Recent researches show that kidney disease somehow speeds up heart disease well before it has damaged the kidneys badly . Vice versa heart disease can trigger kidney damage . So now it is prudent that heart experts must check for kidney ailments while the kidney specialists should be watchful for existing heart disease in a patient .
Chronic kidney disease, or CKD, is a quiet epidemic: In America , around 19 million Americans estimated to have it don't know they do. The kidneys lose their ability to filter waste out of the bloodstream so slowly that symptoms aren't obvious until the organs are badly damaged. End-stage kidney failure is rising fast, with 400,000 people requiring dialysis or a transplant to survive, a toll that has doubled in each of the last two decades.
And while CKD patients often are terrified of having to go on dialysis, the hard truth is that most will die of heart disease even before their stage of dialysis is reached .
High blood pressure and diabetes are chief risk factors for both chronic kidney disease and heart attacks. But the link goes beyond those risk factors . Once the kidneys begin to fail, something in turn accelerates heart disease, not just in the obviously sick or very old, but even in younger age .
There are three markers of kidney function . Firstly , the rate at which kidneys filter blood, called the GFR or glomerular filtration rate . Second , levels of the protein or albumin in the urine and lastly anemia . As the kidney markers worsen , there are more chances of having heart disease.
What about the heart's effect on the kidneys? People diagnosed with heart disease has twice the risk of declining kidney function in the next nine years. Heart disease narrows arteries all over the body, kidneys included. Also, some heart imaging tests use compounds ( radio- contrasts ) that harm kidneys.
It is thought that both the heart and kidneys send various signals to the bone marrow, which produces a type of stem cell that keeps those organs in good repair. When either starts to fail, this key repair mechanism falters.
What patients can do ?
Any one with heart disease should check for presence of kidney disease as well and vice versa . The tests for kidney disease are inexpensive – just get your urine examined for protein , check your blood pressure and hemoglobin . Presence of protein in urine accompanied by hypertension and anemia indicate advanced kidney problem and need further evaluation .
Remember that presence of protein in urine in any age group is pathological .
Keep the blood pressure below 130 systolic Smoking and tobacco chewing cause narrowing of blood vessels and rise in blood pressure , thus damaging both heart and kidneys . Diabetics must keep their blood sugar under control with diet , exercise and medicines .
Fat content in blood especially low density lipoproteins should be below 70 .
A relatively non-expensive drug called as ACE – inhibitor protects kidneys and delays onset of dialysis .
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Medical Negligence - - - Searching for the root cause
Ramkrishna Paramhans had said that there are three kinds of physicians , one who prescribes drugs and forgets ,has nothing to do as what has happened to the patient . The second category are the ones who hand over the medicines to the patient and lastly the ones who will forcefully make the patient gulp the medicines . In today’s scenario of lack of faith on doctors , last kind of medical practice is better forgotten .
Medicine is a noble profession . Medical negligence literally means neglect of a patient by his physician . Professional negligence or medical negligence may be defined as want of reasonable degree of care or skill or willful negligence on the part of the medical practitioner in the treatment of a patient with whom a relationship of professional attendant is established, so as to lead to bodily injury or to loss of life.
By and large no doctor will ever neglect a patient wilfully . A doctor will always try to do his / her best to help a patient . However in present day on and off we come across the news about medical negligence . The root of this dreaded disease is quite deep . The negligence is far more than just forgetting scissors in patients tummy . Negligence means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance, which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force .
Why should a doctor neglect a patient ? Either he is not trained well enough to take care of his patient , or he is well trained but is not able to devote sufficient time due to other responsibilities like family or social or he is over burdened with work . The training starts at the institute from where he has graduated . Let us have look at the medical training institutes.
Hippocrates oath states that a doctor should practice medicine without bias on caste , creed , religion or sex and without fear . But right from admission to medical colleges this oath is corroded at the fundamentals . Admission in medical colleges in graduate and post graduate courses is based on caste and if the wishes of our politicians materialise , then soon we will have religion based admissions.
In all the medical colleges in India , there is no teachers training program like B.Ed. (bachelor of education ) . So the medical students are taught by the teachers who are not trained in teaching at all. Naturally the undergraduate students are often taught by the post graduate students who do not touch the basics of medicine and teach whatever they have learnt from books or their limited experience .
