Educated Idiots!!!
By Vidya Hari October 29, 2022
I had visited my friend in hometown. It was breakfast time and she served traditional and authentic dish, Moode that is Idli batter poured in to a long leaf which is craftily shaped into a cylindrical container. It was served with coconut milk, menaskai and coconut chutny. Taste was heavenly and I just remembered my grandma.
What is shocking is my friend’s son left for college without breakfast. With curiosity I enquired about it with my friend and she said he prefers pizzas and pastas over traditional food. This made me ponder over because it is not just the metropolis which are contaminated but also the small towns in India is influenced by the western food trends.
As a principal of a school, I have heard many parents treating thier children with pizzas and burgers for thier achievement in sports or academics. By doing this parents are not only conveying the message that pizzas are better than our authentic food and are given to you when you achieve, children also think it is cool to have pizzas because they are exorbitantly charged. Food for thought: Are we poisoning our children when they achieve something? Can’t we replace pizza with books or visit to a zoo or heritage place or a treck?
Are we becoming educated idiots? Are we so dumb that we don’t see the harmful ultra processed ingredients used in the dishes. Don’t we know that the food stored for a long duration looses its nutrients?
Time to introspect. Just ask these three questions to yourself before ordering your next meal.
- Am I eating to leave the taste in my tongue?
- Am I eating to satisfy my hunger?
- Am I transforming this food into me?
Select and consume conciously. Food in our plate is not just a substance. It is a life making material!!!