Stress and Health

Health is one of the major concerns in the present-day world. Compared to ancient India, much of the treatment in urban India is currently focused on modern medicine and surgeries.
Most of the modern medicine is based on the treatment of symptoms. Treating the symptom with medicines just removes the body signal of the actual problem leaving the body to fight it. In the meantime, we go about the usual business thinking that since the symptom is absent, we are healed.
Many people with chronic diseases like migraines, sinusitis, asthma go on getting their symptoms treated and expect their diseases to get treated. In turn, they get used to the recurrence of the symptoms and higher dose of medication each time. The same goes for diabetes and hypertension patients. The cycle of medicine becomes never-ending resulting in side effects to other parts of the body. Ultimately, this results in a perpetual reliance on medicines.
So, you can see how this pharmaceutical and health industry thrives even in the worst of times. And how unaware people keep on neglecting the actual source of their health issues.

Each kind of body ailment is due to a different kind of stress (mostly mental and sometimes bodily) that a person takes upon. If that source of stress is removed, the body ailment and also its symptom would go away.
For example, a person with high blood pressure has various symptoms like weight gain/loss, blurred vision, fatigue, anger or sometimes excessive symptoms like heart attack etc. Taking a medication for controlling the blood pressure would be a way to just avoid having symptoms. But the actual treatment would be to find out why the blood pressure is high - in most cases which is fat deposits in the arteries of the heart. Some of the causes could be stress/negative thinking, overeating (which may again have an emotional reason) etc.

In the early stages of health deterioration, exercise (this also creates a feeling of well being by releasing feel good hormones called "endorphins) and maintaining good mental health by removing unnecessary stress will make sure that most of the health issues go away.

Keeping a positive outlook or de-stressing sounds easy to many people. But for someone who has lived in a stressful environment or has had a difficult/traumatic past, such a mental state is the most difficult to attain.
For those people, many alternate techniques like yoga or therapies like acupressure and counselling would definitely help change the attitude towards circumstances and life and hence would positively affect the well being of the person. It is scientifically proven that a positive attitude makes the immune system stronger. So, the body is able to fight different infections better.

So, the next time you get sick, think of what has been going on in your mind recently. Try to get a different perspective of your situation, exercise and eat well and make a commitment to yourself that "I AM WELL." This commitment itself and its true feeling results in a healthy and confident state of mind.

Want to Change the World?

I know most of us have this idea of a perfect world that we want to live in. We see various environmentalists, social workers, thinkers debating alike that the world is going crazier and the future generations will have it all bad. And the overdose of media and news channels in trying to convince all the people about this bad world doesn't help either.

All these social issues, climate changes, new innovations have always been there in this world - even before human beings evolved.

The temperatures on earth have been changing from very hot to ice-like. Life has evolved from single cells to dinosaurs to human beings.

During the human history, there have always been wars, politics, development of new tools and the rise and fall of different empires/cultures.

Each one of those phases has had its share of turmoil. Which one of those phases do you think is the perfect one?

What if the one you thought was perfect didn't really turn out to be that good?

I think the best way to change the world is to change how you see it.

There will always be issues and problems in everyone's life and in this world. And changing the way we see things doesn't mean we don't care about anything. It just means we don't worry unnecessarily and  just do our part while living completely and fully for NOW - not for some ideal, imaginary world but just for this present moment.

Who Am I?

I am not my body.
I am not my mind.
I am not my name.
I am not my job.
I am not my friends.
I am not my family.

I don't die. I don't have any disease. I am not weak. I am not alone. I am not bad. I am not good either.
I am not who you say I am and I am not even who I say I am.

I am not separate from you. I am a part of you.

Reality

One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys rose to fight.
Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another.
A deaf policeman heard the noise, and saved the lives of the two dead boys.
If you don't believe this lie is true, ask the blind man, he saw it too.
~Author Unknown

Think about this:

What if the world as you see it is different from the world as I see it?
What if there is no absolute truth?
What if there is nothing out there in the world?
What if we don't have a purpose in life?
What if everything we perceive is governed by some factors that are different for every person?
What if there is just self and everything else is just happening around you and has no significance?