The teachers in medical college are supposed to take rounds in wards , see patient in outpatient departments , attend emergency calls , do administrative duties , attend medico-legal cases , guide PG students , up date their knowledge in latest in medicines , and also fulfil the national health programs like leprosy eradication etc . It is hard to believe but a bitter truth is that most of the time of medical teacher is wasted in the corridors of power in preventing transfers or getting promotions . So they have very little time and energy left for teaching the students .
With proliferation of private medical colleges , the teachers from government set up are resigning to join these institutes for better salary and better perks . There is awful shortage of teachers in medical colleges . In order to get sanctions for medical courses from MCI ( medical council of India ) the colleges show the number of teachers by unethical means . These include the government medical colleges who transfer and retransfer the teachers in order to show the adequate number of teachers prior to inspection by medical council.
The curriculum in medical courses are vague . Take an example of curriculum in medicine in M.B.B.S. course , it states cardiovascular system but does not define the limits where the cardiovascular system begins or ends .
The studies in medical colleges are not research oriented. So there is very little research work going on in medical colleges . Thesis written by post graduate students lack depth and often repetition of some work already done earlier .
Because of poor payment structure , the teachers from medical colleges tend to leave colleges and start private practice which gives them both money and stability . So the bitter truth prevails – there is exodus of quality teachers from medical colleges . The lack of good teachers in medical colleges and hence poor training is one of the root causes of medical negligence .
Once a student graduates or post graduates and thinks of starting practice he has already a significant burden on his shoulders . Burden of finances – during admission for basic medical course or post graduate course a medical student has already spent lot of money in studies even when his non medico counter part pursuing other courses have started earning their livelihood . So naturally here is a situation where a doctor is interested in recovering his money even before he has actually started practice .
The establishment cost for doctors is high . The lack of basic infrastructure like constant electricity and water supply interrupts smooth functioning of his practice . Exorbitant cost of instruments topped with high taxes like octroi on the instruments , high interest rates for loans besides the cost of developing infrastructure which includes purchasing power generators in power starved states makes him indebted to financial institutes for ever .
A medical practitioner today is in extreme tension to meet financial challenges . In view of this he has to work more to pay back loan .
For a beginner it is difficult to get patients directly so he has to stress on referral from other doctors which feeds milk to the nasty serpent called “cut practice”.After all these , once the patient has come , he has to be looked after , operated upon and also has to be provided with round the clock supervision in a decent environment . So the doctor needs to employ more staffs . This adds to financial burden .
A doctor also has to look after few non-medical aspects of his practice that includes maintaining his establishment , taking care of environment , paying taxes , paying dues to employees provident fund , paying professional tax , renewing license of hospital with municipality or corporation , getting registered with labour department , attending medico-legal cases etc. Unfortunately all these government offices are located at different places and have different time frames of last dates . All these non-medical aspects are often more important than the practice itself as the neglect on these fronts have serious consequences .
The practitioner must bring to his task a reasonable degree of skill and knowledge and must exercise a reasonable degree of care. The doctor has to be of good quality , well trained , - so also the juniors assisting him . – it is difficult to get well qualified MBBS doctors as assistants – so doctors untrained in allopathic medicine like BAMS and even BHMS doctors are employed to look after the patients treated by practitioners of allopathic medicine . Hence there is every chance that something might go wrong .
Medicine is a noble profession . Medical negligence literally means neglect of a patient by his physician . Professional negligence or medical negligence may be defined as want of reasonable degree of care or skill or willful negligence on the part of the medical practitioner in the treatment of a patient with whom a relationship of professional attendant is established, so as to lead to bodily injury or to loss of life.
By and large no doctor will ever neglect a patient wilfully . A doctor will always try to do his / her best to help a patient . However in present day on and off we come across the news about medical negligence . The root of this dreaded disease is quite deep . The negligence is far more than just forgetting scissors in patients tummy . Negligence means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance, which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force .
Why should a doctor neglect a patient ? Either he is not trained well enough to take care of his patient , or he is well trained but is not able to devote sufficient time due to other responsibilities like family or social or he is over burdened with work . The training starts at the institute from where he has graduated . Let us have look at the medical training institutes.
Hippocrates oath states that a doctor should practice medicine without bias on caste , creed , religion or sex and without fear . But right from admission to medical colleges this oath is corroded at the fundamentals . Admission in medical colleges in graduate and post graduate courses is based on caste and if the wishes of our politicians materialise , then soon we will have religion based admissions.
