Heart is where health is!

 Home is where the heart is, they used to say. Well, times have changed. So have (wo)men and mores. So have lifestyles. Most people follow food fads. Zero figure is only for the clothes size. The salary figure per month has to be six digit. When competition thus gets fixated, who has the time for health, right?

It is the poor heart that takes all the blame because traditionally heart is supposed to be the home of all emotional excesses. 'The head is willing, but the heart is wishful' has often been the typical traditional  tune! In our post-modern, AI-obsessed times, however, it is not the figurative heart that fails. It is that fistful, literally size-wise, organ, the heart, that refuses to stay fit.

The pumping stations of our bodies, our hearts are responsible for the supply of oxygenated blood to each organ, big or small. When stress, both of the physical and psychological variety, is much too much, the heart gives way, causing coronary concerns, be it a heart attack, be it a cardiac arrest or a heart failure.

 Our era has made diabetes and hypertension our best buddies. Enemies they are of the heart. Hence the need to take care of our life styles as the heart 'dis-ease' is not exactly friendly either to the patient or to his pocket.

How to live a heart-friendly life? I suppose, 'avoid  each and every excess' could be the key. These days, people mostly work hard, exercise hard, party hard, etc etc and etc! Hardship it causes for the heart. Better hence to live in moderation. Eat healthy food that is less oily. Drink enough water. Eat fruits and veggies. Excercise daily. Thus the arteries would remain unclogged.

That takes care of the physiology of the heart. As for the psychology part, read whatever you like. Develop and nurture a hobby, be it singing, playing an instrument, painting. Gardening, however, is the best because it takes you real close to Nature. 

True, friends are fewer these days. Family hence could be your emotional stay. Enjoy quality time often with the immediate family for whom 'forgive and forget' should be the mantra, I suppose. An excursion now and then could better the bond, I suppose.

'Lessen the worry quotient' should be our goal as worry hurries harassing the harried heart. Meditation, prayer, yoga whatever relaxes the heart (muscles) should be our art as happy heart maketh a healthy (wo)man!

Pratima@ Heart has reasons that reason knows nothing about, said the wise men of yesteryears. On this World Heart Day, our heart-nama  asserts that now-a-days heart has seasons whose reasons we should locate and correct, right?

Song-n-dance!

 The last day of the ten day long Ganesh festival! Apparently, the household idols are mostly immersed along with the Gauri immersion, or mostly by the seventh day. So on the Anant Chaturdashi day, it is mostly the immersion of the public idols.

Across Maharashtra, there are immersion processions. The well-known ones, however, are the Mumbai and Pune processions. The Mumbai processions are well-known for the huge, very tall idols. Each year, they are immersed in the sea. 

I would not know about the Mumbai scene. May be, given the high tide tomorrow as it is the pournima, the immersion actually happens. The scenario in the Hyderabad Hussein Sagar used to be absolutely dismal though. It used to be very difficult even to see for days on end the broken idols, colours lost, the rusting iron frame broken in to pieces. 

In Pune, of course, as everywhere, the immersion procession is song and dance, both literally and figuratively. For one thing, it runs in to the next day. The lovely light and sound installations fade away with the rays of the morning sun, but the song and dance never stop, instead continue till almost the next evening. 

The first five 'celebrity' Ganapati mandala's mostly use traditional forms of dance and traditional musical instruments. Even their processions last for hours on end. Other prestigious mandala's generally leave the installation mandap/premises mostly after midnight. Eye catching is the decoration. During the 12 midnight to 6 a.m. duration, just the traditional musical instruments are allowed which is a mercy.

Why do I say so? Well, most mandal's have both, a large Dhol-Tasha Pathak (it performs in every chowk) and a 'huuuge' Dolby wall. Vulgarest of the vulgar songs are (mixed-n-)played, and dead drunk devotees(!?!) dance wildly!

The poor police. One truly pities them. Tomorrow when the procession would be completed by 5 p.m.ish, they would heave a hugh sigh of relief. Of course, not every mandal would do the clean up act immediately. May be, by Monday, all would be back to normal. 

This year, given the Monday holiday, there must have been capacity crowd. Such enthusiasm is absolutely great. Indeed necessary it is to celebrate the traditional festivals with fervour.  Yet is not it equally necessary to ask ourselves certain critical questions? Should vulgar songs be played? Should ugly gyrations be allowed? Should not there be a rough schedule that must be followed? What say?

Pratima@Should immoderate enthusiasm imprudently flaunted be allowed to taint the purity and piety of the festival?

H(e) for/of Harassment

 I write this with a very heavy heart. Yesterday some three people from the Pune Municipal Corporation came to this lane. Apparently, they wanted to put new meters on the water connection. They did not provide any identification documents, despite a request. They gave a xeroxed application form provided by the PMC according to them. It required details regarding the electricity meter, and all the details regarding the personal mobile number, etc. The job seemed out-sourced.

