tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6868405592176436672024-03-05T10:58:59.800+05:30Being simple is sometimes the toughest thing" Life is really simple,But we insist on making it complicated"- Confucius (551-479 BC)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-39411052414042162542015-02-12T18:45:00.003+05:302015-02-12T18:46:11.579+05:30I am in dire need of a technology detox!, And you?? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shut in my home, lying on my bed (thanks to the damn back pain, i took a sick leave from work!), i was trying to kill my time. I considered all the options available for the same:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1) Watch TV</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2) Browse something on the internet</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3) Watch movies/videos on youtube</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4) Message friends on WhatsApp</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5) Check my smartphone every five minutes for potential updates</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6) Window shopping on online shopping sites</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just as i was considering all these different options, i got a call from the Amazon delivery guy...<i>" Mam, can you give me clear directions to find your home? I am stuck in one of the streets nearby</i>". So, i gave him the instructions to find my place. Half an hour later, there he was, asking me to sign the delivery form. Guess what, I had one more option added to my timepass list. My new Amazon Kindle, which i had ordered few days back had arrived! Tadaa!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I started exploring the gadget. Checking out what all books were available for free to download first..."<i>Damn, I cant download 'The girl on the train' novel for free! What a waste!</i>", i kicked myself...and continued exploring it....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is how a typical day of my sick leave passed on:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I woke up in the morning at 6:00 am and had my cup of coffee. Browsed through my phone to check if i had got some messages on WhatsApp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I checked the Facebook homepage to see if there has been any interesting posts which were posted while i was sleeping in the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Then i opened my IBNLive app to check for the news. Then i realised that i could use my laptop instead (bigger screen).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I opened my laptop and checked my emails. Browsed different sites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Then my dad came to the living room and switched on the TV for news. There was news updates on the 2015 Delhi elections...<i>" Don't these channels have nothing else to report about. There has been non-stop Delhi Election news for the past three weeks!"</i>, i told him...Nevertheless, i decided to check out the latest updates on the 'name-calling' game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I turned to see that my father too was multi-tasking with the newspaper in one hand, his smartphone on the other hand and TV running in front of him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- The breakfast time passed this way. And suddenly i felt a swing of boredome. I was wondering what to do next...<i>'ok..maybe watch a movie on Youtube'</i>....So i opened the site and checked if the movie i wanted to watch for a long time was available on it....So 2.5 hrs passed this way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- It was lunch time...I came to the living room...I saw my father checking out something on his ipad. Mom was engrossed in her relatively new smartphone ( She had refused to use one for a long time. But after we forced one onto her, she was totally into WhatsApp groups and forwarded videos and jokes, Well what i can say!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Had lunch..and then wondered again what to do..'<i> no more movies, i have to read more books! Let me put this leave to proper use!</i>'. So i started reading a novel on my new toy, the Kindle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- It was a book by Oscar Wilde called 'The picture of Dorian Grey', which i had downloaded for free on my Kindle. I knew that a movie based on the book had come out few years back. As i was reading it, i was curious to read the review about the book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I opened my laptop to google it. Read the synopsis and the book plot online. I realised the content might be slightly disturbing for my liking. I wanted to switch to another book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I browsed through to check for more books which i could read...Then suddenly my phone pinged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Someone had sent me a message on WhatsApp. I replied back to them. Then went back to my laptop to continue browsing. Then suddenly another thought crossed my mind. I immediately googled that topic..and started reading about it.. While all this happened, it was already evening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I decided to go for a short walk '<i> At least for 20 min, i am sick of lying down the whole day'. </i>I did that one sensible thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Back from the short walk, i decided to switch on the TV. Meanwhile, i checked my emails (Btw, just that you are rest assured, i checked my emails atleast 20 times over the day).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I downloaded a new app called 'Gaana' on my mobile phone. <i>'Damn, i am so out of touch with all the latest music. This is a great way to catch up'</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- This was followed by few more hours of juggling between watching some shows on TV, checking my phone, trying to read a novel on my Kindle...and switch between my smartphone/ipad/laptop browsing the internet and exploring new apps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Finally i fell asleep reading something....the day came to an end.....</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwq_nqop4qfEEx9rsEaVJVgE3nUTv91sS5YCNdV7gqPMJBzNOo9AkgPXOv_klpOZwRSYemLpmF-zD-RKKiQ-zkTGXRQMEHY-N8u2pZKhrHUBpj6_9OyvVy1a0t-lHY8HcibqXiJYfbvWE/s1600/2015-02-12_18.29.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwq_nqop4qfEEx9rsEaVJVgE3nUTv91sS5YCNdV7gqPMJBzNOo9AkgPXOv_klpOZwRSYemLpmF-zD-RKKiQ-zkTGXRQMEHY-N8u2pZKhrHUBpj6_9OyvVy1a0t-lHY8HcibqXiJYfbvWE/s1600/2015-02-12_18.29.25.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then i just reflected on how the entire day had passed....<i>'Horrendous'</i>, i thought. If boredom was not bad enough...Technology just made my brain scatter all over the place. Not only could i not concentrate on any one thing properly, my eyes were soar by the end of the day. I started wondering what these gadgets have done to the already restless human mind. Is it a really a help or an assault on our senses. I realised i had developed an obsessive compulsive disorder to browse the internet, facebook, and my emails. So much that i get restless if i go to a place where is no WiFi or where my 3G network does not function.....In the end I somehow felt.......<i><b><span style="color: blue;">ABUSED</span></b></i>....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what did i do about it???.....I decided to take inspiration from the thoughts running through my head and decided to use this technology to write a blog about it.... '<i>What a hypocrite you are'</i>, i thought to myself....as i finished writing up this piece........</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-76768793620831802752014-12-28T13:08:00.000+05:302014-12-28T13:08:31.206+05:30The story of shedding those extra pounds-Part-II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Continued from</i>....<a href="http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2014/10/the-story-of-shedding-those-extra-pounds.html" target="_blank"><i>The-story-of-shedding-those-extra-pounds</i></a></span></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Those frustrating days!</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the sweetness of my initial success, my weight not budging for the next two months really frustrated me. I didn't understand why i was not losing more weight. What was i possibly doing wrong?? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jIlwrr362ovz6EXv3TLHYuUZ3nbGpX1G3scu3_k_RYRcyhclz1cNxz9Hvcv3PEQqECTC54KIJaVfa06koaT29ebhuJ0qseScZ6pDkNqZ4S1CO6wmSWfkJTLl6EC830wYL4CPD23dMvg/s1600/help.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jIlwrr362ovz6EXv3TLHYuUZ3nbGpX1G3scu3_k_RYRcyhclz1cNxz9Hvcv3PEQqECTC54KIJaVfa06koaT29ebhuJ0qseScZ6pDkNqZ4S1CO6wmSWfkJTLl6EC830wYL4CPD23dMvg/s1600/help.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy: <a href="http://www.letsgettoned.com/not-losing-weight/" target="_blank">letsgettoned</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I thought i needed to step up my workout strategy. Walking alone did not suffice i assumed. I decided to join the gym. I tried to workout in the gym atleast for 1 hour, 4-5 days a week. Mostly concentrated on cardio exercises. Did the group activities like Zumba which were fun for me. One month down the lane, i still had not lost weight. I could not digest that fact. I was sweating it out and feeling fit, but why didn't it really reflect on the weighing scale?! </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Weight Watchers era</b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsC7ZLwPWnIDC9TPxa-KKWz6kpvDDKfMidRHooUfsRLd20p7nB8hUxdrfabYJhhzcFaJKkoSah38jD_AgmNm1ih0D9cp7mHL5Pik6JuPdYDyKkgZGpyYn4dESQMv3ezsFyvbZs09zJGk/s1600/weight+watchers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsC7ZLwPWnIDC9TPxa-KKWz6kpvDDKfMidRHooUfsRLd20p7nB8hUxdrfabYJhhzcFaJKkoSah38jD_AgmNm1ih0D9cp7mHL5Pik6JuPdYDyKkgZGpyYn4dESQMv3ezsFyvbZs09zJGk/s1600/weight+watchers.jpg" height="200" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/WEIGHT-WATCHERS-POINTS-Getting-Started/dp/B004UW3VUK" target="_blank">Amazon</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then once, i came across a program called </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Weight Watchers</b></i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. It is an online program in which one has to record the food consumed everyday in the weight watchers online diary. Every food item has points, except for fruits and veggies which has zero points. You would be given a budget within which you can use up the points per day. However, since fruits and veggies have zero points, you could consume them at any point of time during the day leaving your budget unaffected. Every time you ate something, you had to record it in the online diary and it calculated the number of points you have consumed and how much you have left for the day. It was an interesting concept. Seemed more like a game to me. And being a scientist myself, i am one of those persons who loves to experiment. So i decided to use the trial version of the weight watchers diary for a month. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So the following month involved eating within the budget of points and my regular workout 4-5 times a week. Since fruits and veggies had zero points, i realized i was eating more of them during my hunger pangs and feeling victorious that i still have my points safe to be consumed for dinner! It didn't mean that i did not eat any sweet stuff. But limited quantity of it. For instance, a piece of milk chocolate accounted for 3 points. If i had 2 pieces, then i used up 6 points, subtracting it from the points i had left for the remaining meals. So it was up to me to decide if i wanted that two minute pleasure of eating that chocolate, or a larger meal! It was a mind game. But i followed it sincerely to obtain genuine data for my new "experiment". I could also enter my own recipe, like rajma masala or dhal or sambhar and it would calculated the points it accounts to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And yes, one month down the lane i was 4.5 kilos lesser!! My joy knew no bounds. After some months of frustration, it was finally a feeling of fulfillment. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Those internal system changes!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence, one more month of the same routine and gymming followed and another 4 kilos were lost! <i><b>So 6-8 month down the lane i was almost 19 kilos lesser!!!