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Time Out for Cricket, Let’s Tip Off for Basketball

Posted By Raj S. Rangarajan, New York On July 29, 2022 @ 4:19 pm In Opinion | No Comments

For the first time in the United States, an all-Indian 12-strong basketball team took to the court on Friday, July 22. Known as “India Rising”, this new team of ball players, faced a Syracuse, New York-based team —Boeheim’s Army — in the The Basketball Tournament (TBT) for the prize money of 1 million dollars.

India Rising (IR) has brought together the world’s best players of Indian origin to compete in TBT. With over 10 million hoopers in India and basketball being the most popular sport in the Indian-American and Indo-Canadian diasporas, India Rising was created to showcase to the world that brown ballers exist.

“I spent most of my life praying, waiting, hoping, dreaming to see people who looked like me on our sports channels, and I’m done waiting,” confesses Gautam Kapur, co-founder and general manager of the team and former strategy manager at the NBA (National Basketball Association).

Gautam Kapur, GM, India Rising; Photo: The Auntie Network

“Being tall (6’ 3”) I naturally gravitated to basketball, but didn’t really have any role models who looked like me. Now, there are more than 60 professional, Indian-origin ballers worldwide, and nobody knows they exist. India Rising, the new home for brown athletes, aims to change that.”

In India, when we talk sports, folks most often think cricket, or perhaps football or even tennis. But now with a strong global following Gautam feels, India Rising team will be the home for “brown” players in many parts of the world where the game is followed with fervor.

Twenty-eight years old, Gautam dual-majored in Economics and International Relations at well-known Tufts University (a private school in Massachusetts) with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Chinese, a rare combination. Earlier, Gautam, who attended the American Embassy School in New Delhi (first school in India to ever host an NBA camp in 2008, Basketball Without Borders), played Point Guard for his school team and was Varsity Basketball Captain.

Since Gautam played intra-murals for Tufts, to a question as to why he didn’t turn pro his response was: “I wish I could have turned pro, but that was not my path. Instead, I entered the world of professional basketball by joining the NBA in 2016 as Strategy Manager and worked there for six years.” Currently, Gautam manages the IR team and is preoccupied with promoting basketball wherever ballers meet.

India Rising Squad: Extreme right is Gautam Kapur, GM; 2nd from left, front row: Ajay Sharma, Head Coach, India Rising Squad; Photos: The Auntie Network

Since NBA has had a presence in India since 2008, to a question about pro-level ballers in India, Gautam said, “Right now, there are many talented Indian-origin players both in the subcontinent and the diaspora. But there are no active NBA players yet.”

Gautam opened up on his dedicated band of players. “There are a lot of talented guys on this team, and this is only the beginning,” said Josh Sharma, India Rising’s seven-foot forward and former Stanford University Cardinal, who has also played in Poland. “So, I think this is going to be that stepping stone for not only everybody on the team but also the next generation of Indian ballers, so that the world recognizes the talent coming out of our community.”

“Winning games is our main priority right now, and secondly, it’s creating a sense of community for (Indian-origin) athletes,” said Navin Ramharak, India Rising COO from Canada. “We’re creating a brotherhood and that goes beyond the game of basketball. Our most important goal is defeating cultural stereotypes. We want to start a cultural movement that if you’re Indian and looking to move into athletics, there’s a home for you to play and a community for you to belong.”

Basketball Coming to India in a Big Way

Gautam is very upbeat that this new initiative will be a winner specially for Indian basketball. “We are taking India Rising to New Delhi in the coming months to host a “Basketball Bloc Party”, which is a celebration of basketball lifestyle. We will host dunk contests, skills challenges, 3×3 and 5×5 scrimmages, and celebrate how Indian culture and basketball go hand in hand. It will be a historic event that celebrates brown basketball.”

This historic All-Star roster represents a diverse pool of talent from all corners of the world, including the NBA, G League, NBL Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), U.Sports (Canada), multiple FIBA national teams, and 3X3 basketball which is a variation that plays three players a side with one backboard and a half-court setup.

