Looking at the silver grey cloudy sky
early in the morning in the first blink of the eye
I think of no other sight anygood anymore
Its nature at its best , right at my window
And in the next sequence of events ,the Power goes off
and There is no light in the room now
So I open the window doors
to let in some light, to let in some air some more
Then I say to myself
This is not a usual sunday morning
This is nature's special
and I shall call it Random thoughts on a Rainy sunday morning
Motley sounds riding on the air waves
make way into the vacuum of my room space
trees fluttering , clouds thundering ,rain drops splashing
All are making of Random thoughts on a Rainy sunday morning
I feel energised , I am in a higher state
I need no morning tea , it is a visual-feast and I have so much in my plate
I am overwhelmed ,I am lost in this aesthetic setting
I dont want to return from this Random thoughts on a Rainy sunday morning
Then slowly and slowly , the rain dwindles
And it puts out the fire in me, it some time back kindled
Like they say ,all good things must come to an end , and I come to my bearing
But what will stay with me forever are Random thoughts on a Rainy sunday morning
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
“SEX AND SPIRITUALITY” AND INDIANS !
I got out of bed expecting a rather lousy weekend morning , as it is always. I knew it would be ‘leisure as usual’ throughout the day .Starting with TV then surfing , then some more TV , ahh! And then some penning down of my thoughts , and later in the day if my body permits then some painting the town red (but more often than not the case with me and my room-mates is that of ‘Spirit is willing but flesh is weak’). As scheduled I switched on the TV set , and while riffling through the channels I tuned into ‘India Today Conclave’ being telecasted on a news channel. What got my attention was the topic around which the conclave was centered. Let me just give you a hint if you really want to guess.
What is the one thing Indians are most hypocritical about ?
Ya ! Though I cannot hear you ,but I think if you are an Indian(or if you have watched the aforementioned conclave before coming down to this “assimilation of ‘neural sensation transformed into visually legible format’ aka BLOG”) you must have got it right.
The topic of the discussion was that of “SEX and SPIRITUALITY”.
And yes , Just for the record ,Indians , at least I feel so ,are the biggest ‘sex’ hypocrits. Indians who are so particular about abstaining from ‘carnal carousal’ and are a society where terms like ‘ Casual sex’ and ‘free sex’ are a taboo, still are the second largest reproducers (I could have used the “Four letter word” here ) but I guess I am just sparing the Indians their blushes.
Lets face it , Indians are shy about sex but even in their shyness they do it most profoundly. Just to elaborate the point “ If the world was to be survived by one Indian man and one Indian woman , they would still go into a hiding and have ‘secret sex’ rather than having more of a ‘free sex’. And to top it all , they would do it to the exponential extent of creating a new civilization in no time.”
OK ! enough of Indian – Bashing. Going back to the conclave , I was all eyes and ears and more to see how does a forum of Indian men and women go about discussing it.
With ‘Birds and the Bees’ and ‘ Moksha and salvation’ being talked about in the same breath , through a medium that would reach out to practically the entire Indian populace, the panel of presenters had to be dead right spot –on. It had to be someone who has ‘been there done that’, somebody who understands the intricacies of ’sex’ and ‘spirituality’ far better than an Average Joe or should I say ‘Average Adam’.
And So it was , On the one end ,Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev representing the ‘Old Oriental school’ and giving a Traditional take on ‘Sex’. And, on the other end, delineating a more contemporary and occidental overview of the whole matter was , Swami Satya Vedant , a philosopher and author and a arduous disciple of OSHO.(To know more about him, check out here http://www.oshonewyork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=8)
The latter was the first to address the attendance, and the gist of all that he said was
“ Sex is more an individual’s choice , in terms of ‘How’ they do it or ‘where’ they do it or ‘with whom’ they do it or ‘How much ‘ they do it. So we should not straitjacket the individuals in a rigid framework laid down by the society that leaves them struggling for movement.
