They are falling. And getting hurt, seriously. Two did, not too long ago. In Jaipur. One in the bathroom. One, I believe, on one of the non existent sidewalks common to most of urban India. Others have fallen, too, family and friends, and broken bones. Those that fall are younger. Our world may be too flat. Maybe there is too much asphalt, concrete, carpet. Maybe we have forgotten how to balance ourselves. Some have deficiency of B12 our balance vitamin , a problem due to decreased absorption after age 60. Knee replacements nowadays also are common at 50. We are not as strong. We sit. Every chance we get. But not on the floor. In the car, at work, on the toilet we sit comfortably. Even at prayer meetings, disregarding tradition, more sit on chairs as getting up is too difficult. The problem likely is that the quadriceps or quads for short, the muscles in the front of our thighs that critically support and protect the knee, are weak. The knees bear more stress and wear out.

They go anywhere. Often they have to as they have no where to go. I am talking about toilets or the lack thereof in India and shit. There must be amazing amounts of shit in the soil, air and water in India. Did you know that toilets on trains in India drop shit directly down to the open ground below the running train. Billions of Indians shit a gazillion microbes traveling in trains.  And the trains disseminate them widely throughout the land! India has the largest passenger train system in the world. What about those fancy western style toilets in cities used to flush shit out of site.  Most of that likely goes as untreated sewage into open drains thence to streams and rivers. Everywhere! Maybe this shit everywhere is the hidden attraction of trips to India. Could it be that subconsciously we want to be exposed to this vast microbial cocktail. Next time you eat a green leafy salad in India, think of shit. Because its likely there. 

You are angry at yourself. 20 lbs! How did that happen. Be kind to yourself. Since 3500 kcal equals 1 pound wt gain you only had 20 extra calories a day...(20x365x10divide by 3500=almost 20!). Just 140 extra a week! How much stricter could you be with your eating. Though we all need to pay more attention to what we drink. 1 can of sweet drinks such as Coke, Pepsi, etc contains 140 calories. So just 1 a week could give you 20 pounds/ almost 9 kg in 10 years. Weight gain is very hard to understand.  Brown skin, dark skin people genetically do not  seem to handle sugar as well as Caucasians.  Thus for most Asians, Hispanics and Blacks as well as Native Americans sugar is a slow poison. The record numbers of diabetics in India since the TV marketing blitz for Coke, Pepsi and similar drinks is sobering.  The power of multinational corporations using TV to change long held eating and drinking beliefs and culture in India and China is indeed fearsome.  After turning America into an

Balance is a problem as we get older. Many fall too easily. I think our world may be just too flat. We do not exercise our balance (proprioception)system on a daily basis. Wherever we walk or run is so very predictably flat, what with concrete or asphalt everywhere. Challenge yourself on rough terrain or just walk on grass or gravel whenever possible. Your knees and ankles would be happier too.

For all you lovers of cricket. Exciting collection from Kamal's collection of photos and memories from his years of covering the World Cup personally over the years. Unique & Beautiful book for your drawing room table for guests to peruse. Watch the video of the launch by Kapil Dev himself. http://nareshsagar.blogspot. com/2011/03/kapil-dev-book- launch-kamal-julkaworld.html Do you want an autographed copy from the Photo artist himself ? Email Kamal ....julkakamal at gmail.com to buy a copy or go to the Rajasthan Patrika website. Aruna (Julka) and Vinod

Fascinating reading, about accepted medical research proven wrong a few years later and the subtle lies that went into the, the $$ in drug and grant moneys made in the process. From the Atlantic Magazine, the story of a Harvard trained Greek who returned home to Greece and built up an organization to carefully document research these lies. Vinod http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/

We drove to the Cineplex on a hot January afternoon. Chatting, animatedly. Us four. People in the thousands on the sides of the road, just milled about. Shopkeepers if you could call them that, showed their wares on tattered cloth, some spilled out directly onto the asphalt. Rickety thelas -a far cry from the elaborate cappucino carts, (they call them "thelas") going up in swank urban areas - crowded the roadside. Pedestrians too jostled for space. They all breathed the exhaust from our cars and the dust from our tires. They suffered our horns. They would not move out of the way! We had to get to the Cineplex in the Mall on time. The movie you know. We did not hear them. We chatted animatedly, us four. Our air was conditioned, cleaned and filtered. Our ears, our lungs, our noses were protected by the glass windows of our car. We were safe. Our hearts protected. Was it not just a movie we were watching, though the glass? It felt like it. We chatted, animatedly