Live in Joint Family to be Healthy!

Hi,

Well I can understand that the concept of joint family is prevalent only in countries like India and many from Western part of the world don't know what this really is. Just recently, one of my friends (doctor colleagues) from Europe asked me, "How can you people live with your elders? Doesn't it give you an oppressed feeling all the while?" My answer was simple- "How can you people live all alone in a nuclear family?"

This is not to boast of my abilities to go along well with my elders at home. We do have differences of opinion at times. Rather, when any 2 or more people live together, there are going to be differences, but the fact is that we rejoice in those differences. What fun the life is if you don't have someone to voice your opinion to? Just that we should make this voicing of opinion an art to gain experience than to just fight for no cause.

When we dwell deeply on the concept of joint family (that was kind of natural in early days of man), we realize the benefits. The foremost benefit according to me is- You never feel alone in your life! You always have someone to look up to in odd times. I certainly understand that for a good clap, you need two hands. Similarly, for a joint family to run smoothly, as much as youngster's contribution is needed, more is needed from the elder counterpart as well. Perhaps, elders are the people (in our country at least) who have seen lots of ups and downs. Days were not as good as now then, perhaps on various fronts including finances. But they have also seen some of the very close familial bonds that today's generations miss out on.

Second point according to me is from our children's point of view. Not only we look up to elders for mere their help in our children's case but they give children a strong foundation as to how a household runs. Their close bond with their grand-children is one of the most attractive benefits of a joint family. You can completely rely upon them when it comes to your child's safety and good upbringing. This is when the elders' contribution counts beyond imagination as it gives our children a secure family net.

And the thing that I am passionate about thrives in joint family, if you have a healthy bond- "Health!" Yes, when you don't feel lonely, when you have people to solve your problems, when you share your household work-load with someone, and when there is 'no time' for the stress to crop up in life, you tend to live quite healthily than when you live alone or in a nuclear family.

When I often talk about my joint family, some of the acquaintances call me lucky because my in laws are supportive and despite being under the same roof all the while, I don't complain. Well, I totally agree being lucky in this regard. Perhaps I often say that if I wouldn't be living in the joint family, I would never be able to start and propagate my website www.drshreya.com to such great extent. As I felt secure at home, I could do it. But I would also like to say that we, the daughters in law, should kind of stop being too contemplative of our elders' activities. If we respect our parents and if we like to see our parents in a joint family with their sons and daughters in law, we should respect our in laws as well, not only for their supportive job but for their differences as well. If we don't like our parents living a lonely life in their twilight years, we should never allow the people who have welcomed us in their family do the same.

I know it's not easy. But once you make up your mind to accept some defeats and honor the wins on the way, you can do it. Always weigh the positive aspects to the negative aspects and I am sure the positive aspects will far outweigh the negatives.

I would certainly wish that throughout our country or perhaps the world, the old tradition of joint family should again find its most deserved place! Human being is born to live socially and our society starts with our kith and kin! 

It's Important to Comprehend Efforts Behind Every Successful Person!

Watching Indian Filmfare awards on Sony. Just a thought hovered. Most of us envy these film stars who are so lucky to enjoy the stardom, exquisite fan following, enormous money, and what not! I always love watching these stars in the most suave way. Always we wonder how lucky they are but do we realize the efforts put by them to entertain us? Behind every movie that we watch, these people have put hoards of efforts and money in order to make it different and entertaining.

Well, I know many of us like the Hollywood flicks than our Indian ones, but I have always been the fan of our Indian movies too. Many of our stars inspire me to do good job in the field I am attuned to. There is no good job without the hard work. there might be many controversies in their lives. But ultimately what they do is a great work of entertaining masses. Have you ever felt uplifted after a busy or hectic day due to watching a movie you love? I do. Though I am not a movie or especially television buff, I like to watch some movies and like to engulf in the glory of these larger than life pictures at times.

They take away the dullness, lethargy, and fill me up with the zest to live life again. The latest in the series has been Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. I am absolutely in love with this movie. I am sure many of you love it too.

I wish we (many of us) make good efforts in our field of expertise just like our favorite film stars and pave our way to the best possible position and propagate our field of interest further! 

Make Criticism Work for You!

Hi!

When we work for our goal, we are often bombarded by the negative comments of people who seek delight in this job. I often like this quote "If people are trying to bring you down, it only means that you are above them". Well, not to boost our ego but to  enhance the confidence in the right work that we are up to. If you are working for some cause, you will never be failed in the long run. Nobody can deter you from your path, unless you let them do it.

Rather, in my case, I have often found that if someone tells me that I cannot do certain thing, it increases my faith in God and myself about doing it somehow. Not that I want to let that person down but "Why not" is the question that raises in mind immediately.

Respect! It tells your character!

