The chasm

When kids are born, with joy comes the parents’ expectation from them. That  is why one hears comments like from the parents ,’’ she will become an artist like me. Look at her fingers!’’.

We were no exception to this rule. Luckily our kids turned out to be as per our expectation. What we did not expect was the permanent distance of space that would develop between us. Their ambition took wings to North America. Its twenty two years since they left. Gradually we learnt to cope with the lacuna which suddenly developed in our life. Off course it was a trying time almost going into depression.

We found a solution to fill this chasm by visiting them every year. Our lives are now divided between India, America and Canada. We are the envy of many. We are named Globe trotters. But according to us, those are the gifted once whose kids visit them very often, they live nearby and give meaning to their life, not the other way round. At airports, we very often see old Indian parents sometimes on the wheel chair traveling to be with their kids. This is not an easy task for elderly. With all their pains, diseases they have to do it. Life at older age craves for stability and routine. One feels for them.

It was a day like any other when you think that things are perfect and lo! A phone call wakes me up from my complacency.  Our son had met with an accident in the U.S. He was unscathed but totally shaken. In such a situation what happens to the parents in India?  The unending long distance calls  to him and HIM [God] starts.

When the news that our son has finished his studies and landed in a plush job comes, we embark on a trip to see him. When we land in America, we are hit by the cultural shock. It is nothing like what you see in western movie. The first thing that hits you is the speed.  At the airport people swiftly pick up their luggage and move on. No wasting time like us. The speed of the car and the right hand driving makes one nervous. The whole city looks like an invisible hand is maintaining it. Not a speck of dirt. Houses neatly lined up. Cars moving in their lane. Lawns mowed and in summer gardens blooming. You rarely spot people except in subways ,malls or bus stops.

Their discipline and dedication to duty is admirable. Fun time is fun time and work is worship. This is what Bhagavat Geeta teaches Hindus in length. We show devotion to God but it is missing in our work ethics. If only we practice discipline and follow duty , our country would become great place to live and our youngsters wouldn’t leave never to return.

They too are torn into two. One part lives abroad and the other in India. Having gone there, the work culture attracts them. The rich Indian culture pulls them to homeland. They look back for a ray of sunlight and hope from India unhinged by corruption. Alas! What they find is only a frozen path.

The chasm between the kids abroad and the parents in India keeps growing due to population growth in India, influx of  villagers migrating to city and the high rate of corruption at all levels. No doubt retirement homes are blooming in India.

When will this chasm end?

                                         Mental health of seniors

This story was so touching that I thought that I should share it with all.So here it is.

When Terry learnt that her mother was trying to play scrabble against herself, she knew she had to do something.

She asked her   one day, ‘’who is playing with you?’’

‘’My right hand versus left ‘’, replied her mother. ‘’Well; your father doesn’t play and I want to keep my mind sharp’’, she replied.

Terry packed her old computer, complete with scrabble and word processing programmed and thus began her   mother’s adventure with the computer and also her   teaching assignment with her mother.

All her   life, mother was her teacher; to cook, sew, and knit; to laugh, to enjoy the good times and endure the bad. Now it was her turn to give something back.

Now she spoke of RAM, Rom, and the C.P.U and not of cooking. She had acquired a new mother tongue.

 

This story tells us that no matter how old you are, a willing spirit is capable of learning anything.

You don’t stop learning when you grow old. Learning keeps a person’s mind active and agile. According to brain experts, it helps maintain brain health by preventing loss of brain function and cognitive skill such as memory,  reasoning and judgment etc.

As people age, finding ways to maintain quality of life is becoming urgent. Age alters the structure of brain.  For some people,brain mass shrinks modestly around the age of 60 or 70 . The cortex also undergoes modest thinning and the brain’s white matter decreases. This may play a role in declining memory.

The good news is, the age related brain function loss can be moderated by environmental factor like intellectual stimulation, formal education, leisure activities and professional pursuit. This can stimulate the mind and keep it healthy. More knowledge builds more network of connection in the brain, says Dr.James McGaugh.

Engaging in active learning allows one to be actively involved in the community ,developing new interests and for keeping up with young generation .Old  People feel more healthy, happy, respected and more independent when they peruse active learning in the senior years.

‘’The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others’’, Mahatma Gandhi.

The other avenue for seniors is to do volunteer work. This work is enhanced by formal or informal learning experience. Seniors will have to sometime learn new interpersonal and professional skills as well as time management skill.

There is impediment to learning at advanced age. But by facing the challenge one will make a one’s brain sharp. Family members should help seniors overcome learning problems.

I am sure the Governments role in supporting senior’s education program, will go a long way in making seniors life better. In an76.6 million of plus sixty aging population, such a program is a must. It should be under ministry of health as such programs  help maintain seniors mental health.                                   .

