I survived without eating anything for 10 days straight!
Decisions and Challenges –
In 2019 I decided, that in the year 2020, come what may, I will follow the 10 days of annual Jain religious fasting — Das-Lakshan Parv / Paryushan. It is similar to Ramadan or Lent but, in my opinion, a lot more extreme — I have to sacrifice food in any shape or form for 10 days along with several lifestyle sacrifices. Until 2019, for these 10 days each year, for almost 2 decades, I followed strict religious guidelines that include lifestyle and dietary restrictions in some capacity. Almost every year, I did not eat anything for the first and last day of the festival. I ate only one meal for the 8 days in between and limited the use of unnecessary resources like water, commercial products, clothes, and transportation mode.
Our beloved year of 2020 has been a year of extreme emotional and mental despair for several reasons. With travel restrictions, it was hard to be around family for moral support. Things were going down the hill. And at the peak of all of it, arrived Paryushan-The fasting festival of Jains. The time had come to step-up to stick to the decisions taken last year and go all in. The idea was to put myself through the test, a test to take control of life, a test of my willpower, a test of my emotional strength, a test of my mental strength, and a test of my inner soul.
On Aug 20th, I decided to move forward with the decision. In a panic, my family, concerned about me, subtly tried to convince me to change my decision without demotivating me. Their biggest concern was how I would pull it off all alone in the middle of the pandemic. They were concerned if they would be allowed to travel across three continents to be with me. The religious books have strict guidelines on how to help a person who decides to fast for 10 days. Usually, this person gets Ghee (unsaturated butter made from cow’s milk) massage, narrations of religious stories, and several opportunities to be in God’s presence at the temple. None of it was possible in the USA, with no family around or a temple nearby. My decision did not change.
Along with vowing to fast for 10 days with only drinking water once a day, I decided to leave many lifestyle comforts and adopted an extremely minimalistic way of living. For ten days, I tracked away from worldly discussions and focused on the ten virtues that represent each day of the festival
1. Uttam Kshama (Supreme forbearance) — उत्तम क्षमा
2. Uttam Mardava (Supreme modesty) — उत्तम मार्दव
3. Uttam Aarjava (straightforwardness) — उत्तम आर्जव
4. Uttam Shoch (Supreme purity) — उत्तम शौच
5. Uttam Satya (Supreme truth) — उत्तम सत्य
6. Uttam Sanyam (supreme restraint) — उत्तम संयम
7. Uttam Tap (Supreme austerity) — उत्तम तप
8. Uttam Tyaga (Supreme renunciation) — उत्तम त्याग
9. Uttam Aakinchanya (Supreme non-attachment) and — उत्तम अकिंचन्य
10. Uttam Brahmcharya (Supreme celibacy) — उत्तम बह्मचर्य
How did it go –
Before it started
I kept my decision low key. Not creating unnecessary pressure on myself. I was having my regular diet and routine work and workout. I ensured that my work manager is aware of my decision, and I had taken PTO’s for the last five days. Being a curious soul, I had read many religious and random articles on people who had pulled off 10 days with no food. I promised myself to take 1 day at a time and not overthink. I convinced myself mentally that if it becomes too difficult, I can always stop. I had kept milestones to check with myself on how I feel on days 2, 3, 5, and 7 to re-evaluate my decision.
Days 1 to 3
· I knew day one was going to be easy. I had kept a single day fast for several years now. I had the experience and mental awareness of how it feels when you are hungry for a day. I was more anxious about how I would feel on the 2nd and the 3rd day. I knew that if I can survive the first three days, I will be able to cross the finish line.
· Like every year, I woke up at 6 am to offer prayers to God.
· I knew I am preparing for a marathon, and it is not a sprint; hence I had stopped any physical activity or unnecessary conversations. This was an effort to preserve my energy.
· I worked regular hours, and to my surprise, I was feeling light and comfortable even on Day 3. This is when the mental block that I may not complete the fast had vanished. I was feeling confident to march forward.
· I made sure that I drank 2 liters of water (only allowed once a day) from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. This is something I followed until the last day.
· Because I was alone at home, I watched TV — one hour of religious stuff — understanding the ten virtues listed above in more detail. I also enjoyed an entertaining Bollywood movie.
· My last activity for a day was to conduct more religious prayers (Arti) to God before going to sleep.
· I had noticed that I started feeling more comfortable to sleep on my stomach then my back. This was maybe helping me calm my empty stomach so that I could sleep well.
Days 4 to 9
· Because of COVID, no one from my family was with me. Instead of bothering them to travel, I decided that I would travel to my sister’s place. So, I made a 7-hour journey on Day 4 of fasting. This turned out to be a perfect distraction. Time flew by fairly quickly.
