TEMPLE RUN

An addictive app this! A game in which you the player, are represented by the character in the game, who runs, (rather flees), after stealing an idol from a temple. You control the run of the character. Along the way are many obstacles, maneuvers, and prizes but no end. Yes you run endlessly! Am sure most of you have tried your hand at it and will agree on the addiction aspect. Earlier as I attempted to play, the aim was to just run long enough. Even to run for 500 meters was a task. The dexterity of jumping, ducking and turning forget collecting the gold coins along the way, seemed impossible. Just surviving long enough was the deal. The nuggets that you collected on the way were therefore only those that allowed you to survive longer, like the “fast track.” There was no second chance, if you die you die was the law,  in the first version. At times you were so spellbound with the surroundings (the visual effects) that you forgot to run and died!

           Slowly came the dexterity, you could jump, duck, turn, as was required to survive and you did. You had also acquired the art of appropriateness, "jump or duck as required" but keep running. Eventually the aim was to out run your own limits. To bask in that glory of satisfaction. Some also shared their miles and scores on the social media.. Then came the desire to out run not just your own limits, but someone else’s limits too! The war had begun. It was not a war only of the miles, but of gold coins too. You also collected coins on the way because by now you had learnt to survive. With the gold coins you could buy many luxuries (coin magnets) which would further give you gold coins by multiplication. You could also buy many luxuries from the store with the coins, like the look of the character, multiplier etc. You could also buy ‘virtual’ gold with ‘real’ money from the store (thanks to the credit cards and pay pals!)

           Somewhere in between came the second version which was much the same only the visuals were more enchanting. You had probably run yonder and beyond and explored newer lands. The obstacles too were varied and many which increased your chances of succumbing. Hey but you also could now revive your life with gems that you picked on your way. So life now gave you a second chance,……only,…..if you had the gems! At times three or four chances if you had gems in multiples. You also forgot to look at the visuals which had enchanted you earlier!

     So now you run, not just for gold but also for the gems! The nuggets that you now seek/seize too are different than what you started with. They are strategically placed too, besides a cliff, or just before the obstacle.Get tempted jump and succumb. But no harm, don’t you have gems that can revive you?? So run, take as many chances and run.  

        Ha ha ha they have got you by now. Gems, are the cause, and the effect both. By now the miles don’t matter. Outshining your limits doesn’t matter. What matters is the score that you can broadcast, gems and coins that you have collected. Run, die, revive, run, reborn and run . You run, run and run for what,…… rather from what, is obscure by now but you keep running. Ces’t la vie …..if only you had not stolen that apple (oops idol) from the temple! Oh forget, just take the pleasure in running so long as you are alive, because still for some there are ‘miles to go before you sleep”!       

RAJAS

If I had to describe her life in just one word, it would be “Rajas”. Did she then lead her life in the luxury of worldly possessions?…… to a large extent no. Did she (seek) pleasure in seeking the possessions that seem to make us happy?.....no. Did she denounce as they say to be happy?....not even that! This is like describing her “neti-neti’!! Why do people want to name her, confer upon her some kind of a title hood then? That is the way she touched their lives by her special existence! Just by being, no preaching, no advice even if asked for, not even self  experiences (read gloating), never! Only one sentence oft repeated “leave it to HIM (Shri Maharaj),and he will take care of it”. Only others could not surrender as she could. Did not realize the courage in it, confusing it with timidity, flight, laying down the weapons and all that stubborn jargon!

             Did she then just breeze through life?….again net-neti. Coming from an orthodox and religious family she was educated in an English medium school some eighty or odd years back. She was a doctor’s wife who left her with two toddlers, to serve in the army during the world war! Death brushed past her husband thousand times a day in the form of bullets and grenades. Then was probably her first lesson from the chapter ‘surrender’. Complete faith (‘nishtha’ if you may) in her father Shri Tatyasaheb’s words and of course Shri Maharaj’s when she was asked to remove this word “worry” from her life and she did just that! To help her do that she was asked to visit Maruti temple each day and write ‘Shree Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’ at least 21 times each day. This gave her strength then, she said, and kept her on her feet walking and hands helping (even after amputed right thumb) till her age of 92. Here came the test, what if she was traveling which took days in trains those days…..surrender! Some co-passanger would tell her casually that there is a temple just outside the station where the train would be stopping! Write she could wherever she was, but with amputed thumb at 90 how will she? Deftly came the pen in left hand the very day, and here she was getting ambidextrous at 90!! Post war with a lucrative option of starting practice in Mumbai, her husband chose to settle in the then remote Kolhapur instead. When modern medicine doctors in Mumbai were handful and had roaring practice, kolhapur presented tough challenges for a fat fee of farm grown vegetables! Managing now a family of six, ( not to mention the ever steaming guests who came for treatment of chronic complaints and were never ‘discharged’ from their home until all well) must have been a tight rope walk, but she never mentioned. “People half as educated are earning much more, are staying in their own houses does it not bother you”??  Questions like these seemed to trouble others and never them both. After all was  everything not as per “His” wish?! She was an active member of the ladies club and was in the fore front in organizing various programs. She also taught swimming to the school going children in the vacations. All this with the daily chores of house keeping, observing all festivals and fasts scrupulously.

