A simple man….
A friend is trying to be as environment friendly as possible…or as less damaging to the planet earth. Actually he says – it is just like going back about 60-70 years and lead a middle class life style.
Let us see some of the things he does:
- drinks water from an earthen pot
- takes bath in cold water
- sleeps on the floor with just one ‘chatai’
- uses public transport or walks
- 50% of his food is raw/ fresh
- he is a vegetarian – no onion, no garlic,
- not yet a vegan (has curds)
- no tea, no coffee, no processed foods
- no polished rice – only wild or red rice
- wheat – made at home
- no soap, no shampoo – only oil and shikakai (!)
- no toothpaste
- NO CHEMICAL INPUTS AT ALL
- only ayurvedic doctor for consulting
Cannot remember more – but he says he is seeing a dramatic improvement in health. He has cut down on television (2 hrs a week), talking on telephone (not monitored), and even a lot of unnecessary talking…
a 100 years ago we may have called such a person normal…but in a day and age when people are judged by what they show off, this guy moves around like a saint!
cannot think of more
aditya
Subra: Are all elements of such lifestyle easy on pocket?
My inexperience says otherwise.. Can you please explain
Aditya Karnik
We need many more saints like this. People are more concerned with their reputation than character. They easily forget that your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
Thanks Subra.
parag
Hi Subra,
Can you give me his contact details ? Where is he live? In village or Urban Area?
Jsan
Really amazing to hear. I am also doing some bit out of these activities like use daaton instead of Paste (once or twice a week), Shikakai for hair. My Grandma is of 75 and she still uses Shikakai and her hair are still 50% black.
subra
sorry when I said ‘wheat: Made at home’ I meant GROUND at home…no packaged atta (he believes packaged atta is created at high temperatures, hence has more qualities of Maida than wheat, I have no take on this, I do not know if he is right)
yes Aditya all are easy on the pocket – but the family has to change, just for one person to change is almost impossible. His wife and daughter like all this, so life becomes easier. In a couple of years his daughter will be married. He says he will stop attending public functions after that – no weddings, …only religious functions.
is he doing all this to save money also? well not sure, but his net-worth apart from 2-3 houses and one office should be north of Rs. 25 crores. So I frankly think it is an attitude change, not an attempt to save money.
BombayBoy
Ok, I’m interested. I’ve never used Shikakai for hair-washing. I’m assuming people here are not talking abt the soap, but the real ingredient.
Can someone give me a how-to primer on using it for washing hair?
And is there a cost-benefit analysis of it vs using soap – I mean pure finance wise how much more/less it’s going to cost my pocket. (I’m already aware of natural impact like soaps use chemicals and need energy in factories to manufacture etc).
Second pt I want to make regarding these lifestyle changes is that, never attempt wholesale changes to yr lifestyle by trying to follow someone else’s template ditto. They are doing what suits them best.
Instead read and get inspired from everyone, but slowly-steadily make changes to only those parts of yr life which you can sustain for good. Usually in a gush of enthu, we tend to copy every aspect from someone, face many hardships for a few days, fail to live up to it, and eventually fall back on our old bad ways.
Slowly introduce one change at a time, until it starts to feel natural and there is no friction by opting for this alternative method, then move onto the next.
I’ve been in the former camp (in various fields) and failed but my early-30s I’ve been q. successful by foll. this simple method.
Thanks.
Sanjay
A good initiative. Still I wonder about few things.
How come watching TV is against environment? Truth to be told, not watching TV is good for person’s well being, but not a concern for environment. He gets a lot of free time to think about important things in life.
What about daily newspaper? Daily newspaper is made of wood and hence against environment.
He does not access TV. okay. What about internet? I know that just like TV – internet also doesnt have any impact on environment.
bharat shah
one particular group(in Jainism terminology, Sanghado} of Jain sadhus are practicing and asking to follow similar environment friendly life style. i happened fortunate to perform Jain tapasya called UPADHAN TAP of @45 days under them.There all grinding of wheat, chana ,etc. for all the meals for us @450 (of course , one time food in every two days!) and @1000 guests (3 times a day including breakfast) was carried out by old style hand operated flour mills (called GHANTI) through paid women from the village. and all ghee for the sweets etc. was prepared by old style manual ghee preparation machine called VALONA from butter (makhan) prepared from cow milk of Deshi cows, collected from nearby villages.as such Jainism is one of most environment friendly religions.all jain sadhus are not bathing whole life, not using any lighting during night, not using any vehicle, not wearing foot wears , not using guttered latrines etc. however all of us my not like.
bharat shah
@sanjay
it is not that i am not using tv and computer (read internet), but is it not that environmental problem how and where to destroy electronics waste of discarded tvs and computers as plastics? here i am not arguing their utilities and usefulness, please.
