My recent train travel experiences

We recently completed three train journeys — from Mumbai to Mangalore, Mangalore to Ernakulam, and Ernakulam to Hosur.  Each journey was on a different type of train and brought unique experiences. I thought it would be interesting to share a glimpse of our travel experiences with you.

We traveled by Matsyagandha Express from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai to Mangalore Central. Despite booking our tickets on the very first day of reservation, we managed to get only two upper berths and one middle berth in 3-tier AC. As senior citizens, both Asha and I were a bit concerned, especially since Pratibha is a person with special needs. Given that it had been quite a while since our last long train journey, we were unsure of how challenging this one might be.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the railway stations looking so clean, with facilities like electric buggies for passenger and luggage transport, as well as escalators and lifts. However, at Kurla LTT, we couldn’t locate the escalator and had to carry our luggage up the stairs, which was a bit stressful. Unfortunately, there were no signboards on the platform to guide us to the escalator. I had to purchase a platform ticket for someone who came to assist us. In the past, this meant standing in a long queue, but now, thanks to vending machines, the process is quick and seamless—just a few seconds!

The train seats and berths were impressively clean. Since it was an AC coach, we were provided with pillows, blankets, and a set of freshly laundered white linen sheets. However, something about the berths felt unfamiliar compared to what we remembered from earlier travels, though we couldn’t immediately identify the change. Pratibha took the middle berth, while Asha and I had to manage the upper ones — not an easy feat anymore. As we attempted to climb up, we realised that there was no proper grip or handhold. That’s when we noticed the usual vertical support hanging from the roof for the upper berth was missing. Perhaps it was removed as a cost-cutting measure, but its absence made it extremely difficult — especially for senior citizens like us — to climb up safely. It made me think: design improvements should also consider user comfort and accessibility, not just cost efficiency. Sadly, that seems to have been overlooked here.

Earlier, I used to be able to sit comfortably and even have a sip of water while on the upper berth. This time, I couldn’t even sit upright — it strained my neck. I’m not sure whether to blame my age or if the design changes for cost-cutting have reduced the berth height. Unfortunately, the joy we felt from seeing clean stations, tidy platforms, and spotless coaches quickly faded after this uncomfortable experience. It seems the design engineers have prioritised cost over passenger comfort. Still, we somehow managed to get through the night, and by morning, we arrived in Mangalore. One definite plus, though, was the availability of mobile charging points in the coach.

"Another major aspect of train travel is the condition of the toilets. In this train, the toilets were reasonably clean. Out of the four in our coach, only one was a western-style toilet. Having used western-style toilets for many years now, switching to the Indian-style ones isn’t easy — likely due to both age and habit. Our joints and muscles don’t cooperate as well anymore with that kind of posture. Still, we managed somehow."

I would describe this leg of the journey as a mix of both comfort and challenges..

Our next journey was after 2 days on the Vande Bharat Express from Mangalore to Ernakulam. Since this was a newly introduced train with a lot of buzz around it, my expectations were quite high. Pratibha was especially excited about its flight-like ambiance —  of course, the food!

The train was scheduled to depart at 6:25 AM, but even by 6:15 AM, it hadn’t arrived at the platform. Passengers waiting grew restless, and the railway staff were overwhelmed by the flurry of questions and concerns. The train finally arrived just 7 minutes before departure, causing a bit of a scramble to board. At the same time, the crew was busy loading food for the journey, adding to the chaos.

Many passengers were visibly disappointed by the last-minute platform placement. However, within just 10 minutes, everything fell into place, and the train departed at 6:29 AM — only 4 minutes late. I must say, full credit goes to the passengers for the swift boarding! Though I wasn’t too surprised — after all, I’ve seen hundreds of people get on and off Mumbai local trains in just 10 to 15 seconds!

Once we boarded the train, the experience turned out to be truly delightful. My sister joined us for this leg of the journey, and we were lucky to get three seats together, plus an aisle seat on the opposite side. Pratibha chose the aisle seat away from us and confidently said she wanted to sit by herself because she’s grown up now. It was heartwarming to see this change in her— her desire for independence and the confidence to sit apart from us brought us a lot of joy.

