Posts
(I got a mail in disagreement with my view of one to one basis. Thank you very much)
Yes, one to one basis may not exclusively mean that one need to talk it out with our doctor. Since AHA was not clear on it, I thought it that way. One can read it as ‘individual basis’. That means, it varies from individual to individual. If somebody is good enough to assess his/her health condition, well, no need to see the doc. Otherwise, may be yes. Coz, the main issue I was talking about was some people taking drinks, then suffering from this and that and then claiming that drinking is good for health, though their body clearly gave indications in its language that it is not comfortable. That sounded silly to me. Coz, being in health does not mean sitting with aches and pains or with a vomiting sensation.
I am not talking about a person who is healthy, comfortable and not allergic to alcohol. One friend I referred is such a person. Whether it is Vodka, gin, beer, whisky, brandy, red wine… be it anything, he won’t get any headache. Once he very badly needed some financial help and I went to meet him personally. He was sitting with a full bottle (750 ml) of whisky, half finished – that is, almost 12 drinks in one stretch. That time his weight was about 90 Kg (almost 198 pounds). If a thin person with 45 kg, takes that much of alcohol in one stretch, its dangerous, or even can become fatal. The quantity of alcohol that can be consumed has something to do with ones built also. And I think that is why AHA specifically told we should consider drinking on a one to one basis. This is applicable to most of the medicines too (though not strictly followed, coz of the standard size of the tablets) and in many cases, that is one of the reasons the docs check your weight and write it on the prescription paper. Though it is the same medicine, the dosage might change according to the weight of the persons.
Anyway, I will edit my previous post and add this up.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Healthy Wine Affair !
How good is drinking Red Wine? What are its health benefits? Many people believe that drinking red wine is good for our health. The other day I have been told by one person that it is good for blood circulation and another one said it is good for our heart and her relative is having red wine daily to combat hypertension. Are these things true?
First person was sitting with a headache when we started the talk (who attended a party the night before) and I asked,
“What did you drink”
“Red wine, its good for blood circulation”
I called it nonsense, coz, look at the situation. Do we need to suffer a headache to increase the blood circulation? NOT AT ALL… just go for a brisk walk or do a stationary running at your own room and your blood circulation becomes better and that’s why EVERY doc ask us to do some cardio, or 20 minutes of walk, and not wine (in general).
What about the second person? She don’t drink wine to improve her health ! But just passed me the information. Good.
So, what is the scientific truth behind these stories? Anybody did a research on this?
Well, there are many research papers available for public and I had gone through many such documents and reports.
There is one secret about most of the research happening around the world. It has a lot to do with who sponsors the research. And the research result is twisted to favor them. This is may not be applicable to individual or independent research bodies.
Same is applicable to red wine too. I happened to read both the ones supporting it and not favoring it…… I read about the ability of the red wine to increase the blood circulation on a page which named a particular wine telling it was used for the research and the page had the ad of wines. But the research vaguely adds these facts too:
" .. However, the study was limited, as there were only a few participants who were observed for only short periods of time. Additional longer-term studies, for a period of more than six months, really need to be done to truly determine the long-term health impact, relevant to responsible red-wine drinking "
But that part wasn’t highlighted at all, but the heading of that report was ;
Red Wine Helps Circulation in the Young as Well as the Old, Study Finds
It says taking red wine helped in increasing antioxidants and helped in controlling the cholesterol level (only 40 participants).
If its about antioxidants, the best option is drinking green tea and not red wine. And what about red wine controlling the cholesterol levels? If you eat anything you want, will it still control the levels? How was the diet for the participants? Researches don’t provide any such data, conveniently.
Another research, which was published during this month, in Science Daily, says the truth about red wine is, one should take only one shot. What happens when one takes red wine?
“After one drink of either red wine or alcohol, blood vessels were more “relaxed” or dilated, which reduced the amount of work the heart had to do. But, after two drinks, the heart rate, amount of blood pumped out of the heart, and action of the sympathetic nervous system all increased. At the same time, the ability of the blood vessels to expand in response to an increase in blood flow diminished. This counteracted the beneficial effect of one drink of red wine or alcohol”.
Well well , look, NOW it is said that , its not an exclusive feature of red wine. So one can take any alcoholic drink, for that matter, but only one drink per day.
There is a similar research by a Canadian firm:
“One drink of alcohol results in vasodilation and reduces cardiac output, but a second cancels out these beneficial effects, increasing the heart rate, cardiac output, and sympathetic nervous activityThese acute effects are the same with red wine or ethanol, suggesting that red wine polyphenols offer no advantage in the short-term cardiovascular benefits of drinking alcohol”
May be the research was sponsored by some company who were into liquor business other than red wine and hence the research rules out the special advantage of red wine and distributes it over to all other alcoholic drinks.
So, once again, one drink is good and it can give you vasodialation. Second drink damages your health. Red wine is known to trigger headache in many, and a guaranteed trigger for migraine. So, what happens when people with a history of any kind of vascular headache (cluster headache, migraine toxic headache etc), drinks red wine? Even one drink MIGHT give the damage; more drink can give more damage, for sure.
There are enough research reports available to show that red wine, beer and any other alcoholic drink has almost same effect on hypertension. If we check out the non pharmacological treatment for hypertension, the best option suggested is life style modification. Look at one of such report
“Discontinuing tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been shown to lower blood pressure. The exact mechanisms are not fully understood, but blood pressure (especially systolic) always transiently increases following alcohol and/or nicotine consumption”
Mayo clinic suggests to avoid drinking when one has hypertension. And for heavy drinkers, they ask to drink in moderation (maximum two drinks for man and one for woman). (‘Avoid drinking or drink in moderation’ is a tricky statement)
Does an otherwise-healthy-person need to do such vasodialation with wine in order to have a healthy heart?
Not at all required. There are other healthy options like, Aerobics, brisk walk, treadmill , cycling, swimming, badminton……
So, will taking a shot of any alcoholic drink leads to a healthy living? Why there is such a belief?
Lets look into a marketing story. This thing happened long ago. One toothpaste company wanted to boost the sales and they consulted a highly paid marketing expert. He gave a simple solution.
“Make the opening of the tube a little more wider”
And it worked; how many of us take the exact amount of paste we need to clean our teeth? What about kids? And can we put the excess paste back? Or do we ever try for it?
Why do many docs stick to certain brands? Coz of the quality of the medicine? Did they try it on their own body? Nope, they have their benefits.
Same with alcohol. The liquor lobby ‘bought’ some docs and asked them to tell (not just my idea, but I heard a known personality telling this fact in a TV show) :
‘Just one shot of drink is healthy for you’.
(They are not at all specific in telling the public, that one should take many other things into consideration (like family history towards liver problems and diabetics etc). Nor do they are specific in telling that they are talking about a healthy/normal person)
They knew that, once somebody is into alcohol or drugs, they will stay there as a customer, at least as a social drinker for sure (I know lots of people who drinks and I don’t know not even a single person who quit drinking coz he/she thought drinking is bad for health – though it is written on most of the cans and bottles, these days ) . Some of them (mostly who fear death) quit when they face medical problems.
This lobby sponsored many research too. Take most of the research work available to public, its short term studies with lesser number of participants. Docs, who really care for your health, will not recommend you to start drinking to avail health benefits.
I happened to read another published research which showed that drinking alcohol of any kind, including wine and beer, can trigger breast cancer in women (science daily, dated September 28, 2007)
American Heart Association asks to consider drinking as one to one basis (ie, doc and you). Talk to your doc and then you decide. They suggests a man to not to cross more than two drinks per day and for a woman, one drink per day. It’s not their recommendation, but they are suggesting the maximum limit. And they clearly say that there is no justification for a non drinker to start drinking for health benefits.
Most of the ‘scientists say’…. ‘doc advise’ ….. ‘research says’ kinda stuff are from the cardiology sector and one need to understand that heart is not the only vital organ you have got. If you maintain a healthy heart alone, it won’t help you survive. Mayo clinic says , one of the benefits of drinking is that there is less chance for you to die of heart attack. Heart attack is just one reason for death. Drinking can do more damage to your liver than saving your heart. Many people don’t know that alcohol with some pain killer like acetaminophen/paracetamol (OTC drugs) is more damaging to liver.