        That she always saw the brighter side, one could perceive from her approach to life.  She lost her sixty year old daughter to the big C which she herself had survived for last twenty five years,(with homoeopathy), forget complain, she didn’t even whine for a second. Something that would have happened when her daughter’s children were small, had happened when everything was settled, so why regret? Probably this is the reason that she took the light and brightness with her wherever she went. She was in demand and ever ready too to help, be it doing night duties in the hospitals, offering firm support, company anywhere and everywhere. Did she not believe in “kamave te samave” (help and be included) after all? She accompanied her daughter- in-law to Bangalore while she pursued her post graduation to look after the house and the grand children for six months, leaving her home and husband behind. Grand children still remember the days at Bangalore apart like night and day, before and after her arrival!! On the platform itself as they went to receive her they felt tall and strong shouldered!

    She was always there doing ‘japa’ when grand children needed someone by their side as they sat studying at night. As an octogenarian she offered company to her grand child as she stayed alone in a flat in a different town for her post graduation. It seems adjusting or is it adapting that came easily to her. As she visited her grand daughter abroad in her nineties, first thing she mentioned to her as she reached there, now that she was on holiday and so were her weekly fastings and dietary inhibitions of the chaturmaas and ‘maharaj’s punyatithi utsav. Even imagining someone to say, that, who had observed it all her life, makes one feel breaking with rigidity. But as ‘maharaj’ would pamper her as she always said, the marwari cook there refused to cook anything in onions and garlic so long as she stayed there! She would be up and ready to visit different places, and if you felt lazy, one look at her and you would be jumping with enthusiasm.

  Yes enthusiastic is also what she was. Otherwise traveling across the length and breadth of the nation and abroad, even after a number of serious illnesses and surgeries is unthinkable. She would prefer accompanying you out, any which mode you took, than sit at home. Apart from speaking metaphorically, life truly was journey for her. Hence truly ‘rajas’- a way of life that takes one from ‘tamo’ to ‘satva’! She believed in “chalavisi haati dharoniya” (you lead me through). Maharaj in turn had to stand up to her belief and never let go off her hand. He fulfilled all her wishes however small, right from respecting her wish as to where to breathe her last, to meeting all her people whom she loved, just a day before, to have all her children by her side. In days when you hardly find people dying from old age, she left with an ease with which a lamp should burn out, when she had survived many illnesses that could have easily taken her away.

     She was so much a part of our life that we almost took it for granted that she would always be there. She indeed is here with us in our memories and so this time omnipresent!

     

CONIUM--DELUSION GOOSE THAT HE IS

CONIUM--DELUSION GOOSE THAT HE IS.

Just the other day was discussing rubrics with a friend and he while flipping through the repertory randomly opened a page wherein there was a funny rubric, 'delusion goose that he is and there is only one drug.....Conium! Was wondering what could be the thought behind this delusion?, and so decided to go through the meanings of geese, rubrics of Conium and MM of conium. After the referances decided to synthesize them and here is the work! This post is for my Homoeopathic friends only, and friends please feel free to discuss and share your experiences!

Geese are water fowls bigger than ducks but smaller than swans. They are domesticated for their large size weighing up to 10 kilograms (22 lb). This affects their body structure; whereas wild geese have a horizontal posture and slim rear end, domesticated geese lay down large fat deposits toward the tail end, giving a fat rear and forcing the bird into a more upright posture. This also completely prevents flight, though geese will run and flap their wings when startled, and may get a foot or so in the air momentarily. 

