When my water bag broke, at age 24, I excitedly woke my parents and said let’s go to the nursing home, in Mumbai, to have my first baby because I could not wait to get back home to my hubby in Bahrain. Of course, I was totally unprepared. And it turned out to be the turning point of my understanding of life. A rude shock instead of an ecstatic process that giving birth to new life ought to be.

It had all seemed so natural me. When my siblings and I were growing up, food was prepared by mum, no fuss was made when we were ill, dad’s uncle was a homeopath and so we got used to popping sweet white pills if anything at all. The only allopathy we ever encountered was from dad’s younger sister who was well versed with doctors and medicines. She was so well-meaning and loving that, on occasion, we followed her suggestions.

Of course, we fell into the trap of straightening our teeth, removing our tonsils and getting vaccinated, once even as casually as whilst waiting for our school bus. But life went on albeit with lowered resistance.

From my birthing experience to breastfeeding and then everyday foods for my six-month old, I realised how complicated was each encounter of life once one becomes the decision-maker for the infant whose life depends on you. Of course, it began with that, but to date I am confused seeing how every area of life could be so much easier, in my naive mind, with just simple shifts. And yet these shifts seem unlikely.

Even a seemingly small irritant makes me wonder about life. Lately the bane of my annoyance is the fact that I am blinded by headlights. When the car behind one’s car or one coming from the opposite direction has its beam lights on, which many do, I am wondering when this danger will make glaring beam lights an offence, unless of course required.

Onto chronic grievances. When it comes to food the annoyance changes to having to look for what one needs to nourish oneself in order to have the energy and good health to live an active life. Somewhere down the line food has become unrelated to its job of nourishing one’s cells. On a minute-to-minute basis our blood is built from the food we eat. So the quality of your blood changes according to the food you eat. And therefore so does your health! By changing what you eat you can literally change the quality of your blood and so the quality of your life.

However, the person in charge of nourishing the family often does not have the slightest clue that the food available today is below par, refined and grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides. The unsuspecting consumer did not realise that somewhere after Partition of India, with the introduction of chemicals in the food chain, they needed to become alert. A sad situation when would rather spend that time taking care of family, earning, being creative, etc. Only when illnesses took a cancerous turn did we take notice. The soil too has suffered the onslaught of chemicals and many parts of India have soil too acidic to grow anything. Fortunately, nature gives us ways of rejuvenating oneself if we decide to follow her laws.

We are so trusting that we believe every advertisement telling us which oil is good for our heart, which salt is the best, which rice is the tastiest. We cannot believe that food can be working against us instead of for us. Just like I expected my baby to be born naturally, we do not expect our food to be adulterated or stripped off most nutrients and chemicals added to either increase productivity or increase shelf life. In the name of modernity, we have opted for convenience, we have allowed our health to deteriorate and gotten used to being sick. Even the word ‘organic’ is hijacked with ‘no gluten’ signs on rice!

So when we are forced to stay home and stop all outdoor activity, it is no wonder that we do not question because we trust that all is for our good. So much information to the contrary is available and yet the powers that be carry on with blinkers.

Masks are a great idea for people with a cold or cough and this should be the norm anyways. Yes, strangers should not be breathing down our neck in queues, so in India it is welcome. But could compulsory mask wearing be good for us?

Could staying indoors without sunshine be good for us?
Could being isolated be good for us?
Could not getting/giving a hug be good for us?
Could being more and more online be good for us?
Could more electromagnetic waves be good for us?
Are countries with 5G more affected by the pandemic?

Fear is being instilled, the very fear that the world took years to mitigate when it was around TB and AIDS; we watched short films in cinemas convincing us they are not transmittable. Our brains are now being rewired to think that Covid-19 is transmittable by the presence of another human who tests positive. The gullible citizen would never imagine that plans could ever get this devious. Even after jobs have been lost, losses incurred, business shut down or taken over, we still want to believe that all is okay. Anyone counting the number of deaths due to depression, fear and hopelessness linked to the lockdown but not to the virus?

The number of deaths is being relayed to create more fear. We seem to have forgotten that we die anyways, a number of people die each day each month each year of various ailments far greater in number than of Covid-19. We are being fed death figures and we react as though we were unaware of death being part and parcel of life. Deaths this year may not even be more than those of last year. Have we forgotten that we are all mortal beings?

