SELF CARE

We give away our children to schools in order for them to learn. Schools are governed by Boards. The giant machine called the system takes over and education is not a priority, pushing agendas is. 

We give ourselves away to Doctors and hospitals to remain healthy. Hospitals are governed by Boards. The giant machine called the system takes over and health  is not a priority, pushing agendas is. 

We give ourselves away to our employers  to earn a living.  Employers  are governed by Boards which are influenced by investors. The giant machine called the system takes over and the welfare of any stakeholder  is not a priority, pushing agendas is. 

We give ourselves away to the food companies  since we don't have time to cook. Food companies are governed by Boards. The giant machine called the system takes over and health  is not a priority, pushing agendas is. 

We give ourselves away to Banks to take care of our money.  Banks are governed by Boards.  The giant machine called the system takes over and our financial wellbeing  is not a priority, pushing agendas is. 

We give ourselves away to a huge chain of intermediaries on a huge number of things. The chain is concerned about its own welfare and governed by Boards. The system grinds on, and no person in the chain will defy the system to take care of our interests; they will, knowingly or unknowingly, push the system's agenda. 

The system whose agenda is being pushed, in each case, gets hijacked by vested interests. 

The system, like a giant octopus, puts its tentacles into us and feeds off our blood. The more the blood we give away, the more our ability to resist the system reduces, and the more we fall into the clutches of the giant octopus. 

The only way to ensure our own welfare is to take care of ourselves. 

Home School our kids. 

Cook our own food. 

Be our own nutritionist. 

Prescribe our own medicines. 

Rely on things like hospitals only to the extent unavoidable, and take our own decisions on when, where and how much. 

Be our own financial planner or catch hold of someone who genuinely works for our welfare. 

Educate ourselves constantly. 

Practice Self Care. Be self reliant.

And survive. 

( Posted to my blog: http://www.dineshgopalan.com)

How much do you need to retire?

In my personal finance sessions, when asked "how much money do you need today for a "normal" family, keeping higher education and marriage aside", the answers range from 50,000 in small towns to 200000 in large cities. 

I would roughly approximate  that out to 1.5L per month, assuming you have your own house plus 50k per month for lifestyle expenses like vacations, in a city like Bangalore. Let this number be X. 

Our "returns" from our investments need to take care of current expenses plus inflation, and assume that we live till 100 in theory. My thumb rule would be that you need a corpus of 400x. X includes medical insurance premium, but does not include higher education for children and marriage expenses. If your child is smart enough to get scholarship or not smart enough to get admission at all into a US University you are lucky. If your child is smart enough to find a spouse of their choice and smarter enough to insist on a "registered" marriage without any expense, you are luckier. 

My conclusion on how much you need to retire in India, assuming an upper middle class lifestyle, not luxurious, is 400 times 1.5 L which is 6 crores. Add 400 times 50000 for extras, that's another 2 crores. That's 8 crores, in a city like Bangalore. 

If you are intending to settle in a small town, 4 to 5 crores may be sufficient. 

A recipe for a healthy life

Navjot S Sidhu's wife was diagnosed with Stage-IV cancer Metastasis. Doctors claimed just a 3% chance of survival!

~ She took lemon water, raw turmeric, apple cider vinegar, Neem leaves, & Tulsi in the diet. 

This diet made her Cancer FREE in just 40 days🤯👌🏼

That is what Sidhu claims. The video of his press conference has gone viral. 

Are his claims tenable? Are they scientifically proven? That's what the sceptical human brain will ask.

But that is the wrong way to look at it.

In any health related matter, it is impossible to isolate one cause for the outcome. 

So it is impossible to say whether Sudhu's claims are valid or not. However, we all know this, and it is basic common sense: 

The key is to start integrating healthy habits when one is healthy and fit, or in other words, now. 

Ayurvedic health supplements are excellent to incorporate into your "dinacharya", or daily regimen,  apart from a sensible diet. Every day, have: 

A nimbu pani with honey. 

One Amla. 

Fresh vegetables, and fruits, fresh home cooked food. 

