Indophilia: A new Dimension

No sooner did India gain its independence on August 15, 1947, than it initiated a rigorous attempt to develop its international policy, taking into consideration the ideologies mentioned under the socialist principle of DPSP of Indian Constitution. The government established a political stability provisioning facilities such as social assistance, economic incentives, health care, and freedom for any kind of political activities. Through its international policies, it emerged out as one of the most vibrant economies—the world’s tenth largest by nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing!

The image of India changed from a land of snake charmers to a land of IT specialists. As our prime minister noted on his visit to America: “We no longer play with snakes”, he said while addressing a huge crowd of American Indians at Madison Square Garden, “We Indians now play with mouse”.

While these political and economic changes pushed India towards GLOBALIZATION, an alternative trend was also observed worldwide. The entire world, under the influence of media perhaps, came to know a lot about the original India—about the exotic Indian culture, about mouthwatering Indian cuisines, vibrant festivals, and many other stuffs that were quite out of the ordinary. Will all its flamboyance and sway, the exposure paved way for INDIALIZATION of the world!

Be it the Italian chef David Rocco from the TV show Dolce India, or the Australian chef Maeve O meara from Food safari, or the Israeli host Ishai Golan from street foods around the world, celebrities all around the globe have been mesmerized by Indian cuisine. The craze for Indian food in the west is so intense, that foreigners have started vending food items in traditional Indian styles. Angus Denoon, a European guy, started selling a famous street food of Kolkata in the lanes of London just like a street hawker you find on Indian streets. He dresses up as a traditional Indian(with a big red ‘tika’ on his forehead), and carries a trolley festooned with colorful garlands, so as to give it an Indian touch. The jahl muri sells pretty well in London, and the tangy, zesty flavor of his delicious snack makes the Britishers say something like, “Umm…wow…this is awesome, this is so good”.

With the things like Chicken tikka, Curries, and Pulaao getting famous in the west, a lot of food stores and restaurants selling Indian foods items have opened up ! There are shops selling ingredients such as spices and stuffs, so that people can prepare Indian recipes in their kitchen. People want to experience the alchemy of Indian cooking—yes alchemy, because the way the pungent-smelling and bitter-tasting spices mixes up in the magic pot to create a whole new flavor is mysterious—a delicacy releasing aroma that would attract even a full stomach from far off. It appeals to the senses—the color, the smell, the texture, the taste, everything.

In association with Lufthansa TVC and http://bit.ly/MITYTIndiblogger

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SEX and the BOOZE

Ask a Freudian what’s the main motive behind living, and he’ll say: To have sex. Lots and Lots of sex!

Sex is a pleasurable experience for all life forms—be it a tiny Hydrozoa edging under the pacific ocean, or a huge gorilla scaling up the sheer terrains of African forests, or—not to mention—the modern apes(humans, I mean) who work nine to five every day in concrete, corporate forests of some build-up state; we animals love sex. Moreover, we don’t learn through conditioning, or reinforcement, or trial and error that intercourse feels good, for it comes packaged to us from our ancestors (who perhaps got from theirs’). In some mysterious corners of our mind (which the psychologist would call the unconscious), we have the instinct that drives us towards having sex.

For we have a natural urge to get attracted towards objects that sexually incite us, we tend to fetishize things (stimuli) that are closely associated with the original, unconditioned spurs of sex—classical conditioning as it is called in psychology. Let us take the example of advertisement of a stuff—say underwear. A pair of underwear, which is essentially a comfort cloth made up of some kinds of cozy fabric cut into a ‘pants-without-legs’ shape and bordered with an elastic band is not sexy by itself . But when portrayed on media in an erotic way, the product gets conditioned with sex, and produces the same response as an object that naturally does that.  Take the example of a macho man with a ripped body, a -v shaped torso, and killer abs,  wearing only a low cut brief that genuinely emphasizes his bulge. Now a sexy girl in lingerie is caressing him on his underwear-clad butts while kissing at the screen. What do you think will happen? The stimulus, ie, the visual portrayal of underwear will get classically conditioned with erotic feelings of sex that arises spontaneously upon confronting the hot scene. As a result, whenever we see the underwear in market, the anchor is fired, and the feelings of eroticism bubbles us, which drives us towards buying it.

