M A T H E M A T I C S

MATHEMATICS is also one aspect (Dimension?) that is strewn all over just as Space and Time. Just as Space and Time start getting counted, as soon as an activity starts taking place, Mathematics also starts getting applied from that moment.

In my student days, Physics and Chemistry always sounded glamorous and popular, and the findings in these subjects found immediate applications in all products and processes that were being developed all over the world, contributing to the development and welfare of the people And also jobs. But Mathematics stood next to them like the poor cousin Cinderella though attractive and beautiful the subject as it was, it was very much uncared for. It looked full of only theories, theorems,  formulas and equations all remaining in paper, only some of it getting applied in Physics and Chemistry, and most of it remaining idle, though some of it found as mathematical application itself just as in surveying, astronomy, computer applications and the like.

Now, the Mathematics has come into its own, with huge applications in Space Travel, Super Computers, actuaries, statistics, share market predictions and the like.

But, come to think of it, everything happening in this world is applying some form of Mathematics, whether they are inanimate things or the living beings or are even in the arena of mind or psche. Thus, the moment a male sperm makes contact with the female egg they combine and start multiplying in the geometric proportions 2 -4- 8- 16 -32 …..  The formations and growth of organs in a human being or any living being follows some mathematic discipline. DNA acts as a blue print for the programme  as per which the body develops and functions. Apart from seeing and admiring all the colours, designs and patterns that we see in all flowers and leaves of plants and trees, imagine how much mathematics is going into it! Everywhere, everything follows some mathematics – Not exactly using something like human brains, but, by using something dictated by super intelligence strewn in nature, not yet found by us human beings.

But, the brilliancy does not stop there! The mathematical theories and formulas etc are strewn all over, waiting only for the right person/character to pick it up!

Thus, Calculus was discovered and Newton used it to explain Gravity and Gravitational theory. Albert Einstein used the formulas called the Lorentz Transformations to explain the theory of relativity. But, the systems existed even before these discoveries obeying the mathematics involved to the core.  And the mathematics existed even before that. Ramanujan the great mathematician discovered so many number theories, and people were wondering what use they will be put in. But these discoveries eventually found their applications in computers.

Every year mathematics experts and researchers will keep coming out with new theories and discoveries. Every year, we will find that some of these have been applied in such and such systems and we may find new applications of these discoveries as well. But, the discoveries will outnumber applications , and more so the undiscovered Mathematics will outnumber the discovered part.

Just as ‘AUM’ is said to be spread all over the Universe, so seem to be Mathematics.

Once, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa handed over a pink rose to a devotee, and that devotee expressed his desire to beget one white rose from Paramahamsa. Paramahamsa looked at the plant from which he plucked the pink rose, and expressed that somehow he was not very good at mathematical aspect of the devotion. But, next day, when the devotee again came to have His darshan, Paramahamsa pointed the devotee towards that flowering plant and the devotee to his amazement saw the plant full of white roses.

SIVASAKTHI

Text both in Tamil and English

சக்தி இல்லையேல் சிவன் இல்லை - சிவன் இல்லையேல் சக்தி இல்லை, என்று திருவிளையாடல் சினிமாவில் சக்தியும் சிவனும் சண்டை போட்டுக்கொள்வார்கள். இது எப்படி சாத்தியம்? சிவம் என்றால் ஒன்றும் இல்லாத எல்லை இல்லாத சூனியம். சக்தியோ தான் என்ற உணர்வு பெற்றது. இது எப்படி சிவனிடமிருந்து சக்தி பெற முடியும்?

சக்தி என்பதை 1 என்று வைத்துக் கொள்வோம். சிவமாவது 0 அல்லது சூன்யம். 1ன் பின் 0 வைக் கூட்டிக்கொண்டே போக அதன் அளவு எல்லை கடந்து போகிறது. 100000....000..இப்படி. ஆக, எல்லையில்லாத சூன்யத்திலிருந்து அளவு கடந்த சக்தியை பெறுகிறாள் சக்தி. அந்த சக்தி நீள அகல உயர பரிமாணத்தில் இருக்கலாம். அல்லது கால நேர பரிமாணம். அல்லது அளவு கடந்த சக்தி இப்படி பல பரிமாணங்கள்!

