Reiki group healing

Reiki group healing used to happen regularly at ARTH (Academy for Reiki Training and Healing), Belgam. When three close associates moved away, some or how it was not happening. I really used to crave for a group healing because it always gave me amazing experiences.

When multiple Reiki channels are transmitting energy to you, it is very powerful. It feels like you are being lifted up. That feeling of floating in the air, with powerful vibrations all around you, is incomparable. Then that high energy status would stay with me at least a month.

A point came when I thought I could no longer wait for the experience. I called up some of the Reiki channels and fixed a group healing on 31^st August 2015. It was a Monday, as Mondays are my Reiki days. Being a working day, some of them couldn’t come. Then some of them were out of station.

But I was determined, I had to make a start. So five of us came together and did group healing. Only two of us had experienced group healing before, for the other three it was a wonderful healing. They thanked me profusely and told that this should happen every month now.

My experience this time was a unique one. After I started Reiki healing almost two decades back,  my breathing rate has come down to a great extent (this happens with every serious Reiki practitioner). During the group healing, it came down further; it was as if I was not breathing at all. I could feel energy (prana) entering my body through every pore of my body and my inner self was whispering, ‘There is no need to breathe, you are soaked in prana’!!

Why the society is in a mess

When I was a man,

I performed man's duties,

To the best of my ability `

I came home after a hard day's labour,

To the loving embrace of my wife, 

Who prepared warm water for my bath,

And fed me what she had cooked,

With the ingredient of Love.

Seasons changed, roles changed.

I was born a girl, when it was time,

To marry the man I loved,

I was thinking of all the things

That I would do to make his life 

Comfortable and peaceful.

And he in turn, was planning things

To accomplish, to make me feel loved,

and cared for.

For centuries, man was happy,

Doing his duties,

He could appreciate things,

That his feminine counterpart

Did for him.

Then came a time,

Man started mistreating his better half,

Suppressing her, taking advantage of her.

For eons women suffered - 

Then came a day, they thought,

'Enough is enough, we're not weaklings,

We are equal to men',

They cut short their hair,

They wore men's clothes.

Took upon themselves men's occupations.

But alas! feminine duties also fell, 

Entirely on their tender shoulders, 

As men were not ready to lend a helping hand.

This imbalance couldn't last long,

And man got ready to help,

his better half.

Little does the mankind know

That every job is not for both. 

Man is endowed with physical strength, 

He can do physical work much faster

and easier than women.

Women are endowed with mental

And emotional strength.

They can be the pillar of the family,

Nourisher for babies,

Anchor for kids, much better than men.

Simply because that is how

Nature meant it to be.

Women are like the Earth,

The nourisher, the multiplier,

They need not prove they are

Equal to men.

Men are like the sky,

The protector, they are

not endowed with the role

of Nourisher by Nature.

Go deeper and understand,

Man and woman, they are

just roles taken by us.

To experience the joys and sorrows,

To go beyond,

To the ultimate realization,

that we are all just souls!

-----------

Oslo- the Saudi of Europe

Norway, with its population of 4.6 million on the northern flank of Europe, is today one of the most wealthy nations in the world, both measured as GDP per capita and in capital stock. On the United Nation Human Development Index, Norway has been among the three top countries for several years, and in some years the very top nation.

It is a very beautiful city which breathtaking natural sceneries, and the rose gardens are awesome:

In 1969 Philips Petroleum discovered petroleum resources at the Ekofisk field, which was defined as part of the Norwegian continental shelf. This enabled Norway to run a countercyclical financial policy during the stagflation period in the 1970s. Thus, economic growth was higher and unemployment lower than for most other western countries.

All residents with residence permit in Norway are usually members of the National Insurance Scheme. This allows for social security for all people, giving them the benefit of pensions, benefits for unemployment, pregnancy and birth, single parental care, sickness and injury, disability, old age and death.

But while roaming around Oslo, the city didn't reek of the richness that we expected. The railway platforms were dirty, there were many beggars on the street.

 We were extremely lucky to get sunny days to explore the city. We thought we had arranged for beds in Anker hostel, but on arrival, realized that the beds were in the Anker apartment. Usually the stay in hostels are enjoyable, the common kitchen is  a meeting place for people of different nationalities. And they provide breakfast too.

