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Tuesday,
November 6, 2001,
Chandigarh, India   |
A farce of conversion Ban on smoking Threat to periphery |
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Indo-Russian nuclear cooperation
Each with his own
albatross
BJP: Quest for survival
strategy
Pill may not help hyperactive
children 1904: IVAN PAVLOV ( from Russia): Physiology or Medicine
Ketchup, coffee, alcohol good for health Avoid taking your cold to sauna
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A farce of conversion INDIAN
politicians are a nervous lot and the police is both unthinking and servile to the political masters. The combined effect is to create a spectre of a new dalit leader, Ramraj, now going by the name of Uditraj. Until Sunday he was a member of the fossilised and rigid Hindu caste system and he says he has liberated himself by embracing Buddhism. He is thoroughly mistaken. In India the caste system is too deeply entrenched to be weakened with the nominal change of religion. The Muslims, the Christians and now the Buddhists are as much trapped in the practice of caste discrimination as are the Hindus. Mr Ramraj should have gone to Maharashtra to study the effect of a similar effort by Babasaheb Ambedkar who led lakhs of Mahars, a subcaste of the dalits, on the Diksha Bhoomi in Nagpur to Buddhism in 1956 and electrified the political atmosphere. The Republican Party of India (RPI) was born and the mighty Congress of those days feared the worst. That was a false alarm as the dalits split on subcaste lines and the leaders divided and subdivided into ineffective factions. It should be stressed that the leader was the great Ambedkar and there had always been a strong dalit identity thanks to repeated struggles they waged against the Congress. Today the RPI is a very weak force with leaders, including a grandson of the tall leader, heading splinter groups and depending on other parties to help them win elections. More important, when Ambedkar launched his radical move – that is what it appeared at that time – to frontally attack casteism politics both at the state and national levels was not under the sway of caste considerations. It is not so today. Particularly not in Uttar Pradesh. Ms Mayawati is the undisputed leader and the dalits have several scores to settle with the neo-rich Yadavs. For them she is a much better bet than the unknown Uditraj who has shaved off the hair on his head. There are two other things. One, the attendance at the conversion meeting was a fraction of what he expected, demonstrating his marginal influence. Except the media because of its hunger for sensation, no party has reacted to the event, signalling that hardnosed politicos have dismissed him as a non-starter. Mr Uditraj has tried to combine both caste and communal politics to whip up a frenzy but has obviously fallen between two stools. Incidentally, why did the Delhi police first permit him to hold his grand conversion ceremony on Ram Lila grounds, then cancel it and go flat out to prevent dalits from attending it? Mr Uditraj has reasons to thank the police for this favour of making him a bit of a folk hero. |
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Ban on smoking THE
Supreme Court has once again emerged as the undisputed champion of public health. When it noticed that the pollution level of the Yamuna in Delhi had crossed the danger mark, it banned the discharge of toxic effluent in the river by industrial units. The moment Delhi came close to choking its citizens to death because of the unregulated discharge of noxious fumes by fuel-run vehicles, the highest court of the land did what the Delhi Administration should have done. It ordered the scrapping of old buses and taxi cabs and followed it up by directing the public transport sector to use less polluting fuels. Polluting small-scale industrial units were thrown out of residential areas for protecting the health of the citizens of the capital of India. If the world famous Taj Mahal continues to sparkle like the set of dentures in toothpaste advertisements, the nation should look in the direction of the majestic building that houses the apex court with respect. The court's latest order banning smoking in public places is likely to become part of its growing "do-gooding" lore. Seldom has the judiciary of any country taken as much interest in doubling up as an active arm of the executive as the Supreme Court of India has done. Just about anyone can now knock at the door of the highest judiciary of the land for drawing its attention to a matter of grave public importance. In most cases the court does not disappoint the "public interest litigants". However, there is a clear difference between being an active arm and an effective arm of the executive. With due respect, the apex court should now create a special cell for the purpose of monitoring how many of its "executive orders" are actually enforced. Besides, the order that banned smoking of tobacco-based substances in public places, including hospitals, educational institutions and public transport, will for a change cover not just Delhi but