(There is some other section that drinks to fight stress or gather courage to face some issues or realities in life. If someone finds shelter in alcohol for running away from realities, it is unwise. Coz, once you are back as a sober, once again you need to face the problem. And finally it will lead to addiction. I have a friend who can not sleep without his regular ‘quota’. If drinking is habit of both partners in a relationship (including marriage) , and if there is minor issues between them, nothing more is required to lead that minor differences of opinions into a breakage. I have seen it happening with my own eyes. After divorce, the guy married again and he decided to cut on liquor. He kept his word for the initial days and now its problems again and his wife blames it on his drinking habit. She talked to me and asked me to advise him since he is a friend of mine who respects me. Whenever he called me up, he was drunk and he even started lying to me (he never used to do that to me long ago, he was very open to me). Alcohol helps us to lie very easily without much guilty feeling. If we feel guilty, just have a couple of drinks and there comes the courage!! Alcohol helped him to worsen our friendship, the relationship with his wife and his own parents….. and what not?) .
So, there is no point in drinking looking at the health benefits. For a healthy person, these things are not applicable. But can follow the one drink per day theory ( one drink - 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1 ounce of 100-proof whiskey., as per Mayo clinic) as long as you stay healthy and reach 60-65 years of age. That is what the docs who support alcohol says, at least as on today.
If somebody is drinking for health reasons, best bet is quitting it and starting physical workouts and yoga, which can give you overall health ( and good looks too) and not just about avoiding a heart attack in the unknown future.
First person was sitting with a headache when we started the talk (who attended a party the night before) and I asked,
“What did you drink”
“Red wine, its good for blood circulation”
I called it nonsense, coz, look at the situation. Do we need to suffer a headache to increase the blood circulation? NOT AT ALL… just go for a brisk walk or do a stationary running at your own room and your blood circulation becomes better and that’s why EVERY doc ask us to do some cardio, or 20 minutes of walk, and not wine (in general).
What about the second person? She don’t drink wine to improve her health ! But just passed me the information. Good.
So, what is the scientific truth behind these stories? Anybody did a research on this?
Well, there are many research papers available for public and I had gone through many such documents and reports.
There is one secret about most of the research happening around the world. It has a lot to do with who sponsors the research. And the research result is twisted to favor them. This is may not be applicable to individual or independent research bodies.
Same is applicable to red wine too. I happened to read both the ones supporting it and not favoring it…… I read about the ability of the red wine to increase the blood circulation on a page which named a particular wine telling it was used for the research and the page had the ad of wines. But the research vaguely adds these facts too:
" .. However, the study was limited, as there were only a few participants who were observed for only short periods of time. Additional longer-term studies, for a period of more than six months, really need to be done to truly determine the long-term health impact, relevant to responsible red-wine drinking "
But that part wasn’t highlighted at all, but the heading of that report was ;
Red Wine Helps Circulation in the Young as Well as the Old, Study Finds
It says taking red wine helped in increasing antioxidants and helped in controlling the cholesterol level (only 40 participants).
If its about antioxidants, the best option is drinking green tea and not red wine. And what about red wine controlling the cholesterol levels? If you eat anything you want, will it still control the levels? How was the diet for the participants? Researches don’t provide any such data, conveniently.
Another research, which was published during this month, in Science Daily, says the truth about red wine is, one should take only one shot. What happens when one takes red wine?
“After one drink of either red wine or alcohol, blood vessels were more “relaxed” or dilated, which reduced the amount of work the heart had to do. But, after two drinks, the heart rate, amount of blood pumped out of the heart, and action of the sympathetic nervous system all increased. At the same time, the ability of the blood vessels to expand in response to an increase in blood flow diminished. This counteracted the beneficial effect of one drink of red wine or alcohol”.
Well well , look, NOW it is said that , its not an exclusive feature of red wine. So one can take any alcoholic drink, for that matter, but only one drink per day.
There is a similar research by a Canadian firm:
“One drink of alcohol results in vasodilation and reduces cardiac output, but a second cancels out these beneficial effects, increasing the heart rate, cardiac output, and sympathetic nervous activityThese acute effects are the same with red wine or ethanol, suggesting that red wine polyphenols offer no advantage in the short-term cardiovascular benefits of drinking alcohol”
May be the research was sponsored by some company who were into liquor business other than red wine and hence the research rules out the special advantage of red wine and distributes it over to all other alcoholic drinks.
So, once again, one drink is good and it can give you vasodialation. Second drink damages your health. Red wine is known to trigger headache in many, and a guaranteed trigger for migraine. So, what happens when people with a history of any kind of vascular headache (cluster headache, migraine toxic headache etc), drinks red wine? Even one drink MIGHT give the damage; more drink can give more damage, for sure.
There are enough research reports available to show that red wine, beer and any other alcoholic drink has almost same effect on hypertension. If we check out the non pharmacological treatment for hypertension, the best option suggested is life style modification. Look at one of such report
“Discontinuing tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been shown to lower blood pressure. The exact mechanisms are not fully understood, but blood pressure (especially systolic) always transiently increases following alcohol and/or nicotine consumption”
Mayo clinic suggests to avoid drinking when one has hypertension. And for heavy drinkers, they ask to drink in moderation (maximum two drinks for man and one for woman). (‘Avoid drinking or drink in moderation’ is a tricky statement)
Does an otherwise-healthy-person need to do such vasodialation with wine in order to have a healthy heart?
Not at all required. There are other healthy options like, Aerobics, brisk walk, treadmill , cycling, swimming, badminton……
So, will taking a shot of any alcoholic drink leads to a healthy living? Why there is such a belief?
Lets look into a marketing story. This thing happened long ago. One toothpaste company wanted to boost the sales and they consulted a highly paid marketing expert. He gave a simple solution.
“Make the opening of the tube a little more wider”
And it worked; how many of us take the exact amount of paste we need to clean our teeth? What about kids? And can we put the excess paste back? Or do we ever try for it?
Why do many docs stick to certain brands? Coz of the quality of the medicine? Did they try it on their own body? Nope, they have their benefits.
Same with alcohol. The liquor lobby ‘bought’ some docs and asked them to tell (not just my idea, but I heard a known personality telling this fact in a TV show) :
‘Just one shot of drink is healthy for you’.
(They are not at all specific in telling the public, that one should take many other things into consideration (like family history towards liver problems and diabetics etc). Nor do they are specific in telling that they are talking about a healthy/normal person)
They knew that, once somebody is into alcohol or drugs, they will stay there as a customer, at least as a social drinker for sure (I know lots of people who drinks and I don’t know not even a single person who quit drinking coz he/she thought drinking is bad for health – though it is written on most of the cans and bottles, these days ) . Some of them (mostly who fear death) quit when they face medical problems.
This lobby sponsored many research too. Take most of the research work available to public, its short term studies with lesser number of participants. Docs, who really care for your health, will not recommend you to start drinking to avail health benefits.
I happened to read another published research which showed that drinking alcohol of any kind, including wine and beer, can trigger breast cancer in women (science daily, dated September 28, 2007)
American Heart Association asks to consider drinking as one to one basis (ie, doc and you). Talk to your doc and then you decide. They suggests a man to not to cross more than two drinks per day and for a woman, one drink per day. It’s not their recommendation, but they are suggesting the maximum limit. And they clearly say that there is no justification for a non drinker to start drinking for health benefits.
(Please read the next post 'one 2 one' also)
There is no solid evidence to prove that drinking will help you maintain your health, especially in the long run. Where as there are lots of cases where people died of drinking (including one of my friend’s brother and a cousin of mine). Drinking can lead to cardio-vascular disorders, neurological disorders, high blood pressure, liver cirrhosis, cancers, pancreatitis and motor vehicle accidents, suicides.. to name a few.Most of the ‘scientists say’…. ‘doc advise’ ….. ‘research says’ kinda stuff are from the cardiology sector and one need to understand that heart is not the only vital organ you have got. If you maintain a healthy heart alone, it won’t help you survive. Mayo clinic says , one of the benefits of drinking is that there is less chance for you to die of heart attack. Heart attack is just one reason for death. Drinking can do more damage to your liver than saving your heart. Many people don’t know that alcohol with some pain killer like acetaminophen/paracetamol (OTC drugs) is more damaging to liver.
(There is some other section that drinks to fight stress or gather courage to face some issues or realities in life. If someone finds shelter in alcohol for running away from realities, it is unwise. Coz, once you are back as a sober, once again you need to face the problem. And finally it will lead to addiction. I have a friend who can not sleep without his regular ‘quota’. If drinking is habit of both partners in a relationship (including marriage) , and if there is minor issues between them, nothing more is required to lead that minor differences of opinions into a breakage. I have seen it happening with my own eyes. After divorce, the guy married again and he decided to cut on liquor. He kept his word for the initial days and now its problems again and his wife blames it on his drinking habit. She talked to me and asked me to advise him since he is a friend of mine who respects me. Whenever he called me up, he was drunk and he even started lying to me (he never used to do that to me long ago, he was very open to me). Alcohol helps us to lie very easily without much guilty feeling. If we feel guilty, just have a couple of drinks and there comes the courage!! Alcohol helped him to worsen our friendship, the relationship with his wife and his own parents….. and what not?) .
