MOHANA GILL – A LADY WHO CONTINUES TO INSPIRE

If you have met Mohana Gill, you will be amazed by her energy and abilities. Her present passion is to educate and tell the world all about Moringa, which has many health benefits.

At nearly 90, Mohana Gill is far from resting on her laurels but is, instead, forging ahead with more creative and culinary projects. Her latest cookbook, Moringalicious, aims to unlock the powerful benefits of the Moringa tree aka Tree of Life through wholesome recipes pulled from cuisines around the world.

Grow Moringa Eat Moringa … Feed and heal the world by unlocking the power of moringa with Moringalicious. The stunning publication—winner of the Best In The World title from the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, makes it Mohana’s 9th such honour to date. It is yet another testament to her lifelong goal of promoting healthy living, longevity, and wellness. Moringa fits her mantra to a T, as the tree is widely acknowledged and proven by science to contain a multitude of nutritional goodness and medical properties.

Mohana knows this all too well, having grown up on a staple diet that often included all parts of the moringa tree. Her late mother, famed for her cooking prowess among other things, whipped up many scrumptious dishes featuring the fresh leaves, drumsticks (pods), and even flowers of the miraculous tree. As the amazing aromas wafted from their humble home kitchen, a young Mohana was held enthralled by the ‘magic’ her mother so effortlessly conjured up. From then, and unknown to Mohana, the early seeds were already planted in her mind that someday, she would do great things with the moringa tree and more importantly, tell the world about it.

“As I researched the moringa tree, I realised to my delight that I was not alone in this endeavour. Along the way, I came across many wonderful people, organizations, initiatives, and projects that were driven by the same passion … each of us are doing something different to spread the goodness of moringa,” Mohana shared. Naturally, Mohana chose to focus on the food aspect—after all, she has built up an impressive portfolio of cookbooks and other publications revolving around cooking that have won awards locally and internationally.

“I conceptualized Moringalicious as Malaysia’s Gift to the World,” she continued. And just as she thought it could well be her last book, Mohana then decided that the story of moringa needed to be told to children too. She is currently writing Hayley’s Moringalicious Malaysia, adding another title to her acclaimed children’s series that was named after her granddaughter. “I want to teach our children, all children around the world, about the Miracle Tree … how to grow it, the many benefits, how to eat the different parts of the tree…”

That’s not all; Mohana has an even bigger plan in mind. “I hope that the Malaysian government and relevant authorities will look into spreading the awareness and goodness of moringa by planting it everywhere — school compounds, public parks, children’s playgrounds… The moringa tree is easy to grow and does not cost much, and provides a great source of food and nutrients.” Mohana’s vision is this: “If we train one generation to appreciate the goodness of moringa, they will train their children, and their children will train their children … that way, we will have many generations of healthy, happy children.”

On the philosophy of life she follows, she shares, “I am very content with my life. I don’t need to compare myself with anyone. How I look, how I talk, how I write … I am happy with that. I am grateful for what I have been able to do. At my age I am grateful I can walk, talk, enjoy life and do the things that make me happy. Grateful for all the little angels that God has sent me throughout my life to show me the way and clear the path for me. Most importantly, I am happy that I am able to leave a legacy for the future generations by showing them how to lead a healthy and happy life.

Her advice to people as they are growing old, to keep motivated healthy and happy consists of just three things – Contentment, Gratitude and Happiness. She says, “To keep motivated you must believe in yourself … that you can still contribute in different ways. Do what you can to make yourself and others happy in small ways like reading a book, going for a walk, chatting with friends, etc. To keep healthy, eat more fruit and vegetables … try and eat what we produce ourselves in this country – local and in season. To be happy I think you must be thankful and grateful for what you can do and not regret about what you cannot do.”

All of us want to have fulfilled, happy lives and Mohana Gill is a person we can all emulate and be inspired by.