Firstly, my sincere regrets and apologies for having disappeared for quite a long time.

When other priorities push your zeal to the backseat, the zeal to perform has to wait. I suppose that’s what happened with me. When life suddenly showered upon a new ‘Bucket List’ of various ‘Family Packages’, the writer in me had to wait for a while.  But the inquisitive learner in me never stopped working.

A self proclaimed ‘hard core optimist’ that I am,  I’ve come back after this break, with wonderful experiences of peeping into Grandma’s kitchen once more, ofcourse which is presently Amma’s kitchen… the speciality being the presence of the nonagenarian aachi (grandmother). I was lucky enough to play  the role of the little grand daughter again to my grandmother, getting loads of life tips, family stories and sharing non-stop giggles.  Interestingly, I seem to have grown younger with the help of the  time machine called aachi.

Sometimes, God showers lifetime experiences that one would seldom expect.

This break showered me with an experience of sharing the same roof with young at heart oldies set apart by three decades. My grandmother who is 90;  my father in the 70s club; and my mother – probably one of the most patient and pragmatic ladies, in her sixties…. taking care of everyone. Being spectators to the daily routines of the three were me and my daughter of 11.

Now… I think you would understand my over whelmed joy to just observe and immerse myself in the role of a spectator…. and daily ‘Walk the Talk’ with these interesting personalities.

More than a food enthusiast, I have become a life style enthusiast with age. These special months have enlightened me to accept things in life, and let go many worries that we dump our soul sacks with.

Wouldn’t these elders from 60-90 years have issues related to food, health, fitness, relationships and loneliness? Tackling all these, along with the inability to do things they could do a decade ago…. is truly a catalyst to many agonies. But the time their bodies have taken to age has provided their minds and hearts with the great art of graciously accepting their own old age and its limitations.

One of the many lessons I learnt was to focus on enthusiastic diversions, that would provide the fervour to tackle the fast pace of life, as well as life’s various complications that never cease to diminish with age and with growing children.  These elders seemed to have their own interests they were engaged and occupied, throughout the day.

Am I still a Blogger or an amateur Philosopher??? No, No, Not yet.  When I analyse in isolation, all through the journey of ‘dosaikal’, I had aimed for a deep rooted cultural transfer from my previous generations to my next. The precious months those passed by, have given me a sense of satisfaction and great joy of having provided some of life’s beautiful lessons to my daughter. Especially, I was witness to the transfer of unconditional Love and Passion for Life from a 90 year old great grandmother to a 11 year old great grand daughter in the most beautiful manner ever possible.

Incidentally, my previous post has also been one inspired by the energetic old lady.  This might seem like a repetition post … but the passion and zeal of life that I observed in her tied me up to sit back, relax and relish those special moments… inhaling every micro second of it.

The 90 year old seemed the most energetic among the three. Though Amma (mother), who is the care taker of the household, is the most active, beyond her physical problems, Aachi (grandmother) astonished me with her briskness and memory. This is what made me explore more on the life styles of our elders.

I started thinking about healthy life style that is emphasised by authors, dieticians, diabetologists, food researchers and amateur foodies like me too. Now,  what makes our previous generation a healthier community than us.  And is that the real truth that they are a healthier lot than us? We might be a medically developed world… but what makes us fall prey to simple and complex diseases that immobilise us from performing our routine chores? With so much knowledge available on various platforms, what makes us scroll for more and more ideas on healthy life style? Why haven’t we been able to find a path… stop the search and proceed?

Have we ignored the wealth of knowledge that our own elders provide, live and exhibit every day…as we spend so much time searching the net for remedies.  We have converted our beautiful homes into mechanical dwelling houses .. where machines and gadgets live for more hours than our human hearts.  We are driven by advertisements  -provided by Retail companies and Spiritual Gurus alike.

Going back to traditional values, observing and absorbing what our previous generations ate, actively did and very actively avoided might provide a satisfactory result. Be mindful, we are intelligent enough to separate those unwanted logics too from the lives and beliefs of our elders. But most importantly, those life style markers that might pull us back from entering into Diabetic/Hyper tension Platforms… leave aside  Alzheimer and Amnesia…. could be identified from their life style.

Why I repeatedly go back to my grandmother is for her memory to narrate stories and  name members of the unbelievably huge extended family that she hailed from. At ninety, to squat and draw ‘maakkolam’- the intricate drawings on entrances with rice flour paste and chopping vegetables with ease is a sight of astonishment.  This is not only a physical ability… but the mental vigor to keep working, help and share the burden of the daughter-in-law. There is an inbuilt mechanism of stress busting, by chatting and diverting her mind into many other simple daily chores… and the remarkable fact is that… this stress busting technique comes unknowingly and is triggered unconsciously… no therapists to guide.

So, the simple moral I learnt is to observe our previous generations, inhale the best techniques that make them live a life with lesser ailments, or live a life that makes them feel there were lesser ailments or no great ailmemnts at all. It is a mind technique that came genetically, that we fail to inherit because of the so-called advancement in science and life style.

After this extensive food for thought, its time for real food for the tummy. With the same passion of zeal, I believe to have inherited from my grandma, I started exploring a few spots in Chennai and here are a few delicacies that I experimented in my kitchen…
 

Walnut Crackers

 

Amazingly perfect bread

 
Puttu

 
100% whole wheat Buns

 
Healthy roasted mixture

 
Pudhina Panagam (lime and mint -jaggery coolant for summer)

 

Green Apple Mint Juice

Thanks to my little angel, who brought me back from the awestruck state of mind to reality- to write more for her and for myself.