அமெரிக்கா கண்டம் கண்டு பிடித்த புதுதில், ஐரோப்பியர்கள் தங்களுக்குள் ஒரு விதி வைத்திருந்தாக சொல்வார்கள். காலையில் ஒருவன் குதிரை மேலேறி சவாரி செய்ய ஆரம்பித்தால், மாலையில் இருட்டும் வரை அவன் எவ்வளவு தூரம் செல்கிறானோ அந்த மொத்த அளவும் அவனுக்கு சொந்தம். அதுவரை அவன் கண்டு கேட்டிராத நிலம், சொத்து அவனுக்கு சொந்தமாகிறது. இது ஓரளவு சக்தி சிவனைப் பற்றி புரிந்து கொள்ள உதவும் உதாரணம்.

ஆயினும் ஓரளவு அறிவுக்கு எட்டும் இந்த விதி எனக்கு அனுபவ பூர்வமாக இதுவரை எட்டவே இல்லை! விஞ்சான பார்வையில் கடவுள் இருக்கிறார் என்று நிரூபிக்கும் முயற்சி இது. ஏன், 1000000... என்பதற்கு பதில் 1111111.... என்றோ அல்லது 123456789123456789... என்று கூட இருக்கலாமே என்று கேட்கலாம். அது கணிதத்தின் படி சரியாக கூட தோன்றலாம். ஆனால் சூன்யத்தின் எல்லையற்ற தன்மை 1,2 என்று வந்த பிறகு நிச்சயம் குறைய ஆரம்பிக்க வேண்டும். அது, நமக்கு தெரிந்த கணிதத்தினால் விவரிக்க முடியாமல் இருக்க வேண்டும்.

ஒருவர் சமாதி நிலை அடைகிறார் என்பது அவர் தன்னிலை இழந்து நீண்டு பரந்த சூன்யத்திற்குள் நுழைகிறார் என்பதே என்பது என் கணிப்பு.

There is this dialogue exchange that there is no Sakthi (Energy) without Siva (boundless nothingness) and there is no Siva without Sakthi. Siva being boundless nothingness, how can Sakthi an entity in itself derive more power from Siva?

Take Sakthi as 1. Siva is 0, that is soonya or nothingness. When you add zeroes after 1, for example, 10000000....00000...., the value increases tremendously. Thus, from boundless nothingness, Sakthi derives immeasurable power. It could be in the dimension of length breadth and height, or in time scale or it could be in the amount of energy. It could have different dimensions!

I used to hear that when America was discovered, there used to be a system that if a man started riding a horse after sunrise, the land he covers by riding the horse till sunset used to become his. Thus a man owns the land and wealth he has not seen or heard before. This sort of helps us to understand the mammoth Sivasakthi.

This is a sort of an attempt to explain the existence of God to those in Science. Though I am able to understand the principle, I am not able to experience the same within me so far. One may ask why even 111111111111......... or 123456789123456789.... 
..... can also run endlessly, but, the boundlessness of nothingness must be getting reduced once it becomes 1,2,3, like that, and the mathematics of today may not be able to explain it so far.

My guess is that, when one attains Samadhi, one loses his self identity and mixes with the vast nothingness around.

HEALTH AND MIND 5: LIFE FORCE/LIFE ENERGY

Body and Life are the two facets in any person that are inseparable. Each one has a bearing on the other. While the medical fraternity has analyzed the parts, features and functions of the body thoroughly, not much progress has been made in the analysis of Life in a person. May be the scholars have categorized all life forms existing in the world, may be psychology studies the mind and there are studies that deal with psychosomatic illness or pain caused in the body because of abnormality of mind or such factor, but, we have not gained so far the complete knowledge about Life. Only the Indian Medicine attempts to study Life. Some Sadhus (saints) have/had complete control over their life, and they have even attempted to impart this knowledge and understanding of life to all the common people around, but, this has not been understood much by the people at large.

