Darshatha- the visible voice : health

Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 July 2021

Humanly Resonance by Shristi Nangalia

Do you believe in the theory that says when people vibrate with the same frequency, they attract themselves towards one another? That when people meet, they are 'meant' to meet? Do you believe that universe fights for souls to come and to be together?

I think I do.

I know.. It is not easy to buy that there is a universe sitting above us, pushing people in certain directions, irrespective of the daily lives they are already leading. But, why not? Keeping all rationality and cognitive thinking aside, I particularly am sold on the essence of romanticism and mystique the concept holds. May or may not be for a particular motive or purpose, I believe people (or matter per se) don't encounter or engage for nothing.

When you mindlessly find yourself at a random worldly chatroom and you connect with a stranger on a deeper level, when you suddenly meet a schoolmate you never talked to at a party and realise you have a lot of common interests, when you team up with a co-worker and attach with them quicker than you could ever have, when you feel in 'sync' with a person regardless of their age, gender or relation.. it should (could*) mean something, right!?

And no, its not just about love or attraction. I believe, syncing up with an other person can make us feel a little more understood, a little more owned. This convergence can, in turn, reduce anxiety and induce mental healing and wellbeing. The act of recognising the association can itself feel liberating and can boost one's knowledge of self. So, why resist it when there may be a chance? It doesn't have to appear like a fairytale. It can be simple, but assuring. Your heart will know.. even if your mind disapproves.

It is not something to fret about though. We don't have to wait for it, we don't have to work towards it. It should, above all, feel as effortless, smooth and organic as breathing. I guess, only then it can bring a positive difference in our lives.

Saturday, 10 October 2020

world health organisation

Chasing Happiness by Juhi Meshram

wearedarshatha 18:45

We often say, “I am anxious”, “I am stressing out”, “ I am so depressed” and what we hear in return, “You will be fine” , “you are worrying too much”, “you are overreacting” etc. We often are considered “dramatic” or “making excuses” to gain attention, sympathy or simply to avoid working. In the past I have been no different than society in thinking this way about mental health. If I am not happy that means I am expecting too much, If I am not focusing then I am clearly making excuses because I actually cannot do it, if I am stressed or anxious then I am overreacting or If I am depressed then I am seeking attention. It doesn’t change until we experience the extremes, let me tell you all about it.

One day I woke up and felt immense pain in my chest, like I was sinking and floating at the same time but not swimming. Something really bad had happened and the event was too much for me to take alone. I waited for two days, I thought it to be a mere sickness or an after effect of crying all night. I wasn’t sleeping. I decided to meet a doc and he asked me how I was feeling and I started crying. I cried so much I had to step out of his cabin to calm myself to normalcy. Looking at my condition I was advised to see a psychiatrist where I was diagnosed with Anxiety disorder.

No matter how much I had claimed of struggling in my life, those were the most dreadful days. There was immense pain in my chest, I used to experience panic attacks when I felt palpitations, deep chest pain and a shrinking void heart. I used to find it difficult to get out of bed, yet sleeplessness was constant. I used to feel restless all day long and my emotions were always hyped. I wasn’t able to focus on a single emotion, a single thought process or a single activity at a time. Nothing was pleasing me and everything was bothering me. I was on medication, slowly I started working out and meditating but with this I was also gaining weight. I was eating good but the grief was too much to make me look good, I had breakouts all over my face and the stress level was so high I just wasn’t keeping it inside. I experienced breaking down before my friends and family, So I started giving more time to art and literature as distractions but these same things which used to make me alive earlier started making me insecure, I lost interest in my job and soon resigned.

Today, It has been 11 months that I am seeking professional help and now I know how serious mental health is. I am not as vulnerable as I was in the beginning of my treatment. I carry myself quite well now. But it has changed me a lot. During covid-19 I have completely taken a break from professional work and pursuing writing and other interests. But I have no regrets because I am doing better. I started educating myself on mental health and mental illness. I started taking every moment seriously. I am more aware about myself than I ever was and I am settled with my priorities being happiness and peace before money and recognition. But it hasn’t changed the people around me. When I say I am feeling pain I am told to sleep and not think about it, If I open up about my condition people label me as attention-seeker and If I say I am doing better but the pain is constant I hear how I am adapting this lazy nature and don’t want to get better. My own mother called me weak-hearted, my friends complained of my changed behaviour and involvement in their lives and my brother called me mad. It doesn’t mean they aren’t caring for me or not supporting me, it just means they are not ready to change their mindset towards mental illness.

Let me give you a bit of what I have understood with my experience so far,

-If you think you aren’t happy just stop! Take a break and ask yourself why.

-If you see any behavioural, emotional, actional changes in yourself or in your people take it seriously.

-Listen to people in such conditions and be supportive.

-You aren’t crazy if you are seeking professional help, you are just ill and you are going to be better.

