How do you eat so much rice?

I have heard this question too many times, really. And almost always, the questioner is interested less in seeking an earnest answer and more in making fun. It seems to most roti eaters that rice is a kind of boring food that makes you fat overnight. I used to get irritated with this attitude in the beginning - "How is it your concern what I eat? Am I asking you why you eat what you eat?". Then I graduated from irritation to sarcasm (if you can call it a graduation). I would almost come close to answering "Er.. with my hand. Isnt that how you eat YOUR food?". Anyway, I have now evolved to actually reasoning it out, at least in my head. This prevents me from reacting negatively to questions like this.

Rice is a wet crop, meaning it requires a lot of water to grow. If you have ever visited a rice field, even in passing, you would notice that all stalks are covered almost 75% in water, until they are ready to be harvested. South India is blessed with a lot of humidity and river water, which makes it very ideal for growing rice. Incidentally, rice happens to be the major crop in most (if not all) deltas and hence the staple food too. Whatever is available in adundance in an area, becomes a part of regular diet there. Another example is coconut. Even within a single state, like Maharashtra, fresh coconut usage in everyday cuisine increases as one moves towards the Konkan coast. When we are used to a particular kind of food from childhood, we tend to mostly prefer the same unless there are contra-indications (like rice being too "white" these days). Therefore, there is nothing superior or inferior about eating a particular kind of food.

There is an additional "poking tag" associated with South Indians, esp Tamilians - that they eat curd rice all the time, that all they need is curd rice and nothing else. If one paid any attention in geography classes, one would know that Tamilnadu is closer to the Equator than other states (except Kerala). The closer you are to the Equator, the more tropical it gets. People who generally live in tropical regions, accumulate what is called "Pitta" in Ayurveda. In layman terms, it translates to "accumulating more heat in the body". Now, every food has a particular property and hence it is advisable for people living in the tropics to add foods that soothe this "Pitta". That is why, traditionally, in many South Indian households (even in Andhra Pradesh), curd rice+onion is consumed even for breakfast. In peak summers, my mother used to mix milk and a little bit of curd in rice every night. I was made to eat this the next morning (as much as I felt bored of it at that time and longed for more interesting idlis and dosas) to keep heat boils, dehydration etc. at bay. 

Google will tell you that an equal measure of rice and wheat have the same number of calories. If we can control the amount of rice we consume per day just as we control the amount of chapatis we consume, we can keep calories in control. In fact, in any Ayurvedic detox/weight loss program, the only cooked food they seem to allow for a while is Khichadi (rice and moong dal cooked together). 

All foods are equally wonderful. It is a matter of pride for Indians that they have such a great diversity in cuisine and in the cooking process. I have seen that even the way rotis/rice are prepared varies across states and communities. Instead of appreciating the variety, it is sad that we focus on ridiculing habits that were formed/recommended for a very logical reason. 

Beauty is all in oils

My relationship with oil has never been cordial (until recently!). My father would always stress how important oil is to the body and I would curse under my breath (oil makes one sticky.. yech !). Plus, I thought I already had enough to cope with Chennai's stickiness and could really do without more oil on my skin, hair etc. Sticky, smelly oils were for the older generation when they had no stylish, perfumed scents, gels and creams. They were not for me then.

But life has its own way of teaching lessons. When your skin becomes dry and hair starts falling; when all those colorful, attractive 'skin/hair care' products are eating away not only your money but also your skin/hair (irony!), you start to realize there must be some truth in what your father said. That was what happened with me. The more I read and understood Ayurveda, the more I was convinced that the first thing I should do to save myself from baldness was to dump my shampoos and conditioners in the dustbin. The same holds for moisturizers. Doing the latter was easy because no moisturizer ever worked well for me, anyway. 

Conditioners gave me a temporary feeling of 'softness' but always made hair worse in the long run. Many of my friends are also experiencing similar symptoms. In India, there is currently a craze for 'straight hair'. So, as long as I was there, I must admit I longed for the same but never had the guts to go for permanent straightening treatments like some friends did. I always went around feeling ashamed of my frizzy, wavy hair. Things changed drastically when I moved to the US because here, they have the opposite craze (for curly and wavy hair). Some colleagues walk up to me and ask what I do to get such 'beautiful curls', if I could please tell them how they can get their 'tiresome, straight' hair to look alive and bounce, if I use a 'special curling iron', how I manage to get all the curls to point in the same direction (!), etc. Now, suddenly I started loving my hair because everybody around me was appreciating it so much. See? We all do this. We base our opinion on ourselves on what others tell us. 

