Hay Fever and Yoga

Warm Sunday afternoons would normally be the weather one craves for England, however this year's summer has been different for me so far. Some of my friends are telling me that this is a sign of having become purely "british" now as I have managed to catch what is called "hay fever". It has been more than 5 years that I have been living here, but this is the first of its kind experience for me. Constantly running nose, itchy eyes, mild forehead ache, coughing and sneezing - all this comes with being allergic to pollens. During summers when the rest of the country craves for hot weather, people suffering from hay fever crave for cold and wet weather as that reduces the pollen count in the air. Therefore, today (warm Sunday afternoon) whilst the rest of the Britian is out under the sun in the parks playing or getting sun-tanned, I am sitting in the house with windows as closed as possible (don't forget that we would normally not have fans or coolers in England) and typing this blog post. Sigh!!

Most of my work colleagues have either themselves or their spouses suffering from this annoying condition (it is not a disease and therefore not communicable). Last week, a colleague sitting beside me had to rush her husband to the hospital A&E due to him being coughing incessantly. It was then diagonsed as chest infection (caused by stored cough from hay fever which he did not manage to clean out of his body). My routine at home has been that of either cleaning or blowing my nose or sneezing. Poor nose - I have been making it suffer so much! But this way at least I am making sure that all the cough is coming out instead of getting stored inside and jamming other organs.

There are some Indian yogic remedies that can help sooth and to some extent also cure this allergy. Some of them are listed below for those who are able to do them (I should myself follow them instead of preaching, just that they need the discipline which I am currently lacking) -

Pranayam - Pranayam are some breathing yogas which strengthen lungs. They therefore help in reducing coughing and sneezing and keeping your nose clean and clear. I have learnt some of them from the Indian saint Baba Ramdev's shows on TV channel Aastha. A simple Google search will land you to those videos teaching how to do them.

Kunjal Kriya - My husband has been insisting that I perform Kunjal Kriya. In this you are supposed to drink like 2 - 2.5 litres of warm salted water in one go and then forcing yourself to vomit to bring it all out. He says that this vomit of water then brings out all impurities from the stomach and also will help me clean up my cough completely. I agree with him - I have tried it twice and it has helped me a lot. It does need a lot of strength though and I have to relax for some time after I have done this. It is not recommended to be done on a daily basis.

Jal Neti - My brother has been insisting that I perform Jal Neti. This is the yoga in which you take in water from one nostril and take it out from the other nostril. You need a tool to do which my husband can use perfectly to perform the act, however I have miserably failed to get the water out of the other nostril. It needs a lot of practice, and my attempts so far have failed. This will further help to ensure that the passage in my nose is clean and therefore any allergens would not be able to titillate my senses to cause sneezing.

Being a person who prefers natural remedies over allopathic medicines, I intend to religiously start trying the above three yogic remedies. They do not have any side effects (though I urge anybody reading this and attempting to first make sure that they have understood the process from a professional) and can cure multiple ailments.Yoga is a powerful tool which we hardly use to cure ourselves of all ailments. And not just curing physical ailments, but the discipline, patience, calmness and energy that it instills also helps in keeping our mind sound and serene.

Secret admirer

This weekend was about cleaning... destroying items that have not been used for years (as most likely they will not be used in future also) and shredding items from old document folders. I stumbled upon an envelop addressed to me (with slight misspelling of my surname). This was at a time when I used to live in DU post-graduate hostel during 2005 - 2006. I opened the envelope and found a short poem dedicated to me anonymously. I have some vague memories of receiving this when I was in the hostel and discussing about it with my close friends. Don't think I paid much attention to it that time, but reading it after so many years, I am finding the text quite cheeky! I have jotted the content of the note below verbatim:

My words dedicated to you... 

When you get close - I get weak 

Still feels good - still runs deep 

I want to know you deep inside 

Hear every thought and see every dream 

Anyway - I just want to say 

I love the way you looked that day

With your hair hanging down on your shoulders 

The way you do everything but talk

And how you stare at me with those eyes 

And your breath on my body makes me warm inside 

A memory - to ignite me for ever 

I think about you all the time 

Can't you see you drive me out of my mind

Yes I never want this dream to end 

stranger329@hotmail.com

Attraversiamo

Attraversiamo is an Italian word meaning "let's cross over". The title of my blog is "Dynamics of life - change is always welcome". And I do welcome change in life. My close friends and family know me as a person who is never scared of changes. To keep growing in life, change is imperative. But today as I sit down and type this, I feel nervous with changes in life. Changes that bring new commitments with them. On my birthday every year I have moaned about having grown one year older. The happiness of celebrating my achievements of the last year get shadowed by the thoughts of the new committments the new life will bring to me. In my mind I have loved living like a free bird. I love those whom I feel like loving and not love people just for the sake of loving. My way of expressing love is also similar - effortless, should just happen naturally. But with new commitments comes the responsibility of showing love and care. I want everything to be natural, is that always possible?

