Good morning friends

Have you heard the story of the hummingbird? In a forest, there was a huge fire and all the animals came out of the forest, feeling powerless to do anything about the fire. But this little Hummingbird kept going from the lake to the fire carrying a drop of water in its tiny beak and putting the drop of water on the fire to try and extinguish the fire. The large animals thought that they could not do anything about the fire, that anyway they did not have the capacity to extinguish the fire, so why try something ? But the hummingbird on the other hand said, I will do what I can do and continued its mission of bringing drops of water to the fire.

Similar things happen all the time in life, don’t they ? There are so many things that need a change, but we think to ourselves, nobody else is trying to do anything, so how is it going to help if I do something ?… it’s impossible, it’s pointless, so I am not going to do anything.

And then we just sit back and gossip about the corruption which is going on, the environment which is being degraded, the trees which are being cut, the ozone layer which is getting depleted, how obesity is increasing day by day, how the MNCs are ruling our lives, et cetera et cetera. We talk about it a lot, we complain and we blame everything and everyone, but hardly any of us actually tries to do something.

Wouldn’t it be nice if each one of us remembers the story of this hummingbird and does whatever he or she can do and not really worry about the outcome ? The hummingbird probably knew that his drops of water were not likely to extinguish the fire. Nevertheless, he continued to do what he felt was the right thing to do. Similarly, when each and every one of us does his or her bit, then things are likely to change. But we will have to start with ourselves, right?
If each person decides to act consciously about something that he’s passionate about, without getting attached to the outcome, I am sure that we can make the change happen.

So, can we all decide that,” Rather than being an onlooker or a spectator, I will do the best that I can, even if nobody else is doing anything.”

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Yesterday, I had written about the story of the hummingbird and how each one of us can do what best we can to change any situation.

While writing this, I had totally forgotten about a similar story in Ramayana. But a dear friend reminded me of the story of a squirrel when Rama and his vanarsena were building a bridge over the sea from India to Lanka. The monkeys were carrying huge stones and placing them in position. A squirrel started putting pebbles in the gaps between the huge stones to bind them together. ( Another version of the story which I have heard says that the squirrel would roll around in the sand, let the sand stick to its body and then go on to the stones and shake its body so that the sand would get deposited in the gaps. ) Some of the monkeys were making fun of this squirrel and demeaning its efforts. But when lord Rama saw the dedication and hard work of this squirrel, he lovingly picked it up and stroked its back. Legend says that this is how the squirrel got the stripes on its back.

Any large project can never be completed without the support and help of everyone. We need the contributions from all and every task, even if it seems insignificant, is equally important. Love and dedication is what matters the most and that’s why, every effort, howsoever small, should always be appreciated ! Though the main contributors are obviously very important, no project can be successful without the help of each individual of the team.

That’s why, we say in Marathi, “ माझा खारीचा वाटा “, meaning let me do my little bit, even if it may be insignificant !

Are you all ready to do your little bit every day?
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

In the last 2-3 months, after the corona restrictions have been lifted, there has been a flurry of weddings and parties and family functions. Almost all of us have been attending such functions at least 4 to 5 times in a month. We all know that it takes a lot of efforts to arrange a big event like a wedding or a party, it requires a lot of planning, a lot of administration, a lot of coordination between different workers….. all in all, a lot of time and energy is utilised for arranging a function, be it big or small.

But in the last couple of months, I realised that even to attend such functions on a regular basis needs a lot of work. First of all you have to find time in your busy schedules, adjust your schedule for important functions, and then of course, we have to start preparing for the event itself. It involves so many factors like choosing what you are going to wear…. In case of ladies, this takes even longer than gents generally, because you have to decide on the jewellery and accessories,hairstyle and the footwear and the make up if you are using any. All in all, I think it takes at least an hour for the preparations each time. Of course, this is assuming that you are very well organised. If you’re not so well organised, it may take even longer for these preparations. Then of course the question of the travel time …. Especially if the venue is far from your place, the traffic , the parking if you are taking your own vehicle, ….the issues are unending.

And you must not forget that after you come home, you have to put back every thing in its place, get things cleaned . And all this is basically to show your best face to the World ! So, for the younger generation, the time element involved is probably much longer, perhaps starting with a visit to the parlour a few days in advance or buying a new outfit altogether according to the ‘dress code’ suggested in the invite !

Most of the times, when you attend such functions, it’s an occasion to socialise, to meet your family or old friends, exchange what is happening in your life and generally enjoy yourself, enjoy the good food and the decor and have fun. At times, however, it’s a social obligation which you cannot avoid.

As I sat back, thinking about all the functions which I attended in the last three months, I realised that most of the time our emphasis is on our external appearances; obviously more so in case of ladies, but these days gents are no exception ! This means that we spend a lot of time, energy and efforts in taking care of our external appearances, of how we present ourselves to the world. Nothing wrong in that. Obviously, whenever we take efforts with our looks, glance into the mirror, give ourselves a smile, and a beautiful reflection smiles back, we do feel happy, don’t we ?

But then, I started thinking….do we take the same efforts with our inner selves?

Just as we spend time, energy and efforts in creating a beautiful exterior, do we give at least a part of that time or energy to nourishing our inner selves? Do we focus on making just our exterior beautiful , or do we take care of our whole being too ? We paste a smile on our lips, but does that smile come from the depths of our being ? We appreciate the hosts for their hospitality but do we really mean our words ? We utilise a lot of energy in presenting our external beauty, but do we use the same energy to become more kind, more compassionate, more loving?

A point to ponder, isn’t it?

I hope we all can spend at least a fraction of our time, energy and efforts to beautify our inner being, our souls and become beautiful in the true sense of the word.
Love
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

The first good morning message that I saw yesterday was, “When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening. That’s where your power is.”

Easier said than done, isn’t it ? But just imagine if we could really put this into practice, then wouldn’t our lives be much happier?

All of us have so many dreams and ideas for the future ; but very often, life has different plans for us. And I think that almost every one of us has to go through this process of adapting ourselves to the changes that life brings. Financial issues, sickness either physical or mental, natural calamities, and other similar factors can thwart our plans and leave us feeling vulnerable or sad or angry or anxious. It is absolutely natural to have this kind of reaction immediately, but eventually, it becomes essential for us to change our plans and our actions, to suit the needs of the changed circumstances, if we want to succeed in future.

