|
|
|
|
United in their love for yoga
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Unani medicine on last legs
Now, masks to ward
“Naach” has Doonites on toes
|
|
United in their love for yoga
Rishikesh, March 5 It was the first time that yoga drew the attention of the international media. Since then, yoga has traversed slowly but steadily engulfing the entire world with emphasis on health and positivism. This ancient art has benefitted people across continents. The popularity and impact of yoga among foreigners can be seen at the ongoing International Yoga Festival being held on the holy banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh. Held under the aegis of the Uttarakhand Tourism Department in collaboration with Parmarth Niketan, Pantanjali Yogpeetha and Shanti Kunj, the festival in Rishikesh has attracted yoga fans from foreign shores. The festival will be held till March 7. For the festival, day passes are available for $ 43 per day, including meals and activities, while residential options are also available for the participants. In this edition, the eighth one, yoga experts and aspirants from 34 countries numbering more than 400, are undergoing yoga sessions. With recession gripping Europe and the US and fear among foreigners after the Mumbai terror attacks in November last, the number of foreign participants has dropped. Whereas last time the number was nearly 500, this time it’s 400 but the enthusiasm and dedication of the participants make up for this loss. Tourism director AK Dwivedi said: “The International Yoga Week is gaining credence in international calendars.” “Yoga began in India and from here it spread across the world” said Parmarth Niketan’s Swami Chidanand where the festival is being organised. During Yoga Week the sessions begin at 4 am and culminate late in the evening with a cultural programme. The core message is that one must strike the right balance and exercise discipline in life. From kriya yog, pranayam, suksham, deep, reiki, vinyasan to vyayayam yog are being taught at the festival. Also, cultural programmes are being organised to give it a multi-cultural look and showcase the rich cultural heritage of India. The credit for popularising yoga is majorly given to Swami Ramdev, popularly called Yog Guru, who reinvented the art and combined it with health benefits. Baba Ramdev linked yoga with medical science, curing various ills and diseases affecting humanity and now is a world-renowned figure every now and then visiting foreign countries and propagating yoga. The sessions are as varied as the art of yoga. While on the one hand Yogacharya Guru Mukh Khalsa uses music to simplify yoga postures, Bhavn Ram and Sundri Ram use the sound of “Om Namah Shivay” telling learners about spirituality and the depth of music with Raya Uma Dutta advising on ayengar yoga. With the popularity of yoga surging, yoga enthusiasts from Bali in Indonesia are here to participate in the yoga festival under the aegis of Bali India Foundation. At this fest, yoga experts from 24 countries are participating in which Yogacharya Lakshmi Narayan Joshi and Arpita Negi are scheduled to deliver lectures on the medical benefits of yoga. Municipal committee chairman Rishikesh Deep Sharma says the Yoga International Week will help Rishikesh emerge as the international yoga hub in the near future. Foreigners are elated too. They say the weeklong festival not only provides an opportunity for learning yoga better, but also a platform to share views with participants from different countries. Lounir, who teaches yoga in Brazil’s Capital Rio-de-Janeiro, avers: “ Brazil has many professional yoga trainers and avid learners of the art.” She is accompanied by a group of six citizens, all women, who are only too happy to be fine-tuning their yoga skills in Rishikesh. Raisina is the youngest among them.
|
|
Unani medicine on last legs
Dehradun, March 5 The state government has turned a blind eye to Unani medicine and its practitioners though it continues to remain popular among the masses. The step-motherly treatment being meted out to the Unani system can be gauged from the fact that in the state, there are 250 ayurvedic doctors and five Unani ones. “In the past three years, several allopathic and ayurvedic doctors have been appointed on contractual basis. Their honorarium has also been increased from Rs 14,000 to Rs 34,000 per month. The state government had appointed 100 ayurvedic doctors but no Unani doctors were appointed though they are also governed by the same body -the Ayurvedic and Unani Directorate,” said Ishrat Hussain, physician and surgeon (Unani). Though a full-fledged Directorate of Ayurveda and Unani Services exists in the state, there are only five Unani hospitals - Rajkiya Unani Chikatsalya, Piran Kaliyar, Rajkiya Unani, Kaliyar Sharif, Rajkiya Unani, Sultanpur Kunhari, Rajkiya Yunani Chikitsalya, Luxar ward, and Rajkiya Yunani Chikitsalya, Jaspur. Among these, only Rajkiya Unani Chikatsalya at Jaspur has a Unani medical officer.