The ambiance in the Vande Bharat was truly impressive—comfortable seats with ample legroom, spacious overhead luggage racks, effective air conditioning, and more. We were given newspapers in English and Malayalam along with a half-liter bottle of Rail Neer water. The newspapers didn’t matter much to me, as I’ve long stopped reading them. In my view, most newspapers these days present stories instead of news, often tinted with political or religious biases depending on the publisher’s stance—a trend that’s true across much of today’s media.

About half an hour into the journey, tea and biscuits were served. They offered NutriChoice biscuits, which used to be my favourite years ago, but no longer. I’ve since chosen to avoid all maida-based foods and have given up on biscuits, cakes, and the like. However, travel comes with its own set of allowances, so I did indulge—though mindfully. The tea was premixed, including sugar. Still, since I’d already decided to be a bit more relaxed while traveling, I went ahead and had the tea.

Around 8 AM, breakfast was served, and the neatly packed tray made a good first impression. It included upma, sambar, two vadas, kesari (sheera), and a packet of Lotte Choco Pie. Though the meal was slightly on the heavier side, it was quite tasty. However, the sambar didn’t meet our expectations. I usually avoid sambar from outside since I’m not fond of the flavour of certain ingredients commonly used in restaurants, which we don’t use at home. As for the Choco Pie, none of us opened it— for obvious reasons.

The train ran on time at every station. The food service staff were polite and cheerful — it seemed like they had been well-trained in hospitality. There were plenty of charging points, offering both standard and USB slots. All in all, our experience on the Vande Bharat was very positive and enjoyable. I especially appreciated the thoughtful and ergonomic design of the interiors, from the seating and legroom to the overall convenience and comfort.

The toilet facilities in the Vande Bharat train were impressive — spacious, clean, and thoughtfully designed. The floor was dry, the commode was western-style, and there were proper arrangements for flushing, washing, and hand hygiene. This certainly added to the overall pleasant experience of the journey.

Our next leg of travel — from Ernakulam to Hosur — after a five-day break. Pratibha was eager to check on the progress of her apartment under construction in Hosur, so we decided to return to Mumbai via Hosur and Bangalore. We initially booked tickets on the Intercity SF Express in the AC Chair Car, but they remained on the waitlist. As a backup, we also booked second-class (non-AC) chair car tickets, which were confirmed. Since the AC tickets didn’t clear, we traveled in the non-AC compartment.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get three seats together. We managed two seats side by side — a middle and an aisle — and one window seat a row away. We hoped the person seated near us would agree to swap the window seat, so we could sit together, but he refused to exchange the seats. Pratibha was happy to take the away seat, proudly saying she felt grown-up and independent. Though we missed sitting together — chatting, playing cards, and sharing snacks — our “let go” attitude and belief that “everything happens for a reason” helped us take it in stride.

The heat was intense, especially while passing through Palakkad and Salem, and we could feel the hot air inside the compartment. Still, we passed the time enjoying the scenic views of Kerala — the lush greenery, people working in the paddy fields, and large flower and vegetable farms. These glimpses of everyday life are one of the many charms of train travel. In contrast, air travel offers only clouds and a rather bland experience. When time is a constraint, flying becomes necessary, but it lacks the richness of a train journey.

Pratibha enjoys trains journeys — she loves the freedom to move around and doesn’t have to worry about turbulence. For all three of us, train travel continues to be a favourite. With cleaner trains, better-maintained stations, and generally punctual schedules, the experience has improved significantly. If Indian Railways could further refine the ergonomic aspects, it would elevate the comfort and joy of traveling even more.

One unexpected disappointment was the absence of mobile charging points in the train. In today’s world, our mobile phones have almost become an extension of ourselves — it’s hard to imagine being disconnected because the phone runs out of charge. To conserve battery, I kept mobile data off for most of the journey.

The toilets, although reasonably clean, were all Indian-style. For those of us accustomed to western-style commodes, using these was a bit of a challenge — perhaps due to age, habits, or both.