 The in-charge, belonging to a certain minority religion, earlier was screaming at the top of his voice "Grandmother, open the door" as I lock the approach gate from the inside. Later, he just continued staring hard, and trying to enter the premises.

 Even when it comes to autos, it is very often  the same experience. Such auto drivers keep both the mirrors directed inside. So one has to sit at such an angle that only the bag full of books can be seen. What to do? Buses do not ply, and surely not on time. Even if one rides a two-wheeler excellently, who wants a consciously attempted incapacitating accident!?!

Well, to get back to the water meter installation, since the meter was set up on the main line, the tap has gone totally dry, absolutely bone dry. There is not a drop of water. Of course, I shall go to the PMC, and do the needful. But extremely difficult it is when you are in to teaching, as timings would never match. 

Well, yet again, I was thus forced to realise that in this demographic country, one can live comfortably if and only if one belongs to certain castes, certain (minority) religions, and has a certain gender or two identity!

 The Swacch lady, too, is so 'well-behaved' that she literally throws the garbage pail back at you, while glaring at you as if she is the queen, and you are a criminal.

In front of our front yard gate, there is a huge neem tree from the neighbours' premises under which all such people stand/sit yaking for hours. Once I dared to politely tell such intruders that constant loud talking, actually screaming, disturbs. I was told off in crude Marathi that it is a public road!!! 

Obviously then such incidents, repeated umpteen times,  prove that the 'system' in this democracy is governed by certain identities, and woe to those who do not 'belong' to these identities! How does it matter that you are a sincere, genuine, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen!

This is nothing. If you stay awake late as you want to complete writing an article or two, there are loud, snide remarks about a witch (a 'hadal' in Marathi) by the 'under the neem tree' types! You cannot question anything as such smarties would say 'how do know/why do you think it was against you?/ directed at you?We were discussing amongst ourselves!' 

These wondrous votaries of free speech (who would not dare to utter a single word about drunks screaming like beasts even during broad daylight, not to forget late nights) forget conveniently others' rights to stay awake, to sleep/wake up as per their convenience, and, that, too, in their own homes! Clearly, such bossy behaviour boils down to demogaugy and demogaugery!

Plainly, there is some mastermind behind all this conscious viciousness. Whosoever it is and whatever might be his motives, the person is a sheer cad, as he has to so invisibly operate through bought (has to be!) minions! 

Surely silly, stupid harassment! A well-wisher suggested modes of dealing with it, and certainly I would try these. This blog is to assert that such harassment IS bothersome, but certainly it does not, and sure will not, serve its purpose of intimidation!

Pratima@ Such subtle violence is hardly harassment. It IS a mode of terrorism.

Listening is special

 Why is it that we have two ears but just one mouth/tongue? To listen more (to self and to others) and to speak less, right? Have you noticed how our favourite most God (at least currently! There is no knowing, given the very short memory the general public has!) has huge ears? Yet again the answer would be the same. He is a great listener, and hence in each and every critical situation, he comes up with a very creative, imaginative answer or solution.

Listening is indeed special. It is a science. It is a philosophy. It is an art as well. Listening is much much more than the physiological activity. It involves 'listening' to the body language as well. We always listen in. In other words, we are all attention, literally drinking in every word. All in all, listening is a combo of cognitive, behavioural and affective procedures.

Listening carefully can change your very being, nay, your entire life. Better hence to listen to not only to music or to people, but to books of all sorts. To nature one must listen.  Indeed every rustle and each rumble has its own message. At times, on a full moon or no moon night, one can listen to the very universe. Every morning has its own unique sweet song of hope, right? May be, thus bloomed the great prayers in the Vedas.

Look at mythology or at history. The most interesting individuals always are the great listeners, be it Rama (his version of  listening created both, an i-deal and a scandal), be it Arjuna (he listened, and thus emerged the Bhagwad Geeta), be it Shivaji Maharaj (who listened sensitively to the commonest 'mawla'/foot soldier, too) or be it Maharshi Karve, these great souls listened to both, the guru/the teacher and to their own selves.

Listening is special. Why, the very beginning of every human birth, anxiously awaited, is confirmed through listening to the baby's lusty cry! If listening is so central to existence, why is it that there is so much 'noise' in the process? Why so many barriers?

May be, very few people listen because most people have horrible attitudinizing, huge egos and very little grey matter! Most are so egoistic (and egotistical) that they hate to listen to anyone else, as very full of themselves they are! Actually, a very co-operative activity, listening may thus be vitiated into spreading rumours against a very good person who you do not want around for your selfish reasons and stupid goals!

