Temple of my Soul

Depending on our experiences and our learning both formal and informal, religious, social or otherwise we come to generally believe in the East that 'I am a soul with a body' or in the West, 'I am a body with a soul'. Atheists believe different things or disbelieve almost everything.

Who am I? Almost all of us will never know the answer though many will seek to know so we can only believe.

I believe, 'I am nothing more than energy concentrated in the form of an eternal soul, housed within a constantly ageing body and driven and controlled by my mind.'

When the three interrelated aspects of our existence, body, mind and soul, are in harmony with one another we can claim to be at ease and healthy. When the natural rhythm, pulse, and synchronisation is disturbed we suffer from a case of 'dis-ease' and hence the origin of the term 'disease'.

All traditional practices of health such a 'Ayurveda' (the knowledge of life) have focussed in restoring the balance and harmony in 'dis eased' beings both within themselves and with the rest of existence.

All these thoughts and beliefs remain theory until we experience major dis-ease or imbalance, as I happened to experience by physical injury very recently. Medicines and treatments alleviated my pain but were not making me healthy. I suddenly realised that while I was nourishing my soul and mind I had all but neglected my body, the temple of my soul.

Now I understood why traditional Indian temples were not only places of worship but each a 'Gurukul'. A Gurukul being an integrated centre for transmission of theory and practice of a wide range of subjects, physical education and practice of yoga and meditation, music and arts, literature and culture, etc. with a learned, wise and experienced Guru at the very centre. This formed the backbone and basic core of Indian civilisation until it was significantly damaged by neglect, corruption, invasions and imported ideologies.

A neglected or unhealthy body adversely affects our ability to function both physically and mentally and impedes the realisation of our spiritually.

We are at our prime of our physical health between age 16 and 20 years. After that our bodies begin to decay. Our joints begin to stiffen and we lose about 8% of our muscle mass each decade, hence our strength, stamina and flexibility degrade. Our brain cells begin to die more rapidly than they are regenerated, and eventually we can suffer from conditions like dementia.

Both ancient and modern scientific thinking agree that a healthy body and mind can be achieved by following some universal truths.

• Exercise, either by imbedding physical activity such as walking and climbing in our daily routine or develop a workout regime. I have discovered the latter with the help of a good trainer to be fun and very effective.
• Proper diet and nutrition in moderation provides the right fuel and energy eliminating 90% of dis-ease.
• Avoid intoxicants and artificial stimulants, wherever and whenever possible.
• Get sufficient and fitful sleep (Physical exercise helps a lot in this regard).
• Constantly challenge and recharge the mind by continuous learning and contemplation.
• Nourish the soul by meditation.
• Harmonise the mind, body and soul by practice of pranayama and yoga.

Scientists have discovered by studies and many of us by experience that exercise, yoga and meditation increases the feel good factor (caused by hormones like endorphins) and sharpens the mind.

It is useful to remember, the body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. Hence physical exercise, sport or various sports, coupled with hobbies or interests that challenges the mind, nourishes and strengthens it.

Sadly like most people, after leaving school at age 16, I had stopped exercising and working out, as a result over next 47 years my body has decayed and weakened much more rapidly than it should have.  

The good news is that because of our son Pavit's nagging and his part ownership in Hotfut sports and ILESEUM clubs I had easy access to numerous gyms and good trainers.

As a result our entire family have begun to work out regularly. I have discovered that while ageing cannot be reversed, a lot of health can be recovered and restored.

I wish you all good health.

Interesting Links:

• Not every teacher is a Guru ~ Guru Wonder
• The importance of the Gurukul system and why Indian education needs it ~ Times of India
• How New Brain Cells Regenerate ~ Very Well Mind
• The Adult Brain Does Grow New Neurons After All, Study Says ~ Scientific American
• Hotfut sports
• ILESEUM clubs ~ Inclusive Localism For Excellence in Sports Education and Urban Living Management Clubs

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I love Neera

One of the first conditions of happiness is the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.

 -Leo Tolstoy

Nature provides us everything we need in abundance. Eating and drinking natural things and to behave naturally. 

It is no secret that living in harmony with nature helps promote good health. Yet we seem to increasingly live unnatural lives. 

Synthetic lifestyles and processed foods, hamper our natural bio-rhythms, and makes our body and mind toxic, cause various illnesses thus playing havoc with our well being.