These are some of the many questions that have bothered me.
The concept of reality has intrigued me very much. So, I will make an attempt to write about what I make of reality and the world around us.

For each one of us, the reality about an event, a person, a situation is different. In spite of that, all of us like to believe that our interpretation is "THE" absolute reality.
This is the core of all human conflicts.

Some of the ways we perceive reality are through our personal checks for reality like our:
Past experiences
Senses
Feelings
Beliefs
Intuition
Thoughts
Personal logic

Most of us base our present and future according to our past experiences. We modify our behaviour and the way we look at things based on the past. By doing this, we force ourselves to look at the present and the future through the spectacles of the past. This limits our experience of life and makes us judge the situations.
Similarly, our five senses, thoughts and feelings govern so much of our perception. We judge others based on our feelings and thoughts.
More than that, most people think about their beliefs as if those were reality. All of us have a set of beliefs about everything - such as code of conduct, moral values and ethics.

We base our life according to all these personal checks for reality. All our actions are based on our perception that is a result of these.
Even right now, each one of you has your own interpretation about this blog article and about me. We all have our own thoughts and feelings creating our stories.
Using our perception and interpretation we decide if something is right or wrong OR good or bad. And that is what results in unhappiness, dissatisfaction and suffering. Have you ever wondered what our life would be without this perception and the meanings we create out of every event?
If we didn't have this perception, I suppose we would live in a perfect bliss with our circumstances just reduced to something happening in the background.
Most of the religions in this world teach us to be in this natural state of existence - in that state one has complete love for others and oneself and there is no expectation from any events or from other people. Buddhism even has a kind of meditation called Vipassana which teaches how to simply observe such thoughts/feelings/judgements and ignore those to alleviate the suffering of human beings.
It's very difficult to completely ignore all these factors and is highly impractical in this world. But by not giving too much importance to this perception of circumstances and people, we could make our life much simpler and happier.
To conclude, I would like to quote Albert Einstein:
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Tips to Speak in English as a Non-Native Speaker

As a non-native English speaker and after my experience of being a member of a Toastmasters club, I have the following tips for people who want to improve their speaking skills in English:

• Use simple words
• Use short sentences so it's easier to understand
  
• Think in English while writing a speech and also while speaking
• Speak every word completely and maybe slowly - I've heard many non-native speakers not complete the ending of their words, leaving their speech incomprehensible
• Practice, practice, practice - in front of a mirror, in front of a friend before the actual speech
• Read books/newspapers aloud
• Watch English TV and news, talk to native English-speaking friends and colleagues - this is the best way to learn an accent
• Record your speeches
• Check the dictionary for proper pronunciation of words
  
• Do NOT fear that your English is worse than native English speakers. You may even have a better grip on the grammar and vocabulary than the native speakers.
• Be confident about yourself and in the end focus on connecting with the audience and conveying your message. Accent or the way you speak is not more important than the purpose of your speech/presentation.

How to Bargain and Get the Best Prices

Ever wondered why you paid a higher price than your friend for the same item? What made the seller quote a higher amount to you? What could you have done to get the best bargain?

Back from the US after living there for two years, I'd forgotten the art of haggling. But after setting up my home in India from scratch, I think I've re-learned the tricks a bit :)
A few tips that can be of help:

1. Remember that the seller wants to sell the item to you. So, you're always at advantage.
2. Do NOT be shy to bargain.
   
3. Do NOT wear expensive clothes or in general give an impression that you can spend a lot of money. If you have two vehicles, take the cheaper one to go shopping.
4. Start shopping early in the day as the shopkeepers do not want to turn away the first customers and will offer their best prices.
   