In all the medical colleges in India , there is no teachers training program like B.Ed. (bachelor of education ) . So the medical students are taught by the teachers who are not trained in teaching at all. Naturally the undergraduate students are often taught by the post graduate students who do not touch the basics of medicine and teach whatever they have learnt from books or their limited experience .
The teachers in medical college are supposed to take rounds in wards , see patient in outpatient departments , attend emergency calls , do administrative duties , attend medico-legal cases , guide PG students , up date their knowledge in latest in medicines , and also fulfil the national health programs like leprosy eradication etc . It is hard to believe but a bitter truth is that most of the time of medical teacher is wasted in the corridors of power in preventing transfers or getting promotions . So they have very little time and energy left for teaching the students .
With proliferation of private medical colleges , the teachers from government set up are resigning to join these institutes for better salary and better perks . There is awful shortage of teachers in medical colleges . In order to get sanctions for medical courses from MCI ( medical council of India ) the colleges show the number of teachers by unethical means . These include the government medical colleges who transfer and retransfer the teachers in order to show the adequate number of teachers prior to inspection by medical council.
The curriculum in medical courses are vague . Take an example of curriculum in medicine in M.B.B.S. course , it states cardiovascular system but does not define the limits where the cardiovascular system begins or ends .
The studies in medical colleges are not research oriented. So there is very little research work going on in medical colleges . Thesis written by post graduate students lack depth and often repetition of some work already done earlier .
Because of poor payment structure , the teachers from medical colleges tend to leave colleges and start private practice which gives them both money and stability . So the bitter truth prevails – there is exodus of quality teachers from medical colleges . The lack of good teachers in medical colleges and hence poor training is one of the root causes of medical negligence .
Once a student graduates or post graduates and thinks of starting practice he has already a significant burden on his shoulders . Burden of finances – during admission for basic medical course or post graduate course a medical student has already spent lot of money in studies even when his non medico counter part pursuing other courses have started earning their livelihood . So naturally here is a situation where a doctor is interested in recovering his money even before he has actually started practice .
The establishment cost for doctors is high . The lack of basic infrastructure like constant electricity and water supply interrupts smooth functioning of his practice . Exorbitant cost of instruments topped with high taxes like octroi on the instruments , high interest rates for loans besides the cost of developing infrastructure which includes purchasing power generators in power starved states makes him indebted to financial institutes for ever .
A medical practitioner today is in extreme tension to meet financial challenges . In view of this he has to work more to pay back loan .
For a beginner it is difficult to get patients directly so he has to stress on referral from other doctors which feeds milk to the nasty serpent called “cut practice”.After all these , once the patient has come , he has to be looked after , operated upon and also has to be provided with round the clock supervision in a decent environment . So the doctor needs to employ more staffs . This adds to financial burden .
A doctor also has to look after few non-medical aspects of his practice that includes maintaining his establishment , taking care of environment , paying taxes , paying dues to employees provident fund , paying professional tax , renewing license of hospital with municipality or corporation , getting registered with labour department , attending medico-legal cases etc. Unfortunately all these government offices are located at different places and have different time frames of last dates . All these non-medical aspects are often more important than the practice itself as the neglect on these fronts have serious consequences .
The practitioner must bring to his task a reasonable degree of skill and knowledge and must exercise a reasonable degree of care. The doctor has to be of good quality , well trained , - so also the juniors assisting him . – it is difficult to get well qualified MBBS doctors as assistants – so doctors untrained in allopathic medicine like BAMS and even BHMS doctors are employed to look after the patients treated by practitioners of allopathic medicine . Hence there is every chance that something might go wrong .
Treating Medical Negligence ! !
Medical negligence has become a matter of concern . Let the meritorious students opt for a noble profession like medicine . Give them all the support from social and government level. Let the doctors concentrate on seeing patients and not waste time on standing in a que for getting clearances from government agencies .
