"When will you come back, Papa?", asked Chintu (my seven year old son) in an anxious tone, as I was getting ready to leave for the airport. Instinctively my eyes turned towards him, there was a look of charming innocence writ over his face. I was going to Hyderabad for four days on an official assignment and me being his best friend and playmate, he had already started to miss me. Even I was going to miss him equally dearly.
"I will surely be back before Diwali, Beta. I promise. And upon returning, I will take you to the Delhi Zoo and so also to the India Gate where we will go for boating, we will eat ice-creams and candy floss. I will also take you for Diwali shopping and will buy you new clothes and lots of crackers. We will have lots of fun on Diwali."
"Promise, Papa?"
"Pakka promise, Beta".
"Okay, tell me, what should I bring for you from Hyderabad?"
"Ummm, Papa, Varun (his school friend) has recently got a piano and he plays it quite well. I would love to have one too," said Chintu excitedly. And then quite soberly added, "but I do not know how to play a piano!".
"Ah, don't worry, I will bring you a Piano from Hyderabad and will also teach you how to play it."
"But Papa, who will now accompany me on my cycling rounds in the morning?", asked Chintu.
"Take your mummy along, she will give you company in my absence. It's just a matter of four days, I will be back even before you realise. Yay, champ!", I promised him, as we exhanged our customary fist bump and a bear hug before I got into the cab. Ananya (my wife) was watching all this male comradeship, chuckling at the door.
"Bye, Papa...", Chintu said, waving me good bye.
"Bye, champ", and I finally left for the airport.
In this humdrum, hard life of work stress, EMIs, bills, pension plans and the deadlines to meet, I have found my constant source of warmth -- my family - Ananya and Chintu. Especially Chintu. Not just the apple of our eyes, he is actually the oxygen of our family who has kept us going. Always up to something, often smiling and laughing, with his innocent and funny antics, he always keeps the house on fire. The only time when the house falls quiet is when he goes to sleep or is at the school.
After a long day at work and the arduous daily commute by Metro following it, I would often come back home tired and exhausted and would only be looking to take a breather. But when Chintu comes up to me with his "Let's play, Papa... Please Papa, please", invariably I end up agreeing. With that look on his face, he could get away with murder. I would be like butter in his hands already. Moreover Chintu's energy is so contagious that it often rubs on us too. So even on a week day, after a long day at work, when Chintu pulls me for a game of badminton or football in the lawn during the evenings, I readily agree. So also when he insists on me giving him company when he sets out for his cycling rounds in the colony in the mornings. Even as I unsuccessfully pretend to be asleep on some days, he always manages to get me up running or cycling with him.
As parents, it is only natural for me and Ananya to always remain concerned about Chintu's health. Exercise is essential for him not only to keep him fit but also to help him grow his motor skills and for his physical development. So we always encourage him for physical activities. But if we look at it this way, it is because of Chintu that me and Ananya too are getting our share of exercises done while running after him or giving him company in his games. Had it not been for Chintu, probably I and Ananya would have been lazing around on weekends and other holidays, staying indoors, watching TV or sleeping. In fact, it's because of the daily walks and the cycling rounds with Chintu in the mornings, my blood pressure has remained normal all this while after it had shot up a few months back. So giving Chintu company in his physical activities is actually a blessing in disguise for us.
Of course, we are hardly able to match his boundless energy. Raising an energetic child who keeps bouncing off the walls or running around the house can be an exhausting process for parents. But hearing him chortling after he finds us failing to match his energy as it often happens, the surge of joy in us actually makes us feel a good ten years younger.
Once I landed at Hyderabad, I got so busy with my work that I hardly got time to speak to Chintu in those four days. Because by the time I was free during the nights, he would have already gone to sleep. And during the day time, I would either be in a hurry to reach my company's location or would be busy in the meetings. Finally I was done with my official assignment and I returned back to Delhi. I was itching to get back into my family's arms.