Thankfully, my sister had packed delicious homemade breakfast and lunch for us, which made the journey all the more comforting. While I usually don’t mind sampling train food, the taste of home felt more appealing this time. Still, hearing the familiar cries of “Coffee… Chai… Vada… Samosa…” from the vendors brought a wave of nostalgia. That’s when I realised how much I missed those small but joyful elements of train travel.

One of my favourite things during such journeys is watching people — their mannerisms, conversations, and conversations  that often springs up between strangers. Sadly, that was missing this time. Most passengers were engrossed in their phones, with barely any interaction. It felt like a subtle but noticeable shift in the way we now travel.

The stretch from Dharmapuri to Hosur was beautiful. We passed large flower and vegetable farms — something I truly enjoy seeing. The train maintained near-perfect punctuality up until Dharmapuri, even arriving a few minutes early at several stations. That was a pleasant surprise in contrast to the usual "Indian Stretchable Time" (iST). However, after Dharmapuri, delays crept in, and by the time we reached Hosur, we were about 45 minutes behind schedule. The holdup was mostly due to unscheduled halts to allow other trains to pass. Despite that, it was a satisfying leg of the journey—although the dry hot air did make it uncomfortable as the day wore on.

Still, the journey gave us a much-needed "feel-good" vibe. Catching glimpses of rural life, even through a train window, brings me immense joy. To me, train travel is the closest we get to connecting with both nature and people in one go. Yes, there are little inconveniences, but the progress made by Indian Railways over the decades is remarkable.

I can vividly recall my first long train journey — from Madras (now Chennai) to Bokaro on a steam engine train in the early 1980s. It took over two days, and by the time we arrived, our faces were almost unrecognisable — covered in coal dust! Yet, those were memorable experiences. Getting off at stations like Rajahmundry and Jharsuguda to enjoy local food, drinking water from the taps on platforms, getting out to platforms at most stations — all part of the charm back then. We never even carried water bottles!

Indian Railways has truly come a long way since then:

From counter bookings to seamless online reservations,

From filthy coaches to clean, well-maintained ones,

From littered platforms to neat and organised stations,

From open toilets to bio-toilets,

From printed reservation charts to text notifications,

From pantry food to curated meals from your favourite restaurants,

From bulky TTE reservation lists to smart tablets,

From rickety old trains to ultra-modern Vande Bharat Expresses,

From long complaint queues to instant grievance redressal via text or social media…

The transformation is astounding.

A big salute to Indian Railways — one of the largest organisations in the world, with over 12.5 lakhs employees — working tirelessly to ensure that every journey is a safe, pleasant, and memorable one.

My Journey of Energy, Healing and Spirituality: Blending Science with Spirituality

This post comes after a long break—my last one was in March 2022, three years ago. These three years have brought significant changes in both my personal and family life. In March 2022, I took on the role of Secretary at Nish-Chintha, a project for rehabilitation of families with Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, for a two-year term. While the first year was relatively smooth, the second year turned out to be quite turbulent. I encountered challenges I had never imagined, which led to immense learning. When managing things became difficult, we decided to move out of Nish-Chintha and return to Mumbai. 

My curiosity about spirituality, particularly understanding it through the lens of science, has taken me on an intriguing journey of exploration. There is much to uncover in this realm.  

For me, spirituality is a path of self-seeking and self-discovery. I find it difficult to practice rituals unless I understand the science behind them. Through my quest, I have been able to decode the logic behind many rituals, which has deepened my search for truth.  

The teacher in me has always found joy in sharing knowledge. One way I do this is through my Chakra Meditation courses. By 2022, I had conducted nine batches, and after a long break, I resumed the course in February this year. With each batch, I incorporate new insights based on my learnings. I strongly believe that Chakra Meditation unlocks the body's self-healing potential. Many participants from my courses have reported remarkable improvements in their health conditions, emphasising the power of focused and consistent Chakra Meditation.  

My deep dive into chakras led me to explore ways to measure energy levels in chakras, organs, and major body systems. I acquired a Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) camera, a Russian-developed scanner equipped with specialized software to analyze the energy body and correlate it with physical health. Over the past five years, using this technology has provided me with valuable insights into the connection between energy imbalances and physical ailments. I have been conducting numerous experiments with different individuals to enhance my understanding, enabling me to provide meaningful advice based on energy scan results.  