There are/were many people who occupied the centre stage in the world who are/were full of Life Energy! Swami Vivekananda among saints, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Indira Gandhi among political leaders, Bill Gates among industrialists and innovators, Leonardo Dicaprio, Peter O’Toole, Clarke Cable, Vivian Leigh, Rajesh Khanna, and Rajini Kanth among actors are some of the people among many who exhibited/exhibit bountiful Life Energy. The people who are full of Life energy are full of verve, zest and zeal, they are leaders in whatever field they get into and they are adored by the people surrounding them. Their dynamism, verve, zest and zeal catch on to the other people fast.

How does one acquire this boundless Life energy??

The answer may surprise us in that it is a regulator switch in each one of us by putting on which, we let the Life energy in full flow in to our system. Just any of us feel and make himself/herself ‘on’, and to one’s fullest, and in no time he/she will see himself/herself in full energetic form with verve, zest and zeal. There is a catch though – It doesn't come easy even to set oneself on. There may be so much of laziness, procrastination, depression, fear and disbelief etc in each one of us that simply the system will refuse to comply with to being put on.

The body has its own life, mind and intellect within the precincts of a person that has an impact on life. At cellular level, DNA accumulates the knowledge and experience into its fold, adds these along with what it already has, makes use of these to good extent and passes on these to the next generation through its due share. Within the body itself there is so much interaction and communication that are sometimes hardly noticed by the person. Thus if an injury is caused to a person, the injured part sends the message, the brain gets into remedial action, pools up the other parts’ efforts and act till the person is cured of the illness caused by the injury and becomes completely alright. Our own intellect is somehow not capable of such knowledge before hand, unless it opens itself to Universal Existence. The life itself could be contributing to this life in the body, and both this life and the life in the body could be part and the parcel of this Universal Existence. There is total knowledge in each one of us, without any of us being much aware of it! It goes to prove the adage, “What is in Macrocosm is in Microcosm!”.

The life of the body and its very living is a natural phenomenon – its eating habits, sleep, sex, and all other aspects of life are all normal. But, anything excess is bad. Thus, food is a basic requirement for the body, but, excess of food is detrimental. And so are, sleep, sex, alcohol or any other aspect. But, the mind having tasted the pleasure from any one or all of these, wants more and more of these and will not like to settle for anything less. It wants to gloat in this enjoyment and indulges more and more into these pleasures to the avoidance of all other activities vital for the survival. The thoughts and actions surround only these activities. The deprivation from these pleasures causes uncontrollable anger. The thought of somebody or something depriving the person of these pleasures induces fear in him/her. The person gets jealousy of somebody enjoying equally like him/her or more. The whole existence like this gives him/her immense pride and leads to bloated ego. The person gets totally sunk into this way of existence.

But, the enjoyment diminishes over time, but, the person’s habit/addiction will not let him/her go. He/she experiences pain and gets diseases, and yet he/she cannot let go of his/her habits. There may occur innumerable other blocks, still he/she may not opt to come out of it. Finally, he/she succumbs to it totally and inescapably bears and suffers the consequences of these acts. Worse, the person is not in total agreement with himself/herself or in total harmony with himself/herself and is dissatisfied with himself/herself.

Only a few are lucky to be borne into best circumstances. Barring these, the rest are all borne into different forms and levels of laziness, procrastination, depression, fear and disbelief and such. To these are added the form of indulgence and addiction as described above, and the pathetic situation of the person is complete.