</b></i> It was indeed a great sense of accomplishment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I stopped using weight watchers as by that time <i>my appetite had reduced on its own, i was satisfied with small portions of food.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>- Fatty food made me feel heavy and didn't give me so much satisfaction or joy. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>- I felt great craving when i saw fresh fruits instead. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>- I got addicted to working out. three days continuously not working out would make me feel somewhat dull and depressed.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>-So many sustainable changes took place internally. </i></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- My skin was more radiant and looked younger.</i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- My hair-fall was under control.</span></i></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- I rarely got sick</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- I could fit into dresses which i only dreamt of wearing earlier</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Even during stressful times, i got into a good mood post- working out</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>- I felt fitter, healthier and just very very content!</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uOFpN-Um8ftBDkKXNVBTkMjFLjgWAoR4SfhpsgvB494zQMangps8q1vHJVc-W2Dhp5UMwtGP0l2gAkGD-RAaJz_gSFBhpuuShRWZ5046vxLz4MjTOOrfG2lAzi-X8B-ju0701Cs-QGY/s1600/fitness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Courtesy:Gold's gym facebook page" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uOFpN-Um8ftBDkKXNVBTkMjFLjgWAoR4SfhpsgvB494zQMangps8q1vHJVc-W2Dhp5UMwtGP0l2gAkGD-RAaJz_gSFBhpuuShRWZ5046vxLz4MjTOOrfG2lAzi-X8B-ju0701Cs-QGY/s1600/fitness.jpg" height="197" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy: FB page Gold's gym Adyar</td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>WHAT NOW?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So now, here i am, one year down that lane since i started this challenging task.....So is that it? Have i reached my destination? Nope. My weight got stuck after losing 20 kilos. I am maintaining the same weight for the past four months without following any particular kind of a diet. Just eating what satisfies me. And I of course have my "<i>Cheat days</i>" eating out. It is again frustrating not being able to lose weight easily again. But this time i know that i can go on and break this point too. It is only matter of my mind how much i want to push it. I am also concentrating a lot on toning my body and getting rid of the loose skin. I Started doing and enjoying weight training at the gym which i hated before. My new love, is....<i><b>Pilates</b></i>! What an amazing workout. I think it has helped me sculpt my body better. I really am able to visualize the difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But....Nevertheless, i am still some kilos away from my target and hence plan to start my Weight Watcher's type diet again come this new year!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Looking forward to the challenge!</b></i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbktoXw-Sq4aGuBAbiSNah5GxRG8iS0ZiL22sAP_vmiQDNIDaDQdZhKEZjMhar6F7rboFQhAIQkVruItuKXqVqhVFK34-ZcZv7U2E0BHTFtt92xeoD8zzc_UylM7o6CIrxVrQFsGcKe0/s1600/2014-12-27_12.32.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbktoXw-Sq4aGuBAbiSNah5GxRG8iS0ZiL22sAP_vmiQDNIDaDQdZhKEZjMhar6F7rboFQhAIQkVruItuKXqVqhVFK34-ZcZv7U2E0BHTFtt92xeoD8zzc_UylM7o6CIrxVrQFsGcKe0/s1600/2014-12-27_12.32.37.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then & Now! The difference!!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Readers Take home message</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>A. There are no short-cuts to losing weight. A regular workout and a proper diet is the key to success.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>B. It takes time to lose weight. Hang-on there. Trust me, you are not alone in that situation.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>C. Don't give up mid-way...cause you may never get to experience the contentment you would get when you reach your target! It is the sweetest feeling.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>D. Get addicted to the feeling of happiness post-workout (Find that pleasure in the pain)!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>E. Yeah, right it is because of the release of the happy hormones. So who needs any other substance to get you high?!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>F. A healthy lifestyle makes differences inside and outside...and Yes, you deserve to experience that!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>JUST GO FOR THE KILL, YES, YOU CAN DO IT!!</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-42222710565728595892014-12-14T18:38:00.000+05:302014-12-14T18:55:22.378+05:30Have a holiday Wishlist...and live life bountifully!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am incredibly excited to write this blog. Cause the topic is something which lights up a 100 Watt bulb in my mind and soul. Imaginations go racing in my head as i sit and dream about travelling. Yes, that's it, that's the topic.... My holiday wishlist!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have a good old connection with a website called AIRBNB (<a href="https://www.airbnb.co.in/" target="_blank">https://www.airbnb.co.in/</a>). The first time i used it was back in Spring of 2012, when some of my colleagues and i had planned a trip to Edinburgh, in Scotland.A friend of mine introduced me to this website. We were initially skeptical when we had arranged for an apartment which claimed to have enough beds to accommodate the six of us who were travelling together by car from Cambridge to Edinburgh. But to our great relief and surprise, it was indeed an excellent apartment, just as described in the website. It was neat and clean, had a huge furnished kitchen and three double beds which accommodated all of us comfortably. The heating worked perfectly in the cold and there were sufficient bed linen to cuddle into. There was also the parking space which we required. The best of all was the price we had to share was very very reasonable for all this comfort. I fell in love with the place for sure, but more so, i fell in love with this website. And i recommend it to all those who wish to travel around the world. Do check this link......(<a href="https://www.airbnb.co.in/invite/?af=3330229&c=IndiBloggerref" target="_blank">AIRBNB-REFERRAL</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As they say, the rest was history. I used this website many many times more after my first wonderful experience. I explored some of the lovely cities in Europe like Como, Heidelberg, Mannheim, London, Cambridge etc and used this website to book excellent accommodations. Needless to say, i also recommended it to many of my friends. They have an interesting tool called the "Wishlist", in which you can explore the website for the places you would like to visit and save them to your wishlist. I love this tool, as it lets me open up my imagination about the cities i wish to visit and help me visualize the places i would like to stay in those cities. I made my own wishlist of five places and would like to share it with my readers! Check out this link (<a href="https://www.airbnb.co.in/wishlists/47130227" target="_blank">MY DREAM HOLIDAYS- AIRBNB</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>1)</i></b> <b><i>Shanghai</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71-NFf3rRZ_w4uSAxu3mHISf_3L4JYQ71F31Ll3ry3tZRffkDsv2iF-KOUogAd7L9L3TJ7_3oz5hq8pjgXgk1tisfBWTRzhyphenhyphenzhkAI3T1ay6UCAZXMRuIGlaiZyKL12FmrSWQGGOIltYw/s1600/shanghai-8-500x233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71-NFf3rRZ_w4uSAxu3mHISf_3L4JYQ71F31Ll3ry3tZRffkDsv2iF-KOUogAd7L9L3TJ7_3oz5hq8pjgXgk1tisfBWTRzhyphenhyphenzhkAI3T1ay6UCAZXMRuIGlaiZyKL12FmrSWQGGOIltYw/s1600/shanghai-8-500x233.jpg" height="186" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Shanghai Skyline<i> (Source: <a href="http://travelerarea.com/shanghai-china-largest-city/" target="_blank">Travelerarea</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I fell in love with New York city during my visit to the USA in 2012. I loved the big city atmosphere, the hustle, the bustle, the choice of restaurants and most of all the incredible skyline...When i thought, this was it, my favorite big city...Someone just told me," <i>Hang on, not so soon. Wait till you see Shanghai. New York would seem so old!"</i>....<i>Really? Shanghai is better than NEW YORK??.....</i>I couldn't believe what i had just heard. I knew it that moment. I had to visit Shanghai, China's biggest city!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence i added it to my wishlist on AIRBNB. I picked up a compact, neat and clean apartment close to the city center and public transport lines, with excellent reviews. It also has a kitchen which is convenient for a vegetarian like me, as China is not too veggie friendly. More so, the reviews said that the hosts were very helpful and friendly. What better way to start to explore Shanghai, than to get some tips from the locals!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>2) The Grand Canyon</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhHdSDcGbKr6EL22A5H4gHUOgRK9uQVQN6VJPJR3HjDjMJUB6wdCbo8teTJ_f56xJ2o4kKtNLAl-bcs4X_IgUCxXPtFtIb0lFhyphenhyphenOPlB98Xn1RVUZBwwfDL6wfpvANB8IjGqUZeCcT0d4/s1600/801582793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhHdSDcGbKr6EL22A5H4gHUOgRK9uQVQN6VJPJR3HjDjMJUB6wdCbo8teTJ_f56xJ2o4kKtNLAl-bcs4X_IgUCxXPtFtIb0lFhyphenhyphenOPlB98Xn1RVUZBwwfDL6wfpvANB8IjGqUZeCcT0d4/s1600/801582793.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Colorado river flowing beneath the Grand Canyon</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeah, strangely enough i am leaving glitz and glamour of China's biggest city and going as close as possible to mother Nature, in all her natural marvel and splendor. Grand Canyon is a place which captured my heart at first sight. I once drove with my cousin from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon and hiked down to the camping site along the bright angel trail. I was totally unprepared for what came upon me. The whole two night-two day trek, which we took down to the Colorado river and back was closest to the nature i have ever been! As painful and sore as my muscles were, i, for the first time in my life had the sense of great accomplishment when i completed the trail successfully.! Meeting several fellow trekkers and sharing experiences with them was an experience of a lifetime. And suddenly, when we were driving back to Las Vegas, it left me craving for more. I wanted to go back to the Grand Canyon and feel that peace i felt in the middle of the humongous work of nature, despite all the body pain!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence, i picked that as the second place on the AIRBNB wishlist. I picked up a lovely place close to the Grand canyon south rim. The room looked very cozy and entire place was very well lit. The reviews suggested that the place was also very close to nature and the host was excellent. More so, it looks like an comfortable place to come and tuck-in after a exhausting trek down the Grand Canyon!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>3) The Italian Alps</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHjKmS-iJBbyAXAnZyC1-XHfyP7Rnh79vRmMIoYUIjv_Zwm6SOaD-8SBpO7tfdYMrMWQ5YRi-RryI172UUHXnXoBh9QDnCtZsodOMU2yox1qDygoW0YZmivd_vs86FPhla6jQlJwXKhc/s1600/italian+alps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHjKmS-iJBbyAXAnZyC1-XHfyP7Rnh79vRmMIoYUIjv_Zwm6SOaD-8SBpO7tfdYMrMWQ5YRi-RryI172UUHXnXoBh9QDnCtZsodOMU2yox1qDygoW0YZmivd_vs86FPhla6jQlJwXKhc/s1600/italian+alps.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Italian town around Italian Alps <i>(Source:<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/italy_travel_guide/6908837967/" target="_blank">italy_travel_guide</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Italy is a country which is very versatile, with its world-renowned cuisine, breath-taking cultural hubs, its seas and its mountains. According to me, its a must-visit country. The Alps is spread across many countries. Picture perfect sights, turquoise lakes, lush greenery, medieval castles and the snow-capped mountains. But i chose the Italian alps for the very reason that it carries with it that unique Italian flavor, say for eg. the smell of the classic italian espresso! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I added an bread & breakfast place in a small italian village called Veneto to my wishlist. The place had that coziness to it, to take a break away from the stressful work life. For me, it seems like that perfect place to unwind, explore the breathtaking alps and take a short skiing break!</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><b><i>4) A Grecian island</i></b></i></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtuj4R1ESbicEaVc9fx-woQrNO2Kws38US7Y_yHYcGap7mFCeZEqs02VCCkIyBFw5sW6-wSx3nGThCqa5HVxhzew2yDlkxYXsJP89L4FQhQPNjd5v4OT5XqiLTsNFfrjiWAeKi-WyRpE/s1600/greece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtuj4R1ESbicEaVc9fx-woQrNO2Kws38US7Y_yHYcGap7mFCeZEqs02VCCkIyBFw5sW6-wSx3nGThCqa5HVxhzew2yDlkxYXsJP89L4FQhQPNjd5v4OT5XqiLTsNFfrjiWAeKi-WyRpE/s1600/greece.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An island town in Greece <i>(Source:<a href="http://www.goodwp.com/world/29191-oia-greece-island-thira-santorini-cyclades-sea.html" target="_blank">Greece wall papers</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I fell in love with Greece, when i watched the 2008 movie '<i>Mamma Mia</i>'! The traditional Greek buildings along the crystal clear deep blue seas. The history, the geography, the traditions and the nature..everything about the Grecian islands captured my imagination. I knew at that moment i watched that movie, that i had to go to this gorgeous country!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hence, i picked up a nice bread & breakfast place in the pretty island called Amorgos in Greece. This accommodation is as close as possible to the mountains, seas and has gardens surrounding it. Needless to say, the reviews suggest that the hosts are helpful and friendly people! (Not that i expected anything else from the Greeks...</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"><i>5) Barcelona</i></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ_Ca1Qkx4eoHyStLAA183n9JdiiGeOzfQTGNrAnSGHFZV_M4rZI2UHJIOhYpIsIP6fcaFHVrKL1X06viKs6jw38kOfFRktRmE4C9WK9gTaXlOvjoqhmYfzWz2rHj5cqR5cBOyPsy5Yw/s1600/Photo_6_-_barcelona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ_Ca1Qkx4eoHyStLAA183n9JdiiGeOzfQTGNrAnSGHFZV_M4rZI2UHJIOhYpIsIP6fcaFHVrKL1X06viKs6jw38kOfFRktRmE4C9WK9gTaXlOvjoqhmYfzWz2rHj5cqR5cBOyPsy5Yw/s1600/Photo_6_-_barcelona.jpg" height="218" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">City of Barcelona<i> (Source:<a href="http://www.worldlunghealth.org/conf2013/index.php/2014-barcelona/barcelona-2014" target="_blank">worldlunghealth</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Barcelona O Barcelona...What a rich and vibrant city. It has takers having varied interests. Art, history, architecture, football clubs, beaches, parties, the young and the old. It is the city which makes the Catalonian's proud! I personally love the Spanish culture and the Spanish language (Well i am aware that they speak Catalonian in this region..but nevertheless!). It is a city i have decided that i must visit in my lifetime. And i picked up a nice accommodation to stay on AIRBNB,when i indeed do visit the city! I picked a place with a balcony, close to all the major sight-seeing places in Barcelona. It is a city to be explored by foot and the city center is the place to live in! All i need is a little cozy room to come and crash at night and i think i found my perfect match!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The five places i added to my wishlist got my imagination running. The world is huge and yet somehow small. Life is short! So make your own wishlist and live life bountifully. I wish you all the best for your good wishes to come true! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Godspeed and adios! </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-31154340326678616252014-10-17T17:15:00.000+05:302014-10-19T15:00:47.859+05:30Global Hindustanization <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was night around 10 pm in the city of Dusseldorf in Germany in early November 2008. I asked the car pooling guy to stop the car as i thought i had reached the metro station which my friend had asked me to get down at. As i got down from the car and pulled along my rug sack bag, the cold breeze from the river Rhine chilled my spine. My cheeks turned pink and my hair was flying. "<i>Vielen Dank für die fahrt</i>!", i thanked the person for the ride from the city of Hamburg to Dusseldorf, as i closed the door behind me. As i walked towards the place i realized that i had got down at the wrong stop, misreading the sign board. I immediately went into a panic mode. I tried to reach my friend on the phone. But her number was not reachable. I had no clue where i had got down and how to get to my destination (the metro station). I put on my rug sack and started walking down. I asked some people passing by for the nearest metro station and went into it. I looked at the metro map at the station, trying to figure out
what to do now. I suddenly heard a voice behind me, "Moechten Sie
Hilfe?" ("Do you need some help?"). There was a cheerful, blond
lady standing behind me. "Ja, mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut. Sprechen Sie
villeicht English?", (" my german is not so good. Do you perhaps
speak english?").</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Yes, i speak English. Where do you want to go?",
she asked me. "I am visiting a friend who lives here. I am supposed to meet
her at the Königsallee S bahn station. I got down at the wrong place and i dont
know how to get there. I am unable to reach her on phone!", I said all
flustered. "Calm down. Don't worry. You have to take the metro line from
this side of the platform. I will take you. I also go there", she said
smiling. "Thanks a lot for the help!", I smiled back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWazUrvkSiGG9JhG16Wu0r8_gJ7ALCjCugrUgXJxvAjk-ksHZz178jdhhpeYndzPU6x9qbiQOckTiFA2YPVnQTS4zPjBoxRqobiv5k4R2kfuchfQ4nHw2OBmLwFAVFpoWYlN7kwXr_zd4/s1600/Mango-Lassi-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we were walking to the platform she asked me, "
Which country you belong, you are Arabic?". "No no, not arabic, I am
an Indian", i said. " What! you are from India??! You know SHAH RUKH
KHAN??", she literally yelped out a scream. " Yes of course, i know
Shah Rukh Khan!", i said. " Oh my God!! I love Shah rukh Khan.I love
Bollywood movies. Even my daughter. We are craazy about the songs and dance.
Very nice!", she said literally jumping out in excitement. "Wow,
thats nice to hear!", i said surprised. " Do you know he is married
to his wife Gauri for sooo many years. He has two children, one sohn and one
tochter. He is so romantik. Ich liebe ihn. I love him!", she continued.
" I love this song Mahive Mahive, u know from his film, Kal honaho....What
is meaning of Mahive?". " Err, Mahive. I dont really know what is the
meaning of it. But i know the song from Kal ho Na ho. Very nice song indeed",
i said. I was slightly embarrassed that i had never thought about the meaning
of the word Mahive, which is commonly used in several Indian movie songs.
" India is so colourful. Movies full of songs and dance. It is sooo nice.
I am happy to meet someone from the country of Shah rukh Khan!", she said
cheerfully.She sat and spoke to me for 20 minutes until my train arrived. I
told her thanks for her help and boarded the train. "Thank God <i style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">for Shah Rukh Khan i wasn't stuck helplessly all by myself!</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was one of my first experiences living abroad where i
encountered the phenomenon of 'Hindustanization' of the world! Who knew that
our movies were so popular around the world and that Shah rukh Khan was a rage
among European women, especially the Germans. Did you know that there was a
International conference on Shah rukh Khan and global bollywood which was held
in Vienna in 2010? I had watched a documentary on the same on German
television.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was also surprised to know that Yoga was mighty popular in
all the countries. Every gym and every University had yoga classes regularly
taking place in Germany. I did not know that there was something called
Bollywood dance, which was so popular among the Germans. Not to mention that
bhangra songs which have become an integral part of the German night clubs. I
still remember the first time we had our university freshers party in a night
club in Hamburg. I and some of the other Indian students roared in excitement
when they played <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">'</span></span><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: left;">mundiya tu bachke rahi' and started dancing like mad. We created an infectious atmosphere and the rest of the crowd decided to join our dancing, asking us to teach them 'bollywood dance moves'. The Indian students association also organized a 'Bollywood party' to raise charity money in Hamburg in 2009.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWazUrvkSiGG9JhG16Wu0r8_gJ7ALCjCugrUgXJxvAjk-ksHZz178jdhhpeYndzPU6x9qbiQOckTiFA2YPVnQTS4zPjBoxRqobiv5k4R2kfuchfQ4nHw2OBmLwFAVFpoWYlN7kwXr_zd4/s1600/Mango-Lassi-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWazUrvkSiGG9JhG16Wu0r8_gJ7ALCjCugrUgXJxvAjk-ksHZz178jdhhpeYndzPU6x9qbiQOckTiFA2YPVnQTS4zPjBoxRqobiv5k4R2kfuchfQ4nHw2OBmLwFAVFpoWYlN7kwXr_zd4/s1600/Mango-Lassi-m.jpg" height="200" width="111" /></a><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do i need to mention about the popularity of Indian cuisine? It is incredibly popular all over the globe. What about the samosa's and chicken tikka masala's, Mango lassi's and mango chutney's. Once a European colleague of mine asked me for a special favour...to bring him back an exclusive box of Shri Krishna Mysurpa while i returned from my annual trip to my hometown, Chennai! I found that Masala dosas's were a rage among the German folks during my visit to the pretty city of Heidelberg in a small Cafe called MASALA!..Exclusive vegetarian and vegan restaurants have become extremely popular in Germany these days and most of them serve a wide variety of Indian dishes. Needless to say the enormous choice Indian cuisine offers to vegetarians. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"> </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/aK5YeF7VoQY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">What about the Indian people? The Indian community have for instance, become an integral part of American television. Right from the series 'The Big bang theory' to 'House'. From 'Homeland' to 'Harry Potter. Indian faces have become prominent. I met some Italian students in the students home where i was living in. They once told me, " </span><i style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Indians, They espeak good Inglis. So good Muah!, Italians cannotu espeak so good.</i><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">" I was quite surprised they noticed that. Once a Russian girl was telling me that she was very anxious about a certain situation. I gave her some advise. She then told me, " Thanks. Indians, they are so wise. So much wisdom you guys have". Wow, that was an unexpected observation!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><b>The Indian culture and the Indian people are so popular all over the world. Be it Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood, yoga, ayurvedic massage or mango lassi. Afterall, we are the great Land which Christopher Columbus wanted to reach when he accidentally discovered the America's! Let us be mighty proud of our nation. We have every reason to glorify our culture!<i> </i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><b><i>Be an active part of the phenomenon of Hindustanization and embrace it with open hands.....Jai Hind! (<a href="http://bit.ly/MITYTIndiblogger">http://bit.ly/MITYTIndiblogger</a>)</i></b></span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-53798225555720397042014-10-08T15:41:00.000+05:302014-12-28T13:12:43.870+05:30The story of shedding those extra pounds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
After a super sweaty
Zumba workout, I got back home and had my chilled whey protein shake. I then
made some hot green tea (with ginger, lemon and mint) and started sipping on it. I think that a sweaty work-out followed by a fresh
beverage is one of the most powerful secrets for feeling happy.
