Thursday, July 25, 2019

NATASA ..MY FRIEND FROM BELGRADE

NATASA MY FRIEND FROM BELGRADE CAN BE SEEN HERE IN THE MIDDLE

Sunday, July 14, 2019

TRIBUTE TO A FATHER

Its more than an year my Father is dead and it would be misleading and inappropriate if I dont write a lasting tribute to a man whose basic dedication ,abilities and orientation postured the lives of his family into a progressive domain the benefits of which successive generations in this city would enjoy.

My Father came to this city from the rustic environs of a place called Narath in Cannanore to work at the Indian Telephone Industries in 1954 and put nearly 38 years of service there with staff number 5862 and what a rare coincidence his hospital registration number being  8562       ..note the similarity of numbers.He lived and died by these numbers in this city...8 is my lucky number and all through life I got Economic benefits from him.



My most earliest memory of my Father is being in his arms when my Mother and Father were moving into a rented house at a place called Kothur very early in the morning trekking an almost four kilometers from the house of my Aunt .It was wee hours and the Bangalore cold gave me a jolt and at that age of infancy could take cognisance of him and my mother walking behind with a green brief case.It was a trek and journey of sorts which would force us to stand on our legs as a family with minimal support around.

Later on my brother came and I remember his association from the Gopal Building a house where we stayed as children for around an year in 1971.When the war with our neighbouring country on A blackout would be declared and all the houses would switch off the lights in the house.I remember this incident with fear thinking we could be bombed.One of the turning points of our life was when my mother decided to buy a site first to which my Father was largely opposed.The same year We bought a site and even built a house moving into the house in 1972.My Father;s industry came handy as he strived to complete the building of the house. Life began to change for me and my brother after moving into this house because we could be independent and spend more time on our educational activities.

More often during these days our Father used to take us to Bangalore City for movies and also once inside the Vidhana Soudha and we used to stop at some hotel for Masala Dosa.He used to take me to Chinese dentists on M G Road to get my tooth extracted and annually during school re-opening my brother along with my father used to visit Avenue road to buy books for the next season.Then we used to go to Bata outlets for school shoes and to Binny showrooms for Uniforms.Enter the Dragon,Bobby, Benhur are all some of the movies I remember he had taken us to..he used to take us to football matches in Bangalore stadium and KSCA stadium and also to political rallies of Mr.Morarji Desai and  Mr.Jyoti Basu.

If Iam not mistaken in the september of 1972 there was a theft in our house by a theif by name Krishna who entered our house when my mother had gone in the afternnon with lunch for me and my brother and all the gold ornaments of my mother were stolen.This was an harrowing time for us.Miraculously the theif was caught six months down the line in Shoolay police station limits and I remember visiting this police station as a kid as the police wanted some statement from our family.Let me place on record that the family of O K Nambiar helped us with influence in the higher echleons of the Police department. My father did higher order industry in collaborating with the Police and the courts all single   handedly   without any complaints or remorse and worked to the successful completion of the tasks.No one could have done this better.

My Father had a pair of skilled hands.He was good at working on mechanical things with dexterity and that skill came handy at the workplace.He had by and large a very realistic and pragmatic approach to things.He had accurate assessment of situations most of the time and took realistic approaches and the will to get things done through perseverance.

My brother Sunil and myself during our very formative years used to get into physical fights.Most of the time he used to be the winner.Our disposition to  fight was a very concerning thing for my Father and he used to discuss it most of the time.When he used to go on the first shift early in the morning he used to almost wake both of us from sleep and warn us not to fight.After he began to do that we stopped fighting.

One of the earliest memories of my Father is waiting near the Lowry Memorial School gates for him as a very small boy. His shift would be over at 4:15 and he would come to the school gates by around 4:30.I used to feel tense until I saw him  and I could see him crossing the rails and that used to give me great joy.

In 1973 my sister was born and our house was a huge blessing. As we brothers grew up we were fit enough to go to school and come back all by ourselves.The problem sometimes is that we would get sick and our father has many a times taken us to the ITI hospital accompanying us most times.

We were largely a cosy family..the industry of my Father...the administrative skills of my Mother and the co-operation among children saw us tide through with relative ease the challenges of living and add to that the benevolence of the Public sector ITI and a school at walking distance from our house.