Reportedly, enthusiasts from sports bodies in the U.S., including the governor of Indiana state, Eric Holcomb as also basketball coaches and top officials from Delhi and Mumbai have been passionate about the project.

As a mentor and general manager, Gautam is proud of the diversity within India Rising’s roster. We have a practicing orthopedic surgeon Sai Tummala at Mayo Clinic (Small Forward, 6’ 6”); Shooting Guard Gokul Natesan, 6’ 5” who is pursuing a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Columbia University while playing professionally in Australia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Finland, and Point Guard Varun Ram, 5’ 9” who is studying for an MBA from Stanford University.

India Rising’s Head Coach Ajay Sharma, from Scarborough, Toronto has also been coaching the women’s team at Humber College for more than seven years. Supremely skilled admirable stamina and physicality are Forward Bikramjit Gill, 6’ 8”, from Boston and Indiana, who has played in Japan and Canada; Power Forward Sukhmail Maithon, 6’ 10” who too has played for Boston University and in varied other environments; Small Forward Kiran Shastri, 6’ 7” from Hawaii and Power Forward Princepal Singh (Bajwa), originally from Firozpur, Punjab, 6’ 9”, who was the first NBA Academy India graduate to sign up professionally.

Of Canadian origin are Point Guard from Queens University Jaz Bains, 5’ 11”; Shooting Guard Aryan Sharma from University of Western Ontario, 6’ 6” and from University of North British Columbia is Inderbir Singh Gill, 6’ 3” and well-recognized Forward-finisher Robbie Sihota, 6’ 6” from University of Calgary who has played overseas.

India Rising Needs to Play more regularly as a Team

At the opener last week, there was palpable enthusiasm and verve among the players. The score of 62-90 against the defending champions Syracuse’s Boeheim’s Army was disappointing for fans but the India Rising team, which was working together for the first time as a team, was commendable. The fact that they had trained together for merely a week in Canada was evident with it’s remarkable athleticism and recovery skills on the hard board.

Top scorers were Robbie Silhota with 12 points; Sukhmail Mathon with 11 and Aryan Sharma with 10. As the game was reaching its crescendo, three scintillating 3-pointers from downtown, back-to-back by Kiran Shastri (11 points) brought the roof down in a manner of speaking and made the Friday evening worthwhile.

Since it was a shorter game in terms of time, each ball possession was invaluable and helped in defense. Anticipation, ball reversals and execution marked IR’s crafty plays though a couple of baskets by big guy Josh were off the mark by just that wee bit!

In the final analysis, the more experienced team Boeheim’s Army with home court advantage, who were last year’s winners moved into the Second round. Regrettably, The Nerd Team from neighboring Onondaga Community College in New York eliminated Boeheim’s Army the next day at 81-74.

Finance for the team is sponsored by The Auntie Network, players, South Asian businesses, Airbnb, Uber, a venture group, food and Tee-shirt franchises.

Resource: India Rising website www.indiarising.co.

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The Author: Raj S Rangarajan is a freelance journalist based out of New York. He can be contacted at: raj.rangarajan@gmail.com
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Is it Time NOW for your Electric Vehicle?

The Critical Mirror -- published May 26, 2022

By Raj S. Rangarajan 

https://thecriticalmirror.com/people/opinion/is-it-time-now-for-your-electric-vehicle/2022/05/26/

OPINION

Is it Time NOW for Your Electric Vehicle?

ByRaj S. Rangarajan, New York

Posted on May 26, 2022

COMMENTS

In late April, the curtain dropped on the annual New York Auto Show, a must-see for many Americans during the Easter season. This year’s show was particularly thrilling for many of us after a two-year break.

