E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Drug plays spoilsport
SUNITA RANI was supposed to be the star attraction at the Busan Asian Games. She had battled crippling injury and insults from the establishment to make an impressive comeback. What was supposed to be a dream run for the Indian contingent may now turn into a nightmare because of Sunita Rani. She tested positive not once but twice. 

Nobel gesture
IT is ironical that at a time when President Bush is threatening to attack Iraq, one of his predecessors, Jimmy Carter, has been honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize. This is belated recognition for his “vital contribution” to the peace accord between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and his efforts in conflict resolution on several continents. 

Death and a new beginning
ORGAN donations in India are not popular because of social taboos. But there are times when reason prevails, like in the case of Surinderpal Sharma (42) of Khialiwala village, near Bathinda. He was an active member of the Tarksheel Society, Punjab, and promoted rational thinking throughout his life.

OPINION

Pointers from Pak elections
Anti-Americanism threatens Musharraf’s survival
Syed Nooruzzaman
THE election results in Pakistan have thrown up a highly complex scenario. There is a hung House with the party patronised by Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaed-e-Azam), emerging as the leading contender for power. The PML (Q) has, however, won only 77 seats in the 342-member National Assembly having 272 elected representatives of the people.

MIDDLE

The long and short of it
Raj Kadyan
THE current acronyms continue to fox me. “Mr Abdul Kalam is going to be poor”, we heard the son speak into the phone soon after his candidature was announced. This was hardly a befitting description of the fiscal state of our future first citizen. 

REALPOLITIK

Power struggle in divided parivar
P. Raman
REALPOLITIK’ had a tough time this week finding out the who’s who and what’s what of the ongoing mudslingings among the ruling BJP and its RSS parivar. It talked to every possible knowledgeable person in the establishment and its innumerable outfits — from the VHP sadhus to the hardboiled BJP politicians. The outcome has been stunningly revealing. No one, even those within the inner circles of the power wheel, could say for certain which outfit, which leader stands where in this veritable struggle for domination.

Children at risk from stressed parents
IT was thought of as the plague of the workaholic and the high achiever — but new evidence shows that grown-up stress is also wreaking havoc on children. After a hard day at work, followed by a sleepless night with a screaming baby, most parents of young children can expect to feel under pressure.

TRENDS & POINTERS

What older women want
MANY older women still want to have sex, but they might find their men cannot oblige. So says a global survey of 27,780 adults aged 40 to 80 from 30 countries that found aging women become sexually dysfunctional at about half the rate of men.

• What keeps Kiran Bedi healthy

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Drug plays spoilsport

SUNITA RANI was supposed to be the star attraction at the Busan Asian Games. She had battled crippling injury and insults from the establishment to make an impressive comeback. What was supposed to be a dream run for the Indian contingent may now turn into a nightmare because of Sunita Rani. She tested positive not once but twice. The two urine samples showed that the star athlete may have been on performance enhancing drugs. She has, however, denied the charge. A kind of a second opinion based on fresh tests of the urine samples would be done by a new team of medical experts at Seoul, that is said to have better testing facilities than Busan. The suspense over the medals she won for India would remain until October 25, the date given by the Games organisers for doing the second dope test. Will she turn out to be the proverbial fish that pollutes the pond or a victim of a well-planned attempt to discredit her achievements. The performance of the Indian contingent at the Commonwealths Games in Manchester had provided glimpses of India's potential to be counted among the sports super power. At Manchester it finished third in the gold medals tally. The sceptics had dismissed the Commonwealth golds as of little value. They predicted a poor outing for India at the Busan Games. The athlete, particularly the women participants, proved them wrong. On Thursday the Indian girls took the country beyond the 100-gold-medal-mark. The first of the three gold medals that India won through Saraswati Saha was the country's 100th gold in the Asian Games. At the start of the Busan Games India's tally of gold medals was 93. The 11 gold medals that India won at Busan too is a new landmark. The best, of course, was the haul of 15 golds in the 1952 New Delhi Games followed by the 13 gold medals in the 1982 New Delhi Games. On both occasions India took advantage of the home conditions to improve its international rating in sports events.

