A pod and a pea

Strange title for a blog; sounds more like one for a fairy tale doesn't it? It is just another serendipitous moment that I share with you. As often it began with two unrelated articles that came my way while scrolling down my FB page. Before I carry on, a small aside is needed: this is in no way a morbid or black blog. On the contrary I feel it is celebratory. I have never understood why any mention of death always comes with a sense of forbidding. Come on if there is one thing we are certain of the moment we make our wailing entry into this world is that we will have to leave it, and yet it is the one thing we often fail to plan as we do for all other milestones from the first smile to the nth birthday via success in exams, first love, first child  and so on. Often our exit plan is decided by our beliefs or those of the ones we love. At some point when we cross a certain age or are faced with a sudden scare, we at best make a will again more for others than ourselves. Some of us make a living will to at lest exercise our choice in the way we would want to be treated more so in a world where the medical fraternity is hell bent on giving you some extra time notwithstanding the quality. That is a no no for me and I have put that on paper.

I have often thought of my curtain call and though I am a Hindu (my brand of it) I have always felt that pyres consume too many trees and the electric way seems devoid of any soul. Giving one's body to science is an option that will be explored but the question of how should my remains be disposed of remains wide open. Till today I had not found any option that would satisfy my body and soul. This morning I stumbled upon an article that offered a brand new option: an organic burial pod that turns into a tree. This is the brainchild of Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel and their project Capsula Mundi. In the words of Anna and Raoul: Capsula Mundi is a container with an old perfect shape, just like an egg, made with modern material -starch plastic- in which the dead body is put in a fetal position. Capsula Mundi is planted like a seed in the soil, and a tree is planted on top of it. The tree is chosen when the person is alive, relatives and friends look after it when death occurs. A cemetery will no longer be full of tombstones and will become a sacred forest! Wow. This satisfies everything I believe in: a full circle as you exit as you entered; a respect for nature; a beautiful resting place and above all a celebration of life.

In a country like India where people are increasing in numbers and forests being depleted with impunity this seems to be a perfect fit. Maybe it is worth exploring.

The other article also brought death to the fore but for all the wrong reasons. It is about Bill HR 933, that is know as the 'Monsanto Protection Act'. It was passed surreptitiously but has alarming consequences. Under this law, courts in the US will be barred from halting the planting or sale of GMO seeds even if they are found to be harmful! Now if this happens in the US of A, then what about what lands on our plate. But the moot point is that we need to have the right to chose what we eat and that right should not be be taken away from anyone, whatever else you want to protect.

I may not have written this had I not been compelled to share a bed with Mr Hodgkin's for a few months that led me to venture into the world of nutrition in a way I may never have. The bottom line is that the food processing industry that may have had good intentions at the beginning has unfortunately lost its way. Today what we eat is laden with additives and preservatives with often unpronounceable names each more lethal than the other, and sadly some even pitched as being good for you. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the last decades or so have seen a quantum leap in new ailments and auto immune diseases. Obesity is a gift of the food processing industry and ads are its new seduction tool.

Any industry is steered by profit making so what is cheap is best. Corn syrup was the biggest boon for the food industry and the biggest bane for the consumer. The list is endless. Bread which at best should have 3 ingredients has a version has a so called 'healthy' version has more than 30. Some make the bread whiter and chewier; some increase the volume; some protect it from mould. Most are bad for you. Making listing of ingredients mandatory help us making choices. The jury on GMO is out but with the new legislation your hands are tied as you have no recourse at all.

You may wonder why I keep on nagging about the importance of nutrition. In the past two years I have seen how healthy food can heal better than any medicine. But the food we ingest is not real food. Take milk for instance. To keep up with the huge demand cows are now made to produce milk every day with the help of antibiotics and hormones. Gone are the days when they ate grass in the open and produced milk when they had a calf. That is just one example.

Genetically Modified Foods cannot be good for us. Going against nature cannot be good for anyone. You cannot fight the food industry but at least you need to be informed and above all have the right to chose.

Someone bought a watermelon at an organic market. The said watermelon was not sweet so the person complained. You see we have all got used to sweet and red watermelons forgetting that the sweet and red are additives that are injected in the fruit. An organic water melon may or may not be sweet, may or may not be red as that is the way nature functions. We seem to have forgotten that.

A healthy diet can do wonders to your health and quality of life. But it seems to be a losing battle one cannot keep up with. But at least we can exit as a tree. My choice would be the banyan!