Had a kind of mediocre day in work sphere. One of my colleagues failed to show up on time and that disturbed my schedule a lot. It was a professional online meeting and delay by almost an hour made things go frenzy for the rest of the day. People might say it is quite all right for such things to happen but for me, such recurrent delays do not work. Perhaps this determines my work ethic. If I respect other people's time and further arrangements, I expect that they should do the same.

Many things happen in professional sphere when a woman leads the league. Well certainly things are far better now than perhaps a few years earlier. But still when the women are on front, people many times think "not so well" about them. Have seen many lack the basic quality of "Respecting Women" while dealing with them professionally. Either they try to get too personal or they try to behave irresponsibly intentionally. Having a female chief is not always welcome. But today this is quite common and females lead the organization in many places.

This is not to generalize and there are many respected exceptions. But it is high time people see at gender differentiation as the thing of remote past and move ahead together in a respectful environment.

Still in a country like India, respecting women is not very common. RESPECT is the thing that tells the person's character very strongly. The way you behave with the women (in today's networking arena), you show her how well-mannered you are.

In country like India in where our former Kings used to behave well and kindly with the ardent enemy's wives too, shouldn't we expect our younger generation to seek some wisdom from them? And sadly more and more youngsters are calling this disrespectful attitude as "cool".......

In our schools, Moral Education is a kind of joke. It is just an additional subject that is never taught and just made a passing remark about.

Perhaps all these thoughts happened to occur because of the mild spat that I had today with one of the colleagues. But I think good material for a day's blog post.

Respect is Mutual!!

Selected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi

Read today some parts of Selected Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, by Ronald Duncan. Many times, when I read such books, I don’t feel like reading them continually or get bored at some point, when I feel it’s not possible to focus anymore. But this was exception. As if I was reading a story, I could comprehend at every point and felt that Ronald Duncan was extremely lucky to have spent some quality time with this great man.

One of the great comprehensions that I could sense in Gandhi’s entailing of facts - Ronald Duncan says, I began to understand what he meant by the relation of religion to politics. ‘Every act’ he would repeat almost daily to me, ‘has its spiritual, economic and social implications. The spirit is not separate. It cannot be.’

He details a great experience with Gandhi about how he handled the filth in the village around Wardha where he was staying that time. The villagers didn’t have the slightest idea of cleanliness and used to even scatter their excreta around the village. Gandhi didn’t say them a word. He did not preach. Instead he started lifting the excreta himself and burying it. After some time villagers joined him and the area was cleaned. It just shows his ability to act without pretense and his true devotion to the underprivileged people. His actions spoke thousand words.

Even Gandhi’s positive thinking about his prison days is enthralling. Ronald says, “His dignity lay in the acceptance of every humiliation.”

When I had read “My Experiment with Truth” I was alarmed by Gandhi’s frankness and his nobility to accept his faults. Through the books I have read, I haven’t found till date such frankness and ability to condemn oneself so assuredly for some unknowingly done wrong things. Felt only if we have this single quality of acknowledging our faults, we would be far better human beings to live in the positively disposed society.

He says, “I am not a God,’ he used to complain to me, ‘if the truth were known I am tempted more than most men – but perhaps less than those who are sinners.’

That says it all!

Belief in Gandhian Philosophy

Hi,

As a citizen of free India, we all bow before this great man- Mahatma Gandhi. But still there are many people who do not seem to agree to his decisions during the freedom struggle and consequences pertaining to that. However, when I read his books, his genuineness and his honest opinions seem too difficult to ignore. Rather, once you let yourself sink into his vast galore of passionate philosophy of life, you just cannot overcome the guilt that in this country he was killed.

The passion lies in his explicitly simple philosophy. While reading his "Discourses on Gita" I am overwhelmed to the hilt at his awe-inspiring depth of wisdom and ability to grasp and explain the "right" things "rightly". Well and this opinion remains so despite reading this text repeatedly! 

Purpose of This Blog

Hello!

You must be wondering why this separate blog when already our Dr Shreya's Health and Homeopathic Blog is doing great in all spheres. But the writer inside me (just the liking to write, not some extra-ordinary skills here) was bubbling to pen down the things that seem important for me.

Moreover, apart from health I have a passion for reading and writing. So, thought that whatever I will read, I will put down some thoughts regarding it here in this blog. Must say, they will all be my personal opinions and so should be seen in that light only.

I hope that quite frequently I will be able to put at least a few words which seem righteous to me or appeal me in some manner here in my updates.

I wish readers from all walks of life should come to this page and comment on what seems to be of liking to them. I certainly hope for some healthy discussion here. Anyone who wishes to put their own thoughts can also send me their thoughts in the form of a small blog post at shreya.doctor@gmail.com and if they are genuine, I will add them to this blog with due credit to them.

So, wish me good-luck for this new endeavor to discover myself!