the entire country. The objective indeed is praiseworthy. But who will ensure that the Supreme Court order is not flouted by any citizen of India, for that would amount to contempt? Those travelling by ordinary passenger trains, that take days to cover the distance that superfast trains do within a matter of hours, would testify that there is hardly a passenger without a lit bidi in overcrowded coaches for killing time. The same goes for ordinary passenger buses. It is not uncommon to see the bus driver, the conductor and most passengers ignoring the pleas of non-smokers. Of course, the order against smoking may be easier to implement in the India that is visible than the large part that merely exists. It is this India that suffers most the consequences of the pollution of its water and air. |
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Threat to periphery THE
Punjab Government’s decision to regularise illegal constructions which had come up in Chandigarh’s periphery till November 3, 2001, and to constitute a notified area committee for Naya Gaon and Kansal, which will benefit about 15 lakh people, is likely to upset armchair planners and some VIP house-owners in the city. As cities grow, land and housing costs go up. Rents too rise sharply. Those on the margin move to the periphery to find a cheaper roof for shelter. Government agencies fail to cope with the violations of town planning rules. Almost all Punjab cities have grown sharply in recent years, partly due to the pull factor (attractions in a city) and partly because of the push factor (lack of job opportunities and basic amenities in villages and small towns). During the days of militancy many left villages to settle in towns and cities because of a better security setup and stayed on after peace returned to the state. Real estate operators cashed in on the growing demand for housing. Government departments too did real estate business. They acquired land from farmers at cheap rates and built houses, quite often of doubtful quality, and sold these at exorbitant rates. Lack of funds and inability to handle the ever-growing demand for houses forced the government to encourage private colonisers. Many colonisers failed to meet building and town planning standards, leading to haphazard urban growth. Individuals too built houses as and where they could afford. Political interference and lax implementation of the municipal laws have added to urban chaos. The Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, was first violated when Mohali and Panchkula came up on its periphery. Being the capital of two states and a Union Territory, Chandigarh is a seat of three governments and now a municipal corporation with a large battalion of employees settling down here. Those retiring also found it a cheap, healthy and livable city. The Act was repeatedly violated as the city grew and swallowed villages. And now perhaps there is no alternative left. Even as houses came up illegally, the owners managed water, power and telephone connections. Demolishing them will not solve the problem unless demand is checked. The Punjab Government has only extended the original cut-off date, that is, December 8, 1998. The NAC for Naya Gaon and Kansal will only regulate housing growth. Large chunks of land have already been purchased by housing societies and some VIPs. If Chandigarh is to be saved from further population pressure, there is need to shift Punjab and Haryana government departments to central locations in the two states. Panchkula and Mohali must provide for basic amenities so that their residents don’t depend on Chandigarh for their health and educational needs. In the long run, both states can build their own capitals away from overpopulated areas. Opposing individual assaults on Chandigarh’s green belt won’t solve the issue. |
Indo-Russian nuclear cooperation EXCHANGE of information and knowhow in nuclear science and technology has been taking place between the nuclear establishments of India and Russia for two decades. With the culmination of this interaction has come the Indo-Russian agreement on collaboration for the construction of two sophisticated atomic reactors in India, each of 1000 mw generating capacity. The reactors are described as the VVER type, incorporating the most advanced technology in Russia, and rated among the best in the world. The project is located at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. A great deal of scientific and technological input has already gone into the project. Prior to the selection of the VVER reactors for India, there has been extensive exchange of proposals followed by discussion between the nuclear establishments of the two countries. Indian nuclear scientists have had the opportunity to examine all aspects of VVER reactor technology — its operations, the safety factor and the economies of scale — before an agreement to install the reactors was concluded. The Kudankulam project is being implemented under the inter-government agreement signed between the governments of India and the erstwhile USSR in November, 1988, which was subsequently amended through a “supplement” in