By the time you are finished with
reading this blog, you may have started enjoying food in a different manner. I
can assure that this blog will lead to ‘Salivation’ than ‘Salvation’. I have a
different take on the overall aspect of ‘enjoying food and but also come out
with a guilty frame of mind, most of the people face after eating their heart
out’. The friction starts there and believe it or not, it starts to get
accumulated in the form of fat/calories. The more the friction the higher the
calories are!
I had been reading a lot in the
newspapers (or read ‘tabloids’) regarding the ill effect of certain food e.g.
Cheese. Cheese is sometimes referred as
deadly as an assassin and next day, the same tabloid publishes a note on why
one should eat cheese regularly to stay healthy. So you don’t know whether to
blame yourself or the cheese or that sucker tabloid. Most of the time, you end
up blaming yourself or the cheese or mostly..CHEESE!
And there are some research
fellows who are writing a thesis on how fast food craving is almost similar to
drug addiction. They have come to a conclusion that thinking about fast food
activates the similar centres in brain which are generally associated with
triggering the addiction of drugs. I insist that addiction for food is not
caused by food but by the person consuming it. And FYI, there is an addiction
of God also. They keep on chanting 24X7 and expect miracles to happen. I have
also come across many people who insist that they eat to live and not live to
eat.
First things first. What my
experience says – Never blame your food for your ill health. You are
consciously accepting what to eat. And even after this if you have nothing but
to blame food, you are doing an injustice to it. From here only the unfair
treatment of the food starts. Your body decides to not digest it properly. It
blames it. It says the food is heavy and is hindering the digestion. This slows
the metabolism. And slower metabolism rate means deposition of fat at various
organs in your body. Then how food is culprit here?
In general, we see many a people
seeking spirituality, trying to be as close as possible to God, seeking inner
peace. Most of them attend spiritual camps to cut themselves from the mundane
(and essentially ruthless) chores. That particular retreat refreshes them,
charges them up so that they can survive the battle for a typical time cycle.
Some go a step ahead. They accept a typical order to attain higher spiritual
level, dedicate a lot of time for meditation and yet, are part of the family.
Some (and almost all sages) leave everything what they have and embark a
journey to find themselves which ultimately culminates into finding GOD
sometimes.
In a nutshell, you have to work
hard to be closer to God. I mean that is the impression we get from the so
called ‘learned ’ people. However, I have never heard of God quoting “You will
have to go through tough situations to see me. I will test you. I will take you
to the cliff. I will torture you and if you pass the ‘examination’ then only I
will appear” Is God that tough to people who wish to experience him? Will he
purposely make them go through penance? I have my doubts. Perhaps, a simple and
honest act can get you far closer to God than the unruly penance can take and
that too in less time.
So why am I talking about being
closer to God? May be, the following case makes sense for the topic. Consider
any moment from the past when you were hungry. Seriously hungry! You wanted
something to eat. It didn’t matter what. You were not in a position to define
if you needed Italian, Chinese, French, Mediterranean, Punjabi etc . And all
you got was simple bread (Roti in Indian context) and vegetable (Sabzi) and it
must have tested far better than the ‘most awesome cuisine’ you had till date.
Eureka! My dear friend, you had experienced God. Experience of God is the
experience of fulfillment, experience of joy and experience of gratitude. It
comes in many forms. And food is one of them.
Food is a basic need of any
living being. It thrives on it. And it is probably the simplest way of being in
touch with God everyday (if you wish to)! There could be nothing as joyful as
you enjoying a morsel of food when you are hungry. The sense of fulfillment and
joy certainly takes you near to God. Hunger is the penance. I am not trying to
write ‘A Lazy Man’s Guide To Seek God’ but what is the problem if there are
simpler ways to be happy and grateful. You don’t have to go all the way to
Himalaya for that!!
Few of you may argue that many
communities across the globe have the practice of saying prayer before starting
lunch/dinner. Saying prayer and experiencing fulfillment are different things.
Further, saying prayer has become a mechanical ritual. In my school days, I
used to be so eager to finish the prayer so that I can open my tiffin and start
eating the food. More or less the same case across the globe. Few must be doing this very dedicatedly but
is all right if you do that after finishing your food. It will have more
element.
And finally small note on a tribe
of people who call food ‘s**t’ when they don’t like it. Okay, I understand your
outrage but referring food in that manner is complete disrespect and not
acceptable in any terms. There are millions on this planet who don’t get to
anything to eat for days and they are ready to eat anything. Think for a moment
about them before you disrespect food. And yes, please finish the portions in
your plate. If you can’t finish then please don’t serve yourself with that much
quantity. You will be doing a lot of favour to the whole mankind!
So, in a nutshell…it’s easy!!!
Love your food, love the person who cooks food for you, appreciate, say thanks
and just enjoy it!!! J