I was watching the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" starring Julia Roberts. The movie makes you think. It makes you question if you are ready for the big cross over in life. Should I bow down to life and accept new commitments just because I can't stop time? 

Your mind and soul can be ageless, but certainly your body is not. And the thing is that you can go against the will of time, but hardly can it be sustainable. The rational mind is too powerful and will manage to reason with your heart. So then you wonder if at the end you had to come to accept those commitments, why try to escape them at the first place. Why delay them and make things harder for yourself. 

So with a deep breadth accept that as time passes by, you will need to prepare yourself for new commitments, new responsibilities. It is all a part of life and there is only how long you can escape all this. Attraversiamo may be difficult, but is not impossible! Smile with your eyes, heart and liver and you will see that things will happen naturally and become a part of life. "God dwells within me as me", Liz (Julia Roberts) says in the movie. So if you remain connected to the God within you, then any such transition would just look like another day in office - hopefully!

What do we want from life?

I have always dwelled upon this question - what do I want from my life. Actually the picture of the vending machine below will set the scene well of what I am trying to focus on this blog. 

On the head of the machine read "Forgotten Something?" and below that you find pretty much everything you can think of needing while travelling with a price tag. This made me think - can we make such a list of things that we need from our lives? Additionally, we also need to think of at what cost will we achieve it. Because if I simply ask you this question, then I am sure you can jot down a hundred things you desire in your life, but asking to add the price tag to those desires immediately helps you do the reality check.

Sometimes I think we get too carried away by desires - some of those feelings can stem from a genuine concern of securing our future, some may be pure indulgence and some may just be stupid wants with no basis whatsoever. We need to know where the check point is and what defines the fine line between wanting and desiring. Even though dictionary may write them as synonyms, for me "wanting" is more definitive than "desiring". So I may "desire" a lot of things for which the price tag may be beyond my affordability, but I will "want" only those that have a reasonable price tag and are achievable for me. For example, I may "desire" a helipad on the terrace of my house, but I first "want" to own a house.  

Therefore, I want you to create a list of "wants" and not "desires". Have a price tag to your wants - given you have only filtered out those that come with reasonable price tag, this list of your "wants" will end up being reasonable as a result. You may or may not decide to put a time tag against them. The kind of person I am, I like defining timelines to achieve things, else they never happen for me. A relaxed attitude never takes you anywhere, your "want" has to be desperate enough to allow you to achieve it. And a time tag will ensure that desperation all the time. Our mind should be relaxed, but our approach should be desperate. Again there is a very fine difference between these two things, so you need to be careful.

I think this method will help us keep a check on our wants and desires. I am all up for dreaming big, but if you have to become big then you have to have an approach.

A trip to Windsor

I had some holidays carried forward from last year - these are those holidays for which your company tells you to "take it or loose it". February being one of the chilliest months in Europe, we decided not to go too far and end up spending a lot of money. The choice was quite limited to seeing some place within UK which does not hurt the wallet a lot as this was during the Valentine's day weekend (16th Feb to 18th Feb 2013). The best thing about being in UK is that if you know how to use the internet, you can really save a lot of money - use key words like discount vouchers, evouchers, coupons, discount codes etc on Google and you are bound to get a deal that you cannot resist. I had a lucky day and managed to find 2 night weekend stay in a 4 star hotel close to Windsor at a throw away price of £55 per night from Travelzoo. The room was a superior plus room with complimentary wi-fi, leisure facilities like steam, sauna, whirlpool, swimming pool, car parking and full English breakfast for two included.

We took a fast train just after noon from London Paddington to Slough (£8.60 per person) and reached Slough in 17mins. From Slough station we walked down to the hotel - a nice short 30 mins walk with Google maps assisting us with the directions. 

Given the idea of this trip was only to relax, we checked into the hotel and threw ourselves on the bed. The hotel room was very comfortable with all modern day amentities one could hope for. Even before we had stretched ourselves, it was evening. We went for an exercise session in the gym followed by long swimming, steam, sauna and zacuzzi sessions. After a hectic week of work in London, going out to the country and relaxing in a spa is the best thing to do, it completely unwinds you down. 

For dinner, there was a restaurant inside the hotel which we decided to try. Being vegetarian does not give us too many options anywhere, so we ordered the most predictable options Fried Noodles with Mixed Vegetables and Fried Rice with Mixed Vegetables along with Steamed Tofu for main course. We went a little innovative with out dessert of Banana Fritters and Chocolate Spring Roll with Raspberry Sauce.