Most of the time when he came from work he used to bring something for us to eat.I used to accompany my father many times to Kambi Shivappa stores in Avenue road to buy groceries..he had a penchant for quality and rarely compromised on it.

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Thursday, July 4, 2019

SARVANGASANA IN YOGA

There are various yogic Asanas  and some practise them patiently every day and is some times a time consuming affair.

There is a very powerful Asana in Yoga which can be done very quickly and has enoromous health benefits. I request the world community young or old to spend five minutes almost every day to practise this Asana..It does not matter in which part of the world you might be or how rich or poor you are..this asana will improve mental and physical health.

Sarvangasan in sanskrit means the exercise of every organ of the body and this asan quickly contributes to this end. When you are at this Asan due to the posture blood flows very freely and quickly into brain cells bringing more oxygen to Brain tissues and when you arise from this asan from the elongated blood vessels of the brain the blood makes a gushy flow into other parts of the body creating a cleansing action.

I feel this Asana must be mandatorily  taught at all schools in the world so that it becomes a part of life of entire humanity.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

THE GYM IN THE B HOSTEL OF NIT REC CALICUT

Somewhere in the year 1983 I met  Dr.Nirmala Menon the doctor of REC NIT Calicut  with some complaint of Fever and she made a comment that would temporarily alter my priorities for good or bad at REC Calicut. She told me I was very weak and underweight and a poorly formed chest.She admonished me for not taking proper care of my health.  Let me reiterate that I used to have severe bouts of Asthma as a young lad and did nothing about my health during my Pre-University I was more focussed about gaining entry into an Engineering College. She was not amused and advised me to exercise and have more stronger food. It was indeed a tough call but I decided to do something about it rightaway.

I was in a quandary for many weeks and did not know how to go about things. Some suggested Running...others suggested Gym...few suggested Yoga...some suggested Bull Worker.....At the end of the day I landed up doing all of them.


Out of spite I started visiting the Gym in the B hostel not knowing fully what it was largely doing push-ups and bench-pressing and not to mention leg weights and dumbells etc. Sunil Chillar, Vinayak Prabhakar More...Nityananda Kamath could be seen in the gym most times. I started doing bench-Press with 5kg on both sides rightaway which was not the right thing to do. I think after few months I left gym for bull worker getting one for myself and doing the German technique of  Isotonic compression exercises with some results. Alongside I started doing Yoga almost all the Yogic exercises imaginable.ONE MUST NOT DO BULL WORKER AND YOGA SIMULTANEOUSLY  THEY SAY...MAYBE YOGA IN THE MORNING  AND BULLWORKER IN THE EVENING AND NEVER THE OTHER WAY ROUND. All these things were slowly giving me results of some kind. I happened to meet Dr. Nirmala Menon almost an year after my first rendezvous and she told me you look better now and just maintain this. Thus was my tryst with all these body building activities.

At my hey day I developed my stamina so much that I could run up to ten rounds around the REC football court .

Why did I write this ? One of the reasons is that I see many adolescents trying these tricks that i did and I have few words of input. Note that that during the period of adoloscence the body releases various kinds of  harmonies stimulating physical activity...this is not unusual. Let me advise boys and girls who are on such endeavours how to go about such activities.

Always do warm up before gym...a mild run for some 100 meters or more. Do push-ups properly how much ever you can...use dumbbells..then do leg push ups and when you do bench pressing start with low weights to start with and increase it slowly up to some reasonable level..not to use very high weights at all as done by professional body builders. If done continuously it will take eight to nine months of almost daily work. You can take a two day break per week. The most important part of such activities is diet. Drink milk almost every day with half boiled eggs and chicken.This must supplement your existing diet. A forty five minute stint at the Gym is ideal.


Bull Worker also helps in body building and it changes Body structure sometimes for a long time to come..like increase in height...and longer arms and legs and some times irreversible body structure for good.Choose few of the exercises mentioned in the manual and do them every day.There is a circulation exercise to be done at the outset. Do breathing properly and inhale and exhale more strongly than normal.

Yoga may not build muscles per se  but is the best exercise to tone health and keep onself lively and high spirited. Ihave done most Yogic exercises.Choose a few of them and practise them everyday. If one needs a hassle free body toning and building program Yoga comes handy.

Last but not the least..the joyful way to improve some of the muscle and health parameters is some kind of sport taken to almost every day. Basket Ball..Volleyball..Shuttle..Squash..Table Tennis..lawn tennis etc.