So, there is no point in drinking looking at the health benefits. For a healthy person, these things are not applicable. But can follow the one drink per day theory ( one drink - 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1 ounce of 100-proof whiskey., as per Mayo clinic) as long as you stay healthy and reach 60-65 years of age. That is what the docs who support alcohol says, at least as on today.
If somebody is drinking for health reasons, best bet is quitting it and starting physical workouts and yoga, which can give you overall health ( and good looks too) and not just about avoiding a heart attack in the unknown future.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Prayer works?
I had a small clash with somebody regarding prayer and mantras. Does prayer work? I think so, coz mind can play many strange things and our minds are actually floated in a Big mind. So, one mind affecting another through the Big mind is very much possible. But it has its limitations, I understand that.
Anyway Thanks for the link supplied by that person which is against prayer..
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3193902.stm)
That link tell us about a research by Duke University Medical Center wherein they found out that prayers offered to 750 patients ( who underwent heart operation), by Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jews went in vain.
Well, as with any other research, you have for and against research papers to support your views. Just look for it and you get it.
I am not here for any argument. Everybody has got their right to believe in whatever they want to and to what depth one can go into it. (But I personally might suggest using some common sense)
I just want to say one thing – please don’t ask me or anybody who believes in prayer questions like:
I prayed a lot but still I failed in the exam, why?
I prayed, but my hair did not grow, why?
I prayed but I did not get my man/girl, why?
I prayed, but I could not save his/her life, why?
I prayed but my illness did not go, why?
I prayed but the team I supported did not win, why?
I prayed for the terrorism to end, but it did not, why?
I prayed – if there is a God, turn this red rose into white, it did not work, why?
I happened to drink castor oil but I prayed , I still got lose motion, why?
My computer is infected, I prayed all day and night, but it did not work, why?
The list is very long...
But why many such things happen? That’s where the Karma theory fits into. You hit your head on the wall and there comes a bump. That is the Karma or cause and effect. The prayer can’t help you avoid a bump so with your Karma. Prayers’ interfering into karma is a complicated thing. Why somebody did suffer of something and did not respond to your prayer? Is it coz God is not capable of healing it? Nope, but He has already defined some rules for this planet. Yes, nature has some rules. God is not available for your tests, it’s disappointing but that is the truth.
If you are an atheist, you can stay as an atheist. Well, if somebody is forcing God stuff on you, you have all the right to counter it with your logics coz, atheists also has got a place in this world.
I read a lot of science. And I look into the logic even when I read scriptures. But there are some moments where I felt like to keep away the science for a moment and look at the creators hand behind it and wonder about it. It has nothing to do with prayers but since prayer is connected to God, this thought just came into my mind.
I happened to go through one of such moments, sometime ago. On the way to a vacation trip, I passed a bird sanctuary. If somebody asks me the way to that place, right now, I don’t remember it at all. But anyway, it was only 200-250 km, away from my house. That place was known for migrating birds. Flocks of birds come to this place, every year, after travelling at least thousand kilometers. But these birds know the exact route to this place! I have experience of losing way to my home even within my own city but these guys know how to go back to their homeland, which is thousands of miles away!!!
Look at the hands behind it. Isn’t it a WOW! thing?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Lies and a BOOOO
What is a lie? Webster’s dictionary defines a lie as:
“A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth”
Who lies?
Every one of us. We all lied at some point of time from the general definition of lie. If we tell the partial truth, it’s a lie. If we gave a misleading info, that’s a lie…..
So, the world is full of liars. Is that the right classification?
No, if it was very much part of humans, like we walk with our legs, why it has been discussed? why some religions and its scriptures directly addresses this issue and teach us lying is bad?
We also keep different standards for different set/category of people as far as lying is concerned. We expect the religious and spiritual people to be more truthful and we don’t expect politicians to be truthful (politicians and lawyers are two sets of people who can lie and get away without any punishment !!!)
Why do we lie in the first place? Modern psychology and psychologists say that the process of telling lies start at childhood, at the age of 4 to 5, may be. The intention of the child is not to lie. But that is the age when a child gets familiarized with words and language. And a child tries different words or phrase. Then he/she realize that language can be used to manipulate situations. Then they tries one or two of such ‘skill’ to escape from some trouble or situations. If it worked, then the child keeps it handy. People mostly lie when they are afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.
But when human grow, we learn about the dos’ and don’ts and good and bad and stuff like that. That is a turning point. And there one gets a choice too. Some people continue to be a liar and some not.
It also has something to do with family history or genetics. This doesn’t mean that a liar’s child will be a liar for sure and vice versa… but to say that apart from environmental factors, biological factors also plays a role.
And what are the types of liars?
There is no such strict classification available. There are pathological liars, occasional liars, professional liars, compulsive liars which again referred as habitual liars or chronic liars……
Based on the situation, liars change from one to another. But in general, the pathological and compulsive liars are the liars who are ‘popular’, or proper liars.
A pathological liar
Usually a person who lies persistently to get their things done and they don’t care about how others are affected by it. Those who did not chose 'to-not-to -lie',( after that childhood stage where they understood good and bad ) belong to this category. Some sort of mental abnormality also can lead a person to become pathological liar. These type of people are goal-getters and tries to achieve it at any cost (lie) and thy don’t even give it a damn about the rights of others. A pathological liar is often manipulator, who is cunning and self-centered.
Compulsive liar
For these people, lying is part of their life, just like eating and drinking. He/she might buy a pen for 50 bucks and when you ask how much he/she paid, he/she might say either 45 (most probable is a lesser price) or 55 but not 50…
(When I wrote this I remember one such person and situation. It is their habit to lie.
The situation was, he asked his son to pick him up from the railway station when he arrives with his wife. Son reaches the station a little late so he did not know when exactly the train arrived. But when I saw all of them together, I ask:
“What time did the train come?”
“5 am” said the gentleman and I gives a suspicious look and hence his wife says
“no, he JUST said that, but the train actually came only at 5.30”
I know that person very well, and hence I knew that he had a clear idea when the train came. I know his wife very well hence I knew that she don’t want to call her husband a liar in front of me.)
For a compulsive liar, that is the way to respond to any question. .for them telling a lie is more easy than telling the truth. A true compulsive liar is not that cunning as a pathological liar. But in many case, we see a mixture and not a 100% type. The person I referred is such a man. He is very cunning and he lies without any reason.
Types of lies
Bold – very obvious lies like somebody stands with a perfume spray in his hand and the room full of smell and the person says no, I did not spray (seriously, and not as a joke)
Omission - deliberately omit something from the conversation to mislead
Lie to children - "If you don’t go to sleep right now, the bogeyman will come and eat you" kind. We try such tricks to kids to make them eat, sleep obey etc but that too is classified as a lie.
White lie – harmless lie. Well intentional untruth. A friend of ours (not close enough) asks how his/her dress is and we might say good, even if we don’t like it.
Perjury – one example is giving false statement in the court , it’s a crime and not just a simple lie.
Bluffing - ‘yeah I did that’ kind of bluff where as its not done by him/her and taking the credit of something. It is also called Plagiarism, but that too is a lie.
Emergency Lies– sometimes we may have to save our best friend from a situation and even lie to his/her parents saying, I was with him/her and he did not do that (not talking about crimes etc. but may be a situation like smoking, having a drink etc)
Misleading – intentionally
Exaggeration – “ I saw a cat as big as a dog” kinda thing
Jocose – These are used in Stories, parables, jokes, pranks , humor etc. Some pple , including St. Augustine believes that these are actually not lies.
Then we can see lots of false profiles in social network and other area of internet, we can see lots of false curriculum – vitae , lots of ads in the TV, endorsed by professional people saying they used it and got result, even giving a reply like ‘ ok, I will look into it right away’ to our client just to console and not looking into it is a lie…
How bad is a lie?
* Many a times, to cover up a lie, one need to say a series of other lies…
* Breach of trust – in personal life, professional life, social life…
* Break ups in relationships. Lying in relationships is a big issue and is one of the reasons for the breakups. Now some Christian dating service providers warns against pathological liars and asks to avoid dating with them (they provide tips to find out pathological liars)
* Losing integrity
* Lies by political heads can even create a war
What do religions say about lie?