And out of nowhere I had my
moment of inspiration to write a new blog ( Yeah these sudden moments are very
strange. I never understood how they come and how they go!). </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Hence, i am going to blog about something which would
strike a cord with many a soul. I am pretty sure that many have experienced
those agonizing thoughts about all those extra pounds they carry under their
skin. Staring at the mirror and thinking how lovely it would be to shed those
layers of fat on their waist, their
thighs, their ass...Those dreadful love handles, those heavy arms, thunder
thighs and whale-like belly. When they met skinny people, they have this
wishful thought, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">" I wish I could do some
fat transplant to them!!"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> . The agony especially increases when they go shopping for cloths, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">"Oh my God, awesome dress-I only wish my tummy
was not so visible"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">"Oh these
sleeveless top- Agrhh, it shows my fat arms"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">"Oh these gorgeous printed pants, I wish my size
was available"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;"> " Oh my God,
these leggings don’t get into my thighs"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">…... The concern escalates
when some function or event is coming up.
They get themselves new dresses and want to look good in them. They make
a quick-fix resolution mainly during the week preceding the event (like GM
diet!). And once the event is over, they bounce back to their old ways. The work stress, tension, lack of free time
and more often than not, long travel times to work are to blame. They have an
immense craving to lead a healthier life. It crosses their mind every time they
see a super fit person or when they see people eating loads of fresh fruits and
veggies instead of the heavy meal they are gulping down. They get all excited
when they see someone who has lost weight and ask them for their secret
formula. They hope that they would give
them some amazingly easy miracle tip, which would help them too reach their
goals. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"> I... have definitely been there and done all
of that</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">……. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRi8BmcO0ZOVBDgGRftVBS8vi3tmSxGo2Ax4F68KPlaOOBELDIUem64_mFZ5o21Up6h3JML_RTDwx1gEQmqQ50pLsgp6DJnNTqeIZXvS3K75_gGRf6bk-dkFylWbAvgfR7BTI_RN0jgJlo/s320/fat-scale2.jpg" height="211" style="text-align: left;" width="320" /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Finally one day I decided to take a break and resolved to
make serious changes to my lifestyle. This lingering craving (to lead a healthier life) which was going on
within me for quite a while, finally started taking shape. It is most certainly not easy to keep it. There have been many times when I resolved to change my lifestyle, but I used to
give up after a while. I thought that this time I needed to do something
different. I needed to be more organised and have immense will power to lose
those extra pounds off my body. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The torchlight in my hands</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
To start off with, I
decided to take some professional guidance. I went to a naturopathy centre
(Ayushmaan*) and stayed for 3 days.
There we practiced yoga and aquatic yoga and ate the food prepared by them. I
got my colon cleansed to have a fresh start. We also had several sittings in
the infra-red sauna to get rid of the toxins in our body along with the sweat.
Most importantly, the doctor there gave us some vital information and educated
us about living a healthier lifestyle. I came to know that since most of the
vital organs are in the abdomen region, the extra fat in the abdomen causes
most dangers (hormonal imbalances) as it compresses the organs and restricts
their functioning. I got some excellent guidance. During my consultation time, I told the doctor,<span style="font-style: italic;"> " I had the slipped-disc condition few years back. I had to stop
my dance classes and aerobics classes
for several months in order for the pain to subside. And since I didn’t control my diet, I added
several kilos! but I do exercise
regularly nowadays. I really don’t understand why, but it never helps me lose
any weight. I am frustrated!". </span> He asked me one question, <span style="font-style: italic;">" Do you eat your food very fast?"</span>.
I said, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Yes, that’s true. But why do you
ask that?"</span>. He said, <span style="font-style: italic;">" Well,
that is the main reason why you are not losing weight easily. You need to chew
your food and break down most of the carbohydrates with the saliva in your
mouth. This makes sure that your intestine has lesser stress on it. It will
make a lot of difference"</span>.
It was as though someone had handed me a torchlight on the dark path of
my newly made resolution! After three days I came out of there, rejuvenated and
enlightened. (P.S. I know that many people visit these centres just for
rejuvenation. But once they come out, they fall back into their old ways. For
this guidance to help one meet their goals, one has to have immense
determination within their minds to succeed !)</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://cf.ltkcdn.net/gourmet/images/std/103378-320x212-FruitAndVegetableGiftBasket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cf.ltkcdn.net/gourmet/images/std/103378-320x212-FruitAndVegetableGiftBasket.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The next couple of months</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Once I came out of
the naturopathy centre, I followed many of the things I learnt over there.</div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I started my day with just
fruits. (I tried to skip morning coffee, but that was impossible...hence I
kept the habit!). Apples, pomegranates, pineapples, kiwis, watermelon, cherries, pears….i bought
more fruits and picked any 2-3 of them for breakfast. Did not eat anything
else at least for the next 2 hours.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I had some nit bits every 2
hours. My lunch was not heavy. Instead I ate/drank at least 6 to 8 times a
day. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I started eating my food
slowly. Chewed every portion of it until I could feel it breaking down in
my mouth. My meals took longer to
finish and invariably as I noticed, the portions also became smaller
gradually.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I switched to whole foods,
brown rice instead of white, whole flour instead of refined flour, red rice idlis instead of white rice ones </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">etc. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I went for brisk walks
regularly (5-6 times a week). Started off with 2 km and gradually
increased it to 6 km per day.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">I reduced the number of times
I ate junk food and reduced the quantity too.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Instead of gulping down a whole pizza, i restricted myself to 2-3 slices, once a month, just to satisfy my </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">occasional</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> craving.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
I continued like
this for the next two months. When I
went for a regular check-up with my doctor, she asked me to get on the weighing
scale. What I saw took me completely took me by surprise. I had lost 10 kilos
in 2 months! And I had no clue it was happening. My doctor congratulated me on
my weight loss and asked me to keep up the good work. It was a great boost to
my motivation. I thought I had found the
secret formula to getting a sexy figure! All the excess baggage would melt away
in a jiffy.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
But just when I
thought that I was in a rapid weight losing spree, I realised that two months down the lane, my weight had not budged even a bit! Such a disappointment.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Is it not
possible for me to shed the rest of those extra pounds? Why is my secret
formula not working anymore??..............</i>Continued to...<a href="http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-story-of-shedding-those-extra.html" target="_blank">The-story-of-shedding-those-extra-Part-II</a></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
* <a href="http://www.livefulllife.org/">http://www.livefulllife.org/</a></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-32461975634757555542013-11-20T00:15:00.002+05:302014-08-26T12:03:44.153+05:30In the Journey called Life: Finale- The Rao Upadesh!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">( Part-III of In the Journey called Life)</span></i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2jKbpJvPi2aujgxUjAVqJxKpUpBYRwrBsKaCiehT5mKQod_la1JIo_fWJnaSJ__tzaItbTntr0KOOzcIpt1dBAPgDdlbvJaCdLhdoekIcRwRO8gSVjrfJ_E9GIgT8a6zOTUDUAjXzt4/s1600/2013-10-17+17.44.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2jKbpJvPi2aujgxUjAVqJxKpUpBYRwrBsKaCiehT5mKQod_la1JIo_fWJnaSJ__tzaItbTntr0KOOzcIpt1dBAPgDdlbvJaCdLhdoekIcRwRO8gSVjrfJ_E9GIgT8a6zOTUDUAjXzt4/s320/2013-10-17+17.44.25.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A picture from the seminar in Delhi: The Rao Upadesh!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">I would like to
quote some of the general things which Mr. Rao and some of the other faculty
members emphasized on in the seminar. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I
will not describe any details of the techniques taught in the seminar. I will
stick to the information which would be interesting for a wider readership. I have divided them into subtopics just to give it a structure. These are based on what was told in the class, which i took down in the form of notes or recordings. I
hope I can do justice to his words. Wish me luck!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The importance of Birth Horoscope
and manual calculations</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">'</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;"> The birth
chart is the planetary alignment in the sky when the baby came out of the
womb of the mother and started its life in this mortal world. Astrology
and astronomy are intertwined. The birth chart represents the promises
present in your life. The most
important thing in Hindu Astrology which makes it far superior to other
astrological forms are the planetary time periods or the Dashas. If the
appropriate dasha does not show up in your lifetime, the promise in the
chart remains an empty promise.'</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">'</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;"> It is
highly important especially in this computer age, to learn to compute the
birth chart and the corresponding divisional charts manually. There are
several softwares which are available these days to do the computing. I
have found no two softwares to give the same dasha balance (planetary time
periods). Calculating manually will increase your concentration, the chart
will remain in your head for the rest of your life. This, I have noticed
improves your predicting capability.'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Why twins can have very different
lives</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">'Birth
chart is the primary chart. You can
get the overall picture of your life
from that. But Hindu Astrology has
even better ways of microscopically looking at your life by
computation of divisional charts.
Make generous use of the divisional charts for your prediction
which are computed from the birth chart based on the degrees of the
planets . These represent specific parts of life and will give specific
details which cannot be clearly seen in a birth chart. For instance for
knowing about your spouse and marriage, you need to check the navamsa
chart in addition to the birth chart and so on. </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">The time of
birth can be very critical for this computation. Difference of few minutes
will also change the lagna
(ascendant) * of the divisional chart. This has been the cause for
different life patterns of twins who in most cases have highly similar
birth charts.'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A Scientific research approach</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' It is
absolutely important to adopt an scientific research approach to astrology
and promote it as Science. There are many rules and scriptures available.
But it is very important to validate them. Test them on atleast 100-200
horoscopes, if not more and give
the % success rate before you conclude whether it is indeed a working
principle which can be used for prediction. If this is done who can deny
that Astrology is not a science?! This is what I wanted to do and this is
what we have done in the past in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and what we
continue to do!'</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' Try and
collect as many horoscopes as possible and develop a database for
yourself. Start off with horoscopes of people whom you know intimately.
