Oil bath - எண்ணெய் குளியல் - சனி நீராடு

Auvaiyaar (ஔவையார்) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avvaiyar one of the greatest philosopher-poets from Tamil nadu has created many works and one of them is Aathichudi (ஆத்திசூடி), in which she urges us "சனி நீராடு" which means "Take oil bath on Saturdays". Her words are always attributed with divinity and I just want you to wonder along with me as to what did she find so useful that she requested us to take Oil bath on Saturdays, among others. That sounds silly? But not when you complete reading this blog - hopefully!

I am not sure about your childhood but I can vouch that taking oil bath is one of the hated things during my childhood but neither my parents nor my grandma had any consideration for our objections and they used to force us. The way it used irritate our eyes was the prime reason why we hated it so much.

So what is oil bath? Coconut / herbal / Til Oil (traditionally its Gingelly Oil - நல்லெண்ணெய்) is applied all over the body especially on Saturdays and you take bath with Shikai powder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_concinna). This was a tradition in most of the families I know and was a strict regimen.

Lets looks at some of the basics and then its benefits.

• Ayurvedic view of life is that every being is a unique combination of 5 elements (Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth). These 5 elements combine to form three doshas (Vata - Combination of Air and Space , Pitta - Combination of Fire and Air and Kapha - Combination of Earth and Water). You can google for more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosha   
• Each living organism is a unique combination of this and your unique combinations are classified under 10 categories. You can find out what is your combination. (This is just a sample http://www.drsanjeevsood.com/TridoshaTest/index.html)
• The 3 gunas (Rajas, Tamas, Satvic), the 3 doshas as above, the 6 tastes and the 12 months are all interrelated and you can again google to find out this interesting correlation.
• Disease according to Ayurveda is primarily because of the imbalance in any of the 3 doshas. 
• Thiruvalluvar had a gem of a Kural which explained this: "மிகினும் குறையினும் நோய் செய்யும் நூலோர் வளி முதலா எண்ணிய மூன்று". This means any increase / decrease of the three doshas create disease according to experts / doctors.
• Hence it is very important as to how you keep them in balance. You can keep Vata under control by taking laxatives / purgatives regularly aka "Virechana" in Ayurveda. This cleans the large intestine and colon. Recommended twice a year.
• You can keep Pitta under control by emetic means. Ayurveda prescribes "Vaaman dhauti" and this cleans the stomach, small intestine and the esophagus. Recommended once a month. 
• You can control Kapha by taking Oil bath. Kapha is the water component in the body and is seated in the head, neck region. But why is controlling Kapha more important than Vata or Pitta that the great poet found it necessary to mention it in her works?
• Probably for the reason that the body has an inherent mechanism to create a balance for Pitta or Vata either through occasional or event based diarrhea or puking, but it does not have a mechanism to eliminate Kapha, at least not so effective.
• A human being when he is born is grown by the quality of vata (till the age of 40) and between 40 to 80 he is protected by the quality of pitta and then he is killed by Kapha (after 80 years... this is assuming a human being would live for 120 years.). Hence balancing Kapha is very important for longer life.

Benefits:

• If you notice the best of the treatments for anti-ageing or healing lies in ensuring that the effects of gravity on the body is reversed or neutralized. Remember Sirasasana is the king of asanas. Blood which always flows easily to the lower parts of the body but Oil bath ensure that blood flows easily to your head. This is a great boon to people who can't perform the head stand pose.
• Maintaining a cool head is not just about the EQ of an individual but also has an impact on health, ageing and even as to how long we live. Oil bath obviously cools the head, body and eyes, restores youth, vigor in an individual and also stops early balding or loss of hair. Increase in body heat is damaging for many of the internal organs and hence Oil bath is a boon as it acts as a thermostat.
• Eyes are the seat of the sun (per Ayurveda) and excess Kapha is the enemy of good vision. Blood to the eyes flow through very thin vessels and when the body / head is hot the blood flow is constricted to the eyes and hence the vision is affected leading to sore eyes or burning sensation in the eyes. Watering from eyes during the bath is good for the eyes though it is very irritating.
• Men should take bath on Wednesdays or Saturdays only before 8 AM. Females should follow this on Tuesdays and Fridays only. 
• The don'ts are as follows:
• You are not supposed to take bath on other days and may lead to cold and cough including deficiency in eyesight if you take bath on Sundays.
• Never take bath after 10AM even on all the days including the prescribed days. 
• Don't sleep in the afternoon and avoid having sex on this day.
• Avoid eating cold items on that day. 
• This is generally not advised for people who have sinus or frequent cold attacks. Check out with your doctor before doing this.
• Traditionally they add lot of herbs to the oil and heat it. You can buy this preparation and heat the oil or use pure Til or coconut oil. Allow the oil to cool down to room temperature before applying this.
• One Siddhar in his poem says the secret for living for 120 years. "நாள் இரண்டு, வாரம் இரண்டு, மாதம் இரண்டு , வருடம் இரண்டு."
  "Twice Daily, Twice Weekly, Twice Monthly , Twice Yearly"
  Here twice weekly is asking you to take Oil bath two times a week. 

The number of life style related disorders and diseases are on the rise and this is primarily attributed to us either ignoring or staying ignorant to our healthy ways of life which has been traditionally followed. We are fine to spend Rs. 1000/-+ for an Ayurvedic massage without understanding its benefits. It is important that we are rational in our approach to reject traditions which has been followed for long and ignored in the name of modern lifestyle, 21st century civilization or as superstition.

The reason I wrote about this is today is it is a tradition to take Oil bath on the day of Diwali before sunrise and if you not taken bath yesterday, I hope you would start this from the coming Friday / Saturday.

Oil bath keeps you cooler, younger, better invigorated, with better vision, without baldness, increases your life span and as a well oiled machine :).

If you are ignorant as i had been for long then this blog may help. I would be happy if you decide to do this to your kids and inculcate this habit and continue the tradition. Under the pretext of superstition or life style definitions let us not deprive the future generation of the benefits of our traditional secrets. We have the responsibility to pass them on.

Happy reading!    

The nicest and safest place in the world!

What is the safest place on earth? This was the question i was mulling as i saw pictures of Muammar Gaddafi being dragged out of a sewage pipe and given the treatment that isn't different from the ones meted out by him to most of his opponents for the last 4 decades.

With due respects to the departed soul, i was giving myself a dry smile at his very "karmic"ally apt last words 'Don't shoot me". Do you need any more proof that "Time is great leveler"?

I would not disgaree if you call him "mad dog from the middle east" with a nauseating sense of dressing, usurping power with a single tool called "merciless elimination of dissent" and who ruled with an iron hand on the foundation of nature's oil reserves. But my memory of Gaddafi from my college days were firmly rooted in adulthood jealousy when i read about his female virgin body guards :). His quotes like, 

"Were it not for electricity we would have to watch TV in the dark" 

"A woman has the right to run for elections whether she is male or female"

were quite revealing and inspiring in making me realize that nature isn't entirely logical and it can endow power and wealth to absolute merciless morons like Gaddafi. Then nature started revealing more such morons exist in the world like Dubya Bush and i think i am quickly reaching a stage where nature is suggesting that vast majority of our world leaders are rooted in ignorance, idiotic and dogma driven without any trace of logic and rationality in their genes.

The Gaddafi's clips on screen led me to recollect the images of Saddam Hussein being pulled out of a underground pit and hanged but the ending was a shade more gracious than his African counterpart.  

News of Jaya being questioned in Bangalore was also noticed by me on the day. A trial for 66cr, has been going on for the last 15 years and with more than 1500 policemen deployed for 2 days and the cost of just these 2 days should be more than 25 lacs to the state. I am sure by now the overall cost of trial is more than the tax from the wealth that could have been realized. 

