Third apheresis ..

Yesterday I called up Dr Sitalakshmi at St. John's asking whether there was any need of platelets. She asked me to come by 11 am. From 11.40 am to 1.30 pm, I donated platelets. It was a great experience. 

I also got to talk with the PG doc Ashley for two hours on global history  Peter Diamandis,  Yuval Noah Harari  and so on. Also about human migration from Africa 66,000 years back till 25,000 years back to Cape Horn  South America.

Very friendly doctors and staff at the blood bank. Reached home by 2 pm.

Good experience..

George 

Living longer ..

 The other day I was going through the British Express newspaper (click here) and was intrigued to find an article on how to live longer.

Four principles are discussed there

• Use our legs more often - dont stop walking, aerobic exercises
  
• Reduce meat and include more veggies in our diet, Have lore fermented foods like idli, dosa, curd, cheese etc
• Forging healthy relationships with family members
• Have good sleep at night, take modest stress - exercising muscles, completing a task etc.

If one follows these four principles on legs, food, relationships and stress well, longevity is assured.

George..

Some words of wisdom from Budha

There are 6 puzzles which Buddha answered in his mystical way :

1) What is the SHARPEST thing in this world ?

His people replied simultaneously : The Sword.

Buddha answered :

The sharpest is the human tongue

because with the tongue, humans easily hurt the heart, hurt people's feelings, through slander etc ...

2)  What is the MOST distant from us in this world ?

Some replied : Space, the moon, the sun.

Buddha answered:

The most distant is the Past.

Whoever we are, however rich we may be, we can NOT go back in time.

Therefore we must make good use of today & the days that will come.

3) What is BIGGEST thing in this world ?

Someone replied :

Mountains, the Earth .. the Sun

Buddha answered :

The biggest thing in the world is Lust.

Many humans become wretched because they indulge their  lusts.

All means are justified in order to realise the lusts of this world.

Therefore be careful with lust !

4) What is the HARDEST (and has the MOST WEIGHT) in this world ?

Someone replied :

Steel, iron .. elephant

Buddha answered :

The hardest is ... a promise

It's easy to say it but extremely hard to do it.

5)  What is LIGHTEST thing in this world?

Someone replied :

Cotton, wind, dust, leaves

Buddha answered:

The lightest thing in the world is humility, hence it is easy to forget humility & to leave humility

Look at the many people who are chasing after wealth and position ..  they simply drop & leave humility.

6) What is CLOSEST to us in this world ?

Someone replied :

Our parents, friends & relatives

Buddha answered :

The closest to us is DEATH

because death is SURE and can happen any second.

Even non-Buddhists can  use this knowledge and wisdom

May all living beings be joyful,  peaceful & wise.

🙏🙏🙏 (from the Internet).

12 steps to a healthy life ..

All of us look forward to a healthy living.  We want to be doing things that keep us positive and motivated, energised and enthusiastic the whole day. What are the steps we should be doing to ensure that we we remain healthy and active not only during the day, but our whole life. Given that an average Malayali has a life span of 75 years and females 81 years, let us live the rest of our life healthily. .

Here are the 12 points that will help us lead a happy and active life.

1. Daily bowel movement - enough of movement during the day will ensure bowel movement
   
2. Clear skin - taking enough of water, eating less fatty food
   
3. Deep sleep - ensuring a minimum of 8-9 hours of sleep daily keeps our brains and body systems properly energised and oxidised for active living
   
4. Proper weight - ensuring proper weight, the last two digits of your height in cms, should be your ideal body weight in kgs.
   
5. No body pain - keeping all muscles and joints properly exercised with no secretions or deposits in the body
   
6. 
   Feeling energised through the day - exercise, walking, enough food, water etc.
   
7. Feeling of strong hunger - allow complete digestion of food of earlier meals before taking next food. Feel hunger and then eat.
   
8. Experiencing positive thoughts - watch and read less of negative news, stories
   
9. Hydrating the body properly - taking enough of water ensures the muscles are not stressed and blood remains clean
   
10. Having enough vegetables/ fruits - for proper bowel movement ensure enough fruits and fibres in your daily food intake
    
11. Engaging in long walks - walks help in rejuvenating the mind and the body, ensuring all muscles in the body get proper exercise, prevent over straining
    
12. Stretching the body daily through exercises - the muscles of the body require stretches otherwise they become weak by inaction. Stretching exercises ensures proper blood flow.

