This is the great Indian paradox

This is the great Indian paradox. The country's economy is booming, with the number of millionaires and billionaires rising by the day. According to a research by Bain & Co, there are over 115,000 high-net worth individuals in India.

Since 2000, this elite group has grown an average of 11 per cent annually. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of wealthy individuals in India surged by 23 per cent, which is the highest growth rate in the world.

While this may be good news, here is the other side of the India growth story.

Today, more than 400 million people live below the poverty line in India. The global meltdown has pushed an additional 25 million to 40 million citizens below the poverty line.

So how can a country like India bridge the gap between its rich and poor? Are India's wealthiest people doing their best to reach out to the poorest? Well, the generosity of India's rich population does not necessarily rise with income and education, says the Bain & Co study.

"The wealthiest have the lowest level of giving at 1.6% of household income. While the 'high class', which is ranked one level below the 'upper class' on the income and education scale, donates 2.1% to charity, the middle class gives 1.9% of household income to philanthropy," says Arpan Sheth, partner, Bain & Company.

Nearly 40 per cent of the nation's wealth is controlled by the top 5 per cent of India's households. So about 1 per cent controls about 16 per cent of the national wealth, says the Bain study.

The charitable initiatives in India accounted to about $7.5 billion in 2009, according to the study, equivalent to about 0.6 per cent of the country's GDP.

The rate is higher than Brazil's 0.3 per cent and rival China's 0.1 per cent, but lags behind United States which is 2.2% and 1.3% in Britain, the report said.

Why are Indians not generous enough?

There are three major factors that curb philanthropy in India.

Many people who became rich recently are not willing to part with their wealth.

A Bain analysis of 30 high-net-worth individuals in India showed that they contribute, on average, just around one-fourth of 1 per cent of their net worth to social and charitable causes.

Many believe that the funding networks are not professionally managed and their donations may be misappropriated.

Besides this, since most of the companies are family-owned groups, they view corporate responsibility initiatives as a philanthropic step and avoid personal donations.

It is time for India to be more generous. India can emulate the West in terms of philanthropy, say observers.

"India's powerful economic engine is expected to produce thousands of millionaires in the coming years. There is no reason why our wealthiest citizens should not do more for those with less. India needs their philanthropy," says Bain & Co's Arpan Sheth.

The largest 100 foundations in the US have more than $200 billion in assets. These assets are used to help underwrite philanthropic activities. This massive asset base allows foundations to extend their support throughout the world.

India's foundations can learn valuable lessons from their American counterparts like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In India alone, it provides more than $1 billion for health and AIDS initiatives, states the study.

Several other aspects make charity cumbersome and badly organised in India. There are about 2 million charity operators in India.

But most of them are run without the transparency, processes and professional staff required to reassure donors and encourage large contributions, points out Sheth. So India needs more professional and large charity organisations.

Archaic laws and bureaucracy hinder both the growth and operations of non-profitable organisations so there is an urgent need to reform our laws and taxation policies and create a more supportive climate for charitable organisations, he says.

"The growing number of wealthy Indians gives a ray of hope for better philanthropic activities in future."

"A more equal and less impoverished society benefits every one of us. A healthier, better-educated population means a more secure and prosperous India," Sheth says.

ACIDITY & ITS NATURAL CURE

Acidity is not a disease but the result of other diseases in the body. In other words, a person could be suffering from some other health problems and acidity could be a symptom or disorder. In this case, the acid formation in the stomach increases, which leads to sour belches, indigestion and loss of appetite.

Medicinal Cures from Ayurveda for Acidity:

