Food … I love You

I love food! My very first memories are of food! I have loved food ever since I was a baby. My mother says, “You would snatch the milk from your younger sisters and guzzle it down yourself.” We don’t need stronger evidence. Thankfully my sisters don’t hold it against me.

Though I was on a liquid diet for a good many years, barely balancing it with some boiled rice, once my taste buds started tingling, I was demanding dishes my gastronomically adventurous Mother could barely keep up with.

Food, gut health connected to brain

Food, gut health, brain development and motor development all go hand in hand. A well fed baby is happy, content and sleepy. When awake, coos and gurgles, crawls and poses, flashing toothless smiles… a Darling! Not like those scrawny, whimpering souls traipsing along the edges of cots, tables and divans, with their Mothers screeching their lungs out, “No, no, noooo!”

Unhealthy food to be avoided

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Its been proven now that fast food, fried food and food rich in spices, saturated fats, sugar or extremely refined are harmful to our well being. At the same time, natural foods cooked in traditional ways when available in a given season are nourishing and may even be therapeutic.

Food is celebration

The high point of any celebration is food. I find food tastier when I eat with my friends and family, even so called junk food. My memories of festivals and birthdays are synonymous with Payesh, Rosogolla, mutton curry, Mustard fish along with loochi.(All Bengali cuisine). For my children its Shepherds pie, my special chicken preparation, salads, pasta, biryani and the like. The aroma of their favourite dishes makes them feel at home, they say.

Food and yoga

During my days of learning yoga, I also had a chance to experience the yogic life for a fortnight at the The Yoga Institute, Santa Cruz, Mumbai. Food was given due attention and respect for ahaar has direct impact on achaar. The satvic bhojan we consumed was delicious, filling and so nourishing.

So, now I have settled for tasty salads, bhakri, dal, curd,and all kinds of vegetables.

I notice some food make me feel happy… dal chawal, khichdi with dollop of ghee and sprout salad.

Yet paani poori, bhel, chaat, cutlets, vada pao make me drool. I do indulge once in a while, after all there’s only this one life I have!  What do you think?

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