Obviously, if we could totally control what’s happening in our lives, we would do so, right ? But unfortunately ( or should I say fortunately? ), none of us has the capacity to control all the things all the time. But for those who can respect life ( and its challenges) and respond positively to the demands of the changed situation, the obstacles act just as stepping stones. These people have the power and the wisdom to control their reactions to suit the new situation and hence, they emerge victorious.

We have seen many such examples in the Pandemic, haven’t we ? So many people who lost their jobs, after the initial shock, found new ways to succeed in totally different areas. I am reminded of the story, ‘ The Verger’ by Somerset Maugham, which is based on a similar concept. But this post is getting a little too long, so let me continue with this story tomorrow.

I do hope that we cultivate the power to control the way we respond to life’s challenges, rather than expecting to control all the circumstances,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Yesterday I mentioned about a short story by Somerset Maugham. Before I talk about this story, however, I would like to mention that it was my father who introduced me to Somerset Maugham during my teenage. My father was a member of the British Council Library and would often bring home the short story volumes of Somerset Maugham. As I was a voracious reader, I started reading these stories and was soon hooked on to him. Now that I think back upon those times, I think my love of English literature and my understanding of the English language can be traced back to these books. Actually, I have studied in a vernacular school, studying all the subjects in Marathi till seventh standard; and only from the eighth standard onwards, we studied the major subjects like science and maths in English. But I have always loved reading books and I don’t remember a time when I was not a member of some library or the other. I suppose reading the books of the likes of Somerset Maugham and P. G. Wodehouse in my early impressionable age had a wonderful influence on how I spoke and wrote in English.

Coming back to the story now….. I think this story is a wonderful example of how we can succeed in life in the face of major obstacles, if we change our thinking.

Maugham is telling us about Albert, the verger in a church. ( verger means an official in a church who acts as a caretaker and attendant. ) The newly appointed vicar finds out that Albert can neither read nor write and he is appalled by this piece of information. The vicar feels that an illiterate person is not suited to this job in a prestigious church and gives him an ultimatum: either learn to read and write in the next 3 months or we will have to let you go. Albert however, is quite obstinate about this; he feels that if he could not learn to read and write in his youth, it is not possible for him to do so now.

Worried about his future and engrossed in his thoughts, he loses his way as he is walking back home and finds himself in an unknown street. Suddenly, he gets a strong urge to smoke and looks for a shop selling cigarettes. But he is surprised to find that though this long street has several other shops, it doesn’t have a shop selling cigarettes. This gives rise to a new idea in his mind. He finds out that there’s a shop to let and decides to start a new business selling cigarettes. And soon, he is doing very well. After a year or so, he thinks of starting another shop on a similar street which has no tobacco shops and that too does well. In no time at all, he is managing 10 such shops. One day, when he goes to the bank to deposit money, the bank manager meets him and recommends that he invest the substantial savings more judiciously. During the course of their conversation, the manager realises that Albert is illiterate. He is shocked and says, “Good God! Where would you have been if you could read and write?” And Albert answers,” I would be working as a Verger in the church ! “

I have tried to give you the gist of the story but if you could read the original story as written by Maugham, I am sure that you would enjoy it even more. It is available on the Internet for those who wish to read it.

This story unfolds a very important universal truth: When one door closes, another one opens! It’s just that we need to be receptive about it, we need to change our response as the situation changes.

It also reiterates the fact that an obstacle or a challenge, if met with the right attitude, can actually lead to more success than the previous situation.

As I am writing this, I am reminded of another beautiful story about doors as narrated by Osho. Maybe I will share it tomorrow.

In the meantime, can we be open to changing our responses as per the demands of our circumstances, just like Albert did….

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

While I was writing about the need to change our responses according to the change in our situation, I came across a message which said, “Every next level of life will demand a new/ different version of you. “

How true is this ! Each situation in life demands a unique response and that can happen if and only if we upgrade to a higher level of ourselves.

It’s not only mobiles and gadgets that can be upgraded ! And of course, upgrading gadgets is of no use if we don’t upgrade ourselves and if we don’t learn something new which can facilitate our use of the new technology.

And that applies to life as well, doesn’t it ?

If we don’t change our thinking, our responses , our behaviour as per the demands of the new level of life, we won’t be able to cope with the ever changing business called ‘Life’ !

So, just as changing your knowledge base is essential for using newer gadgets; changing your perspective is imperative for being successful in the next level of your life.

Hoping that all of us can mould ourselves and our responses to the challenges of life,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

When I was writing about one door closing and another one opening, I remembered a beautiful story told by Osho. I have heard the story many years ago in one of his discourses, so I may not be very accurate about the details. But I will try to convey the gist of this story.

A blind man is trapped in a room with 1000 doors, ( obviously, this is a metaphor ) and the doors are revolving. Only one of these doors actually opens out to the exterior, but the blind man has to try each one of the doors to see if it is the right one which can free him. So the man tries to open each door as it comes in front of him, but none of them can be opened. Eventually, he gets frustrated with the whole thing, and gives up. A short while later, the door which can be opened is right in front of the man, but he has already given up ! He has given up all the attempts to try to open the door and so he remains trapped in the room.

So often we see similar things happening in real life too, don’t we ? We stop trying after the first few attempts fail and we too, are trapped in an intolerable situation for a very long time.

I am sure that this story can be interpreted in various ways. One interpretation is : whenever people are trapped in a situation from which it is difficult to get out, very often they give up within a few attempts. Later, when the right opportunity comes along, they cannot grab this opportunity as they are not even trying now. And so they remain in a situation which they do not like, which they hate in fact, but are unable to free themselves.

Another important interpretation is that we must always be on the lookout for the right opportunity if we want to change our circumstances in life. The right opportunities do not come along very often, they’re quite rare in fact. So, we have to be aware all the time, we have to be on the lookout for them, assess the likelihood of success in any opportunity which comes along and not miss out on the right one. In fact, we should be ready all the time to grab the right opportunity.

It has been my personal experience that if we miss the right opportunity ( for whatever reason—- because we didn’t recognise it or because we were scared or because it was not feasible at that time to accept it ), it’s a very long time before such an opportunity becomes available again. And in the meantime, we may get frustrated with life.

Of course, at times, it is difficult to assess whether a particular opportunity is the right one for you. But regular meditation practice can help you in making this decision.

As I wrote this, I remembered a lovely zen story about awareness. As always, I have heard this story from beloved Osho. I will share this story in a day or two.