The noodles were the best noodles I have ever had - I tried to get the recipe from the Chinese waitress who was having difficulty in speaking English. All I could get out of her was that these were Singaporean noodles and were therefore thin. Rice noodles are thin too, but I don't like them as much as I did these. The dessert was a bit of a let down, but after this outstanding main course, I could not complain too much. 

The next morning, we got up early to visit Windsor castle. Being somebody who is not too much into historical buildings, we decided only to click a photograph from outside and move on. 

Don't forget that Windsor castle is the official residence of the queen. An extract from the royal website provides more context - 

Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.

The Queen uses the Castle both as a private home, where she usually spends the weekend, and as a Royal residence at which she undertakes certain formal duties.
Every year The Queen takes up official residence in Windsor Castle for a month over Easter (March-April), known as Easter Court. During that time The Queen hosts occasional 'dine and sleeps' events for guests, including politicians and public figures.
The Queen is also in residence for a week in June, when she attends the service of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Ascot race meeting. 

This was February and the queen will not be in the castle anyways (not that you will get to see her if she was). But anyways, what interested us more is a "long walk" between the Windsor castle to the Windsor Great Park. It is 2.65 miles (4.26 km) from George IV Gateway at Windsor Castle to The Copper Horse. We decided to do the walk by foot and see the Copper Horse for ourselves. The picture below taken from the internet was taken in 1930s. 

Whilst it may not look a lot to walk just over 4 kilometers, the vast expanse around and the long road with no sight of an end in front of you can make the journey longer in your mind than it actually is.

The weather was brilliant so we did not mind the walk at all. The icing on the cake was when I spotted a sole car coming towards me (which would be towards the castle as we were walking towards the Great Park). Wondering who would dare to bring a car on a walk that looked very private with one royal guard I spotted at a doors on the side, I realised it was no one else but the queen herself on the driving seat and her husband accompanying her. She must be on a private visit to the castle to spend the weekend. Something that hit me was the unassuming character of this experience. The royal highness, Her Majesty the Queen out on a private weekend driving her car down on her own with no show. If I become a famous social celebrity in my life ever, I would really love such a lifestyle - where you are allowed to completely switch yourself off and have those moments of a normal life. Honestly I just really loved seeing that!

Okay back to our "long walk" from the philosophical discussion, we were back with freshness after the little distraction. It took us around 50 - 60 minutes to complete the walk, but the prize was worth it, we indeed had come a long way. 

 

I dozed off for a while below the copper horse. Then we had our packed lunch on the grass under the beautiful sun. All I could now see around me was a vast expanse of greenery. I could not see any park gates and realised that to reach to one I may be on a journey of not knowing how much to walk. In comparison I at least knew how long I will have to walk on the long walk to reach some habitation. So I chose the easier option and went back to the city centre via the long walk. The return journey felt shorter than the onward journey somehow (may be because I now know how long it really was whilst on the onward journey it just looked like a never ending walk).

We came back to the hotel by sunset. Had our usual routine of the leisure facilities and had almost the same dinner as last night. The next day was all about packing, checking out and the making the journey back to hectic lifestyle of London. 

Such outings give you time to look at the bigger picture of your life from a distance like a painter does once in a while during his painting. It is very important to do such contemplations, trust me. If you have not taken such breaks, do so now without fail.

Modi - The New Hope for India

I am generally a very optimistic person. At work, I am known as a person who brings positive energy into the team. And because of who I am, I like similar people around me.

Today I heard Narendra Modi speak - the chief minister of an Indian state called Gujarat. He was addressing a young and bright crowd of under grads at one of Delhi university's colleges. What I liked about him and his speech was the optimism he brought. Very logically he argued why his optimism for the future of India can become a reality. 

To put his message across he picked up the glass of water he was drinking from and said - the optimists in you would say that the glass is half full and the pessimists would say that the glass is half empty. However, I would go one step ahead and say that the glass is completely full - half with water and half with air. Therefore I am very hopeful about India's future, all we need to do is to change perspective.

And I say indeed, change perspective about the way we look at our lives and at others. I went out with a few friends for dinner yesterday to a not-so-cheap Indian restaurant. It was hurting me to see a couple in the group had left over so much of food on their plates. It is a lot of hard work to earn money and we should be thankful that we are getting to eat good food. It is easy to blame the government for everything on a dinner table eating good food - but really what are we doing that we can atleast do in our capacity?? Nothing I would say. At least stop wasting food. If the sum total of all cosmic energy remains the same in the world at all times, then the food we just wasted in some form would have been more useful for somebody else.

Let's do the little things that we can to make this world a better place please. And let's provide our full support to those who are hopeful about this. This speech gives me a lot of confidence that he could just be the thinking that India needs at the moment.