I once had a simple life,
And simple did I eat,
My food was cooked in an iron kadhai
And was served to me in steel.
Chapatis lay wrapped in a muslin cloth,
Always smeared with ghee,
My school tiffin box was steel too
An uncomplicated life, you see…
Then one day they said “Stop eating ghee!”
You have no idea what it’s doing to you,
No Dalda, no vanaspati
Switch to a healthy oil, you better do!
They said it could be sunflower oil
Then said make it vegetable or soya bean
Polyunsaturated, omega 3 fatty acids blah blah
Your good health is what we mean.
Rice bran oil they came up with,
Then said olive oil was the best,
Oh, olive oil? No, that’s just a fancy foreign entry
It’s truly mustard and coconut oil that beat the rest…
Then they said get rid of all the oils,
As oil can never be nice
Buy these non-stick pans they said,
So what if you have to pay a higher price?
They came to me and lured me again
With colourful plastics and melamine
Aren’t they so handy, they asked me,
Chuck the steel they said, it’s time!
They said the muslin cloth was smelly and sick,
And told me about the aluminium foil,
Food stays fresh when wrapped in it
And lasts longer too, without getting spoilt!
I threw away my iron kadhai
I threw away my steel,
I threw away the muslin cloth
I threw away the ghee.
I hoarded my house with plastic
And four types of “healthy” oil
Non-stick pots and pans et al
And a long-lasting stock of aluminium foil
Now they come and tell me,
Discard the plastic right now!
Nothing can harm you more,
It’s killing you and how!
Else get plastic that’s BPA free…
So I looked for the BPA-free one
Then they said the BPA free had BPS
Which was as bad as the former one…
Throw away these Teflon-coated pots and pans
Now they come and say,
Switch to cast iron or regular iron for cooking
That’s the healthy way.
Ghee is so important, they tell me now
And switch to the good old copper and steel,
Look at what’s entering your body,
Through the poisonous plate in which you eat!
Foil is the worst thing to use, they tell me now,
Aluminium seeps into the food wrapped inside
And hampers your zinc absorption,
Use butter paper or muslin cloth, they confide.
So once again I am shopping for more,
Searching for stuff they asked me to throw away…
Trying to make eating and living healthy for my family
Buying back all the things I once threw away!!
The smartphones, the pesticides, the disposables and more,
I’ll keep them for another day,
I’m afraid this ranting’s already too long
To hold your interest anyway……
P.S. Don't ask me who the 'they' are 😊!