If Sunita Rani is not stripped of the medals she won for the country, the Busan Games would remain a landmark in the history of Indian athletics. The only other time India won 11 golds was at Bangkok in 1978. Such was the dominance of the Indian contingent in the track and field events that the country's consistent performance in kabaddi, in which it retained its supremacy by beating Pakistan, was overlooked by sports buffs. Even hockey did not attract the attention it deserved, although both India and Pakistan continued to impress the followers of the game with their oriental magic. The best game of the tournament was between the two arch rivals for a place in the finals. Dhanraj Pillay had to yet again give a sterling performance to pip Pakistan by a margin of 4-3. Unhappily, the talented Indians lacked the motivation that they needed to retain their hold over the hockey goal. They were beaten by an extremely aggressive and focussed bunch of South Koreans in the final game. In spite of setbacks in certain other disciplines, there was much to celebrate but for Sunita Rani's dope test. At the Manchester Commonwealth Games two weightlifters had tested positive to take the zing out of India's otherwise remarkable performance . The celebrations turned into an occasion to mourn the death of fairplay in competitive sports. It is clear that enough is not being done by the concerned federations and association to check the use of performance enhancing drugs by Indian sportspersons. Cricket without doubt has become the national game of India. Its image had taken a terrible beating because of the alleged involvement of star players in the despicable act of fixing games. Athletics does not enjoy even a fraction of the popularity that turns cricket players into national icons. Athletes too can build their own fan following if they keep an eye on the odd cheat and alert the authorities concerned. Why must they let the odd crook take away from them their moment of glory when they win medals for India in various disciplines?

Nobel gesture

IT is ironical that at a time when President Bush is threatening to attack Iraq, one of his predecessors, Jimmy Carter, has been honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize. This is belated recognition for his “vital contribution” to the peace accord between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and his efforts in conflict resolution on several continents. To give the achievements a sense of immediacy, the citation speaks of “his decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights” and to promote economic and social development. The selection of Mr Carter has been panned most notably in the West itself with one influential newspaper even going to the extent of saying that this was redemption of sorts for a failed politician for decades of political disgrace. It has been remarked with an acidic tongue that this is the only Nobel given for theory rather than actual achievement. Other prestigious publications have also rubbished the performance of the 39th President whose scorecard is only marginally better than “fail” mark. What is now being bandied about as his “peaceful” policy was criticised as outright pacifism when he was in the White House.

It is another matter that whatever he did was shaped by American interests, even if it called for a volte-face. India will particularly recall what happened during his Presidency vis-à-vis Pakistan. He had opposed the military takeover by Gen Zia-ul-Haque, but when the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, he had no objection to mollycoddling the dictator. Not only that, he pumped millions in unaccounted aid, which was used mainly for fomenting trouble in India and nurturing a band of terrorists which the USA is now trying to eliminate. But, then, Nobel is not always decided on the basis of merit. It has to be politically correct too. That is why Mahatma Gandhi never got it but Henry Kissinger did. The latest winner may not have been a political success, but at least is peaceful, humble and idealist. The Centre for Conflict Resolution that he runs in Atlanta is doing a lot of positive work. Today, he flies around the globe canvassing peace, which, according to his concept, does not only mean the right to live in peace but also adequate health care, shelter, food and economic opportunity. That notion is quite akin to what India has been advocating all along. What is more, he had genuine goodwill for India where his mother Lillian Carter had served as a Peace Corps volunteer. 