                                       Hygiene

Hygiene or saucham is given primary importance in Srimad Bhagvat Geetha. Cleanliness is important not only for making advancement in spiritual life but also everyday life. There are two kinds of cleanliness .One is external wherein its scope includes social, physical and mental cleanliness. The other is internal cleanliness.

  Hygiene refers to a set of practices associated with the preservation of health and healthy living.

The term Hygiene is derived from ‘’Hygeneia’’, the Greek Goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation. Hygiene is given great importance in Islam too. Other than ritual cleanliness for the five times daily prayers, there is other large number of related rules in Islam.

In Europe until shortly after Renaissance, bathing did not loose its importance. After that bathing was replaced with perfumes as there was a misconception that water could carry diseases in the body through the skin. Contrary to Hindu belief that water washes away all the sins and that is why bathing in Ganges is considered an ambulation

According to Bhagvat Geetha external .saucham includes our interaction with other people. If in our peer group a person has negative thoughts all the time then it affects our mental hygiene. After talking to   persons who are vein with contempt for other’s view one may feel exhausted or depressed. So it is advised to keep away from such company. If external hygiene affects our internal hygiene then we must guard ourselves from it. One would have observed that in the presence of a spiritual teacher, one can easily be emotionally mentally and spiritually uplifted if one is receptive.

Bhagavt Geetha also mentions saucham to be observed in food. Food should be handled by persons in good health, mental and physical. The good or bad energies get transmitted to food,

 What is internal hygiene? It means keeping our mind pure by carrying positive thoughts. Negative thoughts cause great damage to our body. Harboring negative feeling for a long period may manifest as ailment like hyperthyroid, sinusitis, epilepsy, hypertension, kidney problem, skin ailment, rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Proper diet, exercise, emotions, thoughts, relationship, livelihood, lifestyle and law of karma is explained in

Bhagvat Geetha specially in chapter 13 for attaining Saucham.[cleanliness].

We all know that emotions affect our inner hygiene but do not know how to cleanse it. A fly went and sat on honey to lap it up. After lapping it up, it wanted to fly off. But its wing got stuck in the honey. We are also like the fly hankering after acquiring. Avarice is the root cause of all evils. How to stop avarice? This is where the great epic by Sri Krishna comes to our rescue.  Chanting of lord’s name washes off our past karma. Therefore a reading of Bhagvat Getha with purport is a must for all.

Contentment enters only a pure, clean and upright mind. In the absence of internal hygiene all other hygiene   are futile.

As milk kept in a dirty pot gets contaminated, so a person with wrong beliefs, worldly attachment, malice, ill will   and greed is sure to get into problems.

 Human mind is the supreme power that governs our entire action .only calm and contented mind will lead us to a life of bliss.

The great English poet Oliver Goldsmith after traveling the European countries in search of peace said,

          

       ‘’ Vain, very vain! My weary search to find that bliss which centers in the mind.’’

This verse emphasizes the point that internal purity

is of  primary importance for a good life.

                                                          Yoga,'The elixier of life'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
 As a yoga practioner, often I am asked the question ,’’Why should we practice yoga and not some other rigorous exercise?’’

 To this I answer, yoga is a way of life and one can’t compare it with any other exercise like going to gym, swimming etc. Doing yoga does not stop one from perusing some other exercise. It will only compliment it.

  The feeling when one finishes the morning session of yoga is a very calm and blissful one. One is ready to take on the day. An hour of concentration on our body and breath develops control. We are able to take up the challenges of the day with calm mind.

 Day by day one finds becoming more energetic which brings about an attitudinal change. That is the reason yoga person raves over it to the point of madness.

 Yoga improves once posture which is the main cause for all our joint pain etc. When the anatomical part is not in its position and is constantly being compressed due to wrong posture like drooping shoulder, hunch back etc, pain develops in such areas.

  With posture correction, one starts breathing better as one walks, sits, stands tall, one feels healthier.

 With asanas and pranayama one can become focused in body and mind; union of body and mind is [YOGA].

Agitating thoughts and activity makes one restless leading to tension in every part of the body and mind which in turn leads to faster breathing rhythm and suffering.

The modern way of life leads to stress. The pressure of work, commuting, balancing family and work and the craze to earn more and more is the cause of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, hyper tension, spondylitis and many other ailments in the younger generation, of people in their thirties and forties. The physical manifestation of stress is inflexible muscles in legs, neck, back, pelvic region jaw or some other area. One may not even notice the discomfort till the pain becomes unbearable leading to poor sleep, loss of temper, anxiety and pessimism. If stress persists for long it leads to migraine, cardiac problem etc.