And to come out of it all and get rid of these all, all one has to do is to switch oneself on. That is it! “On  means exactly that, ‘On’. ‘On’ means to get rid of all these negative qualities in one, like indulgence and addiction, which habits, one doesn't approve of in oneself. ‘On’ means to completely get rid of the fear, and face the ensuing days courageously. ‘On’ means not to procrastinate one’s acts, either due to laziness, or, out of fear or such reasons. ‘On’ means not to succumb to self pity and depression. ‘On’ means to take oneself seriously and not succumb to disbelief. And just be on and, on to your fullest, and all the ‘do’s and don’ts mentioned above occur naturally and instantaneously.

‘On’ means to swim over all that is not wanted by one oneself, and all that is unacceptable to one, and rise, rise and rise above all of these. One gets fresh and energetic naturally and one acts to one’s fullest efficiency.

These are naturally accruing benefits. I comprehend that much more benefits may come in one’s way! One gets automatically connected to Universal Existence and gains knowledge without effort. Happiness engulfs one naturally. Unimaginably wonderful ideas and thoughts occur to one from nowhere and which are beneficial to the world and which may catapult one to limelight and fame. Music flows into one, and one sees fun and joy all around him.
Normally, most of us are not fully on most of the time, and my guess is that a person may be on up to 20% or 30%. If the job on hand requires our urgent attention and focus, the 'On' factor may rise up to 50%. If the person loves his job and has full interest in the execution of the same, the 'On' factor may rise even to 80%. If a person is on 100%, he becomes enlightened.

There are people who are so diffident and lacking in self confidence that their each one’s life/intellect/mind does not control the body completely, the personality projection is vague and unclear and doesn't look belonging. Such people look anaemic. The nutrients of whatever good food they eat don’t seem to be absorbed and all the food doesn't seem to get digested. They are poor eaters. One’s life and body shall belong to each other and gel well to be healthy. In some others, this not belonging to the body causes slouch and laziness. And they get the pregnant tummy look. One shall love himself/herself and one shall totally identify oneself with the body and enjoy life, but, see that one doesn't succumb to its demands and that discretion is exercised.

When the body and mind/life gel well, the food one eats gets well digested and the nutrients are well absorbed by the body. The body becomes fluent and throbbing and looks full of life.

That 'Life' is a scientific quantity is proved by the very fact that a person lives only till he/she is alive, that is his/her Life is in his/her body, and the moment the person dies, that is when the Life goes out of the body, the body gets decomposed in no time. Life is formless as far as we know, and about its qualities and properties, we have not studied much to codify them

Disclaimer: I have expressed my thoughts on this subject for the benefit and welfare of the mankind. But, I am not an expert on this subject. I don’t belong to Medical profession or profession in Psychology/psychiatry. There may be some thoughts which may not be correct. I request the readers to take only what appeals as correct, experiment with it and verify the same as correct, and then take into one’s fold.  I am a co traveler and student as all of you in this. Thank you!

Health and Mind - 4: BREATHING

We all use the computers in our daily lives, and operate these computers day in day out. In the process we all have gained good knowledge about computers and software systems. This knowledge can give us some good insights into the human physiology. For example, the reflex actions resemble very much the short cut icons we use in the Desktop. We can see that, in sneezing, probably the body cannot even afford those minuscule seconds in getting the approval of the brain to execute the action and it carries out the action first and then sends the details of what had occurred, to the brain. Again, Just as it takes place in ‘spelling and grammar’ in Microsoft Word, and also in the Google Search etc, the mind prompts us with different suggestions on various occasions, which mostly we are not aware, and which may help us very much if we are aware of this facility in us. For example, when a neighbour comes and tells me that a house is for sale at a throwaway price, something in me immediately prompts that the house is built over a refilled area and it may sink, or, the house is in a low lying area, or that the neighbours of that house are not likable people and the like. It is upto me to accept the prompting or leave it.