Most of the religions ( why did I say ‘most of the’? Coz some religions permits to lie on certain situations. Like, to save one’s life (Islam) or to avoid evil eye (a rich man can tell a lie about his wealth to avoid evil eye - Torah /Jewish )are against telling lies and in Christianity, they warn with strong words like:
…….. all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death'
- Revelations 21:8
So, how bad it is to lie? Do any scripture mention about it. I think in all religions, there are some guidelines in this regard, as of now, I dont have a clear idea.
So, does it mean that we should always tell the TRUTH? Should a doctor tell his patient directly and boldly that he/she is suffering from leukemia or brain tumor?
As per Manu Smruthi,
"Sathyam bruyaath, priyam bruyaath, Na bruyaath Sathyam Apriyam."
(Speak the truth, speak what is pleasing. But don’t speak truth that is unpleasant….this also means don’t tell untruth just coz its pleasing)
If a lie can save an innocent man’s life, may be its good. A lie can become very serious depending on the degree of lying.
Words and expressions have got its meanings, so even if it’s a white lie, use it wisely…….. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
“A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth”
Who lies?
Every one of us. We all lied at some point of time from the general definition of lie. If we tell the partial truth, it’s a lie. If we gave a misleading info, that’s a lie…..
So, the world is full of liars. Is that the right classification?
No, if it was very much part of humans, like we walk with our legs, why it has been discussed? why some religions and its scriptures directly addresses this issue and teach us lying is bad?
We also keep different standards for different set/category of people as far as lying is concerned. We expect the religious and spiritual people to be more truthful and we don’t expect politicians to be truthful (politicians and lawyers are two sets of people who can lie and get away without any punishment !!!)
Why do we lie in the first place? Modern psychology and psychologists say that the process of telling lies start at childhood, at the age of 4 to 5, may be. The intention of the child is not to lie. But that is the age when a child gets familiarized with words and language. And a child tries different words or phrase. Then he/she realize that language can be used to manipulate situations. Then they tries one or two of such ‘skill’ to escape from some trouble or situations. If it worked, then the child keeps it handy. People mostly lie when they are afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.
But when human grow, we learn about the dos’ and don’ts and good and bad and stuff like that. That is a turning point. And there one gets a choice too. Some people continue to be a liar and some not.
It also has something to do with family history or genetics. This doesn’t mean that a liar’s child will be a liar for sure and vice versa… but to say that apart from environmental factors, biological factors also plays a role.
And what are the types of liars?
There is no such strict classification available. There are pathological liars, occasional liars, professional liars, compulsive liars which again referred as habitual liars or chronic liars……
Based on the situation, liars change from one to another. But in general, the pathological and compulsive liars are the liars who are ‘popular’, or proper liars.
A pathological liar
Usually a person who lies persistently to get their things done and they don’t care about how others are affected by it. Those who did not chose 'to-not-to -lie',( after that childhood stage where they understood good and bad ) belong to this category. Some sort of mental abnormality also can lead a person to become pathological liar. These type of people are goal-getters and tries to achieve it at any cost (lie) and thy don’t even give it a damn about the rights of others. A pathological liar is often manipulator, who is cunning and self-centered.
Compulsive liar
For these people, lying is part of their life, just like eating and drinking. He/she might buy a pen for 50 bucks and when you ask how much he/she paid, he/she might say either 45 (most probable is a lesser price) or 55 but not 50…
(When I wrote this I remember one such person and situation. It is their habit to lie.
The situation was, he asked his son to pick him up from the railway station when he arrives with his wife. Son reaches the station a little late so he did not know when exactly the train arrived. But when I saw all of them together, I ask:
“What time did the train come?”
“5 am” said the gentleman and I gives a suspicious look and hence his wife says
“no, he JUST said that, but the train actually came only at 5.30”
I know that person very well, and hence I knew that he had a clear idea when the train came. I know his wife very well hence I knew that she don’t want to call her husband a liar in front of me.)
For a compulsive liar, that is the way to respond to any question. .for them telling a lie is more easy than telling the truth. A true compulsive liar is not that cunning as a pathological liar. But in many case, we see a mixture and not a 100% type. The person I referred is such a man. He is very cunning and he lies without any reason.
Types of lies
Bold – very obvious lies like somebody stands with a perfume spray in his hand and the room full of smell and the person says no, I did not spray (seriously, and not as a joke)
Omission - deliberately omit something from the conversation to mislead
Lie to children - "If you don’t go to sleep right now, the bogeyman will come and eat you" kind. We try such tricks to kids to make them eat, sleep obey etc but that too is classified as a lie.
White lie – harmless lie. Well intentional untruth. A friend of ours (not close enough) asks how his/her dress is and we might say good, even if we don’t like it.
Perjury – one example is giving false statement in the court , it’s a crime and not just a simple lie.
Bluffing - ‘yeah I did that’ kind of bluff where as its not done by him/her and taking the credit of something. It is also called Plagiarism, but that too is a lie.
Emergency Lies– sometimes we may have to save our best friend from a situation and even lie to his/her parents saying, I was with him/her and he did not do that (not talking about crimes etc. but may be a situation like smoking, having a drink etc)
Misleading – intentionally
Exaggeration – “ I saw a cat as big as a dog” kinda thing
Jocose – These are used in Stories, parables, jokes, pranks , humor etc. Some pple , including St. Augustine believes that these are actually not lies.
Then we can see lots of false profiles in social network and other area of internet, we can see lots of false curriculum – vitae , lots of ads in the TV, endorsed by professional people saying they used it and got result, even giving a reply like ‘ ok, I will look into it right away’ to our client just to console and not looking into it is a lie…
How bad is a lie?
* Many a times, to cover up a lie, one need to say a series of other lies…
* Breach of trust – in personal life, professional life, social life…
* Break ups in relationships. Lying in relationships is a big issue and is one of the reasons for the breakups. Now some Christian dating service providers warns against pathological liars and asks to avoid dating with them (they provide tips to find out pathological liars)
* Losing integrity
* Lies by political heads can even create a war
What do religions say about lie?
Most of the religions ( why did I say ‘most of the’? Coz some religions permits to lie on certain situations. Like, to save one’s life (Islam) or to avoid evil eye (a rich man can tell a lie about his wealth to avoid evil eye - Torah /Jewish )are against telling lies and in Christianity, they warn with strong words like:
…….. all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death'
- Revelations 21:8
So, how bad it is to lie? Do any scripture mention about it. I think in all religions, there are some guidelines in this regard, as of now, I dont have a clear idea.
So, does it mean that we should always tell the TRUTH? Should a doctor tell his patient directly and boldly that he/she is suffering from leukemia or brain tumor?
As per Manu Smruthi,
"Sathyam bruyaath, priyam bruyaath, Na bruyaath Sathyam Apriyam."
(Speak the truth, speak what is pleasing. But don’t speak truth that is unpleasant….this also means don’t tell untruth just coz its pleasing)
If a lie can save an innocent man’s life, may be its good. A lie can become very serious depending on the degree of lying.
Words and expressions have got its meanings, so even if it’s a white lie, use it wisely…….. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Formless Idol !
If we worship an idol, will we go to hell, where there is a lake which burns with fire and brimstones? NO, we won’t.
There is formless worship in Islam, Hinduism (Yes, it believes in formless worship too) etc. Though Bible is against it, the way most of the Christians see a cross (in most cases, which has an embossed Christ) is nothing but idolatry (and it has nothing to do with worshiping the God as Spirit). May be Hindus are one of the prominent ones who use idols to worship.
Giving a form to the formless is not a ‘sin’. But the thing is one need to grow from there. In the early stages of the path (in the look-out for a better understanding about God and His ways), one may use some form, if one faces some difficulty in understanding the formless nature of God. It is like giving an introductory lesson about electricity with the help of some electric equipments like light/bulb, battery etc. To really understand what electricity is, one need to get a ‘feel’, same with God. One cant find him in books, though He is there in books too. .He is not the idol you worship, though His presense is there even in an idol or rock. See/think beyond the idol....see the formless even in the form. Open up your eyes and look around. When you are keen enough, many things around you, even a river, a bird, grass…. can teach us a lot about God.
One should not get stuck to the idol or form. Move from the form to the formless. God is like water, formless, but it can assume any form according to the container.