Death and a new beginning

ORGAN donations in India are not popular because of social taboos. But there are times when reason prevails, like in the case of Surinderpal Sharma (42) of Khialiwala village, near Bathinda. He was an active member of the Tarksheel Society, Punjab, and promoted rational thinking throughout his life. His mission carried on after his death on Thursday, when, according to his will, his body was donated to a private medical college and hospital for medical research. His corneas were accepted by a charitable hospital. There has been a significant increase in the awareness regarding the donation of organs, and many prominent persons, including film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwaria Rai and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, have publicly pledged their corneas. The list is impressive, but the need is acute. In 2001 alone, over 10 lakh Indians lost their vision from corneal blindness. They just received only 20,000 corneas for transplantation. Cornea has to be collected within three or four hours after death and each donation gives sight to two persons.

Organs that can be donated include kidneys, liver, heart and lungs. In cases where the patient is brain-dead, the doctors are allowed to harvest the organs by family members. The doctors exercise proper care and respect during the operation, but the need is always for a prompt response. With advances in medicine and technology, the types of organs that can be transplanted have also increased. Doctors can now transplant organs such as lungs, pancreas and the small bowel. Due to increasing involvement of NGOs, in some hospitals there are grief counsellors who meet the grieving families, help them cope with the trauma and also suggest the possibilities of donating organs. The response has been positive and people do appreciate that their decision could help save or enhance the quality of another person's life. There have been moves to involve religious bodies to push for such donations. Since religious inhibitions often play a negative role, such involvement by enlightened citizens would be welcome. Meanwhile, the example set by the rationalist, who had made sure that he continued to "live" even after his death, deserves to be lauded and emulated. Death is final, we all know, but it can also be a new beginning for someone else. 

OPINION

Pointers from Pak elections
Anti-Americanism threatens Musharraf’s survival
Syed Nooruzzaman

THE election results in Pakistan have thrown up a highly complex scenario. There is a hung House with the party patronised by Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaed-e-Azam), emerging as the leading contender for power. The PML (Q) has, however, won only 77 seats in the 342-member National Assembly having 272 elected representatives of the people. There is a big gap between 77 and the magic figure of 136, needed to form a government in Islamabad. Even if all the 28 Independents join what has come to be known as the king’s party, the PML (Q) will have to go in for a tie-up with one of the political forces opposing the military regime’s policies tooth and nail, particularly with regard to its role in the US-led war on terrorism. This means a serious crisis for President Musharraf. But there is also the possibility of the wily General turning the situation to his advantage by using the enormous powers he has acquired by promulgating the Legal Framework Order, amending the 1973 constitution drastically. It will be interesting to watch how he plays his cards till November 1, the date by which he has promised to hand over functional powers to a new government.

The PML (Q) has launched a frantic search for allies under the guidance of the ruling General. Contacts have been established with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) has emerged as the second largest group with 63 seats. There is nothing surprising in the development. Before the notification for the October 12 elections was issued, the General had tried to reach an understanding with Ms Bhutto, but the efforts ended in a fiasco over certain crucial issues, including the Prime Minister’s position. Today, it may be a little easy to strike a deal as Ms Bhutto has not been able to enter the National Assembly and, therefore, her claim for the Prime Ministership may be kept aside. But it depends on how far the two sides succeed in eliminating the bitterness between them which has increased considerably in the process of fighting the battle of the ballot.

Besides their past efforts for power sharing, there is another significant factor which goes in favour of General Musharraf’s PML (Q) and Ms Bhutto’s party coming together to form a government. Both are in the pro-America camp. There is, in fact, the possibility of the USA forcing them to forget their bitter past and forgive each other in the interest of peace and development, a camouflage for the US-led war against terrorism.

On the whole, the voters in Pakistan have been found to be divided into two main camps: anti-America and pro-America. The pro-America votes have been shared by the PML (Q) and the PPPP. The traditional Muslim Leaguers, who earlier favoured exiled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, the PML (N), have mostly supported the group backed by General Musharraf owing to Mr Sharif’s loss of credibility and various other factors. Ms Bhutto has got a smaller share because of her dwindling support base and the disadvantage she had in putting up a fight from abroad. She also had another handicap——- having Mr Asif Ali Zardari as her husband, now in jail on corruption charges. Her advantage has been her being Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s dynamic daughter and a politician admired by women in general and young men in particular. But her minus points weighed against her plus points. Hence her inability to benefit from the widespread resentment among the public against the Musharraf regime because of its failure on different fronts.