What if sex gets CLASSICALLY conditioned with Booze?

In our country—the country which ranks top among others with respect to the population of youth living here, the issue of sex and alcohol has gave rise to some of the hottest deliberations. Around ninety percent of movies, bollywood and Hollywood, that caters to the youth population contain scenes of Alcohol use. The new generation songs that feature Binge Drinking and ‘alcohol-fueled’ hookup culture, are perceived by the youth as a benchmark of modernity.  The actors using the alcohol are usually reinforced, i.e. they are portrayed as a positive character, which only strengths the expectancy that ‘Alcohol bears a positive link to heroism’. Social cognitive and social learning theory provides that observational learning plays a vital role in shaping one’s behavior. In this case, choosing the actor who ‘positively’ engages into alcoholism as a model, makes way for alcohol consumption, leading to vulnerability towards addiction. The Bing drinking scenes and raves featuring ‘sexy chicks’ in bikini, boozing on the beach,  conditions youth into believing that alcohol is a necessary ingredient of socialization.

The conditioning has severely affected the female populace, increasing their vulnerability towards unprotected sex, and the clash between traditional and modern ideologies is the main culprit. The present generation girls, if we consider, have been brought by in a particular fashion: brought up in a society that fosters the belief that alcohol is responsible for sex crimes. The media has also rooted the belief that drinking alcohol makes a women vulnerable towards unsafe sex and risky sexual behaviors. What do ‘you’ think happens to your girl when she dumps a mouthful of booze down her tube? Probably, she would be smashed and may show an increased desire for sex. Women have a different response to alcohol intoxication. Studies have shown that acute alcohol consumption tends to cause increased levels of testosterone—a hormone that controls in part the strength of libido in women. So booze will turn your girl into a transitory nymphomaniac.  But will does that mean she will become more vulnerable towards unprotected sex and risky sexual behaviors? The question is debatable.

A theory rules that The relation between Unprotected sex and alcohol use is guided by what is known as ‘Expectancy theory’. If a person believes that ‘Alcohol’ will cause them to engage into risky sex, he will probably engage into risky sex. And if a person believes that he will not, then he will probably not. This puts the Indian women at a disadvantage. The society brings them up traditionally, teaching that ‘alcohol’ is responsible for all sorts of sexual crimes, assaults, and rapes. However, when they grow up becoming independent adolescents, exposure to alcohol through peers and super-peers (media), causes them to, helplessly, turn their expectancy (that alcohol causes sexual problems) into self-fulfilling prophecy by engaging in risky sexual behaviors. This may not be an issue in societies where drinking alcohol in moderation is accepted as a norm, and is not conditioned with any negative influences.

Am I against Alcohol use? Not exactly!(I advocate the fact that drinking beer or wine in moderation is a healthy practice, for the research shows that ethanol is associated with increased longevity and other health benefits)  Am I against Bollywood or Hollywood cinema? Again, not really!  What I condemn is Binge Drinking, false conditioning, and double standard attitude towards alcohol consumption. To an extent, if not completely, Media and society, together, are responsible for propagating these attitudes in youth.

While I don’t censure alcohol use, I do suggest a moderation in its consumption. And when it comes to sex, alcohol should be kept at bay. I believe that sex is a wholesome experience that should not be spoiled by the inebriating influence of booze. Do we really need to get high to experience the pleasures of sex? Sex in itself is a euphoric experience—an alcohol without any side effects, a natural painkiller, an anti-depressant, a dopamine booster—and above all—an effective stress buster. So why need alcohol for sex? 

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Nurturing the Seeds

Nothing can be more distressing for parents than having their children fall sick. Children fall sick quite often these days. They grow up in a synthetic environment, away from nature.  They grow up quite detached with greenery, amidst pollution—breathing toxic air, drinking contaminated water, and consuming adulterated foods. These things have lead to a weak immunity that makes children vulnerable to diseases.

