An interesting and useful website on health

If you are not a reader of www.webmd.com , please start reading now. It is a compendium of all that you want to know about your health.

The recent newsletter carried an article on '6 Heart Health Myths' by Tammy Worth [reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC].

Risks attached to high blood pressure and cholesterol are mostly silent. One needs to check regularly to know their levels and understand their implications on the heart. Heart ailments do differentiate between the genders. One should not assume that they are the same. I remember a doctor telling me that the jaw pain, statistically, comes to females. But, it is statistically-speaking. I know of an instance when the pain came to a man and it took seven days for him to go to a doctor. Further, younger women have the same risk.

Cardiac rehabilitation is very important. That includes exercise. I was surprised to see one of my relatives refusing to move from his seat even three months after a heart attack. The author warns that depending a lot on aspirin and omega-3 supplements are not all that good. One does not want to restrict the clotting ability too much and risk bleeding.

People give up on life once they get a heart attack. When I was searching for a rental place here in Bangalore, one prospective owner was so dejected in life that he wouldn't mind giving the place to me for 'free'. Luckily for him (unluckily for me!), his wife intervened and quoted the rent.

One can reverse the heart attack by changing one's life style. Dr. Bimal Chhajer from Delhi, India  is doing a great job in this direction. Please do visit his web site www.saaol.com. The pioneer in this field is Dr. Dean Ornish [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Ornish]

The article is worth reading, whether you have a cardiac problem or not. Please go on and read http://www.webmd.com/heart/features/heart-health-myths 

Sanskrit slokas (Prayers) before and after a Yoga & Pranayama session

For the benefit of yoga students, I am giving below some of the prayer slokas (songs) and their meanings. They are chanted before and after a session of yoga and pranayama. Please chant "Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih" at the end of each sloka.

In our class at Arya Samaj, http://www.aryasamajbangalore.org/classes.htm, with our master Mr. Nanjunda Gowda, we chant the first three slokas at the start of the session and the last three, after.

Aum, Bhadram Karnebhih Shrunuyaama Devaah
Bhadram Pashyema akshabhiryajatraah
Sthirai rangaih tushtuvagam sastanoobhih
Vyashema Devahitam Yadaayuh


Listen here: http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=186893 [Part of the sloka only]
Aum. May we hear with our ears what is auspicious. O adorable ones, may we see with our eyes what is auspicious. May we sing praises to you and enjoy with strong limbs and body, the life alloted to us by the Gods.

Aum Sahanaa Vavatu Sahanau Bhunaktu
Saha Veeryam Karavaavahai
Tejasvinaa vadheetamastu Maa Vidvishaavahaih

Listen here: http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=77058
Aum. Let all of us protect each other together, may all of us enjoy together, may all of us work together and let our study become radiant. Let there be no hatred between us.

Aum Yogena chittasya padena vacham
Malam sarirasya cha vaidyakena
Yopakarottam prvaram muninam
Patanjalim pranjali ranato’smi

Listen here: http://www.bksiyengar.com/audio/invocation.mp3 ['Aum Yogena' starts in the middle]
Aum. I offer salutations with folded hands to Pathanjali, the renowned amongst the sages, who removed the impurity of mind through yoga, of the speech by grammar and of the body by ayurveda.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve santu niraamayaah
Sarve bhadraani pashyantu
Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet
May all be happy! May all be free from diseases! May all look to the good of others!
May none suffer from sorrow!

Aum Asato Maa Sadgamaya,
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya,
Mrityor Maa Amritam Gamaya.


Listen here: http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=239429  [Both this sloka and the previous one]
Aum. Lead me from unreal to real, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to immortality.

Aum Poornamadah Poornamidam
Poornat Poornamudachyate,
Poornasya Poornamaadaya
Poornamevavashishyate.


Listen here: http://www.raaga.com/player4/?id=270202
Aum. That is Absolute, This is Absolute, Absolute arises out of Absolute, If Absolute is taken away from Absolute, Absolute remains.

A Fine Balance

The book ‘A Fine Balance’ is an interesting 600 pages of fiction by Rohinton Mistry. I chose to read this book over ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy. I did not find the later to be an easy-read and had to stop after 100 pages.

Three different stories merge into one story in ‘A Fine Balance’

Dina Shroff, turned Dina Dalal after marriage, widowed young, starts a tailoring business for survival. She is looking for two tailors. Her story starts from her childhood and upbringing.

The two tailors are Ishvar Dorji and his nephew Om Dorji. Their story starts from Ishvar’s parents in a village. Ishvar and his brother Narayanan were sent to be trained as tailors to Ashraf Chacha much against their Chamar caste’s leather-curing vocation. Chamar was considered untouchable by the upper caste Hindus. Narayanan goes back to his village to set up a tailoring shop. Later, his son Om joins Ishvar to get trained.  Narayanan, his family (save Om), parents and two friends were burned to death by the upper caste Thakur. Now, Ishvar and Om travel to the city and get hired by Dina.

 Maneck Kohla is a college student somewhere in the mountainous north of India. He was sent by her mother who was Dina’s school-mate, to stay as a paying-guest with Dina.

The story, then, is about the trials and tribulations of these four individuals during the Emergency rule (1975-77), the oppressive family planning drive and the subsequent assassination of the Prime Minister in 1984.

A detailed account of the story is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fine_Balance

The epilogue leaves a lump in my throat. If the rich, powerful lot remain the same and the poor, oppressed people keep getting victimised, where is a fine balance in this world, I wonder?