Check if the described principles fit with their life events. Do not trust
the horoscopes of celebrities and politicians which are given on online
sources. There are high chances that they are not right unless you get it
directly from them or from a trusted source.'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Think liberally not literally</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' Remember
Desh-Kaal-Paatra (Country-the generation- culture) when you are trying to
make a prediction. Live-in relationships or having children out of a
wedlock are very common in many western countries, but that is not the
case for instance in India. You need to know the backround of the person and the generation they belong to you are dealing with before you
try to make a prediction for them'.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' When you
read the Hindu astrology scriptures (Brihat Parashara Hora Shatra, Jaimini
Sutras etc), apply them liberally not literally. They are ingenious works
which indeed represent the great knowledge in Ancient India. But they were
written thousands of years ago, when things were very different. It is
absolutely essential to adapt them to be relevant to the current age and
generation. Apply the rules liberally and don’t take the meanings of the
scriptures literally.'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Fraud Astrologers and prescribed
remedies</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">'There are
many astrologers out there who refuse to share their knowledge which was
passed on to them from their family. There are many astrologers out there
who are not willing to do research in astrology. Open source knowledge in
astrology will help eradicate the number of fake astrologers who scare people and prescribe remedies
just to make money. They try to get famous by going on TV, quite often
giving wrong information. I have also noticed that families of such
cheating astrologers suffer in later years. I would request everyone out
here not to cheat people. In this materialistic age it is hard to survive
without money. But whenever possible do free consultation for someone who
is in desperate need for guidance.'</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I DO NOT</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;"> prescribe any remedies such as wearing gem stones or
puja for pacifying the planets. The only thing I recommend people is to
chant the Vishnusahasranamam, be regular with their prayers to God, Do
good to people and help the needy. If you want the benefits, you need to
pray yourself and not expect some gemstone to do the job for you. If you
want a consultation from me and you don’t believe in God, then please
don’t waste your time and mine and come to me. It doesn’t matter if you
follow Krishna, Jesus or Allah, But if you don’t believe in the supreme
being, don’t come to me.'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Astrologers V Psychiatric
councillors</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' Why do
people come to astrologers? There are times in everyones life when they
are unsure of certain things. They need someone to guide them. Sometimes
they want to get answers about why it is happening. They come for
reassurance that they are on a right track. Astrologers are similar to
psychological councillors, only that I can confidently say that
astrologers are far superior. Why? Because a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">GOOD astrologer</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;"> has the knowledge to actually reason out the
Psychological condition of the person who has come to them. The horoscope
gives a lot of information about the events of their life which the
astrologer can read. But a Psychological councillor has to rely only on
what the patients actually tell them!'</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
I here also quote
from the book written by K.N. Rao which is
titled <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Astrology,
Destiny and the wheel of time</span>. Many of the things he mentioned in class
are also present in the book.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Astrology is a perfect Science, But
astrologers are imperfect</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' Anyone
who goes to consult an astrologer should approach him/her with respect but
never in total belief in his ability to predict anything and everything
correctly. Till we started our classes here under the Council of
Astrological Sciences, there existed no popular, non-classical method, yet
totally modern way of giving instructions in astrology. Most of the
astrologers even in India, in the land of Astrology know only some
rudiments of the subject .Most of our astrological scriptures were
destroyed during the repeated colonization, especially during the Mughal
and the British rule. But in this
era of high-tech publicity, anybody
can start an astrological journal
and begin to self-boost themselves. How should anyone who wants an
astrological guidance approach an astrologer in our complex times? These
are my tips:</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">(a) Tell
him if your birth time is correct and whether the horoscope you have cast
is accurate and according to his specifications</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">(b) Assure him that the horoscope is that of a
living person, not that of a twin. Disclose the sex always</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">(c)
Then see how the astrologer works. It reveals good deal about him. Since most
of the astrologers are fraudulent and greedy, one has to make sure not to
reveal too much about themselves</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"> (d) Let
the astrologer then trace out himself, without your helping, some past events
by writing down on a paper and hand it over to you. Do not accept an astrologer
unless he gives his readings In writing. If you are satisfied now with his
ability, then pose him with a question or two.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"> (e) Now
ask the astrologer to give you in writing future predictions. Insist on it, if
he is a professional astrologer charging fee.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"> (f) Do
not accept an astrologer who suggests remedial measures without first
convincing you that his astrological ability is sound enough.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Astrology, Destiny and the wheel of
time</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">' The
saints are world's finest reformers because they destroy the dogma of
religion which can otherwise turn fundamentalist. Many of these great
saints have been excellent astrologers before they developed spiritual
powers which made astrology a redundant pursuit for them. But they always
encouraged others doing astrology because they know that astrology
provides insights into the total personality of a person, at a physical,
emotional, intellectual and spiritual substrata of his personality. Such
total view together with their holistic view of the world we live in,
alone is the true method of promoting harmony and peace. If you are doing
astrology and not doing your prayer, you are wasting time. Astrology
should take you closer to God!</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">The step an
astrologer can follow step by step is…1) Prepare astrological data
accurately and fully, 2) Note its positive and negative points, 3) Find
out the planetary patterns which reveal many mysterious twists of life, 4)
Then time the events on the basis of the Vimshottari dasha (planetary time
periods).</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic;">ASTROLOGY
WILL THUS REVEAL THE PATTERN OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S DESTINY AND THE DASHA
(TIME PERIOD) WILL SHOW THE GYRATIONS OF THE WHEEL OF TIME!</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis19H-JsBWThXC40ZWp5i6RIX7YF1cypRcXwleFbeXgNNNPe85kwHx72NV8lU3WJox-isNmdvj22cTexGzZw6-QivU4Pauanzl3u0z9izofRi4cEyhJfInd58JSUCUFvs2u7Px17Vu5BQ/s1600/2013-10-17+14.11.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis19H-JsBWThXC40ZWp5i6RIX7YF1cypRcXwleFbeXgNNNPe85kwHx72NV8lU3WJox-isNmdvj22cTexGzZw6-QivU4Pauanzl3u0z9izofRi4cEyhJfInd58JSUCUFvs2u7Px17Vu5BQ/s200/2013-10-17+14.11.22.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A treasured picture! A keep for life!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Now comes the main
question..If everything is predestined, then is there any use of self-efforts
and righteousness?? </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The paths of our lives is indeed predestined.
I didn’t believe in it before. But more I learn astrology, more I understand
my own personality better. Self-discovery has been the greatest prize of investing my time in learning this science. I could see why I had inclinations towards certain
things, why I wanted to stay away from certain things. I could also point out
time periods when I was in complete distress and when things were not working
at one go. I could recognise time periods when I had the 'stroke of luck' as we
call it. I could point out when I developed sudden interest in something, when
I decided to change my field, when I had the inclination to go to foreign lands
which indeed fructified at the right dasha. I was convinced even further during my trip to Delhi, where i saw live demonstration of how good astrologers can see you inside out just my analysing your horoscope.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br />
But as much as the
PATH is carved out for us, and as much
as we don’t have a control over it. What WE DO have control over is how we
react to the scenarios we are pushed into! Whether we are resilient and fight
out our tough times or crumble under the tough scenario is completely in our
hands. Whether we let pride and arrogance take over us during our good times or
decide to remain humble, we have the liberty to choose that. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br />
It is believed in
Hindu astrology that the path we are put under in this birth is the sum total
of our karma (deeds) of the last birth.
Hence the path is pre-destined, but
right now as I write, our current karma is getting added on…... IN THE JOURNEY
CALLED LIFE!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Tips for the curious, interested and
motivated!</span></div>
<div style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-size: 11pt;">(Disclaimer:- The recommendations
given below are based solely on my own experience. It is highly likely that I
have missed out on some important references!)</i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Recommended reading:</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Learn Hindu
Astrology easily by K. N. Rao</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Astrology, Destiny
and the wheel of time by K.N. Rao</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Elements of
astronomy and astrological calculations by V. P. Jain</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Planets and
education by Naval Singh ( How planets influence our education)</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Interpreting
divisional charts by N.N. Sharma ( Why twins are different)</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Astrology of
professions by Col. A.K. Gour</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Planets and
Children by K. N. Rao</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Timing events
through Vimshottari dasha</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Predicting through
Jaimini Chara Dasha</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The journal of
Astrology is a bimonthly journal which has some excellent and ongoing research
results published. Subscription is by post.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Recommended
youtube channels:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span>KRS Channel</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
-Ernst Wilhelm</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Recommended websites</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span><a href="http://www.journalofastrology.com/">http://www.journalofastrology.com/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span><a href="http://www.astrologykrs.com/">http://www.astrologykrs.com/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span><a href="http://www.vedicastrologer.org/articles/vedic_astro_textbook.pdf">http://www.vedicastrologer.org/articles/vedic_astro_textbook.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; text-align: justify;">
*
The birth chart is divided into 12 houses which stand for the 12 zodiac signs.
The moment you were born there was a zodiac sign ascending from the horizon in
the place you were born. This becomes your ascending sign or your ascendant
a.k.a your Lagna.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-19766641388929625102013-11-18T16:03:00.000+05:302014-10-22T12:44:14.015+05:30In the journey called life- Part II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Delhi safari</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
My visit to New
Delhi was quite eventful. I went there to attend the international seminar on
Jaimini astrology. What is Jaimini? It is a technique used for prediction about
which a lot a research is going on at the Institute of Astrology at Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan. Very honestly, Jaimini was not the reason I travelled 1000 Kms.
My main reason was to meet THE MAN, Shri. K.N. Rao. I had previously read his
articles here and there and heard about him over and over again from various
people who are familiar with the world of astrology. American, Russians,
Ukrainians...he has followers from many countries. I was curious why these people from all across the globe come
to Delhi just to meet him. I watched his interviews and I was totally impressed by
the way he communicated. But what better than to meet him in real flesh and
blood.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">There were at least 45 people from Russia alone (or Russian speaking countries) who attended this seminar. One of Russian ladies were kind enough to book a hotel room for me on the request of the organiser...the cheapest she could find ( with a Russian speaking receptionist!). But when I entered the area (Pahar Ganj) where the hotel was located..I had alarm bells ringing everywhere inside. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">If I have a choice..i will definitely not stay here for a week</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">. I immediately executed my backup plan and was lucky to find an accommodation at the Working women's hostel, thanks to my cousin. Taking the Delhi Metro everyday was a unique experience . The mad mad rush at Rajiv Chowk station reminded me of my experience of taking the metro at Istanbul in Turkey, which has a population of 14 million against the 10 million in Delhi! But nevertheless it was fun.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.sojourntrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/METRO_CROWD_IN_DELHI_6294f.jpg" height="220" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daily scene at Rajiv Chowk metro station in Delhi (The picture was taken from google search results)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The K. N. Rao phenomenon </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Kotamraju_Narayana_Rao.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Kotamraju_Narayana_Rao.JPG" height="200" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shri. Kotamraju. Narayana Rao (Picture obtained from google search)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The first day of the
seminar</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">actually fell on the 82nd
birthday of Mr. Rao. I didn’t know this before. I went into the seminar room.