   

To ensure good health for our children, it is important to understand the mantra of healthy living: BEING CLOSER TO NATURE.  It’s our duty to ensure that our children are brought up in healthy ways, one way of doing which is to ensure that they are taught to live a life that's in harmony with nature. I learned this lesson only two months back.

I live in a joint family with my cousin, Sanyogita—a juvenile girl of eleven studying in primary. Her mom(my aunt) became very cautious about her health after a traumatic incident that befell  her life—she contracted chicken pox, and we got concerned. Though, physically, she had healed completely, the trauma of being in such a thwarting episode was still obvious in her behavior. I could sense a feeling of ‘neglect-towards-food’ that she had been portraying over a couple of weeks. No sooner did she heal from chicken pox, than she resumed her dance classes. Problem started only when she started losing weight tremendously, and complained of certain health condition including recurrent stomachaches.

If you are a school going children, life can be hectic. As I can observe from the life of Sanyogita: she wakes up early in the morning at around ‘six’ rushing for the school, only to return home after  hours of grueling study. Besides, she is also very active in extracurricular events, especially in a sports classes, which she calls ‘EDUSPORTS’. She comes home fatigued, and in a great rush, finishes her lunch so that she can make to the dance class on time. By the time she returns home, it is dark. She is too exhausted even to complete her homework satisfactorily.

Now with all such activities, you need a good stamina to keep up. You need ample calories to fuel your bodily machine, and in Sanju’s case, a machine that seldom compromises with extreme physical activities. Only if one starts to neglect food, the calories, the stamina, the proteins, vitamins, minerals, or whatsoever, would fall short. This was exactly what has been happening to Sanyogita: the weight loss, excessive fatigue, going to sleep too early, disturbed sleep pattern, craving for junk foods, recurrent stomachaches, lethargy, and all.

The solution came unexpectedly off a lady from the 50s, my grandmother, who visited Bangalore at that time. First of all, she nagged for hours about how irresponsible my aunt has been in nurturing the child. “Look how frail she’s got Tanu”, she exclaimed, “Ohh…god, her ribs can be counted”. My aunt defended saying that she had contracted  chicken pox, and since than she’d been neglecting her food. “She don’t eat her food on time Amma”, my aunt said, staring at Sanyogita with displeasure,” she often gets up from the dinner table leaving half her food in plate”. My grandmother got quite concerned, and sternly ordered me to bring home a bottle of “Dabur Chawanprash”!

/https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/..

This stuff has been there in market since a long time, and I remember, I use to have it as a child. Even my father had had it during his childhood. “Give her chawanprash daily, twice a day”, she ordered firmly to my aunt, at the same time caressing Sanyogita’s hair affectionately. “modern parents seems to have forgotten the ways of bringing up a child”. I ran to a local store, and brought home this magical mixture of herbs. For two weeks that my grandma stayed in Bangalore, she would unfailingly feed her chawanprash three times a day. And she’d also force all of us to have it, narrating the health benefits of this herbal stuff in her traditional tone: it makes you stronger, it strengthens your immunity, it relieves cough, it increases normalizes appetite, and many more.

We started to observe changes after a week. Sanyogita’s appetite seemingly normalized, and her eating habits improved. She no longer fell flat after coming home from dance class, no longer left food in her plate at the dining table, and no longer complained of recurrent stomach aches. We been continuing this trend of eating chawanprash since then. The kids(including me), the mom, the dad, and even some of my neighbors who got influenced by my grandma are healthy. Sanyogita has won two state level dance competition the previous week, and have attained a great popularity in school.

This experience only insinuates the fact that no matter how much we tend to modernize, no matter how much we tend to consider the concrete jungles as our natural environ, real health can only be achieved by being closer to nature, and by preferring herbal products over synthetic ones.   Our children are our future, our pride, our joy, our hope. It’s our duty to ensure that our progeny are brought up in careful ways, in healthy ways, in natural ways, so that some years from now we’ll have a world filled with hale and hearty youths. Let’s nurture our seeds in an organic way, rather than inundating them with damaging fertilizers.

