Quiet wedding! Indeed!

If people wish to have a low profile wedding then the best way is to go to a quiet resort with some selected guest and enjoy the wedding with close family and friends and come back to your home town and hold a grand party to celebrate the occasion. But our film stars have a quiet wedding in a noisy way. The media was asked to keep out from all the details of the marriage. They were not allowed to tell the dates, the timings and the venue. They were not allowed to disclose the invitee list, nor announce the name of the designers and the decorators and the Mehandiwallahs, transport providers, band groups, photographers, choreographers, caterers, etc. And fortunately, all have become famous. The number of uninvited people that have actually attended the wedding exceeds the invited list! Thank Goodness, there is a bus strike and many of them are helplessly sitting at home and watching the live excerpts on TV. But still, there are people everywhere, on the roads, on the foot-paths, some of them perched on the lamp-posts, some on the shoulders of their buddy, taking turn, while others are in the balconies surrounding the bride/groom houses. Some of those people are paying for a balcony view, with snacks and drink included. But people on the road are crowded in the hot sun without food and drink, just craning their necks for a glimpse of the lucky guest. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to get a casual leave to attend such occasions, or is it a sick leave? And what is the thrill? Do they really have so much time to waste? While the big B pretends to show his contempt at the outrageous media, we have young B happily waving out. This is what I would call a publicity stunt!

In Mumbai we have interesting people

and the best ones you get to see when you are traveling by bus. In Mumbai we have public buses which are very comfortable and they have six seats reserved for ladies, two seats reserved for senior citizens and three seats reserved for physically challenged. This makes the ride comfortable for the privileged lot, especially during a rush hour, at the end of the day, when you are too tired to hang on to the overhand handles or to the seats. This is the time when the lucky ones are seen counting their blessing as they see a seat emptied just for them. On Saturday, while I was enjoyed my ‘only ladies’ seat, a senior citizen entered the bus from the front door (Senior citizens, pregnant ladies and handicapped enjoy the privilege of entering the bus from front exit) he looked for empty seat, but the bus was too crowded. He came to the seat that was reserved for senior citizens. There was an old lady sitting next to a young lady. The old man demanded that the young lady arise and give him the seat. But this lady refused, saying that she was a lady and he should not ever ask a lady to get up and offer a seat to a man, however old he may be. The old man got angry and he confronted the woman saying that when he sat on a ladies seat, he was asked to vacate it, and why can’t he ask her to vacate when she was occupying a senior citizen seat. The young woman refused to comply. The old man got angrier and summoned the bus conductor to solve the issue and the lady was forced to get up and offer her seat to the deserving candidate. The man, fully satisfied at his victory, enjoyed the ride, but I think he was not used to winning too many battles, so time and again he looked around and saw more uncomfortable passengers. He saw a lady with three small children, trying to balance herself and her three children, but not succeeding. Her one child leaned against his back and other fell when bus took a sharp turn. This old man finally got up and passed on his precious seat to the lady with three children, while he, himself, traveled the rest of the journey as a standee. On both counts, he was a winner!

Visit to health care centre in Wagni

Wagni is a small village near Karjat. Dr Vijaya Venkat arraged for us a visit to her farm at Wagni yesterday. At 6 a.m.(I had to break my slumber at 5a.m..yawn..so difficult actually) and set on our journey to Wagni in a special two buses with 50 more companions to enjoy this field trip. on our way to Wagni, after two hours journey, we ask the locals for direction. We then crossed the rail tracks to reach the other side.... and reached a village of wagni...can you see those buffaloes..? we reached the health center where we were welcomed warmly...... we were hungry, naturally and we were expecting soem snacks of batatawadas, samosas or pav bhaji..but oops, its a health center and junk food is NO*NO. so we were served mixed fruits which we ate listening to the experiences of other health proffessors.... after initial introduction and lots of smiles to people and to the plants that surrounded us from all direction, we were led to a meditation room where we learnt to talk to ourselves and to be with ourself. we closed our eyes (I slept, coz I wanted to catch up with the early morning sleep that I had missed because of this trip) but the room was cool and had large windows sans panes and the meditaion was done chanting out to a long OHM in a musical rhythm..... after the meditaion, we walked in the field that surrounded the meditation hall, talking to the plants, later during the day, we had to do some activity like collecting big stones and transporting them to other place and also watering the plant. I enjoyed watering the plants, it had cooling effect and I loved the smell of the earth..... after meditation we had our breakfast of saboo dhana Khichri and steamed corn which we were asked to eat in silence to be in complete company of plants and our body and to eat as slowly as we could (for full 30 minutes to eat just corn....yum, yum, yummy..) and then we went back to medition hall where we, now, did not meditate but spoke of health and many related questions were asked and were expertly answered by Dr Vijaya Venkat. at 3 pm we had our lunch, a complete organic lunch sans oil and after a group photograph we headed toward the polluted city where we continue to live against all odds.....

want to fry your brains....

When my friend suggested we go for a 'Bheeja fry', I was wondering whether it was worth it. There are no block buster stars. No heart rendering song and not even an item number. But couldn’t refuse my friend, so I decided to go. And I never expected it to be so funny. From the first scene to the last scene, it was very funny. I am glad I went.. a two hours well spent. the movie had terrific performance and crackling script.. Behja Fry, inspired by a French film, is mostly about one night in the life of an arrogant music company executive Ranjit, played by Rajat Kapoor. Every Friday night, Ranjit and his friends invite an unsuspecting wannabe for dinner. The idiot becomes the evening's entertainment. One evening, Ranjit invites a man who works in the Income Tax department but also desperately wants to be a singer. His name is Bharat Bhushan because his father was a fan of the actor. In his always locked briefcase, Bharat carries a scrapbook, that documents his own story in songs, Bhushan ki kahani, geeton ki zubani which he proudly shows to everyone whom he meets. This is the type of guy who knows that the word Aayega is used 28 times in the song, Ayega Ayega and the word chalet is used 44 time in Pakeezah's Chalte Chalte. This is the idiot to beat all idiots or so we think. Unfortunately Ranjit knocks his back out and his wife leaves him on the same night that Bharat Bhushan arrives. Naturally, he gets involved and what follows is a series of superbly funny events, which fry out Ranjit's brains and mine too. Worth a visit. Don’t miss it.

Sindhis in Uganda under great stress!

