Protein Shakes and Payasam

A memory from my younger days in Thiruvananthapuram

When I was working in Thiruvananthapuram, I had a close friend called Rajeev  Menon.

Rajeev was not an ordinary man.

He was a man on a mission.

His mission was simple: live to 120.

He lived in a small rented house, next to my house,  near Sreekariam Junction, with his mother, Saraswathi Amma. wife Anitha, and their little son. The house was ordinary. But his lifestyle was not.

Every morning at exactly 4:00 a.m., before even the milkman cycled past, ringing his bell, Rajeev would jump out of bed like a soldier hearing a command.

One day I asked him,
“Rajeev, why wake up so early? Even the sun is still stretching.”

He looked at me seriously and said,
“Ignatious, oxygen levels are highest before sunrise. Winners wake up early.”

“How do you know?”

He showed me a mobile app.

That was Rajeev.

The Cold-Water Hero

His day began with a bucket of ice-cold well water poured over his head.

Even in December.

His mother once shouted from inside,
“Da Rajeeve! You will fall sick!”

He replied proudly,
“Amma, cold water opens the pores!”

“What are these pores doing all day?” she muttered.

After that, he would stand shirtless on the terrace, facing the east, breathing deeply.

“Inhale positivity. Exhale toxins.”

I once stood beside him and tried.

I inhaled deeply.

All I got was the smell of fish curry from the neighbour’s kitchen.

Barefoot Philosophy

He refused to wear slippers in the morning.

“You must feel the earth,” he said.

So he walked barefoot on the wet grass near the temple ground.

One morning, he suddenly shouted, “Ayyooo!”

“What happened?”

“Glass piece,” he said, trying to remain calm.

Still, the next morning he went again.

Some people will bleed for an idea, even when it’s foolish.

Office Gymnastics

At the office, during lunch break, he did push-ups in the corridor.

One day, our manager came out.

“What is this, Menon?”

“Core strengthening, sir.”

“Strengthen your pending files first.”

But Rajeev continued.

His lunch box contained boiled vegetables and sprouts.

No rice. No fish. No curd.

“White rice is poison,” he declared.

“Then what have we been eating all these years?” I asked.

He looked at me with pity.

“You people don’t understand longevity.”

“You should not sit continuously.”

“Every hour, you should walk or take 250 steps to keep yourself healthy and fit.”

YouTube University

Then came the YouTube phase.

Every evening, he sat with earphones plugged in, watching foreign trainers shout at the screen.

“Bro, you need protein!”

“Bro, your muscles are starving!”

Soon, big plastic jars arrived at his house.

Protein powder.

Pre-workout mix.

Post-workout mix.

Something called “mass gainer.”

Anitha stared at the bill and almost fainted.

“Are you opening a gym or a medical shop?”

“This is an investment,” he said proudly.

Once, he gave me a pink-colored shake.

“What is this?”

“Beetroot protein blend.”

It tasted like sweet cement.

“My body is not ready for international standards,” I told him.

He did not laugh.

He never laughed at protein.

The Egg-White Tragedy

Poor Anitha.

She suffered the most.

Every morning at 6:30 sharp, Rajeev would sit at the dining table like a strict school principal.

“Anitha, six eggs.”

She would bring six boiled eggs carefully arranged on a steel plate.

He would peel them slowly.

Then remove every yellow yolk and throw it into a separate bowl.

“Why are you wasting the best part?” she once asked.

“Cholesterol,” he whispered seriously.

“What should I do with these six yellow moons?”

“Give it to the cat.”

The cat refused after two days.

Finally, Anitha began secretly mixing the yolks into curry.

One day, he paused mid-bite.

“Why is today’s curry thicker?”

She looked at him and said calmly,
“That is the taste of happiness.”

He did not understand.

Sometimes love quietly swallows what the ego rejects.

The Multivitamin Mountain

Soon, his dining table looked like a pharmacy.

Morning tablet.

Afternoon capsule.

Evening syrup.

Night magnesium.

Fish oil before sleeping.

One day, his little son asked innocently,

“Appa, are you sick?”

“No. I am preventing sickness.”

The boy looked confused.

Anitha muttered softly,
“At this rate, sickness will get scared and run away.”

Even I laughed loudly that day.

The Germ War

He carried sanitiser in three pockets.

At the roadside thattukada, he wiped the tea glass before drinking.

The tea master frowned.

“What saar? You think I am growing bacteria here?”

“Bacteria are everywhere,” Rajeev replied.

I told him gently,
“If you search for germs, you will find them. If you search for joy, you will find that also.”

He did not listen.

The Onam Battle

On Onam, Anitha prepared a beautiful sadya.

Avial. Olan. Thoran. Sambar. Pappadam. Payasam ( A sweet delicacy).

The house smelled of coconut oil and curry leaves.

Rajeev looked at the banana leaf and frowned.

“Too much oil.”

Anitha froze.

“This is Onam.”

“Coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol.”

There was silence.

Then his father spoke calmly.

“Da Rajeeve, our ancestors used coconut oil and climbed coconut trees till ninety.”

That day, Rajeev quietly ate.

Sometimes tradition defeats Google.

The Big Lecture

One evening at Marine Drive, he told me,

“You people eat too much. Sleep too much. Laugh too loudly. You will not cross sixty.”

“And you?”

“I will live till 120.”

There was so much confidence in his voice that even the sea breeze seemed to pause.

But something inside me felt uneasy.

Living long is not the same as living fully.

The Irony

Years passed.

Life became busy.

Children grew.

Transfers happened.

Then one day I heard the news.

Rajeev collapsed in his office in Kochi.

Too much stress at his company in

Kakkanad had increased his blood pressure.

He was only fifty-two.I went to the funeral.

His mother sat silently.

Anitha’s face looked tired.

Not angry.

Just tired.

That night, I could not sleep.

I remembered his early morning breathing.

His egg-white discipline.

His protein jars.

His fear of germs.

His dream for 120 years.

And I felt a deep sadness.

When fear dresses itself as discipline, it looks like strength.

But life does not listen to fear.

It listens to balance.

When I Look Back

Now, when my grandchildren ask me,

“Appuppa, how to live long?”

I tell them:

Wake up when you must.

Walk daily, exercise well, but don’t punish yourself.

Eat your rice and fish curry with gratitude.

Take care of your body.

But also laugh loudly.

Share payasam on Onam.

Don’t separate egg yolks from life.

Because,

Health is not a war. It is a friendship.

The body is not an enemy to control. It is a companion to care for.

And most importantly,

Do not become so busy adding years to life that you forget to add life to your years.

That is what I learned from Rajeev  Menon.

He wanted to live till 120.

But he forgot to live at 50.

It is not the number of years we add to life, but the warmth we add to our days, that truly matters.