Apple Cider Vinegar is excellent , as per European tradition, Ayurveda does not talk about it. Include that if it suits you.  I tried it a couple of times, but I don't think it suits me, so I dropped it. 

Turmeric is anyway a part of Indian diet. We put it in most of the things we cook everyday.  This is common to North India and South India. So there is no need to have a "turmeric latte" which is what a westerner in New York might do. 

Spices in your food are packed with health benefits. 

Some ayurvedic supplements: 

Arishtams, like Dasamoola and Ashwagandha. 

Lehiyams, like Chyawanprash. 

Shilajit.

Each of them comes with a small list of dos and don'ts like when to have it, etc, but they are simple. 

Also: 

 An exercise regimen that includes aerobic activity ( this is not needed for those in active jobs which are few in number), flexibility, and strength. Flexibility can mean yoga or any stretching routine. Strength can mean calisthenics using body weight. No gym required, in fact exercising with machines is not really necessary, or even recommended. 

And,  Have faith, in God and in yourself. 

 Have a purpose which makes you get up every day in the morning looking forward to the day, and connect with people. 

 Be mentally active also, learn something new every day. The brain atrophies otherwise. 

What else can one do,? 

And then leave the rest in the hands of God, don't worry about missed opportunities in the past, don't fantasize about the future. 

That's it. The recipe to a healthy life, in a nutshell.

ON DOCTORS AND HEALTH

Know the natural rules of good health and follow them. They are based on common sense, and centuries of human experience. 

Trust the wisdom handed down from your ancestors . They were wise. 

Don't trust doctors. They know nothing, absolutely nothing, about health. 

Go to the doctor if you break your arm. Or some such mechanical thing that needs a fix. Do not trust anything they say about health - will you trust your car mechanic if he gives your dietary advice? Doctors are like mechanics, they only know how fix a nut to a bolt. Just make sure you are not the nut getting fixed, and bolt from there as soon as you can. 

Every allopathic pill you take has side effects. Every single one. Are you sure the benefits exceed the cost? 

If you are in any kind of lifelong medication, like for diabetes, or BP, or something like that, know that you have been made a fool of - it is partly your fault and partly not, but the fact remains that the medical establishment has its hooks into you and you are doomed. Sometimes, it is too late to rectify the situation, but just being aware of it will ensure you don't get trapped into the system's worst excesses. 

Avoid corporate hospitals with a profit motive if you can. Just look at it this way. Assume you are a butcher and a goat comes into your shop asking for health advice. What would you do to the goat? In case you still didn't get the point, the doctor is the butcher and you are the goat. 

Avoid hospitals at end of life. They are big money sucking machines which come into their element when you are on your deathbed. It does not matter if insurance is paying for it, they won't allow you to pass peacefully. 

Reclaim your common sense from all the medical propaganda and go back to the basics. Read up on natural health principles  and how to tackle illnesses. This is difficult. Our heads are so full of junk that we need to unlearn, which is a more difficult process than learning. 

At any cost, whatever happens, don't ask your doctor for advice on general health or on how to stay healthy.

NAMES!

Any name with four initials or more preceding it belongs to a Telugu ( e.g. VSRLV Raju) 

Any name that sounds sweet with four syllables or more belongs to a Bong ( e.g. Mridumallika) 

Any name that is unpronounceable is a Tamilian ( e.g. Anbazhagan) 

Any name after an infamous barbarian is a Bollywood star's baby ( e.g. Taimur) 

Any noise said twice with a 'kar' attached is a Maharashtrian ( e.g. Gudgudkar, Badbadkar) 

Any profession with a wallah attached is a Parsi or a Bohra Muslim ( e.g. Sodabottleopenerwallah,  Attarwallah) 

Any name that is sweet and sounds like a pet name belongs to a big hulking sardar ( e.g. Lovely Singh) 

Any name that is just two random syllables put together is a Mallu Christian ( e.g. Jijo, Bobi) 

Any name that is a pantheon of Gods is a TamBrahm ( e.g. Sivaramavishnumadhavan)