India, July 18 -- Remember how your mother would stuff your mouth and blazer pockets with soaked almonds while you were headed to school for your exam or a job interview? Yes, even when you were getting late, she would insist , "Zarur kha lena, isse buddhi chalegi." Well, such nuskhas (homemade remedies) of an Indian mother might seem a little too much to follow at times, but they've certainly worked, time and again. And yes, not just mothers, but science agrees too - almonds boost memory.

Actor and writer Soha Ali Khan, who has been quite cautious about her food habits and exercise, shares her story of how she began consuming almonds and continues to find them as essential ingredients for health.

Excerpts of our ' Badam pe Charcha' wit...