Why I started doing yoga.

The story dates back to 2008.  In that year I had at least four episodes where I had a muscle pull in my waist, you know like a sudden spasm, which hampered my movements like bending and twisting. The pain used to be so intense that it used to become impossible to even sit down in the Indian style toilet.  Also, there would be a fair amount of swelling and a slight warmth in the area.  Now, now, don't you think I am writing down a medical report.  These were the turn of events that used to happen after getting a muscle pull.  Whenever such a thing happened, I used to call my physician friend who gave me injections and some pain killers .  At such times, it was obvious that I take leave from my office and incur loss of pay on account of that.  In such a situation, I used to lose at least two days of office attendance.  The last time I had such an episode was because of a very trivial incident.  After getting ready to go to office, as I bent down to turn on the petrol cock of my bike, I developed this pull.  Since one of my paternal aunts had advised me to attend yoga class as I had informed her of these episodes and I also had checked out on the location of the said yoga class, I straight away went to this yoga class and informed the lady yoga instructor of what ails me.  She told me it would take at least 30-45 minutes for the treatment to which I readily agreed.  I called my office to inform that I would be late as I am at a doctor's clinic.  The treatment consisted of traction.  I was asked to lie down on the floor with my legs resting on the wall, half bent.  One strap was tied to my waist which was then hooked to a clamp already affixed to the wall.  I was made to be in that position for almost 30 minutes which gradually subsided my symptoms.   I must say by the time I got back to my feet, my symptoms were all gone and I could feel the swelling had reduced.  After that I hardly had any pain and could work in the office throughout the day without any discomfort.  The next day onwards I started attending to yoga classes regularly.  I might have been a student of that class for almost six years after which I shifted down south to Hyderabad.  It is for sure that yoga helped me get rid of many chronic ailments or at least they are quite under good control by regular practise.  It is a sincere advise that one must practise regular yoga or any form of exercise to remain fit and healthy.

Its Hyderabad

Okayyyy, so now after thinking many times over and over, I finally moved to Hyderabad.  This is not the first time that I have come to this lovely city.  I came here first when I was just 3 years old as a tourist along with my parents and my elder bro.  At that time, we had visited among other things Nagarjunasagar dam, a lovely place.  I dont know what's the position now, but there was an island in the middle of the dam where you need to go in a motor boat, and you know what, there were hundreds and hundreds of beautiful peacocks all over the place.  I still remember we had such fun clicking them.  And yeah I remember watching the clock in the Salarjung museum which I had a chance to revisit in 1992 when I was here staying in Kacheguda in my student life.  After 1972, exactly 20 years down the line, I landed again in Hyderabad to pursue a course to become a radio officer in merchant navy.  But unfortunately even after spending a full academic year, we could not appear for the exam of that particular course, which is conducted by the Govt. of India, Deptt of Telecom, since our exam forms could not reach Delhi as the plane which was carrying the forms crashed while landing at Delhi airport, so we were told.  Though no one died in the crash, but our forms and our future in merchant navy did die with it.  So I had to return empty handed.  But I must say, I enjoyed my stay in Kacheguda.  The hostel was a dormitory comprising two big halls in which the owner had put out beds and had given lockers to each one of us.  While attending the classes, over a period of time, some of us friends became a group.  There were 3 boys and 3 girls or you could say three couples in one group.  Even after so many years, I still remember each one of their names and we had a lot of fun going to movies, picnic, religious spots, you name it and we had been there, but mostly movies.  After that it was in 2003 that I had come to this city in search of job when I was already into my present profession of medical transcription..  As I do not like to travel alone, I brought along a friend of mine from Nagpur as my wife was pregnant.  Since I had already applied online, the office was expecting me.  After the customary interview and other formalities, my job was finalized.  But I did not joint immediately.  This was in July.  After going back to Nagpur, myself and two of my friends decided to do home based job in the same field at one single location.  So, it was decided that two of us fund PCs and start work at one of us' home.  After working for almost three months, we decided to wind up because the company which was giving us work, did not have much of it.  It was based in Bhopal and its future was in dark.  So, we stopped.  As the third friend did not own a PC, I sold mine to him and finally I moved to Hyderabad in the same office where I had finalized my job.  That was in December.  Since my wife had gone to her native place, Benares, for the delivery of our first child, I came alone here.  As I moved to Hyderabad, my mother was alone in the house and had to manage all the things by herself.  During the course of about four months that I was here, she fell ill, traveled to Baroda for a week as my brother was posted there at that time, and had to deal with a lot many things all by herself.  She suffered quite a lot living alone in Nagpur until the time I was here.  Seeing her plight, I decided to go back to Nagpur to be with her as I could not bear more of her being there alone.