The hoopla, the festive atmosphere, the shiny, spruced-up beauties with bells and whistles were back. I am talking cars! Also back were elegantly decked-up, model-like PR women, spiffy CEOs with predictable suits, mechanically-minded know-it-alls who waxed eloquently as much about gasoline consumption, halogen headlights and electrics as about computer graphics, tilt-and-telescopic steering and anti-theft immobilizers.

This year’s show focused on electric vehicles. We had at least five companies showing off their EVs. Each had a large track for us to physically experience performance. Venue was the celebrated Jacob Javits Center (named after a former New York Attorney-General) on Twelfth Avenue in Manhattan with its gargantuan expanse of real estate.

Prominent were American Ford GT Mustang, VF 8 (made by Vietnamese manufacturer Vinfast), KIA (Hyundai, South Korea), Nissan (Japanese), and German Volkswagen.

Each auto show, wherever in the world it is held, has a theme. Manufacturers regularly debut “concept” cars every year (i.e., an actual car, a regular prototype – designed and designated as a concept – to showcase to the world new sophisticated styling or updated technology, or perhaps just a juiced-up new battery. The objective: gauging customer reaction for the future). A concept car is not in production yet. An analogy would be a trailer before release of a movie.

Let’s face it: the automobile has been as ubiquitous in our lives as perhaps breathing. We have all been owners or passengers. Whether you love cars or not, whether you are an owner or not, whether you happen to be a car aficionado or not, you cannot avoid them. It has fascinated us for several generations.

Few months ago, American president Joe Biden personally tested the electric Ford-150 mini-truck and gave it a “thumbs up”. Car dealerships and individual gas stations (petrol pumps) are gearing up to build more electric charging stations. This effort to set up stations even in individual hire-rise buildings for vehicle-owners is seen as an incentive to switch to the electric car.

Photos courtesy: Raj S. Rangarajan

With many vehicle manufacturers ditching gasoline (petrol) in favor of  battery-operated electrics prudent economies are encouraging their citizens to try to switch to electric vehicles so that carbon footprints on terra firma will hopefully reduce in about 30 to 50 years. Science tell us that a reduced carbon footprint will help the global environment, which today is a major concern. Many countries have been addressing climate change head on including India.

India Connection 

The VF 9 VinFast (Vietnamese) made its debut early this year at the Las Vegas auto show, and industry observers were generally appreciative of the styling, dashboard architecture, somewhat impressive luggage space, and interactive touch screen. The parent company started five years ago, and VF 9’s styling is based on Italian design by Pininfarina. Mahindra owns more than 76 percent of the Italian company’s shares.

For the statistics-minded, the all-wheel full-size SUV 400 HP VF 9 will be available in four different configurations and can travel about 370 miles on one electric charge. The smaller VF 8 travels about 300 miles on one electric charge. LED front and rear bars are distinctive, but surprisingly, the car does not display a grill in the front. The unique V’s on wheels catch your attention immediately.

The Kia Niro from Hyundai has always been very popular, and now, it has been rebranded as an EV. Hyundai’s futuristic touch screen, self-driving feature, and the compact crossover has modernish wheels that resemble turbines. Gadgetry in modern cars – whether hybrid or electric – alerts the driver about when to recharging. Side panels are reportedly made with recyclable plastics – a benign nod to folks concerned about carbon emissions.

Some of you may be familiar with the concept of “hypermiling” where the fuel-conscious motorist uses his/her driving skills to maneuver engine efficiency within stated parameters. We are aware that driving in the city has its challenges with constant-stop-and-go acrobatics. Admittedly, engine efficiency is affected favorably when the a/c or heating unit, wiper or headlight is not operational.

For motorists who wish to have both – gasoline-powered and electric – companies such as Lexus, Infinity, Mercedes, Hyundai and others have been selling hybrids in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. In India, in the luxury segment, BMW 7 series, Volvo and Toyota are available as hybrids.