       The term goose bumps comes from the de-feathered geese that have small boils on the skin from where the feathers have been plucked, hence the term goose bumps! Some authors have applied "goose bumps" to the symptoms of sexually-transmitted diseases. Certainly being "bitten by a Winchester goose" was a common euphemism for syphilis in the 16th century. "Winchester geese" was the nickname for the prostitutes of South L.ondon

Taking the rubrics of conium (unique ones), those which have only conium as their remedy point to some common theme. narrating the rubrics and the concept that emerges

1) Anxiety mid night on half waking

 2) Anxiety continence from 

3) Aversion friends to pregnancy during

4)Delusion animals dancing bed on the

    Delusion goose he is.

5) Delusion someone door at the at night

6) Dress averse to

7) Fears alone being, desires alone being but

8) Fear work persuaded to cannot be

9) Haughty, clothes like to wear his best

10) Hypochondriasis menses suppression of

11) Hysteria, coition >

12) Impressionable, unpleasantly by everything.

13) Indifference walking in open air with

14) Insanity, dresses his best clothes in

15) Laughing exhausted, weakness during

16) Quarrelsome alt with quiet sadness

17) Quarrelsome cannot tolerate light, sound

18) Sadness aversion to see her children from

19) Sadness<brkfast after, 5-6 pm, periodical every 14 days

20) Seizes hold of people on streets and abuses them.

      Taking only mind symptoms the theme that emerges is that Conium patients are melancholic, fearful people who would rather not show their melancholia and their fears and put on their best face......dress best clothes in. Look at bad part of everything(glass half empty syndrome). The mental faculty goes on weakening at first followed by imbecility later.                

              Dr kent in his lectures describes conium as an important remedy for young widowers who have been "suddenly'' deprived of the sexual functions. Trembling and weakness coming on there after. Dr Kent has given great emphasis on the trembling and weakness due to any cause, old age, plain muscle weakness.Inability to stand and walk(paralytic weakness) and has to take great effort to walk. Tottering gait is how kent describes conium.Here it can be compared with the goose, which has an inability to fly due to its body shape and size. It yet makes an effort to fly by flapping its wings and takes flight of a single flap especially when it is startled. Which again demonstrates the front that a goose puts up of flying.....therefore delusion goose that he is. With fright being prominent, wants to be alone yet fears to be alone, thus goose bumps also pivotal!

    BTW you also may have read, socratus was poisoned with conium (the poison hemlock), to first kill his intellectual faculty and then him! Cicuta, its twin brother (water hemlock) also has fear as a prominent symptom. Horrible things affect her profoundly. Epilepsy fright from.....cicuta is 3 marks!

-- 

JULIE  ANDREWS

Love Julie Andrews, an epitome of grace and yet an approachable air about her. Came across a parody penned by her on the song....which else..."these are a few of my favorite things". It shows her intact wit and humor and an equally intact 'move-on' attitude towards life! Sharing it for all the Julie Andrews/ sound of music/ favorite things song fans. Sing it to the tune and have a wonderful weekend!!


Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favourite things.

Cadillac's and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favourite things.



When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favourite things...

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favourite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> >

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd lasting several minutes and encore when she recited it in a function to commemorate her birthday.)

NAILS—THE INDICES OF HEALTH

Interesting film, “memoirs of a geisha”! Seyuri is being trained to be a good hostess. “With a mere display of hand from the kimono till the wrist, seek the attention of the guests during tea ceremony” she is told! Rhet Butler the notoriously appealing hero of the epic “gone with the

wind” is known to have well manicured hands, even in war times, even

as a guy, even in those days!! Scarlet’s hardships are revealed to

Rhet Butler in a handshake when he feels her rough hands!!

Hands tell a tale, as homeopaths we know that, but nails, apart from

vanity are indices of health. For any physician they are of great

significance to assess the patient.

Let us enumerate some of the common changes in the nail shape,
texture, colour and surrounding area and its health significance!

1)      Changes in the nail colour:
Paleness in the nail colour is an indication of anemia. Yellowness an indication of liver complaints, addictions
Blueness of the nails is common in extreme coldness, and some heart,
and lung complaints.

White semi circles at the base of the nails: commonly seen in congestive cardiac failure and liver cirrhosis.

2)      Changes in the texture:
Chapping of the nails: This is the most common condition of the nails
and can be commonly due to some fungal infection of the nails. Iron
deficiencies are also known to cause chapping.
Vertical striations: may indicate kidney disorders or beginning of arthritis

Transverse depressed ridges: Common after an acute illness like measles, pneumonia etc which interrupts the normal nail growth.

