NEELUM, 25, a young housewife, expresses her love through the food she cooks for her husband, ANISH, 30, who is consumed by work and routine. In the silent solitude of her kitchen, NEELUM finds purpose, chopping, grinding and carefully preparing every detail of each meal. The sizzling of spices, the aroma of the meal, and the perfect placing on traditional brass-ware has become her intimate language of affection.
But her effort is met with silence. ANISH eats with his eyes glued to the phone, no appreciation whatsoever. The lack of acknowledgement eats at NEELUM’s heart. Later that night, unable to sleep, she searches through recipes online and stumbles upon aphrodisiac foods. Intrigued, she begins researches on ingredients said to ignite passion, dark chocolate, strawberries, chilies, and sets out to experiment with a sensual new menu.
At the Market, she picks each item with care, inhaling their scent, fantasizing about reigniting their intimacy. But are efforts are crushed when ANISH cancels dinner at the last moment and takes her out to a restaurant instead. There, NEELUM in stunned silence watches ANISH devour the restaurant food, savoring the taste and praising each and every bite.
Determined, NEELUM recreates the restaurant dish the next night, pouring her heart through each step. Just as she finishes, ANISH arrives but along with his colleague, NITESH, 27. Disappointed, she hides her feeling and serves them both. Immediately, ANISH complains about having the same dish again. Her heart sinks.
But NITESH has a totally different reaction. With the first bite, he is overwhelmed, and hums with delight. He showers NEELUM with compliments, praises the flavors, the texture and her skills. For the first time, NEELUM feels appreciated, someone who acknowledges her, tastes her. NEELUM blushes, a small smile breaks through as she giggles at NITESH’s pleasure. ANISH watches, confused but remains silent.
Later, as the two colleagues talk on the balcony, NEELUM does the dishes. She stares at NITESH’s plate with yearning, while washing ANISH’s plate. She drops the plate and picks up NITESH’s dirty plate. She slowly lets her tongue out and starts licking off the food crumbs as she drools while doing so. Her tongue makes love with the plate and licks it off clean. NEELUM’s blush doesn’t hide from her cheeks.
In this quiet act, NEELUM reclaims a piece of herself, not through love received, but through love finally returned, even if only in taste.