Finally, let’s buckle up for next year’s auto show scheduled for early April during Easter week in 2023.
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The Author: Raj S Rangarajan is a free-lance journalist based out of New York. He can be contacted at: raj.rangarajan@gmail.com

Geeta Ramanujam -- an international storyteller

By Raj S. Rangarajan

The Critical Mirror, Delhi

https://thecriticalmirror.com/people/featured-personality/geeta-ramanujam-an-international-storyteller/2022/05/17/

Geeta Ramanujam — an international 

storyteller

ByRaj S. Rangarajan

Posted on May 17, 2022

 

 

 

 

COMMENTS

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She tends to be metaphorical – occasionally – metaphysical and at times mystical. She has created her own genre of storytelling, has been featured on several Indian and international forums, and was even mentioned by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Hindi broadcast series – Mann ki Baat in 2020.

I am talking of Geeta Ramanujam, accomplished author, storyteller, founder and director of her storytelling academy. Her most recent publication – Tales from the World – published by Puffin Books and illustrated by Arkapriya Koley, has been well received.  Her first book, The Wise Monkey and other Animal Stories was published in 2002.

Starting with a touching tale from India of a mountain and a bird, Geeta’s sensitively described Meru has both pathos and poetry. One gets hooked when one starts reading. In another narration, she talks of storyteller Topista Kezabu, who at 91, continues the East African oral tradition called “Koogere” – that is described as storytelling in the form of folklore and narratives. Here, she talks of crabs running sideways when a sharp-eyed Kavirondo crane would swoop down to pick up the fish.

Storyteller Ms. Geeta Ramanujam

Geeta’s passion comes through in admirable measure and her eclectic choices of subjects, countries, and methodologies for her stories are a treat for children. Her narrations open up a world of possibilities for the young ones allowing them to soar to unimaginable heights.

This versatile artist has worn several caps: nursery school teacher, writer, creator, entrepreneur. She has taken the art of storytelling to a new level and explains the exercise in an easy-to-comprehend manner. Her company, Kathalaya’s International Academy of Storytelling, based in Bengaluru, offers certificate and diploma courses, which are interactive and experiential in vocal art. She has trained almost 94,000 students, teachers, entrepreneurs, professionals from corporates as also executives from NGOs. Geeta uses her creative abilities to craftily motivate her students into teamwork and leadership skills.

We have heard of the celebrated “lollypop” series of stories for kids, and in that tradition, Geeta brings life to many of her narrations from all over the world, ranging from home country India to Japan to Greece and on to Scotland and South Africa and many more.

Geeta says, “Folk tales are generally passed down from one generation to another through oral narrations when children and adults gather at festivals or when they share food, perhaps around a camp fire.“ Imaginative grandmothers in India have always spun magical tales at leisurely home-cooked meals with children listening raptly. Tasty morsels seem tastier when the story is suspenseful or enticing or both. The narrator-grandma is the key artist in the process and her stories that embellish or exaggerate are also sometimes credible.

Geeta Ramanujam’s far-reaching scholarly repertoire extend beyond  48 countries that she has visited, and many of her books have been published in European and Asian languages. Her narrations talk of elements – fire and water and living things – as also of American-Indian traditions, and shamans. “The oral tradition is alive and kicking” reassures Geeta.

Some of her chapters highlight heart-warming nuggets in her “Did You Know” column for easy comprehension:

For instance, continues Geeta: “In Native American culture, stones are referred to as Stone People, and they are the record-keepers on Earth. They hold the stories of the earth within them. Storytellers often hold a special stone that has ‘spoken to them’ when they tell a tale. Some have—what is known in Irish as a crane bag—a bag containing stones, each one a different size, shape and colour, that they have gathered along their way. The storyteller will pick out a stone, hold it, feel it’s qualities and begin a story.”

“In Scandinavia, the stone is replaced with a nail and in Germany, an axe head is used. Sometimes, there’s one charismatic traveler, sometimes two; sometimes, it’s a monk, and even a soldier. But the heart of the tale remains the same “ So goes her clarion call: “are you tempted to try some Stone Soup?”