Measuring energy levels before and after Chakra Meditation has revealed clear changes, particularly in chakras, the endocrine system, and related organs. I will be sharing inferences from my experiments in future posts.  

Another concept that captured my attention is the famous statement by Dr. Albert Einstein: “The future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies”.  

Exploring this idea led me to a groundbreaking frequency-based healing device from Germany. This device can send targeted frequencies to specific chakras, organs, and even emotions. I managed to acquire it and have begun experimenting, leading to fascinating results, which I will share in upcoming posts.  

Music has always been a profound part of my life and has significantly improved the quality of life for my daughter, who is neurodiverse. I became particularly curious about the concept of "sympathetic response", where musical notes and frequencies can activate chakras and organs. Using the GDV scanner, I have validated energy changes resulting from active or passive musical engagement.  

Additionally, I have been measuring brain wave activity using a digital EEG device, exploring how different frequencies and patterns influence the mind. This research has led me to another exciting discovery—the importance of tuning musical instruments to match the natural frequencies of chakras. I have identified a series of research projects aimed at studying the impact of different frequencies of music on the energy body, particularly in neurodiverse individuals. By combining EEG and GDV scans, I can analyze the effects of music on both the brain and the body's energy field.  

For me, this entire process is my spiritual journey—seeking the truth within myself by scientifically measuring the energy body and gaining self-awareness. This journey also helps others explore their inner selves. My Chakra Meditation courses are designed to guide people toward this inward journey, unlocking their body's self-healing potential.  

Moving forward, I plan to share insights from my studies and research on these topics through my blog. 

Stay tuned!

Joy of Giving Up Habits and Comforts in quest of Safe Hands

Last few months, we have been experiencing “Joy of Giving Up”.  Have read quite a bit on it in articles and many forwarded messages. It is now that we are experiencing that "happiness of giving".  

It is almost a year since we moved to Nish-Chintha village.  We were the second family to move in there.  Now we have ten families staying and participating in community living.  We all came to Nish-Chintha village seeking a solution for the most nagging problem we face “What after us for our child”?  Nish-Chintha is a project conceptualised to find a solution for this problem.  Here we 100 families plan to stay together and take care of our “special” children together.  “Special” means those with developmental / intellectual disabilities.  Though the project is progressing, there is not much clarity on how the children will be taken care, when parents are no more.  Many of us started referring to that ‘invisible’, ‘unknown’ phenomenon as ‘Safe Hands’. 

One of the dictionary presents “Safe Hands” as “someone who can be trusted with responsibility or a job”.  We parents of Nish-Chintha want our children to be in safe hands.  Our struggle was to figure out the “Safe Hands”.  I have been looking at our own life in the past one year.  We shifted to Nish-Chintha by middle of April last year.  To be precise, on the Vishu day.  It was just a coincidence.  

When we moved, we had apprehensions in our mind, on how the life in Nish-Chintha is going to be.  Both me and Asha love rural/ village environment, and we won’t have any problem to move from the most buzzing city of Mumbai to the sleeping village of Mulanjur.  We have been preparing our daughter Pratibha for some time about moving to Nish-Chintha.  We moulded her to a state where she started looking forward to the life at Nish-Chintha.  She was absolutely enjoying her life in Mumbai.  She was working as a Chef in Arpan Food Services and Cafe Arpan.  We were uprooting her from that “happening” life to a situation where there is “nothing”, at least then.  But, her future is what we were concerned, and not her present.  She tried to see positives in Nish-Chintha, which we didn’t even see.  It was peak of lock-down, when we came here.  Walking through the paddy fields to a shop to get some essentials, adjusting with whatever we had etc. was the life then.  Live with whatever we have and we could get.  Our flat was not ready..  Thanks to one of the villa owner for letting us stay in their house till we move to our flat.  In two months of our coming to Nish-Chintha, we barged in and stayed in our flat, even if it was incomplete.  Still it is incomplete.