June, 1998. This “supplement” was concluded between India and the Russian Federation. The project is under the care of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). In the initial phase, a detailed project report was prepared with the help of premier Russian design organisations and institutes, a contract for which was signed between NPCIL and the Russian organisation Atomstroyexport in July, 1998. Under the DPR contract, the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) and other design documentation as well as project documentation related to management, quality assurance, etc, were prepared by the Russian side, and scrutinised by a team of Indian scientists commissioned by the Atomic Energy Commission. Thereafter the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), which oversees safety factors in all atomic power reactors in India, has carried out an extensive review of the design documentation and cleared the design, thus paving the way for the commencement of the project. The project has now entered the second phase of construction — that of civil works — with the ground breaking for the project works carried out on October 7, 2001. The Kudankulam project has several distinguishing features — its design and technology, the impact on Indian atomic reactor design technology, Indo-Russian scientific cooperation terms for implementing the project, and not the least, the financial arrangements to cover costs of an atomic project of such a massive size. Notable too has been another development related to the project: strong pressures from nuclear weapon powers, particularly the USA, on Russia against the implementation of the Kudankulam project, invoking terms of the London Club of which Russia is a member. To take the financial aspect first, one should note that the soft repayment terms of the Russian loan for the project set new parameters that facilitate implementation of this massive nuclear undertaking without any harsh burden on the Indian economy. The final costing and financing terms of the project, completed in recent negotiations between the Indian and Russian sides, stipulate that the Russian side will carry out the entire design of the project and supply all the equipment and machinery for the plant. Eightyfive per cent of the cost of the supplies and services from the Russian organisations shall be covered under the soft state credit extended by the Russian government to the Indian government for the project. The total amount of credit for the project from the Russian side will work out to about 50 per cent of the total project cost. The credit utilised for the project is to be repaid in 14 equal instalments, beginning with the commercial operations of the plant. This will enable loan repayments largely from earnings of power generation. The scientific and technological aspects of the Russian reactor design have a special bearing for India, for the induction of the light water reactor design, based on low-enriched uranium as fuel, will mean a departure from the existing pattern of atomic power plants in India. These have pressurised heavy water reactors that use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator and coolant. Over the last three decades, India’s nuclear establishment has mastered this reactor design and has been able to set up standards state-of-the-art PHWR reactor, progressively upgrading its efficient functioning and particularly its safety features. The question being posed is: will the induction of the Russian design — a light water reactor design which uses low-enriched uranium as fuel — mean retardation of the Indian nuclear power project technology and slow down its ongoing advance? The view of the scientific establishment is that far from being a technological slowdown, induction of the Russian reactor design will mean enrichment of India’s nuclear reactor technology. The Kudankulam project will be based on the latest VVER reactor design of the pressurised water type (PWR), which is rated as the leading nuclear power reactor worldwide. The low-enriched uranium fuel for the project does not pose any problem, for under the terms of the agreement the fuel for the entire life of the project shall be supplied by the Russian side. For this, a separate contract is being signed between the Department of Atomic Energy and the Russian organisations. The terms and conditions for the collaboration of the Indian and Russian organisations will benefit Indian scientists and engineers undergoing training and obtaining full knowhow of the project during construction. Not only will the Indian side be responsible for the civil works but also Indian scientists and engineers will be participants in the setting up of the plant equipment and its nuclear science and engineering works. It is this aspect which has particularly irked the nuclear weapon states, in particular the USA, which has time and again pressurised the Russian government for abandoning the Kudankulam agreement. The Russian government has, however, successfully rebutted the charges by the USA of Moscow’s violation of the terms of the London Club. Moscow has pointed