HEALTH ICON THE TIMELESSapu:

Pallavi.shankar@timesgroup.com

To say that Mahatma Gandhi’s life and teachingshave influenced humanityis an understatement ofsorts. The way he lived his

daily life, from his eating habits to fit-ness mantras is relevant even today.

In fact, his life learnings are ofmore consequence than ever inthe present world which is over-dependent on consumerism andtechnology. We owe it to our-selves and the Father of the Nation to imbibe his health learn-ings in our lives.

Say NO to processed fats andfoods – before the worldwoke up to this well-be-

ing mantra, it was alreadybeing discussed by Gandhiin his book ‘Diet and DietReform’. He talked aboutthe importance of unsat-urated fats, mainly ghee,in the book, “In realityghee is pure animal prod-uct. One thoughtlesslyuses the expression veg-etable ghee or vanaspati, butit is a contradiction in terms.Vanaspati as an article of diet isa very poor substitute for ghee. Itnot only lacks absorption by the humansystem, but has no vitamin potency.” Today when ghee is being considered a superfood for healthy bones, joints and goodskin, we are reminded of Gandhi’s thoughts on this Indian food that is finding takers around the world.

Gandhi advocated ‘portioncontrol’ back then – in theIndia of the 1930s and 40s.

What we now know as ‘farmfresh’ and ‘herbal’ as new agehealth lexicon was a part of hislifestyle in the pre-Independenceera. Gandhi survived on raw foodbefore it became THE way to eatin the present health-drivenworld. Here are a few learningsfrom the ‘health wise’freedom fighter.

➤ Gandhi had highBP and a weak stom-ach. To fight theseissues, he consumed tukmaria, or basilseeds, amongother herbal remedies. Hebelieved in healing his bodythrough food. ➤ He had regulated salt andsugar. Gandhi had a sweet toothand he loved mangoes – his onlyindulgence. But post the mangoseason, he would always get backto his frugal diet of simple food.➤ Eat frugally – was his mantra.“The body was never meant to betreated as a refuse bin, holdingall the foods that the palatedemands,” he had said famously.

Accordingto him, too frequent meals and

excessive intake of concentratedstarches was unhealthy. For 11days in the summer of 1893,Gandhi ate only raw food.➤ Going vegan before sunrisewas another concept he liked –what nutritionists promote now.➤ Gandhi would go for waterfasting to recuperate his bodypost illnesses. The concept ofregular fasting to give the bodyrest is scientifically proven now.

“Bapu’s approach to foodwas simple, yet powerful.His take on unprocessedfood, especially on tradi-tional gems like basil seedsand ghee reflected Satvikdiet to promote vitality.”

Nutritionist LLovneetBatra

THE NATURALIST & HERBALIST

WELLNESS RETREAT, FITNESS AND MORE...

POSTER BOY OF PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE

Gandhi founded (alongwith others) the famouswellness ashram –

Nisargopchar Ashram at Pune,in 1946. It’s a nature cure facility that treats everything fromobesity, skin issues and gastricproblems to other chronic dis-eases by following Gandhian

values and lifestyle. The con-cept of wellness or health re-treats is fairly new but trust theinsightful freedom fighter tostart it in the 1940s, when healthmeant a quick visit to the localvaidya. The ashram stands talltoday and is visited by peoplekeen to heal lifestyle diseases.

FUNCTIONAL FITNESS:Gandhi walked 22,000steps (approx) daily for40 years. The historicDandi March wasstarted solo on a 390-kilometre protest walk,and was soon followedby 10,000 people

Indian Council of MedicalResearch has released aspecial edition, ‘Gandhiand Health at 150, Role of ICMR’, with a chapterdedicated to his health

Besides being a legacy of the freedomstruggle, khadi is now India’s favouritefashion fabric. We trace the journey of thisenduring and versatile textile

The year was 1920 – inthe Nagpur session ofthe Indian NationalCongress (INC) – whenGandhi announced hismission to promote

‘khadi’ as the nationalist fab-ric of India. Overnight, khadibecame the symbol of freedomand defiance as bonfires werelit across the country, with In-dians setting their Englishgoods into flames. The idea wasto reject foreign goods and giveimpetus to the national hand-

spun fabric – khadi. Textile artist Shelly

Jyoti elaborates the makingof khadi into a cult fabric,“Gandhi and his associatesorchestrated a series ofkhadi tours and exhi-bitions in the secondhalf of the 1920s.These strategies gar-nered regional presscoverage and drewparticipants fromsmall village commu-nities to new consumer

and producer roles.” Bydisplaying khadi in its vari-

ous regional forms, khadi be-came a means of communi-cating beyond the traditional

boundaries of region and lan-guage, as well as class and caste.Eventually, khadi became a ma-terial artefact of a new nation-al community and a demo-cratic fabric that helped inuniting the country.

The evolution…Cut to 2019 and khadi is morethan a mere fabric limited tothe government-based khadi

bhandars. It has evolved into anelitist natural fabric that is ex-

ported across the world. Design-er Sailesh Singhania says, “Khadi

is synonymous with breathable and

sustainable wear. Khadi also existedin the time of Gautam Buddha andeven before that.” Fashion DesignerAditi Swain, who uses only 100 percent cotton in her clothes says, “Bothpure cotton and khadi are a philoso-phy that has become integral to thefashion industry.” So true.