• Take half a gram of shankh bhasma and one gram of dry mango powder. Mix both with honey and lick to relieve acidity.
• Mix green coriander, garlic, ripe tomatoes, ginger, salt and chillies. Prepare a fine paste and eat it to overcome different stomach related problems. It is very beneficial to eat after an attack of fever.
• Take 30 gm of fresh coriander juice to increase appetite within three days.
• Chop 50 gm onion and mix in fresh curd set with cow milk. Eat this to control acidity.
• Grind two-grams of aniseed, one gram of dry mango powder, ten grams of sugar candy and store it in a glass jar. Take three to four times with hot water to calm down all types of indigestion.
• Roast bitter gourd flowers or leaves in clarified butter (ghee) and prepare a powder. Take one to two grams twice or thrice daily to control acidity.
• Take equal quantities of white cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Eat with sugar to control acidity.
• Add a little bit of roasted cumin seeds in orange juice and add a little bit of rock salt. Drink this juice for relief.
• Grind wood apple (bilva or bael) leaves in water and sieve. Add 20 gm sugar candy and drink to overcome acidity.
• Mix Moolhati churna in honey and clarified butter and lick to relieve acidity.
• Grind 30 gm dry dates and 25 gm aniseed, soak in 200 gm water overnight. Crush nicely the next morning and add 10 gm sugar candy. Drink this daily to reduce acidity.
• Grind 100 gm tamarind (seedless), 25 gm cumin seed, and 125 gm sugar candy and prepare a powder. Store it in a glass jar. Take three grams twice daily with water to control acidity.
• Prepare a powder with eight grams of shora and ten-grams of sal ammoniac. Take four to six grains twice daily with water to overcome pitta. It gives instant results in case of acidity; burning sensation in chest, sour belches, etc.
• Chew lemon peels nicely and suck the juice to control acidity.
• Mix one spoon of ginger juice with equal quantity of pomegranate juice and drink for relief.
• Suck one clove daily after meals to control acidity and related problems.
• Keep a small piece of jaggery and suck the juice daily after meals. It is beneficial when sour saliva is produced due to acidity. It also controls gastric problem, and prevents foul air.
• Mix two grams of small harad churna in equal quantity of jaggery and eat it. Drink water over it. Take this medicine half an hour before meals and follow it for just three days. Acidity will get eradicated.
• Drink one spoon of gwarpatha (aloe vera) juice daily for relief.
• Take five grams each of drumstick root and giloy root and prepare chutney. Take it with hot water.
• Mix two cups of spinach juice, half-cup carrot juice and two spoons kulthi juice.
• Mix sugar in half spoon papaya milk and take this medicine.
• Add a little bit of sugar in radish juice and drink.
• Prepare kwath with four cloves, two pieces of harad and a spoonful of ajowan, and drink for relief.
• Grind ten grams each of mint, cumin seeds and black pepper and prepare chutney. Add one cup of water, boil it and then drink.
• Grind equal quantities of neem offshoots, and neem skin and take half a spoon daily in the morning on empty stomach with water.
• Wash three grams each of creeping grass and bathua leaves and chew them.
• Grind five grams each of dry mango powder, black salt, cinnamon, asafetida, pipal, and harad, then sieve it. Take a spoonful with lukewarm water daily after meals to control acidity.
• If acidity arises during the night then mix a spoonful of soda bicarbonate and equal quantity of lemon juice in cold water and drink.
• Prepare chutney with a pinch of rock salt, a small piece of ginger and a spoonful of lemon juice and eat it for relief.
• Mix a spoonful of ajowan, a pinch of rock salt and a pinch of asafetida. Take this and drink water over it for relief.

Treatment of Acidity through Nature Cure:

• Keep a lep of black mud on the stomach and tie a bandage over it. Apply the lep again if it gets dry.
• Take hipbath for ten minutes daily in the morning and splash water at regular intervals.
• Massage clarified butter (ghee) on both soles for ten minutes.
• Keep hot water bag on the stomach, back, waist and knees.
• Take a sauna bath in sitting position (can use a chair).
• These remedies are very beneficial to overcome acidity.

Food and Diet Regulations for Acidity:

• Drink cow's milk, pomegranate juice. Eat sweet lime, aniseed, grapes, dry dates, myrobalan, fig, old rice, kheer, juicy things, round gourd, roasted gram flour, etc.
• Consume bitter gourd, gourd, torai, wheat flour, green leafy vegetables, Harad, garlic, and honey everyday.
• Eat fruits like papaya, guava, apple, banana, cheekoo, wood apple and myrobalan marmalade etc.
• Stop the consumption of tea, coffee, alcohol, meat, fish, eggs, sweets, tobacco, stale rice, heavy food, dry mango powder, refined flour, potato, spices, fried things and snacks.
• Do not consume clarified butter ghee, oil, curd, food that increases pitta, lentils, whole horse beans, etc. Do not get exposed to sun, and avoid constipation.
• Stop the consumption of hot, acidic and bitter tasting food as they increase pitta.

Yogic Cure for Acidity:

Practice Uttanapadasana, Halasana, Pavanmuktasana, Kandharasana, Yogamudrasana, Matsyasana, Bhujangasana, Ekpadgreevasana, Garbhasana, etc., to overcome stomach disorders and reduce constipation and acidity. (Please see other articles for specific procedures to perform each asana.)

Pranayama for Acidity:

• Pranayam is very useful – Kapalbhati pranayam should be practiced for five minutes everyday.
• Anulom-Vilom and Nadi shodhan pranayam should also be practiced for ten minutes daily to overcome all stomach related problems and acidity.
• Regular practice of Agnisar kriya is also very beneficial.
• Uddiyan bandh keeps the stomach healthy and calms down acidity and other related problems.