In the Anker apartment, there was no breakfast. Though there was a refrigerator and hotplates in the room, there were no utensils at all! One has to take the kitchen box that  contained some pans, plates, cups, ladle by giving a deposit of 100 kroners, and return it within three hours, everything cleaned and dried, and get back the deposit. This was too much of a hassle.

On arrival we wanted to have some coffee, and got just 30 ml of espresso coffee in a minuscule cup for 15 kroners! On the first day we went walking to the botanical garden and really enjoyed the scenic areas with beautiful flowers and water bodies. One can really relax and enjoy the botanical variety and diversity. Most of the area is designed as an Arboretum, with about 1800 different plants. There is a large and varied collection of trees and shrubs planted in a systematic fashion after plant family.

Views of the botanical garden:

To explore the city it is economical to take a three day Oslo pass, which gives unlimited usage of buses, trains, boats, trams, free entry to the museums (and there are many museums with stiff entry fee), and a 20% discount in some selected restaurants.

The Munch Museum's collection was left to the city of Oslo by Edward Munch, who has a unique position among Nordic painters, and is considered a pioneer in expressionism. The museum has a collection of paintings, graphical prints and drawings.

The Nobel Peace Center is about the Nobel Peace Prize. This center opened in the heart of Oslo on 11th June 2005. One can learn about the various Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and their activities as well as the remarkable history of Alfred Nobel. It was a moment of pride too, to watch big pictures of Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian who  delivered his Nobel lecture on December 11, 2014 at the Oslo City Hall, Norway.

One morning we took a boat ride to the island Nesoddtangen. On the way we saw a castle and the opera house. When we reached the island, bus was waiting which took us around the island for an hour. The island was so beautiful and  full of greenery. An interesting finding there was that post boxes with names of the local residents were hung on the wall in the bus stops. Many of them were not even locked!

An afternoon was spent in visiting three museums - Mairtime  museum, Kon Tiki museum and the Reptile museum. The first one is for ship building, fishing and marine archaeology, boat models and marine paintings. Norway's oldest boat, Stokkebaten, is also exhibited here. The Kon Tiki museum has on display the original boats and exhibits from Thor Heyerdahl's world famous expeditions. The Oslo Reptile park contains more than 100 species of reptiles. It has a wide range of exotic and colorful animals like snakes, frogs, spiders and crocodiles. On Tuesdays there is a feeding show and we wee lucky to be there on a Tuesday. It was interesting to watch a small snake swallow a whole rat, slowly and steadily.

It is important to keep in mind that a flat fee is charged every time you exchange money in Oslo. Despite being a touristic city, there are very few places to change currency, like airport, railway station and big public places.

Leaving The Hair Open….

Hair style has an important role in the appearance of an individual. While dealing with many individuals suffering from constant tiredness, weakness and unexplained diseases, I have seen that the way we care for our hair and our hairstyle affects us at a spiritual level.

Hair and nails are relatively more Raja-Tama predominant than the rest of our body. As a result of this, ghosts (demons, negative energies) who are also Raja-Tama predominant find it easier to attack us through our hair. Negative energies attach themselves onto the hair creating subtle black energy centers, and from here, they affect a person.

This means that the way we manage and care for our hair can either aid in negative energies affecting us or it can minimize the risk of them attacking us from the spiritual dimension.

Nowadays it is common for women worldwide to leave their hair open and this is especially so when they step out for the evening wanting to look their best.

Why are women affected more?

Generally women are more Raja predominant than men from a spiritual level, and so they are more emotional by nature.

By leaving her hair open, the Raja component within her hair increases even further. An increase in the Raja subtle-component makes a person’s mind more fickle and also increases the tendency to be frivolous. This fickleness of the mind can be taken advantage of by negative energies to affect a woman and make her do and say things she normally wouldn’t.

When the hair is left open, women become more conscious of their five senses and their body. Very quickly the Raja component can be converted into the Tama component by negative energies. This leads to an increase in feelings such as depression, worry, and increased sexual thoughts leading to promiscuity.

Women with short hair are at a disadvantage as they generally keep their hair open. As a result, distressing energies from the environment are continuously attracted to the hair left open. Short hair on a woman is more likely to become charged with distressing vibrations.