Going by the record of General Musharraf, he may give his nod for a tie-up between his favourite party and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the six-party alliance of religious organisations. The MMA constituents, with the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan as the leading party, have been known for demonstrating their strength only in the street. But now that is a thing of the past. By capturing 45 seats in the National Assembly, the MMA has emerged as the third major political force. In a way, it has acquired the most significant position as it is going to form its government in the NWFP and Baluchistan. The disturbing side of the picture, however, is that the MMA governments in the two provinces bordering Afghanistan may pose a serious threat to the US-guided campaign against Al-Qaida and Taliban elements.

Some analysts believe that in the event of an understanding between the PML(Q) and the MMA over government formation in Islamabad, General Musharraf may prevail upon the religious forces to soften their anti-American rhetoric. We in India know it well from our own experience that power changes the style of functioning of political parties. In view of the strong anti-American sentiments in Pakistan, as proved by the election results, the USA may go in for a clandestine operation to immobilise its enemies. But, in any case, all this means a major setback to the campaign against terrorism. The reason is that the all-out war against Al-Qaida forces in the provinces bordering Afghanistan, as continuing till today, may not be possible with the MMA in power. The new situation may also give a fresh lease of life to the extremist and terrorist elements operating to foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India.

All the past military rulers in Pakistan have felt comfortable in the company of religious leaders. This has been true about General Musharraf too till he tightened the noose around these forces, particularly in the context of the misuse of madarsas, under international pressure. An alliance with the MMA will, therefore, not be difficult to sustain for the ruling General. In fact, both may indulge in anti-India rhetoric more often to placate their vote banks. There is, indeed, a new challenge for Indian diplomacy.

There is also the factor of anti-Musharrafism, which has grown stronger in the wake of the U-turn in Pakistan’s Afghan policy. There is, therefore, the possibility of Ms Bhutto’s party, the MMA, the MQM and certain Independents forging a front with a common minimum programme. Reports suggest that these forces have already begun consultations among themselves on these lines. They have, no doubt, serious ideological differences among themselves, but anti-Musharrafism is powerful enough to make them forget all other things. This appears to be in accordance with the public mood too. The anti-Musharraf parties may achieve one major objective if they succeed in forging a post-election alliance. They may put the fate of the large-scale person-specific constitutional amendments in jeopardy by bringing the matter before the National Assembly.

Though General Musharraf has reportedly agreed to allow parliament to go in for such a course if it so desires, he may put up a fight at least to save his own position as President. He has arrogated to himself the powers to dissolve parliament, but he may not take such a decision in view of the prevailing circumstances. He must be knowing it full well that a drastic step is bound to lead to a chaotic situation, providing an opportunity to one of his army colleagues to overthrow his government in the power struggle that may ensue. In any case, there is a new and serious threat to President Musharraf’s survival in office. The world will be watching the changing scene in Pakistan with utmost curiosity.

MIDDLE

The long and short of it
Raj Kadyan

THE current acronyms continue to fox me. “Mr Abdul Kalam is going to be poor”, we heard the son speak into the phone soon after his candidature was announced.

This was hardly a befitting description of the fiscal state of our future first citizen. For a man who will live in an estate of 330 acres with 349 rooms so commandingly situated that the occupant has an unhindered view for miles; the view spoiled occasionally only by the North and the South blocks. Additionally, a host of free facilities with some 3,000 people employed to run the estate, and a 50,000 rupees tax-free salary do not exactly qualify one for poverty. I thought the son needed to correct his perception.