Breathing can be considered as both voluntary and involuntary action. We take it as normal that we breathe air  automatically, inhaling Oxygen into the system and exhaling Carbon dioxide, the rate being in the range 12 to 20 cycles per minute for adults. 3 to 5 seconds per cycle looks too small a time for us that we take the breathing as a matter of fact, and do not give many thoughts to the act.

But, 3 seconds or more is quite a time for the processors. Thus, it could be that the brain seeks the requirements of Oxygen to the various parts of the body from those parts of the body, and executes inhaling of that much Oxygen into lungs and sends the same to those parts. The most important outcome of this way of viewing by us is that we may conclude that the various parts of the body from the legs to the head unite together to draw Oxygen through nose and it is not just that the nose inhales air and Oxygen as a matter of fact, and as an independent act.

We understand that whenever we do physical work we require more Oxygen to the parts that we exercise. If we are not able to get that much Oxygen through normal breathing, we resort to gasping, that is inhaling Oxygen through mouth and in higher frequencies and drawing more Oxygen per cycle. Best example is running. Sometimes we resort to a one time deep inhalation of air through the nose drawing the maximum/required Oxygen to execute an act, say, like using a heavy hammer in one stroke to cut a rod.

It looks strange that our act of thinking requires quite much Oxygen. The reports say that the brain occupies 2% of the body weight but it requires 20% of Oxygen intake.  It even happens that the thoughts rush to our minds even as we are breathing, wanted thoughts or unwanted ones. As thoughts occupy the mind, the brain gets clogged and becomes dull to the level that it becomes less serious about executing breathing. Even the nose slows down in breathing and draws less Oxygen than required. The whole body gets Oxygen lower than the quantity required and necessary. The body as a whole gets so foxed up that it forces breathing through the mouth, forcibly drawing maximum Oxygen through the mouth. That is how yawning probably takes place. Likewise, strange as it seems, at times if the brain is engaged in ‘some’ thinking, drawing more Oxygen for itself in the process, the part of the brain that is in charge of the breathing becomes clogged and dull, and the nose becomes slower in breathing, and the brain resorts to a similar act like yawning, but this time through the nose and the supply of Oxygen is limited to brain only. This is called ‘sigh’.

There is a regulator switch in the life force in each of us which ups the energy level, when we get involved in important acts, or, when we are in our happy moments etc. Those times the breathing is normal, fluent and easy. But, the same regulator also downs the energy level when we are bored with what we are doing, or, when we are strenuously involved in some acts that needs lots of thinking and involvement, which zaps and drains our energy mentally etc. These are the times the body resorts to yawning or sighing.

At a lesser level, probably breathing through mouth does not require much permission from brain, and hence the body resorts to breathing through mouth, whenever the body or brain gets tired. At some other level, when the body or brain is tired, the breathing through the nose is done with some difficulty, and the body resorts to (semi)deep breathing through the nose and even then the Oxygen intake may not match the requirements of the body. This (semi)deep breathing is voluntary and is not pranayama, and the lack of Oxygen can be felt all over the body by dullness and pain.

The thoughts that gallop in the mind include every type of thought. Normally from an important thought that occurs, many thoughts branch out and spread in all directions and they substantially express our desires or anger, worries and anxieties  and what have you! To give an example, an important thought occurs in a person's mind, 'I shall go to the Office in time!'. Immediately the other thoughts rush into the person's mind like, ' Otherwise the boss will bark at me' and then the thoughts branch out to the unpleasant dealings the person had with the boss. It continues on. The thoughts being unpleasant, they zap and waste the energy. The regulator switch in the body downs the energy level. The whole thing creates a vague field where the brain/mind gets submerged and loses most of its energy and focus, and thus causing the breathing take a back seat in the process. Going to the office being an important act, the brain pulls itself, the person takes a deep sigh and moves on. It may be for the same or similar person that doing the Office work continuously becomes dreary and tiring! The body resists and protests, and becomes unable and weak to continue. This is the time the body resorts to yawning. Thus Breathing being so essential and a must thing, the body or the brain as the case may be rises to the occasion and forcibly executes the breathing.

