My right middle finger was hurting for more than a month and I decided to see the doctor. Usually, whenever I fix up an appointment with the doctor, my wife googles the symptoms and collects information, sufficient enough, either to declare the doctor a “quack” or to prove that my disability to communicate properly with the doctor is congenital. This time, I decided to pre-empt her moves. As I have the habit of checking mails before doing anything, I checked and, to my surprise, my friend had forwarded me a mail on the same subject. It was a providential coincidence. The mail narrated in detail how not taking enough water at the right timings can lead to pain in the joints and with water how you can cure a variety of diseases from blood cancer to the common cold.
Tears filled my eyes with gratitude for that noble mail, which came with nothing more than a rider that it be forwarded to 101 people. I was ashamed that in the past, I had been arrogant and ignored my social commitment by trashing scores of such mails without ever opening them. I decided to dig out my trash and pacify my pricking conscience.
The first one talked about how milk products exported to Australia from Japan by a Chinese company shortly after the tsunami were rejected as they contained radioactive traces and were being diverted to India for major international brands. The stern advice was to avoid milk chocolates and biscuits for the next six months.
The next one vividly narrated how a popular soft drink would be a cheap replacement for toilet cleaner and the readers are given the freedom to imagine what it will do to the stomach of their children.
Another one linked the shapes of vegetables with our inner organs and how by choosing the right vegetable alone you can cure any part of the body of any disease. The most useful one narrated how a simple preparation with ladies' finger cures chronic diabetes in a few weeks. When I forwarded that particular mail to all diabetic and non-diabetic friends, I could visualise the big diabetic specialty hospital in our area closing down for want of patients and the doctor opening vegetable shops to make a living!
Then came another one which gave horrific details of the toxic content in the vegetables we consume owing to indiscriminate use of pesticides. I was shocked to know from another article that grape seeds are kept soaked in pesticides for days together. I was alarmed when I knew that taking too much of water leads to kidney failure and that I should take water only when I feel like doing so.
The most acceptable one was goggling oil for a few minutes in the morning until it cannot obviously do me any harm and everyone in the family also liked it since I could not talk at least when I was at it! And the one that could not even be dreamt of emulation is on sleeping positions and hours. In fact, I lost many hours of sleep, planning to sleep in the position that was claimed to be the best for my heart. It was a revelation to know that vegetable soups have the potential to put all pharmaceutical companies out of business.
Having received, read and forwarded all these mail chains and having discharged my social obligations, my confusion was indeed greater than that of Arjuna, who asked Lord Krishna to illustrate the marks of the “man of steady wisdom” with the questions — what does he speak, how does he sit and walk? I asked myself: who is a healthy person, what does he eat, how does he sleep, when and what does he drink? Fortunately, unlike Lord Krishna who needed eighteen slokas to explain the attributes of sthitaprajna, my answer is simple and straight forward: “A healthy man does not have an Internet connection.”
(soundararajan.r@ licindia.com)
Keywords: Google
sir (Dr T Rama Prasad Perundurai), i did not agree with the last line
of the article because even i am a student. we are in a position where
we are continuously given lot of projects and the info for the project
is not easy to get from books even in a library because of the
complexity of the topics.I felt that we cannot exactly think that
without technology like internet we can be healthy. just imagine the
lots of projects given to submit in a little time. certainly there are
two faces in any type of technology- both good and bad. i mean to say
that it is up to our mindset on how we use the internet. If not for
the internet how can we ever convey our opinions in a very short time
to the most respected newspaper like The Hindu, sir? except for that
quote, i totally agree with the writer and i certainly like his
article.
Once upon a time one seeker met a Jain monk and was asked to become a digambara. He obeyed promptly. Then he met a Buddhist monk who asked him to shave his head. He obeyed this too. Then he met a hatha yogi who asked him to do shirasaasana. After all these he was in the same position as when he started. When he cried in utter despair God came face to face with him and asked him: All okay; but why didn't you use the common sense I gave you? So it is a question of our not using the common sense already available with us.
Great!!! Enjoyed every bit of it.
"A healthy man does not have an Internet connection!" Your ending paragraph is a masterpiece of journalistic humour, Mr. Sounderarajan. Thank you for the well written and entertaining article on the flip side of the www. Dear Usha Amulya, you were in a serious mood, I think, when you read the above quote in the article !
The information in this article is very true!Today the internet
provides us a wide variety of information with just a click. but then
most of the time, we find information in different websites
contradicting each other.This is mainly about the health related
information. For instance when one site in the internet conveys us to
drink lots of water, about water therapy and all; the other one
conveys us if drink more water, it may give our kidneys more work to
filter it, gradually declining it's efficiency. but i don't really
think that , "a healthy man does not have a internet connection." i
think it is up to us on how we use the internet, whether usefully or
otherwise! just imagine the problem of a student without internet
connection when she is supposed to do a project in a 2 day time!Books
can certainly help us out, but yet it is time consuming. besides we
may not have the time to do the rest of the homework's which we are
given everyday, isn't it?
Nice article glazed with humour.The article gently questions our
tendency to believe anything that appears on print or in electronic
media.
Great and humorous article! It is a human need to find "magic" cures for
major illnesses, as well as vague and other symptoms. Of course, such
cures have a scientific basis - the wisdom of forwarded email!
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