Black Rice Kheer

The first time the black rice was brought home, it looked so strange but that it was brought my brother's friend made us trust it. It's no different, trust me and though it tastes different it's very good for the health.

The preparation is no different than how one prepares kheer. You only need to soak it for longer and boil it for a little longer. And garnish as per your creativity. Next time I am going to garnish it with coconut.

DB

Prof Dulal Bhattacharjee - The news of his leaving this earth did not much surprise me, I don't know why! May be the image of him when I saw him last time, that was like two years back, was on my mind. He looked pale and sick and though I went and greeted him, I couldn't be very sure if he recognised me or just thought of me as one of his hundreds of students.

He was a brillant teacher, and I remember, whatever he taught, I did not have to much refer to my Physics text. But his coming to class was something we would doubt, wait for and when it happened it was brilliant. I remember examples from real life that he would cite and laugh about it!

Rest in peace Sir! I will always remember the days I spent learning from you!

The Light I trust

The light above, the light within...the light that leads, the light that guides...the light that brightens, the light that shines...that light I trust!!!

Between Positivity and Negativity

Well, each day I try to make myself more positive, focus on the good things etc etc but at home it's a different story. We have differences, our views oscillate between positive and negative, sometimes extreme, and sometimes somewhere in between.

So when it comes to illness, I am like...well it can be healed and dad is like something worse must have happened! And when it comes to your own sickness and how you react, its different again. Mom never says she is fine and it takes an effort out of me to extract out of her if she is really feeling a little better than before. Similar is the case with my brother, he will announce to the whole world that he is not well, take the medication but hardly do anything to prevent.

I am no better in the sense that I think I am fine, I am scared of doctors and hopefully one day life doesn't surprise me with illness. I like, to stay, and believe, forever healthy.

Root Cause Analysis

To start with let me confess that I am a homeopathic baby. I have severe allergy to doctors and I do hope that any doctor reading this should not take it personally. There are reasons, many reasons and I don’t know if I can ever convince anyone on this.

It is a 3 month long  ongoing story. It started when I returned from the US and had swelling in my feet. To me it was natural after all those long hours of sitting in one place and I expected it to get back to normal soon. Then I traveled again for a wedding, this time domestic and considered that these travels were not really aiding in helping my swellings disappear. Somebody at the wedding pointed out that my feet were swollen and I naturally answered that this was all due to travel.

Back home when dad saw it, he was tensed and wondered if I had kidney problems. My dad has been into homeopathy for many years now, even though he does not have a professional degree. He prescribed me some medication but this did not help. Added to this I was not willing to take the medicines regularly as I did not feel that I had any other kidney trouble related symptoms. Meanwhile I got some tests done as this was a mandate from my employer, a yearly check-up for us all. The results were good except for a minor infection.

My swellings weren't getting any better, and though I continued taking the medicines that dad gave, I also read articles on the web and learnt the term “Edema”. The symptoms matched mine, I was not happy about it that I had a disease. The reasons could be many and as per the symptoms different medicines were recommended. I also looked up for healthy food and natural remedies and tried to apply those in real life including increasing my water intake, raising my feet to a high level, keeping my feet soaked in warm water where a pinch of salt was added.  Though I had no pain, there used to be numbness accompanying the swelling. And every day I would measure inch by inch of any little improvement.

Finally I decided to see a doctor and after much thinking I decided on a homeopathic doctor. His medicines seem to work, did me some good but the numbness remained. Also I noticed that there was some swelling in my arms. That was when enlightenment struck, and I decided to try “Arnica”. Well, the numbness reduced just on the next day, the swelling seems to have diminished and I do need to wait a few more days to confirm that I have no other health problem other than perhaps some circulation related problems caused by whatever! Thank God I did not go to an allopath, he might have attributed it to some name, the sound of which would have given me a heart attack.

I knew the medicines were working, but slowly. It was then I spoke to a friend about the symptoms because sometimes back he had told me about someone whom he knew had developed swelling in his legs after a flight. He mentioned that mine could be something similar and it did not hurt to go and get diagnosed. He also told me about an online homoeo site where I could do a self diagnosis. I started thinking when my friend mentioned DVT and it's serious consequences if not treated, like leading to a stroke or heart attach, then I thought there was no harm visiting a doctor after all. Also the doctor from the online homoeo site suggested the same and I made up my mind finally. I did continue taking Arnica as it did me good anyway.

So when I visited the doctor, he after the initial check up ruled out DVT, much to my relief. He attributed the swelling to prolonged hours of sitting, non movement and very less physical activity. I knew all these of course. He suggested some ankle exercises as well and recommended I take at least 10 glasses of water daily. I am trying. He prescribed some medicine along with Vitamin D. We got some tests done to rule out anything else. So when the reports were finally in my hands, I was so glad that there was no sign of excess thyroid secretion nor anything major. The uric acid level though within range seems to be on the higher side. I need to speak to the doctor to understand. Meanwhile I have posted the same question on the homoeo forum; the doctor hasn't replied yet...may be he is getting little irritated with my endless questions and probing. So today I dismiss whatever Edema is from my physical being and mental frame and start counting the glasses of water I drink. Meanwhile my research with uric acid will continue. So will continue my walks and ankle exercises.

Smile

I may never manage to turn up in tidied hair
I may never sport a shimmer in my eyes
Nor can I take those delicate steps
Nor can I bring a sweet song to your ears
I may sport a shabby look
I will perhaps trip in a stiletto
That's how I am that's how I will be
But I will have a listening ear and 
In life's ups and down, I can try each day to wear a smile.