-Medical help is not everything, personal and social positivity affects the treatment a lot.

- No matter how much you educate yourself about mental illness, there are always people who think you are weak and making excuses.

-It’s not your job to educate them, just say yes and move forward.

-There are so many other types of mental illness than anxiety like Clinical Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Dementia,ADHD, Schizophrenia, OCD, Autism, PTSD and every one of them needs equal attention.

-Feeling down, unfocused, excessively emotional, tired,detached, short tempered, delusional, sleepless, irregul in eating, chnaged sex drive, violent, angry or suicidal is very normal if you are mentally ill.

-Start normalising people having mental illness because others aren’t going to do it for you.

I have shared my experience to reach a person who is suffering the same and letting him/her know that you aren’t alone and you aren’t weak. I have been on that edge and am coming out stronger and so you will. If you think of someone who needs to hear this please share this story.

Juhi Meshram

Darshatha

Monday, 14 September 2020

sunset

आत्मघात by Adity Sanker Pandey

wearedarshatha 19:21

उस कमरे के एक कोने में वो गुमसुम बैठा करता था,

मुख में ना शब्द , इशारों में वो सबकुछ कहता रहता था।

थे जो सवाल उसके मन में वो सबके लिए अनायास थे,

उसके लिए जीवन उसका अब बस उनके जवाब ही थे।

ढूंढा उसने जो किताबों में, कई मंदिर और मजारों में,

जवाब मिला वो पागल है, है शंका है उसके खयालों में।

फिर वापस आकर कमरे में, अकेले में सन्नाटे से,

फिर वही प्रश्न पूछे उसने इस बार मगर, दीवारों से।

क्या ऐसा है कि हैं ही नहीं वो उत्तर इस संसार में ही,

फिर क्यों ना किताबों कि माने और पूछें उस भगवान से ही।

हां अभी जहां तुम बैठे हो, हां वहीं बनी एक सूली थी,

हां वहीं फिर से एक और जान घंटो तक उससे झूली थी।

स्वर्ग द्वार पे खड़े हुए, जब उसने अन्दर कदम ना रखा,

परमात्मा को भी उसके फिर परमार्थ भाव का मनन हुआ।

दे दो उत्तर उन प्रश्नों का मुझे वापस श्रृष्टि पर जाना है,

मेरे जैसे कमजोर पड़े नादानो को मुझे बचाना है।

उन प्रश्नों का उत्तर तो तू उस धरती पे ही छोड़ आया है

यहां तो ना हैं सवाल , ना प्रकृति ना माया है।

था जब मनुष्य का सृजन हुआ, अलगाव का ना जन्म हुआ,

फिर भी ये कुछ यूं जुदा हुए, खुद से ही यूं बेहूदा हुए,

की एक था वही ढूढ़ रहा, जो दूजे के पास था रखा हुआ

फिर भी उसको ना फर्क पड़ा, पहला मरा या है ज़िंदा,

स्वार्थ इनपे जब हावी हुआ, "बस मै" का भाव तब हावी हुआ।

तुम्ही देखो जब खुद तुमने अपना ही संघार किया,

इनकी दुनिया क्या रुकी, थमी ? क्या एक पहर भी किसीने उपवास किया?

दुनिया तो बस चलती गई, चलती गई बस चलती गई।

Penned by: Adity Shanker Pandey (guest writer)

Presented by: Darshatha

Image by: Anonymous source of a beautiful sunset.

Thursday, 28 February 2019

war

Do you want war? by Juhi Meshram

wearedarshatha 14:30

P|C: Margaret Bourke

Do you want war?

Are you ready to see your houses burning?

Your cities turning into ashes?

Your countrymen dying?

Your lungs craving for clean air?

Your throats hankering for drops of water?

Corpses and blood lying as far as you see?

Your kids getting slaughtered, your women getting raped, your men getting killed?

Your fellow citizens randomly migrating to unknown places?

Are you ready to witness how many nations would actually support us?

And how many wouldn't?

Are you ready to witness how the country would take shape?

And what new states will be formed? And who will govern your state?

Are you ready to experience loss of productivity, political conflicts, unrest and misery?

Post-war, what do you think will remain?

We will be left out of money

with no home for sheltering,

and no food for our babies.

Half of the animals will die, and the other half will be eaten by us.

No trees will be left green to give us fresh air or food.

No amount of money will matter when rates will heighten and resources will lessen.

New diseases will be ready to kill the slot left alive.

Sure, things will get better.

But, what will we do when things get better?

We will rebuild our houses,

plant trees, grow them, pet animals,

reset our jobs, strengthen our technology, rebuild our transport system, make new friends.

Some of us will have grown old, some would have grown weak and some would have died.

You do realize that not many will survive the war, na?

How many years you think this process of 'betterment' will take?

50?

100?

100s?

Can you guess how many days a war can last?