There is formless worship in Islam, Hinduism (Yes, it believes in formless worship too) etc. Though Bible is against it, the way most of the Christians see a cross (in most cases, which has an embossed Christ) is nothing but idolatry (and it has nothing to do with worshiping the God as Spirit). May be Hindus are one of the prominent ones who use idols to worship.
Giving a form to the formless is not a ‘sin’. But the thing is one need to grow from there. In the early stages of the path (in the look-out for a better understanding about God and His ways), one may use some form, if one faces some difficulty in understanding the formless nature of God. It is like giving an introductory lesson about electricity with the help of some electric equipments like light/bulb, battery etc. To really understand what electricity is, one need to get a ‘feel’, same with God. One cant find him in books, though He is there in books too. .He is not the idol you worship, though His presense is there even in an idol or rock. See/think beyond the idol....see the formless even in the form. Open up your eyes and look around. When you are keen enough, many things around you, even a river, a bird, grass…. can teach us a lot about God.
One should not get stuck to the idol or form. Move from the form to the formless. God is like water, formless, but it can assume any form according to the container.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Valentines Day !
The Valentines Day is over. It never was any special day for me. May be coz, it wasn’t part of my culture. But in the present day India, it sure is a special day. Year after year, its getting rooted, one way or the other.
It doesn’t mean that people here started believing in St.Valentine. But it is marketed well by MNCs with commercial interest. Coz, they can sell more. This year I got some anti-valentine messages and comments straight from staunch Christians itself. Their point is that this is not a day to celebrate since St.Valentine was brutally tortured and stuffs like that. And some call it as ‘Love Sucks Day’.
Many of them blame it on Hallmark, the card company for commercializing VDay. Now, if you search for anti-valentine cards or merchandize, they are in lots. For business people, what they want is money and they are ready to discount any kind of mass sentiments, irrespective of pro or anti. The irony is same people sell both.
But in general, I got lots of greetings from others, for the first time in my life, on this day. So for a moment I sat down to think about it.
I have not seen people of other religion showing some concern over Good Friday, when the incarnation of love got crucified. But the ‘love day’ got named after Valentine. So, who is this saint valentine? What is the historical background?
The truth is , nobody knows who exactly this saint valentine is….and there is no history to support !!
As per the Catholic Encyclopedia :
“At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February….”
It is now said that it could be be:
1. A priest in Rome
2. A bishop of Interamna (which is now known as Terni)
3. A martyr in roman province of Africa.
And there is no history to support. When people started questioning these, some catholic church came out with a new idea that Feb 14 is the mid of that month and it is during this time the foul birds look for their mates and thus they connected it to love. And the commercial propagators started to promote it as the ‘love day’.
(the love element among birds and animals are different from how we humans perceive it…but may be that’s a different issue or something nobody is interested in)
So why is valentines day catching up this fast?
It looks like it is coz of the flirt element than the fun or love or faith element!!
It doesn’t mean that people here started believing in St.Valentine. But it is marketed well by MNCs with commercial interest. Coz, they can sell more. This year I got some anti-valentine messages and comments straight from staunch Christians itself. Their point is that this is not a day to celebrate since St.Valentine was brutally tortured and stuffs like that. And some call it as ‘Love Sucks Day’.
Many of them blame it on Hallmark, the card company for commercializing VDay. Now, if you search for anti-valentine cards or merchandize, they are in lots. For business people, what they want is money and they are ready to discount any kind of mass sentiments, irrespective of pro or anti. The irony is same people sell both.
But in general, I got lots of greetings from others, for the first time in my life, on this day. So for a moment I sat down to think about it.
I have not seen people of other religion showing some concern over Good Friday, when the incarnation of love got crucified. But the ‘love day’ got named after Valentine. So, who is this saint valentine? What is the historical background?
The truth is , nobody knows who exactly this saint valentine is….and there is no history to support !!
As per the Catholic Encyclopedia :
“At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February….”
It is now said that it could be be:
1. A priest in Rome
2. A bishop of Interamna (which is now known as Terni)
3. A martyr in roman province of Africa.
And there is no history to support. When people started questioning these, some catholic church came out with a new idea that Feb 14 is the mid of that month and it is during this time the foul birds look for their mates and thus they connected it to love. And the commercial propagators started to promote it as the ‘love day’.
(the love element among birds and animals are different from how we humans perceive it…but may be that’s a different issue or something nobody is interested in)
So why is valentines day catching up this fast?
It looks like it is coz of the flirt element than the fun or love or faith element!!
Monday, February 11, 2008
OWLS
There could be so many birds around my neighborhood, coz, I can hear lots of birds chirping during the early morning. Crow must be one of them. But since I live in a high raise building, crows hardly comes to my balcony. They either sit on the ground or on trees and I live above tree level. Then comes Pigeons. There are lots of them since they live in high raise buildings. I will write about pigeons or may be about a particular pigeon later, if I remember.
But there is a special bird which I really love in my neighborhood, one of the most fascinating birds…OWLS!!
I saw her only three or four times so far (they are solitary birds). It may be a he and not she. But I want to call it a she coz its so cute and beautiful.
She came in our utility balcony. And sat at the same place, all the time. I could not open the balcony door since it might fly away. So, I saw her through the glass. Since owls have very very sharp ears, it understood that I am here and looked at me. And it was a cute look and I wish I could cuddle that birdie.
First time I happened to see her when I heard some screech, at some wee hours may be 2 am or so. Anyway I got disturbed and woken up from my sleep so I decided to check out which bird or animal is making that sound. I peeped through the kitchen door opening to the balcony and there she is keenly looking at me. Actually I was bit irritated since I got woken up from sleep and it is very difficult for me to go back to sleep, but what a sight it was!. I could not help smiling at her. She was soooo sweet and cute. I even wished I could have her as my pet.
Yesterday also she visited me. Since she sits in the dark, its not very easy to make out her proper color. But I could see her white face and chest…it looked sooo fluffy and soft and somewhat like a cat.
Ok, now lets look at some of the details of this fascinating bird.
Owls belong to the family Strigiformes (further divided into typical and barn, which has heart shaped face) and they are seen in almost all places except Antarctica (and some parts of Greenland and some rare islands).
There are about 200 species of them. The size varies from 12 cm to 75 cm depending on the species. Usually they lay a minimum of three eggs and it goes to 12, depending on the type of owl. But they wont lay the eggs at a time, but with some gaps(1-3 days). When the mother bird sits to hatch the egg, the father bird fetches food (they eat meat and only meat – rat, rodent, insects, small birds etc). when the babies comes, father will be very busy hunting for food, for all of them. If the pray is small, they swallow it just like that and if its big, they tear it apart and eat. They are predators. They kill and eat. The undigested things like bones and all are regurgitated as pellets.
They have got four toes – two facing front and two facing back. They have exceptional abilities to hear even the smallest sounds (the best supplied to any birds). To add strength to this ammunition, they are supplied eyes with large retina and more rod cells, which boosts up the night vision (but they mostly depend on their ears than eyes at night).
Some owls have ear like thing called ‘ear tuft’ but they are not ears and the actual ears are behind the eyes which are located on the facial disc but covered with feathers.
Owls are part of human observation since 10000-15000 years. Many countries associate it with many things. The most common are ill omen and death !
In northern part of India, colloquially the name owl is used in synonym with idiot. But it is also considered as good omen (the white owl). And its is believed that different things will happen according to the number of times it hoots (eg. One for death and 9 for good fortune). Some pple consider it as representation of goddesses of wealth.
But in many parts of Africa, they believed it will bring illness to kids and they associated it with sorcery.
Australian aboriginals believed that they carry the souls of women (bat carries the souls of men) and hence considered sacred.
Take most of the countries – Egypt, Babylonia, Aztecs, Burma, China, France, Germany, Peru, New Zealand, Indonesia, Jamaica, Poland, Iran, Nigeria, Persia……. They all have something to say about this bird. Owls are part of mythology.
Now some interesting things about them:
Can owls turn its head in 360 degree? A full round? - No they can turn only three fourth. Technically speaking, they can turn their head 135 degrees on each side.
But why God gave this bird that ability to turn its head with such flexibility? – because its eyes are fixed in the eye sockets and it cant move it like we do. And moreover it has forward facing eyes.
Can owls see during day time? – Yes they can.
Do owls travel only at night? – No, some are very active during day time too (eg. Burrowing owl)
Is there anything special about its feathers? – Of course it has some special mechanism (they have fringe on the edge of flight feathers which works as a sort of silencer that reduces vibration) to reduce the sound while flapping their wings
Can they see anything very close to its eyes? – Nope they have long sight by birth
What kind of sound they make? – they make different kinds of sounds apart from screeching and hooting depending on the species and situation. It can hiss, scream, hoot, screech…..
