From the practice of feeding milk in a silver cup –calledpaaladai– in Tamil Nadu to the custom of applying the 'machonium tika' to a baby in Assam, the book has it all, says Lakshmy Ramanathan, at the launch of her debut book For Bumpier Times at Odyssey, Adyar, on Saturday.
Published by Hay House India, the book is an extensive record and review of pregnancy- and childcare-related practices across the country. Chief guest actor Khushboo Sundar, together with panelists, launched the book.
Balance
“Pregnancy and pre-natal care have always been complex concepts in India. There are practices handed down the generations and the ones followed by doctors. This book effects a balance between the two. It picks out traditional practices regarded by grandmothers and ratifies them with the help of doctors.” she adds.
"Pediatricians today speak to a child’s grandparents and convince them that scientific methods are the best way of raising a child. However, at times, when we feel that no harm will be done to a child because of a particular practice, we do not insist much on not using them," says Dr. Ramachandran of Sri Ramachandra University who is the principal reviewer of the book.
Book
"I bought a book on pregnancy expecting it to help me during my pregnancy. But I found a lot of things that were not applicable to our lives, as the book was primarily written from a western perspective,” says panelist Karthika Gopalakrishnan, editor ofilovetoread.in.
For Bumpier Times is a product of on-ground research with inputs from common people and experts from government medical colleges across India and it is aimed at answering various questions that the modern-day mother may have, says Mrs. Lakshmy.
