masakkai

[kunjuppu]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

one of the beauties of womanhood, associated with child bearing and other nature's wonderful gifts bestowed on women alone, is the feature we call masakkai.

the way i know it, is masakkai is an unexplained alteration of food consumption behaviour, experienced solely during pregnancy.

being a father of three, i have seen the radical changes in my own household. the hitherto favourites become nauseaous and cravings for new food appear from nowhere.

recently i heard an interesting masakkai story. this lady, was brought up as a vegetarian and had avoided even eggs.

soon after being pregnant with the first child, her body could not tolerate any food. period. she was losing weight and throwing at the sight of food. much to the concern of parents and doctors, who had to resort to IV drops for her to get the minimum nutrients.

a bengali neighbour, offered some fried fish bengali style. the pregnant household, at wit's end, agreed to try out this food as a last resort.

hey presto! the pregnant gobbled the fish, and to bring the long story short, ate non veg food regularly during the pregnancy. happily gaining weight and spirit. the food was provided by non veg neighbours and restaurants.

she carried the baby to full term and delivered a bonny boy. at that instance, she could not stomach non veg any more, and it was back to rasam and thayir saadham.

over years, this lady had two more babies, all healthy boys, but she could eat and stuck to, normal veggie foods.

now, the query is 'why would she have had the craving for non veg food only for the first pregnancy'?

ofcourse there are lots of theories including one given by the vaathiar.

is there a scientific or medical reason that one knows?

 

[renuka]

one of the beauties of womanhood, associated with child bearing and other nature's wonderful gifts bestowed on women alone, is the feature we call masakkai.

the way i know it, is masakkai is an unexplained alteration of food consumption behaviour, experienced solely during pregnancy.

being a father of three, i have seen the radical changes in my own household. the hitherto favourites become nauseaous and cravings for new food appear from nowhere.

recently i heard an interesting masakkai story. this lady, was brought up as a vegetarian and had avoided even eggs.

soon after being pregnant with the first child, her body could not tolerate any food. period. she was losing weight and throwing at the sight of food. much to the concern of parents and doctors, who had to resort to IV drops for her to get the minimum nutrients.

a bengali neighbour, offered some fried fish bengali style. the pregnant household, at wit's end, agreed to try out this food as a last resort.

hey presto! the pregnant gobbled the fish, and to bring the long story short, ate non veg food regularly during the pregnancy. happily gaining weight and spirit. the food was provided by non veg neighbours and restaurants.

she carried the baby to full term and delivered a bonny boy. at that instance, she could not stomach non veg any more, and it was back to rasam and thayir saadham.

over years, this lady had two more babies, all healthy boys, but she could eat and stuck to, normal veggie foods.

now, the query is 'why would she have had the craving for non veg food only for the first pregnancy'?

ofcourse there are lots of theories including one given by the vaathiar.

is there a scientific or medical reason that one knows?

Dear Kunjuppu,

This is one topic that amazes me cos I have seen this happen to so many patients and many develop a craving they never had before.
You know you will be suprised that I have even seen men whose wifes are pregnant develop some nausea and food cravings..may be the pheromones of their wifes do have so effect on them too.

I have seen this in some of my male patients who have unexplained food cravings and nausea and after delivery of their wifes all symptoms go away.

Even when I was pregnant I noticed my husband craving for preserved mangoes and drinking lots of orange juice and I noticed him having a radiant glow on his face even more to me.All his cravings disappeared after I delivered my son.

Somethings are still not fully explained in medical science..but sometimes I wonder if an unusual cravings of a pregnant woman could be due to the inherent Karma of the child she is caring or rather some activation of a previous birth Vasana in the woman(this is a purely non medical point of view).

 

[renuka]

taken from :
Food Cravings During Pregnancy


Cravings During Pregnancy

Most women will experience food cravings at some point or another during pregnancy. In fact as many as half of all women will crave some type of cuisine or unusual food product during pregnancy. The most popular cravings include sweet and salty foods, while other women report craving spicy or fatty foods. Why all the cravings?

Causes of Food Cravings During Pregnancy

There are many reasons that women experience food cravings during pregnancy. Perhaps the simplest explanation is your body is working twenty four hours a day seven days a week to grow a healthy baby. Some cravings are simply the result of your body's needs for additional calories during pregnancy.