Oh, I can write lots and lots about this wonderful bird....may be some other time..
But there is a special bird which I really love in my neighborhood, one of the most fascinating birds…OWLS!!
I saw her only three or four times so far (they are solitary birds). It may be a he and not she. But I want to call it a she coz its so cute and beautiful.
She came in our utility balcony. And sat at the same place, all the time. I could not open the balcony door since it might fly away. So, I saw her through the glass. Since owls have very very sharp ears, it understood that I am here and looked at me. And it was a cute look and I wish I could cuddle that birdie.
First time I happened to see her when I heard some screech, at some wee hours may be 2 am or so. Anyway I got disturbed and woken up from my sleep so I decided to check out which bird or animal is making that sound. I peeped through the kitchen door opening to the balcony and there she is keenly looking at me. Actually I was bit irritated since I got woken up from sleep and it is very difficult for me to go back to sleep, but what a sight it was!. I could not help smiling at her. She was soooo sweet and cute. I even wished I could have her as my pet.
Yesterday also she visited me. Since she sits in the dark, its not very easy to make out her proper color. But I could see her white face and chest…it looked sooo fluffy and soft and somewhat like a cat.
Ok, now lets look at some of the details of this fascinating bird.
Owls belong to the family Strigiformes (further divided into typical and barn, which has heart shaped face) and they are seen in almost all places except Antarctica (and some parts of Greenland and some rare islands).
There are about 200 species of them. The size varies from 12 cm to 75 cm depending on the species. Usually they lay a minimum of three eggs and it goes to 12, depending on the type of owl. But they wont lay the eggs at a time, but with some gaps(1-3 days). When the mother bird sits to hatch the egg, the father bird fetches food (they eat meat and only meat – rat, rodent, insects, small birds etc). when the babies comes, father will be very busy hunting for food, for all of them. If the pray is small, they swallow it just like that and if its big, they tear it apart and eat. They are predators. They kill and eat. The undigested things like bones and all are regurgitated as pellets.
They have got four toes – two facing front and two facing back. They have exceptional abilities to hear even the smallest sounds (the best supplied to any birds). To add strength to this ammunition, they are supplied eyes with large retina and more rod cells, which boosts up the night vision (but they mostly depend on their ears than eyes at night).
Some owls have ear like thing called ‘ear tuft’ but they are not ears and the actual ears are behind the eyes which are located on the facial disc but covered with feathers.
Owls are part of human observation since 10000-15000 years. Many countries associate it with many things. The most common are ill omen and death !
In northern part of India, colloquially the name owl is used in synonym with idiot. But it is also considered as good omen (the white owl). And its is believed that different things will happen according to the number of times it hoots (eg. One for death and 9 for good fortune). Some pple consider it as representation of goddesses of wealth.
But in many parts of Africa, they believed it will bring illness to kids and they associated it with sorcery.
Australian aboriginals believed that they carry the souls of women (bat carries the souls of men) and hence considered sacred.
Take most of the countries – Egypt, Babylonia, Aztecs, Burma, China, France, Germany, Peru, New Zealand, Indonesia, Jamaica, Poland, Iran, Nigeria, Persia……. They all have something to say about this bird. Owls are part of mythology.
Now some interesting things about them:
Can owls turn its head in 360 degree? A full round? - No they can turn only three fourth. Technically speaking, they can turn their head 135 degrees on each side.
But why God gave this bird that ability to turn its head with such flexibility? – because its eyes are fixed in the eye sockets and it cant move it like we do. And moreover it has forward facing eyes.
Can owls see during day time? – Yes they can.
Do owls travel only at night? – No, some are very active during day time too (eg. Burrowing owl)
Is there anything special about its feathers? – Of course it has some special mechanism (they have fringe on the edge of flight feathers which works as a sort of silencer that reduces vibration) to reduce the sound while flapping their wings
Can they see anything very close to its eyes? – Nope they have long sight by birth
What kind of sound they make? – they make different kinds of sounds apart from screeching and hooting depending on the species and situation. It can hiss, scream, hoot, screech…..
Oh, I can write lots and lots about this wonderful bird....may be some other time..
Saturday, February 09, 2008
I miss you Doc !
Today I missed my previous doc, Dr.Sharma.
He was my doc when I was living in my native place. I just happened to meet him accidently. I developed a slight pain in the right side of my stomach and I consulted a general physician. And he referred me to a Surgeon. On that day, There were two of them available for consultation and I happened to sit in front of Dr.Sharma’s OP. He was a short man, well dressed … his mustache wasn’t that black so was his eyes. He talked to me very pleasantly and I liked him. After observation, he prescribed some tabs and sent me back and asked me to visit him after sometime. I visited again and he said he suspects an Appendicitis. I had option to wait till I get lil more pain but we decided to get it operated.
The usual custom here is, we need to bribe the doc before the surgery, else many docs will postpone the surgery, or wont give enough attention. So , on the eve of me getting admitted to the hospital, I went to his home. (Usually all docs practice at home too, privately). There weren’t any patients waiting when I was there. His son was standing near the gate, looking out. I told him that I want to meet the doc. Doc came and son went inside.
“yes, what you want?”
“hmm, I mean, I just want to remind you that I am supposed to get admitted tmrw…”
“look, I know why you are here…but I don’t need your money and don’t think that just coz I did not accept your money I will not perform my duty or I will not give much attention….you have money to give, what about the poor? Should I operate them or not?
“you have to…”
“yes, so, you just go and get ready…take care”
That was a shocker for me….
That time I never knew that he was one of the best Surgeons available in our town. I never knew that he had another hospital of his own, in another town.
The surgery was over, he took good care of me and after that, for every illness, I used to consult him. On certain evenings, he used to sit in a small old house next to his house, which he used as clinic for private consultation (don’t remember the days) and he did not accept any fee. One of the best doc available for consultation for free…can you believe it? I came to know that he was doing that just for the poor people.
We got acquainted. I was one of his most curious patients and he used to give answers with a smile. Once I entered his room with a list of doubts written on a piece of paper and I had some disagreements with what he said last time.
“oh! Really? In which book you read those?”
I said the name of some reference book (I had books on human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology etc with me…and I still have many such books for my reference).
“That is the theoretical aspect you are talking about. That way you are right, but I am practicing since 25 years…what I told you is based on my own experience…”
Then, whenever we met, he used to tease me
“you don’t have any list with you today?” and he laughs
One day, I sat in front of him, crying..
“hey, what is this..”? he asked
But he did not ask me to stop crying….
“Ok OK, enough now….” He said after sometime
“Look, I considered you as my younger brother when I saw you for the first time itself…you can talk anything with me….”
Whenever I needed to talk to someone about my problems, he was there to listen.
He was working with a charitable hospital run by a Hindu Missionary. But one day I came to know that he quit that hospital. So I went to meet him at his home clinic.
“I just asked to shuffle my OP dates with the Swamy (a monk, who was a qualified surgeon) and he hesitated and there are some other politics too, it seems..”
“So, where are you now”?
He said the name of another hospital, which was very famous multi specialty hospital. I knew that hospitals will queue up for him.
“……and that too with a very good package…” he smiled at me “I will be available at Rotary Hospital (which again was a charitable hospital run by the Rotary Club) too, coz, many of my old patients cant afford my new hospital…”
Once I happened to visit that hospital too and I brought my sister and brother in law too with me coz, they were ill.
That hospital wasn’t free. We need to pay a consultation fee and he was a specialist. But it was reasonable compared to many big hospitals.
“did you pay for all of you?” he asked me
“yes “ and I gave him the receipts
“Nurse!…..take this, cancel it, and give them back the money” he said that and handed over the all the receipts except one..
“its ok, doctor” I said
“well, I am sitting here for free….
I got married… he could not attend my marriage…I moved into this new city…I became a father….and then I happened to visit the hospital where he was working as a paid doc, while I was visiting my native place, to give one vaccine for my son. But I came to know that Dr.Sharma is still there so I waited outside his OP (well, I did not take any OP ticket)….
“Doctor, do you remember me?”
“Of course I do”
I introduced my wife and son and had a very small talk….
