Southern Star-November 2022 English

 It was expected that in War fair practices will be employed. The use of   Poisoned arrows ,
concealed weapons was forbidden ,along with the killing of sleeping warriors, fugitives and helpers.The Buildings should not be destroyed. How much all this was followed in practice is another matter. This view was already changing in Chanakya's time, where he approves of more destructive and deceptive methods. In 'Artheshashtra 'Chanakya'While discussing the weapons mentions machines and explosives as well as trench warfare. It is not possible to know whether these things were available at that time.
India experienced some distressful and difficult periods in its History, with long periods of peaceful and orderly existence, which was more than what Europe endured. This period is between Turkish and Afghan invasions, upto the fall of Moghul Empire. The belief, that British brought peace to India,is wrong. British rule was established because India was at it's lowest point, politically and economically.

'The East bowed low before the blast
In patient, deep disdain ;
She let the Legions thunder past,
And plunged in thought again.'

So says a Poet ,which is true, as India was very much interested in Thought and Thinking. She always honored Persons of Thought and considered them Superior to the People of Sword and Money. Even in the period of low ebb India preferred Contemplation. It is wrong to assume that India surrendered to the attacks of the foreign armies. She always fought back, though sometimes she was defeated. But in the event of defeat, she contemplated and prepared herself for the next attack. She tackled the Invaders two ways. Eighter she fought and drove them out or integrated the once that could not be driven out. She fought against 'Alexander's Army 'and drove them out.Remnants  were absorbed in the society, as with Scythians, and Huns. Arabs were stopped near Indus river. Turks and Afghans took centuries to establish their rule at Delhi because of this resistance. During this long drown out conflict, process of Indianisation was also taking place.Akbar followed this practice of fusion with India successfully and created an Empire. As long as his successors followed his policy, they were tolerated.

As they abandoned the policy of integration, their Empire perished. New smaller states arose, which were Nationalistic but were not strong enough to endure for long periods. These states were immersed in the past and didn't realized that the past is no more and the present is stagnant. India had isolated itself and remained far behind of the World .Indians did not realize that far modern World was arising in the West,led by British. British won in India but,had to face a rebellion in the form of War of Independence ,that nearly outdid them. This strong wish for freedom and resistance to foreign elements was always there in Indians.We  Indians are unique people, proud of our past, our culture and traditions, which we try to preserve by isolating ourselves, behind rules and regulations. Still, inspite of the pride in our race and our cast system, we are a mixture of Aryans Dravidians, Turanians, Semitic, Mongolians,etc.At first Aryans and Dravidians mixed with each other. Then came other races and tribes as migrants or invaders and found Home in our country. 'Dodwell'in his book 'India,again and again 'states 'Fierce and war like tribes invaded India 's Northern plains,overthrew its Princes, captured and laid waste to its cities,,set up new states and built new capitals of their own and then vanished in to the great tide of humanity, leaving to their descendants nothing but a swiftly diluted strain of alien blood and few shreds of alien custom that were soon transformed into something cognate with their overmastering surroundings.'

These overwhelming surroundings were probably due to very atmosphere of the country or due to the strong wish or love for life and living that was incorporated in the Indian philosophy from the beginning.' All that is living is ours 'made us absorb all that came to India. This idea fired up the civilization that flourished in the country and influenced it's people and the country. It may not be right to talk about a Single impulse responsible for the Civilization. Even an individual draws Life from many sources. A Nation or Civilization's life will be more complicated. There are innumerable ideas floating around in India, many of which are opposite to each other. It is easy to select one set of opinions to promote a Philosophy and the other to demolish it.With so many outdated ideas surviving with the current, this kind of disagreement is natural. It is also not proper to address a complex phenomenon like civilization in a simple manner. The Ideas and Thoughts change often inside out or they run into each other, eighter clashing or merging or become outdated and be a drag upon changing world. The World as well as India is changing continuously, still it is amazing to notice that inspite of the changes, old civilizations like India and China have kept their basic identity intact. It is because of the tremendous staying power and property of adoptibilty inherent in these Civilizations. The peaceful coexistence with nature and life also played a part in this survival. This powerful urge to keep the identity, might be  good or bad for the Civilization.It might have been useless for a long time and been a drag like a dead wood on the civilization in its march towards progress.

