The upside of leaving home - that’s wherever you’re from originally - is that you get to experience independence - life on your own terms. But come the festive season and you suddenly you’re looking for a cure for homesickness. Of course you miss mom and her cooking but you also might miss the larger sense of the festive season.

This is especially true of Bangalore which is home to a very large community of young expats from all over the country. And they cannot always head home for every festive season.

But many of the city’s restaurants like Dakshin at ITC Windsor, or standalone restaurants like Southindies, always create a spread for every season. And while most residents will feast at home, the itinerant career warrior needs only to head to any of these fine restaurants - their home away from home to coin a cliche.

"We celebrate a lot of festivals throughout the year like Ugadi, Pongal, Onam etc and offer our guests the experience of celebrating at home," Executive Chef Uchit Vohra of the ITC Windsor told Explocity.

Chef Manu Nair, Executive Chef, Southindies said, "Festive seasons like Ganesh Chaturthi are the best times to be with your family and friends.

"But for those who are too busy to get a leave this festive season, do not worry. Southindies always has the perfect festive spread."

He isn’t kidding. His “perfect festive spread” is a buffet with eight starters, 13 buffet specialities, 10 healthy salads for that touch of fusion and 12 desserts ensure a spread that will definitely fill your tummy.

"You can also taste Ganesha's favourite dishes like modakkam, kadalai sundal, karamanai Usal and obattu," Nair said, knowledgeably.

The city’s restaurants feasts begin with the ambience, from diyas, to banana leaves and traditional music.

And they try and make the food taste like home food ought to taste: authentic and hearty.

Chef Vohra said, "At ITC Windsor, we believe in recreating tasty authentic food by blending the right ingredients, with a passion for cooking to craft perfectly spiced authentic and flavourful South Indian dishes.

"Our dishes are cooked to order by our Dakshin team of handpicked chefs recruited from India who share our passion for food and bring with them a wealth of experience in authentic homestyle cooking."