What is health?

When it comes to health different people have different opinions. One person wants to have a good health by eating more food; another is of the opinion that sleeping for more number of hours will enable him to have a healthy life.

In fact for maintenance of good health food as well as sleep is required; however, there are some limitations. The human body is like a machine and the machine functions automatically without the intervention of the individual. Nobody can direct or instruct any internal organs to do the job at his will and in fact they function according to the mechanism in force within the body. Health means having a better tuning or rhythm within the body. Each human body requires sufficient quantity of food rich in the requisite ingredients; sufficient hours of sleep and enough physical and mental work. Ill health is due to any imbalance among the three factors mentioned as above.

Health means enjoying in good terms with the family members, relatives, colleagues, friends, neighbors and society; being able to run for a bus or train without getting out of breath; having the ideal weight necessary to perform the day to day activities; evincing interest in participation in some kinds of sporting events; having a clear skin, better vision and shiny hair; never suffering from any diseases other than common cold or mild upset in the stomach; being able to adapt easily to the changes in life; feeling glad to be alive when the person wakes up early in the morning; eating the right kind of food; enjoying some form of relaxation like music, games, movies etc; never falling prey to ill habits like smoking or drinking; drinking pure water sufficient to keep the body cool and refreshing and living the life without much strain or stress.

Who wins the game - the lions or the buck?

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Lending a shoulder - Shri Narasimha Shenoy

Lending a shoulder

Most of us would pass by a challenged child on the street without stopping. Perhaps click our tongues in sympathy before moving on. The good Samaritan in us lies somewhere buried within and the faint stirrings of the conscience quieten down as soon as they appear. But there are a few, and they are a microscopic minority who view matters such as these in a totally different perspective.

Charged with a passion to render some help to these children they set about their task of taking them from darkness to light, bringing sunshine into their lives in short, lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness. Lending a shoulder to the disabled is not just an act of compassion, it is more of a duty enjoined on all of us.  Who are able bodied and who have all our facilities intact.

It was this spirit that fired a young man namely Narasimha Shenoy who works for Canara Bank to start a school and care centre for mentally challenged and disabled children called “Nachiketa Manovikasa Kendra”. “The harrowing sight of mothers taking their mentally challenged children in transport buses from Vijayanagar to a special school far away in the city everyday touched a taw nerve” says  Shenoy, explaining the rational behind his starting the school.

The plight of the kids who were rarely offered seats in the jampacked buses was more than he could hear. The Kendra started in Vijayanagar with just six children, today is home to quite a large number with more and more parents, obviously impressed with the working of the Kendra, imploring Shenoy to take their wards in.

Shenoy chose the name; Nachiketa because the character of the same name in the Upanishads is noted for his moral strength and enquiring mind. The school admits children after conducting a small test to assess the needs of the student after which a special course is designed to suit him or her. “The training includes speech therapy, behavioural therapy, yoga, physiotherapy and also focuses on developing self help skills”, says Shenoy, whose efforts to rope in the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences proved fruitful when the institute agreed to train two of the school’s teachers in speech therapy.

The children in the school are trained in skills such as making candles, greeting cards, painting earthenware, making envelopes and files, tailoring and are also taught the use of simple tools. The basic idea is to provide these children a sense of adequacy and inculcating in them the confidence that they can take their place in society. “The results were wonderful”, gushes Shenoy. “Some parents, whose children could not even walk, were stunned to see them walking independently and communicating with the other children, something that they had never done before”.

The children are also taken out on the picnics and opportunities are created for normal children to interact with them. Shenoy has also been successful in fixing up jobs for the grown up children, who have shown remarkable progress in nearby garment factories and shops. Although finances have always remained a problem with the Kendra, dependent almost wholly on donations which have come in sometimes in a trickie and sometimes in a torrent from organisations like Canara Bank, The Inner Wheel Club, Rotary Club and Lions Club. Shenoy is determined to carry on the good work, come what may.

“All that these children need is love and support and they will be able to stand on their own feet one day”, says Shenoy. The task is herculean, but not impossible. What is required is a hearfull of love and that is something that Shenoy and his teachers possess in abundant measure. The infinite patience that they display and the care with which they handle these children is ample proof of their total commitment to a noble cause.

