THE BUTTER AND THE BUTTERFLY






















“Sustainable diet has no name.”

-      Rutuja Diwekar


After my health crisis, last year, I had been advised by my doctors – the Onco, the Nephro, the Uro and my surgeon – that I should see them every three months along with various reports… Yes, just to keep monitoring!

For sixty years, I had never been hospitalized, ever.  Like everyone else around me, I had some health issues, now and then; but, I was never advised to be hospitalized. Though dad’s side, diabetes had been hereditary, I only remained a ‘borderline case’… So, it’s fine. My BP, considering my age, has been consistently ‘reasonable’. A mild pill has been prescribed… That’s about it.

I do not drink or smoke… I do have a weakness for non-veg food and some sweets; but, I never over indulge in them… I do not party or have any erratic lifestyle or eating habits… Sleep has been quite sound and sufficient…

So, a year ago, when a cancerous tumour was accidentally detected on my right kidney (and I had to undergo a surgery to remove that kidney), the question that did crop up in my mind was – ‘What was the cause?”

No doctor has given me any satisfactory answer. And, I have stopped asking. I remember, post surgery, on my first visit to the well-known Onco, Dr. Boman Dhabhar, I had asked him the same question: “Doctor, what must be the cause?”

Dr. Boman, an affectionate and approachable soul, looked at me and said, “I don’t know… I see so many little babies, even, with advanced stages of cancer!”

I have stopped asking that question, ever since. For sixty-long years, there was no need to ask that question! And, I think, there should not be any need to ask that, any more…

On another visit to Dr. Boman, my wife complained to him about my stubborn weight. “Doctor, how can he (her husband!) lose his weight? He is still 82 kilos!” (I have added another 3-4 kilos since that night!).

Dr. Boman sweetly looked at his doctor-son (who was jointly examining me, sitting next to his father, that night), and said with an honest mischief, “Wish we both had an answer!”

Both, Dr. Boman and his son, the oncologists, were over-weight by any standard… Good-old Parsis they were… Maybe, good-old foodies, too… Maybe, the weight was hereditary… or whatever the reason. The point he wanted to make was: “My friend, don’t worry about all that… Learn to live happily.”

And, that’s something so simple, yet, so tough… Yes, learning to live happily!

Were there toxic activities in my life?

Yes, there were some… I chucked all of them. I started eating sensibly; but, I ate everything I liked. I started eating early at night, mostly between 7 and 8… Went off to bed between 10 and 10.30… Rose early at 5… Did my 45-minute walking-routine combined with a few Tai Chi and stretching exercises… But, I never went overboard on following any diet or exercise plan that was not ‘sustainable’, which I wouldn’t continue to follow for the rest of my life…

I and my wife, both, love watching good movies in the cinema halls… We love eating our favourite food at home and, sometimes, at the local restaurants…

Two days ago, we both had gone to show my latest reports to the Nephro… So far so good. It was 7:45 in the night, by the time we were out. I wanted to eat at a popular restaurant some of my favourite food… For a moment, my wife made a face… But, she, soon, succumbed to the temptation…

It was a lovely dinner… We both ate it with no guilt at all…

We had a sound sleep, too, in the night!










GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: pixabay.com

Videos:1. NDTV 2. The Foodie


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