Writing Heals

Hey everyone, I was quite busy couldn’t catch up with you guys. I had been to a small birthday party in my neighborhood and to my surprise I collide with Mrs. Sahithi Shankar. Oh my god, with the pregnancy glow and the little baby bump she looked beautiful than usual. You know once we hit, we hit hard and the conversation lasted for good 2 hours. What did I speak to a neighbor for so long is the question, right? It was about the parenting classes she’s attending. Then I asked to share me the knowledge because I don’t see myself attending any classes for parenting and young mothers around pleaded too. Then we got a nod from her with a radiating smile.

I asked her is it truly necessary to attend these classes dealing with constant weather changes, mood swings, pregnancy effects, etc., with a smile she held on saying ‘it’s all about COMMITMENT’ and this was the best things I heard today. Yes, first class in parenting is Commitment towards yourself to raise your child to an amazing adult. She continued saying that it is about creating a long-term vision, rereferring to our values, taking care of ourselves so we make time, have energy and patience to care our child, to try new approaches and to try adapting our vision with our children with their age and temperament.

Atharv’s Mumma asks – ‘Sahithi, how to understand children’s temperament?’ and our enlightening guru while adjusting her back to align the position of bump and her handsome husband laying a cushion behind her she continues. Children are very different from each other and so are their temperaments. Some kids are physically quiet others extremely active, most of them fall somewhere in between. And this child temperament affects us and our parenting. Overexcited me – ‘how?’

Two ways, one when you have a mental picture of how your child must act, you have an expectation. If your picture matches to your child’s temperament then you’re lucky and your parenting journey is a cake walk. If it doesn’t match, you need to revise your expectation and its still not difficult. Now, second case, when temperaments are simply more difficult to live with. Ananya’s mom – ‘what do you mean?’ Sahithi trying to pull in an example says ok, let’s say we don’t want to change our expectation and can’t gauge the child’s temperament. Like if you want a calm, soft spoken child in your idea but your child is active, loud, persistent and grumpy it is going to be a harder job as parent. Don’t you think so? We all nodded in sync imagining our kids (obviously the ones who had imagined their and who didn’t like me imagined ourselves or our siblings).

There are many circular things around us – bottle caps, bottom of a tin, bangle, soda can, etc. All these circles might have different radii or areas but all of them have same pi value. Now to estimate the quantity of the soda I gulped down the can, what do I do? Yes, math it is, but simple. I measure the diameter and height/depth of the can, then calculate the area of the can.

Area of the can = π x r2

r=radius of the can = diameter/2)

Now Pi(π) –

Pi(π) = circumference / diameter

Let’s first understand this, there is a fixed correlation with the diameter of the circle and length of the circle(circumference) and the area. But, whatever is the size of the circle Pi is always a specific value, numerically it would be approximated to 3.14 usually denoted by symbol π and is a constant.

How is this calculated?

As Pi(π) = circumference / diameter, it can be said that circumference = diameter x Pi(π) . In that case for a meter diameter circle, Pi(π) = circumference. With this in mind, my most revered Archimedes found the value by following a method, in a one meter diameter circle, two hexagons where made – one inscribed and other circumscribed. The respective circumferences are found out to be 3 and 2√3 (=3.46)

The same is calculated using nonagon and the values were 3.140 and 3.142, with dodecagon it was 3.105 and 3.325 on approximation. However even if umpteen-sided polygons are drawn, it does not actually become the circle itself. This is why the value of Pi(π) has infinite digits. This could be better understood by this video.

Now, another question is what's the use of knowing Pi(π)?

Knowing Pi(π) is a great advantage in various product manufacturing industries. For instance, while making tyres, coins, etc. it is important to know the area and volume to cut them out in circles so that raw materials can be calculated.

Currently, the calculation of Pi(π) is being used for testing the efficiency of computers. In 2002, a super computer in Tokyo University successfully approximated the value of Pi to 1 trillion 2411 million digits in 400 hours.

A never-ending point of debate (which later turns argument) on our dining table is not to gulp water immediately after meal. Let’s know what’s what on a simpler note.

Drinking water and eating food are associated with digestive system in our body. We all understand the process of digestion. Now to the point of discussion, drinking water immediately after meal, it dilutes digestive enzymes and gastric juices and retards the process of digestion, altering the natural time of digestion. It also rushes the food flow down to large intestine which creates hunger, faster than expected which could be a cause for overeating and bloating. It can also be a cause for acidity or heartburn by altering the secretions and their quantities. The major complaint is when glucose in undigested foods is converted into fat and gets stored in the body resulting in insulin spike, leading to diabetes and also obesity. This could be better supported by this video.