Well, as there is nothing much to do there, the mind started exploring many things.  Before coming here, we did start thinking of options for Pratibha, when we become no more.  Many options were discussed and heard arguments for and against them.  We didn’t have clarity on that front.  Now, infrastructure work is in progress in Nish-Chintha.  I could contribute in some of the infrastructure projects, including setting up a captive water supply system including a treatment plant.  Well, I could learn and understand many things about rehabilitation projects in general and Nish-Chintha project in particular, during this time.  I also started teaching a 9th standard boy from the village, who had no means to go for a tuition.  It is a challenge to teach a Malayalam medium student, as it was English that I was using throughout my professional life, and I was away from Kerala from 1978. I do enjoy teaching 9th standard subjects including languages.

When more families started moving in, the life started transforming.  And the transformations were much faster than what we could think of.  Both tangible and intangible changes were there.  Mindsets started changing.  Approaches in dealing with people started changing.  Our understanding of “Joy” and “Happiness” started changing.  We started finding joy in “giving up” the comforts what we were used to for years together.   When the common kitchen started functioning, the transformation picked up further speed.  It was quite a bit of "giving" for us.  The cuisine itself was different.  Considering our future, we started getting into the mode of “Adjusting”.  It was not easy, but we were enjoying the “joy of "giving up”.  Not just the food habits, but many of our comforts that we were used to.  Our worries about ‘comforts’ in our own house started diminishing, and concerns about ‘comforts’ in Nish-Chintha as a whole, started increasing.

Our worries about the future started declining, once the bond started developing among the families here.  We started seeing glimpses of “Safe Hands”.  We encouraged our daughter Pratibha to mingle with other families and that started working wonders.  Our worry about how the life is going to be for Pratibha, after we are no more, started fading.  We have families committed to the cause of Nish-Chintha here.  There was a paradigm shift in thinking of most families.  Now we are sure, ‘she will be taken care of well’.  Yes, we need more infrastructure support for that.  But the dynamics of “taking care” has started evolving.  Our clarity about “Safe Hands” started becoming better.  A sense of “we are one family” is seen in every action of most of the families here.  Live together, work together, take care of our children together” has become the ethos of Nish-Chintha.  Once the families here start training their wards to ‘live together’, the changes would become phenomenal.  We encouraged Pratibha to eat everything from the Kitchen. We almost stopped preparing dishes at home, as we want Pratibha to get used to the food from the Kitchen.  I believe, this is a very important step in the our journey towards community living at Nish-Chintha.  It is not easy to completely change our habits overnight.  But we are gradually accomplishing this.  

What caught my attention, when we joined the Nish-Chintha project few years back, was “together taking care of our children”.  Now I strongly believe, that’s what is going to work, and will make a huge difference.  The worries we had when we moved to Nish-Chintha a year back, is fading away, as our daughter Pratibha has started spending time with other families, and enjoying it.  I am seeing such transformation in other families too in Nish-Chintha.  I believe, each family has to start working on this to realise the dream.    

We the parents are the best care givers for “our children”.  Not just for our own children, but for other children too in Nish-Chintha.  If we can do this ‘sacrifice’, Nish-Chintha is going to be the most successful project in the world.  I used the term ‘sacrifice’ reluctantly.  We have to make it our way of life, and not as a sacrifice.  We need to change the way we think, the way we live, the way we help etc. to realise this dream of ours.  Giving up comforts have started revealing the “Safe Hands”.  They are nothing but “Our Collective Hands”. 

 

Just a Coincidence?

It is exactly six months today, since we started staying in this remote village Mulanjur in Palakkad district of Kerala.  Only today we could go to the village temple, a very old temple in the middle of forest.  It is Mulanjur Bhagavati temple.  I loved the ambiance there. Very calm and quiet; It’s just bhakti everywhere. No show offs; no sales of items; no noises around; no VIPs; traditional Kerala style temple, with absolutely no commercialism.  As the Covid scare went down, regular pujas started in the temple.  There was no big crowd, but people kept coming.  It is Mahanavami day today.