Sindhis are very enterprising and they take great risk and plunge in to foreign lands and make a bright future for themselves and their families. But some times they are not so lucky. Specially, if they go to those places where there is lack of security. Our Sindhi community friends are under great stress nowadays with the riots that broke out in Uganda. An Asian man in Uganda yesterday and two other people were killed during a protest over a plan to cut down nearly a third of a rainforest reserve to grow sugarcane, Police chiefs had approved yesterday 's march, called to protest plans to cut down tens of thousands of acres of Mabira Forest to expand the estate of the local Sugar Company, Scoul. Protest organizer Frank Muramuzi said the march began peacefully, before a "misunderstanding" with the police. All of a sudden everybody scattered and police opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition. As scores of demonstrators hurled rocks at police in the pouring rain, officers rescued more than 100 Asian men, that included Sindhis, besieged in a Hindu temple and elsewhere, and rushed them to a police station. Dozens were arrested. Some of them were inside the temple and the protesters started attacking them from outside. The scenes were similar to those of 1972, when the late former dictator Idi Amin expelled Uganda's Asians. Thousands have returned, but are viewed with suspicion by some Ugandans who resent their domination of many businesses. One Indian supermarket owner who gave his name as Kumar said rioters pulled him from his motorbike then beat him. The controversy began last year when President Yoweri Museveni ordered a study into whether to ax 17,000 acres or nearly a third of Mabira. Mabira -- which has been a nature reserve since 1932 -- is one of Uganda's last remaining patches of natural forest. The government's proposal angered some parliamentarians and residents. They argued that the environmental costs of slashing the rainforest would far exceed the economic benefits of the plantation

We all need to remember that women's heart attacks are different from that of men’s.

Many a times we see a protagonist in a movie enact a scene. Same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing a heart attack...you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor. But in reality, this woman had a different experience. She had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. She was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with her purring cat in her lap, reading an interesting story that her friend had sent her, and was actually thinking, "A-Ah, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up." A moment later, she felt that awful sensation of indigestion, like when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drinks a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was her initial sensation---the only trouble was that she hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m. After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up her SPINE (hindsight, it was probably her aorta spamming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under her sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into her throat and branched out into both jaws. AHA!! NOW she stopped puzzling about what was happening--she had read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI (Myocardial Infarction...A Heart Attack) happening. Haven't we all heard it too? She said aloud to herself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!" she lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from her lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. She thought to herself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment." She pulled herself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... She told into the phone that she thought she was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into her jaws. She didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She was told that they would be sending the Paramedics over immediately, they asked if the front door was near her, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see her when they came in. She did as instructed and lost consciousness, as she didn't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting her onto a gurney or getting her into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to the hospital on the way, but she did briefly awaken when they arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull her stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over her asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but she couldn't make her mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and she nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up her Femoral artery into the aorta and into her heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open her right coronary artery. I know it sounds like all her thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and the hospital were only minutes away from her home, and her Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting her heart (which had stopped somewhere between her arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents. And she survived. But the point to remember is: 1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body, not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until her sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. Your symptoms might not be exactly like hers, so it is best to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a "false alarm" visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be! 2. Note that you must “Call the Paramedics". TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the hospital--you're a hazard to others on the road, and anyone else there with you who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor—if he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Doctor will be notified later. 3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better are the chances we could survive...

The day I became rich. ....well. ......almost….....

For a minute, I was happy. How did I get so lucky? Am I really eligible to receive eight hundred and fifty thousand Euros? Wow! My life is made. Now I can start planning to live like Richie Rich! I thought of buying an airplane of my own, or perhaps I would go for a world trip. Maybe I could donate some money to some charities too. I wanted to figure out how would I start spending such a big amount of money that I was promised on the net by an unknown ‘claim agent’ called Mr. William Ruffin of ‘Award free lotto company promotion’ who put my email address without my permission and drew out a lucky stake for me. I quickly made a note of telephone number, ticket number, serial number, and lucky number; I wrote in a small piece of paper and hid it in the dark corner of my desk. I was advised not to mention it to anybody till I get the full amount. It was a big, sweet secret. But, I wanted to make sure that it was real. Was the lady luck smiling on me? Thank God we have internet, where we can do the research on everything. And my research saved me from making a fool of myself. I soon discovered that it was a scam lottery. I discovered that I cannot win a legitimate lottery if I have not entered it. I have never even bought a lottery from any corner stores in my life. To win a lottery we must purchase a ticket to enter a legitimate lottery. If the claim agent has my email and my serial numbers, lottery numbers, etc, that I don’t have any knowledge of, why can’t he, the claim agent, pocket it? Why does he have to inform me? NO legitimate lottery contacts winners. Winners must always contact the lottery first. And then I will be told to pay some amount for some formalities of transferring the money to me. You never have to pay to collect winnings from a legitimate lottery or sweepstake. You pay taxes AFTER you receive the winnings. There are no other fees. I live in India, we have here our own lottery system. It is illegal under federal law to play ANY foreign lottery from the United States or Europe. My email was from ‘International email free lotto’. It is true that the scammers often use the name of a legitimate lottery in the scam. Since scammers simply invent new names for their fake lottery scams, it is more accurate to say that if you do not see the lottery on the list of legitimate lotteries, it is probably a scam. The best way to treat these "prize notification" from a lottery is to ignore it. We should not respond to these emails, nor EVER pay any money in advance to collect a prize. We must not reveal our full identity, nor reveal any financial or personal information, such as your bank account number or credit card details If you've wondered just how these scams unfold, and what happens at each stage, here is the step by step description of the typical lottery, Nigerian, AFF etc. scam: The scammers get your name and email address, physical address or phone number from somewhere online. Then he writes up a scam email or letter. Nothing in the winning notification letter is true. Don't rely on appearances. They may copy logos, photos, names, addresses and website links from real, legitimate organizations, to make their scam appear more genuine. You receive the email, letter or call. You feel happy and you contact the scammers and give them personal information. After you answer the first letter, they will write back asking for your personal identification. Sometimes, they ask for this information in the first email. This is used to steal your identity. They steal your identity by using your personal banking information, passport number, driver's license number, or credit card information. They don't care whether your credit is good or bad. They use this information to open accounts you don't know about and buy things, or commit crimes on these credit cards, in your name and then do not pay for them. Sometimes they may send you a cashier's check, DON’T EVER CASH IT. The check or money order you have received is certain to be COUNTERFEIT or stolen. If you cash it, you will be responsible for the entire amount. You may also be arrested for fraud. Legitimate lottery winnings are sent by check using DHL, UPS, or FedEx. The check has the lottery company name on it, no other names. You can go to this website and verify the routing number on the check and get the bank's phone number, then call the bank to verify that the account is real and the check is real. And thus, I was convinced that it was spam, I quietly checked the email of ‘the Award money’ and slowly clicked the button ‘delete’ and reported it to spam so that it would haunt me no more. My dreams of living like ‘Richie Rich’ evaporated. I continue to live on my own steady income and forget about eight hundred and fifty thousand Euros that had made me rich…well……almost….if only it was true.