That was the last time I saw him and he is no more (I think I blogged about his death, sometime ago)
He was the first noble-humble-honest-best human I met in my life , in every aspect.... A human who really cared for his society and fellow humans...a loving personality who was spiritual at the core...A man who asked me to pray (I think I was a sort of atheist that time) He was a gem of a human....such souls wont visit this place very often... I am one of the luckiest to meet him in this life !
He was my doc when I was living in my native place. I just happened to meet him accidently. I developed a slight pain in the right side of my stomach and I consulted a general physician. And he referred me to a Surgeon. On that day, There were two of them available for consultation and I happened to sit in front of Dr.Sharma’s OP. He was a short man, well dressed … his mustache wasn’t that black so was his eyes. He talked to me very pleasantly and I liked him. After observation, he prescribed some tabs and sent me back and asked me to visit him after sometime. I visited again and he said he suspects an Appendicitis. I had option to wait till I get lil more pain but we decided to get it operated.
The usual custom here is, we need to bribe the doc before the surgery, else many docs will postpone the surgery, or wont give enough attention. So , on the eve of me getting admitted to the hospital, I went to his home. (Usually all docs practice at home too, privately). There weren’t any patients waiting when I was there. His son was standing near the gate, looking out. I told him that I want to meet the doc. Doc came and son went inside.
“yes, what you want?”
“hmm, I mean, I just want to remind you that I am supposed to get admitted tmrw…”
“look, I know why you are here…but I don’t need your money and don’t think that just coz I did not accept your money I will not perform my duty or I will not give much attention….you have money to give, what about the poor? Should I operate them or not?
“you have to…”
“yes, so, you just go and get ready…take care”
That was a shocker for me….
That time I never knew that he was one of the best Surgeons available in our town. I never knew that he had another hospital of his own, in another town.
The surgery was over, he took good care of me and after that, for every illness, I used to consult him. On certain evenings, he used to sit in a small old house next to his house, which he used as clinic for private consultation (don’t remember the days) and he did not accept any fee. One of the best doc available for consultation for free…can you believe it? I came to know that he was doing that just for the poor people.
We got acquainted. I was one of his most curious patients and he used to give answers with a smile. Once I entered his room with a list of doubts written on a piece of paper and I had some disagreements with what he said last time.
“oh! Really? In which book you read those?”
I said the name of some reference book (I had books on human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology etc with me…and I still have many such books for my reference).
“That is the theoretical aspect you are talking about. That way you are right, but I am practicing since 25 years…what I told you is based on my own experience…”
Then, whenever we met, he used to tease me
“you don’t have any list with you today?” and he laughs
One day, I sat in front of him, crying..
“hey, what is this..”? he asked
But he did not ask me to stop crying….
“Ok OK, enough now….” He said after sometime
“Look, I considered you as my younger brother when I saw you for the first time itself…you can talk anything with me….”
Whenever I needed to talk to someone about my problems, he was there to listen.
He was working with a charitable hospital run by a Hindu Missionary. But one day I came to know that he quit that hospital. So I went to meet him at his home clinic.
“I just asked to shuffle my OP dates with the Swamy (a monk, who was a qualified surgeon) and he hesitated and there are some other politics too, it seems..”
“So, where are you now”?
He said the name of another hospital, which was very famous multi specialty hospital. I knew that hospitals will queue up for him.
“……and that too with a very good package…” he smiled at me “I will be available at Rotary Hospital (which again was a charitable hospital run by the Rotary Club) too, coz, many of my old patients cant afford my new hospital…”
Once I happened to visit that hospital too and I brought my sister and brother in law too with me coz, they were ill.
That hospital wasn’t free. We need to pay a consultation fee and he was a specialist. But it was reasonable compared to many big hospitals.
“did you pay for all of you?” he asked me
“yes “ and I gave him the receipts
“Nurse!…..take this, cancel it, and give them back the money” he said that and handed over the all the receipts except one..
“its ok, doctor” I said
“well, I am sitting here for free….
I got married… he could not attend my marriage…I moved into this new city…I became a father….and then I happened to visit the hospital where he was working as a paid doc, while I was visiting my native place, to give one vaccine for my son. But I came to know that Dr.Sharma is still there so I waited outside his OP (well, I did not take any OP ticket)….
“Doctor, do you remember me?”
“Of course I do”
I introduced my wife and son and had a very small talk….
That was the last time I saw him and he is no more (I think I blogged about his death, sometime ago)
He was the first noble-humble-honest-best human I met in my life , in every aspect.... A human who really cared for his society and fellow humans...a loving personality who was spiritual at the core...A man who asked me to pray (I think I was a sort of atheist that time) He was a gem of a human....such souls wont visit this place very often... I am one of the luckiest to meet him in this life !
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi left his body on 5th of February 2008. He was 91 years old. He was at his Netherlands Ashram at that time.
During 1996, he was declared dead by docs, in London, but he simply came back. January 12 was his birthday and this year, on his 91st birthday, he gave a talk and said, he don’t have anything else to say to this world and went into silence and he did not speak to anybody till his soul left his body. (well, there are many who can die at their will, some Buddhist monks are experts on this area, even today..I might write about it sometime later, if I don’t forget). He left his body gracefully...
I don’t think I need to tell who Maharshi is, the whole world knows him. He developed and found the Transcendental Meditation technique, which is a big gift for the human race. He had his own identity but he became popular when the famous band Beatles got associated with him. They came to India to attend the course, in Rishikesh .
The strange thing about Beetles and Maharshi is, that NASA beamed the song ‘Across the Universe’ by them in to the space on the same day of his demise. What a coincidence !
Like Beetles, there were many famous personalities after him, all over the world…
But for me, He was my Guru’s teacher for sometime, so I have all that respect for him and I am lucky to be in that lineage..….then there is one Actor cum Director who I like very much, Clint Eastwood. He practices Transcendental Meditation and to be frank, at some point of time, I too wished I could learn that….
Me wishing rest in peace would be the most foolish and stupidest thing and his soul might laugh at me, if it can …
So, please accept my last respects!!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Water
Every living thing in this colorful world needs a colorless liquid called water. In fact, life originated in water. About 70% of Earth is covered with water and 70% of our body is nothing but water.
How important is drinking water for us? Look at the water content in some of our organs:
Human brain – 85-90% water
Blood- 82%
Lungs- 90%
Liver – 90%
Even bones has got 35% water
Function
So, that says how important it is to drink water. How does water help us in day-today activities? Following are some of its functions:
* Maintains body temperature – body’s air conditioning- and evenly distributes temperature/heat
* Works as lubricant
* It can energize every cell
* Main ingredient of fluids that surround the joints
* Helps digestion and alleviates constipation
* The best natural detoxifier
* Plays a significant role in maintaining immunity and thus helps prevent many diseases
* Helps prevent some kind of back and joint pain (where elasticity of discs etc plays a role)
* Can reduce the possibility of certain types of cancers, by some degree (eg. Colon, breast, bladder.., if we drink enough water, daily
* In fact, our every organ heavily depends on water
I need Water Symptoms
What are the indications that tell us that we need water? Many a times people depend on thirst or dry mouth. Dry mouth is actually an indication of mild dehydration (talking about a normal, healthy person), which is kind of body's cry for it. The best way is to check the color of our urine. If it is yellow, that clearly shows dehydration (talking abt otherwise healthy person who is not under any medication). In that case, rehydrate the body by drinking enough water till urine becomes clear or pale yellow.
Sometimes ‘I feel like eating something’ is body asking water and not snacks. And when we are thirsty, some people take coffee/tea or some sweetened drinks, which are actually diuretic. Diuretics accelerate the rate of urination and also will draw water from the body.
So, when we are thirsty, it is better we quench it with pure water. And we better fill the water requirement with water itself. It is said that at least 50% of the world population are under mild dehydration, most of the day.
How does our body react to this dehydration? What are the symptoms?
* Short term memory
* Trouble in carrying out basic math operations
* Difficulty in reading smaller fonts
* Daytime Fatigue
* Feeling tired or sleepy
* Headache
* Dizziness or lightheadedness
* Muscle weakness
* Chronic dehydration can result in dandruff
* Low metabolism rate etc ……
Daily Requirement
We lose water even while breathing. How much water should we drink? Ideally it’s said that we (an adult) need to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. But it depends on our built too. It might vary between 2-3 liters per day. There is another ratio which says we need to drink half the weight of our body but in terms of ounce. That is, if our body weight is 100 pounds, we need to drink 50 ounce of water.
So, it is better we make drinking water as our habit than waiting for our body to ask for it, every time.