Other cravings may signal nutritional deficiencies. Some women for example, even vegetarians, might experience unusual cravings for steak and red meat during pregnancy. This could simply be a sign that their bodies need more iron to help support their growing baby. Many women will crave food they will loath or wouldn't dream of touching when not pregnant.

Many women describe their pregnancy cravings as overpowering. While scientists haven't yet established why cravings are so strong among pregnant women, they certainly acknowledge that food cravings during pregnancy are the norm rather than the exception to the rule.

Dealing With Cravings During Pregnancy

Many women find it simpler to give in to their pregnancy related cravings. This doesn't suggest you have to overindulge (say eat a whole chocolate cake). But, if you are carving sweet foods, why not indulge a little and enjoy a small treat? Typically this is the best way to deal with cravings. There is nothing wrong in most cases with indulging even bizarre cravings (pickles and ice cream for example). Hormones can do many interesting and wonderful things to the body, but also produce some rather bizarre food cravings. Just don't expect your partner to jump on the bandwagon and join you when you start eating foods that are out of the ordinary.

Occasionally women experience weird cravings that signal they are deficient in certain nutrients. Vary rarely women have strange cravings for substances that are bad including dirt or other undesirable substances. This condition, often referred to in the medical community as "pica" usually signifies that someone is deficient in iron. Substantial cravings for ice may be a sign of an iron deficiency. Still other women may experience chocolate cravings which may be normal or a sign that women need more B vitamins. Still other patients desire large quantities of protein. Fortunately protein is very good for pregnant women and in most cases there is nothing wrong with indulging your cravings.

If however you find you are craving clay or dirt (pica) consult with your doctor. Other common strange cravings among women with this disorder include coffee grounds, plaster, toothpaste, paint chips or other unusual substances. Your doctor can test you for a condition called iron deficiency anemia, and may recommend additional supplementation to help relieve your cravings. Whatever you do don't indulge in these weird cravings. Your body will not benefit by eating laundry starch or paint chips! Quite the opposite!

Remember, by and large most cravings are harmless and easily cured by a little attention to one's diet and occasional indulgence. There is no reason to deprive yourself after all during pregnancy!

 

[kunjuppu]

renu,

after all the fetus is the product of two heritages. n'est pas?

who knows what is in our lineage, even though we delude ourselves into 'purity of blood' and all that stuff.

it so happened that the family in my story are pattars. but as every pattar knows, one of the darkest periods of their history is when tipu sultan conquered north malabar. my theory was that either couples' ancestral women were willing or unwilling rewards to the victorious armies, as was the custom of those days.

maybe those long dormant genes were now 'acting up'

ofcourse, these was vehemently denied as another of those 'adhiprasangi kunjuppu' theories

who know what causes masakkai. personally i think it is one of the most beautiful unexplained mysteries behind pregnancies.

God Bless.

 

[subbudu1]

Renuka in line with what you have to say I have this absurd theory .

Have you heard of posession of spirit. I dont believe it. I however am willing to consider what a spiritual teacher had to say. That there is no physical possession of spirit of a person as such. But sometimes spirits influence and take control of the mind through the power of suggestion. A wierd thing may be. But I wouldnt rule it out if there is something called a spirit.

What if the child's atma is casting a suggestive power on the mother's mind. Indirectly it is trying to suggest something to the mother regarding its own desire for food. It affects the mother's mind subconsciously and thereby the mother's harmones are affected by mother's own mind.

Long shot?

 

[Raghy]

Sri.Subbudu said -

......But sometimes spirits influence and take control of the mind through the power of suggestion.

Greetings, sir. It is called Schizoprenia. The suggestions are called delusions. Delusions can be auditory and/or visual. It may sometimes involve smell too. I have seen persons in serious conversations with these delusions.

But, I don't think masakkai has anything like that. Masakkai is cool!

 

[renuka]

Renuka in line with what you have to say I have this absurd theory .

Have you heard of posession of spirit. I dont believe it. I however am willing to consider what a spiritual teacher had to say. That there is no physical possession of spirit of a person as such. But sometimes spirits influence and take control of the mind through the power of suggestion. A wierd thing may be. But I wouldnt rule it out if there is something called a spirit.

What if the child's atma is casting a suggestive power on the mother's mind. Indirectly it is trying to suggest something to the mother regarding its own desire for food. It affects the mother's mind subconsciously and thereby the mother's harmones are affected by mother's own mind.

Long shot?