5. Know what is the right price for the item you want to buy. Before you decide on what you want to buy, ask your friends/relatives and survey the market a little to know how much you can bargain. Some shops quote much higher price and require much more haggling than others.
6. Even if you're not sure, pretend that you know a lot about the prevailing market price and about the product.
7. Mention repeatedly that the price on offer is "too high".
   
8. Never appear too impressed with the item you want to buy. That will make the seller's need to sell more than your need to buy and hence give you an advantage.
9. If you want really good deals, do not go to prettier or expensive looking shops, they would have higher margins of profit and hence higher prices.
10. It's best to mention that you were referred to this shop by someone so they know that you're aware of the prices and the quality of products available there. And you may also get a little more discount that way.
11. Quote a final figure that you're willing to pay and be prepared to walk away if the seller doesn't agree. In most cases, they will re-quote a price slightly higher than yours, but stick to yours if you know that is what you want to pay. Better still, in the beginning itself, quote a lower price so it is open to increase. You may even be pleasantly surprised if you get that low price.
12. You can get much better bargains at flea/street markets since the sellers there have lesser profit margins.
    
13. Remember that you will always get a product much cheaper if you buy it directly from the maker/producer. So, find out if you have some exhibitions or sellers from other regions of the country directly selling their products.
14. Off-season products are easiest to bargain. For instance, sellers want to get rid of their woollens at the end of winters and would be more open to decreasing the price.
    

Note that these tips can't be used in a fixed-price shop. So, make sure you know that the shop is open to bargaining (the "fixed-price shop" sign may be misleading). You can bargain at most of the shops that don't carry a price tag because they usually quote different prices to different people. Bargaining is a skill that can be easily acquired. But it does need some patience, knowledge and an urge to save money.

I'm sure many of you have your own tips or stories. Please feel free to share those in the comments.

Happy Shopping!

Why the World Still Needs Feminists?

fem-i-nism: "The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men."

This post is two days late for the International Women's Day but I believe that every day is women's day. Why do women need a special day in the year to be recognized and celebrated? Shouldn't everyday be a celebration of womanhood? But the truth is far from it.
Women the world over, not only in India, are abused physically, sexually and mentally.
In India, every three minutes, a crime is committed against a woman. Every six hours, a young married woman is burned, beaten to death or driven to commit suicide. And according to the third National Family Health Survey published in 2006 (NFHS 3), over 40 percent of Indian women have been victims of domestic violence at some stage in their lives.
Domestic violence is not restricted to an illiterate or poor population. 60 percent of women killed in the United States are victims of domestic violence, and it is the leading cause of injury among women in the age group of 15 - 44. In an educated country like Switzerland, statistics show that 12.6% of Swiss women suffer from physical violence, while 11.6% have faced sexual violence.
And we're not listing the small but awful acts against females such as stalking, eve-teasing, purdah, curbing freedom etc.

This is why we need women education and independence. We need feminists to bring justice to such women, to raise awareness about such crimes and to help the abused women lead a normal life.

Why do you think women, especially the ones who are educated, bear all this abuse? One of the reasons is social conditioning. Many women are raised in their family to agree to what their men say. Another big reason could be that these women don't feel confident to live independently, to raise their voice against injustice and don't think they have enough moral/financial support. Also, the social stigma, especially in India, associated with women who go against their men or family is a big deterrent. In all these cases, education and hence financial independence would play a key role in helping the women out of such situations.

Many urban men think that women have all the freedom and rights in the society and that feminists are women who want much more than equality.
I do agree that there are some women who try to take advantage of their womanhood to get special privileges. But who says all women are perfect?

For centuries, women have been considered by men (fathers, brothers or husbands) as their or their family's property/pride.
I wish such men would know the answer to the eternal question of "What women want". This was so correctly answered in the story of King Arthur and the Witch. A woman only wants to be in charge of her own life, to have the freedom to choose. And when all the women in the world get this freedom, there'll be no need of feminists.
Until then, all you men out there, let the feminists do their job.