|| FOOD FOR LIFE ||

When I thought of this sentence, the first question raised in my mind was, should it be, 'food for life or life for food.' This thought should be cleared. We eat food to survive, we eat food to desire or we eat food to enjoy. Recently we celebrated Lord Ganesha festival. Lord Ganesha loves Modak, we all have been hearing this for years. Hence, first, we used to just offer Modak according to rituals, but now just like the scientific revolution, a revolution has also come in making Modak. We can make it in so many different ways, with so many colors and so many styles, in short, there are varieties of recipes. We try to make it decorative as well so that with our faith our Lord Ganesha accepts our efforts. He appreciates creativity. But through this our intention is to please him, do what he desires, and enjoy our offerings. God also has a certain liking and we try to fulfill that, in the same way, we all individually have our own liking for food, we must eat to please ourselves.

Krishna in his childhood relished Makhan (butter) which was made by cow's milk. Krishna had most liking for cows as cows give milk, which has purity. Today also we believe that cows milk, butter, and ghee made from cows milk are very healthy. Krishna had a love for Makhan as it was made with love by gopis and also he knew that sharing with his friends and having together was the best enjoyment for them. Krishna always gave respect to food. Even today there are so many temples that offer Annakut ( which has more samagries that is offerings ) to God made by milk, fruits, and special flour which is healthy, and then it gets distributed as prasad to all the bhaktas as blessings to those who come and pray to God. In a way, these food preparations are done with the faith in God, made from natural ingredients and healthy nutritious food material. Indirectly, it's a message from God that you must have healthy and nutritious food also, respect food, and share with others with enjoyment.

Good nutritious food is the foundation of a healthy body. One of the Greek Physicians also known as the father of western medicine says that "food is medicine." If we try to understand in a spiritual way then God gives birth, we come to this universe, the first food we receive is milk and we receive it from our mother's love. Milk-fed by the mother to the child has maximum nutrition required for a newborn baby. It is said that till the time mother feeds the baby, the child is protected from all the diseases. Generally, the mother feeds the baby for one year and then slowly adding outside food, results in the best growth of the child. Breastfeeding is more than nourishment. It's an act of perseverance, vulnerability, and hope. Here there is a philosophy, child fed by mother with full attention, with warmth and at a regular interval of time like breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and night time makes good habits of eating in childhood and that also satisfies the child. In the same way, food made with love and warmth at a regular interval of time gives the best satisfaction to our body in our day to day life.

Like the scientific revolution in our life with new inventions we do establish fast results to earn money or to live a life with the facility. But as we know nature is natural. Though we do establish facilities you cannot stop the natural calamity, this we have realized by experiencing flood, earthquake, the most recent pandemic Coronavirus, and some more dreadful diseases like Cancer. Similarly, in eating habits also natural is natural, though we have so many facilities to make fancy food and different methods of making fast food, again the natural calamity in our body generated through this, we cannot stop. So, friends, it's an alarm from God to us that we should concentrate on our food habits and try to eat natural and more nutritious food. Change starts with our mindset. We need to shift and switch it.

Each one of us has a different voice quality. We are differentiated by our voice which involves breathing, digestive, and neurological system of an individual. So many patients have come across who face difficulty in voice due to acidity, having colored, oily or food with fibers. Especially those who sing drink more water so they have saliva in the mouth to sing melodious songs. Hence, our food habits play a major role in our voice modulation, also maintaining our breathing and neurological system, if you breathe natural and systematic air along with good food you will have enough water to digest and if you have a good digestive system then you get good sleep and that helps you to function well throughout the day. Everything is interconnected and these are small things we never pay attention to. So, like every human being has a different voice, everyone has different food habits too, for their own mind, body, and soul, one should understand well and act accordingly. You were born an original, you need not copy.

We want to achieve in life what we desire. We like to travel to places that we desire, we want relationship and friendship with people whom we love. We wish to perceive life the way we want. In the same way, we should eat food that we desire. Seeing each other sometimes we go through ups and downs in life, we compete and compromise or develop difficulty in our own life, similarly for the food we should eat what our body needs, what we desire, and what we like rather than eating what other people eat. We should have food habits which are good for our own health. All these years working with different people having different speech and voice problems I have realized that when we understand what is normal food habits for ourselves, it helps us to understand what is abnormal and if we know then we can try to avoid it. Filter your views to alter our emotions for food.

We read many ancient stories but we have never read stories where people have difficulty with food or food habits. In fact, it is our ancestors who have always spoken about food works as a medicine for us. They have always cherished food as memories or celebration. Good quality food is wise medicine for us. In our food and spices, there are wide range of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that you need. This Pandemic has proven that certain food habits increases our immunity and helps us to fight disease. Today after our birth in this universe we have developed inadequate nutrition and bad eating habits, it has affected our system, causing health issues. We have shifted from natural food to processed food. Firstly it has started affecting our body then our mind and then our soul as well. So, it's time we understand and realize that in our food habits also we should be natural. One should focus on what we eat.

1 st September to 7th September is national nutrition week 2020, as we have tried to make a change in ourselves during this Pandemic, now, let's make a change in food habits as well. It's time we "switch to a quality nutritious life." Quality nutritious food has the power to heal our bodies. So, lets put the right fuel of healthy food that we desire to enjoy with our friends, family and also aim to have more homemade food made with love and warmth, as it puts the right fuel in our body which helps us to run smoothly. Healthy life comes when we plan our food for our life. Health is not just what you are eating, what you are thinking, and saying is also important. Here even positive thoughts and putting positive energy in making food generates a positive attitude in us. So, let's develop a positive attitude in having food for our positive life.