Till then, praying that all of us can recognise the right opportunity ( the specific opportunity which is right for us ) and take the necessary actions,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

A few days ago, there was a sudden change in my plans and I had to reach somewhere much earlier than I had anticipated. Obviously, this affected my entire schedule. There were many chores that I had to complete before I left home. So I started ‘attacking’ them in a hurry but soon realised that I am making a lot of mistakes while doing my routine work. I was dropping things, spilling liquids; which needed a lot of time to clean. I saw that in fact, I was spending more time doing the chores than I usually spend.

As soon as I realised this, I took a pause, I breathed out deeply a few times, and said to myself, “ It’s okay if some of the chores are left unfinished. I can always do them after coming home.”

With this attitude, I once again started working ( not ‘attacking’ the work this time ). And do you know what happened this time ? As I proceeded to do my tasks calmly, in an orderly fashion, without anxiety, without hurrying, I could finish them all before I left.

I am sure some of you must have noticed the same phenomenon of ‘Hurry affecting efficiency’ with you or your family/ children. What exactly happens in such situations?

Whenever we start hurrying, anxiety builds up inside us ; we are worried whether we would be able to complete the task in the stipulated time or not, we are afraid of what would happen if the jobs remain undone, and then we start making mistakes, as I did. Normally, whenever we do some routine work, there is a certain rhythm to it. And when you do the work in that particular rhythm, things get done very smoothly. But when we are anxious or tensed, or stressed out, we are in a hurry and this hurry affects the rhythm, and causes us to make mistakes. So, a job which would take, say 10 minutes, needs at least 15 minutes. As a result, slowly, the stress starts building up even more. And when that happens, we make more mistakes, and we take even longer to finish our routine chores.

In simple household chores, this would not matter too much. But at times,the stress of completing a particular task within a time frame can lead to irreparable mistakes. We have heard many examples of the wrong cheques or letters being posted ( leading to disastrous results ). We know that at times we enter in the wrong figure or the wrong account numbers during online transactions….. all these can be traced back to the degree of anxiety or tension that you were going through while doing the task. We all know that when we’re anxious, our concentration suffers, and this leads to decreased efficiency.

The stress can lead to unpardonable mistakes at times, in very important tasks like accountancy, engineering, medicine, et cetera. Some fields like the air traffic control, which need instantaneous decisions, are extremely vulnerable to mistakes because even an apparently small mistake can lead to a major disaster in these fields. And that’s why it’s very important to do any job calmly, in an orderly manner, without anxiety and without hurrying.

I know a friend who is a very good driver, he always drives very calmly, in fact, it’s a pleasure to sit in the car that he is driving. But I know that on one occasion, when he was extremely disturbed by sickness in a close family member, he was hurrying to the hospital and he got involved in a road accident, which would otherwise never have happened. Obviously the stress was telling on him.

There is a saying in Marathi, अति घाई संकटात नेई meaning, ‘ If you hurry too much, you may land in trouble or danger’

Author G.K. Chesterton has said, “
One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.”!!

I hope that you don’t hurry so much that it takes a long time for you to get the job done !

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Eckhart Tolle, the famous author of, ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’ says, “When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation, change the situation or accept it . All else is madness.”

Easier said than done, right ?
Much easier to complain, isn’t it ?

The other 3 options of leaving the situation or changing the situation or accepting the situation mean that you have to be courageous, and make yourself responsible for what’s happening in your life.

When we choose the option of complaining, we have already said to ourselves that we have to stay in this situation forever, that there is no escaping from it. The only thing left then is to complain… to complain about other people, to complain about the society, to complain about our destiny and so on and so forth.

But with this complaining attitude, it is impossible to raise ourselves from any unpleasant situation in life. We may stay in the same position for years or even till we die.

However, any one of the other 3 options requires that we need to actively take action to change our lives for the better. … whether it is leaving the situation or changing the situation or accepting the situation…. Any one of these options means that we have to work hard either externally ( to leave or change the situation) or internally ( to accept the situation ). This seems very difficult because we are either fearful about the consequences when we choose one of these alternatives or because we are so used to the relative comfort of not doing anything and just complaining !

It has been my personal experience with some people that they do not want any solutions to their problems, they just want to wallow in self pity about their life. Even if you suggest some solutions which can be easily tried in real life, they will not accept the solutions. Very often they outright reject answers to their problems. In short, they tend to indulge in madness as Eckhart Tolle says !

What about you ?
Do you want to remain a victim? Or do you want to get out of the madness and take some action ? The choice is entirely yours !

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

The popular Marathi poet Mangesh Padgaonkar says,
“सांगा कसं जगायचं?कण्हत कण्हत की गाणं म्हणततुम्हीच ठरवा!”
This could be translated as,
” Tell me how to live.
Groaning and moaning ?
Or with a song on your lips ?
The choice is yours ! “

While thinking about this groaning and moaning about problems in life, I was reminded of a story, once again told by beloved Osho. A saint was living in a village and he was fed up with all the villagers who would come and complain about their problems every single day. He decided that he has to do something about this. He announced that the following day there would be a meeting in which he would address this issue.

He told all the villagers to put all their problems in a sack, label the sack and get it with them to the meeting. Everybody was very happy to learn that they would finally be able to get rid of all the problems and went about collecting the problems. The sacks grew bigger and bigger.( Like most of the stories, which our gurus tell us, this story too, is a metaphor.)

When the meeting started, the saint told the villagers to put the sacks in a corner of the meeting hall. After his discourse, he told them that while leaving the hall, each one has to take one sack with them. They can leave behind their own sack of problems and pick up somebody else’s. But they cannot go out without picking up a sack.

After the meeting ended, everyone went to the corner where the sacks were piled up. The person keeping a watch observed that each person meticulously looked for his own sack and took it back with him.

The moral of the story is : (this is how the stories in our childhood would end ), but actually speaking, there is no moral in this story. It’s just a matter of understanding the truth in life.

Why did everybody choose to take back their own problems? And not someone else’s? I think the villagers realised that every single person has a problem. ..be it a wealthy person or a learned person or a beautiful one. Just as everyone is endowed with some treasures, they’re also given problems which they need to face in life. It’s just that with some people the problems are obvious : for example, poverty or sickness or ugliness. But with some others, the problems are not easily visible. We are not aware that these people also have some problems in life because we are dazzled by their wealth or their beauty or their intelligence or their celebrity status and start thinking that when they have so much, how can they have any problems.

Human nature is such that once we become aware of the fact that every single person on this earth has some problem or the other, it becomes easier to deal with our own problems. And all of us are used to our own problems, we have been dealing with them all our lives. So, rather than picking up a sack of a new problem, everyone chose to stick to his or her own problems with which they were familiar and comfortable.

