An Apple A Day- Palate Poetry on Your Tray

Hello readers!

Happy New Year 2024

I am sure you have set your New Year resolutions and many a few stuck by it. Resolutions at New Year's may be a cliché, but this year around I saw a lot of hate towards New Year’s resolutions. They say resolutions are just dumb and are set for you to fail. But I feel resolutions are perfect. It’s a good time to take an inventory of what we have done and what we want to do further. Look at it as doing your financial accounting and putting up a budget for the coming time. New Year gives you the opportunity to check your life balance sheet. I read somewhere that “Goals, without plans, are just wishes”- and I felt it. Real change requires Purpose, Plan, and Persistence. 

New Year is also an occasion to share gratitude for the Past and bring in hopes for the Future while being mindful of the Present. Being mindful is where we started our journey. Mindfulness while eating is gratitude, we show towards our food which strengthens the body, brightens the mind, and nourishes the soul. 

In my past few blogs, we paid attention to the senses- we relished food with our eyes, nose, ears, and touch. Now we need to treat our tongue- the palate- the taste buds. 

Engaging the 5th sense adds satisfaction and contentment related to food. Attention to the taste of food helps us recognize the subtle hunger and fullness cues. By savoring each morsel, we become more attuned to our body's signals to eat without overindulgence.

How do we train ourselves to do that?

As we engage all the senses and put the morsel of food in our mouth, try to relish each flavor and make a mental note. 

Does it have a sweet hint of honey or a spicy suggestion of pepper? Sour juicy or salty snacky?

Does it take you into your past?

Does this flavor connect with your feelings and emotions?

Just like Coconut and Date Laddu always takes me to winter holidays in childhood. My granny would help my mom grind coconut and chop the dry dates. Mom would toss in nuts, fenugreek seed, and “Gond”(edible gum). Once the dry mixture is ready mom would add loads of homemade ghee which would fill the house with the aroma. Granny would infuse it with jaggery syrup and combine this warm mixture until it became homogenous. We would try to steal loads of this mixture even before the laddus were made. Then they both would sit and roll round balls. These would then be stored in big steel dabba and were our sweet, nutty, flavorful, and nutritious treat throughout the holidays. Ah, nostalgia.

Hey, why are you drooling, you weren’t even there. (chuckle)

This is the power of mindfulness and imagination. It’s all about training minds. With that prompt, I hope and pray that you all have a healthy, peaceful, and soulful new year. 

Try putting down bits of your life and aligning them with MORE LIFE, that you want to live, the way you want to live. Not just surviving or thriving but living it up. 

About the blogger:  

Dr. Tabassum Inamdar is a dynamic Homeopath, a passionate artist, and an adventurer in life. From Medical corporate to Academics, she has balanced her left brain and right brain with equal passion for Art. She writes a series of blogs “An apple a day- your journey to a healthy way” in collaboration with @Fitaminat. A sketch artist since childhood, she is enchanted by theatre and writing. She is a regular theatre performer in Dubai. She continues life’s adventure by trekking, Sky diving, or Marshalling at Formula 1 tracks. You may stalk her @doctabu (IG) or say hello @tabu.inamdar (FB)