When a woman sleeps with her hair open, the tips of the hair shaft are exposed. When sleeping we are more vulnerable to negative energy as they are more active at night due the increased Raja–Tama vibrations in the environment. This is especially so for women who do not do regular spiritual practice.

Why are men not affected by short hair?

At a spiritual level men generally have less of the Raja subtle-component than women; hence they are less emotional and are also less sensitive. They also have a higher ability to fight with negativity. As a result they are less prone to a subtle-attack because of their hair being cut. Men have a higher ability to imbibe the Sattva component with short and open hair.

In conclusion, as much as possible, women should not leave their hair down. It is better to put their hair up in a bun or tied in a plait or braid. Even while sleeping, it is better to tie one’s hair up.

Some interesting aspects:

Hair is an amazing gift of nature, and from a yogic perspective, it can actually help raise the Kundalini energy (creative life force), which increases vitality, intuition, and tranquility.

In olden days, people in many cultures didn’t cut their hair, because it was a part of who they were. Often, when people were conquered or enslaved, their hair was cut as a recognized sign of slavery. It was also understood that this would serve as punishment and decrease the power of those enslaved.

The bones in the forehead are porous and function to transmit light to the pineal gland, which affects brain activity, as well as thyroid and sexual hormones. Cutting bangs which cover the forehead impedes this process. When Genghis Khan conquered China, he considered the Chinese to be a very wise, intelligent people who would not allow themselves to be subjugated. He therefore required all women in the country to cut their hair and wear bangs, because he knew this would serve to keep them timid and more easily controlled.

As whole tribes or societies were conquered, cut hair became so prevalent that the importance of hair was lost after a few generations, and hairstyles and fashion grew to be the focus.

During the Vietnam War, undercover experts from the military searched American Indian Reserves for talented navigators, men with superior, if not supernatural, tracking abilities. After extensively documenting their skills for survival and tracking, they were enlisted. But once they were, whatever skills and talents they exhibited on the reserve seemed to vanish into thin air. Failures and fatalities led the government to conduct some expensive research on these recruits. When asked about their failure to perform well, the older recruits replied almost without exception, that when they received the mandatory military haircut, they could no longer ‘sense’ the enemy.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved 'feelers' or 'antennae' that transmit vast amounts of important information to the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex.

Cutting of hair is a contributing factor to unawareness of environmental distress in local ecosystems. It is also a contributing factor to insensitivity in relationships of all kinds. It contributes to sexual frustration.

Ref:

http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/hair-down

https://www.quantumbalancing.com/spiritualhair.htm
https://dailyoccupation.com/2017/07/26/spiritual-truth-american-indians-long-hair-tale-untold/

The world without me

It was in 2008 that my mother passed away, leaving a vacuum in my life. She was a working woman, with strong  moral principles and of bit of an  aggressive nature. I was on the  peaceful side, like my father. This was a reason for many heated  discussions between me and her. But  this did not reduce my love and  respect for her.

After her demise we have visited my maternal home many times. But my recent visit, in  June 2015 was a different one.  Usually we (my husband and I) would be busy visiting relatives and friends,  doing the shopping rounds, cooking  etc.., Now there wasn't much of  cooking to be done, visits were not  happening due to several reasons and  we were alone in the house a  major amount of time.

I got a lot of alone time which led to  some introspection. If I could relive the earlier years, would I like to behave differently? I think I was  a dutiful daughter, discussing all the major events in my life with my mother and taking her advice. After my marriage, I never let anything touch her self respect and pride (yes, she was lucky to have two great  sons-in-law, who were more of sons to her). But towards her last years I could have shown more patience, been more expressive in  my love and concern.

 At home when I was alone, I could feel her presence so  strongly. It was like two scenes running simultaneously in mind, one - of those days when she was  all over the house - multitasking. And the other - the home remaining without her, it is still existing….

Then something clicked inside me- I was experiencing the world without me. Now  that I have come back to my own house -  when I am doing things, I experience
two worlds simultaneously. One in which I see myself in the house, and another where I no longer exist, but the house is still existing. Nobody is indispensable in this world. We all have a small role to play, and then have to leave the stage.

More than the materialistic things that we accumulate or positions that we achieve, it is what we mean to somebody else, how much time we can give for a loved one, that matters. This awareness of a world without me, is giving me a great spiritual experience. It seems that a part of the colored glass in front of eyes is gone, changing my perception a little. Let me keep working at it… and wait for the Grace to descend!

