"The choking game" and pranayama

An adolescent died last week in Mumbai. Initially ruled as a suicide, the parents had the courage to come out and say it was actually "the choking game" that killed the child. Children - typically between the ages of 9 and 16 - deprive their brain of Oxygen for a momentary high they get.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzEyLzE5I0FyMDAxMDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

You can see more on this at
http://www.stop-the-choking-game.com/en/home.asp
including a video going through the scenario.

Some yoga practices too require the holding of energy inside the body through various locks - e.g. Mahabandh. The net effect of some of them is a reduction in the amount of Oxygen going to the brain. Is that too harmful - at what point does one draw the boundary. The video referred to above says that at 3 minutes of Oxygen deprivation, brain cells start dying irreversibly. At 5 minutes, the brain may stop functioning. Are yoga practices that involve bandhs for a minute or two OK, or are they harmful. Everyone needs to make this decision themselves. The takeaway is - when in doubt, do less, rather than more.

One final thought - may be it is time to teach yoga to children for more reasons. Yes, they can get what they want, but in an environment that is not dangerous to them.

The Wild West called Gujarat

In its December 8, 2007 edition, San Jose Mercury News has an article titled "Hindu official's re-election push alarms muslims."

It is an article on Narendra Mody, the CM of Gujarat, who is running for re-election. The article implies that he had a hand in the massacre of Muslims in the period after Godhra.

But, they neglect to mention the real events going on in India, which have spurred discussions in the media. When I started reading this SJMN article, I expected to read about the same controversy - but did not get it.

Last week, at a campaign rally, he incited the crowd by justifying a fake-encounter killing of someone called Sohrabuddin - an alleged terrorist. He asked the audience - "so what do you do when you find someone like this." The crowd chanted "kill-him." Modi then accepted credit. (http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/05gujpoll5.htm). The fact that it was a fake encounter is proven. The government itself has agreed. The IPS officer who led that encounter is now in jail.

Different media articles mention that when this particular IPS officer was around, lots of terrorist plots to kill Modi were discovered, arms caches were found, and terrorists dealt with, extra-judically. Since this person was sent to jail, those things have reduced drastically. Everyone can draw their own conclusions about it - maybe other officers are not as vigilant, or that this officer was driving a political agenda.

Comments from readers on these articles, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly supportive of Modi. Supportive of this stance, not of his ability to govern the state, the economic miracle he has crated, and his clean image (corruption-wise).

What these writers don't realize is that once they legitimize the monster of fake-encounter killings, they are handing over executive, legislative and judicial power to the same people. How can we be sure that this power won't be used against other individuals and communities in the future. Are we converting a part of India into the Wild West?

Population Growth in India

In the 70's, India's growing population was an issue of concern everywhere, including India. Over time, this concern has disappeared, to be replaced by excitement about the growing population. India has successfully converted its population from a liability to an asset. Greater population means more consumers, and more workers. India is pointed out as having a greater potential for success compared to its fellow emerging economy - China. The reason is that India's population is younger, and many more people in India will enter the workforce in the next few years.

There is no evidence, however, that population is not going to be a problem. There is a little more on this at:
http://sai-os.blogspot.com/2007/06/is-population-growth-on-planet-no.html

Today's Financial Times carried on OpEd piece by Victor Mallet. It is available on many websites, including this one.
http://in.rediff.com/money/2007/dec/06utop.htm


Here are important points:

1. "The population surge that will increase the workforce to 800m by 2016 and make India the world's most populous nation - may turn out to be more of a threat than an opportunity."
2. "Who will create the jobs to absorb the net increase of 71m young people of working age over the next five years? Most are poorly educated and only a fraction will find regular work.
3. It questions about their impact on the supply of water and fuel.
4. Eventually, these people will retire; who will take care of them

The OpEd piece correctly concludes that the optimists have taken over, failing to do anything about this issue. It is time that the authorities and the people in India start taking the issue seriously again.