There is a need to look in to the problem of medical negligence . I have few suggestions -
a. Reduce cost of medical studies basic courses like MBBS as well as post graduate diploma and degree , reduce fees structure , abolish donations ,
b. Abolish caste and religion based admission to medical courses .
c. Allow the graduates of other pathies to work as assistant to allopathic doctors by including the basic allopathic courses in their curriculum
d. Include teacher’s training program in post graduate level before a doctor is allowed to teach medical students
e. All medical establishments should be provided with uninterrupted electricity and water supply .
f. All government offices should have single common window system so that doctor need not be harassed at various government offices and need not waste time on non-medical issues.
g. Give loans to doctors at cheaper rate and waive off the taxes from life saving medical instruments
h. Recruitment of medical teachers and their promotion should be only on the basis of merit and experience and on no other criteria like caste , creed and religion .
i. Liberal scholarships to economically backward students
There is a need to look in to the problem of medical negligence . I have few suggestions -
a. Reduce cost of medical studies basic courses like MBBS as well as post graduate diploma and degree , reduce fees structure , abolish donations ,
b. Abolish caste and religion based admission to medical courses .
c. Allow the graduates of other pathies to work as assistant to allopathic doctors by including the basic allopathic courses in their curriculum
d. Include teacher’s training program in post graduate level before a doctor is allowed to teach medical students
e. All medical establishments should be provided with uninterrupted electricity and water supply .
f. All government offices should have single common window system so that doctor need not be harassed at various government offices and need not waste time on non-medical issues.
g. Give loans to doctors at cheaper rate and waive off the taxes from life saving medical instruments
h. Recruitment of medical teachers and their promotion should be only on the basis of merit and experience and on no other criteria like caste , creed and religion .
i. Liberal scholarships to economically backward students
Sunday, April 4, 2010
King for a few moments !
By default , I was a king for a few moments .
It was a flight from Nagpur to Mumbai by our ‘ international’ domestic carrier . As I entered into the air craft , I handed over the boarding pass to the air hostess .Interestingly and to my surprise , after seeing the boarding pass , she bowed down and respectfully ushered me to a seat . She asked me with respect with a divine smile on her face , ‘ How do you do , Sir ? ‘. She was an edifice of humility .
Soon followed another hostess , she presented me with ice cold towel to clean my face with . After a grueling day at Nagpur , it was refreshing indeed . As I finished , another beauty followed with a tray , ‘ What you will like to have , Sir , fresh lemon juice or water melon juice , sir ?’ I obliged her and asked for water melon juice .
By now I grew suspicious , am I dreaming ! Am I in a real world or in a wonderland or did I rub a magical lantern like Aladdin ?
I have flown to Mumbai on innumerable occasions but never did I have such a grand welcome . I looked around . The seats were broad , spacious , very comfortable , a separate tray holder with each seat , had extra leg space . The seat cushion was more than comfortable . Oh , at last our national carrier has changed its style of functioning - could be due to tough competition from other airlines . Competitions are really beneficial to passengers - so I thought .
As I was getting adjusted to new kind of unusual VIP treatment , I was further pampered by another air hostess , ‘ Sir , which magazine will you like to read please ! ’ said she in a melodious voice . She had brought 15 chronicles to choose from . ‘ Wow , great . The airline has definitely changed for good !! ’ , I thought .
Now time was ripe for the air craft to leave Nagpur .
An officer from the ground staff came to check the number of passengers in the air craft .Soon he was dialing to the air port check in counter , “ Sir , you said 2 executive class passengers , I find three here . ”
Now the things became crystal clear to me . I was offered a wrong seat , in place of usual cattle class , I mean business class , I was ushered on to executive class seat by mistake and hence all the pampering .
Soon I was back to my original seat in poor cattle class with congested seats , neglectful ‘ care you not ‘ air hostesses , torn outdated news papers in the cabin , passengers sitting next to me had dry parched throats , no one offering water even after asking , forget about fruit juices , ice cold towels and up to date chronicles .
I sighed a sense of relief when passengers of both the classes reached same destination i.e.
‘ aamchi Mumbai .’
It was a flight from Nagpur to Mumbai by our ‘ international’ domestic carrier . As I entered into the air craft , I handed over the boarding pass to the air hostess .Interestingly and to my surprise , after seeing the boarding pass , she bowed down and respectfully ushered me to a seat . She asked me with respect with a divine smile on her face , ‘ How do you do , Sir ? ‘. She was an edifice of humility .
