Appukuttan and Paru Aunty’s secret !
- Suraj Nair
- Oct 14, 2021
- 5 min read
Image Credits: Science-In-Doses
(Three months back)
After a long tiring day, I was finally falling asleep, when my phone rang, on multiple occasions. Usually, that's a sign for an emergency. I dragged myself out of my bed to find messages from Paru aunty, in different groups. I felt irritated. Knowing Paru aunty, I could very well guess the messages. Reluctantly, I opened it:
‘Best foods to reduce your weight by 15 kg in a month’... read more...
I couldn't muster the courage to read further. Frustrated, I went back to my bed and lying down I thought of Paru aunty- she was a hilarious person. She was there beside my mom, when I was born and 28 years later, she is still here, growing older only by number. Over the years, I had seen her turn from the soft spoken household lady to an outspoken larger than life person. She was having a successful career, managing her own business since the last few years. She had gone through the struggles and come out of it triumphant. She had made all of us proud. Despite the success that the business brought, it also took a huge toll on her health. Gone were the days when she could just pick up anything from a store and eat it on her way to work. She had to be careful about her food choices. Not the one to give up easily, she was constantly on the lookout for solutions. From no junk weeks to no fat months, she had done it all, albeit with minimal impact.
It was all going good until a few years back, she discovered the power of WhatsApp messages. Suddenly, with the push of a button she could turn from a woman next door to a doctor, a consultant, an engineer and even a guru herself. She didn't have to spend time searching for ideas to improve her health and nutrition. It was liberating for her. It was not long before she came to our house and started explaining this to mom. I remember the conversation vividly, not just because of its naivety, but also because I had to sit through it and endure the pain.
“Sudha, you should be a part of this group which sends tips on managing your health through proper diet.”
“I would love to join Paru ! Tell me more about it ! How much do I have to pay?”
“It is totally free Sudha, we all help each other, whenever we receive a message on health and nutrition we forward it to the group and also forward it to everyone.”
“That is so nice of you Paru, just recently I also received a message telling us about the 5 best foods for increasing your immunity powers.” It also said I could register for their program by paying 10,000 rupees and see the change. So I went ahead and registered. You know at my age, it is so important to keep my health in check.”
And these conversations never stopped. For me, as a science student, these conversations were an opportunity to look at the other side of the coin, a side where conclusions were made without evidence, ideas were validated without proof and everyone was a subject matter expert without genuine qualification. I have had numerous arguments with Paru aunty over her stupid ideas. But as they say, two parallel lines could never meet, or in Paru aunty’s words- “Tu abhi bachha hai, tujhe nahi samajhme aayega” (you are still a kid, you wont understand this).
As I was reminiscing over those arguments, another message popped up in my phone and no guesses here, it was Paru aunty. The message read as follows:
“Today is world nutrition day. Subscribe to our plan and share it with everyone around to live a happy healthy life.”
I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to take matters into my own hands. The strategy to counter her arguments was not working. So I decided to change it. The next morning when Paru aunty came to visit us, she had bought ladoos from the temple she had visited. She claimed that these ladoos were very healthy for our body since they were made fresh in the temple. As we were munching over the delicacy, I opened up a conversation with her-
“Paru aunty, I remember last month you told us that you had reached the pre-diabetic stage. I think you should avoid eating the ladoos now”.
“But these are made fresh, I doubt it will do any harm to me.”
I quickly opened the HINT app in my phone and showed the nutrient profile of til ka ladoo to her:
“I came across this app called HINT, which tells you everything about the nutrient profile of the food we eat, and it says 'til ke ladoo' should only be eaten in moderation as it is high in calories, sugars and fats.”
She was impressed. She finally understood the source of those messages that she used to receive on her phone. She hugged me tightly, claiming that I had found the best held secret in her life. I tried explaining to her that those messages about nutrition didn't come from this app, but to no avail. With a pinch of salt, I thought to myself- I have nothing to lose if she thinks those messages came from the HINT app, if I stand to gain her approval of using the app going forward. I told her that this app will help her check the nutrition data of all the foods that she was eating and she can forward it to everyone in her group as well.
And so began another saga in the incredible story of Paru aunty and me. She quickly learnt to navigate through the app and update her daily food intake. She also began taking pride in keeping her nutrition under check and forwarding it to all her friends. In fact, on one occasion, she rejected having vanilla ice cream at night after dinner, stating that she had reached her daily recommended intake of sugars, which came as a surprise to all of us.
(Present day)
As I finished my morning workout and returned home, I had several messages from Paru Aunty and I dreaded the worst. The past three months were a relief from her torture as she had been hooked on to the app for the most part. As I read through the messages, I couldn’t avoid a smile. The message read as follows:
“Your HINT for the day: Til ke Ladoo is a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, thiamine, copper and selenium. Eat this in moderation as it is high in calories, sugar and fats- data from the HINT app”
MISSION PARU AUNTY SUCCESSFUL !
PS: You must be wondering how APPU got to know about the HINT APP ! That story will follow, stay tuned !
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