He also cited with an example that , ‘Sprituality’ can be achieved through sex only if you feel it as an inner body experience rather than just doing it mechanically like it is just another mere physical phenomenon. He illustrated this point by narrating one of his real experience of how in a Book fair ,a man in his late 30’s walks up to Swami Vedant’s book stall and asks him for his latest book on the shelf. And starts riffling through its pages in search of pornographic pictures. Seeing this, swami Vedant tells him that he should go home first and look at his wife in the same context as he was looking at the book, and then probably he may not even feel the need of what he came looking at the first place.
Huh! How insightful , I thought to myself. There is obviously many more dimensions to physical intimation other than the physicality aspect. We need to be aware of them in order to make the ‘Sexperience’ as an all-encompassing, self – fulfilling one.
And then Swami Ramdev took to stage and came across as a proponent of balanced , formulaic and socially acceptable style of understanding and practicing sex. He was very vocal in his disdain towards ‘Homosexuality’ and termed it unnatural and a sign of sickness. He also expressed disgust over the concept of ‘open marriages’ and ‘free sex’ in particular. According to him that would shred the social fabric , and would give rise to a degenerated society where DNA tests are required to know the Biological father of an offspring and teenage girls still in their adolescence getting pregnant. This would do no good to nobody and sex within a socially acceptable framework is the key to prevent the disintegration of our moral values and social living.
At this point in time , I was completely blank. I mean both the speakers made complete sense to me , but sadly they were standing on opposite ends. I could not decide for myself who is right , or in this case who is more right?
As it turned out , it boiled down to the classic ‘East V/S West’ debate. And while in the past we may have made our peace with that ,saying “East is east and west is west and the Twain shall never meet”.
But in more recent times the boundaries defining east and west are getting dimmer and dimmer by the day, thanks to the Net and jet age phenomenon. East is opening its arms to western lifestyle like it has never done before.
Now , at this juncture we have to make a conscious choice for ourselves and a well –informed one. And that is exactly what this discussion aimed at , helping you make that choice by understanding the implications and effects of both the options.
While no clear consensus could emerge amongst the moderator and the speakers, I in my mind had understood one thing after witnessing this hour and a half long spectacle.
And it goes like this “ Just be yourself , suit yourself. Dont deprive yourself of any desire of yours , simply because it goes against the ‘social’ grain. Being true to oneself and being contented with one’s life is what I think is the foremost step towards attaining “Spiritual ecstasy” or transcending to another level , whatever you may call it.
So be it if you are Lecherous or Adulterous , Celibate or Impotent , Homosexual or Bisexual . That is how God made you , and that is how he wants you to be in the Grand scheme of things.
Once you understand this fact and accept yourself and your desires the way they are , then there is no void left in your tryst of self- fulfillment.
Now whether you want to reach that higher level of realization via sex or meditation is up to you and your body , and is very much an individualistic thing. Buddha found it through meditation , some other characters from kamasutra found it through kama/sex. What ticks your body may not tick my body in the same way , and vice versa.
So, the fact of the matter is Don’t PUT ON , just PLAY ON the way you want. Let not your INDIVIDUALITY fall prey to IDEOLOGY.
To end the Blog , I would quote myself .
“ It is Individuals who make the society , and not the Society that makes the Individual” - METHINKS.
What is the one thing Indians are most hypocritical about ?
Ya ! Though I cannot hear you ,but I think if you are an Indian(or if you have watched the aforementioned conclave before coming down to this “assimilation of ‘neural sensation transformed into visually legible format’ aka BLOG”) you must have got it right.
The topic of the discussion was that of “SEX and SPIRITUALITY”.
And yes , Just for the record ,Indians , at least I feel so ,are the biggest ‘sex’ hypocrits. Indians who are so particular about abstaining from ‘carnal carousal’ and are a society where terms like ‘ Casual sex’ and ‘free sex’ are a taboo, still are the second largest reproducers (I could have used the “Four letter word” here ) but I guess I am just sparing the Indians their blushes.
