When we were kids we played a game Jhad Bandar, Jhad means tree and Bandar means monkey, so the game was monkeys on trees.  We would climb trees and there was a den who had to catch us, today we have no trees and kids are too busy watching TV or killing each other on computers.  At the pool we usually played catching, in which the den was on one side of the pool and the rest of us on the other, all we did was to dive from one side of the pool and get out at the other.  The sheer fun and exertion in such sport cannot be defined.  There was no money or equipment, we were one with nature, after such games we were all scratched and bruised but healthy and happy.  Those days there was only the odd fat boy or girl in school, today the opposite is the case.
My parents did not possess a car, we only moved by bicycle or on foot. We never had a car and we never missed one.  Those days were bliss, one had never heard the words pollution or calories. As army cadets we were scaled 5,000 calories per day.  For us it was an irrelevant figure, all it meant was unlimited quantities of food.  We were forever famished and when we met old aunts, they only remarked about us not getting enough to eat.

I am horrified when I hear kids talking of obesity and diet charts, youngsters suffering from diabetes and high BP.  Boys becoming fathers and girls pregnant at 12. Have we not gone terribly wrong, this mad race where is it leading us? These presidents and prime ministers, pumping in trillions of dollars only to perpetuate a sick system.  This recession, is someone telling us something that we are refusing to hear. Should we not sit down, consider sharing what we already have instead of digging in for more.  We humans have survived with God’s creation for thousands of years, why are we bent on destroying it in 50.  In the year 1900, India had 40,000 tigers and the ecosystem to support them, now we celebrate when they breed in a zoo.

Green Fitness World has a message the potential of which needs to be explored.

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Poverty is Ramped

Poverty is ramped throughout the world today, on a daily bases millions go without.  Poverty is described as a “deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of citizens.”(Poverty@Wikipedia).  So how do we heal such a wide spread problem that affects nearly half of the human population?

Greed is the Biggest Cause

My answer is to educate everyone on what is really causing the problem: greed. This one single item, I feel, is causing poverty to spread far and wide.  We are seeing the money supply shift to the wealthy and stripped from the poor and middle class daily.  We have become a society based on what I call the “me philosophy”.  By this, I mean we no longer care about each other and we are into every endeavor for what’s in it for “me”.  I think the best example of a culture that does not follow this philosophy is the Amish.  The Amish are a prime example of what we should be to our friends and neighbors.  When a member of their culture has an issue with food, clothing, shelter, and even health care, they as a society come together to ensure that the person gets the care and attention they need.  This simple change is all it would take for our modern society to eliminate poverty.  Greed would turn into good deeds, we as people would come together as one.  United we would stand, proud that everyone is strong, healthy and happy.

Educate everyone about unhealthy eating

This could end up being a long process, as the corporate world would not like to see this happen.  If we started caring about one another as individuals, there would no longer be a need for unhealthy foods.  We would educate our brothers and sisters on the correct foods to consume for healthy vibrant living.  We would begin to plant and provide each other with nourishing rich food straight from the earth.  Consuming raw foods as humans were designed.  The need for huge hospitals and pharmaceutical dependencies would decrease as our eating habits improved.  Health care expenses would be reduced across the board and we would be become a stronger and healthier society in the long run.  Sure in the beginning there would be a huge economical impact, but we would survive as we would be working for the good of each other.  It is pretty obvious that diseases are created by poor eating habits, including cancer, obesity, heart disease and many others.  Along with disease comes poverty as people cannot afford the required health care.  Many middle class families have become victims of poverty due to increasing healthcare costs.  This would rapidly decline as we become an educated, caring society.  Along with the shrinkage in hospitals and fast food joints would be the elimination of pharmacies.  We would begin to educate the world that pharmaceutical drugs do not solve any problems – they only mask the symptoms.  While masking these symptoms they begin to wreak havoc on other parts of our body.  I feel with these changes health care would become real health care the way it was intended in the beginning.  No longer would it be this huge profit mongering machine that sucks the life out of anyone and everything – with huge government and educational ties swaying everyone’s decision making abilities and government agency in place designed to hide the real truth from the people.  We need to work together to let the truth out of the bag.  This would free everyone from the mercies of the corporation and we would again go back to a caring and loving society here for the benefit and good of humanity as a whole.  Through these simple actions we could eliminate poverty and end the needless suffering.  No longer would someone do without.  People would again understand how to grow their own food, how to build homes and how to care for each other.  When someone is in need, friends and neighbors from far and near would come together to support that need.

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This is a continuation of the stories presented by Col Ravindra Dixit (Retd).  In this next article he discusses how yoga was his choice of exercise for recovery from his injuries.  If you missed his last two articles they can be viewed by following the links below.

A Story of Courage, Will and Determination

and

A Story of Courage, Will and Determination continued

When I left the hospital it was with many disabilities; my knees, ankles and hip joints had limited flexion, and extension. My left leg was shorter than the right and the left foot suffered from partial palsy, normally called foot drop. To further complicate issues, I had severe callous formations on both heels, these were very painful and I lived with them for over thirty years. Consequently I suffered from a severe limp, my walk was slow and labored, and I had trouble negotiating inclined planes and flights of steps.

With so many physical problems I had no business in the Army, but such is fate, I was retained, I had no choice but to try and live up to expectations in a difficult world. Life in a hospital is highly protected but the environment is harsh and cruel, only those who are physically and mentally challenged can realize this truth. The world puts up a show, but does not wait for those who are wanting.

I knew I had to get fit and get fit fast. Immediately on leaving the hospital I took to long walks, cycling, swimming and some exercises. There was improvement, but nowhere near anything acceptable to an army, deployed in some of the harshest terrains in the world. Though I worked hard, I failed to see the desired effect. I had to adopt a system which would be gentle, yet get me up to the desired level of physical fitness. All systems targeted the required muscles and joints which needed to be treated and excluded the rest. I knew that it was just not the legs or the heart or some individual portion of the body but the entire persona which had to be treated. I knew that it the very core was in need of rejuvenation. I suffered from severe bouts of depression and often thought of suicide as a good option.

I knew the answer lay in yoga; I was hesitant as my many disabilities did not permit me to perform many yogic postures and exercises. Then I did not have a qualified teacher or anyone who could teach me. I had some knowledge of Hatha Yoga, the yoga of determination. I studied a few books and selected a few exercises which I could perform, and slowly moved on to some which were more difficult. Many schools of yoga advocate against doing very difficult yogic postures and exercises as similar benefits are had from easier ones. A person can always attempt the more advanced exercises as one gains confidence.

In 1982 I met Balyogi Swami Premvarni, an accomplished Yogi from Hrishikesh in Northern India. I visited his ashram on the banks of the Ganges for over a period of two years and learnt many yogic exercises at his feet. From him I learnt yogic cleaning exercises, breathing exercises called pranayamas and many yogic asanas or postures.

Hatha Yoga is a composite system but it can broadly be divided into four exercise systems as under:

• Yogic Sukshma Vyayama or subtle yogic exercises.
• Yoga Asanas or yogic postures.
• Bandhas or locks.
• Pranayamas or science of yogic breathing.
• Shat Kriyas or yogic exercises for cleaning the physical body.

Yogic Sukshma Vyayama or Subtle Yogic Exercises. This system comprises of simple exercises which lay focus on each part of the body, from the head to the toes. These exercises are similar to the warm up exercises done by athletes and sportspersons, yet they are very different. The difference lies in that the exercises are performed with coordinated breathing and awareness of the body part being moved. In these yogic exercises it is ensured that each muscle and joint of the body is exercised, fresh blood carrying precious oxygen and nutrients is circulated and toxins are removed. With regular practice the body gains strength, flexibility and becomes beautiful.

Yogic Asanas or Yogic Postures. The science of yoga consists of eight steps, in which asanas form the third step. When we mention yoga most people refer to the system of yogic asanas. Yoga asanas can be divided into the meditation postures which are postures in which a person can sit for long in comfort, these postures are useful in meditation and breathing exercises, these asanas are like the padmasana or the lotus pose etc. Then there are asanas which are cultural asanas which focus on lending health and strength to the various systems of the body like the muscular, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems. They focus on lending flexibility and strength to the spine, and strengthening specific muscle groups and organs. These asanas are like the Shirshasana or the head stand and the Sarvangasana or the shoulder stand.

Initially I propose to focus on the above two and as the dialogue progresses we shall endeavor to learn about the beautiful science of yoga.

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I am one of the few lucky ones who have had the great fortune of coming out alive from a major accident, actually my legs were for amputation but providence helped me retain both. This providential boon came with a price; fate gave me the honor of getting back on my feet from what many thought was a hopeless condition. What a time I had, there was not a moment when I was not in pain, so many times I contemplated suicide, walking was such a torture that I would visit the toilet only when the bladder was bursting, it was very frustrating but there were a few successes and small victories too, in retrospect it was a ball and I enjoyed every moment. Each experience brings lessons, I thought I’ll share mine with you.
 
Just in case you have not read my last post, in November 1977 I had suffered multiple injuries in my lower limbs which had me laid in hospital for over two years. Initially both my legs were under traction for over two months and for the next seven months both legs were in plaster from waist down. One would suppose that with both legs in plaster there was not much that I could do in the form of physical exercise. The truth is very far from it. There were a whole lot of exercises that I could improvise. The first was to get the right perspective of my condition, be positive and realize that this is not the end of the world. Seeing things correctly made me cheerful which enabled me to cock-a-snook at my injuries and develop a devil-may-care attitude.

Other than his injuries or illness a long standing patient who is bed-ridden has a host of problems to cope with. First and foremost is boredom, loneliness hits a person very hard, from loneliness comes depression; I have seen patients talking to themselves, deep in self pity. Then there is inactivity, there is little activity in or around the bed and there is not much scope for the hospital staff to create fruitful pass-times for such patients. Inactivity is the mother of many irritants and diseases such as, loss of appetite, constipation, headaches, sinus, muscle atrophy, degeneration of organs, smoking, to name a few.  Are these difficulties insurmountable? Definitely not, the way is to remain active and happy at all costs. But How?

Fortunately I was able to identify the difficulties confronting me very early in my hospital stay. I took a proactive view and decided, that what has happened cannot be undone, but I have to preserve all parts of the body that are healthy. About three weeks after my accident I organized a pair of 15 lb dumbles and started exercising the arms, chest, and shoulders and what-ever of the upper back I could. Lying in one position in bed gives rise to pain in the neck, shoulders and back. Any amount of massaging does not relieve the misery. The only answer was to move these parts and improve the blood circulation in them. So I took on all the PT exercises that we did in army units and training establishments and gave them my best, the only difference, earlier the practices were done in a vertical position now I was perfectly horizontal. To work up a sweat I would shadow box, boy this one would really tickle my fellow patients and the laughter did no one any harm.

All of us envy those six-packs; but if I had stayed inactive for long I would have an assortment of jellies for abdominal muscles. Doing abdominals was a problem. I could not do crunches as the lower back was plastered and crunches gave me bed sores, which were painful and difficult to heal. I modified the classic crunch into what I named the Shirker’s Crunch. In this I would remove the pillow, raise the head till the chin touched the sternum and hold that position, a few sets of 50 and when I left the hospital the abs were good enough to take a punch. For exercising the back I would push the head hard into the mattress and try lifting the pelvis (this remained more a thought than an action as both thighs were fractured), this is about the best I could do for the lower back until later when things improved.

Again for the abdomen I did some yogic exercises, which included pumping the abdominal muscles up and down, bloating the abdomen and holding that distended position for as long as feasible. There is a superb yogic exercise called uddiyan bandha. This is an abdominal lock in which the breath is expelled and the stomach is pulled in, the position is maintained for as long as one can. In her characteristic American fashion, Jane Fonda has called this exercise the killer crush. A development on uddiyan bandha is the nauli, in which the rectal muscles are made to stand out like a ridge and then rotated in both the clock and anti-clockwise directions. These exercises are actually done standing or in padmasana, the ‘lotus’ pose. I did them lying in bed, only I know what an apology my efforts were, but notwithstanding my failure to perform well, they did me a whole lot of good. These exercises severely churn the abdomen giving tremendous massage to the intestines and all abdominal organs. In the abdomen there is a digestive fire which yogis call the jatthar agni, these exercises whip up this jatthar agni and if one practices these exercises digestion remains perfect. As all organs and glands in the abdomen are massaged they remain toned and function efficiently. Yogis say that one who has perfected these exercises never gets old and ultimately defeats death. I shall be discussing these and many other exercises in greater detail in some subsequent post. All the above exercises are good for reducing abdominal fat and help in maintaining a lean waist. Thanks to these exercises I hardly ever suffered from constipation, indigestion, loss of appetite, acidity etc.

I had suffered injuries in my legs what did I do for them. Not much. Both legs were first under traction for three months and then in plaster for the next seven. The left leg was lying limp, as a major muscle and a nerve had been severed and the bones were crushed. I would however follow a drill, take a deep breath, pull up the quadriceps and also the toes, count ten and release. Do one hundred of these in one set and have three to four sets in a day.

Once the plaster was removed I had to learn to walk once again. I would walk down to the gymnasium with the help of two crutches and work-out on the static cycle till I had worked up a heavy sweat. The rowing machine was good to tone up the whole body. I really did not go in for weights as I used to get adequate exercise from my own program. After my bones had joined I had to remain in hospital for a major skin graft.

We are breathing each moment of our lives. Unfortunately we are not conscious of the breath we take in or out of the system. If breathing is done with awareness it turns into a tremendous exercise system. In yoga breathing is a science, it is called pranayam or the control of life, if properly done it grants the practitioner good health and peace of mind. When I had met with the accident I did not know pranayam, never-the-less I regularly practiced deep breathing and surely it gave me great peace of mind, kept me healthy and contented.

What did I gain from the very dedicated exercise schedule which I followed with such diligence in the hospital?

• Just as patients look for good doctors, doctors too desire good patients. Doctors are doing a difficult job; patients can greatly assist them by their attitude towards the line of treatment. An ideal patient is a treat for the medical staff; the Commandant of our hospital would make it a point to bring every dignitary to my bed and brief him on the extent of my injuries and the way I had taken them up as a challenge.
• The busy exercise schedule kept me free of small problems and I remained very happy, and happiness spreads.  A happy patient lends his happiness to co-patients, the medical staff and the visitors to the ward. My surgeon would often say ‘Ravi because you are happy, your bones are happy, your muscles and sinews are happy. There is happiness around your bed you are recovering well and so are your fellow patients.’ 
• As I was a centre of activity I was never lonely. Patients especially youngsters would flock around my bed for a small workout and some tom-foolery.

The exercise program helped me go through two years of hospitalization and seven surgeries in what I recall as a very pleasant phase of my life. It would be wrong to say that I was never bored or depressed in these two years, so many times I cried to myself but the truth is that I have come out a winner. I was able to make phenomenal recovery from my injuries, recover my career and have a happy married life. It is a fact that I went on to teach physical fitness after having been declared a physical wreck by the Army.  

The workout system I followed were an improvisation, probably I could have done better. The circumstances for each person are unique and each one has to devise his own programs. The program one follows will finally depend on one’s nature, but it is important to analyze the requirement, see one’s limitations and then face the devil.

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I am honored to have him share his inspiring story. 

This story shows you can overcome adversity and become an inspiration to many. 
Stay tuned for further updates on the exact methods Colonel Ravindra Dixit used to overcome the worst days of his life.

Here is his story:

Life in the Army as a young officer was fun all the way; it was hard, hard training, hard unit routine, hard games, hard drinking, hard smoking and hard socializing. But all this changed in 1975, when my parents asked me to accompany them to Prasanthi Nilayam in Village Puttparthy, the ashram of Shri Satya Sai Baba, which is located approx 120 Kms from Bangalore, in Southern India. This visit had a profound effect on me; I was strongly attracted towards Baba and became his devotee. I was then posted in an artillery regiment, in Himachal Pradesh, a province in Northern India.

When I returned to my unit after the visit, I was confronted by my friends and well wishers who dissuaded me from following Baba, as He was said to be a notorious miracle man and not the God-man and saint he proclaimed to be. To dispel my doubts I studied the works of Swami Vivekananda, a renowned Indian saint of the late 19^th century. After my studies not only did my faith in Shri Satya Sai Baba increase but I was also introduced to all the forms of yoga and the need to abstain from consuming meat, tobacco and alcohol. Life for me took a turn; I commenced the practice of yoga, daily worship and meditations and this gave me a sense of discipline and purpose. Soon I started seeing things and events in a different light, my relationship with them underwent a subtle change. It was like an affair, I was surely in love, with what, I did not know, for what, I never cared, towards what end, I had no clue. Yet it was bliss.

I was a novice on the path of spirituality, without ever making an effort to decipher the purpose of my being, I blundered along unknown tracks. Though I was deep in the study of yoga, I failed to realize a simple truth, that without Divine intent not a blade of grass could grow nor can a leaf be moved by the breeze. If all is ordained by God, then my service as a soldier, served just as divine a purpose, as the holy chanting by a temple priest. I had failed to understand that the crux of life is to live it in the moment, that if a task comes one’s way in the natural course of things, then it has been allotted by divine dispensation, therefore the work at hand is the most important thing for a person and he must give it his singular undivided attention. Understanding such a fundamental spiritual fact had eluded me, and in my ignorance I was studying spirituality at the cost of my professional duties, which was not correct.

The two years after my visit to Puttaparthi went as if in a dream. I was now posted at the School of Artillery, Devlali in the Indian state of Maharashtra for an important professional course. Near Devlali there is Shirdi which has a temple of Sai Baba (the Sai Baba of Shirdi is different from the Sai Baba of Puttaparthi). This is a very famous shrine and Shirdi Sai Baba has a very large following amongst people of all nationalities. The devotees of Satya Sai Baba believe that Satya Sai Baba is an incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, so we the devotees of Satya Sai Baba, take them as one. So, after being posted to Devlali I was making frequent trips to Shirdi, which of course was at the expense of my studies at the School. In November we had a months vacations, I intended to visit Shirdi prior to proceeding on leave. At this juncture it is important to appreciate that I was torn between conflicting priorities, my professional demands, my yogic pursuits and an impending marriage in November that year.

One day I had a dream in which I saw myself walking on a mountain path and I entered a dilapidated building. Inside on a rock was sitting an old man with his back towards me, when I entered the building the old man turned towards me and I saw that he was the Sai Baba of Shirdi. I prostrated myself and touched his feet, after which he offered me food. After having the food I started crying and told Sai Baba that now I was not performing at the School, as well as I had always done, Sai Baba gave me a stern look and told me in a sterner voice ‘why do you come to Shirdi and waste your time, don’t come to Shirdi.’

It was a dream and unfortunately I treated it as such. Little did I know of the designs of the Divine, surely I lacked the faith required of a true devotee, for this dream called for introspection, I should have meditated over its import but I never gave it a second thought. On November 5^th, 1977, I went to Shirdi on my scooter. I visited the Shrine and the next day I kicked my scooter and started driving back towards Devlali. Six Kms from Shirdi I had a massive accident, after which I was evacuated to the Military Hospital at Pune, Maharashtra.

I have no memory of the accident or the detail of events which immediately followed, what I am now relating is what was told to me by my father, brothers and doctors. In this accident, I sustained multiple fractures in all major bones of both lower limbs, which meant that my legs in all likelihood were to be amputated. Statistics suggest that if anyone suffered even some of the injuries that I had sustained, walking on one’s own legs could have been questionable.

As often happens after sustaining such severe injuries, I underwent fat embolism, which means movement of fat from the fractured bones to the lungs which obstructs breathing and causes choking and death, to further complicate things, my heart stopped working or in medical terms, I underwent a cardiac arrest. It was pure destiny or Divine intervention that I was being wheeled in for surgery when my heart had stopped and the necessary assistance was available, immediately when I required it. Though I was revived, I went into shock and was placed on a ventilator. The doctors had little hope of me recovering. Six days after I had been unconscious, the doctors asked my father, then a serving Brigadier in the Army for permission to remove the life support systems, as there was no reason to prolong my suffering. My father a devout believer in God, asked the doctors for 24 hours grace. He then sent a telegram to Satya Sai Baba “Son serious, bless him,” to everyone’s surprise next morning I woke up. Gone was the embolism and the cardiac ischemia and in return for my life, I was granted the privilege of a struggle, which only some have the good fortune to face.

I stayed two years in hospital, the fractures healed in 10 months, but I had to undergo a pedicle graft on my left leg, this took longer than I could ever have imagined.

At the very beginning of my hospital stay, I knew that I shall be long in bed. My extended stay in the hospital would be a very long and painful journey where I would be totally immobilized, for an athletic young man this was the worst punishment. I was fully aware that I was likely to leave the hospital as a severely handicapped person; it was providence that God granted me great fortitude and extreme resilience, that for not a day during my stay in the hospital did I lose my sense of humor or wit.

With an intense desire to fight the adversities I was placed in, I decided that I had to maintain whatever was OK in my body, so I ordered a set of 15 pound dumbbells. With both legs in traction, and dumbbells in hand, I was indeed a funny sight. One day when I was trying out a little dumbbell wisdom, a nurse walked up to me asked what I was up to, so I told her that once you medicos are done with me, I am going to run out of this hospital. The lady gave me a very sad look and said, ‘ Ravi, we would have done our job if we could only help you walk out on a pair of crutches.’  How correct her words were, is something I lived with for many years after wishing the medical staff goodbye.

What I have related may sound fantastic, let me assure you it is as near the truth as I recall. I am no believer in miracles, but for an average man running 100 meters in less than 9.7 seconds may appear miraculous, granting life to a person may sound like a miracle to a layman, but for a great Yogi it is all part of a day’s work. If someone does not believe what I have said it is fine, for each one has his experiences and our personalities are their sum total.

I have no intention of discussing miracles or the occult. For, I know nothing about miracles and far less of the occult. I have given this backdrop only for drawing some important deductions. Every moment of our lives we are at the crossroads, and are in a fix which direction to adopt. Whether the choice is between a hamburger or a salad, a jog or a movie, whether to sleep or study or have the first cigarette or which school to send the child to, are very important decisions which all of us face every day but which may well decide the course of our lives. For every decision we make there are two voices advising us, one is the voice of the environment and the other is a faint voice from within ourselves. The individual is under pressure to listen to the environment whereas the voice from within appears easy to neglect. The teenager under peer pressure may have the cigarette, but the faint voice from within tells him not to touch it, for it is poison. Which voice he listens to is entirely a matter of choice; the voice of the environment gives immediate gratification but could also lead to an addiction, whereas the voice from within would surely help the youngster resist pressure, develop character and just might give him a leadership role over the boys he hangs out with. Hamburgers and movies are yum, jogging and salads definitely Yuk. But, between the choice of yum and Yuk lie important decisions which could make a difference to our lives.

Before I close there is one more dream which needs to be told. One night in the hospital I dreamt that Shirdi Sai Baba is standing at the foot of my bed. On seeing him, I started crying again and said ‘Baba why have you ruined my legs in my youth’, – I suppose I am the prodigal son who is forever spoken sternly to – Baba once again gave me a stern look and said ‘what has happened has happened, now stop crying like a girl.’ I wonder if any father has ever given his son better advice.

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