As per the data provided by the directorate, there are a total of 538 ayurvedic dispensaries and five Unani dispensaries in the state. Plus, as many as 23 Ayush wings have been set up at 23 community health centres and 116 at primary health centres. Besides, 26 Ayush wings have also been established in the state at each male and female district hospital. “The government has been engaged in a flurry of activity ranging from appointment of ayurvedic doctors to creating more posts for them but so far, no effort has been made to appoint Unani doctors,” Dr Sabra Khatoon. “At the Government Doon Hospital, the government has appointed homoeopathic, ayurvedic and allopathic doctors under the Ayush plan but no Unani doctor has been appointed,” she added. In order to revitalise the traditional systems of medicine, a Central Government programme is under way under the National Rural Health Mission. There has been a major thrust on establishing ayurvedic dispensaries/wings both by the Central and the state governments. But no steps have been taken to set up Unani dispensaries in the Muslim-dominated areas. Concerned Unani practitioners and citizens had even taken up the matter with the president, National Minorities Commission, Mohammed Shafi
Qureshi. “We are afraid that soon there will not be many Unani doctors left in the state. To kindle interest among the younger generation, a Unani Medical College needs to be set up,” said Ishrat
Hussian.
|
|
Now, masks to ward off man-eaters
Dehradun, March 5 Faced with the man-eater onslaught, villagers in the Sunderban region of West Bengal had started putting brightly coloured masks to scare man-eater tigers.
The experiment with masks started in 1986-87 and proved to be a resounding success in the Sunderbans delta area of West Bengal. Taking a cue from the successful experiment, Uttarakhand Forest Authorities too have, for the first time, decided to provide masks in the villages affected by the menace of man-eater leopards. The incidents of man-animal conflict have been on the rise in Garhwal and Kumaon hills. Masks have been distributed in Pungarghati area in Bageshwar district and Chukhutia region in the Almora district. As many as 1,000 masks have been purchased as part of the first lot and the purchase of many more masks is in the pipeline. “The distribution has already begun and we are very hopeful of its success,” said Manoj Chandran, Divisional Forest Officer in Almora which had witnessed a spate of child deaths in leopard attacks recently. The process of acquiring human masks has been difficult. It is easier to get a mask “We have somehow managed to get human masks from Delhi,” said Manoj Chandran. After much search, plastic human masks were available only in the China Market. AK Updhayaya, DFO, Bageshwar, said that initially, one mask per family is being distributed. The number per family could be increased in case of availability. Dr SP Goyal, scientist at Wildlife Institute, Dehradun, said it has to been seen how far these masks will be able to check leopard attack on humans. “The success of these masks depends on visibility. In case of the Sunderbans, visibility is better and so the masks proved successful there. “The success of these masks in the poor visibility of the thickly wooded forests in the hills needs to be checked,” Dr Goyal added. Senior IFS officer Vinod Rishi, who had worked in the Sunderbans when mask distribution was undertaken as part of the one-year programme in 1986-87, said while the masks proved to be 100 per cent successful in case of Sunderban man-eaters, it would be dicey in Uttarakhand. “Even after we had stopped the distribution of masks in the Sunderbans, villagers continued to purchase it on their own revealing their faith on masks as a credible means to ward off tiger attacks,” Rishi said. However, apprehensions continue over the success of masks on man-eater leopards in the case of Uttarakhand. In Sunderbans, humans were only attacked when they ventured inside the forest. In Uttarakhand, leopards have been attacking human settlements and making children and women their targets even at their homes. “The success of masks is doubtful in case of a habitual man-eater,” argues Rishi as a leopard in the habit of attacking humans from early adulthood cannot be stopped from attacking humans by the means of masks. The correct usage of masks is also a matter of importance. In case of the Sunderbans, it was seen that many villagers did not put these masks behind their heads in a proper manner. They utilised them as caps thus making themselves vulnerable to tiger attack and the masks got defamed instead. Nearly 200 persons, mostly children and women, have lost their lives while 400
|
|
“Naach” has Doonites on toes
Dehradun, March 5 But there are not many options for those who want to learn western dance forms. Dev Pathik, a trained dancer from Ganesh Hegre troop, a famous choreographer, has made salsa, hip-hop, tango and tap dance accessible to Doonites. “When I came here in 2007, I fell in love with the serenity of the place and I decided to made this place my home,” said Dev Pathik, dancer. He started his dance classes from a small room, and then he shifted to a bigger place and opened a new dance academy called ‘Naach’. With folk and semi-classical dance forms, he’s also teaching salsa, tango, tap dance and hip hop. The younger generation finds dancing a best way to relax as well as a way to achieve their dreams in the field of dancing. “I love dancing, and therefore, a I joined western dance classes here,” said Rekha, a housewife. With the coming up of various dance shows on television, the younger generation gets motivated to make a name in the field. With the increased interest and the trend, more of such dance academies would definitely come up and turn their dreams into reality. “As I am working I could not get time to workout but since I have joined dancing I have lost weight,” said Shrishti, a teacher. Salsa being the most popular amongst the lot is basically a distillation of many Latin and Caribbean dances in which a partner is essential. “This is duet dance, and mostly couples come, but incase someone is single then we provide them partners,” said Dev Pathik. “I watched salsa shows on television and got inspired to join these classes and Hip hop is another hot favourite, and one of the most difficult as for it the body needs to very flexible. He has made a record in Limca Book of Records for 19 hours of continuous dance
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
