No matter how much planning and preparation you do, something will not turn out the way you wanted it to be. Yet even when those inevitable disappointments do indeed come, you can adapt and make the very most of them.
Life is not perfect and yet it can be perfectly wonderful. It's great to aim for perfection, and even better to achieve excellence in spite of the imperfections you encounter. When people and situations refuse to cooperate, you can be amazingly adaptable. You can move toward excellence even in the most distressing, imperfect scenarios.
Though what you have is not perfect, you can work with it. Accept what you have, imperfections and all, with gratitude and enthusiasm. Don't spend your time waiting for the perfect situation, something which is not very likely
to come. Go ahead with life as it is, with the bumps and the pitfalls, and give your best to every moment.
Imperfections
The Lovely Ten
Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark...
ONE: Don't miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the
cheetahs.
NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
The top ways to beat the stress over the weekend.
The top ways to beat the stress over the weekend.
When is the last time you decided to be selfish and decided to be a slave to ‘Me first, others later’ ideology? With the stress levels shooting heights, we put together ten top ways to beat the stress over the weekend.
Aromatherapy. Before you go, that-isnt-for-me, then we recommend just-do-it-once-in-your-life. Jennifer Aniston and Jude Law swear by it. What is it? Aromatherapy is an umbrella term that applies to any healing process involving the use of essential oils. The classic relaxing oil is lavender. Others associated with de-stressing are chamomile, bergamot, patchouli and sandalwood.
Accupuncture
Acupuncture is based on the Chinese philosophy that the body's energy, the qi, made up of yin and yang, flows under the skin. If yin or yang is more dominant, qi reserves dip and you become ill. An acupuncturist will discuss your general health to identify unbalanced areas of qi.
He or she will then insert fine needles into "energy channels" in the body to restore its natural balance. Oprah Winfrey and Sandra Bullock swear by this method of de-stressing.
Hot stone massage therapy
It is the application of heated and cooled stones to certain parts of the body. During hot stone therapy, treated volcanic stones, usually basalt or basinite, are heated in water, using temperatures ranging from 120-130F, and placed along the spine. Cooled marble stones are also used. Often the stones are coated in aromatherapy oils. As well as along the spine, some stones are placed in the palms and in between the toes. Hot stone therapists believe that the combination of warm and cold encourages the body to relax.
Reflexology
Seemingly, Prince Charles swears by this method of de stressing. Reflexology uses the manipulation of pressure points, usually on the feet but sometimes on the hands and ears, to relieve ailments elsewhere in the body.
Reiki
Before you shrug off this de-stressing technique, do remember that Nicole Kidman and Meg Ryan believe in this form of de stressing. Reiki, roughly translated from Japanese as "universal life energy" is a practice started by a Buddhist called Mikao Usui in 1922. Reiki practitioners heal their patients by transferring energy to the patient through the palms.
Qigong
Invented by Taoist monks 3000 years ago, qigong is related to Tai Chi and Vedic meditation. It is based on the same principles as reiki and shiatsu: that of "qi", "energy" flows and pathways.
With qi meaning "air" and "gong" meaning exercise, qigong is based on slow body movements that are co-ordinated with the breathing, encouraging energy to flow down the "right" pathways of the body.
Ka Huna, a little known form of massage is great for beating stress. Once practiced in ancient Hawaiian temples as a means of restoring harmony to mind, body and soul, it is now commonly practiced everywhere. Once you try this gentler version of massage, you will emerge more relaxed and with your limbs intact!
Get Sunlight and Wide Open Space
Think about the average office. It is a stress breeding ground. When you spend a lot of the day indoors dealing with the daily grind you lose a lot of perspective. A stressful event seems like the end of the world and you spend the rest of the day (or week!) brooding and thinking about it over and over again. It is like there is nothing else going on in the world.
When you feel like your whole world is becoming engulfed in stress and anxiety one of the simplest things you can do is go outside in the sun in a wide-open space. The effect is wonderfully relaxing. Try it!
A few years ago I discovered how much classical music could help my stress levels. Infact, findings have stated that classical music have a soothing effect on our frayed nerves.
And of course, the last bit is just relax and learn to let go. A lot of us are addicted to stress. I know that sounds a little silly but in many cases it is true. And to make matters worse we go over things again and again in our head. We think that if we think about "why" we are stressed we will come to some lasting solution but in actual fact it just makes it worse. Ironic, isn’t it.
Switch on to classical Music
In these times it is really handy to know the mantra "Just relax!" It sounds simple and probably a little bit silly but it is something you have to try to do. Just relax. Things aren't that bad. I came across a popular Buddhist teaching.