Did you know:

* that in the Zulu tradition, drinking and eating from the same place was and still is a sign of friendship, which comes from their ‘share-what-you-have’ belief?

* that as part of their storytelling practice called “Goorompa” narrated to the author through “Kamishibai” in Japan, pictorial images called “Chitrakathis” were used by the Pinguli tribes in Maharashtra citing epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. These stories, Geeta says, travelled to Japan?

* that Anansi, a “trickster” is a West African god? He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the god of all knowledge, and is one of the important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.

* that the Borok is a aboriginal tribe of Tripura state in Northeast India with a population of approximately 15 lakh. They speak a language called “Kokborok” that comprises alphabets and letters like so many of our languages, but the difference is that this tribe also communicates  through sounds, gestures and symbols with devout relationships with their gods and goddesses.

A former Bharatanatyam performer and Carnatic music singer, Geeta has been a recipient of the Encontro Internacional Boca do Céu de Contadores de Histórias Award in 2016 in Brazil, the Ashoka Fellowship Award from the U.S. in 2000, the Bangalore Hero Award in 2018 and the Best Story Narrator Award from the Governor of Tamil Nadu in 2019. A former resident of Mumbai Geeta now makes her home in Bangalore.

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The Author: Raj S Rangarajan is a free-lance journalist based out of New York.  He can be contacted at: raj.rangarajan@gmail.com

Dignity Dialogue — May 2022

 TRAVEL ISSUE — Cover Story

                                          Swami Vivekananda Temple at Kanyakumari

Buddies and Bonding

Raj S. Rangarajan

We have been buddies since college in 1958 and remain in touch. For our 60th anniversary as classmates in Ramnarain Ruia College in Mumbai, nine of us — four men with their better halves and yours truly — decided to traverse down memory lane. 

Thanks to Club Mahindra Resort membership spearheaded by two trip organisers, we have done the gamut of outings ranging from Ashtamudi and Poovar in Kerala to Yercaud and Tanjavoor in Tamil Nadu and Mahableshwar in Maharashtra, and many more. Our eclectic mix of nine comprised former corporate and government executives, bankers and entrepreneurs, homemakers and consultants.

We were as adept at playing rummy as spending cool evenings with elixirs from Scotland or dancing away the evenings. Our homemaker bunch was happy and grateful for the worry-free breaks from daily chores. Some of us were content in discussing gardening or shopping, and of course catching up on gossip. Others excelled in spiritual outpourings or astrology.

The mornings at these Club Mahindra breakfasts were leisurely accentuated by professionally laid-out culinary spreads with forbidden specialities becoming the norm, never mind the health standpoint. We got to indulge in some of these goodies that one does not make at home. Occasionally we felt there was no tomorrow!

Desserts were exquisite and one could die for the almond baklava. Afternoon boat rides on the Ashtamudi Lake in Quilon, Kerala were experiences to cherish and reminisce about. Not to forget freshly-fried mouth-watering cholesterol-rich “’bhajiyas’ at 4:30 pm, washed down with masala chai while admiring the placid lake. Camaraderie and fellowship were unmatched. Nostalgia formed the fabric of our conversations. Every old episode had a story to tell and the retelling of some had their own inevitable embellishments.

While we did have the usual arguments and lapses in memory, it was always a fun experience to meet up in March every year. Year 2021 was the exception. Each of us had our favourite tale of woe blended with geriatric affectations — some more dramatic than others. Having known each other for more than 60 glorious years, we were very predictable and argumentative: we laughed at the same old jokes, and occasionally completed each other’s sentences like so many seasoned couples.

With an approximate total age count of 700+ years between us, one of the aspirations of some was to skydive or bungee jump. If a former US president could do it at the age of 90, why not us?

                                                            Thanjavur Mandir

Dignity Dialogue — April 2022

Try Pranic Healing

In these testing times when survival is at stake, healing physically and mentally is important. Raj S. Rangarajan provides a few pointers.