How about you ?
Would you like to exchange your problems with someone else if you were given the choice or would you prefer your own?

And would you prefer to live life groaning and moaning or live it with a song on your lips ?

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Rumi says, “If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished ?”

All of us are like diamonds. I am sure you know that an unpolished diamond looks like any other stone. Only an expert jeweller can recognise an uncut and unpolished diamond; and eventually create a beauty out of what looked like an ordinary stone.

Similarly, almost all of us are unaware of our intrinsic value; only a guru has the ability to recognise our inherent potential. And there’s no greater guru than life itself !

As Rumi says, every rub, every unpleasantness, every difficulty in our life is explicitly created for polishing us and creating a beautiful, brilliant and unique diamond. For our inner beauty to shine forth, we have to go through the trials and trainings that life brings.

So, rather than getting irritated by every rub, shouldn’t we strive to be grateful for every difficulty that comes our way ? I know that this is not easy, but we can at least try it whenever we remember. I know that we are habituated to complain about the tough times, about the rubs as Rumi calls them. But with practice, we can slowly master this art. I am sure that it will be very difficult initially, but if we keep on working on it, eventually, we can succeed.

And when we find our way out of the storms in our life, with a smile on our face and gratitude in our hearts, we will become aware of our true value. And when that happens, we can help others around us by the Light of our being.

So, are you ready for the rubs to polish you ?
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Since I have been on the right side of sixty……. Wait, don’t get me wrong. Though the popular and the universally accepted meaning of this phrase is being less than sixty, I actually mean the exact opposite. I like to think that it is only now, after completing 60 years last September, that I have reached the right side of sixty. Of course, the dictionary meaning is just the same as the popularly accepted meaning.

So let me elaborate on this….. why am I implying that for me, being more than 60 years of age means being on the right side of sixty ? Let me share with you my own understanding and my experience since joining the Senior Citizens’ Club.

Over the past few years, I have realised that getting older has its own advantages. And I am not talking of just the benefits that you get as a senior citizen in terms of concessions or seat reservations in public transport. It goes way beyond these minor advantages.

As we grow older, beyond mid fifties or sixties, we find that most of us have achieved what we wanted to achieve; or if we have not been able to accomplish what we had set out to achieve, we have to gracefully accept that this particular life was not meant for these things.

In India, most of the people retire around the age of sixty. Those who have married early and have had children early, have fulfilled all the responsibilities towards their families. So, now, they are free to spend their retirement years just as they wish to, pursuing their hobbies, travelling around or just relaxing.

And this brings with it, a sense of freedom that we never had in our younger days. Now, it’s ok to say that I am tired and want to rest just now. Now, it does not matter if someone finds our house in a mess because we are by now convinced that being obsessed about tidying the house all the time is extremely tiring. Now, at least speaking for myself, the desire to get clothes of the latest fashion doesn’t touch me. Now, I am slowly getting comfortable with myself, my looks, my achievements and even my non-achievements. Now, I don’t have the desire to compete with anyone else for anything, nor do I crave for things that I don’t have.

In short, I have a peculiar sense of freedom that I lacked in my younger days. I am more carefree, I am not really bothered about what people will say when I do something which is contrary to popular belief but in which I completely believe.

Having said all this, I also have a sense of urgency to not waste my days any more, as I don’t know how much time I have in my hands. I want to utilise every opportunity to learn things which are truly important, which will help me on the spiritual path. I do not wish to spend time in quarrels and disharmony, I do not have any wish to judge others, nor do I want to waste time hating others. Whenever possible, I would like to help others. But most of all, I want to be happy and peaceful.

I’m not saying that all this is always possible. There are times when I deviate from my goals, there are days when I forget about my resolutions and there are days when I get caught up in anger or frustration. But these times are slowly reducing and I have a feeling that slowly and steadily, I am traversing on the right path.

As Rumi says, “ When all your desires are distilled; you will cast just two votes; to love more and to be happy! “
I am trying to cast these votes now, on the right side of sixty !

I hope that all of us can cast these votes, of loving more and being happy,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

I love stories, and especially stories told by Osho or other spiritual gurus. A short story can effectively convey what a two hour long discourse would have difficulty in explaining.

There is a beautiful story about a Zen Master and someone who wanted to be his disciple. The novice approached this Zen Master who was renowned for his strictness. Before accepting him as a disciple, the Zen Master told him that he would be watching the novice carefully and whenever he saw that the novice was not practising awareness, he would hit him with a stick. The novice agreed to this condition, little knowing how hard this training would turn out to be. The novice was required to do a lot of work in the kitchen and the garden. In the early days, the Master would creep in soundlessly and hit him hard on the head with a stick. This would happen several times a day. As time passed however, the novice learned to keep an eye on the Master and hence could avoid the beating most of the times. In a few months, he could escape all the hits with his Master’s stick but now the Master started hitting him when he slept. Initially this was hard to avoid for the novice, but as time passed, he began to master awareness and very soon, he could avoid the beatings even during sleep. Even when he slept, a part of him remained aware and could sense his Master coming. This was when he was finally accepted as a disciple by the Master.

This story beautifully illustrates how we normally blunder through life without any awareness. We are never really present in the present moment, in what we are doing, never alert to our surroundings and very often not even aware of our innermost motives behind our actions and our words. But as we start practising mindfulness ( meditation), slowly our awareness is heightened and we can take each and every step with total awareness.

Osho has talked about this awareness in his book ‘ Meditation- The first and last freedom’. As we start practising meditation, our awareness increases. First, we become aware of our breathing, then our thoughts and after that we begin to get in touch with our emotions. When that happens, it helps us a lot in our daily lives, in dealing with tough situations, in expressing our emotions correctly thereby avoiding conflicts and improving relationships. Awareness is actually the key to living life with love, a caring attitude and consciousness.

To quote Osho, “Awareness means a conscious mind. Anger, greed and hate are possible only in a very unconscious, sleepy state of mind.”

I hope all of us can make attempts to improve our awareness,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Yesterday as I was coming home by Metro in the afternoon around 1 o’clock, I realised that the summer heat has already started. It was very hot, the sun was beating down and I had to walk from the Metro station to my house for about 7 to 8 minutes.