Pitting of nails: It is common in most patients with psoriasis, the patch of which could be elsewhere on the skin.

Thickening of nails: Nails may thicken and have a claw like appearance especially the toe nails, if they are not cut frequently. Thickening due to fungal infection is more common though.. Thickening also occurs in some infections like leprosy.

Splinter Hemorrhage: look of the nail is as if a splinter is stuck. This sign is almost a diagnostic of the bacterial infection of the valves of the heart.

3)        Changes in the shape

 Clubbing: Nails appear curved vertically like a convex. It is a sign of impaired oxygen supplement to the nails in severe cardiac and lung conditions like emphysema, congenital heart diseases.

Spoon shaped nails: There is a concavity in the nails, so that they appear spoon shaped, which is seen in severe iron deficiency.

4)        Changes in the nail bed

Spongy soft nail bed: is seen in the infections of the nail bed usually due to nail biting.

Erosion of the nail into the bed with the nail bed engulfing the nail; very rarely seen but common in the cancers of the nail bed.

Hang nails: small tags of skin hanging from the nail bed are caused due to dryness of the skin.

Homoeopathy definitely offers cure to these nail problems. There are various remedies that have these peculiar nail changes. A homeopath can take a cue of the impending illness from the nail changes. Hit the nail on its diagnostic head, gently with the homoeopathic remedies and confirm cure!!    

HAIR FALL AND HOMOEOPATHY

Hair has always been an indicator of health and beauty, trans time and culture. The awareness to have good healthy hair is increasing day by day and percolating through all strata of society. Thanks to the mushrooming trichology(hair study) clinics and bombarding of shampoo and hair-oil advertisements. Are the problems reducing? Not in the least, in fact the tress trouble seems to be multiplying day by day.

  Let us enumerate some of the common causes of hair loss.

1. Androgenetic alopesia or male type baldness:- This is the most common type of pattern hairfall, especially in males. Hereditary factors contribute to this type of hairfall , wherein the hairline starts receding from the temples, leaving a M shaped baldness. Modern medicine has no cure for this unless of course one opts for hair weaving. It is for this ailment that people opt for homoeopathy, the hereditary factor, and yes homoeopathy does not disappoint! Homoeopathic treatment in the early stages can stop as well as restore the crowning glory!
2. Deficiencies:-  This is the next important cause of hair loss. Protein deficiency and hair fall is common knowledge. Deficiency of protein puts hair in the resting stage and halts the growth of hair. Any deficiency nowadays is not because of availability but because of absorption. Unless of course there is a deprivation by illness or diet! Constitutional homoeopathic treatment ensures not only proper absorption but also metabolism of the nutrients, in this case proteins, thus providing shine and sheen to the hair!
3. Illnesses:- Post illnesses body shifts focus to the vital functioning and puts hair in the resting phase, thus causing hair loss. Illnesses with septic conditions, high grade fever, chronic diseases, thyroid complaints, major surgeries, are some of the common conditions that may cause hair fall. Seborrhoea(dandruff), ringworm of the scalp also causes hair loss. There is a considerable amount of hair loss post pregnancy and lactation period too. Alopesia aerate causes localized hair loss as in spots. Homoeopathy cures this condition magically. Homoeopathy helps in fast recuperation, removing the after effects of the illness establishing the hair care.
4. Medication:-  Some of the modern medicines are known to cause hair loss. Anti cancer chemotherapy drugs are the most prominent among these. Apart from them, drugs for rheumatism, gout, heart complaints can cause hair fall. Some oral contraceptive pills are also known to cause hair loss.  Homoeopathy helps remove the hair-raising side effects of these drugs. The patients can be safely weaned off the lifetime drug dependence with homoeopathic treatment.

These are some of the common causes of hair fall. Take care with Homoeopathy and it will ensure you never have a bad hair day!!

THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Posting one of my old articles published in the National Journal of Homoeopathy in Jan 2010 issue. Many might have read it on my notes on the facebook page. Thought of re-posting it on the occasion of the Republic day. Some juvenile write-up for fun, enjoy and of course HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY TO ALL!!

THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION.

The constitution of India though formally lately formed, is deep rooted and ancient.

KINGDOM....... Belonged to the “British Kingdom” once upon a time and had to struggle to find its own place in history.

PROVING....... India stood the test of time and had to ‘prove’ itself time and again, before the world could take its cognizance and acknowledged its presence.