Lets face it , Indians are shy about sex but even in their shyness they do it most profoundly. Just to elaborate the point “ If the world was to be survived by one Indian man and one Indian woman , they would still go into a hiding and have ‘secret sex’ rather than having more of a ‘free sex’. And to top it all , they would do it to the exponential extent of creating a new civilization in no time.”
OK ! enough of Indian – Bashing. Going back to the conclave , I was all eyes and ears and more to see how does a forum of Indian men and women go about discussing it.
With ‘Birds and the Bees’ and ‘ Moksha and salvation’ being talked about in the same breath , through a medium that would reach out to practically the entire Indian populace, the panel of presenters had to be dead right spot –on. It had to be someone who has ‘been there done that’, somebody who understands the intricacies of ’sex’ and ‘spirituality’ far better than an Average Joe or should I say ‘Average Adam’.
And So it was , On the one end ,Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev representing the ‘Old Oriental school’ and giving a Traditional take on ‘Sex’. And, on the other end, delineating a more contemporary and occidental overview of the whole matter was , Swami Satya Vedant , a philosopher and author and a arduous disciple of OSHO.(To know more about him, check out here http://www.oshonewyork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=8)
The latter was the first to address the attendance, and the gist of all that he said was
“ Sex is more an individual’s choice , in terms of ‘How’ they do it or ‘where’ they do it or ‘with whom’ they do it or ‘How much ‘ they do it. So we should not straitjacket the individuals in a rigid framework laid down by the society that leaves them struggling for movement.
He also cited with an example that , ‘Sprituality’ can be achieved through sex only if you feel it as an inner body experience rather than just doing it mechanically like it is just another mere physical phenomenon. He illustrated this point by narrating one of his real experience of how in a Book fair ,a man in his late 30’s walks up to Swami Vedant’s book stall and asks him for his latest book on the shelf. And starts riffling through its pages in search of pornographic pictures. Seeing this, swami Vedant tells him that he should go home first and look at his wife in the same context as he was looking at the book, and then probably he may not even feel the need of what he came looking at the first place.
Huh! How insightful , I thought to myself. There is obviously many more dimensions to physical intimation other than the physicality aspect. We need to be aware of them in order to make the ‘Sexperience’ as an all-encompassing, self – fulfilling one.
And then Swami Ramdev took to stage and came across as a proponent of balanced , formulaic and socially acceptable style of understanding and practicing sex. He was very vocal in his disdain towards ‘Homosexuality’ and termed it unnatural and a sign of sickness. He also expressed disgust over the concept of ‘open marriages’ and ‘free sex’ in particular. According to him that would shred the social fabric , and would give rise to a degenerated society where DNA tests are required to know the Biological father of an offspring and teenage girls still in their adolescence getting pregnant. This would do no good to nobody and sex within a socially acceptable framework is the key to prevent the disintegration of our moral values and social living.
At this point in time , I was completely blank. I mean both the speakers made complete sense to me , but sadly they were standing on opposite ends. I could not decide for myself who is right , or in this case who is more right?
As it turned out , it boiled down to the classic ‘East V/S West’ debate. And while in the past we may have made our peace with that ,saying “East is east and west is west and the Twain shall never meet”.
But in more recent times the boundaries defining east and west are getting dimmer and dimmer by the day, thanks to the Net and jet age phenomenon. East is opening its arms to western lifestyle like it has never done before.
Now , at this juncture we have to make a conscious choice for ourselves and a well –informed one. And that is exactly what this discussion aimed at , helping you make that choice by understanding the implications and effects of both the options.
While no clear consensus could emerge amongst the moderator and the speakers, I in my mind had understood one thing after witnessing this hour and a half long spectacle.