Deception- a compulsory subject

Earth is a school where we have come to graduate. There is no limitation of time; we can take our own sweet time to learn each lesson. Unless we learn it thoroughly, it will keep on repeating. We decide the lessons we have to complete in one life time before we take birth, and we may complete them. We can take multiple life times to complete too.

Just like our worldly studies, here also there are some compulsory subjects and optional subjects. Observing the lives of people around me, and analyzing the lives of hundreds of people who came to me for healing, I have reached the conclusion that deception is a compulsory subject in this earth university.

Some of us encounter deception in childhood itself; it may visit during adulthood, or at the fag end of life. Whatever the age we are in when it arrives, it really takes us to the abyss of depression. And it is not an easy task to come out of it. But we have to come out, or how will we be ready for the next lesson?

There are some things that can help us overcome this depression. The main aspect that prevents healing is the thought, “Why me?”

When we realize that this is an experience affecting every one, the mind calms down and we are open to the means of healing.

Many will lose the interest in living, which brings on a series of physical ailments and they may become bed ridden. My approach in this situation is, suicide is not a solution at all. Being a past life regression therapist, I know the pitiful condition of souls of people who have committed suicide. We don’t know how long we are going to live, let’s take a minimum of one year. That means 365 days. Is it ok to live those many days bed ridden?  If not, one has to shirk the veil of depression and start living for one self.

The moment we tag our happiness to another person’s behavior towards us, we are making ourselves vulnerable to sadness. We need to learn to be happy by ourselves. Happiness is just an internal decision. Every day morning, make a resolution, “Today I am determined to remain happy, regardless of what happens externally.”

Once you have experienced a deception, it is important to forgive the person who deceived you. Believe me, it is not an easy task, and it is going to take time. But forgive we have to, not for the other person, more for ourselves. To release us from the shackles that is holding back the happiness from us. And remember, happiness is our birthright!

In the name of Reiki….

Vasanta (name changed) had contacted me one year back to discuss about Reiki. Her busy schedule didn’t allow her to come to the Reiki Academy before May 2015. And when I met her, she was in real bad shape.

She had physical problems, social and financial problems. She told she had learned Reiki three years back with another teacher, up to IIIB. Basically she learned Reiki to help her mother improve her health, but she was still not well.

“How should I be using the symbols?” she asked me.

“You are a Reiki IIIB channel i.e., you are a Reiki teacher. So are you teaching Reiki?” I asked.

She was taken aback by that question, “I can teach Reiki? How?”

I took a detailed history of her journey with Reiki. Her teacher taught her Reiki I and told to do full body Reiki healing for 21 days. On 22^nd day she was attuned to Reiki II. Her teacher did not stress the importance of daily self healing. From then on, she used to give Reiki healing to her own photograph for a few seconds and Reiki to her mother’s photograph (she was staying with her mother in the same house) to improve her physical condition.

After a few months, she got Reiki IIIA and IIIB attunements. Karuna Reiki was taught, and also so many other symbols (she showed me her note book). She had not observed any change in her life after Reiki.

“I can’t feel the presence of Energy in my palms while doing Reiki.” She told me.

“Feeling energy is related to one’s sensitivity. It is actually a sixth sense and it varies from person to person. A Reiki teacher has no role to play in that. Some are sensitive to the energy flow right from the start. Some develop it slowly with continuous Reiki healing, and I know some people who are not sensitive at all. Whether one can feel the energy flow or not, Reiki will definitely show results with healing. You are not getting any results, and that means something is wrong,” was my response.

Then I checked her palms for the presence of energy by dowsing with pendulum. As I expected, there was no energy flow.

“Let me attune you to Reiki I today. Do self healing for three months and then we will think about further course”, my suggestion was acceptable to her.

I gave her Reiki I attunement, she could feel the energy and she had an ear to ear smile to testify that. A dowsing revealed the presence of energy flow in her palms. Then we did self healing together.

“Now I can feel the energy flow and I feel so much at peace and happy after the healing.”

‘You are lucky that you are sensitive to the energy flow. Do self healing every day and your life is going to turn around, there’s no doubt about that,” I told her.

“Yes, I believe you,” she replied. The sparkle in her eyes told me that it was coming straight from her heart.