    To avoid all these multifarious problems, Indian scriptures          has given Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra dating 200 BC. In the               guidance of a Guru if practiced, yoga leads to liberation from       pain and sorrow.

  Yoga is for a person who eats satvik food   in moderation, not       for him who starves or binges himself. It is not for him who       sleeps too much nor for him who sleeps at odd time or late.           That means one should observe moderation in rest, food              and activity .Along with the asanas and pranayama one can         get rid of pain . By constant practice, one can control the              body and  mind.

   What are the obstacles to yoga practice?

       Patanjali gives nine impediments to yoga.

            Illness,  dullness, doubts, carelessness, fatigue,                             distraction, wrong perception, lack of conviction and                    instability.

   How does one overcome them?

     1 .Illness- practice simple asanas and pranayama at least for           a   little while. If immobile, then sit on the bed and do                        pranayama.

     2. Dullness- can be overcome by not giving up but by                      perusing the practice which will lift the fog.

    3.-Doubts-one gets a doubt, if it will work? Am I doing it                  right? You can overcome them by practicing and finding            out.

    4. Carelessness-some people let other things take priority.                  Changing habits and patterns by doing yoga cures one of            this.

     5. Fatigue-Straighten your schedule, instead of coffee, rest               or relax and do relaxation yoga.

    6. Inability to resist distraction- yoga helps in resisting                       distraction by constant practice. One’s resistance grows.

    7. Erroneous perception- Try to understand yoga instead of            condemning it.

    8.  Lack of conviction- Some people have the habit of                       hopping from one cure to another, like homeopathy then             Aurveda, yoga etc.

         Instead practice one with conviction.

     9. Instability- Due to age or disease instability comes. By                 practicing yoga any activity like walking, breathing etc it           is cured.

        Following a regular regime of yogasana and pranayama               drives away all the impurities from the body and mind               and one is filled with vigor and drive to pursue a happy               life.

       The body and mind works in harmony which is the elixir of         life.

       No doubt United  Nation in recognition has declared 21^st              June as Yoga day.

                                         Birds and their life                                                                                                          

   I saw this flock of Geese near Jamnagar Fort in Gujarat India. Their movement was breath taking. We stood watching their swimming dance.  I thought, ‘’So many of them at a spot! Where do they all go? When they are sick who takes care of them?’’

Despite the fact that there are numerous flocks of birds, which are often seen while alive, people rarely see pavements littered with the bodies of dead birds. Most birds in the wild only live for a few years and they rarely die of natural cause. Small birds are a vital link in a food chain, eating insects, other invertebrates and small amphibians, and are in turn predated themselves by other birds and amphibians. Many young and weak birds will probably subject to predation before dying of disease or old age.

Birds, like many other creatures, will seek secluded, out-of-the-way places when they're feeling sick. They will climb into a hole in a tree, for example. Sick birds will go to ground and because they feel vulnerable they will hide away. Sometimes, rest and seclusion help them to recover, but if they die there, they sometimes won't be found in their hideouts.

 Scavengers and predators, such as rats, cats or foxes, can usually seek out these hideouts for prey. Often, these predators will eat the prey themselves or take them back to feed their young, which is why it's rare to find the remains of dead birds. Due to a bird's light body mass, those that aren't found by predators or scavengers will decompose rapidly. Insects will cover any dead body quickly and the bird would soon decay before it is found.

We see so many birds flying above in the sky. What if all fell down together like rain? No, they don’t.  In the forest they get consumed by other animals very quickly. Many of those that die while flying may fall in water bodies or on mountain tops. In the cities too they will be devoured by other creatures like mouse, racoon etc.

Now we know that birds and creatures want seclusion in sickness and death.

A goose and gander flew to my friend’s backyard. What charm they found there only they would know as they decided to stay there and made a mess in the backyard. Nobody could go near as we all know how this species are aggressive. There is a pond nearby, but it defies all logic and made it its habitat. Mam co-exists with this species from time immemorial but has not understood its ways.

Have you seen a bird sitting on a cow, hours together? It  makes a meal of all the insects on the cow. The cow is cleaned and the bird got its meal. This is the wonder of life.

In Hindu mythology we find some birds playing a very significant role like Jatayu, the vulture. He fights with Ravana and wounds him to save Sita from his clutches. In the ensuing fight he succumbs to his injuries but not before he tells Rama how Ravana abducted Sita.

Then there is Jatayu’s brother Sampati who can see  things from a great distance. So tells Hanuman that Sita was in Lanka kept arrested.

Vishnu’s vehicle Garuda travelled great distance with speed unsurpassed.