Soon followed another hostess , she presented me with ice cold towel to clean my face with . After a grueling day at Nagpur , it was refreshing indeed . As I finished , another beauty followed with a tray , ‘ What you will like to have , Sir , fresh lemon juice or water melon juice , sir ?’ I obliged her and asked for water melon juice .
By now I grew suspicious , am I dreaming ! Am I in a real world or in a wonderland or did I rub a magical lantern like Aladdin ?
I have flown to Mumbai on innumerable occasions but never did I have such a grand welcome . I looked around . The seats were broad , spacious , very comfortable , a separate tray holder with each seat , had extra leg space . The seat cushion was more than comfortable . Oh , at last our national carrier has changed its style of functioning - could be due to tough competition from other airlines . Competitions are really beneficial to passengers - so I thought .
As I was getting adjusted to new kind of unusual VIP treatment , I was further pampered by another air hostess , ‘ Sir , which magazine will you like to read please ! ’ said she in a melodious voice . She had brought 15 chronicles to choose from . ‘ Wow , great . The airline has definitely changed for good !! ’ , I thought .
Now time was ripe for the air craft to leave Nagpur .
An officer from the ground staff came to check the number of passengers in the air craft .Soon he was dialing to the air port check in counter , “ Sir , you said 2 executive class passengers , I find three here . ”
Now the things became crystal clear to me . I was offered a wrong seat , in place of usual cattle class , I mean business class , I was ushered on to executive class seat by mistake and hence all the pampering .
Soon I was back to my original seat in poor cattle class with congested seats , neglectful ‘ care you not ‘ air hostesses , torn outdated news papers in the cabin , passengers sitting next to me had dry parched throats , no one offering water even after asking , forget about fruit juices , ice cold towels and up to date chronicles .
I sighed a sense of relief when passengers of both the classes reached same destination i.e.
‘ aamchi Mumbai .’
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
My Step Wife
She is a new entrant in my life. Right from the time she came in , she has been by the side of my heart . I feel ashamed but I must admit that she has somehow replaced my legally wedded wife , later stays inside my heart !
I told my sweet wife that its impossible for me to live without this new entrant . My wife was apprehensive , she felt that the new entrant will be more of a nuisance .
She had captured my attention the day I saw her in a mall . She was a point of attraction for everyone around . She was beautiful , slim , attractive , decent and royal . Naturally I fell flat for her . Wherever I moved around , my eyes were always on her . So was of other guys around . More I saw her , more enchanting she looked . I was mesmerised , hypnotised , unaware of the surroundings , just I kept on looking at her , as if the time stood still . I missed my heart beat . As I returned home , I kept on thinking about her . My wife asked why am I looking distracted . I replied that I have fallen for a beauty . She was shocked but thought that I am befooling her .
Next day I brought her home .
Life has been never so nice . She is always with me . Initial few days , it took me time to understand her . She appeared very beautiful but very complex . She had many sharp features . Her qualities were endless . She has a very sharp memory . She can tell me any phone number any moment . She remembers home addresses , office addresses and also keeps appointment record for me .
Morning till night , she is with me . Even at night she is with me . I have become so fond of her that I take her wherever I go . She is with me even in my office .
Occasionally she sings songs in my ear . She is very well behaved and follows my commands as per my wish . If I ask her to keep mum , unlike my legally wedded wife , she follows my dictates and keeps mum till I tell her to chatter again . Whenever she is mum , and still wishes to speak , she transfers her feelings through vibration . Unlike my wife , she does not demand to go to my in-laws house , has no demands for gold , diamond , does not ask for bangles , necklace , or ear rings .
Early morning she wakes me up with a sweet tune . She can remember the faces of people or any scenery and captures these for me . She is talented . She can solve difficult sums . She does divisions , multiplication , addition or substraction in no time . I am weak at calculating percentages . If I ask her to derive a percentage , she does it in no time . She is a wonderful company to keep . My children enjoy her company very much . Strangely enough my wife does not mind a bit .
She is sautan to my legally wedded wife or in other words she is my step - wife . Though she can not cook delicious dishes as my loving wife does , my cell phone is not less than my wife in many ways !
I told my sweet wife that its impossible for me to live without this new entrant . My wife was apprehensive , she felt that the new entrant will be more of a nuisance .