“How do you call respected Mr APJ Abdul Kalam poor?” I queried after he had hung up. “Oh Pa, you are coot”, the daughter interjected. I have undoubtedly brought up the children in a free-speech atmosphere, but within limits of decency. I could feel my pulse quickening with anger. Sensing my mood the wife took on the admonishing. “This is no way to talk to your father”.

“Oh mom, you are snob”, the daughter continued undaunted.

My pulse was almost racing. The daughter was getting out of hand. Having insulted both parents she was now laughing. “You must apologise to your mother at once, I commanded.

“Relax pa,” the son said, with a visible smirk, “snob means ‘simply no better’”.

My pulse rate began to steady somewhat. “That does not help, because it makes both of us coots,” I persisted. “Yah” the son said nonchalantly, “by coot is meant ‘completely out of time’”. I hoped my discomfiture was not too obvious.

But that still left unsolved the mystery of why AK will be poor after being elevated to the highest office. The son realised my dilemma and explained that “poor” was an acronym for “President of our Republic”.

My pulse turned erratic and did not know where to settle. My lips had gone dry. Out of the many emotions crowding my mind, feeling foolish took the lead. I did not know what to say.

“Get him a BMW”, the wife said, looking at me. This time all the three of them were laughing, while I was feeling left out. “I mean a bottle of mineral water”, she said triumphantly. I needed it.

REALPOLITIK

Power struggle in divided parivar
P. Raman

REALPOLITIK’ had a tough time this week finding out the who’s who and what’s what of the ongoing mudslingings among the ruling BJP and its RSS parivar. It talked to every possible knowledgeable person in the establishment and its innumerable outfits — from the VHP sadhus to the hardboiled BJP politicians. The outcome has been stunningly revealing. No one, even those within the inner circles of the power wheel, could say for certain which outfit, which leader stands where in this veritable struggle for domination.

No one would either hazard a reply as to when this open accusations will end and on what terms. What we have been witnessing is something worse than the old Janata parivar. There are so many Raj Narains. Once a disciplined party, which was known for its smooth dispute resolution and organisational cohesion, its leaders now behave like a bunch of jokers gunning for power and publicity. The Prime Minister gets worst abuses. Giriraj Kishore publicly says the present rulers are power hungry and hence are devoid of values. Off the record, he said much worse.

VHP General Secretary Pravin Togadia repeatedly says the Vajpayee government is ‘incompetent’, especially in dealing with what he calls ‘civil war’. “India needs leaders like George Bush, Ariel Sharon and Shivaji,” he tells the media. Ashok Singhal had launched a personal attack on Vajpayee, who he said, had lost the people’s trust. The man who had once hounded out Govindacharya for a lesser offence, helplessly watches all the broadsides. Venkaiah Naidu did make a feeble defence but who cares for him when RSS boss Sudarshan himself leads the open attack on Vajpayee’s economic policies?

Vajpayee and the RSS had a love-hate relationship right from the day he became Prime Minister. Initially, Vajpayee has been the ultimate winner in every confrontation. He had used every tool to subjugate the parivar hawks. At least on two occasions, he had threatened to quit as Prime Minister. Now if he suffers the worst kind of humiliation at the hands of the parivar rivals, it has been due to the changed power equation within the BJP. Things have reached such a stage that even resignation threats have lost their effect.

This is because Vajpayee is no more what he was three years back. The NDA is no more a vibrant entity on which the BJP had to rely more heavily. Most of the allies have been badly bruised in election battles. The rest do not want to upset the applecart as it would mean their own peril. Vajpayee’s utility as a liberal to tame the NDA allies and as the parivar’s soft face in the polity, have been lost. Thus if he is not so indispensable now, it has been due to the partial demise of the NDA and the disrobing of his own able-liberal image.

To his horror, his worst fears about the office of Deputy Prime Minister turning into a parallel power centre has come true. Control of the entire party has gone over to Advani. Few party functionaries flock to the PM house seeking favours. By way of Home portfolio, Advani also virtually controls half of the government. The External Affairs and Economic Ministries are still in the Prime Minister’s domain. During the last Cabinet expansion, his domineering colleagues did not conceal their intrusion into the zealously guarded prime ministerial prerogatives.