But as I reached home and opened the front door, there was only silence to welcome me. There were no sounds of Chintu playing; no delighted yells of 'Papa' to greet my arrival. By this time, he would have already returned back home from school and would have been scurrying around the house, troubling his mummy or would have been busy in his video games. But in any case, the house wouldn't have fallen silent this way. I wondered where he was. I looked into the kitchen, expecting to see Ananya there busy cooking. But she too was not there. As I went into the bedroom, I saw Chintu lying on the bed and Ananya by his side, caressing his head. My heart sank on seeing Chintu ill. He was happy to see me back, but his cheerfulness was gone and his voice sounded dry. I so wanted to see his impish grin that I had missed all those four days.
"What happened to Chintu? Why didn't you tell me about Chintu's illness?", I asked Ananya.
"Soon after you left for Hyderabad, he fell ill. First it was only cold and sneezing followed by sore throat. But then he caught fever too, I guess, due to this sudden change in the climate in the last few days. I thought you were already stressed with your work, and I didn't want to keep you worried, you were alone there. Don't worry, I had taken him to Dr. Mathur's clinic and he said that it's a seasonal fever. He has prescribed medicines which Chintu is already taking and he will be okay in two days, don't worry. But yes, Dr. Mathur did tell me that probably Chintu's immune system is not that strong. So he has recommended Dabur Chyawanprash to strengthen his immunity", said Ananya.
"Hmm, it's our fault. We should have already started giving him Dabur Chyawanprash every day. Had Chintu been eating a spoonful daily, he wouldn't have fallen sick", I said.
Just then, Chintu interrupted me. "Have you got my piano?", he asked me in his adorable childish voice.
"Of course, champ. How could have I forgotten my promise? You get well soon, and I shall teach you how to play it. And as I had promised, I will also take you to the zoo and to the India Gate as well", I said.
To this, Chintu only smiled feebly. This was so unlike him. A hale and hearty Chintu would have by now jumped out of his bed onto me in glee.
This was so unlike our home. With Chintu around, there is never a dull moment. He is always in his elements and the house more often than not keeps reverberating with his unadulterated, carefree laughs, that sometimes could even muffle the cacophony of the traffic on the busy Avantika Road running behind our house. But now, without his jumping and frenetic paces, the house seemed ghostly.
For the next two days that Chintu remained bedridden, our home wore a deserted city like feel. Even Ananya and me felt as if we too had fallen sick. The usual fun and energy on the dining table during breakfasts and dinners were missing. With Chintu down, we had almost lost the zeal for any activity. I was already missing our cycling and football games together.
But this was a year ago. We had learnt our lesson the hard way. So we immediately started giving a spoonful of Dabur Chyawanprash to Chintu daily after his breakfast. And the results have been right before our eyes. He has seldom fallen sick in this one year or so. And like Chintu always does (our comradeship rule), he has made me and Ananya too to take a spoonful of Chyawanprash daily. We too have hardly fallen sick since then.
At a time when germs like bacteria and viruses are everywhere, our immunity system needs strengthening to be able to cope with various infections and diseases. Chyawanprash, a time-tested, age-old formulation has a number of herbs like Amla, known to be one of the best antioxidants, Giloy (Guduchi), known to have immuno-modulatory properties, and has more than 40 other natural ingredients.
Dabur Chyawanprash has anti-oxidant properties and helps to strengthen our body's internal defence mechanism - the immune system - thereby protecting us from day to day infections such as cough, cold etc.
Dabur Chyawanprash’s magnificent brew of Ayurvedic herbs strengthens the body’s natural defence mechanism by stimulating our NK cells (Natural Killer Cells). These NK cells assist in fighting with virus and bacteria in your body, thus giving us increased immunity from various infections. Recent scientific studies conducted on Dabur Chyawanprash have proven its immunomodulatory and anti-allergic potential.
A healthy, green diet to go with adequate exercise and sufficient sound sleep are considered essential for a robust immune system, which we already were following. But now having added
Dabur Chyawanprash to our daily routines, it has further bolstered our vitality and has indeed helped us in fighting seasonal ailments all year round. Now whenever we go to the India Gate or INA's Delhi Haat, we eat ice lollies to our heart's content or during the rainy season, all three of us dance around in the rain on our terrace or in the garden, without any fear of falling sick. Thank you,
Dabur Chyawanprash. :)
This blog post is an entry for the "Immune India - A healthy child makes a happy home" contest organised by Dabur Chyawanprash in association with Indiblogger.in.
https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/