“Tell me; Mother, from your own lips - do you live without food?” asked Paramahansa Yoganda to the woman yogi who never eats. “That is true.” After being silent for moments she added, “From the age of twelve years four months down to my present age of sixty-eight - a period of over fifty-six years - I have not eaten food or taken liquids.”
“Your nourishment is derived from the finer energies of the air and sunlight, and from the cosmic power that recharges your body through the medulla oblongata. I sleep very little, as sleep and waking are the same to me. I meditate at night, attending to my domestic duties in the daytime. I slightly feel the change in climate from season to season. I have never been sick or experienced any disease. I have no bodily excretions. I can control my heartbeat and breathing. In visions I often see my guru and other great souls.”
Said the yogi (Giri Bala) who loved to cook and feed people. This is one of the beautiful chapters from the book “Autobiography of a Yogi.”
But what is the use of having a life without eating? asked Yoganda. “To prove that man is a spirit.”
“To demonstrate that by divine advancement he can gradually learn to live by the Eternal Light and not by food.”
Everything in life comes at the right time with a purpose. “There are no accidents.” This is my first book of 2020. A few years ago I was introduced to this book and I made fun of it. Later in 2018, I bought this book to hide from my personal problems and find peace. But you find peace when you accept and face the problems. Finally, I started reading in January, it took time and I was in no hurry. The book is an experience that grows on you with every page. Obviously I don’t agree with a lot of things but isn’t that the job of literature to intrigue and challenge our thoughts.
But how can we live without food? When we don’t have anything to do we eat and for every problem Indian mothers have one solution - you are not eating well.
To begin with, non-veg was a staple diet in my home. Sunday’s would be incomplete if Mutton was not cooked. As I grew older, I was given the job of bringing non-veg items from the local market. I loved mutton, chicken, fish, and egg. I could eat them almost every day and still want more. I used to hate veggies, so my mother would give me an omelet when I would come from school. I was also served the best when it came to food. Doing the shopping for all these items would also offer me small side money(Rs 5-10) to have a small tea party with my useless childhood friends.
In 1998, I left home for higher studies, the first thing I missed was my mother’s mutton. Besides the state was Gujarat so discovering non-veg food outside was a skill and they were awful.
In 2001, Pune offered me the opportunity to start cooking. I made chicken for the first time to impress my girlfriend and what a disaster it was. I took readymade chicken masala, chicken and just gave 4 whistles on a pressure cooker. However, this initiated my quest for cooking. My Pune landlord lady was a gem and she also allowed me to cook non-veg in her kitchen. I was like her son.
My cooking finally evolved when I moved to London in 2005. Next 3 years I cooked all kinds of non-veg dishes. During my London days, I met a Pakistani guy who was a better cook than me but I never accepted in front of him. We became good friends only in the kitchen, but on the play station, we were the neighboring countries dying to fight. I still remember that I cooked 5-6 dishes for 30 people in 4 hours, because one of them had become a dad and I couldn’t say no to his request. By the time I was done I was dead had few beers and went to bed. The next day there was nothing left for me.
By now I was better than my mother and I no more loved her cooking. I enjoyed my own food. In my startup days, cooking was the biggest stress buster and in the course of seven years(2011-2017) every Sunday I would try a new non-veg dish. By now I would try all kinds of Indian dishes and just not non-veg. However, Sundays would always be mutton, a beer, followed by a sweet dish and finally an afternoon sleep to forget all the problems of a bootstrapped startup.
Similarly, if I would visit a city I would first find the local eating joints, plan my day and then fit in my work. When I use to travel to Mumbai from Pune I would travel from Andheri to Churchgate and I would make sure that I would try almost every famous and unknown joint. The discovery of food joints was a hobby.
But today I have no such craving. I stopped eating non-veg last year because I wanted to focus on health and my running. Running has changed my life and brought discipline in my life. I want to be vegan but it requires a lot of mind control and discipline.
By the way, the decision to become a vegetarian happened before I watched the amazing documentary “The Game Changers.” The Netflix documentary film talks about the benefits of plant-based eating for athletes.
I am not advising you to become a vegetarian. It is a personal choice so do whatever makes you happy.
I still cook but it would be the pulses, sambar or a vegetarian dish. Besides I eat almost all vegetables except the Shimla Mirchi. I think it is only good in a raw form within a sandwich.
But for me, it was also about taking control of my cravings. My parents were shocked and they thought it would just be for a few months. Today I eat when I am hungry, I watch what I am eating and when I am eating. Trust me I run more miles and put more time in the gym. I don’t take any supplements or protein shakes and I am doing perfectly fine (Don’t follow me, I am a nut head. Listen to your body and do what is best for you).
Sometimes I have craving for Rasmalai or Mihsti Doi, I just have it :)
However, my mother believes that men who are good at cooking don’t have a happy family life. Well, she isn’t completely wrong. I still love cooking, cooking shows inspired by the culture and a big fan of Ranveer Brar. If you have the same interest then do watch Million Pound Menu(Netflix) - it has food, the madness of entrepreneurship, big money and dreams to make it big.
It is fascinating how I trust the story of the woman yogi who never eats. It’s all in the mind. I wouldn’t have believed a few years ago.
“There are no accidents.”
Have I bored you enough with my eating habits :) If you are still with me then you make me happy? This week I wrote two stories that were related to COVID-19.
COVID-19 already has shown a huge impact on the businesses that will take months if not years to recover. I share insights from the McKinsey Global Survey and McCann Worldgroup Truth Central to show the initial impact.
With the COVID-19 mayhem, the consumer is saving, spending on health and adjusting with the new quarantine life. I share insights from Nielsen investigation, BCG Consumer Snapshot for March, and Deloitte's report on COVID-19
Stay safe and stay at home. No harm in lighting diya. But don’t burst crackers or start doing garba on the roads. Corona is also active on a Sunday.
Peace and happiness ❤️