The religious festival of Navratri is here and people who believe in Goddess Durga and also in the religiosity of the festival celebrate it by fasting for nine continuous days. Hindus fast during Navratri and they see it as an opportunity to connect with the divine, cleanse the body and mind, and practice gratitude and devotion.
During the Navratri fasting, many believers follow a strict routine and consume only limited food items, refraining from grains, onions, and garlic. However, as it goes for many Hindu festivals, Navratri is also the time where random nutritionists, media portals, and ‘experts’ dish out nonstop advise, on how and what to eat, and what not to do.
One such incident recently happened where a Mumbai-based ‘nutritionist’ was called out by IPS Arun Bothra from Odisha for criticizing the food that is consumed during the Navratri fasts.
On October 20, Bothra slammed Mumbai-based ‘nutritionist’ Sangeetha Aiyer after she meddled in the ongoing conversation between Bothra and IdiGo airlines calling the food that is eaten during the fasts as junk. “Navratri fasting is not a 9-day crash course for weight loss, dolled out on social media by some random nutritionist. For you, fasting is just about the body. For many, it’s about soul cleansing,” Bothra tweeted.
Ma’am, there is big difference between religious fasting and diet plans.
— Arun Bothra 🇮🇳 (@arunbothra) October 20, 2023
Navratri fasting is not 9-days crash course for weight loss, dolled out on social media by some random nutritionist. For you fasting is just about body. For many it’s about soul cleansing.
You don’t like… https://t.co/wY8Sp0Qagi
The saga began on 18th October when IPS Bothra took to Twitter to laud the services of IndiGo Airlines staff during the fasting season of Navratri. In his tweet, he thanked one of the crew members for serving him with the food eaten during the fast. He said that he avoided taking snacks on the flight as he was fasting and was specially served snacks that he could have during the fast by one of the crew members.
“Mother Divine takes care of you in different forms. Today she came as Purvi, an IndiGo crew member. As I didn’t take snacks due to Navratri fasting she returned with Sabudana Chips, Til Chikki, and tea. When I asked how much to pay, she said- No money sir. I am also fasting,” he tweeted.
Mother Divine takes care of you in different forms. Today she came as Purvi, an @IndiGo6E crew member.
— Arun Bothra 🇮🇳 (@arunbothra) October 18, 2023
As I didn’t take snacks due to #Navratri fasting she returned with Sabudana Chips, Til Chikki & tea. When I asked how much to pay, she said- ‘No money sir. I am also fasting.’ pic.twitter.com/f4Av5oOZoF
‘Nutritionist’ S Aiyer seemed to mock the food and the festive ritual by calling the food ‘crap’. She quoted the original tweet by Bothra and said, “The gesture is great. The food is crap. You are better off drinking water and trying fasting the way it’s done. Just water.” She suggested that people fasting during the festival of Navratri should only have water and nothing else.
To this Bothra schooled the ‘nutritionist’ by saying that during Navratri, people fasting can have ‘falahari’ food and that she need not judge people based on their religious practices. “During Prayushan, we Jains take only boiled water, and that too during day time. During Ramzan, Muslims have food and water only after sunset. Hindu fasting on Ekadashi is with fruits. Sometimes the fast is Nirjala, without water. During Navratri falahari food is allowed. There is no point in judging people or religious practices. To each his own,” he said.
During fast I don’t take Sabudana etc. but had a little, out of respect for the gesture.
— Arun Bothra 🇮🇳 (@arunbothra) October 19, 2023
Btw during Prayushan, we Jains take only boiled water and that too during day time. During Ramzan, Muslims have food and water only after sunset.
Hindu fasting on Ekadashi is with fruits.… https://t.co/UETYIk7X0r
Aiyer however, didn’t seem to agree. She argued saying that the food that was being served in the name of fasts was junk and that it was unhealthy. “Everyone has morphed fast into a very unhealthy practice eating practice from a physiological standpoint. Muslims, Jains, and Hindus are all alike. The human body knows no religion. My comment was not on a religious practice but on how modern-day fasts have become absolutely unhealthy,” she argued.
Responding to the nutritionist’s rant, Bothra pointed it out that while some people who don’t believe in the religion look at fasts just as some event of weight loss, fasts during Navratri are practiced for soul cleansing. He asserted that Navratri fastings are a religious ritual and believers do not need to follow unwanted advice from self-proclaimed nutritionists and dieticians.
“Navratri fasting is not a 9-day crash course for weight loss, dolled out on social media by some random nutritionist. For you, fasting is just about the body. For many, it’s about soul cleansing. You don’t like to be taught about religious practices and rightly so. Similarly, many of us don’t like to be coached about our beliefs and the way we should or should not celebrate our religious festivals,” he said.
Bothra is a 1996-batch IPS officer who is currently serving as the Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department – Crime Branch (CID-CB) and Transport Commissioner. He also has served as SP and DIG in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Govt of India from 2009 to 2014 in New Delhi and Kolkata.
Navratri has a special significance across the country, especially in the state of Gujarat. The worshippers of Goddess Durga observe a nine-day fast and play Garba during the nights. Many try to give scientific reasons behind fasting and consider it as a mode to keep the body healthy. While scientific opinions on nutrition and nutritional requirements may vary, fastings have more to do with religion and devotion, and as Bothra pointed out, Navratri is not about a crash course on weight loss.
Fasting and abstinence is an essential part of many religious practices around the world because of their significance in teaching humans about discipline and self-control while working on their spiritual quest.