Shelly Jyoti’s 2016 show: ‘TheKhadi March: Just Five Meters’ isabout Swadharma (my duty) forthe nation. She explains, “Iexplored the idea of buying fivemetres of khadi once a year – byIndia’s 30 crore urban popula-tion. This can transform the livesof rural weavers.”

‘SWADHARMA’TOWARDS NATION

Khadi is a handspunnatural fibre cloth, madewith cotton. The cloth is

woven from cotton and mayalso include silk, or wool, whichare all spun into yarn on a spin-

ning wheel called a ‘charkha’,which was used by Gandhi

to spin khadi

Photo: Gaurang Gupta

Shelly Jyoti’s ‘Khadi Swadharma’ painting

A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes. Mahatma Gandhi

For bbeing aan ooptimist...I look up to Gandhi, ashe has always por-trayed incorrigibleoptimism. He knewthat the Indian troopsweren’t as strong asthe British, but his mantraof non-violence finally freedour country. “If we want something, we have towork towards it,” is what he taught us.MANJARI PARUCHURI, Class VIII, Delhi School of

Excellence, Attapur, Hyderabad

For bbeing aa ‘soft-sspoken rrebel’I look up to MahatmaGandhi because hestood for truth andhumility. His austeritycarried the powerfulvoice of rebellion, chal-lenge, strength and determina-tion, and his humble words and soft voice carrieda lot of weight. SANDRA JAISE, class X,

Gregorian Public School, Ernakulam

For bbeing tthe nnation’steacher...Mahatma was a kind-hearted and responsi-ble teacher. He spunmagic with his wordsand had the courage tostand up against theBritish colonialists. We areproud citizens who are reaching immeasurableheights in various fields. Indeed, it is Gandhi,whose shadow we follow today.APARNA GOVIL, class VIII, Pathways, Aravali (Ggn)

For sshowing tthat oone ccanlead aat aany mmoment...Gandhi's early life waspretty ordinary, andhe became a greatman during the courseof his life. This is one ofthe reasons why Gandhiis followed by millions, for heproved that one can become a great soul duringthe course of one’s life, should they ‘live rightly,think rightly and act rightly’. BABITA GUPTA, teacher, St Anne’s Convent

School, Chandigarh

For bbeing ssomeone wwhowalks tthe ttalkGandhi was a man ofaction, not just ofwords. In today’sworld, politiciansmake promises butdon’t deliver. More thanhis speeches, he had a hid-den charm with which he played influencer in apositive way. Importantly, Bapu had the ability toconnect with everyone effortlessly. SUDHA A S, head, English department, NavyChildren School, Kochi

For sshowing rrevolutioncan bbe ssans bbloodshed..Mahatma demonstrat-ed how revolt can beculled without shed-ding blood. He showedhow he would not giveup the fight for freedom –but to achieve this goal, heresorted to the path of non-violence. More thananything, I admire his simplicity and humility.ANKITHA S K, class XI, National Public School,

Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru

For llife vvalues...Mahatma Gandhi’s lifeis all about values andlessons — there’s somuch to take awayfrom a humble manwho left a rich heritageof Satyagraha for all of us,besides highlighting the impor-tance of ‘swachhta’ in life and society. Theseideals are meant to be emulated.DR SURENDER SACHDEVA, principal, DPS,

Ahmedabad

MENTAL HEALTH

Ahimsa, compassionand empathyThere is plenty of talk nowa-days about how compassion andempathy are great for mentalwell-being and even happiness.Studies have been conductedand documented to show thathaving these values in life alsoaffects your immune system ina positive way. A wise Gandhi

with his smiling face andgentle eyes had said,“An eye for an eyewill only make thewhole worldblind.” This onestatement en-compassed hisvalues of com-passion, empathyand ahimsa or non-violence.

Compassion is the ability tounderstand the emotionalstate of another person.Empathy refers to our abilityto imagine ourselves insomeone else’s shoes. Aresearch at the University ofBritish Columbia has shownthat ‘giving’ is more gratify-ing than ‘receiving’. Gandhi

used to care for theshunned leprosy

patients self-lessly. An inte-gral part of hisphilosophy was

service to thesick and poor.

GIVE TO OTHERSTO STAY HAPPY

➤ Designer Gaurang Gupta is paying an ode to Mahatma’sfabric this year – on his 150th Anniversary – by recreat-ing 30 paintings of Raja Ravi Varma on 16 saris.

➤ Varma’s iconic paintings will be recreated on saripallus through weaving, with all the light and shadefrom the painting translated on cloth.

➤ The presentation of these 16 masterpieces will bemade on Jayanti Jayanti – October 2 – that also happens

to be Raja Ravi Varma’s death anniversary.

SALUTING THE SPIRIT OF KHADI

WHY I FIND GANDHIINSPIRATIONAL...

Wellness guru, fitness freak and a champion ofsustainable living – yes – that’s Gandhi. Hislifestyle is an inspiration for the younggeneration to learn the values of healthy living