‘Are you hungry child? Just give me some time. I quickly combine carrots and beans with home-grown spinach to make a wonderful curry that you will enjoy with your roti.’ I once heard my mother say this in the kitchen. From the living room I could see my aunt, who had come to stay with us during the last two months of her pregnancy. She was lying on a chair in the kitchen, fast asleep. I asked my mother, “Who are you talking to, aunty is in deep sleep?” The mother said, “You concentrate on your studies and do not interfere in my conversation with that little child. Aunty is not sleeping; She is feeling uncomfortable and is just sitting with her eyes closed. I went back to study and mother kept narrating the recipe while cooking. I was reminded of this conversation while visiting a young mother. She was running after her child saying, “Please, eat your vegetables, then I will put on the cartoon.” Most young parents today will be familiar with such scenes, in which mothers pamper their children in this manner. When I stopped laughing, she said, “Uncle, in your childhood you too must have pestered your parents to eat vegetables in the same way.” Then I narrated the above incident to him. He asked, “Who was your mother talking to?” I said, “In our times, getting a child to like vegetables probably started even before he was born!” And not just vegetables, but singing Carnatic music, telling stories and reading out mythological books were also part of the routine in the last months of pregnancy. Because our parents believed that the child’s likes and dislikes start taking shape within the womb, before his birth. Modern parents, don’t try to say anything by frowning. First let me explain my point. In our large family, some of my cousins were either born in our house, or my mother was visiting them in the last two months before their birth. I am the eldest among all my cousins. We all have one thing in common. We love vegetables and curd, love Carnatic music, and most of us are fluent in multiple languages—including Sanskrit—and the art of storytelling. My mother also had this quality. Prof. of Durham University, UK. Nadja Reisland has done research on exactly this topic and found that babies who are repeatedly exposed to the smell of vegetables while still in the womb may be less likely to have a negative reaction to them after birth. Reisland acknowledged, “Based on our research, we can say that exposure to a particular taste during the late stages of pregnancy can create long-lasting taste memories in babies, which can influence their food preferences for many years after birth.” He further said, “If the fetus is conditioned to certain eating habits, it may become more interested in eating healthy food in the future.” Researchers from France, Netherlands, Cambridge and Aston University were also involved in this study. Aston University funded the programme. When I read one of the co-authors’ comment that “These findings open up new ways of thinking about early interventions about eating,” I felt very proud of my parents and elders, who probably knew this long before these researchers did. They probably learned this from the famous story of Abhimanyu learning to navigate the Chakravyuh while still in his mother’s womb. Such new research arouses new interest in our old traditions. The bottom line is this Even if some of the traditions of our elders raise eyebrows, they have not done any harm to us. Then at least what is the harm in adopting those traditions related to food? Please write to me on this topic.
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N. Raghuraman’s Column: A child’s likes and dislikes can be decided before his birth.