Irrespective of country, creed, religion, and nationality, corruption has attained the qualities of god - Omnipresent and Omnipotent. With most of our leaders being mentally corrupt usurping power and wealth without any limits, but all the accumulated power and wealth does not provide the safety and protection when the time is not on their side. 

Chanakya in his "Chanakya sutra" says "Stinking riches are not possible without evil" 

(नास्त्यपिशाचमैश्वर्यम् । - nāsti apishācham aishvaryam)

So coming back to the question i started this blog with, what provides safety against the vagaries of time and life? This is not just for our leaders but for all of us in general. If enormous Power and wealth does not seem to provide that safety consistently, then what provides this safety.

Then i read this old email accidentally which said, the most valuable places to be,

"The nicest place in the world to be is in someone's benign thoughts

The safest place in the world to be is in someone's prayers"

Be it Saddam or Gaddafi or Bush or most of our leaders neither existed in benign thoughts nor in people's prayers. I understand that there cannot be a sweeping generalization and the argument that a person can never exist in everyone's prayers.

So, the next question i have, "Is there a easy way to be present in everyone's prayers that gives us an affordable ticket and visa to be on the safest place?'.     

I don't know the answer to this question but thinking logically about the “Law of reciprocity of nature” or you call it “Law of Karma” which states that "As you sow, thou shall reap", then the easiest way to be in the safest place / in everyone's prayers is to have "everyone in our prayers". So the trick seems to be,

For a healthy life, pray health for all, 

For a wealthy life, pray wealth for all

For a prosperous life, pray prosperity for all

For a safe life, pray safety for all

For a peaceful life, pray peace to all,

To be in everyone's benign thoughts, be benign to all

To be in everyone's prayers, pray for all!

2 aspects of this concept is concisely captured as under:

• தீதும் நன்றும் பிறன் தர வாரா - Theedhum Nandrum piran thara varaa (Translitt) (In Tamil it means Good and bad things to you does not come because of any one else but because of your thoughts and deeds only.)
• Shreyo-bhooyat-sakala-Janaanam (In Sanskrit, it means may the whole humanity be blessed with excellence).

From time immemorial nature has been teaching us the same lesson with many characters Ravans, Kamsas, Hitlers, Gaddafis, Saddams et al, and that does not seem to register with us. Guess, we shall continue to do what we would and nature would continue to teach us what it should!..

I am signing off wishing you and your family a very happy Diwali. 

May the festival of light help us lit the light within.

Happy reading!

Independence Day - More hopeful than happy?

As our corruption friendly Dr. Singh (irony - you cannot call him corrupt yet) would unfurl our national flag and deliver the speech today for the 8th time, everyone is wondering what the speech would contain specifically in terms of corruption management.

Though contentious I maintain that this time our Independence day gives me more hope than happiness. It's not "scam a day" that has been breaking was a dampener but the way we reacted for the last 3 years and how we are trying hard and misgovern ourselves to the brink.

Some thoughts on this issue are as follows:

1. UPA tends to boast that the growth for the last few years has been closer 9% and the highest ever by any government.

I agree but just wanted to highlight this fact that growth is given in India as a factor of life during this period. Let's instal president's rule for 5 years and see what's the growth. We would still have a growth % closer to this sans the stupid political issues. This is agood smoke screen to hide behind. 

2. Lok Pal bill and Anna's campaign is unconstitutional.

Experts say that the Indian constitution has been changed / fine tuned many times over. (Heard it is 150+ times since independence) When the Kashmiri interlocutors can suggest that Indian constitution should be changed to solve Kashmiri issue, which is tacitly accepted by this government, why can't this be changed for the better.... For addressing the corruption issue.

3. Anna's movement is undemocratic.

Not sure what else could be called democratic. When people assemble for the protests leaving back their daily business (in many case their livelihood for the day), when people gather without any daily incentive for attending meetings (very unlike political meetings), when people fast for many days without any compulsion, when people brave bad weather and risk of injury during gatherings. When they come around with their families to protest, when things are completely ground up... It's participative democracy and nothing else.

