On shedding the uterus lining

This morning, I saw a Facebook post from a person whom I respect a lot. He said that he is taking a vow to not go to any religious place which does not allow women to enter, under any circumstances. The background story for this is there are Hindu temples in India which do not let menstruating women in the religious place as they are considered "impure" and "unclean". Growing up in India, I am not new to these ideas. My aunt told me to hurry up in taking my sanitary napkin out of my bag otherwise my (boy) cousin would come in and see it. There was a girl who asked me if it is ok to do the religious offering of Goddess Saraswati while menstruating. I told her that as Saraswati is a woman, she should understand what girls have to go through. When in school a girl would not feel fine during her periods, she would often lie and say she is having a headache or has an upset stomach instead of saying the truth. Personally, I consider an upset stomach to me much worse and a lot more gross than bleeding a little. Very recently, one of my coworkers wanted a sanitary napkin from me and when I handed it over to her, she shrieked and said I shouldn't have given it to her like that. It would be modest to hand it to her on the sly.

That is what I don't understand. What is the reason to be ashamed of a healthy, fully functioning female body? The fact that you are menstruating proves that you are capable of bringing another life to this world and that is very empowering.

Looking here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_taboo, I found that most religions consider women "unclean" when she is doing the healthy thing of shedding her uterus lining. I understand that most of these religious mandates were written long back when people didn't have a lot of idea about biology. But after thousands of years we still hold on to those with our blind faith and discriminate against women.

Coming back to the point of this guy on Facebook. His post was attacked by innumerable Indian men claiming that there are "scientific reasons" why women are not allowed inside temples. Some claimed that you should not make a religious place impure by your menstruation blood, some others defended the fact that everything Hinduism says (though Hinduism hardly ever documented any sayings, because it is a philosophy and not a religion) is based on science and to contradict that you must be disrespectful to your roots. I was shocked to see even women defending these. They are so much brainwashed that they would rather discriminate against themselves than use their minds. I wonder how men like these ill treat the women in their lives. When I commented and told these men to use logic, the defended themselves by calling me a "slave of the West" and wondering why my parents did not counsel me before I became so much Westernized. They equate talking about science as westernization. They said that one particular temple is of Shani Devata (deified idol of Saturn) and that god is not good for women. Some said that the god prefers acts of celibacy, so women should not enter. Some sane person asked how they know of the particular likes and dislikes of this god and if Shani Devata had ever descended on Earth to speak to these people. Some others asked if the god is not so sure that he would be able to maintain his celibate life after women enter the premises. These misogynists would not stop though. They confuse tradition with blind faith. Science has never said that women need to take a back seat, especially a healthy person. Also, if your faith stops you from questioning, then that itself would be a big red flag for me. There is no wonder why women are still being treated as second class citizens. Especially in a country like India, on one hand we deify women as goddesses and then at home abuse the wives and abort the female fetus. Centuries back people from the Bengal Renaissance tried to empower women through education and changes in society, but there are still so much to work on. Who would take that Herculean task up?

Working with the best team, ever!

I had this realization almost ten years back on a bus in Calcutta. I was going to college when a blind man got on the bus to ask for alms. It was bright early autumn day, the skies blue with cauliflower topped white clouds. That is the time I figured out that this man can't see how beautiful the sky is. A very cliched thought in my early twenties, but it made me grateful for my eyes. I agree my vision is not my strongest point but even my high myopic glasses would have been a boon to him who can't see.

The main thing in life that we take for granted is our own body. We know that it is the most important and priceless thing that could possibly be, yet we don't really care much about it. One reason being, we don't really know how things work there. And we never bother to figure out. I understand there is a reason for it to be abstracted in such a clever way, but it wouldn't do any harm to know our machinery better.

The human body is the greatest example of team work as well. It is overwhelming to think of how all the organs work together and if one is a little out of sync, how it affects the other ones. A self managing, self fixing team that needs barely any help from the outside. I realized about the importance of all the team members working together when my little finger on the right hand got severely cut after getting trapped in a part of our cooktop. I put a band aid around it and thought how much would a little finger bother me? But then I realized while trying to type the next day. It is difficult to eat with your fingers if one has a bandaid around it, it is difficult to get a proper grip on things. There is no reason to underestimate the little finger.