· Being with my sister, brother in law, and my 1-year-old nephew was a refreshing change. So Day 5 and all days after were good that way.
· There were two significant disadvantages of being with people –
1. They were cooking and eating, so the smell of food would drive me nuts on the 5th day.
2. I was talking a lot more with my sister, and in turn, losing some precious energy.
· From day 6, the presence of food around me did not make any difference. I grew over it eventually and realized how strong my commitment and my willpower are. I also became more aware of the energy I could use and hence started communicating with nods and hand gestures, using fewer to no words.
· Day 6 to Day 8 were similar. Days with the least temptation. I was in full control of my consciousness. I had stopped working during these days so that I do not drain my mental strength. I got much more spiritual. I got aware of my inner strength, my soul, my pure thoughts. I felt light.
· My afternoon naps had increased, and I started avoiding TV and any other noises. I had started reading more about the virtues of each day (listed above). These were the days when fasting had cleaned not only my body but also my mind. My thoughts were controlled and streamlined. No unnecessary thoughts would run by me. I was calm, serene, and clear. If someone would ask me a question, naturally, my mind would think of the simplest and shortest way of answering the question — mostly one-word thoughts and the actual reply would only be a nod.
· I had two fundamental awareness –
1. There is no need to over-communicate things. If we can accomplish something with minimum effort, then we must target that.
2. All the inessential rules, stigma, trends, and burdens we have adopted are not that important. Our lives have become stressful for things that are not even that important. To live, the fundamental thing required is to continue to breathe. And thank God it is an involuntary action, so we do not worry about it. Next comes water and food, then shelter and clothes. These are basics. If we are in good health and we have the things mentioned above, we are golden! Rest is just leisure, so if it increases, decreases, comes, goes, it is not that big of a deal. E.g., when I had no food in my body, I felt light and clean, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. I had clear priorities of what is important to me. Even the thought of consuming food had become a luxury. That’s when I wondered if I could go to Exuma’s exotic island, which is fantastic, but if I cannot, that is still OK. I can work hard to gain my pleasures and live a life of worldly pleasures, but if I miss out on it, that’s perfectly OK.
· Day 8 was special. My parents managed to travel from India to be with me. The next few days went by much more easily. Mom’s pampering and Dad’s support can ease out the biggest challenges of your life.
Day 10
· My family arranged for a beautiful virtual event to celebrate the last day. I was filled with emotions. The amount of love that was showered upon me was pure bliss. This day, I used all my energy, interacted with family and friends, danced, participated in live music. I felt free-spirited. I learned that people who matter to us provide us with immense energy.
· The most challenging part of my 10-day journey were these final few hours. I now knew that I had accomplished my task. I had let my guard down. I started thinking of all the delicious food my mom can make for me. I literally made a list of 32 items that I would want to eat. It was a long night for sure.
Day 11
· After coming back from the temple, I was ready to break my fast. But as part of the ritual, I was asked to commit to two things before consuming food again- 1. Donate to a cause, and 2. Sacrifice one thing (duration and thing did not matter).
1. Identify a cause for donation was easy. I have always thought of kids and homeless foundations as something I like to be associated with.
2. To sacrifice something was a big deal. I truly wanted to test my perseverance and my willpower. And so I committed to quit drinking for a year. Drinking socially with friends and colleagues has become a fundamental part of life. Thinking of sacrificing it for a year made me nervous. I wondered how boring my weekends might become, or would I still be interested in meeting friends while everyone enjoyed a drink, and I sat soberly. I thought it through, and I decided to commit. And to my surprise, after the first outing with friends, the awkwardness of being a teetotaler was out of the window. I felt good that I can still be me. This became a new normal, which is equally fantastic.
· Food — I had dreamt of eating tasty food on this day. However, I could not eat anything. I drank different versions of liquid food, which tasted not too bad.
Afterword
· For approximately a week, I was eating too little. Very much on a semi-solid diet.
· Post 1 week, I gradually started ingesting regular food. But my appetite was less than half of my normal appetite
· In 2 weeks, I had started a regular diet
· In a month, I checked all 32 items that I had listed I was craving to eat 😊.
Fun facts
· I became the first guy in my Dad’s five generations to keep this fast
· I did not measure my weight on purpose because I knew I would get back to my normal weight soon
Indeed, it was a beautiful and very enlightening experience. I hope you like this article. I hope it helps you as a guide, as an inspiration, or as a knowledge article. Please share your feedback in the comments. What did you like about the article? Did you experience the same things? Can I help you answer any of your questions?