Yet any good thing carried to an extreme can have its own dangers, too. Remember the Aesop story about a father, a son and their donkey? Best it is hence to listen to our real self, our own soul. That is the sole path to a great dia-logue which is the utmost gift we can give ourselves!

Pratima@Listening makes a great speaker, a nice societal citizen, and a good human being who leads, if at all, by and through his very own example!

Doctor in the Day-in-day-out life!

 Those good ole days when doctors were 'doctor uncle', a distant yet dedicated member of the family, are long gone. Doctors, once upon a time long long long ago, were family doctors. A very look at the at times kind and avancular, at times stern, scary, and frightening face cured half the dis-ease.

That friendly feel is now long past. We are in the specialist era. A visit to a doctor is scary now because of the monies involved. When such, such are the times, the common man's asli real time doctor these days is the chemist. 

The chemist is often the doctor day in and day out. In the daily lived life, 'across the counter', many people buy medicines as per the chemist's advice. Given the chemist's knowledge and experience, most often the medicine works wonders. 

Chemists  have  phenomenal memory. Our chemist, Pritam Rathod, never needed Aai's doctor's prescription while he fetched from the various and very many boxes the different tablets and capsules in the exact quantity.  He helped her in many other ways as well.

In the daily lived lives, chemists thus are friends, guides and doctors for many families. The 'across the counter' culture can hence never be wiped out by the online buy of medicines. 

On the  chemist's day hence, here is wishing well to this very important clasp of the medicinal chain!

Pratima@For a long long time, may the common man get the help of the chemists, the doctors day in day out!

N.B. Yes, I am aware that given the lure of dirty monies, chemists, too, can foist false placebos so that Pharma companies flood them with goodies. Such gone cases are in every field in our 'gone case', every which way corrupt, times. 

Daughter Dear

 The fourth Sunday of September is special. Wanna know why? It celebrates the best, the blessed gift a parent can ever have, a daughter!

Apparently, the Daughters' Day as a concept began in India as a conscience and awareness campaign, given the merciless female foeticide. Ramchandra Sirus, who was moved by the story of a man who killed his daughters as he wanted a son, initiated the day. That was the first decade of the twenty-first century. 

Yes, such were the days. If the second-born was a daughter, too, there used to be utter disappointment in so-called well-off, 'modern' families. Luckily, things have changed for the better now. Many parents are happy with an only daughter as well. By this time, moreover, even the U.N. has accepted the day as Daughters ' Day, and it is celebrated in many countries, it seems. 

Well, it should be. Daughters ARE special. Daughters are often compared to sunshine. Personally I feel daughters are the moonlight. The moon shines in the dark, is unbelievably gentle and soft, and yet is so powerful that it can turn even sea tides. That is a daughter for you, soft yet strong.

She is her mother's  very good friend, her father's solace, and in her rests their total faith and complete confidence.  Three fourth a doctor, one fourth a nurse, she is the best care-giver in the whole world, and happily and willingly she sacrifices her interests in the process. 

Daughters are excellent when it comes to winning laurels, and are exceptionally brilliant at very many things. A multi-tasker, a daughter knows how to extend twenty-four hours in to as many as are needed. Efficient, effective, emotional, endlessly the adjectives can string along, and yet a daughter would not be sufficiently  defined! Daughters are precious, in brief, and that is saying the least!

Pratima@ D'aught'ers are special coz 'aught' is in their very nomenclature. So sure are parents of their lucky charm that they KNOW she would be the best even in the worst context!

Adieu

 No place like your own home, they say. Absolutely true! I tried my level best to upload the blog at the usual time, but there was a repeat blockade here at my brother's place. Better now, than never! 

Bidding adieu then to your own abode is tough, right? In fact, 'adieu' was to be the theme of my blog. As per the tradition, in my family, the Ganesh visarjan/immersion takes place with the Gauri visarjan. The logic is that after a three days stay at her maternal home, Gauri leaves for her place. With her, we bid adieu to Ganapati, her son.

Well, festivals come and festivals go, like the typical diurnal circle. Yet bidding adieu to Ganesha has always been tough. The empty devhara without the murti/idol literally hurts one's eyes. One never gets this vacant feel after any other festival.

Let us explore this feel a little. In French, 'Adieu' literally is 'A Dieu', I leave you to God. Sure, of the pantheon of gods, Ganesha is the sole/soul principle. Metaphorically, he is Life incarnate. May be, hence bidding adieu to this Dieu/God is emotionally taxing. Most all feel the pinch of this 'adieu'.

Yet never is it an adieu. It is always a 'punaragamanay', 'pun: agaman', the forever return of all that is the best within the self, the real Ganesha, the lifelong living God within us, so to say. On this note, let me for the time being bid an adieu!

Pratima@ Farewell is actually a fare-thee-well, may be, the year long message of  Ganesha, the god principle, the 'all that is the best', within each one of us.