Using many harmful chemicals, most food processing is carried out by large multi-national companies. They use highly automated plants, and employ very few people. They employ a bevy of scientists to help maximise taste and get the maximum profit from product. Unfortunately they often indulge in sourcing, processing, manufacturing, and marketing practices that are increasingly questionable. 

Let us take the case of aerated cola drinks produced by various multinational companies. The product costs only 10% of the selling price to manufacture. The products are considered unhealthy (loaded with refined sugar, full of chemicals, some of which are considered harmful). They deplete surface and groundwater resources, provide very few jobs and livelihood to people. All the income these companies generate are remitted out of the country back overseas to enrich other people at great cost and little benefit to local economies and communities.

On the other hand we have many natural juices and beverages, sugarcane juice, fresh lime sherbet,etc. A wonderful local beverage is 'Neera'. Neera is produced by small local farmers, working in cooperatives to produce a healthy naturally cooling refreshing drink. The cooperatives benefit hundreds of thousands of farmers whose products are gathered, checked, distributed and  sold through authorised street vendors to customers at an attractive price. 

                                      

A nation becomes impoverished rather than wealthy when some large multinational organisations increase GDP by getting local people to buy unhealthy products at ridiculously high prices. The very high profit margins these companies generate benefit just a handful of people, most of them foreigners. India can be better off by providing healthy products at low prices which benefit millions of people and supports local communities.

_________________________________________

The amazing story of the production, marketing and distribution of Neera is a story of community growth and a win-win proposition for everyone involved. 

Neera, or palm nectar, is a sweet tasting sap extracted from  toddy palms. Extracted  before sunrise, the translucent oyster white coloured, neera is a very refreshing drink. Neera is widely consumed in India, Sri Lanka, Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

The drink is popular, has high nutritive value, delicious taste and agreeable flavor. Its production requires neither mechanical crushing, as in the case of sugarcane, nor leaching, like beet-root; 

Neera is rich in carbohydrates, mostly sucrose, and has a nearly neutral pH.
Neera contains a number of minerals, salts and is high in protein.

The various Indian state governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Orissa have worked to encourage local populations to grow palm trees, employ tappers, help with marketing and distribution and thus help small farmers, transporters and vendors. 

The amazing concept has the potential to create employment of an additional million jobs over and above the 600,000 currently employed in just production and sale of Neera.

In Maharastra and Gujarat, the entire production and supply chain is managed by the stakeholders themselves called The Neera Palm Product Cooperative Society. It  has set up small kiosks to sell neera alongside almost every roadside in most cities areas.

In Karnataka where there are abundant Coconut trees the Neera is being taped from coconut trees. In Tamil Nadu, neera is called as "Padaneer" in Tamil.

Seek out natural beverages in your local community. Sugarcane juice, lemon juice etc. You will save money, and enjoy feeling refreshed.

Live naturally, be healthy, and happy, and support your local economy. Try a refreshing glass of neera. 

To have succeeded

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 -1889) American Essayist & Poet

(1803 - 1882) American Essayist & Poet

Prostrate health awareness.

PROSTATE HEALTH AWARENESS LECTURE.

Though this article is targeted at men aged 40 or more years the healthcare enlightenment is for everyone.

Responsible health promotion must provide three things:

1. Information
2. Reassurance
3. A plan of action.

Background on prostate health. 

Everyone has a pair of kidneys.  The job of the kidney is to remove waste. It is the waste management company of your body. Everyday your blood passes through the kidney several times to be filtered. As the blood is filtered, urine is formed and stored in a temporary storage tank called the urinary bladder.

If there were to be no urinary bladder, as a man walks on the road, urine will be dropping.

Now think of the plumbing work in your house. Think of the urinary bladder as the overhead 

storage tank. From the storage tank, a good plumber will run pipes to other parts of the 

house, including the kitchen.

God in His wisdom ran pipes from our urinary bladder to the tip of the penis. 

The pipe is called the urethra. Just below the bladder and surrounding the urethra is a little organ called the prostate gland.

The prostate gland is the size of a walnut and weighs about 20grams. 

Its job is to make the seminal fluid which is stored in the seminal vesicle.

During sexual intercourse, seminal fluid comes down the urethra and mixes with the sperms produced in the testicles to form the semen. So semen technically is not sperm. 

It is sperm + seminal fluid. The seminal fluid lubricates the sperm.

After age 40, for reasons that may be hormonal, the prostate gland begins to enlarge.
From 20 grams it may grow to almost 100 grams. As it enlarges, it squeezes the urethra 

and the man begins to notice changes in the way he urinates.