Inside the ‘chuttambalam”, there was another Devi deity, and nothing was written there.  When I checked with one temple employee, I was told that, the deity is disabled daughter of the main deity Bhagavathi.  The main deity Bhagavathi has other daughters who have temples in the same and nearby villages.  Whereas, this ‘disabled’ daughter was kept in the same temple as the Bhagavathi wants to keep this daughter with her, to take care of the ‘disabled’ daughter.  And the villagers believe that the Mulanjur Bhagavathi is a ‘Supreme Care Giver’ to all persons with disabilities.  

I was very surprised to learn this, as we landed in the same village (Mulanjur) with our ‘differently abled’ daughter.  Also, we, the 100 families with children with ‘developmental / intellectual disabilities’ are going to stay in this village and take care of our children together, and the presiding deity of the village is considered as ‘supreme care giver’ to persons with disabilities.

I am Baffled with this coincidence.

Over to the next phase..

Twenty days back we relocated to Kerala.  From buzzing Mumbai to a remote village called Mulanjur, near Ottappalam town in Palakkad district.  Quite a few people were asking me why are we leaving Mumbai.  First, let me tell you why did we come to Mumbai.  We came to Mumbai for a reason.  When Pratibha was 10 years old, she was almost non-verbal.  We felt vibrant Mumbai can help her transform.  It did happen.  She transformed to a chatterbox.. She did her Bharatnatyam Arangettam.. She started pursuing her passions, music and cooking.  She was enjoying her life to the fullest, learning and playing Sitar; and working at Arpan, as a Cook / Chef.  

We felt it is time to get into the next phase of her life, and ours too.  Four years back, we joined project Nishchintha (निश्चिंता), which aims to provide an answer to the most worrying question in our mind “What After Us?” for Pratibha.  With whatever goal in mind we came to Mumbai, that not only got fulfilled, but exceeded our expectations.  We hope the same will happen in our next phase of life at Nishchintha too.  

I was surprised that we haven’t seen a crow in last twenty days, where we stay.  But we have plenty of peacocks, cuckoos, cranes and many other bird species here.  It’s about 14 acres of land where we are setting up Nishchintha village.  We also have about 6 acres of paddy field adjacent to it.  Absolutely beautiful, picturesque and serene ambiance.  Unpolluted and blessed with diverse flora and fauna.  

We have been allotted a flat on the top floor of a 5 storied apartment block.  It is not ready yet.  Hoping to get it in a weeks' time.  Many villas are complete and some of them fully furnished too.  Those villa owners were magnanimous in offering us their villas for temporary stay till our flat is complete.  We are staying in one of those.  After almost 35 years of staying in flat / apartment type building, we are experiencing staying in a villa.  We are the second family in Nishchintha village. Hope our move might inspire more families to move into the village and start community living here.  

We were initially a bit apprehensive on how Pratibha would adjust to the new environment.  From buzzing Mumbai to a sleeping village.  Almost no one to interact.  Not much activity for time being.  Once the Nishchintha village becomes operational, I am sure, she will be busy 24x7!  And now for past twenty days, she is absolutely happy, enjoying the new environment, seeing the beauty of village, walking along the narrow walkways in paddy fields, adjusting to frequent power failures, enjoying the minimum shopping - shopping for survival - that we do, doing cooking activities at home, playing shuttle badminton, helping mother in all household activities, and having many new experiences.  Once in a while she tells that she misses Arpan and her friends in Mumbai, but absolutely happy here.

Now little bit on Nishchintha project.  Nishchintha means “worry-free”.  The project is an initiative by a group of parents having children who are developmentally / intellectually disabled.  The objective is to live together as a community and take care of children together.  Also train the children to live independently or with assistance, so that after the parents are no more, children can live in the care rooms comfortably.  Fifty villas and fifty apartments are planned.  About 20 villas are complete and work on another 15 in progress.  15 flats are about to get completed and one of them is Pratibha’s.  We will be having a common kitchen and dining hall, so that we don't have to cook at home.  We will have more time for the community activities.  This would immensely help in bringing in synergy in our community living.  We are also setting up a National Centre for Assisted Living and Skill Development (NACALS), in which we will be offering therapy services, vocational activities, skill development, care room training, and employment opportunities for our children as well as persons with developmental / intellectual disabilities from outside.

