I have been a diabetic for the last 25 plus years. I went to specialist doctor in Mumbai a few years back for a routine consultation on the advice of our company doctor. The diabetic specialist asked me what oil I used for my food everyday. I very proudly told him that I had sunflower oil and so on.

He further asked me, as to which place ,I belong . He then asked me what my grandparents used. I told him that they consumed til oil. He advised me to stop everything else and follow what my grandparents had ,in their lives.

I realise that our bodies are attuned to the place we belong to. If you belong to the south of India, you either consume til oil or coconut oil for cooking food. On the other hand, people in the east of India consume mustard oil. The North Indians consume more wheat products while South Indians consume more rice. Our bodies get acclimatised to consuming food, which may be suitable for the weather and living conditions of the place ,we live in.

Today ,based on the marketing of products and commercialisation of everything in life, we tend to consume things which are advertised more ,than what our body needs. Our food habits and living habits are determined by commercials rather than what is good for us.

It may be time to look back and reflect on how our grand parents lived their lives. They got up at dawn before the sun rise and had a daily routine of exercise. It could be a walk or a run or playing a game. They did some puja or meditation before venturing out for their work schedules. They spent enough time with family members and always had breakfast and dinner along with all their family members.

The conversations during breakfast or dinner were the invaluable life lessons for their children and grand children. They were always around and thankfully the mobile phone had not invaded their lives.

Today we tend to get up as late as possible ,since we think that every minute of our sleep ,post sun rise is priceless. We do not have time to have our breakfast and are already in a hurry ,as we are running late to the work place. When we get back home, we are still busy on our laptops and do not have quality time ,to spend with our children.

Our day begins with our mobile phone and ends with it. We have started believing that the mobile phone is the centre of our lives and not our spouse, children or parents. While technology is a great enabler in our lives today, it should not be controlling our lives. We need to utitilise technology ,to make our life better and not the other way around.

It may be time to look back and learn from our grandparents. If they had time to exercise, meditate and spend quality time with their family, what prevents us from doing so. If they could consume healthy food and lead a healthy life, why are we not able to do it today ?

It may be time to reset and restart life and nothing prevents us from learning from our own grandparents and other elders, whom we have seen and admired right through our lives.

Time to learn is today.

S Ramesh Shankar

30th Nov 2023