"If the problem can be solved, why worry? If the problem cannot be solved, worrying will be of no help." And the teaching more or less puts things in the perspective…doesn’t it!
Get time on your side - Manage your time effectively - use a daily planner and to-do lists. Prioritize those tasks that are most critical. Be sure to include time for rest and relaxation.
Keep moving - Regular physical activity is one of the best ways of managing and coping with stress.
Stay clean and sober - Avoid alcohol and drug use as a means of coping with stress. Alcohol and drugs will mask the symptoms of stress but will do nothing to alleviate your stress.
Keep a healthy diet and a healthy mind - Avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt. Eat healthy meals and snacks and your energy will remain high as will your ability to focus and concentrate.
Take a break - Minimize interruptions when studying and be sure to include leisure activities and relaxation during study times.
Just say no - Learn to say no without guilt when you are working on your studies. Taking on additional tasks and projects when you do not have to will add to your stress level.
Keep it in perspective - What are the long-term consequences of whatever is stressing you out right now? If the stressor will not have long-term consequences, then you may want to "let it be" and focus on those stressors for which you can take action. Counseling and Wellness Services is available to help with this process.
Count some sheep - It is important to get enough sleep on a regular basis. Avoid caffeine and eating heavy foods late in the evening. Try to go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time each day.
Wake Up Naturally to a More Energized Day
7:00am: An infuriating alarm jolts you awake.
7:30am: After three snooze delays you finally turn it off and force yourself to jump out of bed.
8:15am: Two cups of coffee later, you're stuck in maddening morning traffic.
2:30pm: You practically fall asleep at your desk.
"I got eight hours of sleep last night," you think hazily. "Why am I
still tired?"
The answer may lie in your morning routine. Afternoon energy levels
can be predicted by what you do when you first get up. A typical
frantic start to the day can wake you up temporarily, but leave you
dragging later on. Low energy saps creativity, spontaneity,
concentration and motivation. Not to mention the irritability and
stress that it causes.
So why does the morning rush let you down? According to researchers at
Duke University Medical Center, both sudden activity and caffeine
kick-up your blood pressure and stress hormones, giving you a quick
feeling of alertness and energy. But these adrenaline-producing
tactics are short-lived. Once the mayhem is over, it's crash time.
It's much better to start the day by letting your body catch up to
sleep-cycle cues that it collects. By coming out of "sleep" mode more
naturally, you help your body get off to a more relaxing start to a
more energized day.
Here are some ideas for how to set your body clock to "awake" without
the shock of sudden activity that rattles the stress system:
- Wake up to music rather than an alarm.
- Don't get up right away. While breathing deeply, loosen up and stretch
your limbs out, from your fingers to your toes. Pretend you're a cat
waking up from a nap.
- Think of the most positive thing you'll be doing that day.
- Get out of bed slowly. Ease into it.
- Turn on more and more lights as you go through your routine, until
every light you see is on.
- If weather permits, step outside for a minute. Sunshine is one of the
strongest ways to tell your body to wake up.
- Do 3-5 minutes of easy activity. Emphasis on easy.
- Eat breakfast! Foods low in fat and high in protein, fiber and carbs
provide energy that lasts a long time. Try yogurt, fruit, whole wheat
breads, and skim milk.
A key is not to oversleep or use the snooze button. It may be tough at
first, but getting up at the same time every morning makes it easier
to set a sleep cycle that won't make you feel tired in the middle of
the day.
Oh yeah, about the traffic: try listening to some classical music or jazz.
TAKE TIME TO READ AND ABSORB THIS INSPIRING TEXT.
"I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as that of a District Employment Officer in Koraput, Orissa. It was and remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There was no electricity; no primary school nearby and water did not flow out of a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until the age of eight; I was home-schooled. My father used to get transferred every year. The family belongings fit into the back of a jeep - so the family moved from place to place and, without any trouble, my Mother would set up an establishment and get us going. Raised by a widow who had come as a refugee from the then East Bengal , she was a matriculate when she married my Father. My parents set the foundation of my life and the value system which makes me what I am today and largely defines what success means to me today.
As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeep by the government. There was no garage in the Office, so the jeep was parked in our house... My father refused to use it to commute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensive resource given by the government - he reiterated to us that it was not 'his jeep' but the government's jeep. Insisting that he would use it only to tour the interiors, he would walk to his office on normal days. He also made sure that we never sat in the government jeep - we could sit in it only when it was stationary. That was our early childhood lesson in governance - a lesson that corporate managers learn the hard way, some never do. The driver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any other member of my Father's office. As small children, we were taught not to call him by his name. We had to use the suffix 'dada' whenever we were to refer to him in public or private. When I grew up to own a car and a driver by the name of Raju was appointed - I repeated the lesson to my two small daughters. They have, as a result, grown up to call Raju, 'Raju Uncle'- very different from many of their friends who refer to their family drivers as 'my driver'. When I hear that term from a school - or college-going person, I cringe. To me, the lesson was significant - you treat small people with more respect than how you treat big people. It is more important to respect your subordinates than your superiors.
