Babuji…Dheere Chalna!

Dear colleague Senior Citizens (Babuji); my greetings! And well wishes for ‘happy journey 60⁺’. 

Friends, this compilation of mine is primarily meant for the senior citizens. You know that our journey i.e. the  ‘journey 60⁺’ is quite a different type; we do not know the coordinates of its destination; we also do not have a return ticket! Does it mean we are helpless to be lost in oblivion? Certainly not! ज़िंदगी जिंदादिली का नाम है! Let us realize that we are not the spent force and we can comfortably make this journey a truly satisfying and fulfilling experience. Let us explore together a few pearls of wisdom, for a right, a holistic attitude towards life beyond 60…Please read on.

Time to shake off the workaholic attitude! The sage Ashtavakra, says to King  Janak; 
‘जो किया, सो किया, ना किया ना किया; उसने ही, जनक, मुक्त जीवन जिया!’ i.e. “If one has done some work it is fine; if not that is also fine! Such a one lives the life of no-bondage”. It means, that if a senior citizen has some work to attend to, he or she should handle it, else should not restlessly hanker after work rather should go slow and be restful. At this age, we need to avoid a workaholic attitude, learn to relax, and avoid becoming burden on our near & dear ones.

Keep roaming to avoid rusting!  One workable suggestion for how to be reasonably active, comes from a wonderful couplet of the Sufi saint, Khwaja Mir ‘Dard’, ‘सैर कर दुनिया की गाफ़िल, ज़िंदगानी फिर कहाँ, ज़िंदगी गर कुछ रही तो ये नौजवानी फिर कहाँ?’ i.e. “Roam around and see the world, O indifferent! Very soon the life will not be. In case a little life remains, the youth will soon pass for sure!” ‘Youth’ at our age means that our knees are strong enough to bring us back home after a roaming-around session! Of course, depending upon the size of our budget & the condition of health we can plan a outstation trip, a morning/evening walk in neighborhood park or, a shat-padi (शतपदी), after meal (a walk of 100 steps within one’s own home)!

Healthy body: The Indispensable Chariot of Soul! North Indian folklore talks about four-pleasures of human life; ‘पहला सुख निरोगी काया, दूजा सुख घर में हो माया; तीजा सुख गुणवंती नारी, चौथा पुत्र हो आज्ञाकारी!’ i.e.  Healthy body is the first & the foremost pleasure, next comes ‘money’; followed by a well-qualified woman and then an obedient son. These not so well-educated people from rural India seem truly wise in laying down a sensible pleasure-hierarchy! At 60+ of course our primary focus is on ‘healthy body’, our chief support for successful life-journey! 

Lungs and the menace of excess cough! A regular, comfortable breathing is the most prominent sign of sound body-health. And lungs often suffer excess of ‘cough’! If excess generation & accumulation of cough is not dealt with appropriately in time it leads to various respiratory issues like cold, sneezing, coughing, bronchitis, and finally, asthma. Due to impaired breathing, energy supply to entire body is drastically reduced and life tends to become miserable. While serving as Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Ahmedabad during 2007-2010, I suffered this suffocating experience during those three winters. Doctor declared that I had developed ‘asthma’! Ayurvedic treatment greatly helped!

My ailment gives me life-long lessons! I gathered a pearl of wisdom from this experience that reliably ensures health of my lungs; almost free of respiratory issues. I share the wisdom with you. There are cough-rich eatables that generate excess cough which accumulates in the body, especially across the respiratory organs. These eatables are;

(i) Deep fried items, (ii) Ice-creams, cold drinks, (iii) Red chilli, spices, (iv) Eatables sour in taste like Chaat-Tikki etc. and,  (v) Chemically ripened Mangos… the single largest contributor of cough. Babuji, such mangos essentially remain sour in nature [like the sugar added in sour curd] and generate a lot of cough as eaten in large quantities during the summer months! Respiratory issues crop up in the winter months.

Control the intake of certain food items! As the first step, at our age, we need to have controlled intake of such food items and avoid taking some, religiously, as necessary.

Use black-pepper regularly! The 2^nd step is regular consumption of Black-pepper in powder form by mixing it in the pulse/vegetable recipes, ½ to 1/3 spoonful, every mealtime. Keep one un-crushed, whole, black-pepper in your mouth for 15-20 minutes then chew and eat or throw it. This discipline will almost eliminate the infections like the sour-throat, that usually initiate after meals. This dual discipline has provided almost a miraculous health support for my respiratory system ever since I adopted it in 2010! 