Can you guess the amount of damage it can cause?

Can you guess the number of soldiers that will die, number of thieves that will be born, number of politicians that will turn corrupt?

In such a case, who will come to our rescue? Are 'we' among ourselves enough?

What you think war will bring you?

Victory?

Peace?

Swachh Bharat?

Smart cities?

Developed nation?

Pakistan thrown out of existence?

What happens to them, shall happen to you.

Win or loose. Will it matter?

Sunday, 15 October 2017

speech

Kalam, the inspiration by Juhi Meshram

wearedarshatha 20:45

In the family of a debt-laden father and a bed-ridden mother, I am the elder sister to a 16 year old brother. Life has never been compassionate to my parents. Business never worked out, health never supported and finances were never sorted. Luckily, I qualified the entrance test and got myself an undergrad seat in one of the government college away from my hometown. Though the fee was way less than that of the private colleges, my parents used to struggle paying up on time. However, my mother made sure I completed my graduation, taking financial aid from her brothers. At the outset, I finished my studies with a fair result.

Post graduation, mother’s health started deteriorating further and we did not have sufficient money to give her care from a private hospitality. I was offered a job at a distant city, which I refused, only so I could give utmost attention to her. There was a list of expenses and liabilities laid in front of us, but no assets, no income to cope up with it. Father’s retail shop was of no good.

We were in a fix... Until one day, I saw our President, Dr. Kalam, delivering a speech to the students of a university. The moment he said ‘thank you’ and got off the stage, I knew who to seek for at this moment of disgust. I started following him.

The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place. What will be the tools with which you will fight this battle? They are: have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement.

My aim was pretty clear, but I started wondering how to channelize hard work and perseverance. Being the potentially stronger in the family, I was expecting my father to figure out everything. I fought with him for his negligence, cursed him for not working enough and almost murdered the respect that I had for him. But it wasn’t bringing out a change. Rather, it was worsening the situation.

When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand.

It struck me hard. What was I doing? I felt silly for pressuring and cursing my father. I finally stood up to be the magician myself. Mother’s medical urgency was prompting me again and again; and I knew I could not wait any longer. I started stressing on the different things that I should do to bring in some help. I asked my peers, teachers and relatives but no one showed enough concern. I applied to a number of jobs in my hometown but there were no vacancies. I personally visited them too, but the hiring season had gone past. My mother asked her brothers for help again, but they refused this time as the previous dues were not cleared.

We were slowly losing hope. In the process, my mother started undergoing mental traumas. I was running into a distressed state where everything was turning black. I could not see any rays of hope, recovery or sanity. I found myself staring at the ceiling with a blank mind. Doubts started creeping in; will we be able to make it?

We are as young as our faith and as old as our doubts. We are also as young as our self-confidence and as old as our fears. We are as young as our hopes and as old as our despairs.

I got up. I needed more of it, I needed inspiration... before it was too late.

Creativity is seeing the same thing as everybody else, but thinking of something different.

All I could see was an end. What was beyond the end? A door? But where was it? I was sitting with my mother while we were going through old photographs. The smiles that we were adorning in the pictures made the moment nostalgic and saddening at the same time. There were pictures of birthdays, anniversaries and other insignificant, but memorable milestones. We came across a picture in which I was holding a big smile, a trophy bigger than my face and a certificate. Mother and I simultaneously remembered that I was awarded the ‘Artist of the year’ at school. She remembered how I used to draw on all the walls of my grandparents’ home, how I repurposed wedding cards into birthday cards, how I made gift boxes out of cardboards of used products....

Just then, my mind started churning. She was in a happy state of recollecting the long-gone happy days but I was suddenly not paying attention anymore.

That was my moment of creative being.

I realised, I was not putting my talent to work. Graduation business took away my zeal of making paintings and creating new things out of nothing. I started missing all of it. But keeping everything apart, I knew what to do now. I knew now, that there is a door beyond the end- I had to paint it myself!

Excellence happens not by accident. It is a process. You have to work hard to achieve it.

I ordered stationary supplies and started off. I took as much time during the day and worked nights together. Some days, I got only a couple of hours of sleep in total. My mother started worrying but she knew I wouldn’t stop.

I worked hard with perseverance. Finally, I came out with a series of paintings, collectibles and gift items. It took time, a long time; but it was worth it. I approached a few galleries and they agreed to buy them at a handsome price. My creations were sold out within less than a month and I was left with a pocket full of solutions.

Everything started to fall into place. My mother recovered, I arranged a small toy shop for my father and little brother acquired his degree too. Things were not super great but we were just okay.

I owe my success, my mother’s life and family’s stability to the finesse, Kalam. His words were enough to kindle the light in me. In short, he saved me.

I would like to ask you, what would you like to be remembered for? You have to evolve yourself and shape your life. Write your dreams down on a piece of paper. That page may be a very important page in the book of human history.