July Revelations
A grainy picture
Grains: The Cause of Human Diseases
Author: Dr N K Sharma
Publisher: Teenage Publishers
Pages: 174
Rs. 399
Diseases are nowhere encrypted in our genetic code. So why is mankind afflicted with fatal diseases that cause a lot of pain and suffering? Is it due to the lifestyle that humans have been following blindly? Or is it because whatever we have been consuming in the name of ‘staple food’ is non-human stuff? Well! Questions like these have been addressed in Dr N K Sharma’s latest book, Grains: The Cause of Human Diseases.
Revealing the root cause of human diseases and deformities, Dr Sharma, a renowned health specialist and a Reiki master teacher, says that after adopting grains as part of a regular diet, man has not been able to achieve the pinnacle of health. Instead, he has become a victim of poor health. Covered in 166 pages, every page of the book is profoundly substantiated with well-researched topics and experiments.
“Owner of orchards Or a slave to cultivation” is one of the eye opening topics that reveals how even after being owners of orchards, where they could have simply sown the seeds of fruits and waited happily for the seasonal crop to ripen—humans wilfully chose to work in the fields like common labourers. This activity has invited misfortune into their lives.
Considering human beings as fruitarians first and vegetarians only later, the author says that the consumption of grains and leaves accelerates the invasion of the food domain of birds and animals. So, even a vegetarian, despite being virtuous and non-violent, sails in the same boat as a non-vegetarian in terms of getting afflicted by incurable diseases.
From covering eye-opening topics like Grains and a Degenerating Civilisation, Teeth Degeneration due to Grains, Yoga: An Unnatural Requirement, and Weight Gain with a Natural Diet—which make us realise our mistakes—to providing the best alternatives to many food items, this book is an exemplary compilation of the author’s research on original human nutrition.
Written in a lucid manner, this extensively-researched book by Dr Sharma comprehensively traces the various demerits of consuming grains. A book that provides enough proof to question your platter. A book that you won’t feel like putting down!
Rashmi Rawat
Destigmatising mental illness
Side Effects of Living: An Anthology of Voices on Mental Health
Editor: Jhilmil Breckenridge and Namarita Kathait
Publisher: Speaking Tiger and Women Unlimited
Pages: 213
Rs. 299
According to a study conducted by the WHO, 6.5 per cent of the Indian population suffers from mental illness in some form or other. Disorders like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD pull individuals into a vortex of hopelessness, shame, and all kinds of fears created by their own demons. Yet, our society is not ready to accept the fact that, like any other illness, mental illness has to be dealt with, through patience and care instead of being stigmatised.
Side Effects of Living is a bold step towards creating awareness about mental health. The readers get a glimpse of the lives of people who are either suffering or have seen someone close to them suffer from mental illness. The book illustrates the struggles of those who have either fought and emerged winners or succumbed to the monsters of their minds. The compilation of the real-life struggles of 37 brave souls highlights the sad state of affairs of mental healthcare in the country.
The human mind is complex, and even more so, for those agonised by unstable mental health. Through moving poetry, first-hand stories, and illustrations shared by survivors, caregivers, and patients of various mental disorders, one can understand the complex web of mind-boggling thoughts and levels of distress experienced by people.
Jhilmil Breckenridge and Namarita Kathait, founders of Bhor Foundation, took the initiative to bring to light the moving stories of the battlers of the mind, having themselves lived through such experiences. The intensely personal accounts shared in the book calls for applause for the writers and poets who came out of the closet to guide many others, if they were ever to walk a similar road. It encourages the idea that the apparent crazy behaviour of individuals with mental illness is their way to survive in a hostile world. Just like ‘normal’ people have found ways to survive in theirs.
Side Effects of Living reminds us to be empathetic towards people who are brutalised by their own minds. Their struggle against the voices inside their heads every second of the day makes them real warriors because, when death seems the easier option, they choose to stay alive and bravely face their battles.
Annesha Banerjee