Fear of Food

Was there not enough to stress and fear about already, that now ,we have added FOOD also to the list.

Questions which pour in at the clinic amaze me to no extent. Questions like can I eat fruits, rice, ghee on rotis,  ladoos post pregnancy, sugar in tea , milk , sweet potatoes etc . But I have not seen any one giving a second thought to the diet cokes, diet chidvas, oats, fat free kellogs, mueslis, baked chips and so on and so forth.

It has become the latest fad that we avoid grains like wheat and switch to quinoa, replace our famous masala Indian tea for green tea, the local fruits are pushed away to give space to the good fatty avocados , the normal jamuns are not glanced at because of the new boy in town the goji berries , acacia and other such foods which claim to have fat burning abilities.

But the question arises that why do we fear the food which we were raised upon ?

The answer is simple because we are becoming fat. But did we probe into the reasons for becoming fat . Was it the food which was making us fat or the circumstances ?

Turn back the clock and reflect on the society then . The women were a part of the home front and the family mostly ate home made delicacies . From the simple daal bhaat to the goodies made on festivals were all made by the women of the house . There was a lot of love and affection going into this food as they would all sit together chatter, laugh and indulge lovingly in this job . 'SATTVIC KHANA'

Slowly the trends changed . Girls were blessed to get the opportunities of higher studies and build careers and as always the female version of God’s creation  proved that they were better  . They competed with the opposite sex and walked alongside in all fields. Once they got this taste of success there was no looking back

But as the ladies of the house moved out there was now lesser time for that time consuming kitchen work . Girls started looking for options to shun these duties with excuses like no time to cook, too tired to cook , meetings , travel and so on . When both partners were involved in this kind of life the options for good meals were limited.

Either you stay in a joint family respecting and rejoicing with your elders, or you hunted for a help who would charge handsomely and depending on your luck provide you good or bad services. And last but not least quick fixes like eating out, eating out of packets, ready to cook meals, home deliveries and other such options which did not resemble the food we had been eating since childhood. Out of these the most accepted was outside food as it was the easiest way out.

So was it the food or the circumstances which changed our food – the culprit?

Are you feeling that I am implying that girls should come back to their old role  No. We the Avtaars of Durga can handle all of it easily but then it was  the society which went wrong .

When women became equal in the role of bread earners did the males also put in a helping hand at the home front ? Were the boys of the house also taught to lend a helping hand?

Yes, I know a handful of them did but they all live abroad . Because as they say it is the culture there for all to do their own work but it is not so here. But when the culture here changed and women were allowed to earn then why the men in the kitchen was a task put to shame .

If both the life partners take up all responsibilities of life, no  kid  would have to carry packets of chips , or cakes in their tiffins , no man would have to leave for office eating masala oats and no lady would be ordering junk for dinner after a tired day.

So to conclude it is our duties as parents to teach our kids among other things the art of cooking . The treasured recipes should be passed on to the next generation.

Hence there is a need not just to put our kids into the best coaching classes to crack the IITS, IIMS  and MED colleges but also teach them some basic cooking and household chores so that when they step into this new phase of living out of homes they should leave with a promise of eating clean and staying healthy irrespective of whether he is a boy or girl.