On health and hygiene...

Do you obsessively wash your childrens' hands till the poor skin loses one-inch of epidermis? Are you absolutely convinced that the sole mission in a bacteria's life, is to hunt and infect you and your family? Do cleaning and sanitation products take complete priority in your shopping list? Paranoid about dirt-attacks? Have to have those squeaky-clean floors? Ok, i'll stop now because by now, we all know whoever you are. Here goes a new theory that i came across and thought i'll share. Just for you.

Dr. Erika Von Mutius, a health researcher has come up with a new theory to explain why the number of asthma and allergies in children are increasing in the much cleaner West. She dubbed it as "The Hygiene Hypothesis," which states that children who are around numerous other children or animals early in life are exposed to more microbes, and their immune systems develop more tolerance for the irritants that cause asthma. Also, the human immune system has evolved two types of biological defenses. When one defensive system lacks practice fighting bacteria and viruses, perhaps from an overly sanitary lifestyle, the other system becomes too powerful and overreacts as an allergic reaction to harmless substances like pollen. For more info, you can peek into - http://www.hygienehypothesis.com/

So, what we should we do? I can already hear kids woo-hoing out there, but meanwhile, should we parents let go a little? Not maybe mind the dust around? Allow microbes to co-exist in peace?

Mixed 'Masala'....(Part I)

The following content is purely a figment of my observation and is directly and intentionally connected to real life situations and people. So, if someone is offended, well....don't take it personal, relax, take a chill pill... Ok, after that loosely-construed disclaimer, on which I took a painstaking, laborious, thoughtful, five whole minutes to come up with....on to the main topic. I've waited for a while to ramble on what i've seen, heard and reasonably projected observations of my homeland and here it goes. On a serious note... - India can best be described as an old, rusty but still-working machine. Looks messy and cranky on the outside, but once you're in and get settled, one comes to realize that there's a vague sense of order and things do go in a strange, but definite pattern. I guess that's what keeps us going on and not disintegrated already into anarchy. - A country that's only 63 years young has still a viable, democractic government, seems ama

Human Needs and Relationships....Part 1

Let's admit it. All of us as adult humans have needs, wants and desires. At first, they have and will be at a basic sustenance level of food, shelter and clothing, and once that's done, it moves to many different elevations above. Also, it always starts with material things like money, car, house, job etc., then kids (and the heavy price tag that comes with them) etc. Think of it as the " taking " phase. At some point of life, when many hairs have been "grayed-and-dyed" after, we hopefully evolve to higher-order thinking like social work, helping/caring for others or spiritual quest etc. - basically, chucking the hugely inflated and egoistic "me and only me" out and replacing it with a big picture view of "what i can do for others", "how i can be useful to Mother Earth" line of thought process. This would be the " giving " or " pay-back " phase. Sorry, life doesn't offer any free lunch, anytime, an

You and your compass....

Let's talk about what each and every one of us have within ourselves. That deep, down voice that tells us strongly what to do, not to do, what we ought to do but choose not to and regret later on with a "I-told-me-so", things that we wish to do but dare not try in our lifetime....you get the drift. Yes, it is that all-pervading, metaphorical inner compass, or the SatNavs of our lives that I'm getting into. Young adults think they have an independent mind, and do and act that way. In reality, though, in most of the cases, it's not even of their own choice, but out of peer pressure. Which interestingly, brings a point- whose collective, mob voice is it then? If everyone is busy copying someone else doing the same, then who the heck started the fire? No clue, but let's assume for sanity's sake that some life form starts a trend which gets viral, bacterial, whatever. And, suddenly there's a strong urge that compels every youngster to do it

C'est La Vie;That's life

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