There were barely 6-7 indians, the rest were from all other parts of the
world..</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">Well..of course it is an international
seminar!Duh!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">..Then HE walked in, walking sticks in his hand and a long
silver beard, with</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">two women on either
sides escorting him. As he walked in people thronged towards him. Russians
greeted him with their hands folded in a Namaste, gifted him with boxes of
chocolates..There were</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;"> Namaste</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> s flying
all over the place. Although there was too much fuss going around for my
liking, I couldn’t help but stand and stare. He had this aura about
him..Something enigmatic and charming, which somehow cannot be explained by
mere words. Some Russian women who came there had tragic stories. They had travelled so many miles seeking some answers/some guidance. Some of them requested if they could get a private consultation from him. He agreed to do that later.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Finally the fuss
calmed down and the inauguration began. I remember the organiser Mr. Deepak
Bisaria saying to the audience that, all those who were sitting there in the
seminar must be having a raj yoga* getting fructified, to be learning Jaimini
from Mr. Rao himself! <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Then it was time for
him to start the course. The moment he started teaching, I realised why there
was so much fuss before. What a teacher, what an orator. His way of teaching
was so rational, so believable..most of all, so convincing. He always had incredibly
interesting stories/real life incidences to narrate. It would keep the entire audience in rapt
attention. When he taught, you were motivated to learn, you were inspired to
pursue. The best part about him was how freely he spoke to all the people. For
instance, in the first tea break I took a seat close by his circle, where he
was narrating yet another story from his endless stock to the group sitting
around him. I smiled at him as I took my seat. He looked at me and asked:<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;">I know you
right? I think we have met somewhere</span>'. I was taken aback by surprise.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
'<span style="font-style: italic;">No Sir. This
is my first time here</span>', I replied back ( But I was rejoicing inside!!). </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
'<span style="font-style: italic;">Ohh!?, Where are you from?</span>', he asked.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;">I am from
Chennai</span>', I replied smiling. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Later on after his
session on the same day, I had to passed by him to get back to my seat and
smiled as usual.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"> ' You are from
Chennai right? Was what I taught in the last session clear to you?'</span>, he
asked</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">' Yes sir. It was clear.'</span>, I replied, still
smiling and doing the 'Indian style'** nod of the head.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;">What do you do?</span>', he asked</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;">Sir, I just completed my PhD in biotechnology related
field</span>', I said.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;">Oh..Are you familiar with the Jaimini technique?</span>',
he asked.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
' <span style="font-style: italic;"> I have only
been doing some self-learning for the past 6 months. I only know some basics.
Not much otherwise</span>', I replied. I was yet again rejoicing inside. With
the kind of attention and open praise he got from all the people, he was still
concerned if the people in the class
actually understood what he was teaching. The sign of a good guru!<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
But I went there
hoping to find answers to my budding doubts, which I am sure would be many of
your doubts are well. I am including some the questions which not just came to
my mind, but also what many people repeatedly asked me.<br />
<br /></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="disc">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I don’t understand..How can the planets in the sky control our
lives? Are you meaning to say that the planetary alignment in the sky
during the moment we were born control our entire destiny?</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Why are there variations in predictions between different
astrologers? That makes us think that they are bogus!</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I have always wondered how it is possible that two people say for
instance twins, who were born in the same place, in the same hospital with
only little difference in time of birth, sometimes have completely
different lives!?</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">If our life is predestined and is already written in the
horoscope, then does it make sense at all to work hard and work towards
our goals? What about determination and self-efforts, do they mean nothing
if everything is pre-destined??</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">These astrologers prescribe so many remedies which many follow out
of fear. We are forced to wear gemstones, do special puja etc, apparently
to reduce the ill-effects of planets or to pacify them. Do these remedies
actually work? Does it even make any sense following them?</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I had a good feeling that I had come
to right place at the right time to get answers to these questions bursting in
my head. Did I get them?Was Mr. Rao the man who had answers to these
questions??.....</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Click here for the continuation...(<a href="http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2013/11/in-journey-called-life-finale-rao.html" target="_blank">http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2013/11/in-journey-called-life-finale-rao.html</a></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b><i>)</i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
* The astrological
scriptures describes certain planetary combinations which during the planetary
time periods will give some 'kingly' elevation in status. In simple words,
fortune giving combination.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
** We Indians just
nod our heads in all the possible directions. Many European friends of mine
have told me that they find this gesture of Indians hilarious. They don’t
understand if it is a yes or a no. I personally think the Indian nod is a
gesture of respect. We just don’t know where it originated!</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-77368586555569312262013-11-16T00:04:00.000+05:302014-10-22T12:43:06.732+05:30In the journey called life!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;">'There are only two ways to live your life. One is as
though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is</span>.' ~ <span style="font-weight: bold;">Albert
Einstein</span> ~ <span style="vertical-align: super;">1</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="vertical-align: super;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I finally found
something which truly inspired me to
write a blog. Its interesting for sure and in my opinion something fascinating.
But I realised I put my feet into an ocean.
An ocean of knowledge which is endless in the true sense. Let me explain
what I am talking about</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was in late march
2013 when something strange happened to me during my annual visit to Chennai. I
met a person who made a prediction for me. Its not something unusual. India has
always had a long history of mysticism and astrology. It’s a part and parcel of
the life of Indians who firmly believe
in these things. That has annoyed me in the past. Why do they blindly believe
in something they really don’t have much knowledge about? I have also heard
about a number of fraud astrologers out there who have scared people by telling
them they have this or that dosha (affliction). They prescribe remedial
measures which I found absolutely absurd and baseless. This is not just my
opinion. There are many many young Indians out there who would agree with me.
The thought would be ' <span style="font-style: italic;">This is bullshit. What a
scam!'.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">That One day….</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But still that one
day, that one experience I had in march
2013 penetrated deep into my head. Till date I cannot explain why. It just
happened. I was intrigued by this prediction.<span style="font-style: italic;">
How does this guy have this superpower to look at a birthchart and tell things
about a person he is meeting for the first time in his life?! What is this
birthchart all about? Why do people carry their charts to the astrologer with
doubts about their life?.</span>... One thing led to another and in the DNAge
of free accessible information*, all you need is interest and some time. I
generated my birthchart on an online website**. I then stared at it for the
first time. What are these boxes? What do the numbers inside them represent?
What are these planets doing in the
boxes ?! </div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">When I think back
now..i realise I had been so ignorant about so many things all these years.
When I got into it...my curiosity turned into interest which turned into
investigation which turned into fascination! The transformation was smooth, of
course it involved a lot of hard work and needed some time out of my busy
schedule. I was writing my PhD thesis and I had to also prepare for the PhD
defence during this time. Funnily enough, the subject was so exciting that even
after a tough day of writing and learning, followed by my fitness regime, I
could come back home and read about it till sleep overtook my interest. </span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Burning the midnight oil..</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I started with the
birthchart..It is the snapshot of the sky the moment you were born and where
you were born. <span style="font-style: italic;">Ahan, how can that tell about
your life?</span> I had never thought
about this before. But as I realised it tells a lot about your personality and
your journey you were born to take.
Being a scientist, this was so hard for me to believe. I needed more
proof. I needed to test the theories. I started with the twelve zodiac signs
and their ruling planets. I figured out what these boxes in the chart were all
about.<span style="font-style: italic;"> Ohh, 12 boxes(houses) for the 12 signs, now I get it!</span> I
checked out how to read this chart. How the numbering of the houses work and
what these 12 houses all about.
Apparently these are different facets of your life. <span style="font-style: italic;">I see..Interesting!</span>.. I found Youtube videos on what different
planets in different houses mean. When I checked the planetary positions of my
chart and their meanings in the houses..I saw a lot of myself in the
description. It took me by surprise. <span style="font-style: italic;">How is
this possible?</span> Here I must warn
you that once you try something like this, not only does your curiosity
increase, it becomes hard for you to retreat! The reason being that you are
sure to be awed by the advanced science of astrology which was
practiced in Ancient India. </div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">I kept learning more
and more. This whole regime of learning totally different subjects during the
day and night actually increased my concentration power by manifolds ( for both
the subjects). I used to feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, changing my avatar.
I learnt about planetary time periods being the most crucial thing in the
entire astrological interpretation of the chart. When I learnt the principles,
I started learning more things about myself. Why I did, what I did and most
impotantly when I did it! I could actually pin-point the time period when this
sudden interest in astrology started for me. Did I have the inclination towards
astrology indicated in my chart? Yes. Why did this interest not rear its head
all these years? Simple answer was, the time period did not support developing
this interest. When the time came, the interest came. The promise indicated in
the chart fructified. My fascination
increased even further. I was not satisfied by just looking at my own chart. I
started asking birth details of my close friends who I knew very well. I wanted
to test this also on their charts. Since knowing about oneself is fun for any
person, I got great cooperation from them. I started checking their planetary
positions and asked them whether some things which it was supposed to indicate
was true or false.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The epic journey to the capital</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">PhD got over. I got
my degree in front of my proud parents. But the fascination for the astrological science did not stop after
that..six months down the lane. One thing led to another and before I knew I
was taking a flight to New Delhi to attend a course on Jaimini technique in
astrology. Where did I hear about it?