Quite independently of the above, it looks even stranger that depending on whether the part that requires Oxygen is placed lower or higher in the body, the nose also breathes that much lower or higher within it. Thus for the leg, the nose breathes at lower part of the nose, and for neck, say, that much higher part of the nose. For head the nose breathes through the highest part of it. Breathing at the back side of the nose takes the Oxygen to the back parts of the body like back bone portions and breathing at the front side of the nose takes Oxygen to the front parts of the body like heart, stomach etc. The reports say that we alternate between breathing through the left nostril and the right nostril. More oxygen inhaling as in Pranayama is welcome, and the body accepts extra Oxygen probably upto a degree.

The blood flow in a person, supplying as it does Oxygen to the various parts of the body, probably plays an important role in getting the requirements of Oxygen for the various parts of the body and conveys it to the brain. Oxygen in take is more where blood supply is required maximum. When the blood supply gets concentrated in some parts, like say in the stomach area during digestion of food, the other parts get less blood supply and in turn less Oxygen. These are times when a person looks dull and experiences mild pain all over the body, because of lack of blood and Oxygen, and becomes less efficient during that time. The person goes for an afternoon nap.

How does knowing all these help us? Well, Pranayama (under the guidance of a proper Guru) teaches us to take deep breaths and inhale as much air and Oxygen as possible consciously, hold it for some seconds time and then exhale the Carbon dioxide. Conscious breathing cuts down on thoughts, thus lowering the requirements of the Oxygen, and eventually we will settle down for slower cycles of inhalation and exhalation done deeply and more relaxed and making the body also more relaxed and supple. Buddhism tells us to keep observing our breath and this helps us to continually cut down on thoughts. The whole process aids the regulator switch to have more energy level in our life force, and up the energy level in the body. We start enjoying our very being in this world!

We may also try cutting down on thoughts by our normal day to day practice. And also it will help us immensely, if we involve ourselves in physical work and exercise, which automatically cuts down thoughts.

Initially, the default system in each of us dominates. We get back to our routine levels of inhaling and exhaling soon after the practice. After a good long practice of Pranayama for a long period of time over days and years, and on our practice of cutting down thoughts, the practice gets ingrained in our system, and that is when it bears fruit.

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor and I have not studied Medicine or any subject connected to Medicine. What I have written above can only be taken as postulates.

Evolution of Languages

I have come to some conclusions as to how in the primitive stages the language could have evolved, though over the time it could have got mixed up and complex.

The diagram expresses how the various alphabets in Indian languages give the direction and the approximate distance, when a person lets out a vowel. Depending on the intensity with which one speaks, either the seriousness of the issue is revealed, or the distance gets multiplied. Thus a अ அ gives Y axis, e इ இ gives X axis, and u उ உ  gives Z axis etc,and aa आ ஆ , ee ई ஈ  and uu ऊ ஊ  give the farther end of the same. ae ए எ  gives the angular direction in the Y positive X negative quadrants and also X positive Y negative quadrants, and o ओ ஒ  gives the same in XY both positive or both negative quadrants. औ ஔ  gives the torque or turning momentum, and ஃ  emphasizes static point. Thus i ஐ ई  becomes origin or subtle vertical movements about the origin and thus becomes 'I' the self. When a person stands before you he forms z axis with you, and thus Uu becomes 'you'. In Hindi it is 'thum', and in Tamil, eventhough Nee is in X axis,it travels in z axis direction and comes back, Un, ungal etc form Z axis with I. He, She, Him, Her etc in any language form an arc in the speaker's eyeball and get away from the sight, settles in the low regions above the horizontal plane, X axis-Zaxis.
This logically leads to the other conclusion- Ka -Ga mean Solids, and Sa -Cha mean liquids; gas being not visible got submerged in Ya and Va. Some studies are to be made on Da and Ta which are basically Noice indicative. Na and nNa indicate sensitiveness (electricity). Pa is indicative of one's Pushing ability when challenged, and 'Ma' the cries let out by one when faced with distress. 'Ra' may mean slicing through in a rough way, and 'La' may express excitement.'zha' in Tamil is lubricating and meaning the softness of the commodity. Thus is formed a rash analysis of how the languages could have evolved.