Thanks Grandma for teaching us this lesson!

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Fitness for Teens in a Hectic college life !

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With the modern lifestyle dominating our country, the obesity rate among teenagers has drastically increased. Gone are the times when children used to go to Gurukuls to attain education. The gurukuls trained students in all spears of life engaging them into holistic practices like Yoga, Nritya, Pranayaama and other sorts of healthy activities. Students were disciplined in all aspects of life: waking up early in the morning, going to the forest to collect firewood, practicing martial arts and sword fights, and most importantly having a well balanced diet prepared from organically produced vegetables, fruits and cereals.  Resultantly, the teens of past were healthier and livelier than the teens of today.

Today, teens start their day, late, rushing up for schools and college. Life is so hectic that sometimes they miss out on taking a morning shower either. Morning walk is considered a waste of time. Often, when teens wake up in the morning, the first thing most of them irresistibly do is check their facebook notifications. The school bus arrives, and escorts them luxuriously to the schools and colleges. And then they spend hours in the class, their lazy butts fixated on the benches throughout the academic session. No physical activity is entertained. Rather, entertainment comes in the form of gossiping about girlfriends and boyfriends, and playing games on cell phones while the teacher is delivering the lecture. As a teenager, I know that. And I too have been doing that!

 So, why do you think I am instructing you on teenage fitness and changing your lifestyle if I myself engage into all of those negativeness?

Well, I am not exactly asking you to change your lifestyle completely. It’s impossible to revert to the age old practices pf waking up at 4 in the morning and doing pranayama till the sun shows up at the horizon. It’s impossible to live without cellphones and mobiles either. You must follow the trends of mordenisation but at the same time be smart enough to incorporate practices that allows you to stay fit despite all the challenges of modern world. Here are some pointers:

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1.  Start a health and fitness club in your college

2. Engage in sports and other outdoor activities

3. Drink plenty of water (12 glasses approx, if you live at the tropics)

4. Join fitness groups on facebook to stay motivated

5. Manage to Get  eight hours of sleep daily, no matter how hectic your life is.

6. Abstain from having junk foods and too much of cola.

7. Download fitness apps on your smart phones and use them to educate yourself about fitness.

8. Ask your girlfriend to join a yoga class so that you can there together.

9. Avoid friends who abuse drugs, and /or are alcoholics or chain smokers.

10. Challenge your friends for push-up matches.

With these ideas I am sure you got a picture of how you can bring about small changes in you teenage life to effect a significant change in terms of health and fitness. The key point here is to embed practices into your hectic lifestyle that provides you the benefits of health and fitness without distorting the flow of your bound schedule.

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A Guide To Overcoming Shyness

"As she was called upon  the dais to give a speech on Independence day, Lisa seemed to be getting uneasy at her desk. Unwilling to even lift her butts up the bench, all she she could do was to look at the teacher with an expression of demency. “come on…you can do that baby”, prompted her friends from behind. “Lisa, don’t waste time…”, roared the teacher, “there’s so many other students waiting in the line”.

Helplessly, Lisa got up and ambled her way to the podium. Turning to the audience with an air of apprehension, she tried her best to silence her heart that was beating fretfully in her bosom. “H..hello”, she uttered faintly, unable to make eye contact with the intense audience. Before she could speak a word further, her lips started to tremble and the eyes watered with embarrassment."

Everyone feels shy at some point or the other in his or her life; It’s a normal thing you deal with in everyday life. However, when shyness starts to interfere with your day-to-day activities such that you are unable to get the most of your academics, it should be attended to immediately. In this article, I'll tell you how you can eliminate your shyness and be more outspoken in the class so that you're not counted as some dull back-bencher.

Follow the Three-seconds rule

Whenever there is an opportunity where you would get to speak in the class, do it within three seconds without thinking about the consequences. Just do it and be prepared for the worst. This rule can greatly help to overcome your shyness in general areas of your life. What you feel like doing at an instant, which you'd be avoiding or contemplating about before out of shyness, just do it within three seconds, being prepared for the worst. Make it your habit, and the shyness will die out.