Our day used to start with the family huddling around my Mother's chulha - an earthen fire place she would build at each place of posting where she would cook for the family. There was no gas, nor electrical stoves. The morning routine started with tea. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman's 'muffosil' edition - delivered one day late. We did not understand much of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the world was larger than Koraput district and the English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson. He used to say, "You should leave your newspaper and your toilet, the way you expect to find it". That lesson was about showing consideration to others. Business begins and ends with that simple precept.
Being small children, we were always enamored with advertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios - we did not have one. We saw other people having radios in their homes and each time there was an advertisement of Philips, Murphy or Bush radios, we would ask Father when we could get one. Each time, my Father would reply that we did not need one because he already had five radios - alluding to his five sons. We also did not have a house of our own and would occasionally ask Father as to when, like others, we would live in our own house. He would give a similar reply, "We do not need a house of our own. I already own five houses". His replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant. Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success and sense of well being through material possessions.
Government houses seldom came with fences. Mother and I collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch, my Mother would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensils and with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infested surrounding. We planted flowering bushes. The white ants destroyed them. My mother brought ash from her chulha and mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlings all over again. This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father's transfer order came. A few neighbors told my mother why she was taking so much pain to beautify a government house, why she was planting seeds that would only benefit the next occupant. My mother replied that it did not matter to her that she would not see the flowers in full bloom. She said, "I have to create a bloom in a desert and whenever I am given a new place, I must leave it more beautiful than what I had inherited". That was my first lesson in success. It is not about what you create for yourself, it is what you leave behind that defines success.
My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when I was very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers got a teaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had to prepare for the civil services examination. So, it was decided that my Mother would move to cook for him and, as her appendage, I had to move too. For the first time in my life, I saw electricity in homes and water coming out of a tap. It was around 1965 and the country was going to war with Pakistan . My mother was having problems reading and in any case, being Bengali, she did not know the Oriya script. So, in addition to my daily chores, my job was to read her the local newspaper - end to end. That created in me a sense of connectedness with a larger world. I began taking interest in many different things. While reading out news about the war, I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and I discussed the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe. In it, we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure my success in terms of that sense of larger connectedness.
Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on both fronts. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined the term "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" and galvanized the nation in to patriotic fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to my mother, I had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So, after reading her the newspaper, every day I would land up near the University's water tank, which served the community. I would spend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies who would come to poison the water and I had to watch for them. I would daydream about catching one and how the next day, I would be featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me, the spies at war ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and I never got a chance to catch one in action... Yet, that act unlocked my imagination. Imagination is everything. If we can imagine a future, we can create it, if we can create that future, others will live in it. That is the essence of Success.
Over the next few years, my mother's eyesight dimmed but in me she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue to see the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was seeing too. As the next few years unfolded, her vision deteriorated and she was operated for cataract. I remember, when she returned after her operation and she saw my face clearly for the first time, she was astonished. She said, "Oh my God, I did not know you were so fair". I remain mighty pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeks of getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and, overnight, became blind in both eyes. That was 1969. She died in 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she never complained about her fate even once. Curious to know what she saw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees Darkness. She replied, "No, I do not see darkness. I only see light even with my eyes closed". Until she was eighty years of age, she did her morning yoga everyday, swept her own room and washed her own clothes. To me, success is about the sense of independence; it is about not seeing the world but seeing the light. Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joined the industry and began to carve my life's own journey. I began my life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become a Management Trainee with the DCM group and eventually found my life's calling with the IT industry when fourth generation computers came to India in 1981. Life took me places - I worked with outstanding people, challenging assignments and traveled all over the world. In 1992, while I was posted in the US , I learnt that my father, living a retired life with my eldest brother, had suffered a third degree burn injury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi . I flew back to attend to him - he remained for a few days in critical stage, bandaged from neck to toe. The Safderjung Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty, in-human place. The overworked, under-resourced sisters in the burn ward are both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized life at its worst. One morning, while attending to my Father, I realized that the blood bottle was empty and fearing that air would go into his vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly told me to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in pain and frustration and anger. Finally when she relented and came, my Father opened his eyes and murmured to her, "Why have you not gone home yet?" Here was a man on his deathbed but more concerned about the overworked nurse than his own state. I was stunned at his stoic self. There I learnt that there is no limit to how concerned you can be for another human being and what is the limit of inclusion you can create. My father died the next day.
