By Tara Narayan

HONESTLY, Mumbai which is still half-Bombay but going on to Mumbai rapidly is one vast shopping mall, starting from the economical downmarket or streetside shopping scene to the fancy upmarket departmental stores, all tempting one to buy, buy this and that (a superb and slim “Made in China” garlic press…pop garlic pods in it and press down, and hey presto, you’ve got fine garlic crumble which is ideal for adding to a small jug of cold pressed olive oil from Italy/Spain/Portugal/Israel/Greece…a smattering of black pepper, stir, stir, and you’ve got the best topping for a slice of wholewheat toast or to toss pasta al dente in! In Mumbai and Slumbay and Bombay – three cities rolled in one and still proliferating into a mammoth urban roll – all one thinks of doing is going on a shopping spree, buy and buy and buy like there’s no tomorrow or till one is ready to drop dead (same thing) and leave it all behind for whoever, deserving or not. Usually life is fairer to the un-deserving in some kind of twisted, ironic, compensation logic! That’s my general mood of cynicism taking over…but hey, I’m visiting with Bombay and September has always been my favourite month in Bombay as in Goa I suppose. Lots of sparkling rain, sunshine and each day’s glorious sky a creative masterpiece. I never want to be ill or so ill that although material body is still hanging around my spirit has as good as fled to wherever – at least not in the month of September. One should be ill enough to die on an uncomfortable, hot and dirty, muggy May or June afternoon devoid of any inspiration to live!

What’s all this about? I’ve got living and dying on my mind. Lately with some amusement and some poignancy I’ve been watching how senior citizens choose to live or die. Sorry, sombre thoughts. Half the time or most of the time most of us do not listen to our body (although we love it so much and spend oodles of cash on cleansing, polishing, preserving it) and even less do we listen to our mind and soul. We compromise and compromise, excuse and apologise, rationalize and generalize, justify shortcomings and limitations – usually courtesy just plain greed or laziness! – till we’re backed by walls on all sides and can no longer run away for there is only way to go and that’s the way of no return. No return to make-up or say sorry or forgive me, love me again! You are the only sparkle of sunshine in my life and in my insecure, petty, ambitious foolishness, I’ve hurt you and snubbed you and snuffed out the only good thing in my life – your love and affection! I’ve been asking myself why the insecurities we suffer perennially from bring out the worst in us rather the best??? Surely it’s a choice we make day in and day out?

Does all this have anything to do with how we drink, eat, live? Sure thing, directly and indirectly and obliquely, don’t ever think otherwise. You’d be surprised how things add up if you make the connections, fill in the jigsaw puzzle of life which is rooted in Mother Earth.

A HEART PROBLEM
ALL THIS IS to say my mother like so many other senior citizens has a heart problem and that’s why I’m in Bombay (Mumbai officially, Bombay unofficially) where I’m struggling to understand the fine distinctions between ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure. And I have before me a long list of a busy doctor’s prescription…Daonil, Aten, Indur, Losar, Lasilactone, Aspirin Atorva, Lanoxin, S-Numlo…Becosules, Neurobin Forte when the feet burn with a terrific rise in blood sugar or aggravated diabetes. And, of course, a recommendation for hospitalization and coronary angiography to check out the extent of arterial blockage, followed perhaps by angioplasty. And so life goes on, dosed and damned by our sins of omission and commission, I mean drinking, eating, living habits which are in turn rooted in the way we feel, think, behave (all of it define lifestyle).

Of course, they should (as many enlightened doctors from mainstream medicine do in the countries of the West now) advise heart patients on alternative if harder ways to slow down or even achieve remission of disease i.e. if it is possible to make dramatic changes in drinking, eating, lifestyle (sometimes it is and sometimes it is not)….most of the time it’s difficult to make the dramatic changes required, more difficult in urban India where families are going nuclear (as in we-don’t-want-to-put-up-with-the-old-folk-let’s-live-separately or let’s-dump-the-old-folk-somewhere) and there is no supportive public health service whereby a senior citizen may call upon state-remunerated “outsiders” to do the honours with or without distinction.

While keeping an eye on my mother in Mumbai (the sister who usually keeps an eye on her has gone abroad for a week to chase some work) I’m reading through slightly dated i.e. last year’s pile of “Natural Health”, a health and lifestyle magazine which my other sister (in the U.S.A.) had sent me and which I’d forgotten were lying in Bombay. We’re four sisters as different as chalk from cheese although I’m more in sync with my America sister! Re-reading all the articles e.g. the ultimate vitamin guide, protect yourself from cancer and heart disease, boost your mood, build strong bones, eat pasta guilt free (seven fast and healthy recipes!), sharpen your memory with yoga, energize in minutes, wee ways to make your home healthy, how to love your job, the top anti-aging nutrients, America’s healthiest cities (Miami, Washington, San Francisco), etc., etc.. I’m fascinated and hooked anew. It means there’s quite a formidable infrastructure in the USA now if you do want to live an eco-friendly, health-friendly lifestyle! An infrastructure which has come up to feed a demand …for organically grown veggies, fruit, nuts, well-researched food supplements from the world over including India…scores of health spas to go to for a holiday, where one may drink and eat as one must if one wants to be fit for life and happiness. Naturopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, osteopathy, hydropathy, yoga, reflexology, acupressure, massage techniques, reiki, pranayam…and the general mantra: detox, detox, detox!

DETOXIFICATION FIRST
IT’S A cardinal principle of most of the alternative therapies. To detox or detoxify the body (in other words clean it up from the inside out) before learning anew how to drink, eat, life. This time how to do it differently so that body, heart, mind and soul get equal priority. The grief in the soul is the hardest to beat the experts say! Call it holistic or wholistic . Only when heart, mind, soul and body re-learn how to communicate efficiently and honestly can there be more or less perfect harmony, good health, longevity (although, of course, a car can knock you down a bad road or courtesy a fool driver).

Fine, slip up occasionally, but get back to touch base quickly, don’t stray away too far down the path of no return. I’ve been trying to explain to mother dear why her feet burn at night, that it is due to her diabetes, galloping high blood sugar…which in turn is related to her addiction to too much stuff that is refined, basically refined carbs as the experts say when they mean refined carbohydrates (refined white rice, refined white flour, refined white sugar, refined white oil, refined white salt… a love for fryums and sugar and ghee doped mithai, the typical rich urban Guju diet is gross)…how the body starves when what we drink and eat have zero or damaging nutrient values. But what do women of her generation in India know about anti-aging nutrients! It is true, the fact that she is in her late 70’s itself is an achievement, and she says she’s lived enough, seen too much life go by in easy times and hard times (the kind hopefully her children will never see).

As a daughter I’m trying to cheer up a mother who’s more stressed out than she cares to admit. How faithfully she’s taking all her pills! The American sister has sent a seven-day compartmental box where pills can be organized right through Monday to Sunday in lots to be taken post breakfast, post lunch, post dinner! How come nobody has invented something as convenient as this efficient contraption here in Bharatdesh??? And try to show her how she can still drink and eat without suffering too much…the rest is in the good Lord’s hands.

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