Health, healing, humour mark the seventh meet of Bhumika Club

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Health was the highlight of the seventh edition of Freedom Oil presents Bhumika Club by Deccan Herald and Prajavani.

The Club aims to foster a space for women to network and broaden their knowledge, and the Saturday meetup saw more than 150 women and a few children turn up at Hotel Pai Vista in Banashankari.

The first guest of the event, Kannada actress Bhavvana Rao, urged everyone to listen to their body as it is always giving out 'signs'. She illustrated with a personal anecdote: "I don't have a sweet tooth. But four-five years ago, I started craving sweets. I went for a check-up and found it was the start of thyroid." Recovery followed over three months.

An actor's life is stressful and she says she turns to yoga and meditation to cope with the rigours of her job.

On the sideline, RJ Nikitha, the host, quizzed Bhavvana about her journey in cinema. Persistence and patience are key to any career, she said. Being a Bharatanatyam dancer, film choreography was a different genre but her grounding in classical dance came in handy, she added.

A quick game later, Shakti led a sound healing demonstration alongside psychotherapist-dancer Aparna Rao. Sound healing helps to relieve stress and improve focus.

They played an assortment of flute, djembe, ghungroos, cymbals and a sound bowl, one after another, sometimes together, but rhythmically. The chanting and music silenced the murmur in the hall.

Then, Shakti switched to guitar and sang 'Yeh Honsla', a Hindi film song which speaks of hope and motivation, while Aparna improvised a dance.

Exhorting the healing powers of music, Shakti said, "Flute came to me at a dark phase in my life. It helped me heal." They added that we all have rhythm inside our bodies and activities like drum jams are good way to tap into that.

Up next was a cookery segment by chef Aadharsh Tatpat. He made a nutritious Mediterranean salad, sauteing it in rice bran oil, which is said to be low on cholesterol, is anti-inflammatory, and has high smoking point.

His session filled the room with the sizzle sound and aromas and also questions by the audience. He dispensed information: Onion is good for gut health. Turmeric is anti-septic. Garlic is anti-biotic. No food is truly organic. Then, some advice: Prepare simple food at home. Make salads at least two times a week. Don't use frozen ingredients in salads.

In a bid to demonstrate the impact of healthy eating, he asked the audience to guess his age. 45, 40, 36, pat came the replies. "I am 52," He said and the audience broke into a collective 'wow'.

The monthly meet concluded with a 20-minute comedy sketch by Mimicry Gopi. In the true 'Laughter is the best medicine' style, he left the audience in splits with his 'men versus women' jokes and imitation of politicians from Siddaramaiah to H D Kumaraswamy and Narendra Modi.