He was a man whose success was defined by his Principles, his Frugality, his Universalism and his Sense of Inclusion. Above all, he taught me that, "Success is your ability to rise above your discomfort, whatever may be your current state". You can, if you want, raise your consciousness above your immediate surroundings. Success is not about building material comforts - the transistor that he never could buy or the house that he never owned. His success was about the legacy he left, the memetic continuity of his ideals that grew beyond the smallness of a ill-paid, unrecognized government servant's world.
My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. He sincerely doubted the capability of the post-independence Indian political parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering of the Union Jack was a sad event. My Mother was the exact opposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congress and came to Dacca , my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded him. She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground movement that trained her in using daggers and swords.
Consequently, our household saw diversity in the political outlook of the two. On major issues concerning the world, the Old Man and the Old Lady had differing opinions. In them, we learnt the power of disagreements, of dialogue and the essence of living with diversity in thinking. Success is not about the ability to create a definitive dogmatic end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes, of dialogue and continuum.
Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar . I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, "Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world." Her river was nearing its journey, at the confluence of life and death, this woman who came to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed Mother, no more educated than high school, married to an anonymous government servant whose last salary was Rupees Three Hundred, robbed of her eyesight by fate and crowned by adversity - was telling me to go and kiss the world!
Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about Imagination. It is about Sensitivity to small people. It is about Building Inclusion. It is about Connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about Personal Tenacity. It is about Giving Back More To Life than you take out of it. It is about creating Extra-Ordinary Success With Ordinary Lives.
Thank you very much; I wish you good luck and Godspeed. Go, kiss the world.
AP: Village labourer cracks IIT entrance
With hard effort and single-minded devotion, you can make possible what seems impossible.
That is what an 18-year-old has shown in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. With not enough to eat, and no money even to burn the midnight oil, in a village with hardly nine hours daily power supply, the boy managed to secure 453rd rank in the IIT entrance exam. However, he has won only half the battle yet.
At Garikapadu village in Khammam district, the IIT entrance rank holder, Narasimha Rao, is a labour under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.
With the daily wage of Rs 80, Narasimha wants to repay dues for borrowing books from a reference library. Even at work, his thoughts revolve around science.
''When I am working in the field also, I think of questions in physics. I just can't understand how these mobiles work? How the waves travel?'' says Narasimha.
Narsimha's mother Lakshmi can't tell what exam her son has passed but the labourer parents say their son has made them proud.
''My boy said he would buy me a gas stove to cook after he gets a job. I know he is grown up now. My eyes burn when we burn wood,'' says Lakshmi.
Narsimha managed to get coaching in an IIT institute in nearby Vijaywada with the financial support by some elders in this village. Now the 18-year-old has to attend counselling at IIT Madras on June 18, for which he does not even have travel expenses.
''After I am settled in life, I promise to pay back the money. I will be so thankful,'' says Narasimha.
Words from someone wise.
When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! 'The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, delete it. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. If you need God to open some doors for you...send this to ten people. Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...
Manage Life, Manage it All
Cultivate Confidence
One should not look down on oneself. The greatest achievers were the most ordinary people. Napoleon was just a Corsican farmer, a peasant who grew to the great heights of gentry, became an emperor and conquered almost the whole of Europe. Swami Vivekananda was a confused youngster from College until Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa gave him the insight and he asked himself. "What have I done so far? This is when he became a roaring lion in Vedanta for the whole world. Mahatma Gandhi was an ordinary Barrister. He was not a politician. How did he become a great man? Shankaracharya was a little child. Today, their lives are glorified, but the beauty is that they all started as ordinary people.
Bhagawan Sri Krishna has said in the Bhagavad-Gita "Lift yourself by yourself and do not lower yourself again." Each one has the capacity for greater achievements. Do not look down upon your self. Nelson Mandela, in his inaugural speech echoed this idea from Gita. He mentioned that people are not afraid of their weakness, but there strength, they are not afraid of their failures, but of greatness; they do not fear inadequacies. Success, whether material or spiritual, is guaranteed if one is willing and ready to work for it. The seed of greatness is present in everyone but it is not sprout because of fear or lack of confidence. Everyone is seeking peace and happiness. The rishis gave up their lives not to give us pebbles- poverty, cheap thrills or joys in the name of religion, but to give the goal of the infinite. They pointed out, "Go for the best, GO for the infinite" The whole bulk of the scriptures points out the infinite nature of a human
being. Each one is the infinite. Each one is unique and each one is special. Converting your potential into performance is the art of management.