After my miscarriage, I was astonished to find that how little time it took the body to heal. It is like a very good self managing scrum team in software development picking up their team together after a failed release. Yes, it acknowledged that things didn't go right, but it wasted no time in cleaning that up and fixing it. Within a fortnight, the uterus again started its normal tasks.

When my retina detached and my right eye was patched up, I figured out that the left eye is doing more than its share and the right eye was feeling miserable. Mentally, I had a pep talk with my body. I told my right eye that it is ok to fail at times. I gave her some time to collect herself and rest and relax. On the other hand, I told my left eye that I understand and very much appreciate the extra work she is doing and I will take good care of both of them so that they can do their 50% share of work.

Long back when I was small and prone to scraping my knee, my mom used to tell me how under the crusty reddish brown skin, little tiny cells are busy patching up the scrape and within a few days new pink shiny skin will be ready under the crusty old skin.

Another part of our general health is our mind. We need to make sure that the mind stays healthy as well. There is a reason why we are supposed to pray for "mens sana in corpore sano". If you are unhappy, or cranky or irritated, even with the best of healths, you will not be able to attain much. There is no reason to be hard on yourself if you feel low. It is normal and it is ok. Nobody expects you to be happy all the time. It is difficult when for some people that indeed becomes the norm and if they are sad for some reason, everyone comes and asks them what the matter is. But even in that case, you can always respond with "I'm not really having the best day today." Most people will just say sorry and leave you be. Your close friends will be there for you if you want to talk. It works. And being honest works much better than putting up a fake happy face. 

These are all learned from my personal experiences. After a major life changing event, it is natural to feel sad just like after a major surgery no one expects you to be able to run a marathon. Body and mind both need rest and a positive environment to thrive in. The best thing to do would be to provide that and never, never take a healthy human body (and mind) for granted.

Mountaineers and the Spirit of the Himalayas

I am one of those blessed people who are easily inspired by Nature. I would consider this to be a very important thing because even though I am an extrovert, I feel completely at ease with myself among Nature. Sometimes I actually prefer solitude. That can be swinging on my hammock and lazily watching the bees or taking a few minutes to pause my life and look at the snowy peaks of the Himalayas.

I have always been in love with Himalayas. It was in 1994 that I first saw snow covered peaks on the way from Shimla to Manali. I still remember people on the bus standing up to see the tiny white ranges appeared in the distance. Now I see snow covered ranges everyday. The ranges towards North Bend are clearly visible from my office in Bellevue, but the have never lost their charm. As much as I love Mt. Rainier, the connection with Himalayas is something very different. You need to see Kangchenjungha in the rising sun to feel that. When the snows turn from pink to gold and then to sparkling white, you feel why it is a divine place.

I was reading Jamling Norgay's book "Touching my Father's Soul" and found that mountaineers climbing the Himalayas have always felt that something is way different than when climbing other peaks. Maybe because of the possible divinity? It is an insult to name the mountain Chomolungma after a mere mortal, Everest. You have to be humble while climbing the mountains, you can't claim it like a trophy, Jamling has mentioned and I completely agree with him. Like among the Native Americans there is the culture of thinking everything, from a tree or a stone has life, in the Himalayas too, you need to imagine that the mountains and rivers have divinity. The source of innumerable life giving rivers that sustain life in five countries definitely need to be respected.

Mountaineering needs all the skills necessary to make a good human being out of you. Immense physical strength coupled with discipline, tenacity, teamwork, risk management, quick thinking and utmost bravery. You also need to be humble. Those huge peaks have always made me feel super tiny, and once you realize the power that can nullify you in a matter of seconds, you would not want to feel the wrath of the mountains.

I am so glad that I love Himalayas. On my trip to the border of Tibet 1998, I spent a fortnight in the high mountains at more than 11, 000 feet. That is when I came to love the mountains dearly. They have the power to transform you and bring out certain thoughts that people don't generally come across on the level plains. Maybe, one day I will be able to hike up to the Base Camp of Chomolungma. I know that all my beloved mountaineers - from George Mallory to the ones of the present day would be there in spirit.