STRUGGLE TO LIVE vEDik LIFESTYLE IN 21 CENTURY SKYSCRAPER IN MUMBAI, INDIA........
Posted by Vishva News Reporter on February 3, 2006

 

THE SHAH FAMILY OF DIAMOND MERCHANT
Girish, his wife Kiran, sons Tanmay and Rishabh
live in 1,600 sq.-ft flat at Malabar Hill
in south Mumbai, India
in the 21st century skyscraper 

But this SHAH family is endeavouring
to live in
vEDik lifestyle
to preserve and propagate the
vEDik lifestyle
in this time era called
kli-yug
in which
vEDik lifestyle  is disappearing fast
due to humanity forgetting
the knowledge of
vED and DHARm....

 

The Shah family  holding daily prayer in their apartment
as per vEDik shaasTR

The Shah family having lunch with food and sitting 
as per vEDik shaasTR.

PVAF is publishing this news story from The Week web site as submitted by PVAF contributor SHRii Amitab Sharma from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada...Amitabji immigrated to Canada from India recently and works as an Electrical Engineer at the world famous oils sands development in northern Alberta.  Amitabji is a very firm believer in vEDik lifestyle which is being lost in this time era called kli-yug where the only DHARm that humanity abides by is that of making money but not based on the rules and regulations of following DHARm in daily living.. The purpose of this news item is to search one's aat`maa (soul) after reading this story on the next page about how this Shah family is struggling to live a veDik lifestyle to find if what Shah family is trying is the reality one would live with if one studied vED and then lived with the vED knowledge every minute of the day....

vED is the sciences of creation and life which has been forgotten after the 18-day mHaabhaart war about 5200 years ago when kli-yug started....

PVAF invites your thoughts on YOUR experience of
study of vED and living with vED knowledge
continually suggested, prescribed and provided with study means and examples
at PVAF is beneficial....
To share your views please click on the POST A COMMENT button
 in the header of this news items and share away as much as you like
TO MAKE SOMEONE'S TOMORROW
 HAPPIER WITH veD KNOWLEDGE....

Please click on the next line to read the story from The Week news web......



 

Lifestyle
The Shahs live, rural style, in a Mumbai skyscraper apartment

The Week: June 19, 2005: By Quaied Najmi

A diamond merchant and his family living in a Mumbai skyscraper apartment splattered with cow dung? Social worker and chief of the Samast Mahajan Trust, Girish Shah, is true to his roots. Everything in Shah’s 1,600 sq.-ft flat at Malabar Hill in south Mumbai has a touch of rustic charm. The doorbell is a thick multi-coloured cotton string attached to a hook with a tiny bell. Pull on it and a brass bell booms inside, like the temple bells in villages. "Very soothing and divine, isn’t it? Visitors are surprised by this,’’ Shah, in his mid-40s, says.

Shoes remain at the door, and you step onto a brown floor made of one-inch thick cow dung spread evenly on a half inch base of clay. The advantage: "After a hard day’s work, simply lie on this floor for an hour—you’ll be completely refreshed!’’ Shah promises. The walls are plastered with limestone powder. "It has a life-span of 60 years," says Shah.

He hired a team of artisans from Gujarat and Rajasthan for making the floors and the walls. "It is very economical, at Rs 4,000 for the entire floor, compared to Rs 400 to Rs 1,200 a square foot for granite, marble or marbo-granite," he says. The limestone-cow dung combination ensures that the place is free of bugs and rodents. Besides, the housemaid lights a concoction of dry cow dung, dry neem leaves, a dash of homemade butter and a pinch of camphor at dusk. The incense is taken around the flat, making it the only one in the building free of the infamous Mumbai mosquito menace.

Shah’s prime concerns are water and electricity conservation, living in a pollution-free and eco-friendly environment, and imparting traditional gurukul education to his kids. Though it is a warm and humid evening, Shah’s home feels cool. There are no lights, fans or air-conditioners in the living and dining rooms. A maid lights a dozen sesame oil lamps hung from the ceiling. The other rooms have zero-watt bulbs. Shah says his monthly electricity bill is less than Rs 200; neighbours run up bills of a few thousand rupees.

Au naturale: The kids study in a gurukul

Contrary to the popular modular designs, Shah’s is a ‘sitting kitchen’. The Cudappah platform is raised six inches from the floor; the lady of the house sits and cooks—it is ergonomic and healthier. There is a medium-sized refrigerator but ice-creams and chilled drinks are no-nos; the refrigerator is just to keep foodstuff that could rot in Mumbai weather. Everything else is natural—the foodstuff, organic; the soaps, shampoos and washing liquids, Ayurvedic. "Everything is sourced from a grocer’s shop which specialises in this. It is more expensive than the regular stuff, but it is worth it in terms of health benefits,’’ says Shah’s wife, Kiran.

 



Sons, Tanmay and Rishabh, and daughter Dhwani attend an exclusive gurukul nearby. "I keep them away from television and movies," says Shah. "They are trained in archery, which has done wonders for their concentration and memory development." Computer usage is limited, even for Shah. An office assistant brings home a laptop and takes it away after Shah is through with his work.

The floor in the bedrooms is made of hand-cut teak tiles clamped together without chemical adhesives or cement. Teak is the only natural material that is insectproof, and water only makes it stronger and more durable. (In the good old days, most ships and homes were made of teak.)

Traditions go still deeper. All utensils are made of silver, copper or bronze; no Wedgwood china for the Shahs. Overhead water storage tanks, wash basins and toilet seats are made of copper or bronze. "Copper prevents digestive problems, cleanses the blood, cures acidity and makes the skin and hair glow,’’ says Kiran.

Some visitors to the Shah household are so awed by the experience that they try to emulate his example. At least 100 families have withdrawn their kids from schools and put them in the gurukul that Shah’s children attend; some have cut down electricity usage to the minimum. Others are taking to organic food and have made meditation part of their routine.
 



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