Biology Makes Babies

While I appreciate the comfort that prayers can bring, and I find value in praying for a lot of things, there's one thing that I have never believed could be answered in prayer. That thing is conception. Conception as in: The sperm meets the egg, the cells divide, the cells divide again, and whammo, nine months later you have a bouncing baby. Granted, once you find out you're pregnant I think it's super natural to pray. To pray for a healthy pregnancy, to pray for a healthy baby, to pray to keep your spouse safe. But prior to that, it's biology.

 

As the second most populous country in the world with a staggering 1.23 billion people, India certainly seems to have gotten the conception trick down. Lately, however, I have to wonder if many people really understand how it all works. The biology aspect I mean. Many women will bemoan the fact that they've been unable to get pregnant. Of the women that have expressed to me, their disappointment in not being able to get pregnant after marriage, one includes a woman who insisted her husband wear a condom every time they "met," another doesn't live with her husband and might see him for a day or two every few months, and a third gets her period twice a year and has never seen a doctor about it. Do the math. It's not rockets. It's not lack of prayers being answered. It's biology. Perhaps if it did happen for any of those women, it would be a miracle and completely change my mind on the topic.

 

Well, after being married more than a year, and no babies to show for it, drastic action had to be taken today. I was given very specific instructions. They included:

Fast: This means no food, no drink, no smoke, no sex. What one thing from this list is required to make a baby? Nope, can't do that.

Fruit: When it was time to break my fast, I had a very specific seeded fruit I was to eat, seed and all. It was brought from a dargah, which is a holy shrine. I don't know what kind of fruit it was but it tasted like a prune.

Water: After swallowing the seeded fruit, I was to drink water.

Food: After the water I was to eat a bowl of kheer, which is a sort of milky rice pudding.

Prayer: After the food I was to pray.

Recitation: There was a script that also needed to be recited, but as I don't read Arabic, I was S.O.L.

 

Doing all of the above is supposed to aid in fertility. Considering not a single act from the above list involves what I learned in my 5th grade Family Studies class, I can't say I'm convinced. Biology has to come into the equation somewhere. Yet it would seem that many here don't make that connection.

Putting all of your faith in the above would seem to me to make pregnancy almost impossible without a little physical contact with your spouse coming into the equation.

 

Wait until I blog about the superstitions pressed upon women during their pregnancy. It's amazing any babies are born here.

 

Food Myths and Mysteries

Food is centric to all cultures. India is no exception. There are many beliefs related to food that I struggle to wrap my stomach around.

Chikoo Fruit

As summer is here, I've received no shortage of warnings regarding "heat" foods. Heat foods are foods that are said to increase your body's core temperature, or so I'm told. Heat foods can be beneficial at times, for example if you have a sore throat, you should eat a boiled egg, because it will draw heat to your throat and sooth the pain. In the summer months, however, heat food should be avoided, so as to spare your health. Heat foods include, but are not limited to; eggs (specifically the yoke), chicken, mutton, mangoes, chikoo fruit (which I consider a meal on the go, and like to have it when I'm hungry but don't want to eat). Also on the list is ginger (in every curry), coriander, capsicum (green pepper), coconut, dates, guava, jack fruit, grapes and coffee (derr).

Because these foods are said to increase your body temperature, it is also believed consuming them will result in acne, fever, sleeplessness, indigestion, constipation, and irritability (I'm generally irritable when I'm constipated).

Now if you want to cool off, you can lean towards the staples, such as watermelon and cucumber which are mostly water and will aid in hydration and will keep you cool. That much I don't doubt. But also included in this list is papaya, bananas, pineapple, tomatoes, corn, cauliflower, curd/dahi which is somewhere between sour cream and plain yogurt, sugar cane (the juice is made fresh by vendors on the street and is amazing), and turmeric which is made into a powder or paste and added to curry. I don't know about you, but for me, when it's 115 degrees outside, eating some corn isn't up there on my list when it comes to cooling effects.

Meetha Paan

In addition to heating and cooling foods, you have things which will aid in digestion, which is a very centric theme around here. I'm constantly having things thrust at me with the statement "Eat/Drink this. It helps with digestion." I must look constipated. most probably from all the chicken and eggs I eat. While I value the importance of things that aid in my digestion, I'm unable to connect the dots and understand exactly how the following items would help: coconut water, lassi (a watered down milk beverage sweetened with sugar, sweet pan (Meetha Paan which is a mixture of coconut, fruit preserves, rose petal preserves, and spices, wrapped in a betel leaf and topped with a cherry).

Coconut water I'm not a fan of, but lassi and paan are nice so I don't mind. For many Westerners, a dinner out to an Indian restaurant will not require any digestive aids, but here, with the mass quantities of rice eaten multiple times a day, every day, some help can be required.

I did some research on these theories which lead me to believe that this was largely the Chinese influence. I don't know what to think of them. It's not a concept I recall from my Western up-bringing and one I struggle to embrace, regardless of it's strong following by seemingly everyone here in India.

Curry: It's What's For Dinner

Tomato curry.

Aloo (potato) curry.

Gobi (cauliflower) curry.

Cabbage (I don't know what that is in Hindi) curry.

Mixed Veg curry.

 

It all contains chili powder, onions, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, salt, masala (spice mixture). And it ALL TASTES THE SAME.

 

I've been eating it every day for the past 20 months and I think I've reached my breaking point.

 

Whether we are eating at home or eating in a restaurant, it's all the same. Five star hotel or road side dhaba, it's all the same.The same combination of spices in every dish virtually ensures every dish will taste the same. I'm to the point where it doesn't matter what my cook prepares, or what I order while out, I know exactly what to expect. The only decision is: Rice or Roti? And really, is that a decision? To either eat steamed, flavorless rice or dry, flavorless chapati (flat bread). Either way, it's just a vessel to push the same ole curry down your gullet.

 

I miss the variety of food options in the US. Instead of saying "Do you want potato curry or tomato curry?" it was "Do you want Italian or Mexican?" Options are available on every end of the spectrum. If you're not sure what to prepare for dinner, having a simple pound of chicken breast provides so many options. Do you make stir fry? Do you stuff it with spinach and cheese? Do you bake it with honey and garlic? Do you deep fry it? The possibilities are endless. What do you do with the same chicken in India? You throw it in the pressure cooker with chili powder, onions, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, salt, and masala. Then you make the tough decision. Rice or Roti? And you shovel it in. And it tastes like every else you ate that week. And everything else you'll eat next week. And the week after.

 

It really brings to light the expression: "Living to Eat? or Eating to Live?" If you put an Indian dish in front of me these days, I'll eat only enough to keep my stomach quiet for a few hours, until I get to do it all over again. Rinse and Repeat.

 

Please don't misunderstand. I am exponentially thankful for ability to sit down to a hot meal whenever I choose, especially when I see so many people daily that do not have that luxury. But man, I'm maxed out on curry.