culture shock

The main definition of culture shock is when a person migrates from his or her area of inhabitance to another area which is completely alien to him/her and where he/she finds persons with altogether different lifestyle.  I can say that I experienced a similar thing in my life when I shifted from my city of residence to another for employment purposes.  First it was to Raipur, then in MP, from Nagpur.  The Chhattisgarhi language was totally new to me and could only start to understand a little of it after many months.  Also the food taste was quite different from what I was accustomed to.  The second time it happened in my life was when I shifted to Hyderabad from Pune.  Here again, the only staple diet of the people is idli, dosa, and rice which too I found difficult to adjust to, and not to mention the Telugu language which is quite difficult to understand.

जेव्हा एक व्यक्ती एका क्षेत्रातून दुसऱ्यात राहण्याकरिता जातो आणी तिथलं राहणं खाणं, जिवनशैली त्याच्यासाठी नवीन असतं, माझ्या मताप्रमाणे ह्याला परकीयकरण असे म्हणतात.   माझ्या जीवनात असे दोनदा घडले.  पहिल्यांदा जेव्हा मी नोकरी संदर्भात नागपुरहून रायपुरला गेलो, मला वाटते मला पर्कियकरणाचि जाणीव झाली.  तिथली छत्तिस्गढी भाषा, तिथली राहणी खाणी मला बरीच अनोळखी होती.  तिथली थोडिफार भाषा समजुन घ्यायला मला बराच काळ लागला.  हा अनुभव माझ्या आयुष्यात दुसऱ्यांदा तेंव्हा आला जेव्हा मी पुण्याहुन हैदराबादला आलो.  इथलं हवामान, राहणे , इडली, दोसा, व भात खाणे, ह्या सगळ्या गोष्टींमुळे मला परकीयकरण अनुभवायला मिळाले .  त्याहून कठीण इथली तेलुगु भाषा जी समजायला फारच अवघड आहे.

Letter to the Prime Minister

A letter to the PM


Respected Mr. Modi:

Your idea of Swachha Bharat is no doubt very innovative and a need of the hour, but I very much doubt its success, which I think, you also know.  I think the main reason behind its late success is lack of education in our country.  I always believe that 90% of Indians are bloody illiterates, govt. figures notwithstanding.  What I mean to say is Indians lack civic sense and to teach them such a thing we need to give proper education and inculcate good habits.  I am not saying that I am not in the 90% lot, no, because many times I find myself in such a situation where I have to either throw something by the side of the road or even more attend a nature's call as there are no proper facilities of either a dustbin or a toilet.  I know this is going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort and many more years.

I think it is in the genes of us Indians to litter around and live in filth.  It is a well known fact that Indians who go abroad for greener pastures are mostly brainy guys, "brain drain" as we call it.  But in other countries too Indians are known to litter around.  It does mean that even the most brainy and well educated persons are in the habit of, nay love to live in filth.  It is so much so that that I heard in Singapore the dirtiest area of that country is where the Indians live.

Is there is any solution  to this?  Of course,  there is and that is education and only education.  What I think the biggest factor going against your idea of Swachha Bharat is the indiscriminate  use of plastic bags.  I sincerely request you to completely ban the use of plastic bags in all its shapes and sizes even if that means bringing in draconian laws just like they have in Singapore where a person is fined $500 for spitting in the open.  I know the task is difficult but not achievable.

Regards,

Rohit Badhe

spendthrift

why be a spendthrift? is it wrong if I ask my wife to save and spend less? are we earning millions per day? once in a while its okay, by why every now and then? cant she control her desires? I do think having self-control is the biggest achievement, that's what I learned when I did vipassana course.  that was an eye opener.  there he taught us to meditate, to concentrate, to control ourselves, self-control.  a few days back I quarreled with my wife over buying ice-cream.  she was supposed to buy only one for our son, but when she went inside the shop, she bought 2 family packs.  the shopkeeper told her its buy one get one and in fact I know that brand, Amul, its not buy one get one.  even if you buy one pack, you get it at half the amount, no need to buy two.  they do sell a single pack.  but she being spendthrift and very headstrong, why would she listen to me?  I dont say that she doesnt indulge in saving for our future, for our son, but still whenever you can get a chance to save, do it.  have self-control.  in fact in addition to the two packs, she bought one single cup for our son who finished it by the time we came home.  anyways.

