The Scarcest Resource

It’s well accepted that most resources in the world are limited, some even scarce. Funny thing is, resource scarcity, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. The youth of today will probably lecture you on how fresh water, clean air and green cover are rapidly approaching the tipping point to becoming the planet’s scarcest resources, with a “how dare you?!” flourish at the end. For my wife, reliable domestic help is the hardest thing to find. Ask my neighbor and he’ll emphatically say that the car parking space shortage in our building is going to be the leading trigger for the next world war. 

 

Interestingly, my own list of scarce resources has kept changing over the course of my life. During my school going days, I always felt that there seemed to be a surplus of everything in the world other than the 45B bus that I needed to get to school. Bizarrely, this 45B shortage only seemed to apply when I was waiting for it; sometimes, when I needed to go elsewhere and would be waiting for 12E, there will be a veritable line of virtually empty 45B buses landing up in quick succession at my bus stand!

 

Moving on to my adult phase, I was strongly convinced that Time was by far the scarcest resource. Everyone had the same amount of time. But despite the equitable supply side situation, some people were achieving superior outcomes, all through better use of this resource, we were told. It looked inevitable that, as the sands of time trickle inexorably down the hour glass, Time would, if anything, become even more of a scarce resource… 

 

Recently though, I have to concede that Time has been dislodged from pole position. Here's what happened. During the Covid lockdown, realization dawned on me that I’d always been taking my health for granted. Health is wealth, say the wise. And lack of it, from a more materialistic perspective, is a ton-load of insurance premium payments. 

 

Ever since this epiphany, I have been a sitting duck for any advice on healthy living. Social media, especially my trusted YouTube feed, has been more than equal to meeting this new found, voracious appetite of mine and has been helpfully dishing out various suggestions on how, despite my late start, I could go about the process of cleaning up my act; and with it, my gut, liver, kidneys and all those other organs which I had paid scant attention to ever since I dropped Biology as a subject in class 11.

 

Now here’s the thing : anything new has an inflated value if it shocks your current knowledge system. And that, these videos have fully lived up to. I’m actually quite boggled at the turn Science is taking. Apparently, Ghee is now a superfood. I yearn for a return to all those years when I was warned in hushed whispers about the unhealthily intimate relationship between Ghee and Cholesterol buildup. And the bashing that Bread is taking at the hands of these health pundits is almost sounding like deliberate victimization. Hell, bread and milk used to be the staple “sick” diet in my younger days! But anyway, all this is not very germane to the story…

 

The net upshot of all those hours invested in watching these videos is that I now possess all kinds of random information on the nutritious benefits of turmeric, cinnamon, vegetables, fruits, fermented foods and stuff. I know consuming a tablespoon of ghee is good. So is raw garlic. Ditto for a glass of lime juice. And so on… 

 

But here’s the nub. All these health videos, though they deal with a diverse range of things we ought to be consuming, are unanimous about one thing. It has to be consumed on an empty stomach. Period. That’s apparently non-negotiable!

 

That puts me in a bind. I’ve tried to think of various work arounds, but approach it from any angle, the inescapable conclusion is that you only have one empty stomach per day! You can try things like intermittent fasting, or multiple meals  a day or whatever. The number doesn’t budge an inch… 

 

Exactly one empty stomach per day per person - the math is solid! How many things can you consume on an empty stomach? Technically, the minute I consume even one of the above things, my stomach is no longer empty, rendering any further consumption a wasted effort. For, the videos communicate one thing with complete clarity – for best results, consume on an empty stomach. And why would I go through the masochistic ordeal of consuming raw ghee, crushed garlic or soaked fenugreek if I wasn’t going to get the best results? 

 

I hear these assorted health experts spouting their advice and I must confess, my initial awe at their knowledge is slowly giving way to a dangerously simmering irritation. Their conviction, which initially used to induce a sense of trust, is increasingly looking to me like intractability. These experts have no sense of give and take. Surely, knowing there would be other experts like them who would be recommending similar advice, they should have been more accommodative. Possibly, suggesting that raw ghee may be taken on an empty stomach twice a week would allow space for other equally meaningful suggestions to coexist peacefully. But no! These guys are uncompromising. Raw ghee to be taken on an empty stomach every day. Without fail. Don’t miss a day! And same with lemon juice mixed with apple cider vinegar. Bizarrely, the same expert instructs you to consume different things on an empty stomach daily, in different videos. The strategy is obvious - flank yourself before some other expert flanks you. Their intent is clearly to get a stranglehold on your empty stomach one way or the other and not let go. Very ruthless fellows…

 

Meanwhile, and please bear with the digression here, this empty stomach business has me posing some serious questions to my own digestive system. Why does it need everything to be presented only on an empty stomach? Why is my gut so confused and helpless? Supposing I consume both garlic and fenugreek on an empty stomach, why does it sit scratching its head trying to decide which one it should give its attention to, when it should be multitasking and attending to both with equal gusto? And if I consume ghee with rice for lunch, does it ignore the same ghee that it would have received with open arms in the event of the stomach being empty? I’m told that it is sometimes called the second brain. Speaking for myself, the gut, which is so obviously a one trick pony that only works when the stomach is empty, has been a massive let down…

 

Anyway, coming back on track, questioning these health videos is futile. These experts sound so authoritative and believable that I would go with their advice rather than trust my undependable and unidimensional gut. Which finally leads me to the inescapable conclusion. The empty stomach is the scarcest resource as far as I am concerned. Not Time anymore. I actually have enough time as you would have noticed from the fact that I’m watching all kind of random health videos. 

 

I sometimes wonder, how during the process of evolution, Man has actually been given a raw deal in certain aspects. Specifically in the stomach department. Cows, I am told, have four stomachs. Whales have thirteen. Though these stomachs seemingly operate in sequence, I wish Evolution had designed Man for multiple parallel stomachs to address this resource scarcity. I’m sure Raavan would have occasionally ruminated over the fact that instead of ten heads accompanied by one stomach, a trade off comprising more stomachs with fewer heads would have been beneficial. 

 

While my business school training has conditioned me to always present a solution and not leave a problem hanging, I must confess this one has foxed me. Why the great Creator, who so benevolently gave us two kidneys instead of one, thought it fitting to play a cruel joke on us by giving us just one stomach, is beyond me. My only, admittedly tenuous, theory is that on the sixth day of Creation, as God created Man, He unfathomably decided to sacrifice utility at the altar of minimalism…

 

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