Don’t bother going to Jodhpur for a wedding…..you are not invited….

For, the most eagerly-awaited Bollywood wedding — of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai — will be held in Mumbai on April 20. The venue, according to sources, will in all probability be Amitabh Bachchan’s Mumbai home. In case you’re headed to your wardrobe, get this. It’s not going to be the big fat Bollywood wedding. From all accounts, the guest list will be a close 15 — the Bachchan and Rai families and close friends like Amar Singh, the Ambanis et al. Jaya Bachchan was in Jaipur when she learnt about her son's decision to marry Aishwarya. SP leader and a close friend of the Bachchans, Amar Singh, immediately flew from Bhatinda in Punjab to Lucknow. From there, he went to Jaipur to congratulate Jaya. The two then flew to Mumbai. Anil and Tina Ambani too reached the Bachchan residence "Jalsa" to attend the family celebrations. The Bachchans, along with the Ambanis and Amar Singh, then went to Aishwarya's Bandra residence with the "shagun". The couple exchanged rings there. Aishwarya has of late been seen with the Bachchan family. Rumours about the impending marriage intensified in November last year, when she even performed early morning puja along with Abhishek and his family at Varanasi's famous Kashi Vishwanath and Sankat Mochan temples. Well placed sources say Ash also spent the New Year-eve with the Bachchans. Significantly, the engagement was held a day after "kharmaas" (inauspicious month) ended with Makar Sankranti being celebrated on Sunday.According to north Indian customs, no auspicious work is undertaken during "kharmaas". Big B's mother Teji Bachchan is critically ill and admitted to Lilavati Hospital. Amitabh wants the wedding as early as possible so that she can witness it.Even as the Bachchan parivaar goes low-key because of Amitabh's mother Teji being admitted in hospital, the preparations at the bride's house are hotting up. Over 15 kg of local henna will travel to wherever (the trader refuses to disclose where) the ceremony takes place. Sojat, a place in Rajasthan is from where Aishwarya Rai will get henna for her mehndi (henna) ceremony when she weds Abhishek Bachchan. The henna packets would be sent five days prior to the wedding day. These traders had prepared a special type of mehndi for model and actress Liz Hurley's wedding to NRI businessman Arun Nayar recently. Sojat and its surrounding areas in the Pali district of the state boast of the most intensive henna cultivation in India. Up to 90 percent of Rajasthan's commercial henna production is in this area. Over 100 henna processing units are in operation in Sojat. Designer Neeta Lulla, Ash's long-time friend and designer, will be dressing up the actress. The groom's family has begun preparations for the upcoming celebrations. And on top of their shopping list seems to be the bride's dress, the Bachchans have ordered a priceless Banarasi lehenga for their soon-to-be daughter-in-law. , the Banarasi lehenga, which Ash is likely to wear on the wedding day. Meanwhile, the Rai home in La-Mer building at Mumbai will be the venue for the mehendi, haldi and sangeet ceremonies while the main wedding will take place in the old Bachchan residence, Prateeksha. The ceremonies at Ash's will be attended by her closest friends and family. The invitations from the bride's side are reported to have already gone out and mother Brinda has been making personal calls to people. What sort of a wedding gift do you give a couple who seem to have it all? We're talking about the dilemma most guests to the Abhiash wedding must be going through these days — what with the wedding of the century being just over a week away. But invitee Subrata Roy sure has his gifting plan in order, down to the very last detail. Roy has apparently commissioned a 3D cast impression of Abhishek Bachchan holding Aishwarya Rai's hand from artist Bhavna Jasra, who has in the past made impressions for Fardeen Khan and his wife Natasha as well as for Zayed and Malaika Khan. As both Abhishek and Aishwarya are out of town, He cannot get a cast of their hands. But when they return, he will personally be going over and making a mould of their hands, so that the impression can be made in time for their wedding. That's what we call making a good 'impression'on the newly-weds!

Provoked...a good film...

I went for a film today after nearly three month. I went to see ‘Provoked’. My first disappointment was that the movie was dubbed in Hindi. I would have preferred to watch it in English. Anyway, my disappointed soon wearied off when I got engrossed in the movie. I really enjoyed it very much. Aishwarya Rai is a good actress and she has proved it once again that she can make you identify with the social problems and make you react to it. The movie makes you sympathizes with women, who leave their families and go in a distant land to live with a strange man. If the husband is abusive then life become hell, and she lives in fear in her husband’s prison. She gets her freedom in jail, where she is able to change her outlook and learns to express herself freely. In 'Provoked' Aishwarya Rai plays the real-life role of battered wife Kiranjeet Ahluwalia who was compelled to kill her husband Unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband, Punjabi housewife based in UK, Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai) sets fire to her abusive husband, Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) and kills him unintentionally. She is sentenced to life imprisonment where she befriends her cellmate, a wealthy white woman named Veronica Scott (Miranda Richardson), from whom she learns English. Her cell mate is so moved by her story that she asks her step-brother, Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a respected Queen’s Counsel, to file her appeal. Her case comes to the notice of a group of social workers running the Southall Black Sisters organisation. They bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies. She is ultimately freed by the judicial system in the landmark case called Regina vs Ahluwalia that redefined the word ‘provocation’ in the case of a battered woman.

Cricket fever!

