Health

Water | Health Summer’s here, and so is crisis season. Every year, officials say power cuts and water issues will not plague Bengaluru but each summer the situation remains the same. And if all this were not enough, the heat and humidity of summer bring with it its own problems. Citizen Matters spoke to government officials to find out what people can expect on the power-water front and also to some doctors on how to combat seasonal ailments. Uninterrupted power…what’s that? "I have to depend on the generator as there are untimely power cuts. My business is getting affected. This…

A few months ago, two incidents made me uneasy. One involved white smudges on my fingertips from the newly painted railing of my apartment building stairs; the other was finding paint patches on my children's hands from the attractively painted blue-green-yellow-red playground equipment. These occurrences were troubling since I was aware of, yet not completely sure, about the facts regarding lead (paint) poisoning. Childrens play equipment may be coated with lead based paints (pic: Meera K) Internet research revealed surprising and worrisome information. Surprising because, while lead poisoning is an issue across India, indeed the world, Bangalore seems to be…

This New Year began with reaffirming my resolution to regularly attend the Iyengar Yoga classes conducted at Nirguna Mandir located at 4th Block Koramangala, adjacent to ST Bed Layout. Apart from the significant improvement in strength, stamina and concentration that my weekly classes have provided, my primary motivation has been the steadfast guiding presence that my yoga teacher provides. K. Mahadevaiah (Courtesy: Ajay Bhaskar, student of Iyengar Yoga Classes) Simple, unassuming, modest; these are the words that come to most of our mind when we think of K Mahadevaiah, our yoga teacher. But to me he epitomises all that is…

It's usually people who quit regular jobs to follow their passion make news; but here is somebody who moved from a government organisation to the business sector to pursue, quite literally, matters of the heart! Prof. A V Ramani (pic: Deepa Mohan) Professor AV Ramani is unusual by any standards. Educated to be a chemical engineer with a wide knowledge of material sciences, he taught metallurgy at IIT, Madras. Also experienced with electrochemical technology, he put in 11 years, from 1968 to 1979, at National Aeronautical Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore, where he became conversant with non-conventional processes like spark erosion. What…

If nature cures, why do we need Naturopathy? We live on planet earth, under the sun. We still breathe the common, available air, we still use water for drinking, bathing, washing. What could be unnatural about that? Dr S Mahadeshwara Swami (pic: Manjushree Abhinav)The fact is, in the last four decades, our lifestyles have changed dramatically. In the following interview, Naturopath Dr Mahadeshwara Swami tells us how this change directly affects our health. Dr S Mahadeshwara Swami has founded a Naturopathy center in Yelahlanka New Town, called Prakruti Arogyadhama. He graduated from SBM College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences. You…

I had always wondered what life was like on the inside, at Karunashraya. If I had gone there as a copywriter on a project, I would go around with the team, look inside the wards, talk to some of the patients and ask for a 'brief' as we normally do, before we start a project.But then, all roads led to Karunashraya when my mother drifted into a terminal stage of cancer - far too gone even for a miracle cure. I would now get an insider's perspective on Karunashraya - as a caregiver to a patient.View from the walk-ways, around…

When we talk of garbage not being disposed off well, we do not think about garbage other than the regular kitchen waste and plastic. One major type of waste that we hardly talk about is radioactive waste, produced at cancer hospitals. While our kitchen waste may not be so harmful, radioactive waste can be hazardous. On a casual inquiry, I found out that the cancer hospitals in Bengaluru were apparently disposing residual radioactive waste into the public sewerage and garbage. This sounds alarming, but this is what they are supposed when the radioactive material (used for treatment) is 'fully used'.…

Bengaluru witnessed a special and a very essential awareness campaign this Sunday. 1st December being World AIDS Day, the students of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Bangalore, along with ActionAid, an international NGO, held a campaign in the city to sensitise Bangaloreans about AIDS and ways to deal with it. The motive was to remove the stigma associated with this dreaded disease which has already raised its ugly head in India, and is spreading rapidly. Action Aid139, Richmond Road, Bangalore-560 025 Telephone: +91-80-25583767/25586682Forum Mall at Kormangala saw a host of events organised by SIBM and ActionAid. The latter had…

‘Because the wind wants to feel your hair, and the earth wants to touch your feet.'- Kahlil GibranWe live in nature, but we don’t live naturally. We live on the earth, but we don’t touch it. Ninety per cent of the time, we hide from the sun. We use hot water to bathe, which is a fast, functional affair. Most of the time we condition the air we breathe. In winter, we keep warm and in summers, we protect ourselves from the heat. We burn most of the vitamin in food before we eat it. In fact, we protect ourselves…

The Medico-Pastoral Association and Stage Left Productions present This is their story, a play directed by Vasudev Kanthraj and Nazeef Mohammed on 6th December 2008 at St Francis Xavier's School Auditorium, Promenade Road, Fraser Town, at 6.30 PM. This play is an original script written by the members of Stage Left Productions. It is written as a response to the growing problem of suicide and self-harm in today's world, especially since the statistics are alarming and very disturbing. Bengaluru has earned the dubious distinction of being the suicide capital of the country. This play thus essentially deals with different kinds…