Learning from Sorrow and Failure
Unfortunately most of our lives goes complaining. Half of our lives goes in questioning. Why?, Why did this happen?" And the other half goes in asking "What? What will happen?" We are either grieving over the past or brooding over the future. The intellect always ask questions, but questioning will be either positive or negative. We have to learn the art of questioning itself. When failures or sorrows come in life, one must examine the cause and learn from past mistakes.
Sri Krishna did not pat Arjuna when he wanted to escape from the Battlefield in the name of spirituality. Krishna thundered, "I am asking you where? Where has the perilous condition come from, O Arjuna? How has a Hero like you collapsed to this condition?"
Sri Krishna almost whipped Arjuna "Don't give into impotence. O Partha! It does not befit thee. Therefore, give up this means weakness of heart. Stop grieving over why and what, Get up and face the challenge of life. This first statement immediately transformed the character of Arjuna's mind. He changed his question, How, O Madhusudana, shall I in battle fight with arrows, against Bhishma and Drona?
Practical people of the world do not sit and question about the uncertain future. They question, "How I can make it happen?" The moment Arjuna put forward this question, his thinking changed and rather than getting depressed, he said, "Please instruct me. How can I face the battle of my life?".
Therefore the science of life management, complete in all its aspects, starts with this question. The diverse aspects relating to material as well as spiritual success are the different facets of the diamond of our life. We have to cut and polish the sides so that it shines and reflects the brilliance of bliss, happiness and infinity.
LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER
Dear Mr. Prime minister
I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which
has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at
least squeak but we don't even do that.
Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE
SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed
since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main
conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our
builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch
him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him.
If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your
statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this
unfortunate people of India.
Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by
about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days
are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear
reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.
We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You
promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.
Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick
out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family.
Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent
people, isn't it?
I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe
me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all
the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal
Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are
rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister
I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day,
make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election.
Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so
they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist
can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then
attack the Mumbai at their will.
Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen
builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me
knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your
finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes?
To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas
to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time
please come to me, I will tell you everything.
If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever
cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we
are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you
politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian
Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN.
You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of
divide and rule.
Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent
person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him.
Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician
feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.
Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person,
most learned person. Just wake up. First and foremost expose all
selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account
holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf
among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than
dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient
where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law.
Everything else will be taken care of.
Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one
person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?
Things your body can do after you die
From getting hitched to saving the environment, here's proof you can still be a busybody long after you kick the bucket.
Plastinated body at 'Body Worlds', the anatomical exhibition of real humans, in Los Angeles, California.
1. Get married
Death is no obstacle when it comes to love in China. That's because ghost marriage -- the practice of setting up deceased relatives with suitable spouses, dead or alive -- is still an option.
Ghost marriage first appeared in Chinese legends 2,000 years ago, and it's been a staple of the culture ever since. At times, it was a way for spinsters to gain social acceptance after death. At other times, the ceremony honored dead sons by giving them living brides. In both cases, the marriages served a religious function by making the deceased happier in the afterlife.
While the practice of matchmaking for the dead waned during China's Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, officials report that ghost marriages are back on the rise. Today, the goal is often to give a deceased bachelor a wife -- preferably one who has recently been laid to rest. But in a nation where men outnumber women in death as well as in life, the shortage of corpse brides has led to murder.
In 2007, there were two widely reported cases of rural men killing prostitutes, housekeepers, and mentally ill women in order to sell their bodies as ghost wives. Worse, these crimes pay. According to The Washington Post and The London Times, one undertaker buys women's bodies for more than $2,000 and sells them to prospective "in-laws" for nearly $5,000.
2. Unwind with a few friends
Today, most of us think of mummies as rare and valuable artifacts, but to the ancient Egyptians, they were as common as iPhones. So, where have all those mummies gone? Basically, they've been used up. Europeans and Middle Easterners spent centuries raiding ancient Egyptian tombs and turning the bandaged bodies into cheap commodities.
For instance, mummy-based panaceas were once popular as quack medicine. In the 16th century, French King Francis I took a daily pinch of mummy to build strength, sort of like a particularly offensive multivitamin. Other mummies, mainly those of animals, became kindling in homes and steam engines.
Meanwhile, human mummies frequently fell victim to Victorian social events. During the late 19th century, it was popular for wealthy families to host mummy-unwrapping parties, where the desecration of the dead was followed by cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.
3. Tour the globe as a scandalous work of art
Beginning in 1996 with the BODY WORLDS show in Japan, exhibits featuring artfully flayed human bodies have rocked the museum circuit. BODY WORLDS is now in its fourth incarnation, and competing shows, such as Bodies Revealed, are pulling in $30 million per year. The problem is, it's not always clear where those bodies are coming from.