I would not want to call a childs atma as have suggestive influence on his/her mums atma as in a possession becos the situation differs..a childs atma is embodied in his newly forming body and not disembodied like a Preta Atma.

Preta Atmas are very earth bound and have strong desires any sometimes look for a host to fulfill their desires.

A child has Karmically chosen his/her mother and pregnancy is a mutual bonding phenomenon and may be certain vasanas of the mother can be activated due to this newly developing bonding or the close connection of mum and child may allow the mum to access the childs previous birth vasanas subconsciously and vice versa.

I will give you 1 example of this:
I had read a book before during my pregancy about Transmigration of a Soul and I never told anyone that I read this book neither did I discuss it with anyone and when my son was aged 6 he asked me a question all of a sudden which was a Q right from that book and he had never seen the book before and neither did i keep it in my house.His Q was word to word from that book..so how do you explain that?

So there could be some mutual subconscious exchange between mum and child..we dont know..
There is still a lot of unproven events in medical science which we dont have an answer yet.

Coming to Possessions.. I wont brush them off..we are not the only inhabitants in this Loka..keep your eyes open..you might lucky to see one Preta Atma..

 

[subbudu1]

I would not want to call a childs atma as have suggestive influence on his/her mums atma as in a possession becos the situation differs..a childs atma is embodied in his newly forming body and not disembodied like a Preta Atma.

Preta Atmas are very earth bound and have strong desires any sometimes look for a host to fulfill their desires.

A child has Karmically chosen his/her mother and pregnancy is a mutual bonding phenomenon and may be certain vasanas of the mother can be activated due to this newly developing bonding or the close connection of mum and child may allow the mum to access the childs previous birth vasanas subconsciously and vice versa.

I will give you 1 example of this:
I had read a book before during my pregancy about Transmigration of a Soul and I never told anyone that I read this book neither did I discuss it with anyone and when my son was aged 6 he asked me a question all of a sudden which was a Q right from that book and he had never seen the book before and neither did i keep it in my house.His Q was word to word from that book..so how do you explain that?

So there could be some mutual subconscious exchange between mum and child..we dont know..
There is still a lot of unproven events in medical science which we dont have an answer yet.

Coming to Possessions.. I wont brush them off..we are not the only inhabitants in this Loka..keep your eyes open..you might lucky to see one Preta Atma..

I agree I did not mean possession in case of the child. I meant the ability to subconsciously communicate desires.
Somehow I feel this influence is true. However the point of this educated sadhu, was not to decry possession per say. But he says that the spirit does not get into the person's body but only subconsciously influences. By your personal example you have taken this to a new dimension. We hear of the child being able to appreciate music and other stuff from the womb, but this aspect you brought to light is new and interesting.

 

[renuka]

I agree I did not mean possession in case of the child. I meant the ability to subconsciously communicate desires.
Somehow I feel this influence is true. However the point of this educated sadhu, was not to decry possession per say. But he says that the spirit does not get into the person's body but only subconsciously influences. By your personal example you have taken this to a new dimension. We hear of the child being able to appreciate music and other stuff from the womb, but this aspect you brought to light is new and interesting.

Dear Subs,
In a possesion its not that the Preta enters the host body as you correctly said..its at a subconscious level and some even say its at the level of the Astral body.
A Preta doesnt dislodge the Atma of the host..thats not possible..cos that spells death.

But highly advanced souls could animate another body for a short while..remember Adi Shankara when He takes over the dead kings body?

Coming to in-utero influences, we do have examples of child "learning" from even in-utero in our scriptures..remember Abhimanyu?

 

[renuka]

Dear Subs,

Remember Jija Bai mother of Emperor Shivaji..during her pregnancy(carrying Shivaji) she used to reach to the tops of forts on hills, to wield swords, to discuss political questions and also put on armour and ride on horse back something she only did in that pregnancy.

 

[kunjuppu]

learning during pregnancy for the fetus, is the next step in this ever increasing competitive world.

i am told that children are attuned to music and educational lectures while still in the womb. this apparently gives them a heads up when studying thiese, as they still remember this in their racial memory, and are able to recollect them.

i dont know if this is mumbo jumbo or science

 

[subbudu1]

learning during pregnancy for the fetus, is the next step in this ever increasing competitive world.

i am told that children are attuned to music and educational lectures while still in the womb. this apparently gives them a heads up when studying thiese, as they still remember this in their racial memory, and are able to recollect them.

i dont know if this is mumbo jumbo or science

Scientists definitely consider this as a possibility. But how much of influence can be had, I am not sure. In the early state of pregnancy- 3 months?, ears are said to develop. So music is something the baby might start appreciating. As mental development takes place more quickly in young children and babies this might be true in womb too. The baby might have been listening to this music and its mental faculties absorb information so well, that when the child become ready to speak, he or she starts to sing well.