How often have we heard the refrain from medical practitioners in the EU: “It’s a matter of time, it is beyond us, guess, it’s timefor prayer.” This sentiment from doctors is prevalent in many cultures, religions and faiths all over the globe. Even in movies. Some openly carry their faiths with manifest articulation and external displays, others practice their beliefs quietly. Some others are insecure and reach out to the almighty in some form. In these situations do prayers help? 

Over the past two plus years, with the onset of the corona virus pandemic and following uncertainties in day-to-day living (read ‘survival’ in some countries), many seniors, younger folk and even school-going kids have been worried.

Some are helpless and throw tantrums to cope. The number of people who have taken to prayer has increased all over the world. Temples, churches, mosques, gurdwaras and other places of worship are overflowing with nonbelievers and nihilists. Reasons attributed are the relentless scourge of the pandemic with its mutative variants — Delta and now albeit a ‘milder’ Omicron — leading to doubts and fear of the unknown.

Some of us personally know or have heard of someone who succumbed to the virus affliction. In hospitals and nursing facilities in the US, we hear periodically of horror stories of helpless frustration as also joyous celebrations. Each day brings varied mixed emotions for frontline healthcare workers — doctors, nurses, caregivers, porters, drivers and other hospital staff — who are intimately involved in this common calling of healing. One wonders how they survive each day. One’s faith helps when everything seems lost. Ask any hospital care worker. 

                                                                            Vidya Tathacharya

Connecting with an unknown power beyond oneself seems to help many. Prayer keeps them going? Some articulate their sentiments overtly, others in subtle allusions in conversations with family and friends. Social networks and some media sadly spread negativity and a pervasive sense of doom.

With the pandemic not abating, many are supremely stressed and are hurting — physically, mentally and psychologically. There are instances of people hiring psychologists or therapists to live their daily lives. Many of us have to cope with newer healing mechanisms. Varied techniques are being offered — holistic, spiritual, natural, energy, crystals, reiki, aromatherapy, et al. 

One of the ‘energy’ methods used is called pranic healing founded by Grand Master Choa Kuk Sui (GMCKS), originally from the Philippines. His disciple from California is Master Stephen Co. Pranic healing is a highly developed and tested system of energy treatment that uses ‘prana’ to balance, harmonise and transform the body’s energy processes.

There is no touching of patients in this healing process as in allopathy. One such practitioner from Chennai is Vidya Tathacharya who follows Master Co. Vidya is an invocative, instructive healer and uses her basic faith and universal energy to heal people by following certain protocols. Her close, personal thoughts are addressed to herself — like prayer — and her spiritual focus is directed toward the person’s ailment. Her soul concentration helps the patient in distress. Attached to the Twin Hearts Meditation in Chennai since 2014, Vidya has been quietly healing ailments ranging from physical distress to lingering anger, from broken emotional relationships to road rage.

Qualified in psychology Vidya says, “Pranic healing doesn’t have to necessarily pertain to physical illness; the practice can also be applied to practical aspirations like getting a new apartment or acquiring a life partner.” Her practice trains women managers through proactive, Zoom sessions in their respective career disciplines. She also conducts group-energy courses in pranic psychotherapy where she addresses mental stresses, phobias, depression or other compulsive behaviour. Vidya narrated a recent incident wherein she healed a lady remotely.

An acquaintance had hinted that a particular person in Mumbai had suffered a stroke. While the patient was being stabilised by doctors, Vidya — 1,400 km away — focussed her ‘chakras’ and meditative experience to slowly redirect the existent pure energy toward the patient. Within five days the patient recovered and was in a position to start walking again. Each of us can self-heal; we don’t need another caregiver (see resources below). With ‘prana’ or life force all around us we can motivate our spiritual energy centres of the body to absorb and process our own bodies. Proper pranic breathing techniques will help us in absorbing air prana. If we expose ourselves to the sun, we can absorb sun prana.