Also, water sipped along with meals suggest the aid in easier digestion as it makes food softer, easy to chew and swallow. It also keeps a check and makes us eat mindfully. It makes the excretion, an important part of digestion process smoother.

Majority of us practice sleep during nights and are awake during the day. Sometimes when we party late and wake up early on work, we observe mood disturbances. Why does this happen? How does our body do this?

An internal clock in the body is responsible for these changes. It regulates our sleep-wake cycle, a body pattern which resets every day when our body is exposed to the bright day light. This is called Circadian Rhythm. It is genetically regulated and is the cause of various convoluted and important body functions which include body temperature, metabolism, digestion, absorption and hunger. It also has considerable impact on timely hormonal secretions, body repair and maintenance, body healing, memory consolidation and emotional coping skills.

Your circadian rhythm decides if you’re a morning lark (Sleep from early evening to early morning) or a night owl (stay up late and sleep late). An irregular circadian rhythm can have negative impact and can cause several health issues including mood disorders like depressions, anxiety, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorders.

Disrupted circadian rhythm results in worsening the mood and negative health consequences. So, what is the solution? Though we can’t alter our rhythm, changes can be made. Research suggests to adapt morning larks’ pattern of sleep-wake cycle, i.e., getting good night’s sleep and exposure to bright day light in the morning, which in turn helps to synchronize the body’s internal clock.

Be it Instagram or YouTube, one incredibly common thing we find these days is ASMR audios and videos. There are documentaries made with heavy crowd fundings and films too (Tertiary Sound, Shut Eye). What is this ASMR? Why is it always on trend?

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is abbreviated as ASMR. Often confused to sexual arousal, ASMR is a non-sexual response associated with tingling sensation which starts from center of the brain and extends towards spine and limbs. Jennifer Allen explained this better by describing each term.

Autonomous – spontaneous, self-governed, controlled or uncontrolled

Sensory – all about sensation and senses

Meridian – highest point of development, signifying a peak or climax

Response – refers to an experience triggered by an internal or external source

Let me simplify, did you ever experience any stimulation while having a haircut, gentle shampooing by the stylist or when a masseur is massaging especially foot or flipping through a magazine or crinkling paper, licking sounds, nail tapping sounds, stirring a bowl with liquid food or any subtle movements? And the aftereffect of this experience is peace, relaxation and contentment, then that response is an ASMR. It is scientifically supported that, it reduces headache, calms mind, therapeutic for depression, anxiety and insomnia.

While I was gazing the sky from a bench in the park heard "akka" (sister), to my right was a tiny tot with her science book. Then came her mum complaining me that she flunked her science exam. The girl immediately said "I don't understand science". The furious science enthusiast in me took up the role of her teacher for the day. The topic was - SUSTAINABILITY.

Mind talk - 'How can I? Probably it will take a day or two for her to learn the spelling it self'. But I will and here I go.

Me - Sustainability is all about changes or adjustments we make to help look after our mother Earth.

She - What changes?

Me – How did you come to the park?

She – Mumma bought me on her bike.

Me – How does a bike run?

She – Petrol.

Me – Where does the petrol come from?

She – From the fuel station.

Me – Ha-ha… how do fuel stations have it?

Puzzled her...

Me – We extract petrol from the crude oils found under the ground called fossil fuels. Once you burn them, they won’t come back. If we use them uncontrollably then by the time you grow up, the entire petrol is finished. Then what will you do?

She – What will I do? (Sad and shocked)

Me – You should start saving from now. You should walk or cycle instead of bike. Likewise, there are few other changes we can make to support our planet Earth like- Rain water harvesting, recycling, repurposing, composting, planting trees, saving energy, using solar power, reduce plastic usage, use more public transportation, save water, maintain ecosystem balance, etc.

She – Now I understand susaiability!

Me – Its SUSTAINABILITY.

She – Yes. S-U-S-T-A-IN-ABI-LI-T-Y.

Me – Yes. Very good!!

Mr. and Mrs. Sahithi Shankar are young, just married couple, our new neighbors in the community. Within no time, we became good friends. Today, she saw me around and a conversation brewed.

She told me about the parenting class she will be joining. Parenting class, sounded very bizarre. My immediate question was WHY? because I always thought parenting is natural and organic and everything with eventually fall in place as the children grow up. I assumed that it was probably her stress about being parents for first time.

To my surprise, she unfolded every detail she analysed during the orientation program. She stated - how parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds become confident, decisive parents which reflects and aids in raising confident, secure children. How some unintended right actions can accidentally lead to dangerous counterproductive character. How parents engagement and understanding can affect children and make them confident.