Jul Sep 2011
by Dr. Mira Shiva
In India today, we have a situation where one third of the babies born are low birth-weight babies. 46% of children under five years old are under-nourished. In this scenario, does the economic growth rate of 8 or 10% that the country is pursuing really matter? How do we understand the distributive injustices and the government’s public health policies that do not recognize the rights…
by Brian Goodwin
The Transition movement is one of those unexpected phenomena in human culture, capturing and mobilizing an energy that rarely emerges but is deeply significant for social, political and economic change. This radical movement is grounded in the stark realization that dramatic transformations are occurring in the Earth’s climate due to humanity’s use of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing…
by Ashwin Mohan
The human spirit goes beyond the violence and meaninglessness of a fight, when the way of fighting also becomes a beautiful expression and a search for self-realisation. Most people think that Martial Arts are only for wartime effort – but apart from helping its practitioners play a functional role in society, they help them stay fit, and can become a path of personal fulfilment.Martial arts…
by Pushpi Bagchi
As urban Indians, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to the variety of food available to us in our neighbourhood supermarkets – be it fresh, processed, or packaged. The growing tendency to consume convenience foods or hire full-time cooks in our urban households is estranging us from our food.Most of us do not consider the larger impact of our food choices, and urban…
by Mark Boyle
This is the big question I found myself pondering one evening three years ago. I'd just spent four years studying economics – a period during which I hadn't once heard the term 'ecology' – having signed up for the course with the intention of earning as much money as possible. That was until, in my final year, I read a book about Gandhi which convinced…
by Sinduja Krishnan
not even notice it. We give our own overlying air-ocean so little respect that we even describe anything that is full of air as being empty.”Gabrielle Walker, An Ocean of AirWhen thinking about the health of humans it is vital to think about the health of the elements around us which aid us in maintaining our energies. What for me began as a search into…
by Rajesh Thakkar
What we call dirt, mud, soil or even earth is a wonderful ecosystem of microbial and insect life that sustains all plant life and is a fundamental part of the larger natural ecosystem of the planet. It is a crucial participant in the various cycles of nature such as the water and carbon cycles, plants and dirt too have a symbiotic relationship where one cannot…
by Santhi Lakshmy
I was an undiscriminating foodie – fond of cooking as well as of eating out at every new restaurant that came up in town. Thinking of my body’s intelligence or understanding its nutritional needs never occurred to me – until I was stopped in my tracks by excruciating body pain and general weakness. Blood tests showed my triglycerides reading was 495, while my cholesterol reading…
by Sinduja Krishnan
Our extremely anthropocentric civilisation has alienated us from Nature in every way possible, including the way we look at our bodies, our food and health. But there have always been people, ashrams and various communitites who knew that an eco-centric way of life is essential to live sustainably on Earth – and their tribe is gradually increasing today. Several centres around the world offer opportunities…
by Rema Kumar
We have come full circle. We are again in touch with an essential truth that our ancestors knew without a shadow of doubt: the life-giving and healing power of food to nourish and sustain us and the fact that food can truly be our medicine.In his groundbreaking book, Dr. Barnard shares his scientifically proven programme for preventing, controlling and reversing diabetes with a simple set…