She had captured my attention the day I saw her in a mall . She was a point of attraction for everyone around . She was beautiful , slim , attractive , decent and royal . Naturally I fell flat for her . Wherever I moved around , my eyes were always on her . So was of other guys around . More I saw her , more enchanting she looked . I was mesmerised , hypnotised , unaware of the surroundings , just I kept on looking at her , as if the time stood still . I missed my heart beat . As I returned home , I kept on thinking about her . My wife asked why am I looking distracted . I replied that I have fallen for a beauty . She was shocked but thought that I am befooling her .
Next day I brought her home .
Life has been never so nice . She is always with me . Initial few days , it took me time to understand her . She appeared very beautiful but very complex . She had many sharp features . Her qualities were endless . She has a very sharp memory . She can tell me any phone number any moment . She remembers home addresses , office addresses and also keeps appointment record for me .
Morning till night , she is with me . Even at night she is with me . I have become so fond of her that I take her wherever I go . She is with me even in my office .
Occasionally she sings songs in my ear . She is very well behaved and follows my commands as per my wish . If I ask her to keep mum , unlike my legally wedded wife , she follows my dictates and keeps mum till I tell her to chatter again . Whenever she is mum , and still wishes to speak , she transfers her feelings through vibration . Unlike my wife , she does not demand to go to my in-laws house , has no demands for gold , diamond , does not ask for bangles , necklace , or ear rings .
Early morning she wakes me up with a sweet tune . She can remember the faces of people or any scenery and captures these for me . She is talented . She can solve difficult sums . She does divisions , multiplication , addition or substraction in no time . I am weak at calculating percentages . If I ask her to derive a percentage , she does it in no time . She is a wonderful company to keep . My children enjoy her company very much . Strangely enough my wife does not mind a bit .
She is sautan to my legally wedded wife or in other words she is my step - wife . Though she can not cook delicious dishes as my loving wife does , my cell phone is not less than my wife in many ways !
Friday, September 25, 2009
Ganesha drinks milk again
The God has done it again . Last time in 1996 , Lord Ganesha was kind enough to drink milk in different places all over India and this time his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati did so. Never mind , this is all in the family !
Since time immemorial we know that the God has special liking for milk and milk products . In so many temples the paintings and sculpture show lord Krishna drinking milk , curd and stealing butter .
But the question is whether the idols really drank milk ? The students of physics have easy explanation . The so called drinking of the milk by idols is actually the phenomenon of capillary action whereby the liquid tend to move up into a capillary . If you dip a biscuit in to a cup of tea , tea not only wets the part dipped but it wets the part of the biscuit above the level of tea .
Whether the God drank milk or not , but the news – starved television channels were delighted . The mobile companies too had a field day as they minted money through SMS . ( e.g. whether the idol would drink one ounce of milk or 1 gallon , send a SMS !!! )
Offering food to God is symbolic in nature . This is in fact thanking the supreme being for giving us food .The food offered to the idols are not really eaten by the God but by the people who worship Him . In fact the Creator Himself does not need any food , water or milk . These materials have been created by Him for the living beings in the world .
Over centuries , the idol worship has led to many misgivings . In almost all temples , milk , curd and ghee are poured on the idols as a ritual . Those who do so should think about thousands of mothers and children in the country who go to bed without food . These poor people can only dream about milk . Many children do not know how butter looks like . These costly and high protein nutritious substances go down the drain in every temple daily .
During snake festival Nagpanchami , milk is offered to the snakes with the hope of getting blessings . But milk is definitely not the natural food for snakes . In fact milk is harmful for snakes .
In south India , statue of Mahabali is bathed with tons of milk , curd and ghee . In the name of worship people do havan or yagnya in which wood , ghee , food and vegetables etc are put into fire . The same philosophy is stretched to the extreme limit in the sacrifice of animals and even humans in the name of pleasing gods.
People offer not only milk but gold ornaments , diamonds etc. In fact daily collection in one of the south Indian temples cross a crore . There is nothing wrong in faith and beliefs provided the fruits are utilized for some good cause .
Rabindranath Tagore had penned “Tomar poojar chhaley , Tomay bhuleyi thaki” which means that in the process of following rituals , I forget Your true self .
( I forget that you are much beyond the stone idols, you are omnipresent and omnipotent .)
The idol worship was practiced mainly for meditation purpose so that the wandering mind can be controlled and focused . But over a period of time people started identifying the idol with real God which led to many ill conceived practices including animal and human sacrifice .
