Tiffin is a tightly packed sandwich a little soft at the edges and a peeled spotty banana cut in half, Tiffin is a brightly-coloured flat aluminium box with catches on the end that hold it fast, Tiffin is the big school bell going off at 10.15 every morning, Tiffin is running out of classrooms, jostling, pushing, shouting and sharing, Tiffin is a moment’s surprise not knowing what’s inside, Tiffin could be a tasty snack, a healthy fruit or what’s left over from last night, Tiffin is about routine, a clockwork that is carried on from year to year…

Tiffin is itself a made-up word that was born out of a need, a slang that became a word when the British first went to India and found they had eat, something light and small during the day to tide them through to dinner, a small liquid lunch that would help them survive the long Indian summer, so Tiffin became unique to two worlds coming together, Kipling left but Tiffin stayed, in an India that changed forever…

Tiffin is a uniformity in an India that is so diverse, today Tiffin is a home-cooked meal that’s not just carried on the school bus; Tiffin is a slice of Bombay that travels on a train, assembled in Churchgate and sent off to office desks, they arrive two hours after ten, Tiffin is not just a light snack anymore, it is about a trust between people, if you wonder what happens to the Tiffin once it is eaten then…Tiffin is not an empty box that goes back on the train, it often carries cinema tickets, a Thank You note and even salaries at month’s end, Tiffin has come a long way from a slang that became a word, Tiffin is still a tightly packed sandwich and a banana cut in half.   

Corsham, October 2016