There is always a clash between progress on one side and stability and security on the other. Progress means change, and the latter means continuation of the things as they are.Progress is a modern concept, whereas ancient and medieval civilization were involved in their golden past and it's  decay like in India.Civilization in India was based on stability and security, and was more successful than the one in the West. Cast system and joint families in India provided security for certain groups and for old and infirm, but at the cost of able and talented. It was for all and not custom made for an individual. It is surprising that though Indian philosophy deals with an individual and its moral uplifting, socially it is communal and favors groupism. The individual had freedom of thoughts and beliefs but had to be faithful to the community and society. With all this rigidity, there was a flexibility in the structure, where  social laws and rules could be changed through the practice of custom. New groups could have new customs and beliefs and still be considered as part of the larger group.This doctrine helped in the assimilation of foreign elements in the society. Till the stability and security were the main concerns ,the above structure worked. The challenge came from the dynamic social changes that tried to replace the old static ideas. In the West security was main concern, while in India there was lack of security which made people to demand progress, so that they could have security.

In ancient and medieval India there was no challenge about progress. But need for the continuous adaptation to a change and unification of different ideas was recognized and implemented. Unification was not confined to ideas only, but also between inner and outer life,and between man and nature. There were no major differences in the society like today. There was common cultural background, due to which there was 'unity in the society, inspite of diversity.' At the base of the pyramid of governance there was an  independently governing village system which survived inspite of the change in the government. The migrants and the Invaders merely disturbed the outer surface of the system, without going deeper.Even the state and the Dictoterial Rulers could not interfere with the rights and privileges of these Village Panchayats.

The Rajputs and Jats who are the pride of India are a mixture of Huns and Scythians ,like Kathiawadi or probably most of Indians. But still all of us are distinctively Indians, following Indian culture and traditions. Every foreign element that has come to India has given something to the country and taken a lot from it,contributing to its and Indias strength. But those who could not integrate with grandeur of India faded away without influence injuring themselves and India.
The End

Jal neti (nasal cleaning with water) is one of the six purifying techniques in the "Hath Yoga Pradipika". The term is Sanskrit and translates literally to "water cleansing" Jal neli is an ancient practice performed by yogis to cleanse their nasal passages.

Dr. Dhananjay Kelkar, Director at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital found Jal neti very effective, precautionary and preventive method to keep away from COVID. It was

practiced by all the staff at the hospital. He even made a clip on how to perform Jal neti. This clip went viral on whatsapp. This is such a simple thing to practice all year around.

Hydrotherapy encompasses a broad range of approaches and therapeutic methods and wet packs is one of them. What is a wet pack? It is a water-soaked cloth that is wrapped around concerned body parts for healing.

Our body is capable of healing itself, if we give the right inputs. The use of water for pain relief, healing and treatment of diseases is called Hydrotherapy. In this method water’s temperature and pressure are used to stimulate blood circulation and equalization of body heat to promote healing. Given the fact that 70% of our body is made up of water, water plays a pivotal role in cleansing and healing.  As per nature cure the reason behind all diseases is the accumulation of toxins in our body. Wet packs help in elimination of those toxins from targeted body parts, hence help in relieving diseases and pains. Application of wet pack cools the specific body parts. This temperature difference promotes blood circulation in the affected area. Along with the movement of blood, the accumulated toxins, waste materials, and clots, etc. get moving too and find their way out of the body through urine and stool.

Wet packs have different impacts on different body parts.