(Information courtesy: Deccan Herald – 22.02.2002 by C V Aravind)

I should say that Mr. Narasimha Shenoy is certainly a different person who is committed and dedicated himself to the cause of upbringing the mentally retarded children. He deserves all the help and support.

I appeal to all my friends to give Mr. Shenoy, the required financial and moral support in abundance. Those who live in Bangalore, please visit the school. I am sure tears will roll in your eyes when you see these children struggling to accept the challenges of the world. Mr. Shenoy and his team deserve all Kudos.

Donations to Nachikta Manovikasa Kendra Trust is exempt from IT under 80G of the IT Act1961

The following are the contact details of the Kendra:

Nachiketa Manovikasa Kendra Trust (Regd)

(Special School for mentally challenged and disabled)

14^th Main Road end,

M C Layout,

Vijaynagar,

Bangalore 560040

Phone: 080 – 23110286;

Mobile: N N Shenoy: 96453 70934

Email: nmvktrust@gmail.com

Those who are willing to send their contributions in kind can reach the trust and handover the same in person or through their representatives. Donations and contributions can also be sent by way of cheque/demand draft payable at Bangalore favouring Nachiketa Manovikasa Kendra Trust (Regd)

Working Hours: 9-30 am to 3-00 pm. from Monday to Friday.

A verse from the Tao Te Ching

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

Why shouldn't we eat after Swimming?

There are different kinds of versions in regard to eating after a swimming exercise. Is it harmful to eat after swimming ? In such a case what is the right time to eat once the swimming workout is over ?

What happens when one swims after having food ?

The physicians and trainers used to advise the learners not to consume any food immediately before swimming or after swimming. The minimum waiting period for getting into the pool after a meal is at least 30 minutes.

The following are some reasons put forth by the experts in the field:

·         Once we get into the pool right after eating, we could develop cramps and risk drowning because the body works to take care of its energy needs and that conflicting needs can cause certain problems

·         During the course of exercise, the sympathetic nervous system, a part of the automatic or autonomic nervous system consisting of brain, stem and spinal cord stimulates the nerves to the heart and blood vessels.

·         The above nervous stimulation causes the blood vessels consisting of arteries and veins to contract or constrict – the process called vasoconstriction increasing the resistance of the blood vessels in the tissues and reducing  blood flow to those tissues

·         The working muscles also receive the command from the brain, however, the metabolic byproducts produced within the muscle override the commands and cause vasodilatation.

What are the side effects of swimming after food ?

The following are some side effects by attempting  swimming immediately after having a food:

·         Once the food is consumed the stomach needs sufficient energy  to get the food digested  and normally the bowel takes a minimum of thirty to sixty minutes to digest the food and thereafter it sends the digested food to the intestines for further processing

·         Under the above situations, when an exercise like swimming is undertaken, the parts of the body viz., hands, legs, stomach, shoulders, head etc are getting the message to boost the blood flow and the blood that would have gone to some of the organs especially the bowel will start proceeding to the above parts to provide required energy.

·         Because the blood flow is restricted or almost blocked to the innermost parts of the stomach, the process of digestion is hampered and the stomach muscles start creating cramps and pains resulting in un digestion of the food inside the stomach.

How long one should wait after eating a meal ?

There are some pressing circumstances or situations during which time, a learner or a participant may need to go in for swimming after having his food.

This depends upon the following factors:

·         The time gap between the meal and the exercise

·          The quantum of food consumed by the person.

·         The part of the day during which time the exercise is undertaken

1.    As we had seen earlier, the safest time to go in for swimming after having a meal is 30 minutes and more. However, if a person feels, that he had consumed only very little food required for undertaking a swimming exercise, it is recommended  that there is no harm in going for swimming subject to the  kind of food consumed. by the person.

2.    The bigger/heavier the meal, the longer the person needs to wait. In case of light foods like snacks,   a juice, half a bagel or a few low-fat crackers, he can go almost immediately.

3.    If a person wants to have his exercise as the first thing in the morning, a small amount of fruit juice and water is sufficient because the energy need during the morning time is very low. If he wants to do the exercise mid morning then a breakfast high in carbohydrates will provide him enough energy. If it is late morning but before lunch, a little snacks before working out and a lunch rich in carbohydrates and protein is a must after the work out. However, after the lunch but before t late evening, an empty stomach is better

Eating before or after the workout wholly depends upon the time gap and energy level of the person concerned and no strict guidelines can be specified in this regard.

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