4. Lok pal bill alone cannot stop corruption.

Among the reasons this seems to be most valid. Agreed that this is not the sufficient condition but a very necessary condition which is hidden in that statement. If an ineffective law is not be enacted then how will we know that the law is ineffective even before implementing. Also if currently ineffective laws have to be repealed then tell me which of our laws would stand the test in India today. Take the simplest of the laws ~ traffic laws. One of the most ineffective laws can this be repealed? Unfortunately our media also does not want to ask difficult questions about the key people at high levels who are behind corruption. We are in a media frenzy where the energy is spent on catching  low hanging fruits like Raja and Kalmadi.

5. This government talks about programs like NREGA where close to 70000 cr are being spent.

Many studies have been conducted that out of every one rupee spent by government only 5 to 15 paise or even less reaches the poor. Even I assume it's 15% only should we appreciate the government for a 10000 cr effective program or a charge them with a 60000 cr loot.

6. Fiscal deficit, growth and inflation.

Our debt to GDP ratio is over 70% which is as close as some of the developed economies which are considered broke or almost broke now. Despite this, most of our eminent economists are saying that we can afford this fiscal situation because we are growing at 8%+. The fact which i wanted to highlight based on this growth argument is Greece. Greece was the fastest growing economy last decade in Europe but is financially broke now. Few economists from Greece should have also thought that the fiscal situation is OK as long as there is growth like we do now. But growth can reverse in a small period of time not leaving enough time to repay our debts. Here i see we are blindly walking down that path and would be one of the economies in the near future where we invite another 1991 situation upon us. 

I think we need to overcome 3 barriers....

1. Priority barrier:

I believe we have got our priority wrong. The order of priority should be:

a. Governance reforms (not on policy and investment reforms as popularly understood). This includes judicial reforms, political criminal nexus mitigation and obviously an independent authority for oversight. If the last one is about Lok Pal then it is independent Lok Pal. Please note that our growth %s did not increase till we had an independent election authority - this is a factor not highlighted enough. 

b. Security reforms - Be it Maoist, terrorist, naxalites or a petty thief - we need a sense of security. Today this does not exist and there are too many areas to tie up here.

c. Third comes investment reforms. Putting this ahead of the other two is not only inefficient but also self serving for those who benefit from bad governance.

2. The conflict of the interest barrier

Conflict of interest between people who create governance reforms and the ones who benefit from misgovernment is very strong and obviously the fruits of  bad governance are sweet for them, keeps them going in their political life and more importantly the deterrents are not very strong.

3. Lack of will as a barrier

If there is a strong will then there is a way. But its lack of will that creates an impasse on the bill. Our governments response seems to be on a familiar line "Ignore - Denial - Discredit - Delay - Disrupt - Be forced - Try to take credit for the outcome". I wish they change the strategy - be less defensive and develop the will. Some say that this is the first barrier to be broken.

With these mixed emotions I am not happy today for what we are today considering where we could have been. Yet I am very hopeful of our country and our future not because that our political parties can get their act right but as a country we have seen many ups and downs and have a past of coming out of successfully. This time the issues are created by ourselves not by someone from outside and i am hopeful of the past repeating itself.

I wanted to list 2 of the Thirukural that is very apt for the day:

வேலன்று வென்றி தருவது மன்னவன் 

கோல தூ உங் கோடா தெனின்.

This essentially means that king's armor (can be added as military or police might) cannot help him endure success to his might but only because of his lawful reign. We are seeing this happening in many places across the world that when people rise because of dissolution against the monarch none of the forces can stop them.

அல்லற்பட்டு ஆற்றாது அழுத கண்ணீரன்றே
செல்வத்தை தேய்க்கும் படை.

The tears of the citizens of the country enduring woes (because of  bad governance) shall wear / file away that reins prosperity and influence. This means that the army of tears is stronger than  anything else. 

So here i am wishing all a very hopeful Independence day and a happier future.


Yours hopefully!