to significant declines in the consumption of sugary drinks and junk food within just a few years. Chile even saw a drop in childhood obesity. Imagine what could happen if every school canteen, railway station, and office pantry in India began showing these labels. Imagine if it nudged one teenager to skip the fizzy drink, or one family to eat pakoras just on weekends instead of every day.

Jalebis (Getty Images)

The key isn’t to villainise samosas or jalebis — the key is moderation. Enjoy them as a treat, not a staple. Make them at home, not every day. Let sweets remain a celebration, not a habit. We also need to rethink how we love someone. Do we show affection with food that slowly damages health, or with food that sustains it? Maybe “Eat this, beta, I made it with love” can become “Eat this, beta, I made it with millets and jaggery!” The next time you reach for that vada pav, just pause. Ask yourself: Is this a once-in-a-while thing, or a daily diet? Call your granny and tell her, “Dadi, your mithai is still the best, but today I’ll have just one piece instead of five.”

Sources:

• https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00397-6/fulltext
• https://journals.lww.com/ijnc/fulltext/2023/08010/overweight_and_obesity,_the_clock_ticking_in.5.aspx

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