Hey you naughty boy! Stop bawling now! I know, I know, it hurts. I shouldn’t have wriggled your ears thus. I admit it. More than ninety degrees hurts. But you deserved it. Isn’t it? I expected you to do well. Imagine you go all the way to a strange land to play cricket and you come back so soon? You couldn’t even reach super eight! Yesterday, the media people called me. They want their money back…all their endorsement…I will never again be able to see you smiling and eating those fancy chocolates on those hoarding again. Now those film stars are smiling! Okay, calm down now. Let me think. So, what do you plan to do? I have a brilliant idea. Come, now you must learn to help me in the kitchen. You must learn to keep yourself busy. Isn’t it? Now that your cricket career is over, you must seriously think of new profession. There is lot of money in food business too. If you display your culinary skills well, the media will follow you there too; they may give you a slot in TV channels. You might even get many endorsement there too, don’t you worry about that. Eh? I will teach you basics first, then, you can enroll in the catering college. Here take this bowl, wash it for me. No! Don’t hold it like that. It’s just a steel bowl. It’s not a world cup! You dropped that cup already. Now, now! Don’t start bawling again. I told you there is an alternate profession for you. Let me teach you to make a salad first. Remember the first step to cooking is to make good salads. Hey! What are you doing? Don’t rub that against your thigh! Oh, Oh! You don’t shine that. Look carefully, that’s a potato! See that? Give me that! I said GIVE IT TO ME. Ouch! You didn’t have to swing it at me like that! You naughty boy! When will you learn! Huh? Okay, now let’s start cutting the vegetables. Here, take this knife. Uuufff! You don’t hold the knife with both hands! Just fingers man. Just fingers of hand only. Understand! Okay, never mind, leave this to me. Here, you take this carrot. What are you DOING? Why are you swinging your arms like that? You don’t need warming exercises here! Just swing your wrist. Take this grater, hold the carrot and swing it with your wrist. See! How easy it is to grate a carrot. Oh my Gawd! You cannot keep these three cucumbers in the plate like that. I understand! I understand! They remind you of those wickets. But it’s over! IT IS OVER! Now chop those and arrange it on this plate. Hmmm! The salad looks good. Perfectly oval-shaped arrangement! Now let’s boil some lentils. Lentils are easy to cook too. We just wash, rinse and pressure cook. Here, help me with this cooker. Wokaaay! When you hear four whistling sounds, you must put off the gas. No, you don’t whistle, the pressure cooker will. You wait here while I go and take a bath. BOOM! SIXER! What the HELL! OH MY GOODNESS! NOW, SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! WHY DIDN’T YOU PUT OFF THAT GAS? HUH? Come now; help me clean this lentil from the ceiling and the walls. You are good not nothing! Hey! You naughty boy! You start bawling again?

I am stressed!

Whenever, I go visiting, I am offered tea or coffee.. array baba.. I don’t want na. These drinks affect my nervous system and they deplete available supply of vitamins and minerals which are my body’s main resource. But you don’t understand. You spoilt your health and mine too. Whenever I am sick, you offer your sound advice, and then you go to your medicine box and pluck a medicine for me…array baba try to understand I don’t want drugs to cure me…. Chemical remedies cannot ‘cure’ any problems, they merely defer their effects. Do you want me to become addicted to drugs? huh? Give me herbal teas like Camomile, passion flower or lime-blossom tea this will help me to relieve stress and tension. You don’t understand my body like I do. You offer me out of good will and I can’t refuse and then I get stressed. Ok.. When ever I feel stress, I allow my body to relax a bit. I am going to sleep.

Pills don’t cure us….. they make us more sick! uufff!

Many of us just keep popping food into our mouth without thinking. We cut vegetable, in goes a piece of carrot into our mouth. We cook the meal, in goes the spoonful of broth for taste. Food left over on the table, not charitable enough to share with a helper, we stuff it in our over full stomach. And then, we complain of overweight, discomfort, or pain. The problem arises when we don’t understand our body. It is very important to understand that health is the harmony between our physical, mental, social and spiritual states and each one of us has the power to heal ourselves. The only important thing to remember is to understand what our body indicates and act accordingly. Whenever we eat, we must be aware of what we are eating. We must be in a relaxed state of mind and we should do breathing exercise before eating for the body to have enough oxygen for doing its work We must remember that our body needs time, space and energy to function properly. It has three main important things to do: Digestion, assimilation and distribution of energy and cleaning. When we eat food, the priority is first give to the brain. Therefore all the nutrients first go to the brain for a complete refill and then other parts of the body get their nutrients. If the mind is not relaxed then lot of energy is wasted and other parts are deprived of its nutrients. The enzymes that are used for digestion make the food alkaline to be distributed to different parts of the body and the toxic is discarded by the body. On eating the wrong food, there is much toxic produced and the body starts to send signals with symptoms like high fever, cold, etc. Then, what do we do? We take medicines. To kill the discomfort, we take pills, not realizing that we are interfering with body’s way of removing the toxic from the body. By taking too many pills, we suppress the discomfort from one point but we destroy the good cells that are surrounding the sick cells. Thus with weak cell wall, there is no control and the cells start multiplying leading to many more disease and that put us in bad health. There is really no need to take pills. Just control your diet and allow body to fight with the bad germs. By eating proper food we can remain healthy. When we eat fruits, they help our body to do the safaie.(cleaning) when we eat salad, we help our body to produce enzymes that are required for digestion. When we eat sprouts and nuts, we help our body in its construction task of building of its cells. When you are sick or weak, don’t touch pills. Just take rest, or better still, go to sleep and let body go to war with those naughty germs.

I like cooked food!

Human beings are the only species who cook food. Even when they eat raw food, they cannot eat without garnishing the salad. Now my nutritionist is saying that eating cooked food is wrong. She says that cooking destroys vitamins. The application of heat is destructive to vitamins, and higher the temperature, the more destructive heat will be to vitamins. Not only are these vitamins destroyed but their residue is unstable and toxic when ingested. During cooking there is mineral loss. Minerals are essential for all metabolic activities. Their presence sustains the alkalinity of body fluids. Minerals are required for structure, in healing and repair. People who lack the mineral in their diet feel the fatigue and lack of endurance and strength. When we choose mineral-rich foods and then eat them uncooked, masticating the food well, we then will provide our body with best raw materials to produce healthy cells and tissues. Cooking destroys food enzymes that are required for the digestion of the food. Enzymes activate and control all the chemical actions and reactions within the cells and regulate the energy output for all physical and mental activity. Cooking alters the proteins and they become less digestible and toxic. It is not possible for our body to build its own proteins from food if the proteins have been coagulated and amino acids de-ammonized. Cooking fat containing foods renders the fat and the foods less digestible and highly toxic. The National Academy of science has noted that. in countries where the consumption is high of food like sausages, fish, ham, etc, cancer of the digestive track is common. All these products are high in fat content and all are eaten after being subjected to heat. So I ask my nutritionist, what do I eat? I can’t possibly eat raw veggies all the time. My forefathers have introduced us to cooked meals, you don’t expect us to go back to that raw vegetable diet? And she replies, “Eat what you are used to but eat salads. Very important! Understand! Eat salad. Eat cooked vegetables to please your tongue and eat raw veggies to please your body”. So now, I eat the tasty meal and chomp it down with salad, washed and grated. Hence forth I will eat fresh veggies with cooked food so that I get enough nutrients and not worry about the nutrients that I have already destroyed while cooking!

