Champion of healthful living (1938-2016)
Albert Einstein said, life can only be lived in two ways. As though everything is a miracle, or as if nothing is a miracle. Dr. Vijaya Venkat chose to live her life seeing the wonder in every moment. Dr. Vijaya Venkat, known to the world as a nutritionist/activist/holistic health counsellor/guide or simply Amma, was a pioneer in the world of healthfull living through ecological and economical health choices, using food as a tool for transformation.
A biochemist and microbiologist, she experienced firsthand the wonders of life and the increasing threat to it. Biochemistry revealed a world of spontaneous yet precise reactions that allowed life to take all its myriad forms, while the parameters for life itself are held within a very narrow range. The microbiologist was made to peer at every threat to this harmonious balance in the form of pathogens, microbes, bacteria, fungi, viruses – tiny microscopic terrorists that could hold life at ransom, resulting in the array of illnesses and diseases we see today. She saw firsthand these results, through the pain and suffering in the countless number of people who came to her every day, with newer diseases.
The mother in her chose to see harmony between both these worlds, through co-operation rather than competition; balance, not hostility. Health existed with these microbes and minute organisms. Our unseen, unsung workers that catalysed all these reactions that gave birth to and maintained life. This was the precarious balance that was the basis of her work and philosophy.
The scientist in her needed to validate the mother’s instinct with data and numbers. Over the course of the next 10 odd years she enrolled in various courses, degrees and doctorates, from Nutrition and Dietetics, to Life Sciences and Natural Hygiene, going deeper and deeper into what she called her journey of health. Through all the accumulated academic knowledge and information, personal experience and validation, remained at the heart of transforming knowledge into action, philosophy into practice. She started a nutritious lunch service in the early 1980’s, long before it was fashionable to be vegan, go plant based, or source for organic and wholesome. She fearlessly campaigned against ‘packaged, tinned, bottled foods’ or the fast food culture, masquerading as real food, and advocated instead a return to real whole fresh foods, as a jumpstart to healthy living.
Born out of this journey, she founded The Health Awareness Centre (1989), to re-educate and motivate others, to take charge of their own health. Spending time with Masanobu Fukuoka, the Japanese scientist, the father of natural farming, concretised her belief that like soil, if the body too is left alone, its inherent wisdom drives it towards sustainable health.
Ecology and ethics are inseparably tied together, she said. Taking care of our body by abiding in Natural Law is automatically protective of the environment. Conserving the planet, through daily choices, ensures the survival of our home and therefore us.
Her belief was that when a person is given the right information, given tools, techniques and skills to implement these and an environment conducive to make the right choices, all of us would be empowered to live healthfully. For when aligned to Nature in thought and action, true health emerges. “Be patient by following the rhythm of Natural laws, and you will never become a patient”, was her constant advice.
Towards this she provided counselling sessions (information), classes, workshops (teaching of skill sets) and a food service. Her motto was to be available 24×7 to anyone willing to take charge of their health and add life to life through daily action. Her many programmes were geared towards empowering individuals to make choices that were ethical and sustainable. Through these measures, thousands of people have regained control of their own health.
In the last decade she dedicated herself to building a Wellness Community. One that gave societal validation not to falling ill but to enhancing health. A consciousness that believed in resurrecting Family Farmers instead of only family bankers or family doctors. In preservation, not only prevention. “The oldest parampara is that of Nature, so let’s start following Nature, instead of short term cures and quick fixes”, she maintained.