After crossing the highway, there is a patch of road where there are no trees. All the beautiful trees on this road have been sacrificed during the road widening or the Metro work. In this patch, I could actually feel my skin burning from the sun rays, so I was trying to find shade to protect myself from the heat. Along this road, there is a large commercial building with a tall wall surrounding the building. The wall was casting a shadow on the road so I thought of walking in the shadow to get some relief. This wall has pieces of tiles stuck to it as part of decorating it. When I walked in the shadow of the wall, I found to my surprise, that though I was walking in the shade, that particular area was even hotter than the road. The tiles seemed to be emitting heat out of them. Luckily, this was a very small patch and as I turned into the lane leading to my house, I could feel myself cooling down just looking at the trees and being in the shade under the tree. And there was a major difference in the temperature under the tree and under the wall. As I walked under the tree, I felt cool, I could even feel a pleasant breeze caressing my skin.

Halfway down the lane, there was another wall casting a shadow on the road, as I walked in the shadow of this brick wall I was surprised to note that there was no heat radiating from this brick wall, unlike the wall with the tiles.

I was thinking about this phenomenon of shades and the difference in cooling even after I reached home. And I realised that the shade of each object differed greatly…..probably according to the peculiar characteristics of each object. The living tree and its shade was cool and welcoming and provided a great respite from the hot sun. It was as if the tree was absorbing the sun’s rays and converting them into coolness. Under the tree, you could almost feel as if the tree is trying to protect you from the heat, helping you to cool down and recover from the onslaught of the afternoon sun.

Under the wall with the tiles however, the experience was absolutely different. Though the sunrays were not directly touching the skin, there was no coolness. In fact, it felt as if the wall was radiating heat.

The brick wall did not have any heat being radiated from it. ( ? probably because of the porous nature of the bricks )

I thought to myself, the shadow that an object casts depends on the inherent nature of the object. The shadows of inanimate objects like the tiled walls radiate heat which they have stored within themselves. The brick wall probably has some moisture inside and so its shade is a little more inviting.

The living tree, on the other hand, was trying its best to protect people from the heat. It seemed more loving, more inviting and more cool and hence more comfortable.

Isn’t it the same with people? There are people like the tiled walls who are full of negative energy, negative emotions like anger or hatred or sadness and when you are around them, they seem to be radiating these emotions. Sometimes, you may get enveloped in this negativity and may start feeling negative yourself. Obviously, we try to avoid such people, right ?

And some people are like the trees …full of Love and Joy and Peace….. and what’s more important is that they have an urge to give, to share what they have, a desire to help others. And we always feel very nice in their presence and wish to spend a lot of time in their company.

As I was pondering over this, I thought to myself that I would certainly like to emulate the tree which is always giving, without expecting anything in return.

What about you ?

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Buddha says, “Each morning, we are born again. What we do today, matters the most.”

Isn’t this reassuring ?

At times, we get depressed by the mistakes we have made, by our inability to complete tasks in time, by our repeated failures to stick to our resolutions…. And then we start wallowing in grief and frustration instead of getting up and working.

We tend to stay stuck in the past and to focus on our shortcomings and inadequacies rather than starting afresh. Even on the occasions that we start anew, we carry the burden of our past with us and this burden weighs us down and it taints our present and we find it difficult to give our best to the present moment.

If we can remember what Buddha says, “ What we do today, matters the most.“; then probably we will be able to shrug off the chains of the past and be able to dance in the present.

I hope that we can do our best today and every day,

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

A few days ago, I opened a good morning message which said,”It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.”

I could immediately connect with this message!

Your past, what you have done in your earlier years, the kind of family you come from, the religion you belong to, your education, …. All these things are not really important if you are going in the right direction.

This message reminds me of the story of Angulimal, who was a dacoit and later became Buddha’s disciple.

It is said that Angulimal would kill the travellers traversing through the jungle where he lived, cut off their little finger and he made a garland out of these fingers. That’s how he was called Angulimal. He had vowed to kill a thousand people. He had already collected 999 fingers when Buddha passed through his forest. Seeing Buddha and Buddha’s innocence and beauty, Angulimal asked him to go back or else he would be forced to kill him. As he talked with Buddha, Buddha requested him to do one thing before Angulimal killed him. Angulimal agreed to the request. Buddha asked him to cut off a branch of the tree. When Angulimal cut off the branch, Buddha asked him to join it back to the tree. Angulimal realised that he could not even join a branch which had been cut, back to the tree, then how could he kill people; and he fell at Buddha’s feet. Buddha accepted him as a disciple and he later attained enlightenment.

If a murderer can attain enlightenment, don’t you think that you and I too, can walk on the righteous path and eventually elevate ourselves spiritually ?

Let us keep our eyes on the path that we wish to walk on regardless of what we have done in our past. If we are going in the right direction, our past will not be able to affect our journey!

So, even though I have made major blunders in the past, I vow to walk on the spiritual path which will lead me to a place which is full of Joy, Peace and Love.

What about you ?

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Osho says, “ Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it.”

Most of us are obsessed with the idea of becoming someone, little understanding that each one of us is already a masterpiece. We just need to realise this truth. We need to become aware that we already have everything that it takes to be someone. But most of the time, we are ignorant about ourselves.

And it has been my personal experience that we come closer to our inner self, our strengths, our potential only when we go through difficulties and challenges and rise above them to emerge victorious. The so-called bad times or testing times are in reality the doorways to know ourselves.

There is no need to copy someone else, we are enough for ourselves. The only problem is that most of the times, we do not know our own worth. More often than not, we are not in touch with the fact that all of us are divine. It’s just that we are not aware of our own divinity, our own strengths, our own potential. And that is when we try to copy someone, become like someone else. But copies are just that…. Copies! They are not originals. And an original is so much more valuable than a copy, isn’t it ?
As Osho says, “ Existence creates only originals. It does not create carbon copies. “

I hope each one of us can search for our true self and let go of the temptation to copy someone.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Osho says, “It is not that a meditative person enters heaven…. No, heaven enters into a meditative person.”

Such a wonderful, poetic description of the changes that meditation can bring about.

Meditation can help in burning away all that is impure in us and can help our inner light to shine brightly.

Meditation and the awareness that it brings along can eventually, in due course of time, make us more joyful, more at peace and more loving. We can enter a state where there are no conflicts and where we all are connected to each other irrespective of our class, creed or religion. And if that is not heaven , what else can be the meaning of heaven?

You don’t have to enter an imaginary place called heaven. Wherever you are, heaven is created in that place.

And this is helpful not just to the person who meditates, but also to those around this meditative person. That in fact, is the meaning of सत्संग !

I am eagerly waiting for that day when heaven enters me !