Are we living the life fast forward??

The news item “Ozone hole has dried Australia, says study” appearing in the The Hindu newspaper dated 25th April 2011 reports that the scientists say that the Antarctic Ozone hole is about one-third to blame for Australia’s recent series of droughts. But the same news item gives some comforting news at the end of the article saying that the U.N. Montreal Protocol has significantly curbed emissions of the substances that caused depletion of Ozone in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere. The Antarctic Ozone hole should be repaired by 2045-60, the report adds.
The Ozone hole, the Global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions and the vagaries in the weather conditions and in nature that come with these are the visual proof that we are exploiting the nature beyond the tolerance levels. It is good that we are taking steps to curb this exploitation.
In general, we tend to use up whatever the nature offers us and end up fast in scarcity of the resources. Nothing is spared, the air, water….. ! There are two reasons for the using up of resources. The first reason is the population explosion. This needs no further explanation. The good thing is that all the countries are moving towards stabilization of the population. Someday, we will definitely have a stable population level, but, from then on to move towards a population level that is in total compatibility with the surrounding nature will be our next task.
The second and the more disastrous reason is the way we the individuals consume everything that we can lay our hands on! We want more of everything – a second car, a palatial bungalow with more space than we need, lavish use of timber, marble, granite and such resources, air conditioners, the list goes on endless. We want to out beat others. We want to be the richest, come what may. We put up a show, throw up a feast and what not to have that one-upmanship, wasting food and many other natural commodities in the process! This unwanted and unhealthy competition results in the deprivation of the genuine needs of a good lot of population for now, and in depriving forever the needs of the future generation. They also undergo these orgies to endlessly gratify themselves. ‘Have we the right?’ is a moral and ethical question that the individuals will not bother to answer. Okay! But, their acts don’t do good to these individuals either! Over the time, these individuals end up segregated from the main stream, sit on top lonely, lose their peace of mind and lose their health.
Mahatma Gandhi has said, "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. But, we ignore this dictum to our peril. It is time that we correct ourselves.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have shown the world the way by giving back the world much of what they took from it. That satisfies the economical aspects of the problem.
But, in general, we have to learn to live optimally utilizing the natural resources. In living the life fast forward, we will not only not enjoy the present, but we will lose the future for ever, may be.
I typed in Google search “the nature can supply for our need, but not our greed” to get Gandhi’s quotation correct. In the process I am amazed to find 5,260,000 results on the subject, all dealing with preserving nature and its resources. It feels wonderful that so many are involved in correcting this problem.

TREATMENT FOR THE TYPE 2 DIABETES AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF A PATIENT

The Diabetic diet prescribed for the patients supplies around 2000k.cals a day, give some or take away some. It consists of three main courses, each supplying 400 to 500k.cals together with the accompaniments, interspersed with an evening sugarless tea and biscuits, morning coffee and night milk, both with no sugar and also buttermilk or vegetable soup or sugarless lime juice and Marie biscuits at 11AM, each drink contributing 60kcals and each biscuit 30k.cals. Added to this diet list is that the whole food will have no salt and no oil, which actually translates to a patient being allowed 5gms of salt per day, and very very little oil to go with the food. And the doctors advise forty minutes of brisk walk a day. Vegetables and fiber intake is a must, and the doctors insist on greens in the food being mandatory. Certain medicines are also given to keep the sugar levels under control.