out that the Kudankulam project is, in fact, implementation of the agreement reached between India and the USSR, predecessor of the Russian Federation as far back as 1988, much before the London Club came into being. If anything, the Russian side is keen to follow up the Kudankulam project by another similar project, once this plant is established. The project has, after detailed design preparation, taken off for a good start. NPCIL took up the pre-project activities for the development of the infrastructure works at the Kudankulam site as well as the township at Chettikulam near Kanyakumari early this year. This will reduce the gestation period of the main project works. These works are progressing fast and nearing completion. NPCIL is also constructing a desalination plant to supply water for the initial phase of construction, to minimise the intake from the water resources in water-scarce Kudankulam area. NPCIL is planning to start the concrete work for the reactor building for the plant, to be completed by March, 2002. Russian engineers and scientists begin their work thereafter, jointly with Indian scientists and engineers. As per the schedules agreed by NPCIL with the Russian side, the first unit of the plant is scheduled to be commissioned in December, 2007. The second unit will follow after a gap of one year — in 2008. An MoU between the Indian and Russian sides for further implementation of the project and cooperation in the nuclear areas is expected to be signed in this month. A Global Framework Agreement (GFA) specifying the main terms and conditions for the implementation of the Kudankulam project has been prepared and vetted by NPCIL’s legal consultants. The GFA is also expected to be signed this month. The safety features have come in for special care since the legacy of Chernobyl still creates much skepticism in India. On this score, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s (AERB) thorough-going scrutiny has left nothing to chance. The double safety mechanisms enforced by the AERB, which ensure automatic shutdown of the plant on failure of any operation, has been brought into application for the Kudankulam project. These safety features incorporate AERB’s rich experience in India with the enforcement of the latest updated international safety standards. Where safety norms in nuclear reactors in India go, no loopholes are allowed. And safety standards are being stringently applied to the Kudankulam atomic power project. |
Each with his own
albatross THE celebrated Coleridge poem, “The Ancient Mariner” has, for generations, held the reader captive almost in the manner of the afflicted mariner holding “the wedding guest” by the coat-button, as it were, pouring out his weird, uncanny tale. A highly symbolic and intriguing poem, what’s relevant for our purposes here is the intensive compulsiveness of the speaker, something bordering on the idea of being possessed. For when one is in the grip of a thought, an emotion or a desire that overtops everything else, and becomes an unbearable weight on one’s heart or nerves or soul — a lapse, or a crime or a sin —, the need to unstitch the seams and show the wound or rationalise it takes on an obsessive aspect. The question of communicating and connecting becomes ultimately a deeply human necessity. The doomed mariner of Coleridge’s poem had to carry “the cross” of the albatross that had become his sign of expiation, but, believe me, quite a few of us also have one albatross or another around our neck, and we carry it in one form or another to ease our spirit. I have run into many a little “mariner” with his tale of agony which without derailing the person entirely does become his or her compulsion, a psychic itch. And “the story” in the process nearly always becomes repetitive, colourful, even rhetorical in some cases. And even if the listener, “a captive” of the situation or of the moment finds it distasteful and irritating, he has to, for “Pete’s sake”, submit to the tyranny of the tale, real, fanciful or transformed. Well, “the mariner” in question is nearly always a neighbour, a relation, an old pal or colleague, and one hasn’t the heart to stop him or her in the tracks when the cataract is in full tide. I trust, quite a few readers of this “middle” must have had some callers or encounters of this kind. In my own situation of long illness and confinement to my own rooms, several such callers who had come to inquire after my health, or about the nature this obscure affliction, started almost immediately with their own stories of woe ranging, God knows from what to what, though the most obsessive of such recitals were chiefly around. The archetypal theme of ingratitude, filial, fraternal, or familial. And since “the story” had become a kind or “albatross”, one could understand, even empathise, though usually the monotony of the whole thing precluded real sympathy. And as I have said earlier, nearly all of us are prone to this perversity, some more, some less, the degree varying from person to person. To be able to carry one’s baggage of woes stoically, without making a song or story out of it, or without sharing