The frequent irritant called the gastric issue: Heeng (Asafoetida) tablet is a true help! The gastric trouble is another general ailment that troubles we senior citizens often. Ayurveda says that trapped air is the root cause of pain in the body; be it stiffness or immobility of a joint or muscle or that low level headache & heaviness. For control of the gastric menace, we need to religiously reduce intake of eatables that are difficult to digest & cause more severe gastric trouble like the vegetable cauli flower, pulse urad-daal, chhole, rajma beans etc. At the same time take some heeng supplement like the Dabar Hingoli: 2 Tablets once in the morning. Avoid taking food left over from the previous meal-time. This simple discipline, discovered in 2002, has since been a great help to me for generally maintaining a relaxed body-attitude!

A person is what the mind is! The body-mind duo goes much hand-in-hand; one affects the other. From the point of holistic-well-being, the importance of ‘Mind’ in our life, cannot be overstated. The ‘Brahmbindu Upnishad’ says; “मन-एव मनुष्याणाम कारणम बन्ध-मोक्ष्ययो.” i.e. ‘Mind alone is the cause, both for the bondage and liberation of human beings!’  Three simple and effective suggestions are given here for better securing a healthy & relaxed mind, Babuji;

(i) Healthy mind in healthy body!   Minimum & easy physical exercise in the form of a 40-minute comfortable morning or evening walk is a must for the health of body and hence of mind for us.

(ii) Omkar Recitation! It is an effective therapy, based on the most profound spiritual concept from Indian Scriptures i.e. ॐ (pronounced as AUM). This recitation strengthens the central nervous system; all the four senses centered in the head and enhances the calm & clarity in the mind. By senior citizens, it can be done for 11 cycles, once a day in the morning, before breakfast, preferably sitting cross-legged or even sitting on a chair [For further details, see ‘Pearl of Wisdom-II in on this Website].

Omkar Recitation!

(iii) A good book by your bed-side can facilitate a sound sleep! The type of thoughts that you entertain just before going to sleep, persist during the night’s sleep. And that decides the quality of sleep, level of relaxation & rejuvenation in your body-mind mechanism. For this purpose, read a little just before going to sleep, may be, a biography or an autobiography of a great personality you adore.

Lessen Your Luggage for a Comfortable Journey! In the journey of life most of us carry a lot of undesirable burden of hurts & insults that we inflict on others and that others inflict on us. The associated thoughts & emotions keep us restless almost day & night. We cannot be happy & celebrating in life with these painful guests living in our bosoms. Mirza Ghalib provides a beautiful and truly effective suggestion here in one of his famous couplets;

‘इस तरहा मैंने गालिब,  ज़िंदगी को आसां कर लिया, किसी से मांग ली माफ़ी, किसी को माफ कर दिया।’ i.e. “This way I made my life much comfortable, Ghalib; I sought pardon from some and some I pardoned!” The beauty to be noticed here is that whether the wrong was done by you or to you, ‘pardoning’ or ‘pardon seeking’ both are recommended to be initiated by you! That is only logical and especially for senior citizens, to best rid of all hurts & insults and lead life in contentment as this attitude renders the need, for the other person to approach you for seeking pardon, redundant.

Earn Resources (Merits) to Celebrate Your Journey Here & Hereafter!  The gist of the Puranas created by sage Vyas has been described thus; “अष्टादश: पुराणेषु व्यासस्य वचनम इदं; परोपकाराय पुण्याय पापाय पर-पीडनम।” i.e. ‘The essence of the 18 Puranas of Sage Vyas is this: Meritorious is, to do good (to others); and harming (others) is demeritorious!’ Our selfless deeds are the source of our fulfilment and satisfaction in life. Such a life alone is the life well lived. However, we might have lost some miles in life hitherto, now is the opportunity; let us make our treasure of knowledge, skills, experience and wisdom, available to the people around for their help & welfare! This may also include consoling a crying kid or expressing well wishes for the good of all! It is meritorious indeed!

The take away tips:·       

*Shake off the workaholic attitude; learn to relax!

*Be comfortably active; roam around!

*Let your lungs live; consume black-pepper!

*Gastric issue means pain; may use ‘Dabar Hingoli’!

*Have good sleep: Read at bed-time!

*Recite Omkar; 11 cycles once a day!

*Hurts are harmful: Do pardon & seek pardon!

*You have a treasure of knowledge, experience & skills; offer it for good of others!

*शुभकामनायें।