'Been neglecting priceless wisdom,' says Rujuta Diwekar in her 'open letter from Haldi'

Rujuta Diwekar is a popular Indian nutritionist. She has written many books on diet and weight loss that have sold more than one million copies in seven different languages and continue to define the discourse on food and exercise across the country even today.

Having been in this profession for two decades, Rujuta Diwekar has worked with clients from many different fields of work. Some of the popular Bollywood actors like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Saif Ali Khan, and more are her clients.  She has often been spotted giving tips and teaching people how to stay healthy and positive even in these tough times. Recently, Rujuta Diwekar shared an open letter 'from Haldi' (turmeric) on her social media. Read ahead to know.

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Rujuta Diwekar’s open letter 'from Haldi'

Rujuta Diwekar is a very active personality on social media. On June 1, 2020, she took to her official Instagram handle to make an unusual and quirky post. Rujuta Diwekar posted an open letter from Haldi (turmeric).   

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The letter read, “Hey you! Yes, you, checking out the curcumin pill in the supermarket aisle. That’s not how I am pronounced. But then this is also not where I am found. Once upon a time, I enjoyed a rather enviable place in the kitchen, sorry, hearts of people. If you had a cut, I was there to heal it. If you were getting married, I was a part of the festivities. If you couldn’t sleep, I was there to soothe you. Your dals, sabzis, even poojas were incomplete without me.
 
Now the woke have woken up to my glories and I am being industrialized as a commodity that removes inflammation, infection and boosts immunity. In the western world, I can now be found as part of breakfast cereals, lattes and shot up in the morning with a glass of water. I have also been turned into gels, pills and pumps.
 
But what breaks my heart is the way people I consider mine treat me. They don’t call me by my name now but as a product. Turmeric lattes are getting launched in India. India? We have lost so much pride, and more importantly, commonsense, that we are now copying the people who copied us.
 
I didn’t flinch when you stopped using me in sabzis as you replaced them with a salad. When you traded haldi milk for chamomile tea, I didn’t sit in a corner and cry. When you used creams instead of me on your skin, I didn’t complain. You know why? Not because I lacked confidence to speak up but because I was understanding of the fact that this is how colonized countries behave. They look down upon their own, they trade them for poorer but “master” approved stuff.
 
I have been around for millennia, a decade or two of being neglected didn’t faze me. Coz I knew you would come around. Come around to realizing that you have been neglecting priceless wisdom just because it’s transmitted in a native language and by women. Food traditions, when used to their full potential, not just lead to thriving health but also boost local economy and protect ecology. Instead, you appropriated me, reduced me to just one of my molecules and branded, packaged me and acted like you gifted me to the world. You reduced me to who I am not. This gel, this shot, this pill and this pandemic is on you. [SIC].”   

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