India, COVID-19 status and my theories

When COVID-19 reared its ugly head last year, I was petrified. Not for myself living in another country but for my fellow countrymen and women living in India. With such a vast population, diverse cultures and people at all rungs of the social ladder, it is impossible to implement any kind of measures and expect to handle all this with our less than perfect public healthcare system. 

Or so I thought.....the government and administrators, irrespective of party affiliations, did an admirable job of containing the spread in initial days. While the economy did suffer and is yet to recover as in most parts of the world, and we did lose many lives, the statistics and status are so much better than what I feared! Of course I am not celebrating yet as we are by no means out of the woods and we are yet to deal with any mutating variants. Just saw a post in news about how it will be another seven years of living with the virus at current rates of vaccination around the world! But there is still the mystery of how India fared as well as it has.

I agree with common expectations but immunologists such as herd immunity, but I do have a theory of my own. I cannot help but attribute a good percentage of these numbers simply to the food we eat as Indians. The sheer number of vegetables and fruit we use is mind boggling. I often tell my daughter she is lucky she was born with Indian roots as she would never have heard or experienced some of the food otherwise. How many of her friends from her international school in Qatar would even know of ridge gourd, snake gourd or flat beans! Don't even get me started on my all time favourite Sundakkai or Turkey berry as they are better known. No dish in the world would beat Sundakkai sambar for me and I have many delightful memories from my childhood associated with this dish. The list of course is endless and I am barely scratching the surface here. Let us not go after the new superfoods only, but also remember and use native /indigenous products from our own countries. India has long used millets and lentils which are recognized superfoods today and there are so many more that need to be revived. 

So my fellow Indians and others from various parts of the world; don't fall into the trap of eating processed food and regular veggies only. Go back to your roots and use other less used veggies and fruit. Eat healthy as much as you can and of course exercise. Good immunity is what we can aim for and work hard on. I am sure our bodies will be in a great position to fight this and any other diseases in store for us in the future.