IsItPossible
Interesting… I read somewhere that if a person talks ONLY TRUTH & also “thinks” truth then after 12 years (also know as tapascharya) whatever words comes out of his mouth becomes true… now imagine to this we will probably have to talk less and think less abt materialistic life as well…
Back to main topic, if everyone one of us makes small effort to go green it will make a BIG difference…
arjun
The ayurvedic doctor might be the weakest link in this ‘ healthy ‘ lifestyle ! It’s not that I advocate the use of allopathic drugs for everything but a regular checkup at a hospital is a must for an aging person.Ayurvedic medicines are also misleadingly believed to be ‘natural’ when some of them can contain heavy metals which are toxic to the kidneys.
Manu
Hi Subra..
I come in contact with Rajiv Dixit ji around 2 years back and I heard his lectures on ayurveda. http://www.esnips.com/web/2-Rajiv-Dixit-lectures-on-Ayurved. We have started practising some of his recommendations and in these 2 years we have reduce our medical bill to zero rs per year. I know we are lucky to get daily fresh mlk of cow. fresh atta from chakki. But its not that hard if you determined to bring change in your life. i recommend that every one must listen thee lectures completely. Whether they want to believe or not, want to follow or not that’s a secondary thing.
subra
actually Manu this friend of mine has almost a zero medical bill. My personal medical expenses in the past 30 years is what I spent on the dentist.
but yes we do get fresh milk, but not sure how fresh…by the way Sidha Samadhi Yoga by Sri Rishi Prabhakar, etc. also talk of similar things..
anon
Bombayboy — as a broke youngster I used shikakai and amla and my hair was nice and lustrous– now– don’t ask, the shampoo buildup is showing, plus my age.
Soak these overnight in an iron kadhai, then build up a lather with the blackish liquid. Keep eyes closed tight.
subrabhai– minimising tv but cannot let go of my n’paper habit, surely saving trees would be eco friendly?
I guess because of his solid vitamin M, he can act this way socially and get away with it.
One gets too many jibes for being kanjoos. 🙂
pravin
‘saving’ the environment? some arrogance people have.
99% of the species on earth vanished even before human beings appeared on the scene. the idea that humans matter in the grand timesclae of the earth is laughable.
such people who have ‘nostalgie de la boue’ deserve no intellectual attention.
pravin
can someone explain how the earth is ‘harmed’ by plastics? of course if we throw plastic into our streets and gutters,we can sure that there will be urban decay and floods.but that is being caused by disrespect of property rights by human beings and not plastics.
plastic is made out of stuff that comes from the earth and when it is correctly disposed,it causes no harm to other human beings.the earth doesnt give a **** about plastic.
maybe,as the comedian george carlin said: the reason human beings exist on earth,could be perhaps because the earth wanted plastic for itself.and it wanted human beings do the dirty work of digging it up and processing it.
sudha
bombayboy – i did use shikakai powder for a long time. My mother used to get it from madras (5 kgs each visit) – shikakai + reetha (a little) dried in the sun and ground to a fine powder. Moong, amla, hibiscus flowers and leaves, methi seeds, rice, curry leaves (kadipatta), neem leaves, etc are also dried and ground along with the shikakai.
To use – soak a cup of the powder in warm water (enought o amke a paste) for 5-10 minutes. apply to wet hair, rub it in and rinse. may need to do this more than once if you have oiled your hair.
Problem is you can find all these ingredients, but no place to grind these.
subra
Bombayboy, Sudha: Shikakai is available in all Mumbai suburbs where there are many tamilians and malayalees. You need to look out for such a shop and buy it. Normally you apply Til oil on your head – for greater fun heat it with a piece of ginger and apply that oil all over your body including your head. Basking in the sun with the oil all over you is a luxury – and you can do it only if you have a balcony, alas!
then you apply the shikakai power (or if you take trouble the way sudha has described along with dried nimbu apart from the ingredients mentioned by her) and wash your hair and your whole body.
No chemical, and body remains clean.
Alternative is to get a body massage (Rs. 400 if he comes home!) and gives you a body massage with til oil (made warm with a little ginger)…then you bathe with shikakai…
Ramanand
I agree with pravin above that we human beings think too much of ourselves, both at an individual level and at a group level. Somehow, at the species level, we have come to believe that our superior intelligence (as compared to other animal species) somehow will ensure the survival of mankind for eternity. Nothing could be further than the truth.
If you evaluate the facts and logically assess them, humans have been around for a mere 1 million years since life began on earth roughly 4 billion (that’s 4000 million years ago). And considering that almost 99% of the species have become extinct in last 4000 million years (even less if you consider complex organisms lifetimes) humans have at most around 0.5 to 1 million years of survival before total extinction.