The book is immensely descriptive at many places. A novice in reading English fictions, like me, tends to feel a little tiresome.

Please read some beautiful reviews in Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Balance-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/140003065X

Statistically speaking....

School of Public Health at Imperial College (London) has done a research and revealed something interesting. Global average high blood pressure (Hypertension) levels have decreased by 2.7mm mercury for women and 2.3mm mercury for men. This happened in the past 30 years. In India, however, those blood pressure levels rose by 2.4 and 2.2 for women and men respectively. The related Times of India link is here. http://tinyurl.com/6b44gyu

This news has increased my blood pressure. Can someone explain the real purpose of this study and how it is going to be translated into taking measures to benefit the afflicted individuals? I can think of a few to help the government.

The government should act on war-footing. Possibly, a law can be enacted to instruct the manufacturers to double up their supply of medications. If they are tempted to hoard the medicines and cause an inflation (and increase the BP further), a further law would direct the supplies through the government-run ration shops.

How about focussing on meditation? It is believed that a continual practice of transcendental meditation brings down hypertension. The authorities should open centers all over the country and create awareness among the multitude. The best practitioners may be recommended for some Padma awards given by the President every year.

More suggestions are welcome from the public.

Now do you understand believing and acting upon the averages?  It is just like crossing a river by trusting its average depth.

'The Toss of a Lemon' by Padma Viswanathan

"The Toss of a Lemon" by Padma Viswanathan made for a very absorbing read. I thank my niece Suma, a burgeoning writer and poet from Seattle, for recommending this book to me. For someone whose reading has thus far been restricted to Tamil fiction novels early in life and English non-fiction later on, "The Toss of a Lemon" made for a very good introduction to the world of English fiction. It was certainly a lot more refreshing than all the accounting and taxation stuff I had immersed myself in over the years!

When I lived in Canada, I used to make sarcastic remarks about how 'going abroad' for a lot of Canadian non-immigrants simply meant visiting the United States. I also used to lament on the attitude of kids of Indian origin who sighed at anything even remotely Indian. Padma's book proved that I had jumped the gun.

Padma was herself born and raised in Canada. But her book is about a young widow in South India named Sivakami and her inspiring journey through life along with her two kids, nine grand children, several great-grand children and her loyal servant Muchamy. The story begins in 1896 when Sivakami gets married, and finishes sometime in 1958 – a period of 62 years. Her great-grand daughter's epilogue mentions that Sivakami dies in 1966.

If you've been yearning to learn more about Tamil Brahmin culture, customs and superstitions that used to exist in South India back in the day, and perhaps existing even now in certain remote villages, this is the book to read.

It was easy for me to understand and appreciate the emotions portrayed in the story. I was brought up by my maternal grandmother as well, much like Sivakami in the story, and by my uncles like Vairum. The sole difference was that Sivakami had money, my grandmother didn't. There were two situations where I could barely control my tears: one was Thangam's death and the other was when Sivakami was asked to leave by her own son Vairum.

Padma has performed some extraordinary research before undertaking the daunting task of writing her first novel. Perhaps the information researched and written by Padma might be a bit too much for a foreign reader to digest in a single novel. Nonetheless, "The Toss of a Lemon" is a compelling read for anyone foraying into the complex world of traditional and cultural fiction.

I thank my niece Suma, once again, for introducing me to a great book and a great author.

For more information about the author and the book: http://www.padmaviswanathan.com/

Walk to nowhere

Walking in Bangaluru (a south Indian city) with the cool morning breeze swaying through the pores of your skin is an exhilarating experience. I have a suggestion to those who are too lazy to walk. Go to a not so familiar area, start walking in a god-forsaken direction and get lost. That's what I did today. It was pleasant watching different kinds of people and scenerios around the city. Snow impeds my speed in Canada, but it was the traffic and lack of straight, clean roads here did the job. When I didn't know where I was and where to head for, I checked with guys, on the road, the direction to the police station (I stay nearby). Some said 'I don't know', others pointed toward the police station. Au contraire, back in Chennai, my home town, people will never say 'I don't know'. There will always be an answer - it could be right or wrong! If your stars are in a co-operative mood for the day, you will reach your place in time.

I reached home after one and a half hours of walkathon.

'Bent' offering

I was reading on silly superstitions here recently. Walking under a ladder, spilling the salt, Friday the thirteenth and black cats (not the commandos of India) are some of the superstitions of the western world. Jewish people spit three times on their finger tips and then wave them in the air to ward of ‘evil’ eyes. Malay ladies do not sing when they are cooking if they do not want aged husbands.

Some of them may have scientific reasons behind them. It is said that when you sneeze, you skip a heart beat and that is why people say ‘God bless you’. If you sneeze once it is for sorrow, two for joy, three for a letter, four for a boy (?), five for a silver, six for gold, seven for a secret that you cannot reveal. I normally sneeze for more than seven times. Sometimes it goes on like cluster bombs. And they really rock!

My uncle was strange. It seemed he invented (still does!) superstitions of his own. I was naïve to believe his concoctions. I was afraid because he was a policeman and one powerful slap from him will send my auditory power to zero decibel for a couple of days. It looks comical now. He used to explain why a dog’s tail should not be bent. Any fly that goes through the circle (bent tail) carries bad omen and if the fly lands inside a house, it would bring unexplained miseries to the household. He and his friends used to chop the tail themselves during the non-SPCA days. Once in a city, he told me to take the puppy to a vet and have him amputate the tail.

I am sure I will be sent to hell to be fried in hot oil. Doctors and dieticians tell me that frying is not good for health. I am worried.