S. Venkatachalapathy

It is really unfortunate that the ‘Health Care’ has become a medical terminology. When animals are really good at health care, we human beings struggle to maintain our health.  The domesticated animals or animals that feed on food discarded by human, suffer from diseases because they have started eating foods that are not suitable for them. In India there should have been a strong culture aimed towards heath care. Health care is each individual’s own responsibility. So the way of life, the daily activities and the food we take were aimed towards maintaining health. To ensure that everyone follows, the daily program was packed into culture. Hinduism is not a religion at all. There is no one God. One can worship the God in the form of man or woman or animals like monkey, elephant, snack, dog, lion, pig, eagle etc. The image of the man or the women can have innumerable variants. There can be any name and to give evidence to each name there are endless stories. Gods can be saluted...

It is really sympathetic to see old men and old women suffering from diseases. More than the sufferings, their misunderstanding about the nature of their diseases is awful. I could make this statement from my own experiences with the ailing old people. My experience started with my own grandmother who was very old even when I was a boy. She had perpetual swelling in one of her legs but however she managed to walk and do household works. She was not taking any Allopathic medicine. She used to eat moderately, as I remember, sometimes skipping her dinner or having just a bun for her supper. Only when she was down with fever I used to bring in a doctor to our home. Unlike today, doctors those days were service minded and could understand the difficulties of elderly people. The doctors used to analyse the symptoms. They were using simple instruments like thermometers and the stethoscopes and with that and by their knowledge of observing pulse rate they treated their patients with ver...

Twenty five years ago I expressed my wish to one of my friends that I was considering to join a social service club so that I could meet many people and could engage myself in meaningful social service activities. He suggested me an International Service Organisation in which he was a member and suggested me to attend a meeting of that club. I attended and I was well received by the other members. The then club President was an academician and because that I am a graduate from a premier institution he liked me instantly.   I was inducted as a member and I happily paid the subscription. Then on wards I was actively involved in various events. I got many friends from different professions. The culture of our club was very good that all the family members attended most of the meetings. Ladies and children were very happy since it was like a family recreation club. No doubt there were meaningful service projects like eye screening camps etc. . We also donated to educational aids a...

(All places referred in this article are in Tamilnadu, India)   In spite of being cautious with respect to food and exercise, I see a drastic increase in my weight these days and I was not sure whether I am all that healthy. Most of the days when I am in my home town, I fondly do surya namaskar asana, yoga asana and pranayama. I am aware of meditation also but do not practice it for fear of losing the aggressive attitude that is very much required for my business these days. Contentment may result in complacence and a leader today cannot be contended for he is required to run in the front so that his team will follow. The next generation has more challenges and we cannot be teaching contentment to them because of ruthless society that has been formed.  I wanted to understand what is wrong with my habits and more about healthier living. Some of my acquaintances had gone to Aravind Ashram, Rajapalayam for a training in naturopathy and yoga and I also made up my mind ...

On a sunny morning I had been to my friend’s home to meet him. He is a graduate engineer.  In his house I saw him sneezing, holding a hand kerchief in his hands and all the time rubbing his nose with it. I saw his eyes were red and swollen.  He should have been suffering from common cold I guessed. I asked him whether he had taken any mild medicine for the cold. He said that he had been to a doctor and the doctor had prescribed four tablets and one tonic. I asked him whether the cold is very severe and is there for a more than three days. He said that the trouble started only the previous day and he promptly consulted a senior doctor after waiting in the queue for more than two hours.  He also added that the doctor he consulted is an MD and cure is guaranteed for those who go to him. I was so eager to see the medicines prescribed because normally I take an analgesic and antipyretic like Paracetamol and may not require anything more to cure the common cold. I ha...