I am the master of this body thundered Mr.M.I am the master of its soul roared Mr.H.I control the Physiology said M.I am in-charge of it's emotions said H.I am the sensor said M ,But I am it's tensor said H.The argument had only begun but it's journey has rummaged civilisations since time immemorial.Without any twisters I am bringing the contrasting personalities that define Man and his actions through a dialogue between his MIND and HEART.In the crossroads of Life we often come across Life threatening situations and contingencies which can either consume us or elevate us to a high ground.The success or failure depends on how we deal with the situation.How we deal with the situation squarely relies on our ability to analyse the problem.How we analyse the problem depends on our level of Understanding .A problem is a two edged sword.We need the twin resources of the Mind and Heart to solve it.Let me explain this with some case studies from my real life.

I recount a tale told to me by my mother .When I was a toddler it seems I was playing with a feeding bottle while my mom was in the kitchen.She returned to see her child motionless with the feeding bottle below it's chest.She tried shaking the child ,but no response from the kid.Without any second thoughts she took the child in her arms and ran to the family physician's house which was three kilometres away in a remote place called Robertson pet in Kolar gold fields.Luckily the physician was there and after pumping my little heart with his blessed palms he brought me alive.My mom was shocked when he said she was on time.A few minutes here and there,I wouldn't be here writing this piece.My mom could have spent considerable time shouting for help and every second spent could have been life threatening for me.She went by instinct and nothing else came to her mind but the family physician's house.Running Three kilometres bare footed.She was sure footed in her timing and so was I with fate.This is a classic case of the Mind vs Heart battle in the war between Life and Death.Mind won with consumate ease.If emotions had ruled her thoughts,it would have blurred her understanding and thought process and would have spent more time weeping rather than acting.Emotions are ruled by the heart. If her Heart had won ,my Heart would have died. What a paradox!!!!

In the summer of 2003 my Mom was diagonised with Cancer of the oesophagus,a rare form of cancer they said.The entire family was aghast at the news but gathered courage to fight it out till the end.My Mom was more inspirational than all of us and was willing to undergo any tests and treatment to kill the deadly disease.The surgeon we met told us the pros and cons of the surgery."Look gentlemen,she has a 70 - 80% chance of surviving ,but the remaining 20 - 30 % are also crucial.She might die on the table itself.It is a complicated surgery which could last atleast 10 hrs".I and my elder brother quietly nodded as he continued"Since she is an asthma patient for almost 30 years,her lungs are severely compromised and any open chest surgery of this magnitude could lead to lung infections from which she might not recover"."So she may have to be put on a ventilator after the surgery and may be in bed for a very long time.She might get up or slip into coma".Think about this and come back to me after a couple of days.We were totally confused.We told Mom about the risks and she was willing to take the surgery.But opinions were divided within the house.The 20-30% rocked our minds and after a day or two we decided to take an alternative treatment instead of surgery.We landed up in Pune at a Laser clinic which claimed to have a treatment for similar cancers.She made little progress after five weeks.We came back to Chennai and met a Siddha Doctor who prescribed medicines which had little effect on her.Initially her symptoms receeded but came back after some months.Vomitting food and water.We went back to the Surgeon who took some tests and told us that surgery was impossible at that stage.She went through the excruciating journey with will power and was determined to fight her battle.She finally succumbed to the disease in December 2004 but not without waging a war for 18 months.She had won her battle,we could have helped her win the war.If we had focussed on the 70 -80% success percentage the surgeon had envisioned us with,we might have saved her.Post mortems generally tell a morbid tale but our lack of foresight sealed our fate.No one has the benefit of hindsight,but if only the HEART had ruled us that day.Our emotions told us to go for the surgery,but our mind could not make a clear decision.The Heart was willing to be positive,but the mind was wandering and rummaging the negatives.Our MIND won,but we lost a dear mother.

Two life threatening situations.My Mom won the first through her Mind.She lost the second because of our lack of Heart.We all come across such circumstances,but  seldom make the right choices.The battles will keep us at bay.It is easy to say"We need both".But generally one prevails over the other.Case rested.