Apart from assuming more powers, Advani has also been positioning himself to take the reins of the 2004 election. He has his own style and political programme for the next round. He tries to prove his administrative abilities, innate leadership quality and capacity to take quick decisions in his no-nonsense style. This is as sharp contrast to Vajpayee. Advani sends clear signals that he is the only hope for the BJP if it has to lift the government from the stagnation and go to the polls on a fresh agenda.

He has a different kind of alliance with really useful bosses like Mayawati and Jayalalithaa. His direct dealing with Mayawati without taking the parivar or Vajpayee into his confidence and sending feelers through non-NDA friends to Jayalalithaa are part of this initiative. He is increasingly sidelining the Prime Minister in all such parallel political moves. The sidelining of Vajpayee is apparent. Possibly to heighten his discomfiture, opposition Chief Ministers and others have been seeking direct redressal from him even on Home-related issues. But he could do little.

On two occasions during the troubled fortnight he ventured to assert himself. The first was his direct flight to Gandhinagar without informing Advani. In the second case, he asserted his powers with much gusto to reject the demand for freezing disinvestment. He knew this was an issue on which he would get the full support of the corporates and ‘international community’.

George Fernandes, probably, is an incidental victim. If he had ‘ganged up’ with others on the PSU sellout, it has been a Freudian eruption of the ire on his own marginalisation. Along with Vajpayee, Fernandes also suffered a substantial devaluation. When the NDA was a force, Vajpayee had mainly relied on him for every major political operation. Advani, on the other, puts in house operators for the job. In Parliament Pramod Mahajan does the vote mobilisation.

Murli Manohar Joshi is another shadowy figure in this power struggle. The big two have reasons to assume that he is instigating the parivar outfits against the dominant government leadership. The more he desperately tries to place himself in the third position — by allegedly squeezing into the airport line to see off Vajpayee — the more others ignore his role. He was not invited for Vajpayee’s controversial Kalam lunch while Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha were present. He is also being kept off most crucial Cabinet panels.

This apart, every RSS outfit is furiously up in arms against the BJP and its government. The tussles within the BJP and with the parivar have also percolated right into the RSS establishment. This week, its mouthpiece Panchajanya came out with scathing attacks on the ‘power hungry’ BJP politicians whom it charged with ‘not listening to criticism’. However, the RSS promptly disowned the editorial of its own official newspaper. Even Bangaru Lakshman has come out with an attack on the government for ignoring the Dalits. Thus one is totally at a loss to find out who is fighting whom in the RSS parivar and its government.

Despite all this intensified struggles for domination, there is little possibility of any of the players taking it to the brink. This is due to the peculiar kind of balance of power and complex relationship prevailing in the parivar. Like Vajpayee, the Advani camp too cannot press the case too far. An unhappy Vajpayee can damage Advani’s future plans. The RSS outfits like the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, the BMS and the Swadeshis is know too well that official patronage is the key to success — even to get precious plots in Delhi and petrol pumps everywhere.

The RSS side has a point. Much of the troubles could be resolved if the government side followed the coalitional principle of prior consultations with the kins and allies. This will reduce conflicts and showdowns. It is the absence of this that turns it a disjointed government.

Children at risk from stressed parents

IT was thought of as the plague of the workaholic and the high achiever — but new evidence shows that grown-up stress is also wreaking havoc on children.

After a hard day at work, followed by a sleepless night with a screaming baby, most parents of young children can expect to feel under pressure. But new research has shown that parents’ stress levels have a far greater effect on children than previously thought, affecting even babies and toddlers.

A four-year study at Harvard Medical School has reported that children of parents who rated their stress levels as high when their children were 12 months old were likely to show behavioural problems by the age of four.