How important is drinking water for us? Look at the water content in some of our organs:
Human brain – 85-90% water
Blood- 82%
Lungs- 90%
Liver – 90%
Even bones has got 35% water
Function
So, that says how important it is to drink water. How does water help us in day-today activities? Following are some of its functions:
* Maintains body temperature – body’s air conditioning- and evenly distributes temperature/heat
* Works as lubricant
* It can energize every cell
* Main ingredient of fluids that surround the joints
* Helps digestion and alleviates constipation
* The best natural detoxifier
* Plays a significant role in maintaining immunity and thus helps prevent many diseases
* Helps prevent some kind of back and joint pain (where elasticity of discs etc plays a role)
* Can reduce the possibility of certain types of cancers, by some degree (eg. Colon, breast, bladder.., if we drink enough water, daily
* In fact, our every organ heavily depends on water
I need Water Symptoms
What are the indications that tell us that we need water? Many a times people depend on thirst or dry mouth. Dry mouth is actually an indication of mild dehydration (talking about a normal, healthy person), which is kind of body's cry for it. The best way is to check the color of our urine. If it is yellow, that clearly shows dehydration (talking abt otherwise healthy person who is not under any medication). In that case, rehydrate the body by drinking enough water till urine becomes clear or pale yellow.
Sometimes ‘I feel like eating something’ is body asking water and not snacks. And when we are thirsty, some people take coffee/tea or some sweetened drinks, which are actually diuretic. Diuretics accelerate the rate of urination and also will draw water from the body.
So, when we are thirsty, it is better we quench it with pure water. And we better fill the water requirement with water itself. It is said that at least 50% of the world population are under mild dehydration, most of the day.
How does our body react to this dehydration? What are the symptoms?
* Short term memory
* Trouble in carrying out basic math operations
* Difficulty in reading smaller fonts
* Daytime Fatigue
* Feeling tired or sleepy
* Headache
* Dizziness or lightheadedness
* Muscle weakness
* Chronic dehydration can result in dandruff
* Low metabolism rate etc ……
Daily Requirement
We lose water even while breathing. How much water should we drink? Ideally it’s said that we (an adult) need to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. But it depends on our built too. It might vary between 2-3 liters per day. There is another ratio which says we need to drink half the weight of our body but in terms of ounce. That is, if our body weight is 100 pounds, we need to drink 50 ounce of water.
So, it is better we make drinking water as our habit than waiting for our body to ask for it, every time.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Me in Me out !
Things in and around me were of things which gave happy and unhappy moments. The happy part is that there came a fair in my neighborhood. I did not visit the entire fair, though it was a very small one. I saw many stalls when I passed that play ground where they organized the fair. I can see the Giant wheel from my apartment and hear the scream of kids when they ride. I could hear some band singing...
There was a small book fair too where they had new and used books at a discounted price and I took my wife and son there, though I felt a vertigo feeling plus headache, I did not want to disappoint them and God blessed me. They were happy to grab some books at bargain price. Wife wanted to buy some books of a particular author and when we checked out the book store, it was bit expensive. But those books came to our place at a discounted price. That’s wonderful. I really wanted that to happen so that I can save some money by not buying the books from the store.
Another good thing is that my son managed to find the missing page from one of his Text books for which the teacher sent a note and I had to sign.
On the other side, there came a annoying but brilliantly coded adware/malware along with a game and survived many anti-virus and antispyware which asked the attention of my ache filled head..
I was observing what is happening with me. Take every system that works in our body. It’s a wonder. Same with digestive system too
Our food needs to be digested and for that our body produces acids like Hydrochloric Acid and then some enzymes etc. What if that acids stay there for longer than it required, or there is nothing to get digested? It will start ‘digesting’ the intestine wall itself !
When we say we have a bad stomach, may be it’s a dyspepsia (not diarrhea), resulting in heart burn, discomfort, fullness etc etc.
But in my case, it wasn’t just a dyspepsia. Acids played there game and it developed into GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Diseases) resulting in an early stage of Esophagitis. This gave me upset stomach, heartburn, chest pain, and moreover, severe headache….
Sleeping in a proper position is very important in any form of acidity related issues to avoid the Acid Reflux. But since I have Cervical Spondylosis , I cant even use a regular pillow and acid enjoyed its journey upwards giving me sleepless nights which again created acidity which again caused sleepless nights and so on …. It’s a vicious cycle which I needed to break it somewhere…..
Another strange thing is the night mares when I fell asleep at some point of time… I woke up coz of these mares with headache and chest pain, which looked like Anxiety. May be there was some stress-agitation-irritability-worry factor too.
So, finally I met my doc and he even suspected an amoebiasis to add to my worries. He gave a combination of Allopathic and Homoeopathic medicines. I thought he might give some anti-stress or anti-depressants since there is this chest pain and pumping headache which is a typical Anxiety symptom but to my surprise he did not (it was a disappointment coz, those drugs could have given me GREAT sleep). And that is where the homoeopathic medicine fit into. I looked at him with a suspicious look (“are you sure that that will take care of my sleep?”).
Thus the treatment started first by asking my body to not to produce any acid at night, by using a Proton Pump Inhibitor (a drug). And, though I was very doubtful about the silly homoeo medicine, my nightmares got stopped.
Overall, I liked the whole mechanism created by God. I was observing all these stuffs happening in my own body. But I wonder how He connected dreams with this and how these can be handled by a herb (that homoeo medicine is made from a plant).
Now I need to watch on what I eat, when I eat, when I sleep etc….and I hope I will be fine in a week or at least in 10 days or so…
God, my buddy, I am not seeing any fault from your side, so am not angry with you… things are like this as long as our stay is here in Planet Earth, isn’t it so?
There was a small book fair too where they had new and used books at a discounted price and I took my wife and son there, though I felt a vertigo feeling plus headache, I did not want to disappoint them and God blessed me. They were happy to grab some books at bargain price. Wife wanted to buy some books of a particular author and when we checked out the book store, it was bit expensive. But those books came to our place at a discounted price. That’s wonderful. I really wanted that to happen so that I can save some money by not buying the books from the store.
Another good thing is that my son managed to find the missing page from one of his Text books for which the teacher sent a note and I had to sign.
On the other side, there came a annoying but brilliantly coded adware/malware along with a game and survived many anti-virus and antispyware which asked the attention of my ache filled head..
I was observing what is happening with me. Take every system that works in our body. It’s a wonder. Same with digestive system too
Our food needs to be digested and for that our body produces acids like Hydrochloric Acid and then some enzymes etc. What if that acids stay there for longer than it required, or there is nothing to get digested? It will start ‘digesting’ the intestine wall itself !
When we say we have a bad stomach, may be it’s a dyspepsia (not diarrhea), resulting in heart burn, discomfort, fullness etc etc.
But in my case, it wasn’t just a dyspepsia. Acids played there game and it developed into GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Diseases) resulting in an early stage of Esophagitis. This gave me upset stomach, heartburn, chest pain, and moreover, severe headache….
Sleeping in a proper position is very important in any form of acidity related issues to avoid the Acid Reflux. But since I have Cervical Spondylosis , I cant even use a regular pillow and acid enjoyed its journey upwards giving me sleepless nights which again created acidity which again caused sleepless nights and so on …. It’s a vicious cycle which I needed to break it somewhere…..
Another strange thing is the night mares when I fell asleep at some point of time… I woke up coz of these mares with headache and chest pain, which looked like Anxiety. May be there was some stress-agitation-irritability-worry factor too.
So, finally I met my doc and he even suspected an amoebiasis to add to my worries. He gave a combination of Allopathic and Homoeopathic medicines. I thought he might give some anti-stress or anti-depressants since there is this chest pain and pumping headache which is a typical Anxiety symptom but to my surprise he did not (it was a disappointment coz, those drugs could have given me GREAT sleep). And that is where the homoeopathic medicine fit into. I looked at him with a suspicious look (“are you sure that that will take care of my sleep?”).
Thus the treatment started first by asking my body to not to produce any acid at night, by using a Proton Pump Inhibitor (a drug). And, though I was very doubtful about the silly homoeo medicine, my nightmares got stopped.
Overall, I liked the whole mechanism created by God. I was observing all these stuffs happening in my own body. But I wonder how He connected dreams with this and how these can be handled by a herb (that homoeo medicine is made from a plant).
Now I need to watch on what I eat, when I eat, when I sleep etc….and I hope I will be fine in a week or at least in 10 days or so…
God, my buddy, I am not seeing any fault from your side, so am not angry with you… things are like this as long as our stay is here in Planet Earth, isn’t it so?
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