What the Ancients Knew
Elesaar Honey Blog Series 3
Some foods heal the body.
Some… whisper to the soul.”
Honey has always done both.
Before it had barcodes, it had blessings.
Before science, it had silence.
Before nutritionists, it had wisdom.
This isn’t nostalgia.
It’s memory — older than memory.
The Tongue That Tastes Truth Never Forgets
You’ve probably heard of memory tricks —
where they ask you to picture a house you know deeply.
Each room. Each corner.
Every cupboard, every table, every chair —
Objects as small as the nail cutter or a needle, to as large an object as a bed.
Then they ask you to place something new — something important —
on those old, familiar shelves.
Why?
Because memory isn’t about recall.
It’s about belonging.
New truths stay longer when they enter through the doors of old ones.
Honey works the same way.
It doesn’t just touch your tongue.
It walks into a memory.
Like that one dusty afternoon —
when your feet were bare, your throat sore…
and Daadu said:
“Suno, apna waala shahed laao toh.
Abhi uchhalne koodne lagega yeh pyaara saa badmaash bachcha.”
It’s not the sweetness you remember.
It’s where it placed itself inside you.
Truth isn’t loud.
It’s familiar.
Why Real Honey Changes — and So Do We
Watch a child learn something new.
Their pupils dilate.
Their eyes widen — as if trying to hold more than light.
Their whole being reacts to wonder.
That’s how the tongue reacts to real honey… the first time.
Then years pass.
We still love it —
but our eyes don’t widen anymore.
Rather… we close them.
We don’t gulp wonder.
We ‘listen to it’.
Real honey changes too.
It thickens. It darkens. It loses its glow.
Not because it’s fading —
but because it’s maturing.
And maturity… carries more truth than shine.
Nani Trusted the Pause
Before opening a new jar, Nani wouldn’t rush.
She’d hold it.
Let it settle.
Let herself settle.
Not to check the honey — but to prepare herself to receive it.
Once, I asked her, “Don’t you want to test it?”
She said:
“If it’s honest, it will arrive.”
Real honey doesn’t try to impress.
It waits for silence.
And Nani had the kind of heart
that could hear waiting.
A Darvesh Once Said…
“The tongue that begins with honey
learns not to spit bitterness.”
Maybe that’s why, for centuries,
a newborn’s first taste… has been honey.
Not milk.
Not medicine.
But sweetness —
with sincerity.
A Practice As Old as the Ancients
Our parents and grandparents spoke of honey not just as sugar, but as something sacred.
Not just as a sweetener, but as devotion.
Honey was not just used for healing, it was honored.
This practice in India is more than a millennium old.
You find the mention of Honey and it’s benefits even in ancient Ayurvedic texts.
Honey was held in high esteem, not just as food and medicine, but also as a memory and a ritual.
The Closing
And therefore…
every time you taste honey —
pause… reflect… ask…
what part of you it’s trying to return to…
May be that one summer afternoon,
when you played with your sibling…
basking in simple joys and unbridled laughter…
and the assurance of your mother watching you with nothing but
love & honey.
Whatever part of you it may be…
it’s now etched in memory — like an image on celluloid, forever.