From an interview on a Youtube channel. I headed to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
especially to meet one man, the one I heard and read so much about. Watching
his interview, listening to his ideology, his school of thought of having a rational scientific research
approach to promote astrology as science
awed me. I had to meet him and that time was now!!.......</span></span><b style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><i>Click this link for the continuation... ( <a href="http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2013/11/in-journey-called-life-part-ii.html">http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2013/11/in-journey-called-life-part-ii.html</a></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b><i>)</i></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #595959; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 9.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="vertical-align: super;">1</span>Pasted from <<a href="http://gladstone7.tripod.com/pageone.html">http://gladstone7.tripod.com/pageone.html</a>>
</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
* among many other
websites, there are rather informative Youtube channels on astrology which are available these
days.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
** Warning- Please
be beware that the information available on different astrology websites are
not always true. Lot of things vary from one software to another.</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-76405178670917048092013-01-24T03:46:00.002+05:302013-01-24T03:46:18.550+05:30Sip, sigh & smile :)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpB5Y-PVjLbqKT744Xb-JDF0VpYQHJsmpWTxhvG4GcUqJZKg190cwKLwGxrizChlN5sSZmefhp5nvVMdvzTwjtJFGpHqmNAkCR96TMxfpQ0agAaxoeU23HkkOtYp2Os61Dw1yiVqJTIvI/s1600/2013-01-15+08.59.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpB5Y-PVjLbqKT744Xb-JDF0VpYQHJsmpWTxhvG4GcUqJZKg190cwKLwGxrizChlN5sSZmefhp5nvVMdvzTwjtJFGpHqmNAkCR96TMxfpQ0agAaxoeU23HkkOtYp2Os61Dw1yiVqJTIvI/s320/2013-01-15+08.59.48.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is a cold winter morning. You look outside the window and see the white snow falling in flurries. The view feels magical in its own rights. The white coloured rooftops, the thick sheet of snow covering the cars..But best of all are the trees..they look like finely etched sculptures with the right amount of white and brown. Wow!, ofcourse what goes best with it is a cup of hot chai.You make yourself one and relish it sip by sip. Even better would be to listen to some music. Something melodious and pleasing to ears to go with the whole scenario. Suddenly your mind is engrossed in some thoughts, you never seem to understand where these come from. They just come without your permission and sometimes leave before you realise...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">You see flashes of somethings you have seen, known and sensed before. The street corner of your house, the little puppy you rescued on the road and brought back home,the time when your friends child hugged you and planted a kiss on your cheek, the scooter rides with your best friend from school,eating raw mango with salt and chilli powder on the beach, pyjama parties, your first camping experience where you cried because you missed your mom, the late night out with your girls from school where you had a crazy escape from a bunch of hooligans chasing you,getting questioned by the police after a late night movie with all guys, the fun day out with your best friend filled with food, film and fooling around, peeping from the top floor of a mall with a friend and just getting amused by watching all the people below, the excitement of receiving letters and greeting cards from friends,bold village adventures in search of someone you cared about, the misunderstandings, the fights, the making up, the lost friendships, the undying ones, bursting out crying on your friends shoulders, the love that you never realised you had, the love that broke your heart, the tears that made you human, the time when you had to build yourself up again from rubble, the success that made you arrogant and the failure that made you humble....</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You realise that life is made of lovely memories, whether you are happy or sad or even devastated when they happen, but when you think back they just seem lovely. You realise how much life has taught you. You are happy for the person you have become today, someone with no regrets of the past. You are looking forward to the new lessons life has in store for you. You hope that the best is yet to come and this will always be the case! You are optimistic about a peaceful and harmonious world. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You let out a sigh and smile...</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-56524250706884076732011-06-28T01:54:00.002+05:302011-06-28T01:55:08.366+05:30When i questioned life.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Recently i had invited a few friends home for dinner. During the course of the conversation something about overworking came up..My friend asked me, " I think you are also a workoholic, arent you?". I replied back, "Ya, i presume i am, but it is also because i have limited number of friends here and work is the most 'happening' thing in my life right now".There was a chorus from all the people present, "Awwww, thats too bad...dont say that. we will come to your place to eat even tomorrow"...we all laughed and the evening went on...After they left, i (ofcourse) had a lot of time for myself and i thought about what came out of my mouth spontaniously earlier that evening. Is work really the most happening thing in my life right now?? I started digging into this thought.This lead to a chain of philosophical thoughts....and a new blog was born.<br />
<br />
We all search for a purpose in our life. To keep doing something to keep us going or to love someone and convince ourselves that being with them and making them happy is the whole purpose we were born. This thought has always come to my mind," what should i do with this life? what do i really want to make out of it?". Being the crazy person that i am ( hey,i am a scientist u know..), i decided to experiment with it. Here i do have to mention my parents. I am indeed glad that i was born in an Indian family where i was not asked to get married and "settle down" in life as soon as i finished my bachelors. My parents let me choose my way and said, " you are free to decide what you want to do with your life, where you want to go, when and whom you want to marry. But you have to take responsibility for your life.If you want we can also make the critical decisions for you..you can decide if you want that too..". I am sure you can quite easily imagine which option i chose. The more exciting one, which my dear friends is also the tougher one. When parents do this to you ( giving you the freedom to choose), they also steal the excitement of doing something completely..hmmm..lets say socially not so well accepted.When i had to take responsibilities for my own action, i noticed that i was somehow not tempted to do something which would embarass my parents in the longer run ( Yeah i know...lucky parents :P ).<br />
<br />
On my journey, i gained quite some selfawareness. I realised that i am not one of the persons who have a clear goal in their lives. I have met some people who have a goal to achieve in life...Some dream of starting their own company, some want to become like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. They have a rolemodel. They want to see the money, buy the most expensive car in the world and fly first class. I am not one of those people who push life to the extremes. They need something adrenaline rushing to keep them interested in life. I have met a few people who want to go around the world, who want to go from europe to china by road, those who want to go wildlife photographing and doing extreme sports.I am also not one of those persons who cannot do without a companion. I somehow fail to understand when i see several 17 to 20 year olds choosing their partner and some also start living together. They also talk about love and togetherness and revolve their life decisions based on the current relationship status (at that young age, people seldom make the right choices). I am also not one of those people who take the safest option when it comes to their future..These guys fear taking risk or doing something out of the box. Neither am i am one of the lazy, pleasure seeking kinds. These people like to only do the stuff that they are most comfortable with and their lives completely revolve around themselves and their likes and addictions.<br />
<br />
Now, a major part of gaining self-awareness is also realising what you are not. But then comes the actual question again, what is the purpose of life?? Honestly, i have seldom met people who have asked this question to themselves.At some level we all like to be needed, and prefer being in a place where we think our presence is felt and makes a difference.Have you ever felt a sudden excitement when you saw a piece of news about how you can make a difference to something? Greenpeace, UNICEF, CRY, 'Light a Candle for Jessica', Stop human trafficking campaign, Feed a child in Africa, Educate children in India, Flood relief to Pakistan, Tsunami relief fund for Japan, Stop Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from being publicly stoned to death. <br />
<br />
The thinking process has not stopped yet, But then i came up with a purpose in a broader sense...One day i just said.." I want to make a difference".Appreciate the sweetness in putting a smile on someones face and spread warmth around.Live, let live, make a difference, die. Its a continuous journey where you will come across attraction, love, pain, tender moments, confusion, misunderstandings, success, failure and what not. But the broader purpose should remain in mind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And after all this philosophical jing-bang i asked myself once again..So is my work (research) the most 'happening' thing in life right now?? Yeah well,....lets face it...It is! Its as happening as it can get right now..and it keeps me occupied mentally. Havent you met people whom you think needs a job with more work (instead of thinking and talking unwanted rubbish). Hence i decided to be a proud workoholic!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-39841564000215100582010-10-24T20:36:00.000+05:302010-10-24T20:36:14.596+05:30Single-Mingle-Jingle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodQW7deSGY_67-n5s0MM4xjeF-dk9fjvNeK3l1_GcxIjpYJgxkQACfcJPU0i8B3_Mi4onHb34KAjTaJvlotwYnd9yhfUEnVHGRYTDLTVzcdcysyVoZ2L2xCfrUhL8VV5buHydwyJjd6c/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I have decided to take a bold step forward and write about it. Some of my interesting life experiances.About Something which generally make some people frustrated or in some cases even desperate. The infamous "status"..........Yes you guessed it right. I am going to write about being single!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodQW7deSGY_67-n5s0MM4xjeF-dk9fjvNeK3l1_GcxIjpYJgxkQACfcJPU0i8B3_Mi4onHb34KAjTaJvlotwYnd9yhfUEnVHGRYTDLTVzcdcysyVoZ2L2xCfrUhL8VV5buHydwyJjd6c/s1600/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodQW7deSGY_67-n5s0MM4xjeF-dk9fjvNeK3l1_GcxIjpYJgxkQACfcJPU0i8B3_Mi4onHb34KAjTaJvlotwYnd9yhfUEnVHGRYTDLTVzcdcysyVoZ2L2xCfrUhL8VV5buHydwyJjd6c/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Com'on! why is it such a big deal? i am only 25 years old, i am still young, i have a lot of time left to think about relationships or marriage", i told one of persons from the older generation who was extremely concerned about my single status.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" There is a different way of looking at it", she said, "you have completed 25 years and your 26th year is running.Soon you will complete your 26th year and your 27th year will start running.At your age i was married and had two kids and was taking care of the whole family!!!".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Yea yea. I know. You wasted your life getting married at such a young age. And i decided not to make the same mistake. You should appreciate my wisdom!", i replied back to her. She started grumbling," What is this wisdom i dont understand. When will you think about it? when u get old and all your black hair turns grey?! You are living life like a nomad, travelling from one place to another. I am telling you,settle down in life!!"</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Over the years ofcourse i have learnt how to deal with the older generation and their standard advise about "Life settlement". For an average indian girl( belonging to a rather modern family), this topic starts at an age of 23.The simple tactic is to smile to whatever they say and turn a deaf ear to the repeated advise.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But then...the story is not that simple.And life is not that easy, especially if you are a 25 year old indian girl, who is single and not really prepared to "settle down" in life.Infact i have realised that it is much easier to deal with the infamous older generation as compared to your own peers....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" You know what..i am telling you. Its high time you find someone for yourself. How long can you live alone like this?", said one of my close friend. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Yea. i will see. It will all happen when it has to. I dont want to push it hard", i replied back to him. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Ok then fine. As long as you dont have someone i have the right to flirt with you........so Honey.. just you, me, a candlelight dinner with some good wine....and ofcourse some good music, What say you???", he asked. </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Whoahhh, i never knew your romantic side!And I am completely flattered by your offer. Sad that you have a girlfriend. Otherwise i would have ofcourse considered accepting this magnanemous heart", i said laughing back.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" You dont worry about my girlfriend. I will take care of her. You just say yes, and i will take of the rest", he said. ( "Yea well, so i have an offer now", i thought.But decided to decline the date offer.)</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I met some friends who studied with me after 3 years. I was so happy to meet them and we were catching up the spicy bits about each of our lives from the lost years. So when i told that i finished my masters and plan to start my PhD in another country and that i knew no one over there, my friends started," Are yaar. How long will you keep studying?!! Settle down in life. Get married!"....I was rather dissapointed to hear this from them.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Hey, this is unfair.", i said, " I can expect to hear this from an elderly person..But you guys are of my age. I was expecting more support from you...".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">They replied back," we are just concerned about you yaar. Why do you want to go and live alone in some place you know no one and that too for 3 years! Thats sounds frustrating". </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Dont you think it is exciting. It will be a complete new experiance. New culture, new people, new life. Trust me, its not so bad", i replied back. But somehow they were not so excited of the prospect....