So today is the Cheti Chand..Happy New Year to Sindhis!

Cheti Chand A new year for Sindhis, to be celebrated with much pomp and show,

It’s the day to get kharchi from elders and to wear new clothes and go to visit relatives and get more kharchi.

 In the evening to go to some entertainment show where they will sing those same songs that they have brought from Sindh (with little alteration here and there). Those same song, sung long ago by Ram Punwani and Bhagwanti Navani etc. songs like Ek soun jo rupeeo allah ree allah. and songs like ‘Lal ja jati chau Julelal Bera hi paar, Sadai Sahukar’ (now u know how Sindhis get rich? If you chant Sadai Sahukar in front of Lal Sahi, and keep such positive energies all the time and then naturally you will get rich na? JuleLal always listen to people who are hard working and hold such positive energies. Lage raho …lage raho.. Sadai Sahukar. JULELAL!

 Okay this much information is enough for a child of seven year old to understand. But I need to know more about what else do they do? So I asked my sister to give me some insight.

She asked me to accompany her to Julelal mandir and she promised me lunch (good enough reason to go, free lunch? Why not! I went to Lal Sahiji’s mandir with her. The mandir was full of Sindhi ladies in late 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. There were few children (probably the grand children) but the youngsters were not there at all. Array Baba, who will go to these Mandirs after, say next 20 years from now? Our culture is dying na! With youngster, who are not in the least interested? ‘.Lal Sahi. Are You Listening? Days are numbered…..no youngsters visiting you? Eh?’

 Anyways we reached mandir and there were some ladies making the dough of flour and shaping it into diya (lamp), (each diya was stuffed with cloves and cardamom) and another dough mould (decorated with silver vark, dry fruits like almonds and cashew nuts) to hold the misri (rock sugar), they were placed in thali (a big steel plate) and given it to those who did not bring any from their home. But my sister believes in doing everything herself, so she had come prepared bringing with her all the things in her potli (bag). She only borrowed the thali from the mandir and one by one she removed from her potli and started placing items into the thali , things like diya (Filling it with pure Ghee and cotton wick), miisri, rice, fruit, biscuit and flowers, vermillion, and few coins. She then stood in a long queue to present this thali to the guryani (a woman priest) who would light the lamp, read the prayers and bless her thali. After the prayers she placed the thali (now, after prayers, this thali is called Barano Sahib) on her head and turned 360 degrees (three times) before she went outside the mandir and place the thali in front of huge picture of JuleLal (which had many more similar thalis) for the final blessing. She started praying once more (her own method this time) putting rice in her own thali, plus in other thalis and staring at the picture then shutting her eyes again.

 I meekly asked where the free lunch is. Eh? I followed the glance of my sister which rested on the long queue, waiting in line to get the food. Queues like you see at refugee camps…or those queues that you see in movies where the prisoners wait for food. Are we supposed to stand in this queue? I remembered that dialogue in some movie where protagonist says ‘hum judar khare ho jate hai.. vahi se line suroo hoti hai….’ I wondered if I could use that dialogue here…and cut this long queue…but alas!….with my sister around, nothing will work.. Disciple comes first!

So I quietly stand behind her and wait for Prasad. Delicious Prasad! Indeed! Peas pulau, bhee aloo. Salad. Puri, achar, fried bhajiysa, sweet rice, boiled channa, and sayoo and to drown it all with rose sherbet. (all fattening….my nutrition analyst would not approve of this meal.) Never mind, its new year na! …Lal ja Jati chau JULELAL bera hi Paar Sadai sahukar! Now I am getting some idea about this Cheti Chand According to the Hindu calendar,

Cheti Chand is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month known as Chet in Sindhi. Hence it is known as CHET-I-CHAND The Sindhi community celebrates the festival of Cheti Chand in honour of the birth of Ishtadeva Uderolal, popularly known as Jhulelal, the Patron Saint of the Sindhis. This day is considered to be very auspicious and is celebrated with pompous and gaiety. On this day, people worship water – the elixir of life. Followers of Jhulelal observe Chaliho Sahab. It suggests that for forty long days and nights they underwent rituals and vigil on the bank of Sindhu. They did not shave, nor did they wear new clothes or shoes. They did not use soap or oil or any opulent thing. They just washed their clothes, dried them and wore them again. In the evening, they worshipped God Varun, sang songs in his praise and prayed for their solace and salvation. After 40 days of Chaaliho, the followers of Jhulelal celebrate the occasion with festivity as 'Thanks Giving Day' even till today. A lamp is lit on a bronze plate, and this ritual is called Jyot Jagan. One lamp, akshaoil and vermillion are kept on this plate . A procession is taken out to the river front or sea shore. Lakhs of people participate in the long processions taken out in different cities, with colourful floats, depicting the life of the Saint and other aspects of Sindhi culture. The Sindhi folk dance called "Chhej" is performed with the procession. People go to a river or a lake and Bahrano Saheb is immersed in the water along with rice and sugar prasad called "Akho". It is customary to sing Lal Sain's Panjras and Palav to seek his grace. New ventures are started on this day. After the worship of Jhulelal, the Sindhi community display and present their rich culture through dance, drama, music and folk arts that are preserved and passed on to…next generation..?

  If only, our new generation can show some interest, then maybe. the lamp will continue to be lit…….!

Oops! India lost the first game! Storm in the cup!

I am not a cricket fan and therefore am not aware how our Indian team plays. Before the world cup started, I had asked everybody whether they played well and every body was hopeful that they will bring the world cup this time. Yesterday when Indian team played with Sri Lanka and lost, I saw the disappointment on my friend's faces. Every body is making a mockery of India's 'cash-rich cricketers' and the cricketing authorities for making cricket 'a product, not sport.' For the cricket lovers in India, the four favorite teams they would have liked to watch in the semi-finals matches were India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Now, they are not so sure.