Some views say that majority of deaths are due to pre-existing conditions. Some say that they may not even be Covid-19-related. Often tests seem to be unclear. Germs and virus are everywhere and the fact that there are so many asymptomatic cases proves that only when one’s immunity is low can one succumb. So what is the panic about? The real panic should be that we are so easily manipulated. That we are not geared to taking care of ourselves, simple information of keeping oneself in good health is missing from our lives and from our education in spite of being in the land of the Vedas which westerners take more seriously than us.

Whatever be one’s philosophy of life and choice of medicine, vaccinations cannot be made mandatory, the choice should be ours. Good nutrition and hygiene are key factors that solved previous pandemics too. And frankly that’s all that we can do. The solution should not be graver than the problem. In the land of Ayurveda we should not have to fight for this right. My refusal to take illness as a given made me strive for the right solutions which are so glaringly simple that I was stunned that these are so well hidden by the way society functions.

The more obvious solutions of cleanliness, which has been part of our culture, seem to evade us unless superficially to clean and shove under the carpet. The idea is not to clean and to put the stuff away in landfills out of sight but to create less garbage in the first place. Of course, this is easier said than done. It requires a change in mindset, to be conscious of each purchase, being as biodegradable as possible. Recycling as much as possible, separating one’s garbage and if the civic authorities do not honour the separation, befriend a rag-picker and give them your dry waste. Compost as much of your wet waste as you possibly can.

The saddest sight for me is to see city gardens being pruned and the cuttings put in plastic bags to be sent to landfills, which are breeding grounds of mosquitoes. All this is for your own immunity! Cleaning your homes and dishes too should not involve chemicals. Many organic options are available: start looking! At a personal level, spread the good word. Let us hope the fine for spitting is imposed more strictly.

So let us regain our composure, use our intelligence wisely, and not wait for billion-dollar research to tell us what we already know. Our scriptures tell us to not to eat after the sunset but we need research to tell us about the now famous intermittent fasting.

Forget about bettering public transport or giving impetus to solar or electric vehicles, even during the pandemic the coastal road work in Mumbai has been on with a vengeance. Work at nights for over a year now has been on in full swing causing much distress to all, especially senior citizens, with noise way above the decibel level that disallows night music!

Forget about good, safe food, we are in 2020 passing laws to fortify all oils, which means only industry will be able to sell oil. As though the damage caused by the mandatory use of iodized salt was not enough! Unforgivable to ruin the health of the nation just so that industry benefits! Industry can benefit more by putting out products for our good health too. For a country that has a big percentage of its people that have never known what it is to have a nutritious, satisfying meal, we cannot do this to our brothers and sisters. Is it any wonder that the poor end up having to take choona (lime) and tobacco to be able to survive any kind of work because they do not have access to nutrient rich whole foods? And then they spend hard-earned money on the substandard foods available to them. Makes my heart sink.

Support the organic farmer because you want their children to carry on farming so that the wisdom of his grandparents is not lost to the world and so that safe food remains a reality. Let agriculture not become industrialised with genetic modification and chemicals that will further undermine our immunity. Laws are being implemented to make it more and more difficult for farmers to survive; they need our support more than ever. Cereals, pulses, onion, potatoes, and oils are delisted as essential items. What next?

Going organic is the best way to build your immunity, and then you will never fear Corona or any other germ or virus. I have not had to spend even a moment in fear. And never have, ever since I stumbled upon simple startling facts during my study of nutrition thanks to The American Natural Hygiene Society and my teacher TC Fry who died in the battle for life without medicines. Since I do not succumb to the germ-virus theory, I live fearlessly.

As I grow older I know my body will have its issues but armed with Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Craniosacral therapy and loads of common sense, I march on, my energy levels are legendary with the word ‘tired’ not in my dictionary. I am no superwoman and I don’t go to the gym but am very active, my daily life is simple and inexpensive. I wish my fellow Indians this kind of health. Of course, I wear a mask, but only to be a law-abiding citizen! If I had a cold or cough I would wear one anyways or, as before, stay away from people.

Build a strong and healthy body with organic immunity, incorporating logic to live in this crazy world. Refuse to be ill, listen to your body and follow nature’s laws. That is the best we can do for unfailing good health. Let us hope and pray that people in power work towards the good of mankind. All so feasible if they do. And we live happily ever after!