Karen Visconti, the lead author of the research, said: ‘Parental stress over the first three years of children’s lives was the best predictor of child behaviour problems at four.’ Her team also observed a direct link between the emotional and mental stress of parents and the breakdown of the traditional extended family support network.

‘Families with less social support reported more stress at both one and four years. It means that early detection of distressed families will help in both alleviating stress and reducing child behaviour problems,’ she said.

Karen Sullivan, who interviewed British children for her book Kids Under Pressure, said the damage caused to children by stress was immeasurable. ‘With the effects of stress in adults only just beginning to be fully understood, we have created a potential timebomb.’

The programme followed the development of 200 children. The results showed there was no difference between the behaviourial and emotional problems in sick and well children, but a vast difference between those with and without stressed parents. The Guardian

TRENDS & POINTERS

What older women want

MANY older women still want to have sex, but they might find their men cannot oblige.

So says a global survey of 27,780 adults aged 40 to 80 from 30 countries that found aging women become sexually dysfunctional at about half the rate of men.

“To the extent that women are (sexually active), they may be facing men who have problems,” said lead researcher Edward Laumann, a University of Chicago sociologist.

The survey found that 31 per cent of middle-aged and older women lacked interest in sex, 22 per cent were unable to achieve orgasm, 21 per cent did not find sex pleasurable, 20 per cent had trouble lubricating, and 14 per cent experienced pain with sex.

Among men, about 20 per cent suffered from erectile dysfunction, which increased to nearly half by age 80, according to the survey, which was funded by Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra.

Among the health problems common to older people associated with sexual dysfunction were diabetes and hypertension, especially in men. But psychological factors, especially depression, diminished interest in sex after 40. Reuters

What keeps Kiran Bedi healthy

Ms Kiran Bedi, the supercop, follows a strict health regimen that keeps her going. “For me, health is religion. It is the most important thing because health is wealth,’’ she told UNI.

“I exercise for one-and-a-half hours every morning that keeps me fresh throughout the day. These are a combination of mind and body exercises and include yoga, meditation and walk,’’ said the 50 something IPS officer after inaugurating a health food shop in Noida.

The Magsaysay awardee said she takes “meditative walks’’ in the Talkatora stadium, focusing on fresh air, greenery and peace.

“The mind also needs oxygen, which is aplenty in the morning and the yogic exercises add to it,’’ she said.

As for the diet, she said: “I am a ‘milkeaterian’. I am very fond of milk and it forms a major part of my diet. Second comes oil-free food. She prefers meals without fat and when it is unavoidable, “I make up by exercising more.’’

Sweets also do not have a place in her life. “I do not believe in the concept of sugar-free because I take sugar in tea and coffee. But I definitely do not go in for sweets, chocolates and the like,’’ she added.

She believes that each individual has own body metabolic system and the diet that suits one may not be suitable to the other. “There is no such thing as a fitness schedule applicable to all. We all have to work out our own routine,’’ Ms Bedi said. UNI

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

In this little frame of mine

have I beheld Him—,

Him that sleeps in it and is yet out of it:

Such is His glory

Infinite and Wondrous.

He is called the Purusha

for He pervades the body and the world

and yet the Vedas do not reach Him,

for He is the Absolute Transcendental;

Let not the Vedas sing His glory, they

conceal Him

in their revelation

In whatever form I saw Him

I saw Him full and perfect

I know not How to sing His glory

For none knows except Him

The secret deep of His Being.

At one place He is the Creator

at another He is the Destroyer;

at one place He is a Master,

at another an humble servant.

At one place He is the doer

at another, the non-doer Transcendental,

at still another He spreads Himself

beyond the horizons that ring the world.

The WORD without form

manifests Himself in forms

infinite and countless.

He who has sought shelter of the Guru

alone shall see Him—his Self

—the Self that ever remains full

and indivisible pervades the full

bestowing blessedness on all;

Thus says Mangat.

— An inspired verse of Mahatma Mangat Ram ji Maharaj (1903-54)

***

—Manusmiriti, 4,178