Salt-our tasty enemy

We have trained our tongue to eat tasty food. We find food without salt as tasteless and bland. We tend to eat overdose of salt not realizing how much it is harming us. Have we realized that by reducing salt intake we could actually lower average blood pressure, which in turn would help cut heart disease? Salt in fact performs its ‘flavoring’ by inflaming and irritating taste buds on the tongue. Instead of salt, we can use substitute condiments such as fresh lime, mango, tamarind, cocum, celery or sea weeds. Fresh raw fruits and veggies are also full of appeasing flavors and aromas. They tickle and provoke our taste buds without any need for additional condiments like salt. When salt gets into our blood stream, it is eliminated with great difficulty. Much of it is thrown out from our body through our skin. Instead of utilizing the energy for important body functions, our vital energy is diverted in throwing out the excess of salt from our body. Ill health is thus caused by placing an extra burden on the body to throw out the salt. Salt has no nutritional value. It is only a culturally conditioned habit. It is a habit that contributes towards many diseases like hypertension, obesity, kidney stones and even cancer. We must decide now whether we want a good health or a tasty meal.

Understanding Natural Body Cycle

So finally I am beginning to understand how our body works. It is very important to understand our own body so that we can take care. We ought to know that we are abusing our body by eating wrong food. Our body requires right food to build up its energy. And it also needs time to utilize these fuels. But what do we do?…we are eating continuously, just eating and eating and not giving enough time to our body to digest the food. Our body needs time to balance, rebuild and eliminate constantly and it has its own rhythm. When we eat, all our food goes to the food reservoir. From noon to 8.00p.m, is the time to eat and put all the food into our food reservoir. This is the time when our body can efficiently break the food into its nutrients. We can eat whatever we like, but we must eat the raw vegetables and sprouts with our food. Salads are very important because they produce enzymes that are necessary for digesting the food. If we do not produce enough enzymes, then the enzymes from other organ rush to help with the digestion. From 8.00p.m to 4.00 a.m. is the time when our body is doing all the building and repair work. It takes all the nutrients from the food reservoir and distributes to all parts of the body to build new cells and tissues. This is the time to rest and sleep and not eat, because if we eat at these odd hours then we are interfering in absorption and assimilation process and proper digestion of food cannot take place. From 4.00am to 12noon is the time when our body is getting rid of all its waste products and debris. All that our body does not require is thrown out at this time. That is why it is suggested not to eat anything in the morning except fruits. Fruits are used by our body to cleanse the system. That is why fruits are important because eating only fruits/juices during elimination cycle, gives our body time and energy to clean its toxins. Living and eating according to these eight hour cycles is the key method to tune in to the natural harmonious rhythm of the body. This is the secret to losing weight, feeling energetic, getting rid of illness and staying fit in the long run.

Eating the right food

Last Saturday, I attended a nutrition program. We were given a cooking demonstration on cooking food without oil. No oil was used in any cooking. She cooked about 6 dishes in two hours but none contained even a drop of oil. And believe me when I say that she did not use the non-stick pan. She said it was toxic. Instead of oil she was rubbing the tava with onion when roasting the patties and for cooking she was using ground peanuts or coconut. Instead of salt she advised in using rock salt or black salt and instead of sugar, she advised to use gur or dates. She said that we should avoid boiling or frying food, it is best to steam the veggies. She had made tomato puree by steaming the tomatoes and blending them with their skin on. Following of the dishes that she made during our session: Tomato curry Potato patties with ragda in coconut gravy Halved capsicum was stuffed with boiled and grated potato and steamed Steamed potato was rolled with spinach leaves and steamed Moong dhal was soaked and pounded into paste and mixed with spices and steamed and then garnished with curry patta and hing. For sweet dish, a kheer was made of unpolished rice, which was steamed ad mashed and boiled with jaggery syrup and cocnut milk. Cardamom and nuts were added to it. There was a stress on using food in its natural form. Our body can get all the nutrients from raw veggies, fruits, nits and sprouts. Rest everything that we eat like fried stuff, biscuits and savories between meals, is extra work for our body. Tinned or canned food is the fragmented food and does not contain all the nutrients since most of them are destroyed during fragmentation process. A high energy food is the food that provides carbohydrates/glucose and requires little or no digestion and introduces no toxins that would require elimination or extra energy expedition. Whenever we eat, the new food is added to our common reservoir which has stored nutrients from previous meals. The cells in our body, extract the nutrients from this common reservoir, and convert it into energy and distribute it to different parts of the body. The residue is either eliminated or get stored as fat that you see on your hips or on your stomach. By eating the correct food, the balance is maintained and our body does not have to over work to maintain the harmony and balance between our intake and the ends of the body. If the food is not right, then the enzymes from other organs such as liver, kidney, etc, have to rush to help with the digestion. As the result lot of energy is wasted in digestion of the food and other organs are not able to perform their own function. Some of the most important factors for consideration of selecting food for optimal health are that they should be easy to masticate, can be easily digested and absorbed by the body and leaves an alkaline ash after metabolism.

transcript of the chat with heart specialist Dr Devi Shetty

Q: What are the five thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart? A: 1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil 2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a long time 3. Quit smoking 4. Control weight 5. Control blood pressure and sugar Q: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart? A: No Q: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective? A: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups. Q: Are heart diseases hereditary? A: Yes Q: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress? A: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life. Q: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart? A: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints Q: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so? A: Mother Theresa, who was my patient. Q: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?A: Extremely rare Q: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age? A: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood. Q: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart? A: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused. Q: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines? A: Control diet, walk and eat walnut. Q: Can yoga prevent heart ailments? A: Yoga helps. Q: Which is the best and worst food for the heart? A: Best food is fruits worst are oil. Q: Which oil is better - gingili, groundnut, sunflower, saffola, olive? A: All oils are bad; the so-called best oil company has the largest marketing budget. Q: What is the routine check up one should go through? Is there any specific test? A: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo. Q: How different was it in treating Noor Fatima, the little kid from Pakistan ? A: It was extremely difficult, Because of the media attention. As far as the medical treatment is concerned, she is like any other child with a complex heart problem. Q: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack? A: Help the person into a sleeping position, put an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hr. Q: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack & that caused due to gastric trouble? A: Extremely difficult without ECG. Q: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs. of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems. A: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans. Q: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120 / 80 and yet be perfectly healthy? A: Yes. Q: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child, is it true? A: Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities & you may not have a software engr. as a child Q: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend? A: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock. Q: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)? A: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe. Q: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks? A: No. Q: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease? A: No. Q: How would you define junk food? A: Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds, samosas, and even masala dosas. Q: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food? A: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately; Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease. Q: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension? A: No. Q: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)? A: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up. Q: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low haemoglobin count lead to heart problems? A: No. But it is ideal to have normal haemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity. Q: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise? A: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot. Q: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar? A: Yes. Strong relationships since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics. Q: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation? A: Diet, exercise, drugs on time. Control cholesterol, BP, weight. Q: Are people wkg. on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers? A: No. Q: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs? A: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs & go for natural ways of controlling BP by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles. Q: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks? A: No. Q: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women? A: Nature protects women till the age of 45. Q: How can one keep the heart in a good condition? A: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for a health check up if you are past the age of 30 for at least once in 2 years. And work very hard and enjoy your Life...

