Weekend Refuge

While discussing about my daily/weekend grind few years ago and the inexplicable chores that typically hog our weekend, my friend touched on the topic of her morning walks which she religiously takes. Ofcourse her dog was her excuse, but then if you are one of those souls who have found such a green surrounding to indulge in every morning or say every weekend morning also, take my word its worth the investment; AND, every second of it.

Though I like the nature and wildlife in general, the thought never crossed my mind how much a simple inclusion of a ritual can partake for an overall well being. And since two years I have tried to take a stroll in my neighbourhood park, but beyond that just sit there on the pavement and see the life slow down to a crawl with birds and squirrels jumping left and right. It is my refuge, from the slog and the running around, bickering, temper highs, squabbles which is a common parcel of our weekdays. Every sunday I just leave my house behind, take a two km walk have a coconut water on the way (a common stable for every bangalorean), have my usual breakfast, idli-vada with juice; then after a few metres enter my refuge, just go and sit in one corner close my eyes and let the sounds fill in, take a deep breath and almost feel the time slowed down. Believe me its worth experiencing, we read so much about de-stressing everyday, but think reading a novel, watching TV ought to do the trick, I guess not, you haven’t given your mind a rest.

We fail to acknowledge the toll, fatigue and stress have on our fast paced life, made me smirk yesterday when I saw that it costs US $150,000 billion in lost productivity due to fatigue related illnesses each year, but the joke was on me, I too am a member of that community even if by a long haul. Ever wondered, that even in a state of bliss I mean going to a park etc, the things going through our head, from laundry to grocery list, to spouse issues that recently you indulged in a tussle about, not to mention fifty other extraneous things that make rounds everyday together with hundred to-dos left in office. We hardly do the needful, so I make it a point that I simply see the sights around while I walk or sit, and if someone does try to knock in then I throw him/her or that thing out, :) I mean from my head, afterall a half hour excuse-me wouldn’t hurt.



Even the short holiday breaks we take are hogged by so many planning issues, followed by things to see and places to visit, and even if you have enrolled with any holiday makers, their typical itenary have so many things on their list, that I have heard people complain that they hardly got to see anything at the end, but ironically if they don’t show you much we complain at the start that the itenary is blanch and boring. And we thus fail to acknowledge that the bang-for-the-buck constitutes bang at whose cost.

I remember six years ago when I was in my first job and had my saturdays working in Delhi I had a park in front of my bus stop and at eight thirty or nine I use to see people perambulating, and wondered whether that late does constitute morning walks or was it a rich man's idea of contorted health-bliss. Though having only sundays to spear I usually didn’t go there myself, plus the idea of stress and fatigue were nowhere in sight though the word did made rounds in our sunday spreads but were overlooked, but now, and I do mean now, I know what it means and that census was a pointer to myself.

So this weekend, go with your mind on a quiet stroll. And for that half-hour throw the clutter out, with a polite excuse-me :).

For the future generations

When Polly Molly appeared a few years ago (that’s after Dolly appeared in 96), and forthwith its application in human tissue research there was quite an ethical debacle whether the stem cells research stands on the thin line of human infanticide.

What had me go through these research findings is that after almost ten years when the first cloned mammals came into being, humans have now been offered possibility of preserving stem cells from the umbilical cord of a new born child. So that they can be used later to treat many of the diseases and cover up for heart disease, diabetes and certain type of cancer.

So where does this thin line gets blurrier, so a bit of diving into the actual process is needed. Stem cells which form the base of this research are extracted from human embryos and have the potential to developing into 220 types of cells found in human body, which can then come in handy for treating various types of illnesses by replacing the faulty ones in cases of Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, burns and spinal cord injuries. But because we already read the word embryo before, so the latent desire to do anything from the primal being of a human being gets laid to rest in the argument that we are toying with the very thing which eventually gives rise to a human child and therefore is as good as killing a child itself. On ethical grounds if scientist can prove at what stage in life does sentience arise, then this debate can be laid at rest. But sure a slippery slope. Many who did read this issue of TIME’s (The Brain: A User’s Guide) are now well aware of the hard problem and the soft problem.

Back to the topic at hand, we are somewhat spared of this ethical quagmire as the cells used from the umbilical cord is for the well being of the child itself, and anyhow the cord does get discarded as a biological waste after the child birth but now can be put in saving the child itself.

Stem cell research can be broadly categorized into embryonic stem cells, cord blood stem cells and adult stem cells wherein the listing appears from left to right in terms of usefulness. Embryonic having the most potential options but requires the destruction of a human embryo for various research the next one is via the cells found in the umbilical cord which are still in the nascent stages of differentiation can be preserved cryogenically for long run, the last adult stem cells can be extracted from the bone marrows but because of limited cell extraction offers lesser chances of experimentation.

But anyhow, what I like to assert is that maybe this cord blood cell preservation is a bright idea, applications and feasibility of which can be seen in years to come but to reap the rewards we must decide before hand whether we should/shouldn’t opt for it. Stem cell research is now available in India by Life Cell India and can cost around forty to seventy thousand. Who knows science does find a panacea to most of our problems atleast from the perspective of time, I mean what we had twenty years ago and what we have now, I sure am an optimist in thinking that stem cells can come in handy with extended applications to fields which aren’t possible now.

So any "to-be" parents reading this should give it a second thought.

Reference: Wikipedia, WorldBook