Dr. Gunther von Hagens, the man behind BODY WORLDS, has documented that his bodies were donated voluntarily to his organization. However, his largest competitor, Premier Entertainment, doesn't have a well-established donation system. Premier maintains that its cadavers are unclaimed bodies from mainland China. And therein lies the concern. Activists and journalists believe "unclaimed bodies" is a euphemism for "executed political prisoners."
The fear isn't unfounded. In 2006, Canada commissioned a human rights report that found Chinese political prisoners were being killed so that their organs could be "donated" to transplant patients. And in February 2008, ABC News ran an exposé featuring a former employee from one of the Chinese companies that supplied corpses to Premier Entertainment. In the interview, he claimed that one-third of the bodies he processed were political prisoners. Not surprisingly, governments have started to take notice. In January 2008, the California State Assembly passed legislation requiring body exhibits to prove that all their corpses were willfully donated.
4. Fuel a city
Cremating a body uses up a lot of energy -- and a lot of nonrenewable resources. So how do you give Grandma the send-off she wanted and protect the planet at the same time? Multitask.
Some European crematoriums have figured out a way to replace conventional boilers by harnessing the heat produced in their fires, which can reach temperatures in excess of 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, starting in 1997, the Swedish city of Helsingborg used local crematoriums to supply 10 percent of the heat for its homes.
5. Get sold, chop shop-style
Selling a stiff has always been a profitable venture. In the Middle Ages, grave robbers scoured cemeteries and sold whatever they could dig up to doctors and scientists. And while the business of selling cadavers and body parts in the United States is certainly cleaner now, it's no less dubious.
Today, the system runs like this: Willed-body donation programs, often run by universities, match cadavers with the researchers who need them. But because dead bodies and body parts can't be sold legally, the middlemen who supply these bodies charge large fees for "shipping and handling."
Shipping a full cadaver can bring in as much as $1,000, but if you divvy up a body into its component parts, you can make a fortune. A head can cost as much as $500; a knee, $650; and a disembodied torso, $5,000.
The truth is, there are never enough of these willed bodies to meet demand. And with that kind of money on the mortician's table, corruption abounds.
In the past few years, coroners have been busted stealing corneas, crematorium technicians have been caught lifting heads off bodies before they're burned, and university employees at body donation programs have been found stealing cadavers.
After UCLA's willed-body program director was arrested for selling body parts in 2004, the State of California recommended outfitting corpses with bar code tattoos or tracking chips, like the kinds injected into dogs and cats. The hope is to make cadavers easier to inventory and track down when they disappear.
6. Become a Soviet tourist attraction
Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin wanted to be buried in his family plot. But when Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin insisted on putting his corpse on public display in Red Square, creating a secular, Communist relic.
Consequently, an organization called the Research Institute for Biological Structures was formed to keep Lenin's body from decay. The Institute was no joke, as some of the Soviet Union's most brilliant minds spent more than 25 years working and living on site to perfect the Soviet system of corpse preservation. Scientists today still use their method, which involves a carefully controlled climate, a twice-weekly regimen of dusting and lubrication, and semi-annual dips in a secret blend of 11 herbs and chemicals.
Unlike bodies, however, fame can't last forever. The popularity of the tomb is dwindling, and the Russian government is now considering giving Lenin the burial he always wanted.
7. Snuggle up with your stalker
When a beautiful young woman named Elena Hoyos died of tuberculosis in Florida in 1931, her life as a misused object of desire began. Her admirer, a local X-ray technician who called himself Count Carl von Cosel, paid for Hoyos to be embalmed and buried in a mausoleum above ground.
Then, in 1933, the crafty Count stole Elena's body and hid it in his home. During the next seven years, he worked to preserve her corpse, replacing her flesh as it decayed with hanger wires, molded wax, and plaster of Paris. He even slept beside Elena's body in bed -- that is, until her family discovered her there.
In the ensuing media circus, more than 6,000 people filed through the funeral home to view Elena before she was put to rest. Her family buried her in an unmarked grave so that von Cosel couldn't find her, but that didn't stop his obsession. Von Cosel wrote about Elena for pulp fiction magazines and sold postcards of her likeness until he was found dead in his home in 1952. Near his body was a life-size wax dummy made to look just like Elena.
8. Don't spread an epidemic
In the aftermath of natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods and hurricanes, it's common for the bodies of victims to be buried or burned en masse as soon as possible. Supposedly, this prevents the spread of disease.
But according to the World Health Organization (WHO), dead bodies have been getting a bad rap. It turns out that the victims of natural disasters are no more likely to harbor infectious diseases than the general population. Plus, most pathogens can't survive long in a corpse.