Back from my trip to Malaysia

I am just back from my trip to Bangkok and Malaysia. Taking holidays is a stress buster; I think it is very important to take one regularly. I went to Kaula Lumpur for few days. It is easy to go around in Malaysia even if you are alone and want to do a bit of sight seeing. There is a semi glass roof double deck bus with insightful on-board commentary which is perfect for having a delightful experience. This bus covers all major attractions, over 42 major sights and attractions that includes KL towers, Twin towers, Bintang walk, bird park, lake garden, and many shopping places. The route is covered in 2 hours. But we can hop-on and hop off at any place that we wish to explore and visit any place within 24 hours. I bought the ticket for 17 dollars (Malaysian) and was able to visit KL and twin towers and also went to china market for shopping. It was easy to recognize the tour stops because of its characteristic highly colorful and visible signage. On my way to Genting Highland we passed Batu caves. This massive limestone outcrop and its cavernous interior is home to Hindu deities and one will need to climb its 272 steps to fully appreciate the caves.

Lalu’s parents in-law are fined for ticketless travel

Lalu Prasad may be the railway minister and seemed to be making profit in the railway industry, but that does not exempt his parents-in-law to travel free in the first class compartment. In India, there is a custom where the father does not even drink water in his daughter’s house after marriage. Maybe that is why, they did not want to take favor from Lalo to give them free tickets from his quota and decided to travel free instead. Hello Mr Chaudary, you can boast of VIP status at your daughter's expense, but buy the ticket when you are traveling, it doesn’t cost much.Huh? Unnecessary you pay fine of Rs1870 and cause so much embarrassment to our dear Lalo Prasad.

Valentine day..so what's a big deal?

Tomorrow is the valentine day, so, what's a big deal? Everybody will make good business, souvenir stores, florists, restaurants and the red dress stores All the young couples will celebrate it with chocolates, flowers, gifts and parties going crazy trying to impress. Middle age couple will go for a quiet candle-lit dinner and the elderly couple might count the change. Singles might enjoy an undisturbed sleep. In love, they say, it's the little things that count. It's also the little things that drive us crazy: cabinet doors and drawers left open; wet towels and dirty clothes molding on the floor; clean clothes folded neatly in piles, but never put away; an already-loaded dishwasher obsessively rearranged; forgetting to flush; TV sports marathons. and what about those loud snoring that keeps us awake all night, those unkempt hair that you are too lazy to comb it? those screaming and shouting and sulking and howling? Some people just can’t change!

Sugar..Tck! Tck! yuk! not good!

Sugar is sweet and everybody loves it. We can bribe children to come and sit on our lap by just flaunting a sugar candy in front of them. But are we aware how we are harming the health of the child? Candy contain refined sugar sucrose (C12H12O11) produced by multiple chemical processing of cane or beet juice, removing all the fiber and proteins. Excess of which can cause depression, physical anxiety and nervousness. Hardly a thing that we would want our loved one to suffer.

Correct food habits.

The most essential food that is required by our body is fruits, vegetables, sprouts and nuts. These are the only important food that is truly required by our body to remain healthy Our body is alkaline by nature and if we stress our body by eating wrong food then the body gets busy converting acidic to alkaline . We torture our body by eating wrong food like biscuits, chocolates, wafers etc. Health is the sum total of a well-planned diet, exercise, emotional and spiritual well being and concern for the environment. Milk is definitely not useful to our body. It does not contain fiber, nor vitamin c. it is sticky. When we take milk or milk products , they stick to the stomach lining, thus creating acidity. We must also avoid excess salt, junk food, smoking and soft drinks. The bottled drinks contain excessive phosphorus (among other non-nutrients) which again throws the blood into negative calcium balance. And importantly, we must be active. Load bearing exercise like walking, jogging, stair climbing will strengthen our bones to see us into active old age. Sugar is important because it gives us energy but it should be take in its natural form in fruits and vegetables because sugar in its refined form, robs the body of its enzymes and minerals and also places burden on Pancreas. Even the salivary digestion is hampered which results in great strain on our digestive system and leads to digestion problems

Makar sanskrant is celebrated all over India

‘Makar sanskrant’ is a very auspicious day for Hindus. I was in Jaipur this time, end of January, when my cousin announced that it was the festive day. “So what happens?’ I asked her. “Oh you must wear yellow on this day. It is very lucky day”, later during the day I was to realize that the day was so auspicious that many wedding were planned on that day. Makar Sankrant is the day when earth, farthest from the sun starts its journey north (Uttarayan) towards the sun, ending the year’s coldest month Paush, beginning the month of Magh. In Sindh, this day is celebrated as an auspicious festival day. People light a bonfire and pray to Agnidevta. The assembled families dance and make merry and chant Shlokas and partake sweets made of Til, singing ‘the cold winter day recede and sun bring the warmth. In Punjab. They celebrate as ‘Lohri’ for better crop. They relish warm chikki, revri and gajjak around the bonfire, the farmers throw puffed rice and popcorns chanting ‘ may poverty vanish and honor come’ In Maharastra, they exchange fried til with gur and greet each other by singing ‘let the friendship between us be sweetened by til and gur’ In Gujarat, they fly kites on this day. In Andhara Pradesh, it is called ‘Pedda Panduranga’ and it lasts for four days In Tamil Nadu it is celebrated as ‘Pongal’ the Prasad is made up of green gram, rice, and gur cooked to mush and represents Lord Narayana, Mahalaxmi and their devine love. It is to remind that we need to establish that Devine love within ourselves and direct our wayward minds towards Lord.