History tells us that the Somnath temple was destroyed by muslim invaders 17 times. This temple was a very rich temple those days . Temple property was looted and taken out of India . The temple had a Shiva-Lingam which people believed that it possessed many powers . They thought that the moment the enemies touch the Lingam , it would burn the enemies in to ashes . But it did not happen . The invaders virtually looted everything without any resistance from the devotees . Hindus looked helplessly with a hope that some miracle will save the deity but in vain . They forgot that the god is far beyond the stone idols , in fact He is in our heart and mind .
God is not to be found in temples or palaces , He would be found by the side of the road breaking stone or in the fields growing grains , It is worth searching Him amongst the downtrodden hapless poor people .If at all you wish to feed him milk , feed the poor , it shall reach Him automatically .
I remember a hymn learnt long back during my school days . It said --
“When I was hungry you gave me to eat
When I was thirsty you gave me to drink
Now enter into the home of my Father
For whatsoever you do for the good of your brothers
That you do unto me”
Since time immemorial we know that the God has special liking for milk and milk products . In so many temples the paintings and sculpture show lord Krishna drinking milk , curd and stealing butter .
But the question is whether the idols really drank milk ? The students of physics have easy explanation . The so called drinking of the milk by idols is actually the phenomenon of capillary action whereby the liquid tend to move up into a capillary . If you dip a biscuit in to a cup of tea , tea not only wets the part dipped but it wets the part of the biscuit above the level of tea .
Whether the God drank milk or not , but the news – starved television channels were delighted . The mobile companies too had a field day as they minted money through SMS . ( e.g. whether the idol would drink one ounce of milk or 1 gallon , send a SMS !!! )
Offering food to God is symbolic in nature . This is in fact thanking the supreme being for giving us food .The food offered to the idols are not really eaten by the God but by the people who worship Him . In fact the Creator Himself does not need any food , water or milk . These materials have been created by Him for the living beings in the world .
Over centuries , the idol worship has led to many misgivings . In almost all temples , milk , curd and ghee are poured on the idols as a ritual . Those who do so should think about thousands of mothers and children in the country who go to bed without food . These poor people can only dream about milk . Many children do not know how butter looks like . These costly and high protein nutritious substances go down the drain in every temple daily .
During snake festival Nagpanchami , milk is offered to the snakes with the hope of getting blessings . But milk is definitely not the natural food for snakes . In fact milk is harmful for snakes .
In south India , statue of Mahabali is bathed with tons of milk , curd and ghee . In the name of worship people do havan or yagnya in which wood , ghee , food and vegetables etc are put into fire . The same philosophy is stretched to the extreme limit in the sacrifice of animals and even humans in the name of pleasing gods.
People offer not only milk but gold ornaments , diamonds etc. In fact daily collection in one of the south Indian temples cross a crore . There is nothing wrong in faith and beliefs provided the fruits are utilized for some good cause .
Rabindranath Tagore had penned “Tomar poojar chhaley , Tomay bhuleyi thaki” which means that in the process of following rituals , I forget Your true self .
( I forget that you are much beyond the stone idols, you are omnipresent and omnipotent .)
The idol worship was practiced mainly for meditation purpose so that the wandering mind can be controlled and focused . But over a period of time people started identifying the idol with real God which led to many ill conceived practices including animal and human sacrifice .
History tells us that the Somnath temple was destroyed by muslim invaders 17 times. This temple was a very rich temple those days . Temple property was looted and taken out of India . The temple had a Shiva-Lingam which people believed that it possessed many powers . They thought that the moment the enemies touch the Lingam , it would burn the enemies in to ashes . But it did not happen . The invaders virtually looted everything without any resistance from the devotees . Hindus looked helplessly with a hope that some miracle will save the deity but in vain . They forgot that the god is far beyond the stone idols , in fact He is in our heart and mind .
God is not to be found in temples or palaces , He would be found by the side of the road breaking stone or in the fields growing grains , It is worth searching Him amongst the downtrodden hapless poor people .If at all you wish to feed him milk , feed the poor , it shall reach Him automatically .
I remember a hymn learnt long back during my school days . It said --
“When I was hungry you gave me to eat
When I was thirsty you gave me to drink
Now enter into the home of my Father
For whatsoever you do for the good of your brothers
That you do unto me”
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