INTRODUCTION..... Now it certainly needs no introduction! Once upon a time a land of ‘serpents’ ‘sadhus’ and ‘spices’ has come to be known as the land of ‘space-crafts’, ‘software solutions’ and ‘cyberspace’…………. India has certainly arrived!!

MODE OF ACTION......The ‘mode of action’ suddenly seems to be drifting from recognition deprived , tolerant behavior of ‘magnesium’ to the assertive drive of ‘now’ of ‘lycopodium’.

SPHERES OF ACTION........Very few countries can boast of such wide ‘spheres of action’ as that of India. Right from computer-ports to sports, knowledge to tech-(k)nology, and culture to agri-culture, India is shining.

EVOLUTION...........A country that was 'evolving'for a long period time, at a ‘slow pace’ has suddenly gained momentum. Even as the whole world sleeps, India is behind the screens, on its tips to make the most of time advantage.

From the ‘grit-laden’ ‘Silician’ age of Aryans, to the gold cast ‘Aurum’ era of being called the golden sparrow, from the ‘vice’ and ‘spice’ indulgent ‘Nux’ era, to the laid back ignorance ofCarbo-veg, India has come a long, long way.It witnessed an ‘indignant’ response of ‘non-violence’, ‘non co-operation’ of ‘Staphysagria’ and ‘rebellious’ opposition to ‘injustice’, fight for the right of ‘Natrum’, especially so in braking the 'salt’ rules. It saw the steely ‘Metallic’ determination of defense to form an army within the army. It also obeyed the ‘philosophical’ and ‘spiritual’ grounding of ‘Sulphur’ much needed during the turbulent times.

Just as the whole world slept, India woke up to a new dawn of existence. The gasps of free-air were stifling though, what with the ‘grief’ of ‘parting’ with the ‘loved-ones suffocating the country.An ailments from which India still suffers to this day.

A constitution that was robust in the north-west, had ‘marasmussed’ into a lean and thin nation.The supposedly teething problems of poverty, population explosion lasted too long .The milestones of food ,water and electricity to all were very delayed.The milestones of the good roads are yet to arrive!! . India continued to develop albeit at a slower pace thriving on ‘doodh-ganga’ and vitamin-m from wheat and cotton.

GENERALS Generally speaking India has been

Hot and ‘Happenning’ever since its inception.

Being cold to the happenings around has never been India’s TEMPERAMENT

Siding the RIGHT is a matter of virtue for India

Its CRAVING for ‘spice’ and ‘salt’ has attracted the world market now .

AVERSION to ‘bitterness’ be it of ‘thought’, ‘taste’ or ‘tongue’, is

something that India never really developed preference for.

Its UNQUENCHABLE THIRST for knowledge is unparalleled. Being recognized

as the Oxford of the east, it is becoming a major educational hub.

‘THE SWEAT OF THE BROW' is almost unheard of, what with the laid-back attitude?

But yes it does PERSPIRE UNDER THE COLLAR when the news of neighboring ‘nukes’

leaks out!!

Indians and SLEEP are an equation. It has had a long sleep of 150 or odd years and

not very peaceful one.

MIND Finally what does one say of the Indian MINDSET?!

No other constitution in the world has had such a heady combination of ‘INTELLECT’ and ‘EMOTIONS.’If world had to delete Indians from their intellectual property, it would reduce to half. Lacking in ‘WILL’ it never has thought twice before taking ‘MOTIVATION’ from others. Persistence and endurance have been India’s ‘DRIVE’ which keeps world`s trust in ‘also-rans’. Discovering and placing a value on Zero, India has always remained a minimalist. An attitude according to some could well be in tune with India`s laid back attitude.

Emotions have been India`s biggest strength and virtue. World humbles at its ‘philosophical’ and ‘spiritual’ bent. In crisis when in need of comprehensive thinking, world has always backed upon India. Tolerance, understanding and acceptance are the qualities that Indians are born with than taught, though at times they have proved to be more of liabilities than assets. Hopeless dreamers (day) that Indians are, have dreamt of being the ‘numero-uno’. To realize this dream India is forming ‘complimentary’ relations with the ‘mighty’ constitutions. The neighboring ‘inimical’ relations are best ignored. Will ignorance prove to be the best antidote?! Do not know only time can tell,but Indian constitution definately needs a prescription for action. With auxillary line of implimentation of rules and follow up on infrastructure,India can go a long way!

All in all now is the time for the world where India ‘matters’ the most, and we as indians certainly do not ‘mind’ that.