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Rumi says, “Do you pay regular visits to yourself ? Start now.”

What a wonderful concept…. Of paying visits to yourself !

In the modern times, most of us are very conscious of paying regular visits to the doctor for a health check up, to a dentist to check on the condition of our teeth, to the tax consultant for paying our taxes on time and so on and so forth. We like to read or listen to the news to stay informed about what is happening in the world.

The beauty conscious ones pay regular visits to the beauty parlour. We try to visit our elders ( who don’t stay with us ) on a regular basis. We like to keep in touch with our friends and organise get togethers from time to time.

But while we struggle to stay tuned with the outside world, very often, we forget about the most important person in our life…. And that is ourselves !

And unless we pay regular visits to ourselves, how will we work on improving ourselves?

What then is the meaning of paying regular visits to ourselves? Sitting down quietly, reflecting on our actions, trying to find out from where our actions originate, the emotions and the feelings behind each act of ours….. In short, meditating, becoming mindful is very important if we wish to progress on the right path.

Paying regular visits to ourselves does not just mean taking care of our external appearance, our bodies, our looks, our attire…. All these are of course very important when we are a part of this physical world.; but even more important is paying attention to what is happening inside us. To understand ourselves, to reflect on ourselves, to introspect, and try to see which direction we are going in.

And if we are going in the wrong direction, to steer ourselves back on the right path. Equally important is to congratulate and appreciate ourselves if we are progressing in the right direction.

So, are you willing to pay regular visits to yourselves?
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

A few days ago, I was listening to an Osho discourse. Osho was asked his opinion about prayer. In response to this question, Osho narrated a story.

The story goes like this : A ship was sailing home after visiting many countries. It was near the home town when there was a huge storm in the sea. Strong winds were blowing and the ship started swaying from side to side. It looked like the ship would sink any moment and all the passengers would be drowned. In this ship was a rich merchant who was coming back from a business trip, carrying with him a lot of gold and diamonds and other treasures. He fell to his knees and started praying fervently to God, as was everyone else. He prayed to God “ Oh God, please save me. If I can return home safely, I will give you my mansion.”

The palatial mansion that this merchant owned was so beautiful that even the king of the country wanted to buy it; but so far, he had not sold it to anyone. Now, when he was looking at death in face, he offered this mansion to God .

Miraculously, within a few moments, the storm stopped suddenly and every thing was quiet. The ship was stable
once again and started sailing home.

Now the merchant started feeling a little sorry. He thought to himself, “I should have waited a little longer. I was in a hurry unnecessarily. The storm would have stopped anyway. Now I have promised my mansion to God.” But then he said to himself, “I am a businessman, I will find a way out of this.”

The next day he announced that there was an auction to sell his palatial mansion. Many kings and queens and rich people gathered near the mansion. They were surprised to find a cat tied to one of the pillars of the mansion. The merchant announced that whoever wants to buy the mansion has to buy the cat also. Both the things go together. You cannot buy just the mansion. And then he announced the price of the mansion and the cat. The cat would cost one million rupees while the mansion would be just one rupee. But of course, the condition was that you have to buy them both together.

The king of the country agreed for this deal and bought the cat and the mansion. Later he asked the merchant about this oddity. The merchant told him about the prayer and said, “I had promised God that I would donate him my mansion. Now I can donate the one rupee which I have got from the sale of the mansion to God and keep the 1 million from the sale of the cat for myself. I know how to do my business.”

This story is a real eye opener, isn’t it ?

Osho says, for the majority of people, prayer is a business. Prayer is bargaining. People tell God, if you give me this, I will give you this in return. There is no real sense of gratitude in almost all the prayers that are happening all over the world.

In the same story, Osho has talked about how a saint in the same ship behaved differently during the crisis. But more about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, I hope that we train ourselves to not look upon prayer as a business.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Yesterday I talked about Osho’s discourse on prayer and one half of the story that he narrated in this discourse.

Coming to the second part of the story: In the ship, which was caught in a storm, when everybody was praying to God, there sat a man calmly and quietly, doing nothing. Outwardly it looked as if he was not interested in praying. Everyone was surprised at his behaviour and the surprise was all the more because this man was a saint , he was supposed to be a very religious man. So someone asked him, “How is it that you, being a religious man, are not praying to God to save you ?“

The saint’s answer was a true indicator of his religiousness. He said, “If God wants to save me, I am okay with that. And if He feels that it is time for me to die, that too, is okay with me. I totally accept God’s will. Whatever he decides for me, is perfectly fine with me; so what is the need for prayers? “

A truly religious man has no disagreement with whatever is happening in his life. He totally accepts any situation without any questions. ( of course, if he can do something about it, he will try his best. But if it is beyond human capacity to control the situation, the religious man will unconditionally, accept the situation without any fight. )

As Osho talked about this acceptance, he further talked about the true meaning of prayer. He says, true prayer is one in which you express your gratitude towards God, towards the supreme power, towards nature, for all the blessings that you are receiving in life….. ( A religious man will also express gratitude for the trials and trainings that he has to go through in life ! )

So a prayer is not about begging or bargaining. A true prayer is about being full of gratitude. A prayer reaches much higher dimensions when it is about thankfulness, about gratitude. That is the prayer which reaches God immediately and directly, not needing any mediators ( like priests ) in between.

A religious man is a living example of gratitude and acceptance. So a formal prayer is not necessary for such a person. He is always in the prayer mode !

I hope that I can be in the true prayer mode in any situation.

How about you ?

Love,

Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Today is Gudhi Padwa, the beginning of the new year according to the Hindu calendar. It is the first day of the first month ( चैत्र ) of the Hindu calendar.

We normally associate Gudhi Padwa with the beginning of spring. As we look around, we can see the change in the temperatures, the trees with their new leaves, the blooming of flowers,. This period is labelled as वसंतोत्सव, which means celebrating the spring. It indicates the beginning of new life everywhere.

Yesterday, as I sat in my balcony and looked at the trees lining the compound wall of our society, I could see the stark difference in the trees, from the picture that I saw 15-20 days ago. At that time, the trees had lost all their leaves and looked bare. But now, with the beginning of spring, the trees are adorned with new leaves. The cycle of nature continues in all its glory.

But these days, have you noticed that the abnormal weather patterns are more predominant than the usual natural cycles ? Just yesterday we had heavy rain falls in Mumbai and some other regions. In the last few years untimely rains have become a rule rather than an exception, causing severe damage to crops and fruit harvests.