• Stomach: When applied to the stomach, it helps to relieve indigestion, acidity, ulcers, bloating, constipation, stomach pain & colitis. It also helps tone up the stomach muscles by removing the excess fat !
• Neck: It helps balance the thyroid, heals tonsillitis & laryngitis.
• Forehead: Helps relieve headaches, migraines and some mental disorders.
• Primary Diseases: Wet packs help cure fever, cold, cough and diarrhea etc.
• Overall body: Wet packs are highly effective in detoxing the body. For more effect, while doing process given in 1 to 5, you should / must apply wet pack to eyes. They are very delicate and might get affected by wet pack on other.

To increase the effectiveness of wet packs, an enema can be given after one hour of wet packs application, to remove the circulating toxins from the body.

Last time when I went to my physician (before a foreign trip), I asked him is it ok, if I take Cipzox/Combiflam & upon that, the friendly doctor said, “Any Pills” (chemicals) it is not good for the health of KIDNEY. That is when I remembered my Guru of naturopathy and started using wet packs and enema as cure for any pains.

Despite all the challenges, they are jovial, affectionate, expressive and happy children and individuals. They can take formal school education, dance, swim, cook, draw and paint, help around the house, do simple assemblies, packaging jobs. They are extremely trustworthy and reliable workforce!!

Unmesh is a newly launched NGO, which works towards the welfare of such wonderful children and their parents. Creating social awareness about the challenges faced by Down Syndrome children and their families, as well as giving them a platform to showcase their talents and abilities to the society is one of the main objectives of Unmesh.

Thus, it was a wonderful collaboration of efforts by Unmesh and Rotary Club of Pune South- with exemplary initiative by Rtn.Mridula Ghodke [Chairperson-External PR] – superbly supported by Rtn. Madhuri Kirpekar [Director- Service projects(community)], Secretary, Rtn.Abhijit Deshpande, Rtn.Asmita Apte, Rtn. Sanjeev Ogale, President.

The swimming competitions were held at Royal Connaught Boat Club, Pune on the 15^th October. This event was flawlessly conducted and children were excited to win praise and prizes both! The crowd cheered on the children to win. Those who could not win, were also motivated to complete the distance and deeply appreciated. Mr.Sachin Abhyankar graciously helped with the entry fees and PDG.Rtn.Mr.Arun Kudale, also President of Royal Connaught Boat club made the venue available for the competitions and also contributed towards the refreshments.

The classical dance, non-classical dance, drawing and instrumental music competitions were held on 16^th October at Sevasadan school auditorium. This event too was graced by DG RTN Dr. Anil Parmar and Dr Hema Parmar [ first lady]. The children mesmerized the audience with their craft, dance moves and amazing skills on Tabla and harmonium. The audience was impressed with the expressiveness of all the children, the joy that they brought to all with each performance.

Some of the children from Unmesh had also put stalls of their handcrafted products for all to see and purchase. The event was immaculately planned, immensely successful. All the parents deeply appreciated the huge efforts taken by Rotary Club of Pune South and Unmesh to make this event possible.

The children were thrilled to win many prizes! The prizes were given away by Prof Medha Kulkarni, Ex-MLA and Principal of Sevasadan D. Ed College, National Vice President of BJP Mahila Morcha and Rtn. Sanjeev Ogale, President. The children from Unmesh felicitated all the rotary dignitaries, judges with their handcrafted goodies. We at Unmesh convey our heartfelt thanks to the Rotary club of Pune South for their amazing support and look forward to many such collaborative efforts in the future!

■ Thanx Jayanti mam nd group also to rotary club members for encouraging our society - Mrs.Purva Jain

■ Thank you Jayanti and Rotary for all the events...children hv enjoyed alot 👍🏼🥰 - Madhavi Joshi

■ Thanks Jayanti & Rotary club.- Sunita Boralkar

■ Chan zala aajach program👍🏻 maja aali mulana khup... - Chandana Chitale.

■ अजुन काही करण्यास ऊत्साह निर्माण झाला. मुलांमधे तसेच पालकांमधे.Thank you Jayanti Didi, Rotary club🤩🙏🏻🙏🏻 - Vidya Patil