Taken together, the WHO says there's no way that cadavers are to blame for post-disaster outbreaks. So what is? The fault seems to lie with the living or, more specifically, their living conditions. After a disaster, people often end up in crowded refugee camps with poor sanitation. For epidemic diseases, that's akin to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
9. Stand trial
In 897, Pope Stephen VI accused former Pope Formosus of perjury and violation of church canon. The problem was that Pope Formosus had died nine months earlier.
Stephen worked around this little detail by exhuming the dead pope's body, dressing it in full papal regalia, and putting it on trial. He then proceeded to serve as chief prosecutor as he angrily cross-examined the corpse. The spectacle was about as ludicrous as you'd imagine.
In fact, Pope Stephen appeared so thoroughly insane that a group of concerned citizens launched a successful assassination plot against him. The next year, one of Pope Stephen's successors reversed Formosus' conviction, ordering his body reburied with full honors.
10. Stave off freezer burn
At cryonics facilities around the globe, the dead aren't frozen anymore. The reason? Freezer burn. As with steaks and green beans, freezing a human body damages tissues, largely because cells burst as the water in them solidifies and expands. In the early days of cryonics, the theory was that future medical technology would be able to fix this damage, along with curing whatever illness killed the patient in the first place.
Realizing that straight freezing isn't the best option, today's scientists have made significant advances in cryonics. Using a process called vitrification, the water in the body is now replaced with an anti-freezing agent. The body is then stored at cold temperatures, but no ice forms.
In 2005, researchers vitrified a rabbit kidney and successfully brought it back to complete functionality -- a big step in cryonics research. (It may help in organ transplants someday, too.)
But science has yet to prove that an entire body can be revived. Even worse, some vitrified bodies have developed large cracks in places where cracks don't belong. Until those kinks get worked out, the hope of being revived in the future will remain a dream.
10things God won't ask
1 ...God won't ask what kind of car you drove; He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't havetransportation.
2...God won't ask the square footage of your house,He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
4...God won't ask what your highest salary was,He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtainit.
5...God won't ask what your job title was,He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6...God won't ask how many friends you had,He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7... God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived,He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.
8...God won't ask about the color of your skin,He'll ask about the content of your character.
9... God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation,He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
10...God won't ask how many people you forwarded this to,He'll ask if you were ashamed to pass it on to yourfriends.
Read Carefully
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
An Exceptional, Superb and Powerful Life
1) Take a 20-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate antidepressant.
2) Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Lock the door if you have to.
3) Always pray and make time to exercise.
4) Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
5) Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are processed in factories.
6) Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat broccoli, almonds and walnuts.
7) Try to make at least three people smile every day.
8) Clear your clutter from your house, car, desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
9) Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
10) Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the school curriculum that appear and fade away...but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
11) Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a layman and dinner like a beggar.
12) Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
13) Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
14) Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15) You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
16) Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
17) Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
18) Ladies - Stop waiting for a special occasion. Every day is special.
19) No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
20) Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
21) Forgive everyone for everything.
22) What other people think of you is none of your business.
23) Time heals almost everything. Give time – time!
24) However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
25) Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.
26) Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
27) Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. God provides, remember!
28) The best is yet to come.
29) No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
30) Do the right thing!
31) Call your family often.
32) Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I am thankful for __________.
'Today' I accomplished _________.
33) Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
34) Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not a Disney World. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it
and enjoy the ride.
LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH. LIFE'S a gift. That's why it's called PRESENT.
Have a blessed day. Please share this mail with friends!
Seven Ways to Identify a Liar
IAF pilot to IIT students during a Seminar
This was narrated by an IAF pilot to IIT students during a Seminar on Human Relations:
Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father, his maiden flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.
My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways. The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for a window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things. As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him.
When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket bats, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us? Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young. It is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete. Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments.
Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same attention and same care needs to be given to our parents and elders. Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes. Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.
Take care of your parents too. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.
Positive
| Positive thinking is a mental attitude that anticipates happiness, success and favorable outcomes in every situation or action you do. The thoughts get registered in your subconscious mind and you start taking action to create favorable change. |
| |||||||||||
| |
| |||||||||||
| Why think positively? |
| |||||||||||
| |
| |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Listen to your inner voice |
| |||||||||||
| |
| |||||||||||
| Always see the brighter side of life |
| |||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| |
| |||||||||||
| Finally… | ||||||||||||
Do it anway
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do
good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed
anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build
anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help
people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
15 Tips to Improve Your Memory and Exercise Your Brain
Everyone can take steps to improve their memory, and with time and practice most people can gain the ability to memorize seemingly impossible amounts of information. Whether you want to win the World Memory Championships, ace your history test, or simply remember where you put your keys, this article can get you started. Scientists believe that exercising your brain can create a 'cognitive reserve' that will help you stay sharp as you age.
1. Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve.