And if we observe minutely, we can notice these changes everywhere around us. There is a Badam tree next to my bedroom window and until a few years ago, like clockwork, the Badam tree would change the colours of its leaves to orange, before the beginning of winter. It would then shed all these orange leaves and in a few days time, the tree would be dancing with new leaves. In the last few years, however, with the changing weather patterns, the Badam trees seems to have lost its inherent wisdom and starts shedding its leaves at odd times. I feel that it gets confused with the changes in the climate.

Don’t we see similar things happening everywhere? Untimely rains, increasing frequency and intensity of
natural calamities as compared to the last century are adversely affecting us.

We all know that man himself is responsible for these aberrations in nature. I hope that on the occasion of this first day of spring, all of us can pledge to restore and revive nature to its original splendour.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

A few days ago, I came across an interesting video in which Dr Deepak Chopra appeared in a TV show. ( I think this was a program hosted by Oprah Winfrey. ) He carried out an experiment in this programme. He handed over a piece of a string to the host and asked her to concentrate on the string. Then he asked her to think that the string is moving horizontally, and lo and behold, in a few moments, the string started moving horizontally. Then he asked her to change the direction in her thoughts, to move the string vertically, and once again, the string obeyed her thoughts. Then he asked her to change her thoughts to a circular movement of this string and almost immediately, the string started moving in circles.

This is a very fascinating experiment. Isn’t it ? To quote Deepak Chopra from this video, “Your expectancy determines the outcome and as long as you are not attached to the outcome, the outcome will be guaranteed “. I think this non attachment to the outcome is a crucial determinant of the success of this experiment.

He further added, “This is living proof that every cell in your body is eavesdropping on your internal dialogue ….. It means you can influence your health by your thoughts… this is reassuring as well as scary. “

Reassuring because it means that we can actively participate in the healing of our body whenever things are not going right. Just by changing the direction of our thoughts, by concentrating on our brain, by inviting healing energy to rejuvenate our body cells, by giving positive thought inputs to our body, we can positively influence the healing process.

And why is it scary? Because just as you can invite positive thoughts to help in the healing process, the negative thoughts of worry, anxiety et cetera can negatively influence the body’s efforts to heal the part which is unwell. So, if a person suffering from a major illness keeps thinking negative thoughts all the time, about complications, about death, then these thoughts can hamper the natural restorative processes of the body.

And in the age of Internet, we see that this is a very common occurrence even with minor problems. More about this phenomenon some other time.

In this regard, I would also like to share my own experience during my chemotherapy in a day or two.

In the meanwhile, can we use the message given by this experiment to augment our health, by sending out positive thoughts to our body ?

Love,

Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Some days ago, a friend sent me the YouTube link for an interesting Ted talk by Dr Mohit Gupta. Dr Gupta is a cardiologist and he was speaking on “Unleashing your inner potential: the power of the mind, body and spirit “

Dr Gupta, a busy cardiologist suffered from brain tuberculosis, resistant brain tuberculosis, a few years ago. While continuing medical therapy, he also made use of positive suggestions and positive thoughts to the body to cure his illness. He strongly advocates utilising these methods as an additional therapy to overcome major illnesses.

Another interesting point that came up during his talk was his study of effects on the genes in young adults who are severely stressed out. A scientific study that he carried out has shown that severe stress can have a deleterious effect on our genes. The chronological age of the young adults was not very high; but their genetic age , as seen by the breakages in their genes during genetic studies, was much higher, almost 30 to 40 years more than the chronological age. This is an alarming piece of information, isn’t it ?

I have heard BK Shivani didi talk about stress in our daily lives. She says that these days everybody says stress is normal if you want to live in this world. But this was not the case 20- 30 years ago. At that time, stress was not considered something normal. Unfortunately, in the modern times, the thinking has changed, basically because stress seems to be ruling ( and ruining ) our lives. People seem to think that stress is normal and something that you have to live with. As can be seen from Dr Gupta‘s studies, long-standing stress has long-term negative implications on our health. ( Most of the doctors have experienced this in their medical practice: the incidence of hypertension, diabetes and heart disease is increasingly seen in younger and younger patients. )

So, it is imperative that everyone understands this reality of the association of stress and ill health and takes steps to reduce or eliminate stress from our lives. This sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But when we see the positive results on our health when stress is reduced, we can be motivated to work harder on reducing our stress levels.

When we take up any spiritual practice like meditation, in addition to medical treatment, we find a positive change in our health. Our immunity improves, our predisposition to viral illnesses reduces, our blood pressure is under control, our sugar levels remain stable and in general, we can enjoy a healthier and therefore happier life. Spirituality also has wonderful effects on our skin; the texture of our skin improves, and we look much younger than our chronological age. ( I have personally experienced this myself. ) Obviously the effects on the skin are just an outward manifestation of the inner peace and joy, which we can cultivate with regular meditation practices.

I do hope that these messages about healing our own bodies or being a part of the healing process by changing our thoughts and practising mindfulness can reach wider audiences so that the overall health of humankind can be improved.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

Yesterday I received a message from my electric service provider talking about the Earth Hour which will be observed today, 25th March between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm.

As I searched for more information about this event, I found it easily on the Internet. To quote Wikipedia,”Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.”

Sounds like a great concept, does it not ? “ Switch off lights and Switch on concern for the planet for 60 minutes.” , is such a wonderful slogan. But apparently, this concept is not as great as it looks. There are many criticisms against this concept, a strong one being that it does not really reduce the consumption of electricity. But maybe it motivates people to think more about environmental issues, which is a good idea. I also think that the concern for the planet should be an ongoing affair, not something which lasts for only 60 minutes.

As I was going through all the pros and cons for this project, I remembered another video that I had recently watched. This video is about a small village ( I couldn’t catch the name of this village, but it was something-vadgaon; so probably a village from Maharashtra )

This village has a policy of ‘Digital Detox’, meaning that all the screens in the village are shut off every day from 7 to 8.30 pm. A batch of volunteers goes around the village checking that every person and family in the village is following the rules.

The video shows the interviews of residents and their opinion about this policy. The families were very happy that the ladies of the house were cooking for the family rather than watching serials. In general, they found this time together great for close bonding.

The teachers were the ones who were really very pleased with this arrangement. They have experienced a change for the better in the concentration of their students. They also found that the students were completing their homework and hence could grasp their lessons easily.

I think this is a brilliant idea. Such initiatives are really useful for our society and especially for our children. I hope more and more villages can adopt similar ideas which will reduce the screen time.