it with friends, foes or strangers is a very very rare virtue, and where true, it inspires a kind of wonder, if not awe. Only the persons with a touch of saintliness I trust, can make their spirit a “listener” within, keeping the lips sealed or smiling. One has read real-life stories of such souls, and the impressions abide, though sadly, we are unable to draw the moral, our spirit being not equal to the ordeal. And if I were to examine my own case in this regard, particularly since my collapse in 1993 and the hugely monotonous “pathological” problematics of my story of suffering (out of which I have minted hundreds of poems — the only redeeming feature — then I find myself another type of “mariner”, a compulsive complaint and, as a PGI psychiatrist noted in my case history, a few weeks ago, “a compulsive writer”. So “the mariner” and the albatross” story becomes in the end a vast metaphor comprehending many a meaning. |
BJP: Quest for survival
strategy A
series of incidents in the past few weeks in the ruling BJP and the RSS parivar have led to different kinds of interpretations about the nature and extent of the increased rumblings. While some describe them as an eruption of ideological differences and expression of personality clashes, friends of the parivar dismiss these as inconsequential. Some even claim that it is all a smart move to confuse the government’s political opponents. But few have really highlighted the true nature of the simmering internal troubles. The top two and their proteges do have problems of ego clashes. Yet their relationship has been so complex and enduring that it will be absurd to conclude that it may be on the brink. True, there is a wide gap in the perceptions of the full-time hard core RSS outfits and the power-drunk BJP politicians on the speed with which the Hindutva programmes should be pursued. But such ideological concerns hardly from the basis of the shadow boxing between the Vajpayee and Advani camps. The Prime Minister’s protestations apart, both sides have similar views on the essentials of Hindutva. Neither of them denies this. Why then this VHP threat to the government, angry outbursts by Vajpayee against what he alleged “ignoring” him by the party and L.K. Advani’s strong advocacy for going back to the rath yatra days — all in quick succession? For starters, this kind of enigma had always existed in the parivar. The genesis of the ongoing snide remarks and intimidation has been the outcome of the parivar hardliners’ fears that the Vajpayee coalition will only harm their cherished cause. Except the beneficiaries of power, no one is really happy with the NDA government. The RSS and its outfits had lent support to the government on the assumption that a friendly government at the Centre would help them pedal their anti-minority agenda more vigorously. This has not happened. They had agreed to drop their pet ideas like common civil code and Article 370 on the understanding that the momentum created by Vajpayee’s aura would render the provincial allies ineffective and the BJP would soon have their way. This did not happen. Instead, the Prime Minister is coming under more popular pressure to resist the Hindutva programmes. Many in the saffron ranks believe that Vajpayee has become a prisoner of power, and to preserve it, he will go to any extent. The other bait — that the Vajpayee government’s good performance will enable the BJP capture power on its own — has also proved illusory. Instead, the BJP is losing hold on state after state in its traditional strongholds. Elsewhere, the NDA allies are stubbornly resisting any political poaching by the BJP. Thus those who had plied religious hatred and got votes from the communalised segments find it difficult to explain their predicament. Their embarrassment is aggravated by periodic demands from the BJP to work for them during successive elections. Thus whenever the RSS leadership, at the Prime Minister’s behest, pressurises the VHP, etc to keep quiet, they find it increasingly difficult to obey. This Taliban may not have the strength to rise against its US but they are not totally friendless. Therefore, there is certainly a link between the VHP’s determination to launch an elaborate, stage-by-stage public programme on Ayodhya before the March 11 deadline and the misgivings among the influential sections within the BJP about the party’s steadily failing political fortunes. Forget about using the Vajpayee government’s performance to expand the party’s base and come to power on its own. The government’s disastrous record marked by economic slowdown, failure of institutions like the UTI, scandals and frustration has made it unpopular in its own strongholds. The dilemma is telling. On the one hand, there is little hope of a breakthrough under the coalition arrangement. On the other, since there is no immediate threat to the Vajpayee government, the dominant sections do not wish to break it and return to the old aggressive Hindutva line. This, these sections feel, means a slow political death spread over another couple of years. What is being done is to keep its communal cauldron boiling so that