If you have a son under 10, if he has a little mischief like we all did at that age, 

when he comes out to urinate, he can target the ceiling and the jet will hit target. 

Call his father to do same, wahala dey.

His urine stream is weak, cannot travel a long distance and sometimes may come 

straight down on his legs. So he may need to stand in awkward position to urinate.

Not many men will be worried their urine stream cannot hit the ceiling. 

Toilets are on the floor and not on the ceiling.
But other symptoms begin to show.

TERMINAL DRIPPLING:
The man begins to notice that after urinating and repacking, urine still drops on his pants. This is the reason why after an older man urinates, he has to ring bell. A younger man simply delivers to the last drop and walks away. Just see an older man coming from the bathroom. Sometimes he may clutch the newspaper closely to hide the urine stains, particularly on plain colored trousers.

HESISTANCY
At this point you wait longer for the urine flow to start. There are 2 valves that must open 

for you to urinate – the internal and external sphincters. Both open but because of 

obstructions in the urethra, you wait long for the flow to start.

INCOMPLETE EMPTYING
You have this feeling immediately after urinating that there is still something left.

As all these things happen, the bladder begins to work harder to compensate for the 

obstruction in the urethra. The frequency of urination goes up. Urgency sets in. 

Sometimes you have to practically run into the toilet. Nocturia also becomes common. 

You wake up more than 2 times at night to urinate.  Your wife begins to complain.

Men being men may not talk to anyone even at this point.
Then the more serious complications start.
Stored urine gets infected and there may be burning sensation when urinating.

Stored urine forms crystals. Crystals come together to form stone either in the 

bladder or in the kidney. Stones may block the urethra.

Chronic urinary retention sets in. The bladder stores more and more urine. 

The size of the bladder is 40- 600 ml (milli litres).  A bottle of coke is 50 ml. As the bladder stores more urine it can enlarge up to 3000 ml.

An overfilled bladder may leak and this leads to wetting / urinary incontinence. 

Also the volume may put pressure on the kidney and may lead to kidney damage.
What may likely bring the man to hospital is acute urinary retention. 

He wakes up one day and he is not able to pass urine.

Everything I have described above is associated with prostate enlargement, 

technically called benign prostate hyperplasia.

There are other diseases of the prostate like

1. Prostatitis – inflammation of the prostate
2. Prostate cancer – cancer of the prostate.

This discussion is on prostate enlargement.

I have bad news and good news.
The bad news is that everyman will have prostate enlargement if he lives long enough.
The good news is that there are life style changes that can help the man after 40 to maintain optimum prostate health.

Nutrition
Look at what you eat. 33% of all cancers, according to established research is related to what we eat.

Red meat everyday triples your chances of prostate disease. 

Milk everyday doubles your risk.

Not taking fruits / vegetables daily quadruples your risk.

Tomatoes are very good for men. 

If that is the only thing your wife can present in the evening, eat it with joy.

It has loads of lycopene. Lycopene is the most potent natural antioxidant.

Foods that are rich in zinc are also good for men. We recommend pumpkin seeds (ugbogulu).
Zinc is about the most essential element for male sexuality and fertility.

Men need more zinc than women. Every time a man ejaculates he loses 15mg of zinc. 

Zinc is also important for alcohol metabolism. Your liver needs zinc to metabolize alcohol.

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
As men begin to have urinary symptoms associated with prostate enlargement, 

it is important they look at alcohol consumption. 

More fluid in means more fluid out. Drink less. Drink slowly.

EXERCISE
Exercise helps build the muscle tone. Every man should exercise. 

Men over 40 should avoid high impact exercise like jogging. 

It puts pressure on the knees. Cycling is bad news for the prostate. 

We recommend brisk walking.

SITTING
When we sit, two-third of our weight rests on the pelvic bones. 

Men who sit longer are more prone to prostate symptoms. 

Do not sit for long hours. Walk around as often as you can. 

Sit on comfortable chairs. 

DRESSING
Men should avoid tight underwear. 

It impacts circulation around the groin and heats it up a bit. 

While the physiological temperature is 37 degrees, the groin has 

an optimal temperature of about 33 degrees.
Pant is a no-no for men. Wear boxers. Wear breathable clothing.

SMOKING
Avoid smoking. It affects blood vessels and impact circulation around the groin.

SEX
Regular sex is good for the prostate.
Celibates are more prone to prostate illness. While celibacy is a moral decision, it is not a biological adaptation. 