Vidya adds, “The feedback from these meetings is very satisfying and personally instructive.” Lakshmi Gayatri Mantra is suggested for prosperity. Also shown below are pointers in terms of the chakras and the aura that accompanies it. It also shows how a specific part of one’s body can be healed by distant healing: it involves scanning the affected part, cleansing the dirty energy and energising the body part with fresh energy. Guru Stephen Co recommends bathing with water (with salt) will help in removing diseased energy from our body as well. Water and salt therapy is reportedly effective, strengthening the body and making it stronger.

A college classmate of mine has been constantly complaining that because of the pandemic problem, he lives in a state of terror. He is restless, cannot sleep, and admits that he would prefer to die. Mercifully, his cool, philosophically-minded wife realistically reassures him that dying is not that easy! His will to not live is constantly being tested by his will power to continue to survive, thanks to his daily dose of prescribed medication from homeopathy and ayurveda. In a light-hearted aside the wife admonishes: “Stop threatening!”

Resources

• https://www.thepranichealers.com/masterchoa-kok-sui-courses

• https://www.masterco.org/

• https://praniclifestyle.com/blogs/pranic-lifestyle/lakshmi-gayatrimantra-by-master-choakok-sui

• https://pranickolkata.com/twin-hearts/

The View

The Pimplés - by Raj S. Rangarajan 

College sweethearts — Sonal and Vilas met in 1967 at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai, India, a venerated art school. Sonal specialized in textile designing while Vilas became a sculptor taking after his dad Vasant, also a J.J. alumnus. Later Vilas taught sculpture, ceramics and pottery for eight years at the same school. 

Tower West residents (Apt 23B) since 2008, the Pimplés landed in New York in 1984 and have lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Battery Park earlier. They have two daughters Anuja and Anar, and seven months ago, Anuja became a mother to charming Priya. 

Sonal is also a yoga instructor and meditation practitioner. She ran her own textile art studio in Manhattan from 1999 to 2011, which she converted into a yoga studio that had its run from 2011 till 2016. Sonal teaches classic hatha yoga that reportedly dates back to the 2nd century BCE. Her style embraces a pleasing blend of dynamic breathing with profound emphasis on concentration. 

“Conscious, concentrated breathing helps calm one’s mind and nerves”, emphasizes Sonal. She talks of the concept of “trataka” or yogic purification where the practitioner gazes at a candle flame in the dark, while breathing naturally. While practicing, “focus, and resist the urge to blink or close one’s eyes”, recommends Sonal.

 

Sonal specializes in plant-based vegan cooking and her dining table is always adorned with gourmet delicacies. While relishing his wife’s cooking, Vilas has also been busy painting and sculpting. (See his creations here.) With a passionate interest in creating organic forms and abstractions, Vilas says, “Real life has been my inspiration”. His love for nature shows intimately in his paintings that touchingly emphasize textures, colors and forms. 

In 2012, Vilas participated in an art group show in Manhattan and in 2008, he held a solo exhibition of sculptures and another of digital prints on canvas in Mumbai, India. Good luck, Sonal and Vilas, from TW! 

 Dignity Dialogue

Debunking Myths about Dementia

Based on a book authored by Dr. Sanjay Gupta about dementia and the misassumptions that surround it, Raj Rangarajan tackles the myth about seniors supposedly doomed to forget or confuse things, places or dates as they age.

I am sure many of us know of incidents or are aware of friends or relatives who are victims of dementia, where the person is not fully conscious of where she or he is, or how she or he got there in the first place. As a senior, this writer does think of mortality – if not for my own self – at least for two older close friends – A and B – who seem to manage with sheer willpower and endurance.

Their caregivers are constantly on hand, but I am not sure if the patients are really ‘consciously present’ in the moment. Both of them in their nineties are perhaps aware and survive with what is termed ‘muscle memory’.

This is the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement or action.