We plan to go with the nature, and practice sustainable living.  We have few wells to meet our water requirements.  We are working on harvesting rainwater, so that ground water is recharged leading to increased quantity and quality of water.  All our bio-degradable waste will be converted to energy and manure through biogas plants, which we have already constructed.  We are in the process of setting up systems for using solar energy for some of our needs.

Now the life here.  We get up everyday morning listening to honks of peacocks, cock-a-doodle-doo, chirps of many small birds, chatters of many different species of birds.. but we haven't heard a "Ka Ka" of crow!  Our early mornings are sitting on the verandah of the villa where we stay now and watch all these and enjoy.  We could see families of chickens moving around.  Pratibha watches them and tries to identify who is papa, mamma, kids etc!  Then we see peacocks and peahens roaming and flying from buildings to buildings.  Beautiful peacocks with long tail with colourful feathers.  Then comes cows and calfs.  Always there are two cranes (white birds) on both sides of one of the cows, moves along the cow, as if they are guarding and protecting the cow!  Amazing scene.  Evenings we walk within the campus.  We frequent near a rivulet that passes by the side of our premise.  The clear water in the rivulet and bushes and trees on the banks give very refreshing feeling.  

Going to the paddy fields and walking along the narrow walkways not only gives us fresh air, but is also immensely fulfilling experience.  As it was time of sowing seeds in paddy fields, we could participate in that, in our own paddy field.  We pluck tender mangos from trees, raw papaya from papaya trees.. We get many different varieties of spinach all around; just pluck, wash, chop and stir fry..You don’t need anything else with chapathi or rice.  All these are new experiences for Pratibha and she is thoroughly enjoying.  Buying milk from a house nearby was another new thing for Pratibha.  Here they milk the cow and give us the fresh milk. 

Altogether a different life.. Both Asha and myself lived in village during our childhood. So no issues for us to get adjusted to.  But for Pratibha, it's all new.  She is looking at only the positive side and thoroughly enjoying the new life. That's a big relief for us.  When more people are around here, she will start enjoying more. 

We are looking forward to a successful next phase of our life here at Nishchintha.

Gender Ratio in Autism

Many studies were conducted to estimate relative proportion of boys and girls with autism spectrum disorder.  It is found to be around 3.5 boys to 1 girl.  There appears to be a diagnostic gender bias, meaning that girls who meet criteria for ASD are at disproportionate risk of not receiving a clinical diagnosis.

Lots research has been carried out to find why are boys apparently susceptible to ASD.  With the causes and origins of the disorder themselves still only vaguely understood, it’s hard for scientists to provide a definitive answer to that question.

Information processing by persons with Autism [Autism Acceptance Campaign 2021 - Day 11]

This is the 11th post of Autism Acceptance month.  Today let’s try to understand how differently information is processed by persons with Autism.   We will see just major differences in this post.

1.  Think from bottom up.  

The neurotypicals generally think top-down.  We are tuned to quickly understand abstractions and then go to the details.  Autistic persons generally think the other way.  They see the details first, and slowly start understanding the concept, which is bottom-up approach.  

2.  Take things very literally

If anything you tell them, that needs to be interpreted using some common sense or in some social context, then they would find it difficult to understand.  They take it very literally.  For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs” is a form of figurative speech.  It implies that it is raining heavily.  An autistic person would interpret it literally and will wonder where are cats and dogs.. 

3.  Harder to remember sequences

If we give a sequence of commands to an autistic person, and you can’t expect him / her to do it in the same order.  Most of them can’t remember the sequence.  After a lot of trials and repetitions, they would become master of that specific sequence of commands.  But it takes long.

Because of such differences in the way information is processed, it becomes very difficult for neurotypicals to communicate with autistic persons.  Our communication has lot of implied information, which the autistic persons will not be able to decipher, understand and act on it.   When I started teaching music to different autistic persons, I realised that I have to have different approaches to communicate the same thing to different persons.  It took me quite a bit of time to understand how each person processes the information and adjust myself while communicating with each person.   

In order for us to accept autistic persons in the society and be comfortable in an inclusive world, it is imperative that we understand such differences and be empathetic towards them.