When you do these things you get physically, mentally and spiritually active.

Wishing everybody a great active life.

George..

Voyager 1 and 2 ..

Voyager 1 and 2, 14 billion and 11.8 billion miles reply from earth in interstellar space, farthest man made objects in space ..

Mangalore visit during the passion weekend '21 ..

The Covid season has brought great discomfort and unease in going to churches. The fact that Gods could do nothing regarding the Covid virus, with religious leaders queueing up for the vaccine, was a depressing sight. We only have Science to depend on for emergencies and exigencies. 

The 1917-20 Spanish Flu virus saw the death of 70 million people globally when the global population was just 1500 million. In 2020, with the global population at 8000 million, the deaths due to Covid 19 virus has been barely 2.85 million.. 

Religions and religious leaders are out there to grab your time, attention and money for their personal needs and exploitation. I am sure educated people will have a relook at the practice. 

Booked the night train ticket to Mangalore. We reached Mangalore at 7 am on Saturday April 3. After a small breakfast at a neat veg hotel near to Milagres church, we went to Milagres church. Took excellent pictures of the church exterior and interior (built in 1630 AD. Went to Udupi and logged into the Treebo hotel room. 

After a quick bath, we were out to the Kaup beach by 1 PM. Stayed there till 4 PM. Was cool. Lot of rocks at the beach reminded me of the Anjuna beach at Goa. Could not enter the dangerous waters, the warnings were helpful.

After returning to our hotel room, by auto, we spent the evening time going around the famous Sri Krishna temple in Udupi.  I have heard of many of my friends visiting Udupi just to visit the Sri Krishna temple which is very famous. Saw the big rath (cart) used during the annual procession. Spent some time there before returning to the hotel after dinner. Had a good night sleep.

The next morning saw us proceeding to St, Marys island near the Malpe beach. The basaltic rock formed island of 70 million years age has its geological cousin rocks in the Madagascar islands near Africa. That shows the two continents were together and started drifting away 70 million years back.  

After a one hour stay we were back on Malpe beach till 4 PM and after Chinnu spent some time in the waters, we returned to our room at 5 PM. Had a brief coffee and rest, we were on board the Mangalore bus at 6 PM and the Bangalore train by 8.15 PM. after a good night sleep on the train, we were back at home in Bangalore by 7.30 AM and me back in college aby 9 am.

George.

My Covishield vaccine experience ..

 Even though my time for the first Covid vaccine (Covaxin) was fixed on March 30, 2021 afternoon, when I went to Accura Hospital, Koramangala, Bangalore for the vaccine jab, I had to wait till 4 pm and was told that due to lack of other vaccine recipients, my vaccination was being shifted to Wednesday. Paid Rs 250/- as Accura is a private hospital. A bottle of 10 mg can be used on max 20 patients @ 0.5 mg for each person, there were just five people wanting the vaccine at 4Pm on March 30.

I fixed the next visit on Good Friday, April 2, 2021. Accordingly at 9 AM, I was at the hospital on 2nd April, they asked me to return by 10.30 AM, as the number of patients were less. 

One thing I have observed in my interactions with the public, is a good awareness of the lack of complete tests on effectiveness by the vaccine companies. The public therefore does not want to take a chance on this vaccine and desires to go slow regarding the imminisation vaccination procedure. 

Even at 10.30 AM, I waited till 11.30 AM, when some more patients came up. I was the third in the list. Took the Covishield (from Oxford Uty-Astra Zeneca) jab at 11.40 AM and waited in the hospital till 12.15 pm. Since there were no reactions observed, I informed the sister on duty and left the place.  

After reaching home, I started reading the book by Peter Diamndis, The future is faster than you think. Interesting. The Covishield vaccine looks to be really matching to my body systems. That led me to take family, Anila and Chinnu to Mangalore and Udupi for a small weekend break. 

Today it is the fifth day after taking the injecton. So far, so good. I am feeling perfectly fine and energetic. Maybe I also do frequent blood donation, the last was given by end Feb '21. Maybe, the blood is very pure and has no component to cause any adverse reaction. Waiting for another week more before taking Anila also for the injection at Accura.

I am planning to wait for another 8 weeks before taking the second followup jab, even though Accura doctors asked me to return by 4 weeks, ie. end of April. I have been reading that longer the gap, upto 8weeks, more immunity one gets against the virus. Let us wait and see..

George..