Both A and B have lost the ability to communicate or to recall things, places or past events. Photographs or online appearances sometimes jog their memories. I am sure such scenarios are constantly noticed in many care facilities in India as also in other parts of the world. In his book titled ‘Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age’, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, MD, debunks myths about the ageing brain that many of us tend to incorrectly

assume through literature or hearsay.

This neurosurgeon says, “The brain is not a mystery anymore.” He reassures us that dementia is not an inevitable consequence of old age. Dementia can be a spectrum, ranging from mild to severe, and some of the causes of dementia are currently reversible. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for more than half the cases

of dementia in the United States. 

And, Dr. Gupta cautions, words such as dementia and Alzheimer’s are being used interchangeably, and they should not be so used. Each is a separate, unique condition. Unless a senior is being treated for a particular brain-related ailment, Dr. Gupta hastens to clarify: do not fret.

Sometimes, we tend to blame our forgetfulness to fading memory or ageing. However, Dr. Gupta clarifies that some of the concepts that seniors experience may include absentmindedness, blocking, scrambling, fading away, struggling for retrieval or muddled multitasking. More focused concentration on the task at hand helps.

For instance, typing an email while watching television or your computer, iPad or iPhone or android device

becomes a herculean effort. Some of us find it difficult to accomplish two activities simultaneously. Dr. Gupta

points out that our brain continually cleans out older memories to make room for new ones. That’s reassuring,

to say the least.

While puzzles, crosswords, games or brain-training videos can improve working memory, brain functions such as reasoning and problem-solving help in generating cognitive reserve. This is the brain’s ability to improvise and navigate around impediments. The concept was discovered in the late eighties by a group of scientists in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego. 

New skills such as learning a new language or to cook or paint or learning a new computer code or say, learning salsa dancing or even writing a novel will help in the cognitive reserve department. To use an analogy,

just as a car has a braking and acceleration system that helps navigate trafficon a normal road, Dr. Gupta

affirms, “The brain has the ability and resourcefulness to avoid unexpected roadblocks or diversions or other

vehicles.”

Switching gears now, Dr. Gupta adds, “Male and female brains differ in ways that dictate learning abilities and intelligence.” Surveys suggest that Alzheimer’s strikes a disproportionate number of women compared to men. It is attributed to women’s physiology, as also pregnancies. However, women seem to score better than men on standard tests that are used to diagnose early states of dementia. We are all aware that we are dominated

by either the right or left brain and that both are intricately co-dependent. Both are equally involved in handling grammar and pronunciation as also reading and mathematics.

Research has also shown that people with greater quantities of cognitive reserve are more likely to stave off the degenerative brain changes associated with dementia or Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. However, Dr. Gupta cautions: “Vascular dementia could be caused by adverse cardiovascular conditions including massive stroke or by damaged blood vessels in the brain as a result of diabetes, high blood pressure or atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries).” His advice to patients: constantly monitor all parameters regularly. Nevertheless, people diagnosed with cognitive decline or dementia or Alzheimer’s disease could continue to learn things. 

Dr. Gupta adds that no known dietary supplement improves memory or prevents cognitive decline or dementia, irrespective of what the manufacturer claims on the internet or through TV and newspaper advertisements. When it comes to trusting sources, we have to be particularly careful these days with the proliferation of agenda-driven false information. We also need to constantly revise our thinking on what to believe. 

In a shout-out to the humble Indian turmeric, Dr. Gupta says that prevalence of dementia is lower in homes where turmeric is a staple. 

Meanwhile, an international team of researchers identified a brain disorder known as LATE. It has similar

symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease but appears to be caused by the buildup of the toxic protein TDP-43. This

finding will help distinguish between different brain disorders and develop precise and personalised treatments.

In conclusion, we have got word that Aduhelm has been approved recently for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Teresa Carr, an American journalist, mentions in ‘Consumer Reports’ magazine that The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States approved Aduhelm, the first new drug for Alzheimer’s

disease in almost 20 years – and the first to potentially slow progression of the disease. Only time will tell.

Dignity Dialogue | December 2021