Our Elderly AND THEIR food habits
Indian industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Naval Tata has so wisely said, “Eat your food as your medicine. Otherwise you have to eat medicine as your food.” But on close inspection, when this saying is seen in the context of health and well-being of our elderly in Kashmir. One hurriedly states that our elderly people trust more on their daily dose of medicine than food. I don’t mean that they should not take their prescribed medicines. They should. But what if they eat nutritious food as a remedy for their ailments. A decade or two ago, my Kashmir was not what it is at present where tons of medicine get sold each day at medical shops and drug stores that have come up here and there. Medicine which should have been the last option has unfortunately become the first priority in every Kashmiri household now. And food has obviously taken the last seat. People have even gone to the extent to order their medicines from online marketing stores at cheaper rates like anything else.
If it won’t be wrong to mention, my Kashmir has deteriorated in multiple ways, especially, in the sector of health and well-being. It has lost the right kind of food, that unique patience and tolerance to cure the disease with prevention, that hardworking lifestyle and more.
Today, we believe that the right kind of food is available in the markets (exceptions apart). The junk food has gained an edge over our home-made meals. Life style has totally become sedentary, with tolerance fading each day from our lives. We believe the easily available market-food is the best for ourselves. But this is not so. Day by day, God forbid us, we are heading towards a time when no food will be cooked at our edifices. One wonders where shall this destiny lead us to?
A person who lives hand-to-mouth is in a race with the rich one for fetching market food for himself and for his family. Competition and comparison has now even come up in negative aspects of life as well. But I believe, however high the slogans and advertisements of junk food might be; it can’t simply compete with one’s home cooked meals and what is provided to us by nature directly.
But how pity! Nobody understands this. Sermons are doled, and messages get delivered clearly but at the end, we do what pleases us the most. What we call in local parlance, “Kanna Da Sukh” (Goes in one ear and comes out from the other).
Not to talk of youngsters, it melts my heart to see even small children being given so much junk food by their beloved parents, affectionately. Such parents must remember that the consequences of such lifestyle are always fatalistic. For God’s sake, let’s at least keep our elderly and kids at bay from insalubrious, substandard and unhygienic food that deteriorates their health. Have you ever visited any hospitals and seen how many of our elderly and innocent kid are suffering from deadly diseases which even our forefathers hadn’t heard of.
Indeed, we are what, we eat. nutritious food is much more important for all of us than medicines. We usually visit doctors to prescribe us medicine for a disease. But for food we don’t have to go anywhere, it is at home.
There was a time in Kashmir when hospitals were least visited because people felt no need to go there. But currently, the scenario is quite dismal. The hospitals are over-crowded with patients. It’s because our lifestyle, diet, habits and mindset has seen a paradigm shift. An elderly person lived up to an age over 100 years, and remained fit till his/her last. The reason behind his/her good health was that he/she didn’t know any medicines except simple home based food.
What all such direly-old elderly knew was that home-made food, clean water, physical activities, social interactions, etc. was optimum for them. Such elderly are now rarely living with us in Kashmir. And if they are still living anywhere, that’s a miracle. Because at that time, people didn’t fill their bellies with everything. They rather had a simple lifestyle and relied on seasonal foods because they believed that seasons have a significant impact on one’s life. Whatever, Nature provided to them; they considered that fit for their health.
Everything which was produced at home at that time, is a miracle nowadays. Different seasons would come up with different foods for people then. Things like Tilgogul Teel (mustard oil), Ha’end (Dandelion Greens), Shajkan’en (wild vegetable), Kanze-Tomul (rice obtained from mortar and pestle pulverizing), Makkai Oat (corn flour), Makkai Sa’et (corn powder of maize), Kahwa, Koshur Koker ta Thool (Kashmir hen, cock and eggs), Houk Suen (sun dried vegetables like Gogji Hachi, Alle Hachi, Bumchoont Hachi, Ruwangun Hachi, Wangun Hachi, Houkgadde, etc.) free of cost those days, are now purchased lovably to be tasted.
Alas! Today we trust the ultra processed and canned food. We prefer to eat outside along with our elderly and kids without knowing what harmful effects it has on their health. The reason why so many people are ill is that our food habits have changed. The food available in the market no way resembles our own food that was a testament to our culture. The changing food habits call for a renewed commitment from the community. Need of the hour is to wage a war against such food habits which may deteriorate our health on a large scale. The sooner, the better.
Dr Rafeeq Masoodi IBS (Rtd) is former Sec. Cultural Academy & ADG, Doordarshan, Srinagar
