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Metamorphosis

Appa passed away in the early morning hours of December 3, 2014, one month short of his 72 nd birthday.   Well, he was 67 yrs old on the fateful night of brain hemorrhage, so I guess we lost the father we knew back then.   I have been unable to bring myself to write anything about him since that past 3 ½ years.   Each time I think of a blog post, my eyes would tear up, chest turn heavy and breathing would be constricted, sure signs of no blog post. This time I am ready to write about the night he left his physical body. On the night of December 2 nd , as per the routine I was awake until Appa was deep asleep. I called my sister around 11ish to update on him. He was constantly battling infection and was running temperature for the past few months.   Appa’s neurosurgeon messaged me back asking to continue his medication and then I called it a night around 12:30am.   My internal clock woke me up around 4:00am to check on him.   When I opened my eyes, I
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Silent Conversation

Winter 2012 to Summer 2013 were our acupuncture days.   On most days our timing would match with this couple -  the husband was diagnosed with some neuro degenerative disease (not Parkinsons)  that severely reduced his speech and mobility.    They were in their late forties.  He (hence forth referred to as ‘Uncle’!)was a businessman with his sharp acumen still intact.  He apparently guided their son in taking decisions in business by mere head nods.  She was a fulltime caregiver doing her best in supporting her husband.   We swapped stories and challenges when time permitted in between the treatment.    One day we finished treatment and were waiting for the elevator at the same time.  That was probably the first time Appa and the uncle were seeing each other.  They both raised their hands to greet one another.   Appa indicated the arrival of the elevator and uncle motioned his hand signifying we take it first since it would not hold two wheelchairs.   They then waved goodbye

Temple visits in Kerala

The only outings our father had for the first few years were for treatments.   There will always be one as the flovor of the season – acutouch, acupuncture, varma or some such.   Temple visits happened only couple of times.  Our presumption was that the treatments would enable him to walk into a temple.  That plan was clearly not working. After similar misfired treatment plans in Kerala , there was little left to do than take him to the temples around Ernakulam, and take him we did, with unbridled gusto. To those unfamiliar with the Kerala temples,  almost all of them are stunning  be it in their simplicity or grandeur.   One of our visit was to a local Krishna temple.   We were at our unprepared best.   The driver, nurse and our father squeezed themselves into the car packed with my brother-in-law dental stuff, which left no room even for the wheelchair, forcing my sister and myself to carry it on the scooter.    She was riding pillion and found it difficult to

Cranio - sacral Therapy and Dr. Manik Hiranandani

Few years ago at our   Acutouch   treatment we made the acquaintance of a wonderful mother-son duo.   Rudra, the boy was all cuteness and Kavita, his mother was friendly and resourceful.   Places like these are great treasure troves for information on different treatments and doctors. Kavita highly recommended Dr. Manik Hiranandani who runs an alternative treatment clinic, which is called just that - "The Clinic", at Malakkara in Kerala.  He uses a combination of treatments, but the main focus seems to be   Cranio-Sacral   therapy. After our misadventure with the  Varma treatment  during our Kerala stay, Dr. Hiranandani seemed worth pursuing.  Given his hectic schedule and our inability to take our father to his clinic just for a consult, we scheduled a meeting at a rather unconventional place -  the meeting was outside a bakery on the highway that was taking the Doctor from Ernakulam airport to Malakkara. The Doctor after examining our father said that he cou

The Promise of Varma Treatment in Kerala

We spent the second half of the year 2013 in Ernakulam, Kerala.   My sister lives there with her family and was sorely missing us.  To placate her we decided to visit for a month, but ending up staying for six. Apart from the famed Ayurvedic treatment in Kerala, its also offers other promising alternatives.  Her friends suggested a Varma treatment / massage that cures the incurable.  This is an ancient Siddha treatment with its origins from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.  Although we have had some experience of Varma in Chennai, but for some reason the one in Kerala had an authentic ring to it.   The Master, as the practitioner is addressed, graciously made an exception and visited our father at home.   Between my sister, who can understand malayalam better than speak it, myself with no Malayalam knowledge, the Master with no English and his assistant with some English, we surprisingly communicated with ease and conveyed our father's situation.  His assessment w

Yoga Therapy

My good friend Chitra introduced me to Saraswati Vasudevan , a Yoga Teacher and Therapist.  Saraswati comes with years of experience, she is patient, a non judgmental listener and a wonderful teacher.    Last summer I had monthly sessions at her place and would practice on my own on the other days.  This is the Surya Namasakaram that she taught me.   Last year Saraswati also took a session for the caregivers at our monthly meeting.  The turnout was good, reviews positive. Yoga studio 136.1 was kind enough to offer their space at Alwarpet for no cost.  The following video is a set of relaxation asanas they taught during the session.  One of her students is demonstrating with Saraswati guiding her.  If I do not practice Yoga for few months, I turn irritable, snappy, basically a threat to myself and those around me.  With no Yoga for past 6 months looks like I am surely heading there. 

Sri Narasipura Subbaiah Narayana Murthy

Somewhere in 2011 my good friend Rohan sent me a link to a documentary on Ayurveda .  It showcases different practitioners of Ayurveda, its  ninth part  caught my attention.  One, a patient in the film suffered from brain hemorrhage and two, the doctor (he is an indigenous healer / vaidhiyar, not a certified doctor) lived in Southern India which would make the travel not too adventurous.  I guessed the adventure part incorrectly. Sri Narasipura Subbaiah Narayana Murthy (the Doctor) lives ofcourse in Narasipura, which falls under the Shimoga district in Karnataka.  My research prior the travel showed that all one needs to do is to get to Narasipura or Shimoga and locals know the doctor's place. Our male cousin in Bangalore who is specially fond of my father agreed to accompany me.  We left to Shimoga on a Saturday since the doctor consults only on Sundays and Thursdays. Consultation begins at 7:00am, its on first come first serve basis.  I thought 5:00am would make us sufficien