Change your lifestyle change your life

Renunciation of life is not necessary for improving the quality of life. Neither is there any need to migrate to the Himalayas. What you ought to do instead is just change your lifestyle and diet a bit, have a healthy attitude towards life, learn to reconcile to realities and lo, you can breathe easy. Hiren Mehta offers a perfect recipe for healthy and happy life in the cover story of Chitralekha’s latest issue.

Stressing that change is the only thing constant in life and Nature too welcomes change, the author cautions that change should be accompanied by fair measure of restraint and balance. From millet we switched over to wheat and it was a welcome change, for the better. But in the wake of wheat roti, Pizza and aerated colas, euphemistically known as fast food, too tiptoed into our lifestyle. Healthy wheat was replaced by Mainda and that spelt doom for our health. In a bid to ape westerners we indiscriminately accepted what they offered. And it took a heavy toll on what is called a balanced diet.   

Now, in order to foil the effect of fast food, they have initiated what is aptly termed as slow food movement, which started more as a reaction to the opening of Macdonald’s outlet in Italy. Sick of junk food, more and more people in western countries are returning to traditional diet and food culture. But back home we are still clinging to fast food. Experts go a step further by saying that both our food habits as well as the manner of eating food are  chief culprits.

Admittedly, our diet is devoid of any kind of nutrition but you might wonder what is wrong with the way we eat our food? Our scriptures have extolled the importance of eating meal, which was in a way looked upon as a full-fledged activity. But in today’s rat race we have no time for following the food-eating rules. We take food more for taste and filling our stomach. And this irregular style and wrong diet spawn a number of ailments including blood pressure, insomnia, diabetes, acidity and heart-related diseases. This is the reason why they are also known as lifestyle diseases.

It is not that you cannot cure or prevent these diseases. The story underlines the fact that it is all in your mind. Once you determine to change your lifestyle or eating habits, the rest becomes easy. Citing a couple of examples where the patients controlled their obesity just by restraining their diet and lifestyle, the story also refers to a natural hygienist who has her own recipe for a healthy life. Instead of prescribing any medicine, she recommends intake of more fruits. Unlike most dieticians who recommend taking heavy breakfast, the natural hygienist proscribes any food intake till noon. She says that the time from 4 am in the morning till noon is the purification time for our body and therefore, barring fruit juice or fruit, nothing should be eaten during this period. She however advises taking one fruit instead of assorted fruit dish. According to her the most congenial time for digestion of food is between noon and 8 pm in the evening and therefore the best time for taking food is at noon and towards the end of this period.

You will be surprised to know that there is one Ayurved practitioner who gives discourse on the Art of Eating. He says there is nothing wrong about eating any forbidden item but you must take it at the end of our meal so that your stomach is full by then and consequently you cannot eat it more than needed. He also says you should not mix fruits with meals. Fruits should precede your meal. However, one must avoid taking heavy food at night.

Nowadays they all complain about stressful life because of problems associated with rigours of modern life. In order to cope with the pace of life, it is imperative that you take certain precautions so that it does not affect your health. Changing your lifestyle and food habits is one of the most important precautions you can take.

This story tells you precisely how to do it and stay healthy and fit         

Corporate Yoga

Recently a Surat-based diamond company organized Yoga sessions for its employees. Kanti Bhatt says in the story that the objective of the camp was to help employees get rid of their addictions and improve their health. Yoga or meditation may be the latest fad adopted by India Inc. but the story says that in western countries they have been following this trend for quite a long time.

It is a proven fact that Yoga and meditation help improve employees’ efficiency and concentration powers. This was successfully demonstrated by several companies after their Yoga sessions they organized for their staff.

However, the author reminds us at this juncture that we should not forget Swami Vivekananda who was pioneer in introducing and popularizing the concept of meditation. Perhaps his teachings paved the way for increasing popularity of Yoga and meditation in modern times.

Now, Indian Rules the East India Company   

Four centuries ago the East India Company was notoriously known as a symbol of colonial power and  the British rule over India for more than 200 years. Now life has taken a full circle. The same company that kept haunting our psyche and reminded us of our colonial past has now been acquired by an Indian. What a happy irony. The story by Ketan Mistry introduces us to the man himself who makes us feel good and helps us salvage some of our pride. He is 47-year old Sanjeev Mahendra Mehta who bought the company in February 2010.

The East India Company was merely a trading company when it came to Indian shores but soon grew into becoming a huge powerhouse that came to rule India and several other countries. It imposed taxes and controlled our lives. Sanjeev Mehta gets very emotional while expressing his feelings at his prized acquisition.

Don’t you think you should read the full story as to how this proud Indian came to buy the Company we all once loathed? Let us celebrate this proud moment by at least reading the sequence of events that led to Sanjeev Mahendra Mehta buying this company.

Director’s Special

The story (by Parthiv Vora) of a director’s journey from Gujarat to Hollywood pales any Bollywood flick in comparison. The child who got scared while watching his first film grew up to make Hollywood films like Sansara and Valley of Flowers. Growing up amidst financial constraints and attempting to fulfill his dreams was not easy for young Pan Nalin.

His original name was Nalin Ramnikbhai Pandya, but he took the first three initials from his surname and wrote PAN as his initial on his paintings. Later he went on to become famous as Pan Nalin. He worked with Durga Khote when he landed in Mumbai, but soon started making his ad films. The rest is what they call history. The only difference is that this history can outclass any celluloid history in terms of splendour and drama.

This is another inspiring story of an Indian who knew his art, had courage of conviction and reached where he wanted to reach. Kudos to him.

Besides the above, the issue has Political & Humour columns, Zalak, Cardiogram, a Short Story, Health Helpline, Jalsaghar & Mukhwas.

Ishita’s Elchi

‘One who gets sincerely engrossed in his work is seldom required to think of his fortune...!!’ B B Forbes, Founder of renowned Forbes Magazine