And it goes like this “ Just be yourself , suit yourself. Dont deprive yourself of any desire of yours , simply because it goes against the ‘social’ grain. Being true to oneself and being contented with one’s life is what I think is the foremost step towards attaining “Spiritual ecstasy” or transcending to another level , whatever you may call it.
So be it if you are Lecherous or Adulterous , Celibate or Impotent , Homosexual or Bisexual . That is how God made you , and that is how he wants you to be in the Grand scheme of things.
Once you understand this fact and accept yourself and your desires the way they are , then there is no void left in your tryst of self- fulfillment.
Now whether you want to reach that higher level of realization via sex or meditation is up to you and your body , and is very much an individualistic thing. Buddha found it through meditation , some other characters from kamasutra found it through kama/sex. What ticks your body may not tick my body in the same way , and vice versa.
So, the fact of the matter is Don’t PUT ON , just PLAY ON the way you want. Let not your INDIVIDUALITY fall prey to IDEOLOGY.
To end the Blog , I would quote myself .
“ It is Individuals who make the society , and not the Society that makes the Individual” - METHINKS.
Friday, February 12, 2010
WHEN I COULD NOT CHICKEN OUT!
They say “ We eat to live and more importantly live to eat”. With this sentiment and given the fact that people are nowadays getting really fuzzy about the food they eat , it is a ‘food for thought’ that ‘Eating’ is much more than just a meager metabolic process. The kind of food that one eats is in fact an expression of one’s personality, after all “ You are what you eat”.
And if you talk about the variety of eating habits and food patterns , I’ll just say the menu has no boundaries. Take a look at the living species and their motley of eating habits , it is a full-wide spectrum , there are herbivore , carnivore ,omnivore amongst animals to vegetarian , eggitarian , non vegetarian amongst the ‘social animals’.
The point here is, to each his own. Everyone has their own tastes and they pamper their taste buds in fine style. Ever tried to show a calorie chart to a ‘Junk Food’ lover , he is most likely to turn a blind eye . Or try telling the benefits of green vegetables to a ‘chicken –maniac’, it will fall on deaf ears. Or still worse offer a veggie a full chicken course , he is sure to chicken out from the table.
I am the latter type , a self proclaimed ‘ pure vegetarian’ ,and have always felt nauseated by even the thought of flesh making way into my mouth. I personally , have a psychological problem with ‘ food of flesh’ , as it paints a picture of blood , slaughter and wails of the ‘poor species’ in my mind. Those who defend it quoting ‘Law of Evolution – Survival of the fittest’ , I feel like telling them it is not a jungle out here but a civil society. And Man being the torchbearer of this society, should play the role of protector not predator of the weaker species.
My eating habit is both a personal choice as well as what I inherited from my family’s eating habit. I was on numerous occasions, lured by friends and relatives who eat non-veg , to ‘try it once’. And My argument used to be a little ‘play on words’. I used to say , you believe in ‘Once’ as in ‘try it once’ , but I believe in ‘Once’ as in “ Once a vegetarian , always a vegetarian” , and we should respect each others beliefs. That used to be pretty much, end of the story.
23 years of my life , I was a proud ‘veggie’ until that ominous day came along . 02/07 (2010) was to me , what 09/11(2001) was to America. Like the case with Americans, even I had least seen it coming and it shook the foundation of my life. Me and My friends were waiting for our order, in our most preferred Chinese restaurant, a plate of Veg wanton for me and a plate of Non- veg Momos for my companions. And as the dishes were served , I did not bother about verifying the order. After all , it was not my first time there ,and to top that I was as hungry as a bear coming out of hibernation. So, I picked up a fork and 'fished' towards the first piece in my plate. The taste was different than usual ,it was rather tasteless and veg- stuffing seemed too little for a Veg Wanton. But in the heat of the hungry moment , my senses were off-duty. So, one after another I gorged 3 more pieces of what to me 'apparently' were veg wanton.