Your prostate gland is designed to empty its contents regularly.

Now I have given you a reason to cheer up.

* My thanks to Gen. Niranjan Malick and Col. RP Singh for this informative and useful article.

Hold my hand

A little girl was walking along a path with her father when they came to a treacherous section. Instinctively the father stretched out his hand to his daughter and said; "Here hold my hand."

The daughter replied; "No dad you hold my hand."

The father was confused, "What is the difference, whether you hold my hand or I hold yours?"

The little girl smilingly said, "If I hold your hand and stumble I may let go off your hand, but if you hold my hand I know you will never ever let go."

---

What a lovely narration I had received from a friend on this father's day. I called up my father to hear his voice and to tell him I loved him and how I wished I could be with him on this day.

Somewhere along the way when we tasted the fruits of success we forgot an important fact. Our achievements were the result not only of our labour but also the investment of, values, wisdom of our teachers our elders and most of all our parents in us. As long as our parents watched over us, blessed us and prayed for us we were invincible.

If put in a spiritual context I believe that each person is nurtured and protected by a protective umbrella of the blessings of our parents and God. I have personally experienced it. Soon after we let go our our parents shunned their blessings ignored their love, we as a family went into total decline. This is also experienced by many people no matter what their age is, who feel exposed and vulnerable upon the passing away of a parent or beloved elder.

Their love and blessing I always had, but I had travelled too far down the road. I worked hard to journey back over many years to become worthy of them. Now with their love, and blessings my life has blossomed once again.




As with each interaction I reflected on this issue and my mind opened a window in which I saw the image of an uncle and his tortured existence. While I am lucky to be able to serve my parents and obtain their blessings and love, a distant Uncle of mine in Thailand is not so fortunate. His parents are not with him and neither are most of his siblings.

He lost the love and blessings of his parents and all his siblings who were older than him. His material growth and his physical /emotional decline started almost 45 years ago with the complete nationalisation of all private assets by the Burmese government in 1964.

As the Burmese government nationalised everything most Indians fled Burma. My extremely wealthy and honourable grand-uncle converted his entire wealth from cash to rubies and arranged to have them smuggled them out from Burma to his youngest son in Bangkok, so that the family could start life all over again.

This uncle receive all the wealth and set up a very successful business. When his brothers escaped from Burma they called upon this uncle who turned his back on his brothers claiming that all he received was a pittance and the wealth that the brothers saw was the result of his personal hard work and therefore they could not expect anything from him.

The heartbroken brothers felt cheated by their youngest brother. They dispersed all over the world and started to rebuild their lives all over again from scratch. They had neither the time nor the energy for conflict and revenge. They simply stopped thinking of their enormous wealth and a brother, as if he never ever existed at all.

My grand-uncle was a giant of an achiever. He was brilliant and hardworking, but age was not on his side. The shock of the betrayal of his son so traumatised him that he fell ill. He passed away thirty five years ago, a sad and bitter man. On his deathbed he cursed his son; " He who has so wrongfully cheated his own family would never ever be able to enjoy the wealth that he had stolen".

It appears from visible facts that the curse has all but destroyed my uncle and his family. He who allegedly wronged his brothers fell seriously ill soon after the death of his father.

For past 30 years this uncle has lost use of his body and he lies on his bed in his fabulous mansion. Surrounded day and night by a battery of doctors and nurses with no friends nor companions. He cannot move and lies on his bed with most of the systems in his body having failed.

The puncture made in his throat by his doctors permits him to breathe and to be fed by various tubes. A sad sight he makes in addition to the almost unbearable eerie rasping noise his breathing makes.

This almost completely paralysed man my uncle, the owner of millions of dollars, but not of his own life and body. He can only move one arm. His torment is magnified by an extremely alert mind as he wallows in his misery. My uncle is prepared to give up all his wealth to make right his folly and greed, alas it is too late. His father and most of his family have passed away a long time ago. He has no one to make peace with.

I know fathers are difficult people and they exasperate us, but if we look beyond the obvious at the sublime we will catch a glimpse of our creator. So starting this father's day let us cherish our parents, tell and show them that we love them.

I have come to appreciate that we must be humble enough to overlook their weaknesses, love them for their strengths and all the goodness they have showered on us and fear them for their wrath.

I pray that all those that have the good fortune of receiving the love and blessing of your parents continue to do so, and those that have somehow lost that love and goodwill will in the coming days have the opportunity to earn their blessings and love once again.

I remember that everyday is 'Fathers Day'