It pays to be a diabetic!

No one wants to be a diabetic by choice. But if you are diagnosed to be a diabetic, either by birth or by accident, you do not have to be reticent or feel guilty about it. Diabetes never kills you or even impairs your lifestyle unless you want to. On the other hand it teaches you some admirable things in life, which you might have ignored if you were not a diabetic.

It moderates your diet habits, not by choice but by compulsion. You are never allowed to go beyond your limits even if it is a festive occasion. Second servings on your plate are mercilessly denied by your watchful wife who might have solicited the services of a detective agency to keep an eye upon you to find out whether you are secretly helping yourselves to the crispy vadas from the roadside vendors.

All these compulsions keep your body trim and slim and you feel like a Rajnikanth with the latest heroine in the market. The morning walks you are ordained to take will refresh you and will energise your sagging spirits. How many non diabetic friends have the patience and the perseverance to get up early in the morning to go for a walk, braving the barking dogs who always nurture a secret wish to pounce upon the diabetic walkers even without any provocation?

People with diabetics may have a slim body but their purses are always heavy. While they can not stop their wives’s pilgrimage to the Renganathan street, their hotel bills never cross two figures. The limited menu allowed for them saves their pursers from being plundered. They also have the pleasure of eating their quota of idlies in the same way their great grandfathers have enjoyed. Not the monstrous shapes of Kaima or Fried idlies or the Lilliput kutty idlies which are always served with high calorie ghee which obstructs their bowel movements the next morning. They are also saved from the experiments of their receipe savvy wives who would otherwise use them as their guinea pigs for their research projects they have picked up from the ladies’ magazines or TV sets.

It also directs you to some of the best alternate foods which might have missed your attention but for your diabetes. Once I looked down upon the green tea lovers the same way an Australian would look down at their native aboriginal. But, lo! I can not do without it now. A cup of green tea without milk or sugar added will invigorate your nerves and keep your spirits in top gear throughout the day.

In short, diabetes is not a curse on us as long as we attend to its special demands and maintain a low profile. It may then turn out to be blessing in disguise as we keep everything, our body and mind in order. In return for the small comforts we have to forego on account of diabetes, Nature has showered upon us countless benefits to enjoy ourselves. All that is required is a strong will to live and a zest for life which throws a silver ray of hope in face of the worst adversity. An open mind can always spot a rose in a bush of thorns. If there is a will, there is a way – to live and to excel.