Man has always been enamoured by birds because of his flight, migration, nature of adjusting to new surroundings and liberty.

That is why we have a saying,’ ’if only I had wings!’’

Oh, how I would love to have a bird’s life!

Roses in December

                     If only roses can bloom in severe winter too, like peak winter in December; life would become such a pleasure for us to live in any corner of the world!

The 60 plus of our life period is the December in our journey on this earth.

A person full of bounce in this age is with a mind like a bunch of roses in full bloom

One of the ways I feel to be full of such bounce is to have a healthy hobby.

We can explore so many avenues. Even Mother Nature is a bounty.

Growing roses themselves I find is a very satisfying hobby. Even in a small house or an apartment, one can always have them in pots. The ecstasy of watching the roses from buds to bloom, as a result of our effort is comparable to the pleasure in watching ones own child growing and taking the first step.

If the whole process is automatic it would be again boring like a routine life. It’s the effort in growing a healthy plant that is most interesting.

There are some techniques one must know to grow healthy roses. It requires lot of caring too.

=roses require minimum 6 hours of daily sunshine. So out door plants should not be in shade and the pots have to be kept in a vantage position.

=Prune it with a sharp clipper for shape to leave the ends neat edged.

= Water it as much as the mud in the pot requires for getting soaked well.  The water should drain off but not stagnate in the earth to rot the roots.

=Weeds grown around it should be removed periodically, one could add mulch ( chopped pieces of tree barks) to fight weeds and conserve moisture.

=A mixture of garlic and ginger paste boiled and diluted in water or Neem oil available in shops is also good pest control.

Don’t fret about black spot, rust or powdery mildew on the leaves. This will take care of it.

=When a rose plant is established with its  roots   firm in the ground then it is drought resistant.

=The rose’s peak performance is by snapping off the spent blossom called beheading.

This means to cut the flower with its stem starting just above the joint from which it starts.

From the joint a new branch will start.

=To get one large rose to bloom;   in a bunch leave the biggest bud only and clip off the others.

=Snapping off extra leaves near the bud and leaving just three leaves helps to get larger roses.

=Rake the soil once in a week around the root without snapping off the roots.

=Remember while cutting the rose, cut the stem unto the joint.

Now enjoy the beauty of the rose you have grown, in a vase on you table.

For roses to last a little longer in vase indoor, add a teaspoon of sugar to water.

Feel the warmth of the complements from your friends

Once a large rose blooms, its scent will make you heady and young.

Similarly once you develop a hobby, one will feel young even at the age of sixty.

                                       Mental health of seniors

This story was so touching that I thought that I should share it with all. So here it is.

When Terry learnt that her mother was trying to play scrabble against herself, she knew she had to do something.

She asked her   one day, ‘’who is playing with you?’’

‘’My right hand versus left ‘’, replied her mother. 

Terry decided it was time to teach her mother computer.

Terry packed her   old computer, complete with scrabble and word processing program and thus began her   mother’s absorption in the computer and also Terrys  teaching assignment with her   mother.

All her   life, mother was her teacher; to cook, sew, and knit; to laugh, to enjoy the good times and endure the bad. Now it was daughters  turn to give something back.

  

This story tells us that no matter how old you are, a willing spirit is capable of learning anything.

You don’t stop learning when you grow old. Learning keeps a person’s mind active and agile. According to brain experts, it helps maintain brain health by preventing loss of brain function and cognitive skill such as memory,  reasoning and judgment etc.

As people age, finding ways to maintain quality of life is becoming urgent. Age alters the structure of brain.  For some people,brain mass shrinks modestly around the age of 60 or 70 . The cortex also undergoes modest thinning and the brain’s white matter decreases. This may play a role in declining memory.

The good news is, the age related brain function loss can be moderated by environmental factor like intellectual stimulation, formal education, leisure activities and professional pursuit. This can stimulate the mind and keep it healthy. More knowledge builds more network of connection in the brain, says Dr.James McGaugh.

Engaging in active learning allows one to be actively involved in the community ,developing new interests and for keeping up with young generation .Old  People feel more healthy, happy, respected and more independent when they peruse active learning in the senior years.

‘’The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others’’,said  Mahatma Gandhi.

The other avenue for seniors is to do volunteer work. This work is enhanced by formal or informal learning experience. Seniors will have to sometime learn new interpersonal and professional skills as well as time management skill.

There is impediment to learning at advanced age. But by facing the challenge one will make a one’s brain sharp. Family members should help seniors overcome learning problems.

I am sure the Governments role in supporting senior’s education program, will go a long way in making seniors life better. In an76.6 million of plus sixty aging population, such a program is a must. It should be under ministry of health as such programs  help maintain seniors mental health.