Soar High, Oh Man!

As the standard of living goes up,

Man gets deluded,

And lets the standard of life go down.

(Standard of love too)

As the years pass by and finally,

When he realizes the futility of such a life,

It’s all over.

And there he sees a life that got wasted!

Oh fool! Hold on to your values,

Be stable and detached.

Strive to cross this river of Maya,

And get done with this drama.

Attachment to materialistic things,

And relationships too,

Weigh you down,

You are a free soul,

Destined to fly high!!

End of a search

We love traveling so much and at the drop of a hat we can plan a trip and get out. At the same time many trips are planned to the minutest detail too. During every trip within India, I was on the look out for a place where one could just relax and get in touch with the inner self, and where we could go again.

This continued for many years and at last this February (2015) I found a serene place where I could sit and meditate peacefully. I joked to my husband that we searched all over India, to finally find it in my home state!

During our recent road trip to Kerala, my husband searched for places of interest near Kasargod and he tumbled upon Nityananda Ashram.

Located on a hillock in Kanhangad is the holy ashram built by Swami Nityananda.. A place for relaxation, the place was part of a forest area and here Swami Nityananda constructed 43 guhas (holy caves) in a mountain slope. These caves are considered to be an engineering marvel even to this day and attract thousands of people from all over the world.

Nityananda’s work on the Kanhangad fort started around 1927. For more details, go to http://www.nityananda.us/stories5.htm  Nityananda attained Samadhi on August 8, 1961. His samadhi is located in Ganeshpuri at the Samadhi Mandir.

We reached there by about eleven in the morning and a person described to us about the ashram and Swami Nityananda. He told me to go and have a look at the meditation caves. I went inside, had a look and ran out to tell my husband, ‘I want to sit inside there and meditate for at least an hour.’

We were told that the noon puja will start at 12.30. We decided to have a look at the Guruvan, attend the puja, finish lunch and go in for meditation. Guruvan is the place was Swami Nithyananda did Tapas (meditation) inside a cave for several years. It is located around 5 km east of Kanhangad town in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India, It is said that Swami had once struck the rocky hills to form a holy stream and it has been flowing ever since and is called the holy stream Papanasini Ganga. There we also saw the round table where Swami Nityananda sat and spoke about future events to public that surprised everyone as it appeared in the next day's newspaper.

On coming back it was puja time and then we had the Prasad lunch. Then we entered the meditation cave and spent an hour in bliss. We were informed that if we preferred to spend the night there, room was available. We accepted the offer and went to have a look at the room. It was a big room with two double beds, clean sheets and pillows and bath attached. After having the Prasad dinner, we retired to the room, read the book about Swami Nityananda and slept peacefully. At last I found a place where we can visit again to spend time in meditation.

If only....

If only I could give back
All those years that I stole from you
If only I could hand over
All those missed opportunities
If only I could replace
The frustrations with happiness
Believe me, I would do it, with all my heart.
It hurts to watch that tenderness in the eyes,
It pains to sense those longing vibrations,
It breaks my heart to remember all those
Neglected angels...
Will the river of time flow again from the start?
If it does, I promise you,
I will not come in the way...
I will let you fly....free...
High up in the sky...
With all those soul mates....

Tranquil Malaysia

Is your personal filter working?

We are all part of the Universe and have access to the infinite knowledge. But majority remains in the illusion of ignorance. Their faith in their own ignorance is so deep that it is difficult to easily penetrate it. When they come in contact with others whom they think are more knowledgeable, they look up to them and believe blindly.

Even though the ultimate truth is One, the personal truths vary because of the circumstances of life, beliefs and conditionings. For example, vegetarianism is good from many aspects. If you are going to tell an Eskimo that he should follow vegetarianism, how is he going to survive in his place where vegetables are not available?

Even when one is knowledgeable, the truths that he/she speaks are veiled by his/her own beliefs and conditionings. So we have to pass it through our own personal filter, which Nature has endowed us with, before blindly believing or following it.

If your personal filter is not working, you can be in real problem if others’ directions are followed. Once I was told by a supposedly learned man that ladies cannot attain Moksha. When I passed it through my personal filter, I found it to be not true. Then I searched literature and found that he was wrong.