Initially, right on the first day and second, the whole diet looks woefully little. The question creeps in the back of mind as to whether one will be able to survive on this diet. I for one had already reduced the intake of food, salt and oil, but, even then I was in for a shock looking at the dismal quantity. Both my colleague and my brother who were taking care of me in the hospital after I had a minor heart attack and was recouping, were adamant sticklers of the norms and rules, and they were aided by a battalion of nurses and doctors, so, I had no other go except to observe the system. And of boy, how nicely it worked!!

1. One week down the line, or may be a little more, I had lost 7kgs!! I was weighing 81kgs before the attack, and now it showed 74kgs as my weight, my height being 175cms. It was pleasure looking at myself in the mirror. With the strict following of the diet, I could maintain that weight right through to this day, 3 months after the attack. What is more, I could not observe the diet on certain days because of certain extraneous compulsions, and on these days, I had to eat much more, which resulted in the weight increase by 2kgs or more. But, two days of observations of the diet system brought the weight back to 74kgs. This happened two or three times. And, now I am very sure of how to get back to 74kgs, even if the weight goes up by a kg or two.

2. In the days before I took on to diet, I used to feel a bit sleepy after taking food, and now, that is gone! The meals are all very light and they don’t make a demand on the system. One can be brisk all through the day!

3. The visits to the toilets get reduced both in the day and in the night. The urine is lighter both in colour and in density. The irritability and the nagging feeling in the bladder and the tracts get reduced drastically, and the patient lives no more in the nightmare of having to look around for a toilet, just in case… ! A total relief!!

4. I always get a feeling that the high sugar level in the blood causes ulcers all the way, but, a doctor cousin of mine questions the veracity of the statement. May be it aids ulcers, but, it doesn’t cause one, he opines. Nevertheless, when I have more sugar levels, the gums in my teeth get minor cuts, with blood oozing out of them. Some people get persistent cough! The irritability of the urine tracts may also be because of the miniscule bruises caused by high sugar levels in the blood and may be urine. The cysts start appearing on the body. There may be many more ways the higher sugar levels in the blood show up!! Now, all these are gone if a patient follows the strict diet regimen. I don’t suffer from bleeding gums any more, and the cyst sizes in the body have shrunk.

5. The vegetables and greens are a must. For one it helps the patient to get the feeling that he has had sumptuous amount of food. The fiber controls the cholesterol levels in the body. And the vegetables and greens supply a good lot of proteins, vitamins and minerals needed for the body. From the patient’s point of view, the intake helps easing the bowel movements, especially as the intake of food has got reduced.

6. Stresses and tensions definitely make the sugar levels shoot up! When a diabetic patient gets sick, his sugar levels shoot up, and this prevents the healing of the system. It is better on such cases to agree to the doctor’s advice of administering Insulin injections till the body is cured of the illness.

7. Not that a diabetic patient loses much on the taste front! The diabetic food can also be prepared very tasty!
Actually, the body and the system show up their disapproval for the oily fried food and the like, but, the craving in us ignores these symptoms and goes ahead with such unwanted food stuff! When one takes more oil than what the body tolerates, one can feel that the underneath of the tongue has become thick and numb and the lower part of the eyes heavy and soggy, and somewhere along the way the body system asks one to stop it. When one takes too many sweets, the tongue tastes sour, the eyes become irritable and burning, and may be the body temperature goes up. There may also be this slight metallic sensation. The doctors call the whole thing as dry mouth sensation or something like that.
We can also avoid gas problems by limiting the intake of pulses to the required quantity.

8. In my personal opinion, may be the Marie biscuits part in the diet get substituted by fruits. For the same calorie value, the fruits add volume. They also have fiber content.
We can also quench our craving for the potatoes and the like, by reducing the quantity of cereals appropriately and taking them only as boiled vegetables.

A strict regimen of diabetic diet intake goes a long way in not only helping the patient lead a normal healthy and long life, but, it also helps him ward off blood pressure and other ailments.