Dr. Bharat Desai's Blog

This is a rare story of how a person from Valsad (Gujarat) turned into someone serving Aadivasi (tribal) girls far away from his home in the interiors of the Dharampur forests. Naresh Ramanandi, my friend Sanjay Mahant’s brother-in-law, is a dedicated follower of Shri Rang Avadhoot Bapji of Nareshwar. Bapji once told I shall take rebirth as an Adivasi . So in search of Shri Avadhoot Bapji, Naresh ji opted to reach this area and thought of some service activity.

It was a Thursday, otherwise a working day at my hospital, but I chose to declare it a holiday because my friend Sanjay Mahant and I asked each other to go for an event at Kanya Chhatralaya, Vagavad (near Dharampur, Gujarat). In turn, surprise visit to this hill-station materialised on 15-June-2016. One of the less visited hill-stations and waiting to be developed for tourist needs, this is one of the best hilly places I have ever seen. If you want to share nature in a less crowded, say lonely place, Wilson Hills is for you. This 2500 feet high place is 25 km away from Dharampur and 130 km from Surat. We can easily reach here by very good roads in the scenic Western Ghats. What nobody knows about this hill-station is, this is the only place 2500 feet high showing glimpse of the sea!

In Greece, there is a law about marriages. It forces you to give a detailed advertisement of marriage decision telling about both bride and groom.... one month in advance, in the newspaper. I think this exercise gives you time to reconsider regarding the prudence of your decision. You may analyse your said partner and think about compatibility. Then the chances of cancelling the decision are more. Or readers of the news may warn you about the drawbacks of the said partner, leading to no marriage at the said place.

Your mouth must actively be closed. Or else, bacteria, insects and unwanted calories will be engulfed leading to diseases, obesity and other undesired troubles. The tongue behind will kill you if you inadvertently and imprudently overuse it. See, the creator of human body ''God'' has kept nose and ears permanently open and eyes also open most of the time, except while sleeping. However, the mouth has to be kept closed all the time except for speaking and eating.

After getting married, the wife changes her name and adds husband's name. Similarly, the husband should also add wife's name to his. And both can drop their fathers' names. After the wedding, the wife wears "Mangal Sutra" and applies "Bindi" on her forehead. The married man - the husband - too should find out similar symbolic marks on neck and forehead. And till then, he should copy wearing Mangal Sutra and Bindi.

If you want to ignore strict dieting and stress of not getting to eat this and that... Be diet conscious! Let us start afresh... Avoid cakes in any celebration... be it a birthday, wedding anniversary, promotion or success in the examination. It was never used in such events in the past; it is a present-day wrong fashion! Second is ice-cream in any form... Kulfi, Cones, Milk-shakes, Cups, Falooda or even ice-cream pakoda !

Think this over. The ratio of the male-female population today is 1000:920, meaning 100:92, or to be simplest 10:9. Meaning thereby if every 9 women marry one man each... one out of 10 men will remain unmarried. Now think... What is the remedy if all the men wanted to get married? The only ethical remedy would be, that one of every nine women should marry two men.

As far as you are sharing your views, events and a few of your photos, everything is fair enough and natural. If you are too much eager to ask for so many likes, comments and sharing your presentation, frustration is imminent!

Girls do " Gauri Vrat " to get a good husband. After getting one, they do " Kadava Chouth " and " Vat Savitri Poonam Vrat ". This is customary amongst all. At the same time, boys and later the married men do not follow any such ritual, nor do they do any fasting at all.

Present day thinking leads to breaking a relation on many occasions. It is undesirable but still natural. Don't get panicked about it; relax and think over the following:

When you hear or read some intelligent people like Osho, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev or any alike, you start agreeing to whatever they say. Not because you are his follower or student, but because the content is true. Then you hear or read what he tells about some other topic and you again agree in total. Now the paralysing of your intelligence has begun. You surrender in total. Without your awareness, you stop thinking and become dependent on him. This is "paralysing intelligence". Beware!

When you are happy and relaxed, you feel everything is going well. This results in the negligence of four must s for health: Exercise Diet consciousness Rest  Sleep The end result is an unconsciously added obesity... a lifetime friend !

We receive messages in conversations and communications, and a reply or at least some response is expected by the sender. But more often than not, this replying does not take place. Even we are unaware of this and find no problem with this attitude. We do not feel sorry for not responding. I asked why this happens and this article is the outcome of the said question. While talking, someone asks a question and waits for the reply with frustration of getting none. Similarly we receive letters, messages on mobile phone, Whatsapp, Facebook, e-mails, Twitter and many other methods we use on the internet. Everywhere, the ‘replying’ is surprisingly missing. You will be surprised to know, the reasons are either absent or practically insignificant-trivial. Even when one remains absent at a wedding, birthday party, marriage anniversary, inaugural function or any such important occasion where he/she was invited, they do not convey any message of greeting and regarding his absence.

We are social animals. We have friends and relatives. Being socially attached, we need and desire to meet them. So the question is: Where do you meet them nowadays? Well, honest and multiple answers to this simple question are quite simple. Let me enumerate the list of present-day meeting places.

Whatever smartness or intelligence one has, to anticipate the probable attitude of the future partner is difficult. So for the continuation of the marriage, adjustment and compromises are must, compulsory. One has to marry because the law does not allow man-woman physical relations at random and society has laid certain norms of man-woman staying together. Though liberate present-day scenario allows live-in relations and physical relationship without much fuss, marriages are unavoidable. Once decided to marry, the second question arising is the method – the technique of the wedding. How many persons to be invited, the place of the wedding, the menu and its preparation and the details of the function is the subject of this article.

Are credit cards a BOON? – YES. Are credit cards a CURSE? – YES. You may be surprised reading this answer to these questions appearing rather simple. But the exercise of this article is to compare the advantages and drawbacks of credit cards after understanding the issues relating to it and finally, deciding where the truth lies.

How does someone's habit bother you? What is your concern about a person's habit? Before discussing about the habits in general and bad habits in particular, I would like to reply these two questions. We, the humans, are social animals. We live together a life in a society with people around us. Many a times, the dialogue with any individual with bad habits irritates us, disturbs our mood and sometimes makes us angry. Thus the awareness about good manners without bad habits is highly important. You see, habits die hard. But the bad habits die harder!

A self-destroying compulsion, what really is Comparison ? We mean it as an evaluation of the similarities and differences of one or more persons/entities to some other persons/entities. So, it is an account of resemblances and contrasts as superior or inferior. We humans have an inherited habit of comparing ourselves with near ones, friends and relatives, usually after considering them to be superior in our imaginary belief.

Air, water and food are must for a life, we know. But, many of us do not know that sleep is the fourth most essential for life giving sound body and mind. Loss of sleep, better known as insomnia, present in the third of the world's adult population leads to mental depression, a life threatening disease. An adult needs six to eight hours of uninterrupted profound sleep every day. How to ensure this? Let us understand the ways to deal with this issue point to point, and to get sound sleep.

Generally, the wedding of a daughter is event parents plan from the day of her birth. They start saving money and dream about the son-in-law to be. But all these have one condition tagged – “Consent of Parents”. Or say a final decision has to be with and as per the will of the parents. When this does not happen and daughter decides to marry at her own will – against the consent of parents, they get shocked emotionally to its deepest level and this is the subject of my discussion.

Money. How much is enough? Present time has created an impression that more the money more the happiness. Poverty makes a person inferior in this society, however clever, intelligent, honest and hardworking he or she may be. So, the young generation of the day has clear idea of being rich by earning more and earning at the earliest. So the question arises, how much money is enough money? Before giving the clear cut answer as I am certainly going to do – I would like to tell you the evolution of money.

My random thoughts on the demise of a mother. What do I understand while pronouncing “mother”? I do not need to go far away. I just see so many mothers around, to name a few, I shall say:                 Dr Bhavana Desai (My wife)                 Dr Amita Desai                 Dr Shefali Naik                 Mina Vijay Desai And I just see a few single mothers like:                 Dr Indumati K Desai (My mother-in-law)                 Vasuben Radhod (My hospital staff)          ...

While being surrounded by strangers struggling with their problems at a public place, say, in a lift, in a waiting room, in a queue at the bank, cinema, or elsewhere, we remain silent and make no conversation. Because we think it to be a bad manner, awkward or challenging. That is not right. Instead, try with a smile, raising your hand and a small-talk. Talk may be about anything; say weather, long waiting or just anything like that. I am sure it will not only relieve the tension but also create a forging bond between humans.

We understand, only bacterias, viruses and fungi spread infection and they are contagious. But there are many behavioural factors that lead to their own spread, and we do not notice them. Actually, behavioural matters spread faster than we think.

Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese philosophy that celebrates-respects "age" and the imperfections created by ageing (usually in inanimate objects like vases, wooden benches, etc.).

All over the world, the lines of the palm on the hand are thought to be deciding the fate of an individual. There is a study describing the reading of this lines on the palm, known as "Palmistry".

Activeness on Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and Blog If you want to be active on all these social media platforms, do so. Do not hesitate. Do express all you want. But... Be prepared for poor or zero response/feedback. The expectation of active communication may lead to frustration... depression.

I am happy to address my readers once again with a very important subject of day-to-day problems: Stress. Stress is a force that strains and deforms. People, events and circumstances take over you, and create stress. It is a physical expression of emotional insult. Emotions like Fear, Guilt, Shame, Anger, Worry, Guilt and Doubt lead to stress.  That practically covers every normal, routine emotion. Then, how can we deal with stress?

Facebook Friends More the number of friends, more the time needed to see their updates and respond. Sometimes, one feels it is a waste of time. So better avoid unknown, half-known and the friends of friends types. What is the ideal maximum number?

When should a doctor retire? Your reply is a must...

ICU (Intensive Care Unit). It is the most alert and up-to-date department in a hospital. Minimum expectations of the patient admitted here are would be: There is a doctor present all the time (round-o-clock) to treat the patient and attend to any emergencies. The present doctor must be having technical skills and know-how in the management of critical care. He/she may be a Physician/Anaesthetist/Critical care treatment specialist. Necessary gadgets like a cardiac monitor, ventilator, pacemaker, cardiac defibrillator and such others are present in working condition. Emergency Medicines, Oxygen, continuous electric power and assisting staff on duty.

Addiction Internet users with Facebook, Whatsapp, Emails and what not, very well know the (usefulness and) uselessness of the continuous connectivity and still can not stop the wastage of time in this activity. Just like the addicts of alcohol, smoking and tobacco chewing...