Feel good about yourself

It is very important that you feel good about yourself. This is possible only if you have a high self-esteem; and in case if you don’t have, there’re many thing you can do to build it. Pay attention to your health and hygiene—health is not a gift but a prize that’s achieved through endeavor. Look good by working out regularly and wearing neat and tidy dresses that are in vogue. Don’t forget to wear a smile!

Other thing you can do to raise your self-esteem is study and bring good grades; you’ll be appreciated for that—a positive reinforcement for you to amplify the action that that brought about this positive change; an ample reason to believe in your worth.

 Specialize in a particular academic field.

You need not feel bad about your flaws—may be you don’t have a good pitch for delivering a emotive speech; but that shouldn't bring you down. You must be having some other strength that makes you unique. Highlight your strengths and hide your flaws. Don’t be a stereotype. Stand out. Be specialized in a particular field and tokenize your expertise with confidence.

Be energetic.

 A study says that you feel good and confident when the level of dopamine in your brain is higher. Dopamine is ‘feel good’ hormone whose secretion is triggered by vigorous physical exercises. Even a brisk morning walk can increase your dopamine level significantly for the entire day; it will make you feel good and confident; and will get the impetus to show your worth—a chemical drive!

*According to a new research, Setting new goals and endeavoring to accomplish them increases your dopamine level significantly. What about setting a goal to beat that girl(which you have been envying since ages) in the annual dance competition?

Final words

It is important to understand that Unlike some introverts, many shy peoples want to be outspoken and sociable. However, the insecurity within them prevents them to unleash their potential. They are too conscious of themselves around peoples—and before acting—imagines the whole set of scenes that would follow, often placing themselves in a negative enclosure. I hope the following points will prove to be helpful in battling the shyness that has been inhibiting you all the times, preventing you from proving your worth!

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Turmeric, the super spice !

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One of the most prominent thoughts that strike a foreigner's mind when taking about India is its vibrant array of  “spices”. India is a land of spices, the popularity of which dates back to the Vedic ages. The medicinal values of these herbal products were known to the vaidhs and hakims(doctors) of ancient India, and even today we find a majority of spices to be a vital ingredient in various Ayurvedic concoctions. With the increasing acquaintance of values associated with consumption of spices, people all around the world are incorporating it into their diets. Here I have mentioned the benefits of one of the most important spices used in Indian cuisines—the king of the zing, Turmeric!

The perennial, herbaceous plant of turmeric bears roots that act as a natural antiseptic and anti- inflammatory agent. When dried and pulverized into a vibrant yellow powder, turmeric functions as an effective home remedy for small cuts and sores. The cosmetic properties of turmeric have long been known to the Indian women, and the trend of applying a paste of Haldi(the Hindi name for turmeric), and Besan(a kind of flour made from Indian gram seeds), on their bodies to enhance their appearance is still widely practices in Hindu marriage ceremonies.

The usefulness of turmeric is not just limited to it’s antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and cosmetic nature. It is also a well-known remedy for stomach and liver ailments. Also, the juice extracted from freshly harvested turmeric is used in many skin conditions like eczema, chicken pox, allergies, and scabies. Indian moms often offers warm milk mixed with turmeric to their children suffering from fever—an ancient ayurvedic  tonic used since ages to bring the body temperature down.

Recent studies have indicated that turmeric can also serve as an anti-cancer agent. While there’s little evidence for whether turmeric can cure cancer or not, it has been well established that incorporating turmeric in diet can reduce your chances of developing certain kinds of cancers. It does make sense to say that lower cancer rates( of colon, prostrate, lung, and breast cancer), and high consumption of turmeric in India is not a coincidence. It is, infact, a correlative upshot  observed as a result of combative actions of  antioxidants(curcumin, to be more specific) present in turmeric that fights with cancers cells and prevents its metastasis.

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Today, turmeric is available throughout the globe in all major food stores. If you had still been ignorant of the richness of this exotic Indian spice, thank me, and run to your nearest food store. Start using turmeric regularly in your diets and make your life healthier and flavorsome!

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