it could use the brew at the right time. However, this game plan has its own hurdles. In the first place; you can’t keep such movements going without constantly stepping up the tempo. The Prime Minister’s hasty decision to form an Ayodhya cell and refusal to condemn the violation of the apex court orders by the VHP betray a big dilemma. The VHP, with tacit support from sections of the BJP, is going ahead with an array of ritualistic programmes in 92,000 temples spread over 7,500 blocks. Crowds, curious or serious, have begun collecting at programmes like Shivcharan, Jalabhishek, Japayagna, Ramnam sankalp raths with filmi style sadhus in them. Its shrill and reach are much beyond the UP elections. If this really picks up, Vajpayee will be the third Prime Minister, like what a senior VHP leader said, to face the “curse” of Ram. One is not sure whether this time the RSS will oblige him to send the trishul-wielders back to their aakhras. He can, as some of his predecessors did, try another formula to delay the deadline at the last minute. Or he can issue another quit threat to gain political leeway. However, whatever he does will have deep consequences within his own party. |
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Pill may not help hyperactive
children STEFAN had always been an agitated child seemingly incapable of self-control. Distractable and with a tendency towards violent tantrums, he made life difficult for himself and all those around him. “Our family suffered absolute torment,’’ his mother admitted on a website in Germany for the parents of hyperactive children. Things only got better when a doctor diagnosed Stefan as having attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and prescribed the drug methylphenidate usually known by its brand name Ritalin. Thanks to Ritalin tireless. Stefan calmed down for a few hours a day at least. Suddenly, he was able to play with children of his own age and take a proper interest in what he was doing. Germany’s health authorities recently reported a drastic increase in the consumption of Ritalin and allied drugs among children and that is what set the alarm bells ringing. Since then the medication has been at the centre of a controversy. Since 1994 the number of prescriptions issued by doctors in Germany for Ritalin and similar drugs has gone up ten times, in 2000 alone twice as many children swallowed the amphetamine-derived pills as in the previous year. In Germany the medication is governed by stringent laws on psychostimulants and it was not long before newspapers carried inflammatory headlines such as “give a child a pill instead of a motherly cuddle”. The issue cannot be reduced to such slogans and there is still no clear evidence as to how ADHD arises. Figures for the number of sufferers vary between 2 and 10 per cent of the child population in Germany. One school believes that ADHD children are articulating problems with their parents or environment indicating some kind of deficit in child-rearing. Such adherents suggest and prescribe more self-control therapy in coping with the disorder and reject medication. Other doctors think ADHD can be explained by a malfunction in the brain’s chemistry and they see Ritalin as an important facet of a course of therapy even if the way in which it helps has yet to be completely understood. The active substance methylphenidate is thought to increase the effectiveness of chemicals known as neurotransmitters. An example of these is dopamine. These neurotransmitters modulate the activity of other neurons, which govern emotions and movement and appear to be deficient in the case of hyperactive children. In a bid to moderate what have up until now been heated arguments on both sides, a unique working group has just been set up in the northern port city of Hamburg. Members of the circle include child and youth psychiatrists, psychologists and members of parent groups. “Not every active, lively child is hyperactive,’’ said Professor Michael Schulte-Markwort, Deputy Director of child and youth psychiatry at the university clinic in Hamburg, who feels that ADHD has become a “fashionable diagnosis’’ “Many child paediatricians and psychiatrists seem unable to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and opt for a Ritalin prescription even in the case of other unrelated disturbances.’’ A combination of more exercise, controlled activity and behavioural therapy has also been shown to produce results. The correct diet plays a part too. Ritalin may be necessary in order to stabilise a child to the point where other therapy methods can be used, said Schulte-Markwort. Short-term side effects such as sleep disorders, a lack of appetite or mood fluctuations have been observed in around 10 per cent of cases involving young patients. The medication has been in use for decades and no adverse long-term side effects have yet come to light. On the contrary, a US study quoted by Schulte-Markwort was able to recently show that former ADHD sufferers who were administered Ritalin were far less likely to have “addictions’’ of any kind later in life than those who did not take the preparation.
