Do it with Ashwin Sanghi and Dr Mukesh Batra’s `13 Steps to Bloody Good Health’

WE are as a civilization living in troubled times  and very often stuck in a rut. Don’t despair. All we have to do is make a few or in fact, even sweeping changes in your …er…lifestyle. Some will moan, what lifestyle? I don’t have a lifestyle, you moron! I work like a dog from dawn to dusk catering to everybody’s needs, wants and even greed and have little time left to focus on myself and see how I’m speeding towards Lord Yama in this era of never-ending kalayug.

Well, in today’s times book guiding you into making healthy makeovers are many, but one book which can truly do the trick is `13 Steps to Blood Good Health’ put together with no nonsense ease and in a crisp to the point guidelines. Ashwin Sanghi is one of India’s highest-selling authors in English fiction (and now non-fiction) and Dr Mukesh Batra, who made homeopath popular, is quite simply a famous name. Over four decades he has done much to promote the alternate medical system of homeopathy in India and is today both much sought after as advisor and philanthropist with imagination although I dare say he what he likes to do most is retire in peace to his home in Goa!

Ashwin Sanghi has been doing this series of guides to aid those for those who seek to inspiration to live as I like to put it. This time around it was Dr Mukesh Batra who put the idea of doing an easy and to the point guide to `bloody good health’ – something a self-confessing Ashwin Sanghi says he was not conscious of till an email from Dr Mukesh Batra and a phone call conversation the same day ended in an interesting lunch a week later and an idea for a collaboration in doing the latest in his series of guideline books — `13 Steps to Bloody Good Health’.

Confides Ashwin Sanghi, putting together this book was one way to tackle his own weight, drinking, cigar smoking lifestyle (`I’m probably one of the unhealthiest people on the planet!’). To that Dr Batra urged, `Ashwin, please remember that health is more important than wealth.’ It was a most timely advice for the bestselling author to pay heed too and regardless of whether his own parameters of health have improved or not, we do not know, but I would say go for `13 Steps to Bloody Good Health.’ It’s one guide book packed with gentle punch, pizzazz and panache and I like the fact that both men decided that wellbeing and good health begins with good sleep.

 Hey, how many of us are fighting for good sleep nowadays? Not artificial sleep courtesy a host of prescription drugs but real to goodness blissful sleep which makes one want to rise and shine and bounce about with joi de vivre the next morning? When did you last feel like you need to wake up to a better world and happier lifestyle??? How many of us are chasing health like we are chasing wealth, what comes first? You will say it’s like the chicken and egg story, but seriously, without health what is wealth worth? Dr Mukesh Batra has a question we seriously need to wake up to in this country, in the countries of West they have already woken up to it hopefully!

I love the quote the book poses somewhere in the Chinese proverb, “It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy.” Very true! Witness how many of us nowadays are time passing in one or another  ‘valley of dolls’ every now and again popping or swallowing any number of drugs (and that too synthetic drugs) – to be able to breathe freely, eat and digest automatically, catch up with sleep in an instant, not to mention live life till it overflows wastefully, and we’re constantly seeking health in the dregs of latter day life, no?

The book covers a host of pertinent health-related issues ranging from sleep to the importance of staying hydrated, nourished; how to move, digest, alkalize, breathe, supplement, love, prevent, relax, rejoice and not least of all exercise restraint and moderation. Also how in a Step 14 addition in a nutshell, how to personalize with `Mrs Bland and Mrs HP’ – but that I’ll leave you to discover for yourself!

In his introduction to the book Dr Mukesh Batra well observes, “It is often the simplest things that we overlook in our pursuit of wealth and happiness. However, without good health there is no wealth or happiness. People who do not prioritize their health, inevitably end up having to prioritize their sickness. I hope that through this book, readers will pick up small, east-to-do common sense tips to achieve good health and live happier and healthier lives.” Needless to say this book benefits with Dr Mukesh Batra’s very vast insight,  acquired in the course of treating, counseling and relating with a wide cross-section of society in India and abroad.  Remember he is the founder-chairman of Dr Batra’s Group, the world’s first and largest homeopathy corporate, his career in alternative medicine covers over four decades and to say the least here he is a much celebrated and awarded man of homeopathy, health and healthcare.  

So this is to say if you’re looking for a book in hand to inspire you to transform life – this is it. Ashwin Sanghi and Dr Mukesh Batra’s `13 Steps to Bloody Good Health.’  Sorry, forgot to tell you this earlier, this is not a brand new book just hot from the printers, but first published by Westland Publications in 2018; it’s available in softcover, listed at price Rs250. Can also get E-copy if you wish, but it’s wiser to get the old-fashioned textbook version in hand because chances are you will be consulting it frequently to change your lifestyle to reap better health and a happier you anew. Hey, make this your easy modern-day bible to consult if you wish and know what’s good for you in your heart of hearts. It’s advice I’m also giving myself! 

–Reviewed by Pankajbala R Patel

Excerpted from `13 Steps to Bloody Good Health’ by Ashwin Sanghi and Dr Mukesh Batra….

India is sleep-deprived

THE actress Gwyneth Paltrow says, `For me, sleep is a major thing I don’t always get it and when I don’t, I look like I have been hit by a truck.’ Consistently getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night is important for good health. Any less not only affects your mood and energy levels the next day, but can also increase your risk for serious chronic health conditions. But are we getting sufficient sleep today? Statistics convey an unsettling story. According to an Indian sleep survey conducted by a leading consumer products brand:

• About 93 per cent of Indians are sleep-derived.
• Around 72 per cent of Indians wake up one to three times per night,.
• Around 87 per cent of the Indian population confirms that lack of sleep is affecting their health.
• More than 58 per cent of Indians believe their work suffers due to lack of adequate sleep.
• About 38 per cent have witnessed a colleague falling asleep at work.

What do these figures suggest? The situation is summed up by Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of The Huffington Post: `We are in the midst of a sleep deprivation crisis. And this has profound consequences – on our health, our job performance, our relationships and our happiness. What is needed is nothing short of a sleep revolution. Only by renewing our relationship with sleep we can we take back control of our lives.’

`It should come as no surprise that India is the most depressed country in the world according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). At 36 per cent, we have the highest rate of depression as also the highest suicide rate in the world. Over one lakh people on an average kill themselves in India every year and these are only the reported figures of suicide due to depression. The harsh truth is we often fail to understand that our physical and emotional health is interrelated. It’s time we realize that seeking medical help for emotional problems is not a sign of weakness but as important as seeking help for any other health problem.’