Mr. David Davidar, Penguin Publisher

Penguin Publisher, Mr. David Davidar began his career in journalism and is founder of Penguin Books India. Currently, he is Publisher of Penguin Canada and also is author of the novel, ‘The House of Blue Mangoes’. He was only 26, when Peter Mayer, Chairman of Penguin, world-wide., asked him whether he would be interested in running a new company in India. When he started there were exactly 3 employees in the first year of operations and they invested ten thousand US dollars in the company in 1986 David believes that there is a myth that if you write a novel you’ll become rich, famous, attractive to women, or whatever the case may be, he feels that very few books break out in a way such as ‘God of Small Thing’s and ‘A Suitable Boy’ did, because it is only 1% who get to superstardom, because they won a big prize or it’s an amazing book and enough readers caught on to the fact If we think of the odds, there are about 100,000 books published every year. How can each of those books get to a reader’s attention! If we walk into a bookstore, and we face the first novel that appears and we have no idea what it’s about. There is so much competing for your attention. Most novels sell only about 400 or 500 copies. If it’s a good seller it will sell 5000 copies, if it won an award and got great reviews. He feels that it is only superstars that sell more and superstars are very few and every one knows who they are. The question we need to ask is why are there so few superstars? Why every writer isn’t published famous? There isn’t enough attention available for these writers. So that TV time, radio time, bookstore sales, all mitigate against every writer getting in. People normally approach the publishing house through a literary agent because they are the top filter, and a top agent will go to the publisher and say that he has a wonderful book…he’ll say he’ll read it. But if you approach him directly you probably don’t get through many of the sieves…there are assistants, there are people in the mailroom, and there are book manuscripts at the back because of overflow…everyone thinks they can write a book! His vision for Penguin India is to give India a world-class publishing company which he thinks it has been achieved. His vision of Penguin Canada is to make it the best company of its size anywhere in the world. He feels that we only have only one chance, and we must make the best of it!

Computer advice....

when you run an IT advisory services, you are faced with question that sometimes raise a smile Customer: How do I change channel on my monitor? Advisor: Your monitor won't have channels like a TV. Customer: But I was watching the internet channel the other day and now I just get the word processing channel. Advisor: Can you click on 'My Computer'? Customer: I don't have your computer, just mine. Customer: My 14 year-old son has put a password on my computer and I can't get in. Advisor: Has he forgotten it? Customer: No he just won't tell me it because I've grounded him.

NRIs seek easier process for repatriation of bodies

When you lose some one you dearly love, it is difficult. Especailly if you live abroad and want to bring the body back home. there is so much paper work to do that it can be really frustrating. In Dubai, Indian expatriates have demanded streamlining the process for the transfer of bodies to their home country so that there is no added stress after losing a loved one. Complaining of long and complicated procedures needed to repatriate bodies, the expatriates have demanded that that the authorities set up a single counter in the police department in each emirate to process all necessary documents Residents say they have to go through long, aggravated procedures in several departments, taking up to ten days to repatriate a body. People get frustrated going from one emirate to another to complete the necessary documents. They find the process of issuing death certificate, a difficult one with people having to run from one place to another for completing the documentation and it adds to their stress after losing a loved ones. They are emphasizing the need for a unified centre instead of several departments and ministries, that include The Police Department, The Ministry of Health, Public Prosecutors, Foreign Ministry, Residency Departments. that are involved in the process for repatriating a body.

And now he is dead. Sidney Sheldon

Sidney Sheldon was one of my favorite authors. His novels always inspired me. Every time I read his book, I would live in a different world, for some time at least, I would try to imitate and identify with the protagonist who was talented and capable and retained her femininity. At one time, I almost believed, that I too, would triumph in a hostile world of ruthless men. Such was the influence of his books on me. His character always looked real. He prided himself in the authenticity of his novels. He remarked in 1987: ``If I write about a place, I have been there. If I write about a meal in Indonesia, I have eaten there in that restaurant. I don't think you can fool the reader.'' For ``Windmills of the Mind,'' which dealt with the CIA, he interviewed former CIA chief Richard Helms, traveled to Argentina and Romania and spent a week in Junction City, Kan., where the heroine had lived. I would pride myself with collection of his books and would always recommend my friends to buy their own copy because I hated sharing or lending. ‘Other side of the Midnight’ being one of my favorite ones.

I am bored!

I get up in the morning feeling dull, looking into the mirror I feel my frizzy hair and think should I comb it or let it be, but since I have to answer the doorbell if the milk man come I must look good nah, or else he will deliver all curdy and stale milk for me and then I may not have the fresh milk for the whole day, unless I decide to go to the milk booth and get the fresh supply, but I hate going out early in the morning, taking a walk and falling into the potholes, we have so many pothole in Mumbai that we don’t need to go for trekking man, all we do is just walk down the potholed street and if you fall you can stay at home, just ring up the boss and tell him you are not coming to work if the boss does not believe, you tell him to come at home and see you in plaster, okay you don’t get injured so badly but if you walk carelessly enough there is good chance that you can fall then you can easily blame the BMC, okay you can click the picture of your injured body and take it to the polling booth when they have election man then you can threaten them that if they don’t repair those potholes then you are not going to vote for them, scare them real hard, or maybe they don’t know what is the meaning of smooth road, tell them to make a trip to Chandigrah, I am told that they have smooth roads there, well they could learn to make smooth roads from Chandigarh…otherwise I m not voting for BMC in Mumbai, I am serious, man, I am tired of applying ointment to my fractured bones, nowadays all medicines are so expensive and why must I spend so much money on medicine, let BMC pay me for medicines at least, if they cannot repair the roads then they should distribute medicines like ‘Iodex’ or ‘moove’ or any other medicine at every cross road, I cannot understand how so many people enjoy going for walks, in Mumbai, forget it, there is really no place to walk, you go to park, the path is uneven, I think even if horses were to gallop on these mud tracks they would trip, so uneven, man, and what about linking road, the main shopping lane in Mumbai, there are hawkers sitting in each crater selling their wares, and every shopper is limping while shopping, I ask the people on the road whether they always limp like that and they tell, me that they had their fresh fall recently, everybody proudly declares that they have a injury from a fall on the road, I mean, those who don’t fall on these road feel very useless, I mean, if the roads were smooth then everybody would have no reason to walk, it is because of this uneven roads the people are taking long, long walks and when they meet their friends on the road they don’t greet in their normal ‘Namaste’ mode like they use to in olden days, but instead they show their bruised areas like knees and elbows, some even buttock and compare the size of the bruise. The bigger bruise the better. They, then chat not about the weather but the brand of the medicine which is most recent and most effective. Yesterday I fell on my buttock and bruised it, I will not be able to go out early in the morning to buy the fresh milk, I better comb my hair and give a good smile to the milkman, man, I want to look good nah? Yawn!