How can one keep the personal filter up to date? By doing meditation daily it is very much possible. Then we can do Reiki self healing or any other spiritual practice. For me, daily puja is also very helpful. There is a misconception that we do puja to appease God. God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. It is the macrocosm, of which we are the microcosm. The macrocosm doesn’t need the puja from us. But by doing puja and some rituals, we are disciplining and purifying ourselves. Through this we can become aware of our strong connection to the macrocosm! 

PLRC4 - A step Ahead

Do you have a vacuum?

Recently I met this person who was constantly arguing, many times even contradicting his own statements. It is so very easy to get irritated with some one who is out to prove wrong every point you put forth. For some time, I was perturbed, and then it set me to deep thinking. When I looked beyond the words I could see the emptiness in the depth of his eyes, could sense the relationship problems he was going through (which was later confirmed).

Then we were having food with some friends for a few days. I was shocked to see the amount of food they could eat! The short girl half my age was already putting on so much weight. I could see the amount of fat getting deposited on her shoulders and back of the neck, which will surely  lead to joint problems soon. What you eat is making the future you, your body. So the callous attitude towards what and how much is going into your body can invite problems.

Whether it is talking too much or eating too much, they point to a vacuum existing in one’s life. Unconsciously the person is trying to fill that void by indulging in excess. But this attitude will not bring healing and peace in the long run. One needs to look within, and make firm resolutions and bring about some life style changes.

Do you identify any vacuum in your life?

Reiki spreading smiles

She came to learn Reiki because her brother- in- law told her it will make a difference to her life. She was depressed, for lack of love and attention from the husband. She was stressed, as her daughter was not studying in spite of being an intelligent child, and also due to the fact that in her joint family, nobody lent her a helping hand to manage the household chores.  

Though she was doing acupressure for many clients, nobody ever paid her and she was too meek to mention anything about the need of exchange of energy. After finishing the Reiki training, I asked her to teach me some acupressure points and I gave her a fee, ‘This is your first payment for acupressure’, and she beamed. I felt so nice to watch her smile.

After a week, she called me up. She was laughing all the way through the conversation. “You won’t believe it, Reiki is doing wonders for me. My daughter now studies herself, without me nagging her. I am full of energy to manage the house work. I don’t know how, but Reiki is working. And you know what? Clients who come for acupressure are now asking me how much to pay.”

Her words made my day, and my heart sang, ‘Thank you Reiki’ 

Acupressure can do wonders

A 36 year old lady came to learn Reiki from me. She is into acupressure therapy and has helped many people get rid of their physical problems. She heard about Reiki and thought it will complement her acupressure therapy.

It was an interesting story how she tumbled upon acupressure. At the age of 25 she was diagnosed with hyper thyroids and the doctor put her on allopathic medication. With time the dosage kept on increasing till it reached 150 mgs. She had three kids to look after, apart from all the house work. As a side effect of the medication, she started losing memory, she was tired all the time and she lost the grip of her fingers. While picking up vessels in the kitchen, the vessels used to slip from her fingers and fall down. She was going through hell.

Meanwhile she developed back pain and was advised surgery.

One day her parents came to see her and her mother was devastated. They went back and on another morning they took her forcibly to the Brahmakumari center where an acupressure therapist was visiting that day. She received a session on acupressure therapy, and to her relief and astonishment she was relieved of her problems to a great extent. She was called again in the same evening for a second session, to which she obviously went.

That kindled her interest in acupressure and she followed her heart’s calling. Now she is off the allopathic medicines, her memory is back to normal and she can perform her house hold duties well. And she didn’t have to undergo the surgery for back pain, which was also relieved through acupressure therapy.

'Oxford - 8 centuries of learning' - Alive , May 2001

Bumps and road rumblers of Karnataka

I have travelled quite a bit in India and can safely say that maximum bumps and road rumblers are found in Karnataka. They are provided at such short distances that I doubt some orthopedicians and dentists have close relations who make these. Many youngsters come with fractured teeth to the dentists for repair and old persons undergo fractures on fall due to bumps and rumblers.

Speed bumps and speed humps are among many types of “traffic calming” measures. Speed bumps are applications, usually asphalt, that are from two to six inches high and one to three feet from front to back. Speed humps are usually less than four inches high but 10 to 12 feet from front to back. They have to be marked with white paint so that it is visible from a distance and one can reduce the speed of the vehicle. I have reasons to suspect that the people of Karnataka are sadists because it is very very rare to see them demarcated or to find boards telling there is ‘Bump Ahead.’

