In Conversation With Kaushani Desai, Art Of Living Ayurvedic Cooking Teacher

Meet the talented Kaushani Desai, an Art Of Living Ayurvedic Cooking Course teacher. Her cooking and teaching journey of 11 years has been magnificent so far and she believes that it would continue to get better. Traveled across the globe, she has had varied experiences, however, enjoyed each and every moment.   The vivacious Kaushani Desai   She is an extremely humble human being and you can get lucky if you ever get a chance listening to a song/bhajan in her melodious voice. She speaks on the importance of healthy cooking in our life with BananiVista. Below are the excerpts.   B.V: At an age when most girls are learning simple and fast cooking, you choose to become an Ayurvedic Cooking Teacher, how does that feel? Kaushani: There is no age to learn anything for that matter. Life is too short however there is so much to learn. It just started and I never wanted to look back. Talking about how it feels, it feels great not just because I am an Ayurvedic Cooking Course Teacher but primarily because today, we are 68 teachers in India and 75 abroad. It feels awesome to spread the message of healthy cooking across the world.   Its never too early or late to do what you love   B.V: As per Ayurveda, there are three elements that dominate our bodies, does that mean we all should eat differently, can you throw some light on this? Kaushani: Well, there are five elements fire, water, earth, air, and aether. Everybody has a different constitution as everyone is unique. Therefore, if one understands what rules or dominates their body, we should eat differently. It would help people remain away from a lot of diseases too if the consumption of the food becomes right and as per the body requirement. To put it in the best way, with the right kind of food going in our system, we can balance our body, mind, and soul.   B.V: In the times when people want quick food, how do you think Ayurvedic Cooking can sustain? Kaushani: It is surely here to stay for a long time, maybe forever. In fact, Ayurvedic Cooking is a cooking style that requires even lesser time than what we assume too, be it quick food. Chopping the fruits or vegetables is what would take few minutes and then in the next few minutes with the help of Ayurvedic-style, you can enjoy the healthy yet tasty food. If we look around, we would observe people are becoming aware of their food habits too. Therefore, slowly and gradually, Ayurvedic Cooking shall be adopted by a lot around us.   With Sri Sri Ravishankar ji at the Germany Ashram   B.V: It is often said that aluminum utensils are harmful for cooking? What’s your viewpoint on this? Kaushani: It is absolutely true that usage of Aluminium vessels should be discouraged. Using such vessels for long periods acts like a slow poison for the body. We have seen a tremendous increase in the cases of Dementia, Alzheimer, anxiety, depression and a lot more. To a large extent, the cause of these ailments is the regular usage of aluminum vessels in your kitchens. The alternate can be steel, copper, brass, iron utensils for a healthier life.   B.V: Ayurvedic Food is for diseased and elderly people, we often come across this statement. Is this true? Kaushani: Ayur=Life and Veda=knowledge. Most definitely, it is not related to what is asked here. Following Ayurveda and eating food cooked in a healthy cooking style is a necessity for each and every human being. Therefore, it is a myth that it's for old people or ailing individuals.   B.V: You travel the globe, which country has given you the best experience and why? Kaushani: Experience in each country has been unique. Everyone has accepted and appreciated this knowledge. Russia, Africa Europe, Gulf countries to name a few have been enriched with this knowledge and have loved and implemented what they have received. It feels blessed seeing such a happy response from your audiences who belong to different cultures, speak different languages but so humbly get engrossed in learning Ayurvedic Cooking.   During a course in Europe   B.V: One word that defines you? Kaushani: There is only one word that I always associate myself with. And that is "HAPPY"   B.V: Sattva, the Ayurvedic Cookbook was a joint effort by you and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, how does it feel to co-author a book with him? Kaushani: Well, this book was published by Art Of Living. And, what I feel about writing this book, hosting various cook shows or taking a cooking course is that there is a divine power that is helping you work towards it. To talk about the experience writing this book, it was just wonderful.   This book is a gem for your kitchen   B.V: Who has been your biggest motivation to reach where you are today? Kaushani: Gurudev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, my parents and my family are the ones to help me reach where I am today. More power to you Kaushani Desai!!   For more interesting articles, follow our online magazine BananiVista. Do ‘Like’ and ‘follow’ us on Facebook.