Seconds later, my friend took one piece from my dish , and much like a wine-taster tells of wine he blurted out to me that I was having chicken. And that was it , I felt like my heart has fallen into my shoes. What planes did to Twin towers , those plates did to me. I, in my fit of rage, threatened to bloody sue the restaurant for putting me through this hell, but then I thought the damage has been done and it wont bring back what I had lost. However , my fit of rage did bring back something else , my Veg wanton , this time for real .
I then put this ‘Chickengate’ behind me. I put up a brave face not to spoil the evening for my friends. I even saw the funny side in all this, and thought of doing a ‘Maddy’( R.Madhavan in the movie ‘RHTDM’ finds himself in a similar situation , where he being a Brahmin reluctantly eats chicken on a date , and then pukes it to redeem himself). I decided not to redeem myself rather leave this as a ‘bitter experience’ that would constantly remind me not to rise to the bait next time.
At the end of it , amongst all the things that define this ‘unsavory’ event , like mistake , misfortune , destiny , my personal favorite is ‘ loss of veg-virginity’.
And if you talk about the variety of eating habits and food patterns , I’ll just say the menu has no boundaries. Take a look at the living species and their motley of eating habits , it is a full-wide spectrum , there are herbivore , carnivore ,omnivore amongst animals to vegetarian , eggitarian , non vegetarian amongst the ‘social animals’.
The point here is, to each his own. Everyone has their own tastes and they pamper their taste buds in fine style. Ever tried to show a calorie chart to a ‘Junk Food’ lover , he is most likely to turn a blind eye . Or try telling the benefits of green vegetables to a ‘chicken –maniac’, it will fall on deaf ears. Or still worse offer a veggie a full chicken course , he is sure to chicken out from the table.
I am the latter type , a self proclaimed ‘ pure vegetarian’ ,and have always felt nauseated by even the thought of flesh making way into my mouth. I personally , have a psychological problem with ‘ food of flesh’ , as it paints a picture of blood , slaughter and wails of the ‘poor species’ in my mind. Those who defend it quoting ‘Law of Evolution – Survival of the fittest’ , I feel like telling them it is not a jungle out here but a civil society. And Man being the torchbearer of this society, should play the role of protector not predator of the weaker species.
My eating habit is both a personal choice as well as what I inherited from my family’s eating habit. I was on numerous occasions, lured by friends and relatives who eat non-veg , to ‘try it once’. And My argument used to be a little ‘play on words’. I used to say , you believe in ‘Once’ as in ‘try it once’ , but I believe in ‘Once’ as in “ Once a vegetarian , always a vegetarian” , and we should respect each others beliefs. That used to be pretty much, end of the story.
23 years of my life , I was a proud ‘veggie’ until that ominous day came along . 02/07 (2010) was to me , what 09/11(2001) was to America. Like the case with Americans, even I had least seen it coming and it shook the foundation of my life. Me and My friends were waiting for our order, in our most preferred Chinese restaurant, a plate of Veg wanton for me and a plate of Non- veg Momos for my companions. And as the dishes were served , I did not bother about verifying the order. After all , it was not my first time there ,and to top that I was as hungry as a bear coming out of hibernation. So, I picked up a fork and 'fished' towards the first piece in my plate. The taste was different than usual ,it was rather tasteless and veg- stuffing seemed too little for a Veg Wanton. But in the heat of the hungry moment , my senses were off-duty. So, one after another I gorged 3 more pieces of what to me 'apparently' were veg wanton.
Seconds later, my friend took one piece from my dish , and much like a wine-taster tells of wine he blurted out to me that I was having chicken. And that was it , I felt like my heart has fallen into my shoes. What planes did to Twin towers , those plates did to me. I, in my fit of rage, threatened to bloody sue the restaurant for putting me through this hell, but then I thought the damage has been done and it wont bring back what I had lost. However , my fit of rage did bring back something else , my Veg wanton , this time for real .
