banana therapy 🍌
In case any of y'all have been wondering, I’ve been sick since December — hence the disappearance and no posts 😔
One of the main reasons I may have fallen sick was because of the situation at home, especially involving my grandma. Back in December, we were a bit short on food, so we had to adjust by eating less. Caroline and I were managing with just 1 roti and some rice each day, while my grandma still had 3 meals and would often complain if she wasn’t satisfied.
She’s in her 80s, and while most elderly people tend to eat less, my grandma had a much bigger appetite, which sometimes made things difficult for the rest of us. It often felt like the food that could have lasted us a couple of days would get over quickly.
Snacks were also usually kept aside for her, so Caroline and I just didn’t eat them. It became one of those unspoken things where we adjusted without really saying much.
I won’t lie — it did feel unfair at times. Especially when we were travelling for college and studying for important exams while eating so little. Those months were quite difficult. But at the same time, I’m still grateful that we had something to get by. Mama always taught us not to complain and to be grateful. Thanks, Ma.
In January I was in really poor health then. I lost about 20 kgs, had no appetite, kept puking, was constantly tired, breathless, and had random body pains every week.
My sister took really good care of me. She used to run back and forth between the hospital and college to handle important things for me. My grandma (surprisingly) made hot food for me every single time I needed it. She made sure I had something to eat or snack on almost every hour of the day. My brother also delivered fruits and juice for me every day.
Upon hearing that I was sick, some of my neighbours also sent over amazing food and snacks, which were honestly so satisfying. It was really sweet of them and made those days a little better. Here are some pictures of the foodies my sister took (please excuse the camera quality!)
My very first macarons 💗
This was just hilarious 😂
Caroline made amazing banana pudding 🍮!!
Some of my neighbours gave these amazing chicken 🍗 cutlets!
Ice cream craving 🍦
Normalise buying a cake for yourself 🎂
Neighbours gave many snacks and we bought some too. It was nice to see the fridge stocked for once.
Neighbours gave dinner 🍽️
Fast food 🍕 🍔 🍟<3
Everyone took great care of me and I'm really grateful for that.
In February I finally started feeling a bit better, which meant I could start preparing for my board exams. English was the first one and honestly it went awful. It’s supposed to be the easy paper but I just couldn’t concentrate because I was feeling sick again. I kept getting dizzy and it was ridiculously hot in the classroom.
Economics was the only subject that went great because I was put in a classroom with AC (truly life-saving technology). History, Psychology and Sociology went… okay-ish. Not amazing, not terrible.
In between my exams I had a couple days free, and that’s when I got admitted to the hospital for two days. Apparently my potassium and some other vitamins were really low. The overall experience was actually okay.
Sunday morning at the hospital 🏥. I liked it when the sunlight came through the windows — it felt weirdly comforting.
Caroline stayed with me the whole time. We mostly scrolled on our phones together, watched movies, slept, and ate. She also brought nice hot meals, snacks, and bananas 🍌 for me. Lots of bananas. Honestly at one point I felt like a slightly sick monkey 🐒.
There were also times when Caroline and I were randomly craving food, so we just went ahead and bought whatever we were craving. Recovery may be boring, but at least the food moments made it a bit fun.
I missed my IT exam though because I had to shift to Bangalore. Yes, surprise surprise — we moved to Bangalore to stay closer to my brother. We’re living in separate PGs though.So I’ll probably be giving my IT re-exam in June or July. Assuming my health cooperates and doesn’t decide to start another side quest.
On my last night in Mumbai, my friend Natasha treated me to momos 🥟, peri peri fries 🍟, and some ice cream 🍦. We had some really good conversations and it was honestly a really nice night before leaving.
My friends Lucy and Chloe also treated Caroline and me to pizza 🍕 and chocolates 🍫.
I wasn't there to see them one last time though because I was with Natasha. But maybe that's the perfect goodbye, you know? Not seeing each other and avoiding the whole emotional, tearful goodbye situation. Either way, I know for sure we’ll definitely visit each other again. Maybe not now, but sometime in the future.
We just shifted to Bangalore and I’ve been a bit lazy these days — mostly doom-scrolling, sleeping, and eating. Recovery era, I guess. I’m hoping that in a couple of days I can start working part-time. It’ll be nice to earn some money 💰
Also, while being sick I ended up reading a lot of books and watching quite a few movies. So I’ll probably be posting some book reviews soon. Hang in there!