Why Feed a Dying Body (standard:non fiction, 514 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Oct 27 2012	Views/Reads: 2559/2	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Why feed a dying body is a bizzare philosophy but if implemented by going easy on aging body by eating less and less, it make sense "Why Feed a Dying Body?"

Why Feed a Dying Body 

Subba Rao 

“I see you were cutting down on your food intake these days,” 

Dan looked at Juggernaut eating half sandwich. 

“Yes, I am trying to conform to a philosophy ‘why feed the 

dying body' as per this philosophy, one shall start eating less and 

less from age 65.” 

“I know moderate eating is good as age progresses but the 

notion why feed the dying body sounds bizarre.” 

“Not at all; why overwhelm a dying body with too much calories, 

it only breakdown the body fast. The body's efficiency improves on 

limited calories.” 

“Your argument sounds logical but to comply with your 

philosophy is tough and impossible,” Dan polished off a triple-decker 

sandwich with three different meats drenched in mayonnaise.” 

“Whenever I feel hungry, I take a bite of a green chilly or 

pickled pepper or a cucumber and that kills the hunger for a time 

being.” 

“How you came about that?” 

“This was almost 40 years ago while I was teaching at a 

college, a woman was living in a small hut just outside my rented 

studio, every day I watched her pounding green chilies in a stone 

mortar, in close observation I noticed she was making a chutney out of 

green chilies with little salt and tamarind, that's all she ate with 

boiled rice; sometimes she ate boiled rice with hot tamarind water; she 

could not afford vegetables or legumes or buttermilk.  I know she has a 

son living on the other side of the town working as a peon in an 

government office, he visited her on bicycle once in a while, on 

occasions brought his well dressed young daughter and yet his old 

mother was living in utter poverty eating hot chilly chutney every day. 

On my inquiry one day, she said “sir, only hot chilies kill my hunger 

otherwise hunger pains me whole day long.” 

I did not ask her if her son was of any help but I employed 

her to do simple chores as means of helping her out not that I need 

help to clean my room or wash dishes or clothes, I made sure that I 

cooked more food than what I normally eat to leave the excess food as a 

left over for her. I don't want her know that I was cooking more for 

her, I want her to feel that I am just giving the left-overs in the 

pot, my intention was to provide her one decent meal a day.  This I did 

until I left for abroad. The old woman eating hot chilly chutney was 

always on my mind. When you asked how I know a hot pepper can kill 

hunger, I learned from that impoverished woman 40 years ago, now I am 

implementing the same philosophy under different circumstances, there 

she wants to ward off the hunger pains from lack of food, now here. I 

am eating hot chilies to ward off excess food. Consider tummy grumbling 

from hunger pains as sounds of victory.” Juggernaut started clapping 

and chanting loudly “why feed the dying body.” 


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