so, its a fact that workload has gone down where I work presently and now its time to shift.  i called up my previous employer in the evening and he has called me tomorrow to have an informal chat.  let's see what it turns out to be.  what i heard from my colleagues from the earlier employer that workflow has increased here and he is adding persons to boost his strength.  the only deterrent may be a longer travel as they have shifted from where the office was located to a little distance away which may be a little far for me.  but if he agrees to employ me on the previous terms and conditions, i dont mind the distance to travel.   my condition remains no night shift and fixed salary plus incentives.  i do hope he agrees to it.  

goodbye pune?

Is it time to say goodbye to Pune?  I think yes.  But why? enough of this city, got bored.   its become too crowded.  I have been here for a decade now, enough is enough.  but going where? north, east, or south?  let me see.  North is a costly affair.  what about south? acute water shortage.  i don't know how people manage there.  East? an explored frontier for a westerner like me.  no water shortage and inflation is low.  This is from the feedback that I got from a colleague of mine who belongs to that place.  when that guy has come here, why do I have to go there? the answer is same when you ask why Indians go abroad.  What about pay package, obviously higher, otherwise why would I think about it in first place.  What about the job? the company is stable, in existence since more than a decade so much so that the employees working there are unknown in the market because hardly anybody leaves the job, so satisfied are they, and the headcount is more than 50 that's what I heard.  Once I like the place and the job and decide to settle down there, family can move in.  But wait, do I smell a UK somewhere in between.  Wow, won't it be fascinating going there and working and earning some money some of which can be sent home.

Okay!!! had a talk with my cousin who lives in Cambridge for the last six months.  Though he is not in the same profession as me, but he says there are three big hospitals where I can try for a job.  I have forwarded him a completely new and redrafted resume.  He also said he is friends with a Romanian physician who can perhaps help me get a job there.  Once the resume is accepted, I will be facing a video interview on Skype.  After the interview is over and final salary is decided, the hospital will issue me a work permit initially for three years renewable for another three years later on.

A former colleague of mine from Nagpur who is married and settled in London had worked in one of the hospitals there.  She worked as a medical PA.  The nature of work is totally different than what I am doing here.  The job is very interesting and enjoyable.  It involves calling the patients to schedule their appointments, liaison with other hospitals, proofreading letters, etc.  In short the job is more of an admin job rather than headphone usage.  What a relief would it be if I get such a job, and that too five days in a week. That does mean on weekends I can do something else, maybe a part-time job. But where? maybe a job in the essential services sector like petrol pump attendant or maybe a taxi driver.  You may say why I am thinking of such a job for a person like me.  Why not, there's nothing wrong in it.  After all work is worship, whatever the job might be, and as long as it is a blue or white collar job, I don't see any wrong in it.  The only stumbling block to go there might be the work permit.  My colleague said that normally the job of a medical secretary may not fetch me a work permit, but a medical PA can, though vacancies for this type are few.  If luck has it, I will get it and that is in His hands.  Amen. 

atrocious!

Deep rooted casteism has taken its toll again.  In the lawless land of UP, two teenaged girls were raped and then hanged from a tree.  Why? because they belonged to a lower caste of dalits.  And who were the perpetrators? men from upper caste yadavs.  Is that the only reason to commit the crime? yes that is the one and only reason.  Have the culprits been caught? not all, and to say two of the four guys were policemen.  what was the reaction of the govt of that state? the bloody rascal CM tells one lady journalist, why do you need to worry when you are safe.  I think his wife should also get the same treatment then he will know how safe women are in UP.

Like I said in my earlier post, in India, for centuries, caste tradition is being practiced.  No one knows when this all began, there are no definite records.  It is so ensconced in the Indian society that it will take a whole lot of centuries to do away with it and for the people to rise above it.  But thank God, because of educations, today's youth are crossing the barriers of caste, creed, and religion and increasingly getting into inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.  If this keeps happening, the day is not far away when all the castes and creeds in India will get mixed up and pure humanity will prevail.  But for that India has to be 100% literate which is far a distant dream.