Recently we had to drive from Belgaum to Raichur, and you can’t even imagine the number of bumps and rumblers on the State Highway. When we encountered one bump I started counting and by the time I reached ‘twenty’ there was the next bump on the road, many times. The rumblers, there were even six of them together at many places!

I was pitying the bus drivers who ply this route on everyday basis. No wonder many drivers suffer from bad back ache! When I saw the loaded trucks going over the rumblers, I was really praying to God! How much of fuel wastage and wear of the vehicles this must be causing?

Stinking ‘God’s own country’

I used to take pride in being a Keralite. We were known for our cleanliness. During our  travel from Lucknow to Kerala, when the train passed through my home state in the early morning, I used to show proudly to my husband the scene of ladies brooming the front yard of houses. It was the habit of many people to clean their houses, inside and outside, take bath and then enter the kitchen.

A normal scene in Kerala tody is uncollected garbage- pileup and stinking waste across both sides of national highways. Its rivers, tiny water canals and all other natural beauty, foundation of its growing tourism industry are getting affected as lack of waste management system in the State is causing havoc to normal public life.  

The common man brings the house hold waste and dumps it on road side. The corporation workers also dump waste on the road side and set fire to it. There are all sorts of things in the waste, including plastic, so the fumes are dangerous, affecting children more than the adults.

It is sad to see that there is a lack of proper Waste Management system in place in a state with 100% literacy. In several places locals are up in arm against prevalent practice of dumping and landfill Contractors who transport garbage to dump in the interior village dumping sites or near forests or water bodies often face severe resistance from locals and environmental activists.

Unofficial estimates indicate that Kerala generates 6000 ton of waste every day. However, local issues and sentiments have prevented even the collection of solid waste. The end result is that the stunning Kerala landscape has been converted into a stinking, garbage strewn one.

Ref:

http://www.universalecoservices.com/wastemanagement_in_kerala.cfm

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxvZX2JHDos

Is dishonesty our National character?

The road we go through daily was so full of potholes. After months, one day we saw a road roller, and we thought that repair was imminent. But they were just patched up with small stones and sand. It is anybody’s guess how long it is going to last, with our rainy season just starting, which will last for four more months!

All the street lamps won’t be lit, and to the complaints, the answer is ‘No money”. When there are discussions on such matters, always the final fault comes to the politicians. Yesterday I heard on the TV news that ‘Situations will improve only when honest people come into politics’.

That set my mind into a thinking groove. It was searching for honest people around, from the lower class to the upper class. It is so difficult to get workers here, because they can have an ok life with the availability of Rs.1/kg rice. The families manage to have multiple ration cards (that brings in middle class citizens taking bribe to issue multiple ration cards). So they have enough rice to eat and also, sell it back at higher rate and earn some money.

There are middle aged class IV employees in private institutions, who manage to get old age pension from the government, by giving wrong age certificates (again, who issues the certificate? What’s in it for him?)

Many people don’t think twice before stealing flowers and curry leaves from other houses. More daring ones will come with gunny bags, jump inside the house compound when nobody is there in the house and fill these bags with mangoes plucked from the tree in the back yard, leaving nothing for the house holder, and they are  proud of their achievement!

The informer (to the robbers) for the theft in a house was a worker from a mutt ( religious organization)! And today I see a news item, “The woman who has made the allegations started to work as a cook there and is originally from Hubli. After lunch the Godman asked her to keep a plate in his room and when she entered he allegedly locked the room and molested her. Malamaruthi police have registered a cased under 376IPC.The godman is originally from Bagalkot.” (http://allaboutbelgaum.com/news/godman-arrested-alleged-rape-cook/)

The cream of society, the doctors who want their kids to become doctors (irrespective of their capability) would go to any length of dishonesty (which are unthinkable) to achieve their objective. And the widely prevalent dishonesty of many doctors in the approach to treating patients is an open secret.

Majority of these people who blame the politicians for dishonestly taking personal advantages, would do exactly the same thing (or even more?) if they are in the same position. So what is our future? I can’t think of any other way than to wait till the end of Kaliyuga when a God incarnate will come to eradicate the evil!