Along with this, I think all of us need a screen detox from time to time. It would be so nice if we could create “ No screen zones” in our homes ( and schools and colleges ), at least during meal times. I think it’s essential for nurturing the future generations.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

A few months ago, an elderly family friend, who is a hypertensive but well controlled on antihypertensive medicines, saw a video on YouTube. This video claimed that we can cure high blood pressure without any medicines and urged their viewers to stop their medicines. This friend was so impressed by the contents of this video that he immediately decided to follow this advice. Incidentally, the video was not posted by a medical person. Unfortunately, this friend did not consult his regular doctor before stopping his drugs, nor did he monitor his BP at home. As expected, within a couple of days, his BP shot up very high and he suffered from a brain stroke. He had to be admitted in the ICU, but the damage done was irreversible and now, even after months of treatment, he is still wheelchair bound.

We have had similar experiences very often in our patients as well as in people known to us, with disastrous results many times.

Many of our juvenile diabetics and their families are carried away by advertisements and videos claiming to cure diabetes without medicines. Here too, we have seen the juvenile diabetic going into a coma and getting admitted in ICU as insulin is stopped abruptly. Sometimes, this situation can even be life threatening.

We have seen patients with major psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, spending lakhs and lakhs of rupees on treatments advocated in a YouTube channel by a person who cannot even pronounce the word schizophrenia. Unfortunately, well maintained patients stop their medicines, spend a huge amount of money on these so-called guaranteed treatments, which of course are bound to fail, and then return to the psychiatrist. By this time, however, the psychiatric disorder, which was under control with medicines, is out of control, and most of the times, the condition has become chronic which needs newer ( read costlier) drugs and higher doses of medicines.

While having access to medical problems on the internet is not a bad idea, more often than not, we find patients being lured by unscientific sites. In fact, very often, people totally disregard the advice of their doctor who has many years of experience and blindly follow the advice given on YouTube channels by people who have nothing to do with medicine and its practice.

I continue to be amazed with people, blatantly disregarding the advice of experienced doctors and blindly following the unscientific advice of a YouTuber ( who surprisingly has lakhs and lakhs of followers. ) I am also surprised that no legal action is taken against these people when they create such problems, ….. obviously they are not governed by the consumer protection laws, unlike doctors!

The internet is teeming with videos on every subject, some of them with a vast number of followers. But it is difficult to find authentic, scientific videos on any subject. …. It is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

As I was thinking about this phenomenon of more and more people giving in to unscientific, unproven methods of treatment, I realised that most of these videos focus on the possible side-effects of medicines. While it is true that some medicines may have major side-effects, most doctors would try to use ( or should try to use ! ) such medicines only for severe conditions.

And of course these videos claim that their methods are the best with no side effects and also offer hundred percent guarantee for cure which actually no doctor can ever give you. In fact, if a doctor attempts to advertise 100 % results of his treatment, he is likely to be penalised for such advertising; but as these videos are not made by doctors, their creators go scot- free in the face of problems.

I don’t think there is any harm in trying out an alternative method of treatment as long as you are under medical observation, as long as you are not stopping the medicines which are life saving, which are absolutely essential for keeping your BP or sugar or mental health under control . If you do decide to stop any such medicines, it is better to taper them off gradually, while watching the medical parameters rather than stopping them suddenly and landing in trouble.

I do hope that the consumer guidance forums start taking action against potentially harmful videos on YouTube,

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar

Good morning friends

I wrote an article on the power of thoughts and how they can affect our health a few days ago. As is true with every thing else, this power can be harnessed to good use, to improve our health. However, if a person persists in looking at the complications of any disease that they are suffering from or to focus on the side-effects of the drugs ( which are necessary to treat this condition ),it can lead to disasters.

These days, many doctors are plagued by internet savvy patients, who have already googled their symptoms and come to a diagnosis on their own and now they just want the confirmation of the diagnosis from the doctor and of course, the prescription handed out by the doctor. Once that is accomplished, they are ready to argue about the side-effects of the prescribed medicines, the potential complications of the illness, and so it goes on and on.

As more and more people are getting access to internet, doctors are bound to experience these problems more and more.

Actually, having an access to information on various health problems and their treatments is very good, but only if this information is used rationally, and of course, if the information is scientific and based on scientific studies.

Unfortunately though, most of the times this information is not scientific as I talked about in my article yesterday.

Apart from the dangers on your health, of following unscientific advice, there is a real danger of googling too much and getting influenced by the negative aspects of any health problems.

Let me give you an example : if you Google for the side-effects of a very safe drug like paracetamol which has been in use for decades, you may find a long list of side-effects, including major side-effects like liver toxicity. However, as we doctors know from our experience for many years, if paracetamol is used in the right dosage and for the right indication, it rarely has any major side-effects. Most of the side-effects are seen when you exceed the recommended dosages or when you use the drug for prolonged periods, especially when the usage is not indicated.

Nowadays, whenever doctors prescribe any drug, the first thing that the patient or the patient’s family does is to go on the net and Google for the side-effects. More often than not, the side-effects mentioned on the net are not very common, but still the patients have firm belief in what they read on the internet. ( and not on what the doctor says )

So two things can happen ; one: The family askes the doctor to stop or to change the medication or two: if a change is not possible, because this is the only safest drug which is available for that particular ailment, then the patient and the family start worrying unnecessarily and excessively about the possibility of incurring side-effects.

As we talked earlier, our thoughts have a major influence on our bodies, on ourselves, on the functioning of our liver and kidneys and other organs. So, when somebody keeps giving a message to himself that this particular drug is going to cause a lot of side-effects, there is every likelihood that the side-effects will happen. It is almost like inviting the side-effects by constantly thinking about them, by constantly worrying about them, by constantly arguing with the doctor about the drug.

This phenomenon would not matter so much in minor ailments because most of the times our bodies are capable of healing themselves, even without medicines or in spite of the medicines !!

In serious problems however, when these drugs have to be administered, when there is no alternative for a particular drug, either because of nonavailability or the cost factor or any other factors, then this negative messaging to our body can create a lot of problems for the patient.

We often see that those who google their symptoms or their medicines too much, all the time, are more likely to have side-effects, than those who have complete trust in the doctor and accept the medicines unconditionally.

Of course, I do not mean that you should stop searching for information about any serious problems. I just mean that it’s better to focus on the positives rather than the negatives. Because if you keep focusing on the negatives, you are creating the thoughts which send negative signals to the body and complications are seen more often.

In the context of this, I will share my own experience tomorrow.

Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar