HAPPY ONAM, HAPPY TEACHER’S DAY, HAPPY MILAD-UN-NABI!

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HAPPY ONAM, HAPPY TEACHER’S DAY, HAPPY MILAD-UN-NABI!

ON MY OWN, Sep 06- Sep 12, 2025 September 5, 2025 , by Tara Narayan

WHAT a country of multi-cultural celebrations we are, with a festival around the corner all the time with one or another religious-minded community trying to make it stretch and stretch and stretch – to be happy or at least put on a happy mask. How we civilized and not-so-civilized (if all we want to do is genocide!) love to be happy with all our celebration of festivals, and in India it’s one long red or green or blue carpet being rolled out for this festival or that festival – nobody will believe we’re still an underdeveloped ancient country in modern times today, colonialized several times by other civilizations, used and abused … till we freed freed ourselves on the backs of a myriad heroes, real heroes, and yes, there were genocides too, mini or not, in the name of what else but some religion — unable to rise above its nightmarish rules and rites and so many to do with women!
The Indian sub-continent has seen quite a couple of genocides or mass killings for sane and causes. But the old causes are gone with the wind and why do we need to rake them up over and over again? Is it easier to move back into history to right wrongs done long ago, or move forward to attend to today’s headaches like how the earth is going under water and soon humanity will have to survive in water?
If you’re asking me I like my India as it has evolved post-independence, a bouquet of celebrations and festivals of many hues! But is time to stop and think of a real cause – the world over Mother Earth is going under water due to climate changes natural and fueled by unnatural human lifestyles of plenty at the top of the pyramid of the good life, and less and less at the bottom rungs where the working classes still struggle to make ends meet when a festival comes around. Appearances have to be maintained at least to keep morale up, never say die, and hope tomorrow will be happier and all that.
HOPE rules in our bellies empty or half-empty! Altogether in mind and body, heart and soul. I always say if you can heal the soul, you will heal the heart, and if you can heal the heart, you can heal the mind and heal the mind and your body will heal…think about it. So when I’m feeling at my lowest I will say Happy Onam, Happy Teacher’s Day, Happy Milad-un-Nabi. May modern Indians of all denomination set an example in the fine art of being happy but not at anyone’s cost or misery.
A dear friend of mine was recounting details about her large family politics with none except her mother looking after their grandmother, she confided, “Five brothers and none for all the sweet lip talk want to take turns looking after my paternal grandmother but we, the poorest branch…see to her ailing needs. Mind you, all my uncles are crorepati! My mother gave her brothers a piece of her mind yesterday and I’m still upset about it…”
Family at the worst of times is a broken affair of anger, hostility and sheer indifference. Many in a position to help and help big-time enough to make a difference, but they won’t for so many cussed reasons, all as worthless as the hypocrisies we practice in our own lives to perhaps live forever. When blessings turn to curses all around humanity is really in serious trouble, think about this and don’t just think!
TO move on to something else I always like to attend these healthcare do’s happening in Goa to catch up with the ingredients of what makes for happiness. I like what the venerable Dr Deepak Chopra says about joy being the only measure of success in one of his social media talks, and he doesn’t mean faking joy, okay. Anyway out at HIFAA for a bit last week Aug 30-31, 2025.

HIFAA is Healthcare Iconic Fashion and Awards, a high-powered business group formed recently to celebrate and award the unsung champions of humanity in the healthcare areas. I wasn’t able to spent the two days of talks at Cidade de Goa Horizon but over two sessions managed to say hello to some remarkable folk engaged in healing and not just in the alternate schools of medicine.
Amongst the speakers were Dr Preeti Reddy who spoke about the importance of IA and the future of healthcare, there were panel discussions on the re-emergence of AYUSH and clinical trauma practices and advances in cancer care (this was the session I wanted to attend but missed, the speakers were Dr Sanjay Sharma, Dr Rahul Bajpai, Dr Jageshwar Pandey and Dr Rusy Bhalla) …much more, and I learned much to be followed up on. Do you know that many with spinal issues today are turning to the science of chiropathy or fine-tuning of the spine to ease pain? There were practical demos of using chiropathy to ease pain by Rajneesh Kant – indeed, a lot of folk suffer from poor postures and consequent pain along the spinal tract (on which the muscular and nervous systems of body beautiful ride in and out, and keeping in mind how today’s lifestyles involve long hours of sitting on chairs before all kinds of screens in hand or table). Chiropathy can help.
Most every health problem is linked to our lifestyles of sedentary living and plenty! Hey, a very special guest here was our very own niz Goenkar Padmashri Libia Lobo who a 100 happy years later is fine, fit and happy…she spoke about “Upgrades in healthcare on my 101 years pathway.” Nobody could match her in longevity in the hall and it was a pleasure to say hello to the gracious 82-years-old Jyotiben Mehta, mother of one of the co-founders of the event Hemanshu Mehta.
Jyotiben urged me to sit besides her and confided she was of Kapur Vaishnav faith, she had a problem with her right and was introduced to yoga by “Mamtora” at Juhu in Mumbai and she gets up at 6am to do yoga for an hour now, her legs is much better and she can walk well. Yes, she is very spiritually inclined too spending hours praying. Jyotiben shared that she has also improved her eating habits, “I eat four badam and two akrot in the morning…and everything like poha, upma, idli-dosa, Gujarati have sev-mamra too and there is desi pizza sometimes for breakfast!” She makes sure she walks at least half-an-hour daily and she is much better now, that’s is why she is there at the function! She is 100% better and now thinks there is something good in alternate therapies.
THIS is to say it was a pleasure to meet up with both Libia Lobo and Jyotiben Mehta at HIFAA. Women I find are happy to volunteer information happily, more so than men! This is to say the key people behind HIFAA are Dr Biswajit Mondal (founder), Hemanshu Mehta (co-founder), patron-in-chief is Pintu Mondal, lifetime patron is Ajay Mishra, plus there is Dr Rahul Bajpai, Ramakant Deshpande and more. It was two days of some very enlightening talks, giving of awards, I didn’t go for the fashion show although I dare say this must have been fascinating, it’s not often that doctors fraternity have their own fashion show! HIFAA’s motto is “Every challenge is a lesson. Every step is a story. At HIFAA, we walk together – with empathy, with kindness, with purpose.” I’d say Amen to all that!
ON that note it’s avjo, selamat datang, poiteverem, au revoir, arrivedecci, hasta la vista and vachun yeta here for now.