I then put this ‘Chickengate’ behind me. I put up a brave face not to spoil the evening for my friends. I even saw the funny side in all this, and thought of doing a ‘Maddy’( R.Madhavan in the movie ‘RHTDM’ finds himself in a similar situation , where he being a Brahmin reluctantly eats chicken on a date , and then pukes it to redeem himself). I decided not to redeem myself rather leave this as a ‘bitter experience’ that would constantly remind me not to rise to the bait next time.
At the end of it , amongst all the things that define this ‘unsavory’ event , like mistake , misfortune , destiny , my personal favorite is ‘ loss of veg-virginity’.
Monday, December 28, 2009
A $2500 HAIRCUT
Well, those who are wondering what I mean when I say $2500 haircut , let me tell you that I am not talking about a high end saloon in Vegas . Nor is it the latest “Hair grafting” technique that would cost you a fortune.
Rather , “A $2500 HAIRCUT ” is what speaks of the spirit of the movie “ THE AMERICAN PASTTIME”. The story is set in Utah desert, US during the time period of World war 2.
It is the story of around 8000 Japanese Americans who have been pushed out from their homes in the states , due to the rising angst of American people against them owing to the American- Japanese face off in WW2.
These people are made to live in an internment camp in Utah desert area, under military surveillance.
The camp has wooden shacks that are more like dormitories that gives no privacy to any individual or family.
What is inspirational is to see how these people take everything in their stride and start building their lives in the camp from the scratch. There are numerous moments when you would feel that these guys are given short end of the stick just because they did not have “American Ancestors”. Unfair as it was, It was also a mistake as the heart and soul of these people was American to the core.
The highlight of the story is how these Americans of Japanese descent redeem themselves from all the bias, hatred and suspicion directed towards them by the American authorities and people at large. And as I said redemption came in form of a “HAIR CUT”. (one of the best climaxes I have seen in a long time, must watch it) I am no cinematic expert or critic , but all I can say is that if you are game for a movie that is meaningful , motivating and emotionally arousing , then this is it.
I feel it is all the more important to watch this movie in today’s time , that is because of the rapidly changing demographics of the new world where people from different cultural , religious, ethnic backgrounds co-exist with each other. We can take a cue from this story and move one step forward in strengthening the idea of “ Universal Brotherhood ”.
It is time that we “ Stop thinking about the race with humans , and Start thinking about Human race.” – Me thinks.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Ugly Face of Facebook – Beware of the Voyeur !
With a whopping subscriber count of 350 million(facebook alone) and counting , the whole world and his dog has got hooked on to Facebook , orkut and other social networking sites. Count me in. I mean , I am all ‘ears and eyes’ for a medium that brings me back in touch with old friends and distant relatives. But the skeptic in me says “take it with a pinch of salt”. And true it is as nothing in today’s world comes in “ Black and white” , rather there are intricate grey layers that are not easy to spot.
As I set to find the grey areas in Social networking culture, It was just a matter of putting things into persepective. The topmost evil related to Social networking is “ SEXTING” and exchange of pornographic content usually nude pictures of self/others. Sexting means to send a dirty sexual text message with the hopes of receiving "interesting (often risque)" picture messages in response. The sad part is that the teenagers who are still naïve and unaware of the seamy side of the things , more often than not fall prey to the “ sex scavangers”.They get carried away into sharing their intimate pictures having been told that it is the “cool thing” to do. And then get blackmailed and sexually exploited. Those who find it hard to believe please read below a true story :
“Recently in Wisconsin, Anthony R Stancl( 19,male, of New Berlin) blackmailed dozens of fellow high school students into sex acts by using photos and videos obtained in a ‘Facebook’ scam. He was found guilty and faced up to 50 years in prison”.
The modus operandi was to pose as a girl online and persuade others into sending him naked pictures of themselves, then using the images to blackmail them for unnatural sex. Authorities found more than 30 folders on Stancl’s computer containing about 300 nude images of other male students.
