Lotus Birth: A new type of child birth

Stem cell banking is so much in trend today with lots advertisement and everything. Its being marketed as a good thing for your child. So this question came up today on the lunch table at office from a south Indian colleague of mine to an american colleague who recently became a father that if he did stem cell preservation for his newly born child.

Now this american colleague of ours had done great research to have found the best practices for child delivery and so what he told really amazed me. He informed that other than preserving stem cell or throwing it away, there is a third option also which very few people know. 

This third option is called as lotus birth in which as the baby comes out, the umbilical cord along with placenta is left un-cut from the baby for next few hours till all the blood pumps into the baby. The baby all this while remains with the mother receiving her warmth unlike other cases where the nurse takes away the baby (and at times mixes with other babies in big hospitals !). Once all the blood flows, the umbilical cord is pretty much dead which can then be cut like normal. In this case, our american colleague did the cutting which they had already informed the hospital that the father would cut the umbilical cord. 

To this my south Indian colleague, who is also a parent added that she too had some knowledge of this and wanted the same thing in her case but people were not aware about it in India. Surprisingly to which the american colleague replied that he actually found out about this practice in a birthing class he and his wife attended when they were in India ! 

Also the south Indian colleague gave a very nice analogy. She said that the reason why this is called as lotus birth is because as per Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu has a stem coming out at the end of which is a lotus on which Lord Brahma sits who is the God of creation ! So here umbilical cord is the stem, placenta the lotus and Lord Brahma, God of creation is the baby ! 

I am also a parent and I just sat there in surprise for I had no idea about this approach. So if you or someone you know is expecting a child, go out and explore about this lotus birth and discuss with your doctor about it.

He told many other very interesting things based on all his research which I plan to share on this blog sometime later

Note: Pls don't base any of your decisions on the basis of this blog. 

Doing a Vaishno Devi Holiday Trip - Part 1

Jai Mata Di

This is my first blog so thought of starting with Matarani's name. 

This series of blogposts are about planning and doing a Vaishno Devi holiday trip on your own which is value for money,time and soul. There are multiple options to take a packaged tour also and if you ask me to recommend one, my recommendation is to not look anywhere else and just take Holiday Package by IRCTC. I took this packaged tour when I just got married and was going for the first time with my wife and was satisfied. 

Then there is DIY (Do-it-yourself) approach which I am going to talk about in this series. I will try my best to cover all the various aspects of the trip but in-case I miss out anything, feel free to ask about it in the comments section.

1) Best time to visit is last week of Feb - 1st week of March: This is the time when harsh winters are over and summers are yet to come in, in-short really good climate. Crowds are less due to exams time and hence you can have good darshan. So if you don't have children who are in school, plan to visit during this time slot. 

2) Choose Shree Shakti Express to reach Katra: There are two reasons: 1) It is one of the very few trains that go straight to Katra. Most other trains including flights will drop you at Jammu and then its not very comfortable to reach Katra from there. The other reason is the timing. It drops you early in the morning at around 5 am and if you do other things as advised, you stand a good chance to have darshan at a time when there is almost zero crowd !  

3) Place to freshen up and store your luggage: Straight away ask auto driver to take you to Niharika Complex next to bus stand. This facility is managed by Vaishno Devi Shrine Board which operates on a no-profit/no-loss basis. Though they have private rooms as well as dormitories, go for dormitory as you just need to take bath and start the trekking (chadai). If you are visiting during the above time slot, you will find it pretty much empty. They have a cloak room facility to store your luggage also.

4) Carry a set of fresh clothes and prasad for the trek Carry only a set of fresh clothes and a normal wollen sweater/shawl which you might need at night. I try to always carry prasad from my hometown in which we take kaju, kishmish, badaam, khopra (coconut sliced into small pieces) and mishri known as panch-mewa - approx 250 gms in total. 

5) Start the trek as soon as possible Try to quickly freshen up and begin trek as soon as possible. You would need to take a yatra parchi about which you can ask anyone and they will tell you. Dont worry about tea/breakfast as there are lots of shops on the way. The key thing is to just start and then take breaks. I have seen lots of groups wasting precious morning hours when there is no sun and climate is very good just like that. 

6) If you can choose walking as your mode of trek If Matarani has blessed with you with a fit body, thank her by doing a walking trek rather than tempted to take helicopter/horse/paalki etc. Rest your choice.

7) Places to see before Adhkawari: There are 2 main places one is Ban-ganga and another is Charan-Paduka. Both are very easy to be missed out so do ask other trekkers about it. You can google to read about the importance of these two places.

8) Places to take breaks: There are lots of shops selling refreshments and other things and depending on your group, you may stop anywhere. However, if you ask me, lead your group to reach "Alok" without taking any refreshment break. This is the first Shrine Board managed shop which comes during the trek  provides refreshments. After "Alok", lot of such shops come.

9) Make sure you stop at Adhkawari: Adhkawari is your first pitstop. The first thing the first person of your group who reaches here should do is to take the "group number". Deposit your bagpacks in the cloak room and then wait for your turn to have darshan of the holy cave. It will take you anywhere from 2-4 hours and so be patient, rest and keep thanking Matarani for having given you this opportunity rather than indulging in worldly talk. 

10) Reach Bhawan (main shrine): Just as you would reach the main shrine, you will see a shrine board shop of prasad. Take the prasad from that shop. The last time I visited they had three types and I chose the 2nd one. Again the first person to reach the main shrine should take the group number for darshan. For taking bath, go at the very end, wear your fresh clothes and then come back and deposit your back-pack in the cloak room and get in line for darshan.

11) Just don't do any hurry while doing Darshan You would have noticed the tone of this post before this point to be to do everything hurriedly but now I am saying to just relax and do no hurry at all. You would see people running in line, crossing you over from behind, just let them do all that. You came up all the way for this moment only so don't hurry over here. Its not a race and everyone is equal in the eyes of Matarani.

If this blog has helped you in any manner, then when you are having darshan, pls pray for me also :) 

Jai Mata Di

In the next blog I will write about the next steps after having done darshan.