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Amritsar  |
Ketchup, coffee, alcohol good for health THE November issue of a Hamburg men’s magazine has some shocking food for thought: it claims that certain foods and beverages considered unhealthy are anything but damaging. The German language “Men’s Health” reports that this is true for coffee and ketchup as well as alcohol and chocolate. Late risers and long sleepers are also doing themselves some favours, it seems. Ketchup, says the magazine citing a survey by Dusseldorf University, guards against some diseases better than large amounts of tomatoes. Ketchup, it appears, makes ‘’free radicals’’ harmless and thus keeps heart problems, prostrate cancer and premature ageing at bay. Swiss researchers, meanwhile, have found that chocolate does not necessarily lead to weight problems. If it’s eaten between five and 30 minutes before a meal, it raises blood-sugar levels which in turn signals satiation to the brain. The consequence is that less is eaten. Like tomato sauce, chocolate also takes on free radicals, and the darker the chocolate variety, the better the effect. Alcohol also has its benefits, writes the magazine. One or two glasses of wine a day can reduce the risk of a heart attack by around 50 per cent. Beer has a similar effect. Conversely, abstinence can raise the risks, according to research by Boston University, in Massachusetts. Its survey of 90,000 people showed that non-drinkers are more likely to suffer a heart attack or a stroke. Coffee is said to possess a whole range of benefits, as a number of studies has proved. The main points are that coffee makes you more creative, intelligent and helps stamina. It makes weight reduction easier and sharpens the senses. But rest is also a good thing, says the magazine. People who sleep long produce “rejuvenating’’ hormones like melatonin and growth hormones. Sport appears to help health less in this respect than a good dose of lazing around. And a half-hour walk can halve the risk of heart problems — practicing sport everyday does not increase protection much more.
DPA
A balanced diet can dispel sadness The feeling of sadness which affects many people at the onset of autumn can easily be relieved with a balanced diet. The “good-mood hormone’’
serotonin, as found in bananas, is especially commendable, says “Reader’s Digest” in its November 2001 issue, citing health expert Prof Hademar
Bankhofer. The trace element zinc, found in fish and oat flakes, also help improve mood. Zinc and other trace elements such as a potassium, magnesium and iron can also be obtained from pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Noodles contain carbohydrates which increase blood-sugar levels which in turn creates a feeling of well-being. A real “tonic” during grey winter and autumn months is a bowl of yoghurt with eight chopped walnuts and two teaspoons of honey. Meat consumption, on the other hand, should be cut down at this time of the year as too much of it inhibits production of
serotonin. DPA
Avoid taking your cold to sauna Anyone with a cold should avoid going to the sauna in the hope of ridding themselves of viruses and bacteria through a hard sweat. Although it makes sense to toughen up the body in this way, it is too late if the first symptoms of a cold have already appeared, says the Munich-published pharmacists’ journal “Apotheken
Umschau”. Indeed cold showers and sessions in the sauna can actually weaken the body. The magazine advises flu sufferers to give themselves a good rest and to go easy on sporting activities as well. It also advises people with the snuffles to avoid draughts because they can slow circulation in the nose’s mucous membranes.
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The wind may not always blow tenderly. You must stand on your feet as firm as a mountain, for man is but a handful of dust and life is like a boisterous wind. You cannot earn wealth and status by worshipping the king like a dog. Be at the service of a dervish for this is more respectable way of reaching glory. Armour the horse of your resolution with the patched clock of "Faqr" and humble it down at the altar, for this will be waging a holy war against one's own lusts. To force the rebellious self to surrender is the creed of the man-crystal... One who is greedily after money puts himself in chains; his situation shall not be better if he has enthralled himself in the chains of gold. Whenever you come across a taciturn person, remember that silence speaks; you may be benefited by the admonitions of his silent lips.... — Ameer Khusru,
Bahr-ul-Abrar *** Prayer is of two types. The first which benefits only those who pray such as Namaz, Roza Zikr, etc. The second is that which benefits others, such as kindness, benevolence, sympathy, etc and the reward of this is immeasurable. In Doomsday's mark nothing would be so precious and so much in demand as sympathy and considerateness for others. Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya was in the habit of fasting everyday. In the evening he took no more than a few morsels and very often in the mornings too he did not take anything. When his disciples requested him to have something more, lest he grew emaciated tears came to his eyes and he used to remark: "Do not you know how many people are there, lying hungry in the shops and mosques at this very hour, who have not had anything to eat for days. How can this food go down my throat?" — From Maikash Akbarabadi, "Characteristics of the Chishtia Silsila" *** Nature (primordial matter) swallows the universe at the time of dissolution. At the time of creation Nature disgorges and creates the universe again. Intelligent and wise men traverse this wordly path easily. The crooked cross it like snakes. — Yajurveda, 23:55-56 |
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