Anyway, if we want to change our hair texture based on current trends in different places, we would end up bald. There is nothing like 'this type of hair is the best, this skin is the best, this color is the best, this nose is the best'. Everything is very subjective.Warm, natural oils are still the best food for hair. Ayurveda suggests different oils based on one's constitution - but unsurprisingly, coconut oil is one that can be used by anyone (I know my father will love this sentence). Further, there is nothing like an 'Abhyangana Snanam' (oil bath) to rejuvenate oneself. Yes, bathrooms get a little messy but you can burn some calories scrubbing them later. I have learnt this lesson the hard way by trying other fancy things and failing miserably.  

Long story cut short, it has been 3 months since I stopped using any conditioner. I still get tempted to use shampoo in the morning rush hour but am trying to get rid of that too, soon. I read some useful skin/hair tips and some really worked for me. When you try them, remember that any natural healing process takes some time and that is the right and sustainable way to heal. If you use something and see results overnight, you can be more than assured that it is bogus. So, try these remedies for a while and see for yourselves.

For acne/pimply/dry/oily/combination skin (any skin) 

• Grate cucumber, massage that cool grated cucumber gently on your face. If you have a lot of acne and pimples hurt, do this carefully and slowly. Do this everyday. Cucumber clean the clogged pores in the skin and prevents more from clogging up. Sometimes, you can also mix a little milk. 
• Never rub your face vigorously with a scrub. Instead grind some oats, mix with milk and gently apply on your skin and wash off. Once your acne clears substantially, you can scrub all you want. I used to go to parlors in Hyderabad for a facial and they used to just scrub my face like anything. I have not been to a parlor since I realized what was happening. Its just a huge waste of resources.
• Do NOT bathe in hot water. Hot water drives out the natural moisture of the skin, resulting in cracking. Instead, bathe in luke warm water. Last mug of of your bath, splash cold water on your face and any acne infected part of the body. That will help in closing up pores.
• Drink lots of water. It is a natural toxin remover. 

For dandruff (this really really works !)

Dandruff is again caused by flaky skin on the scalp. So one should scrape it out like you clean a sticky vessel. For this, warm up about a small cup of coconut oil. (I also add some curry leaves while warming the oil because it gives a good scent and prevents graying.) Now just pour this warm oil on the scalp in copious amounts. Your entire scalp should be wet with oil. Remember, if you use very little oil on dandruff, it will further stick to the scalp. What you want to do is literally pour it. Once done, massage the scalp well. Initially you will lose quite some hair in this process but after a few weeks, hair becomes stronger. Now, stay with this oil on for about an hour and wash off with shikakai/soap nut. Even if you use shampoo, you will still notice a much cleaner scalp. S and I do this every Sunday and it has really worked for us, after many failed products. You can even add some almond/bhringraj or other oil but coconut oil does the magic all the time.

I am also in the process of learning and practicing them but I felt I should share this even before I perfect my routine. Will share more as I try them.

Being a caterpillar

Learning anything new is so hard. It is even harder to retain the knowledge. For instance, I can learn languages easily but I forget what I learnt as fast as I pick them up, unless there is constant rehearsal. 

I always considered myself very lazy. But with time, I realized that my actual problem is 'quitting'. I have varied interests ranging from religion/mythology to technology. I spend more time worrying about days slipping away than in mastering anything. When I am too overcome with worry, I suffer a sort of break down and wonder when I became such a loser. One wants to be good at so many things but its all so difficult. It requires so much patience, sacrifice and hard work. 

For example, I dream about being able to sing like a nightingale, openly and spontaneously - but that cannot happen without hours of croaking my voice out, mastering the subtle nuance of reaching Ga from Ri. Similarly, just when I think I am finally floating well in swimming class, I sink multiple times, inhaling water instead of air and choking myself blue. Just when I feel I have finally nailed the whole baking thing, my orange cake refuses to rise and stays limp/sticky. When most of my class mates are able to enter a yoga posture gracefully, I feel like a rigid stone that refuses to twist or turn. When I reach the last stanza of a poem or a hymn that am learning, I realize I forgot the first. When I fix a messy bug in code, I introduce another. So you get the picture.

I am used to having these cycles of 'despair' and 'zeal'. It starts with being super interested in thing A, sucking at it, moving to the despair phase until some new thing B brings the zeal back. Anyway, this happened very frequently until recently, when I read this beautiful quote about a caterpillar and butterfly.

"No one in the world looked at a caterpillar and imagined it would turn into a beautiful butterfly"

This struck me deeply and has changed me. It is very easy to be the fox in the 'sour grapes' story. That only brings 'pseudo contentment'. True satisfaction lies in trying, in the journey, in the sweat, even in the despair. Today, I might seem clumsy at something and be embarrassed, disappointed and tired. However, with practice and perseverance, I might, one fine day, metamorphosise into a colorful butterfly, flying gracefully in green gardens, bringing joy and happiness to everyone. 

Until then, I am just an ugly, prickly caterpillar, silently working on my vibrant colors beneath my shell.