I am not only a poor singer , I cant remember lyrics of most songs, and in general I am a poor listener. I guess I might have started being oblivious to the world even during pregnancy days and that has developed into a powerful habit.People said I took longer time to start speaking in comparison to others especially my siblings.

 

[kunjuppu]

subbudu,

i think we increasingly force the children to 'grow up'.

i remember when i was young, in the 50s, 60s - evenings were spent in impromptu playing - goli, gilli, pambaram, tennis ball cricket, holikoli and paandi and such like.

today's chennai kids, atleast my relatives', i see leading too organized a life - set time for set sport at set club with set group of their own socio economic status. no intermixing. rest of the time it is studies, studies, studies.

too bad. is not childhood the time to learn by curiosity and intermixing? i feel sad at indian kids' competitive pressures today. it is no different in s'pore.

the asian immigrants to canada are doing their best to change the kid culture here in toronto, but hopefully the western attitude of easy going towards studies prevail.

 

[subbudu1]

today's chennai kids, atleast my relatives', i see leading too organized a life - set time for set sport at set club with set group of their own socio economic status. no intermixing. rest of the time it is studies, studies, studies.

I think only two things can result which such an attitude.

The kids start rebelling against the parents when they start knowing the world.

The other possibility is kids grow into pessimistic narrow thinking snobbish selfish individuals. Such kids are of no use to the general society and their attitude will only buy them like thinking friends.

 

[subbudu1]

Here is something interesting. Reproduced from
Repeated stress in pregnancy linked to children’s behavior

April 20th, 2011 | Add a Comment
Research from Perth’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has found a link between the number of stressful events experienced during pregnancy and increased risk of behavioural problems in children. The study has just been published online in the latest edition of the top international journal Development and Psychopathology.
Common stressful events included financial and relationship problems, difficult pregnancy, job loss and issues with other children and major life stressors were events such as a death in the family.
Lead author, Registered Psychologist Dr Monique Robinson, said while previous studies have shown a link between stress and poorer outcomes, this study goes further by analysing the timing, amount and kinds of events that lead to poorer outcomes.
“What we have found is that it is the overall number of stresses that is most related to child behaviour outcomes,” Dr Robinson said. “Two or fewer stresses during pregnancy are not associated with poor child behavioural development, but as the number of stresses increase to three or more, then the risks of more difficult child behaviour increase.”
Dr Robinson said the actual type of stress experienced was of less importance than the number of stresses, and there was no specific risk associated with the timing of these stress events – early or late – in the pregnancy.
The analysis was undertaken on data from Western Australia’s long-term cohort Raine Study, which recruited nearly 3000 pregnant women and recorded life stress events experienced at 18 and 34 weeks of pregnancy, as well as collecting sociodemographic data. The mother’s experience of life stress events and child behavioural assessments were also recorded when the children were followed-up ages 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years using a questionnaire called the Child Behaviour Checklist.
The percentage of women with more than two stress events was 37.2%, while the percentage with six or more was 7.6%.
Dr Robinson said the study should not make pregnant women stress further about the stress in their lives.
“These types of analyses look at overall population risk, and of course individuals can have very differing responses,” Dr Robinson said.
“Regardless of exposure to stress in the womb, a nurturing environment after birth can provide the child with enormous potential to change their course of development. This is known as “developmental plasticity”, which means that the brain can adapt and change as the child grows with a positive environment.
“The important message here is in how we as a community support pregnant women. If we think about people who lead stressful lives, they are most often linked with socioeconomic disadvantage. This research shows we should be targeting these women with support programs to ensure the stress does not negatively affect the unborn child.”
Dr Robinson said further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind how stress in pregnancy affects the developing baby, including the impact of maternal stress hormones, attachment and parenting issues and socioeconomic factors.
Via: Research Australia

 

[kunjuppu]

subbudu,

i have always believed that a happy pregnancy is a key to the welfare of both the mother and the child