Too many people get stuck here and convince themselves that their memory is bad, that they are just not good with names, that numbers just slip out of their minds for some reason. Erase those thoughts and vow to improve your memory. Commit yourself to the task and bask in your achievements — it's hard to keep motivated if you beat yourself down every time you make a little bit of progress.
2. Keep your brain active.
The brain is not a muscle, but regularly "exercising" the brain actually does keep it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. By developing new mental skills—especially complex ones such as learning a new language or learning to play a new musical instrument—and challenging your brain with puzzles and games you can keep your brain active and improve its physiological functioning.
3. Exercise daily.
Regular aerobic exercise improves circulation and efficiency throughout the body, including in the brain, and can help ward off the memory loss that comes with aging. Exercise also makes you more alert and relaxed, and can thereby improve your memory uptake, allowing you to take better mental "pictures."
4. Reduce stress.
Chronic stress, although it does not physically damage the brain, can make remembering much more difficult. Even temporary stresses can make it more difficult to effectively focus on concepts and observe things. Try to relax, regularly practice yoga or other stretching exercises, and see a doctor if you have severe chronic stress.
5. Eat well and eat right.
There are a lot of herbal supplements on the market that claim to improve memory, but none have yet been shown to be effective in clinical tests (although small studies have shown some promising results for ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine). A healthy diet, however, contributes to a healthy brain, and foods containing antioxidants—broccoli, blueberries, spinach, and berries, for example—and Omega-3 fatty acids appear to promote healthy brain functioning. Feed your brain with such supplements as Thiamine, Vitamin E, Niacin and Vitamin B-6. Grazing, eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals, also seems to improve mental functioning (including memory) by limiting dips in blood sugar, which may negatively affect the brain.
6. Take better pictures.
Often we forget things not because our memory is bad, but rather because our observational skills need work. One common situation where this occurs (and which almost everyone can relate to) is meeting new people. Often we don't really learn people's names at first because we aren't really concentrating on remembering them. You'll find that if you make a conscious effort to remember such things, you'll do much better. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to look at an unfamiliar photograph for a few seconds and then turn the photograph over and describe or write down as many details as you can about the photograph. Try closing your eyes and picturing the photo in your mind. Use a new photograph each time you try this exercise, and with regular practice you will find you're able to remember more details with even shorter glimpses of the photos.
7. Give yourself time to form a memory.
Memories are very fragile in the short-term, and distractions can make you quickly forget something as simple as a phone number. The key to avoid losing memories before you can even form them is to be able to focus on the thing to be remembered for a while without thinking about other things, so when you're trying to remember something, avoid distractions and complicated tasks for a few minutes.
8. Create vivid, memorable images.
You remember information more easily if you can visualize it. If you want to associate a child with a book, try not to visualize the child reading the book – that's too simple and forgettable. Instead, come up with something more jarring, something that sticks, like the book chasing the child, or the child eating the book. It's your mind – make the images as shocking and emotional as possible to keep the associations strong.
9. Repeat things you need to learn.
The more times you hear, see, or think about something, the more surely you'll remember it, right? It's a no-brainer. When you want to remember something, be it your new coworker's name or your best friend's birthday, repeat it, either out loud or silently. Try writing it down; think about it.
10. Group things you need to remember.
Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you'll find it easier to remember all four.
11. Organize your life.
Keep items that you frequently need, such as keys and eyeglasses, in the same place every time. Use an electronic organizer or daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates for bills, and other tasks. Keep phone numbers and addresses in an address book or enter them into your computer or cell phone. Improved organization can help free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember less routine things. Even if being organized doesn't improve your memory, you'll receive a lot of the same benefits (i.e. you won't have to search for your keys anymore).
12. Try meditation.
Research now suggests that people who regularly practice "mindfulness" meditation are able to focus better and may have better memories. Mindfulness (also known as awareness or insight meditation) is the type commonly practiced in Western countries and is easy to learn. Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital show that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex in the brain by increasing the blood flow to that region. Some researchers believe this can enhance attention span, focus, and memory.
13. Sleep well.
The amount of sleep we get affects the brain's ability to recall recently learned information. Getting a good night's sleep – a minimum of seven hours a night – may improve your short-term memory and long-term relational memory, according to recent studies conducted at the Harvard Medical School.
14. Build your memorization arsenal.
Learn pegs, memory palaces, and the Dominic System. These techniques form the foundation for mnemonic techniques, and will visibly improve your memory.
15. Venture out and learn from your mistakes.
Go ahead and take a stab at memorizing the first one hundred digits of pi, or, if you've done that already, the first one thousand. Memorize the monarchs of England through your memory palaces, or your grocery list through visualization. Through diligent effort you will eventually master the art of memorization.