The handwriting is on the “wall” , be ware of the “voyeuristic vultures” plying in the online world. Do not share your personal stuff with others even on deepest temptation.
The other thing about social networking is “ the amount of time spent on it”. Youngsters ,mostly in the age band of 13-23 yrs, are the most fervent followers of these networks. They start with once in a week and then few minutes daily , until they realize they have become “creature of habit” and cannot keep their hands off it. The time spent networking finally takes its toll on the studies/academics and some teens do not even shy from “smuggling” sleep hours into social networking hours(the hazards of which I have put in my earlier blog on “sleep”). Clearly Individuals should know when and where to draw the line , and Parents need to play a more vital role here keeping a tab on their child’s “online hours”.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
WAKE UP ‘SID’ , BUT WHEN!
Sleep is what I feel has been the most undervalued and overlooked part of our daily life. Everyone seems to be following a simple time management rule - “ Smuggle sleep”, but let me tell you that it is not a good rule on any given day or should I say any given night.Though there are also some who would refuse to cut down on their normal sleep come hell or high water, but the trend is increasingly towards the former.
I received one of those e-mail forwards .It was captioned “ What killed Ranjan Das (CEO of SAP labs) ?”
Being a techie myself I was quite taken aback and got curious to read further.
“Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India . The Doctors investigated more on Ranjan’s lifestyle and habits in order to know what led to his death.They found out that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep.
1. Short sleep duration (<5 or 5-6 hours) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night.
2. Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.
3. Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.
4. Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!
5. Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical
conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.
6. Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.
2. Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.
3. Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.
4. Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!
5. Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical
conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.
6. Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.
In conclusion:
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food,exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. and, that killed him.”
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food,exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. and, that killed him.”
The credibility , of the above findings and conclusion, is questionable, so I tried to find out more authorized information to solve this ‘sleep suspense’.
Understandably so , when you are being told that your wrong sleeping habits are a ‘potential poison’ , you would very much want to know the right dose of sleep. At least I wanted to.
So I asked Uncle Google, and he referred me to one of the threads in TIME magazine. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1812420,00.html
The counselor in this discussion was Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in La Jolla, California. Impressed by the credentials and going by the reputation of TIME magazine , I prepared myself mentally to take daniel’s word. But to my surprise, the plot thickened as I slowly read through what he said and I quote “ Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, live the longest. And people who sleep 8 hr. or more, or less than 6.5 hr., they don't live quite as long. There is just as much risk associated with sleeping too long as with sleeping too short. The big surprise is that long sleep seems to start at 8 hr. Sleeping 8.5 hr. might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hr.”
This got my goat , I started with the view that sleeping less is a curse , but now I was told that sleeping more is even a bigger curse. This sleep thing really became a nightmare for me.
At the end of it, I learnt that ‘ Improper sleep’ cuts both ways and it cuts really sharp. So, I decided to make my peace with the magic number of ‘6.5-7.5 hrs’, and not loose anymore sleep over this matter.
At the end of it, I learnt that ‘ Improper sleep’ cuts both ways and it cuts really sharp. So, I decided to make my peace with the magic number of ‘6.5-7.5 hrs’, and not loose anymore sleep over this matter.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
MY FEARS
At so many times, over all these years
I was crumbled by my fears
The fears had different shapes and size
To me they were like cat is to mice
Over the time, I learned to live with my fears
More I tried to bury them , larger they appeared
Shattered I was , fighting this loosing battle
For I was not well armed to tackle
There were moments when I would feel
These fears are not for real
They are just a psychological thing
But deep inside I knew, they are sharper than a python’s sting.
In excruciating agony , to the skies I would shout
Oh! Master of the universe, show me the way out
No light came , nothing celestial hailed
Me left with my fears, darkness prevailed
Having suffered at its hands so long
I knew well this misery
It is not the one that time heals
Nor can be operated by surgery
All this while , to me one thing was clear
That fear dwells on fear
To end this chaotic circle , it was upto me
So I faced my fear , and came home clean.
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