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My friend and i were chatting about some new movie releases. He was a huge fan of the bollywood actress Katrina Kaif. " She is so hot. She is the dream girl of every guy. I can watch any of her movies just for her sake!", he said.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Really?? I find her so annoying. She cannot act for nuts. She and her irritating hindi accent", i replied back. He burst out laughing and i didnt understand why..." what is so funny about what i said?" I asked him.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Well, from this statement of yours, i have finally confirmed that you are not a lesbian.You dont like Katrina...so its proof enough that you are straight..Hahahaha".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Idiot! i could not believe my ears. He had doubts about my sexual preference since i was still single.." I dont know if it can get worse than this!!!", i thought....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My good friend pinged me after almost two months of no contact.Two months back she had asked me, " So wats new? Found someone? Or thought about marriage?". And i gave the same standard reply..." Nothing new. life is going on as usual. No, no plans of marriage as of now". </span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After two months, she asked me the same questions. I was amazed how hopeful she was about quick developments in my life in just two months. But to her dissappointment, she got the same reply from me. This time she said, " You know, i heard that people who delay their first pregnancy have a higher chance of having health problems in the future"..</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I was puzzled by this sudden gyan from her..." Why are you telling me this now?", i asked her.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Nothing...i just want you to keep this in mind", she said. ( Well Thankyou. Point noted down!)</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I caught up with an old friend after almost 3 years on skype.We went about asking each other watz up in life..I asked him, " So how are your Eena Meena Deeka, all the female fans you had back in college??". He replied back," Dont ask me...its a long story. Right now i am single and am sorry to be one"..</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I told him, " Com'on, why should be you be sorry. I am single and i am a happy single. I dont understand this frustration".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">He replied back, " You are a girl, i am a guy...its completely different. You wont understand".... (Huh?? I really didnt understand so i just dropped the subject then and there.)</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">These real-life incidences my friends, are just the tip of the iceberg.There were many many more things i have heard. The latest one being one of the persons i know wanting to click pictures of me and when i asked why said, " You are getting old. Its high time you settle down. I want to click some nice pictures of you which you can put on shaadi.com . Just see, after this you will get confirmed alliances!".. ( Grhrhhhhh!!!).</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So if you are a single women, your friends always worry about you, Most guys think it is ideal to flirt with you, the older generation wants you to get married and have a man to take care of you, but worst of all.........The girlfriends of your guy friends hate you!!</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But there is a silver-lining to the cloud...When i travelled around to different coutries, i met a few women, in their early or mid-thirties. Single and very happy with their lives. They ofcourse face the very same problems which i face...But they told me how they have learnt to live with it and take life as it comes.</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>"</b></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Be ready for changes, and be ready to be swept by the wave of love. When the time is ripe, things happen on their own. Until then, enjoy your life, cherish the time you are single. For all you know you might miss this very time you have for yourself when you finally start a family......"</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-41575555736533662012010-07-25T16:38:00.002+05:302010-07-30T01:09:44.740+05:30Lets go with the flow????<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmdQPMAyeNiMhkuEqTEUcv9F_DFTu7ugQMrf8q7s3-6UIBMKpv8jg2aXHWrMmEbn416IKV4AyGVNsDKgWazU6ja_hF45crrHvnsAICFd-hZ8C5XV0Xbm81oDlofZ0hU6_9BX0Ht6o0Tg/s1600/open+canoe+trip+on+river+Till1184061137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmdQPMAyeNiMhkuEqTEUcv9F_DFTu7ugQMrf8q7s3-6UIBMKpv8jg2aXHWrMmEbn416IKV4AyGVNsDKgWazU6ja_hF45crrHvnsAICFd-hZ8C5XV0Xbm81oDlofZ0hU6_9BX0Ht6o0Tg/s200/open+canoe+trip+on+river+Till1184061137.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I was chatting with one of my friend in India friday night. She was telling me that she has decided to take life as it comes and ended saying, <i><b>" I have decided to go with the flow"</b></i>.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Have you ever heard of the theory that if you hear or see something new you will definitely come across it again in some way within the next 36 hours??? From my experiance i will tell you that it is very very true!!! Let me give you an example......</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Saturday morning my collegues and i started from Graz, Austria in the car to Krumau in Czech Republic. It was a four hour drive to start our "adventure weekend". I have been having some slipped disc problem and attending physiotherapy sessions. My therapist told me not to go for it. But my collegue promised me that Vltava is a very quiet river and there is nothing dangerous about it, just a relaxing boat trip ( So i decided to go anyway!). But the weather God was against us! From 37 deg C on friday, the temperature sunk to 15-20 deg C on saturday with showers( heavy at times). But after the drive we were all motivated to still go on the boat. 14 adventerous people, five canoos, four Kajaks, a distance of 17 kms with 5 minor water falls to cross to reach our camping place!. I and my collegue decided to take a canoo. Two girls who had near to zero experiance in handling a canoo! We thought, what the heck, it is afterall a quiet river, we can manage...we put our valuebles (purse, cellphone, keys, some food and drinks) in a plastic barrel,closed it and put it into our boats and started the journey.....</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><i>The start </i></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I have never manuveared a boat<b><i> </i></b>in my life. The person sitting at the back has to change the direction of the boat..so i told my collegue to sit at the back..It was quite an interesting start..the boat was going round and round....and we had no idea how to get it straight.....and soon came the first water fall...Ofcourse we were more than confident that we could not manage that with our brilliant canooing skills.We had to park the boat in a bank before the water fall, drag it out of the water and carry it downstream where the fall ends and start rowing again. This time i decided to try my skills at manuvearing the boat, so sat at the back.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><b>Fall No. 1</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Actually it seemed that i was doing a better job at manuvearing the boat than my collegue..Well..almost.......in the process of getting the boat out of water my collegue lost her paddle. I told her that i would manage the boat on my own till the next halt. Suddenly one person from our group shouted out that he found a paddle in the river...My collegue shouted to me, " See there is a tree hanging there...if we go there we could hold on to the tree and get the paddle for him".So we decided to go to the bank of the river to get the paddle from him....Thats when we learnt the <i>Rule no. 1: Avoid the trees which are hanging along the banks of river, they can topple the boat!!</i> And so we banged against the tree and fell into water...a deep sink...but the life jacket brought me back on top...i swam towards the bank and held on to a branch and shouted out to my collegue...She managed to catch the boat and dragged it to the bank...with the help of others we got the boat out of water and emptied the water from it. It seemed that we were not the only ones to fall...few other people fell from their canoos as well...Some of them really panicked when they went under water... 5 out 14 decided to quit at this point and left back to Graz..But we two decided to try it out...."We are wet anyway, lets do it!". And so we got the boat back into water and started rowing again!</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><b><br />
</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><b>Fall No. 2...When I thought i was going to die!</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Soon came the third waterfall. It looked terrible...we managed to park the boat before it started and got out...carried the boat downstream along the bank. " Oh my God, look at this waterfall...the currents are so strong here", i said. "Yeah, it looks dangerous. But two more water falls only left. We can do it" told my collegue.. We got the boat into water again and both of us managed to get into it. We just took our paddles in our hands..Suddenly a strong current from the above waterfall rotated our boat and a huge wave crashed into our boat, toppled it and we fell deep into water..i could see nothing but brown water below...my legs hit against the rocks below...the lifejacket brought me up..and before i could try to swim, the current carried me with the flow and i sunk into water again...i managed to come up....My collegue was behind me, she shouted, " Lets try to get to the bank"....I shouted, " I am not able to swim against the current...Out boat and our barrel...we need to catch it...I swam a bit and thankfully i had long arms...i got a hold of the boat.The water filled into it and it was sinking. The barrel being light was floating on water. I caught it with my other hand. But the sinking boat was pulling me down. Like God in disguise, there was a boat in front of us...The people in it rowed towards us. A lady caught me. I shouted, " Take my barrel, i am not able to hold on"..She took my barrel and put it onto her boat. i was catching her boat and holding on the sinking boat with the other hand...Another boat came towards us...A man on it tried to hold on to the boat in my hand. I let go of it and held the lady's boat with both my hands. My collegue caught on to it as well. " Oh my God, this is horrible", i told her. The lady on the boat was stroking my hair from time to time and was saying "Dubri Dubri". I had no idea wat it meant. We were holding on to their boat for nearly 3 kms. Our legs were hitting the rocks underneath. It hurt and we were still under shock. They finally managed to find a bank where they could park the boat. They got there and pulled us out of water. We didnt know wat was going on...They could not speak english or german...They got us into another big boat for 6 people. My collegue was still under shock and the weather was cold and rainy. She was shivering badly.i rubbed her hands to keep it warm and said..." What is happening? and where is our boat and our barrel? i dont know what happened...". In other 500 m they parked the boat and got us out of the boat and the people who rescued us came and hugged us and told something in Czech language. We told them thanks and hugged them back. They brought rum and vodka and asked us to drink it to keep us warm...We took it and drank a few sips..it felt warmer...</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">They had finally got hold of our boat and drained the water out of it. They had tied our barrel to our boat so that it doesnt fall. They asked us which countries we came from..They were very nice..and at that moment like God to us!</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><b>Fall 3 & 4</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We were still under shock. But we had come too far...there was no way back...we had to keep going and reach our camping place. We were drenched completely. It was so cold. Finally standing on the bank with the friendly Czech people we saw other people from our group passing by. We thanked them for the last time and bid them Goodbye, got into our boats and started rowing again......Thinking of it now, i am so glad that we could keep our cool and carry on. We were kind of proud of ourselves for this. I shouted out to one of the guys in our group, " We had a major rescue....but please stay with us from now on...if something happens again you have to save us!". Actually we were doing pretty fine..But still we were no experts in steering the boat...The boat was moving left towards the trees on the banks and we tried to steer it to the right, but did not have enough force to do it quick enough...we ran into the bushes and fell into water again. But we had seen worse...this was not so bad...with the help of our other collegues we got the boat upright again and got into it....We proceeded on...and this time we crashed into the bushes in the right hand side of the river. Finally our collegue shouted out the Golden rules of canooing...</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>Rule no. 2: Try and stay in the middle of the river as much as possible</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>Rule no.3: If you want to turn left, the person at the back should hold the paddle to the left and for turning right they should hold it to the right without rowing</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>Rule 4: Stay on the side of the river which has more water, otherwise there is danger of rocks hitting the boat.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>Rule 5: Stay away from any artificial constructions like walls of the bridge in the middle of the river...If you hit against it your boat can topple!</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><b>The Finish</b></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">After learning and applying the golden rules, we actually did quite a good job..Well we were not the fastest...But for the last 6-7 kms, we did not bang against any trees or bushes on the bank of the river...We were wet, cold and further drenched in the heavy rain...But we just thought to keep going on and reach our destination. We managed the rest of the two waterfalls well. Then finally came our camping site. We rowed towards it. Two guys from our group were already there...We threw out our rope to them. They caught it and tied it to the bank. We finally parked the boat and got out!!! It was a feeling of content... <i><b>"Wir haben geschafft!"</b></i> (We have done it!)...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIDxiZudhrICIdEisQ4DyAC3Np3PY3KZWmGdJOIL8X1RLt8qeX9wB2cbCzD4Zd8Krrj1DpN2KLcJy2ec0aT5TEOlSxYGlLaMewGZ1FIejgPnxWprWe-dOTKy2ck7-sMTiRovGS4d4Prk/s1600/20100724+Adventure+WE+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIDxiZudhrICIdEisQ4DyAC3Np3PY3KZWmGdJOIL8X1RLt8qeX9wB2cbCzD4Zd8Krrj1DpN2KLcJy2ec0aT5TEOlSxYGlLaMewGZ1FIejgPnxWprWe-dOTKy2ck7-sMTiRovGS4d4Prk/s320/20100724+Adventure+WE+021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Now do you believe in the theory that if you hear or see something new...you will definitely come across it some way within the next 36 hours??? If you still dont believe it, observe it keenly yourself the next time!...Its true!!!!</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-78577731482931514072010-07-07T02:52:00.000+05:302010-07-07T02:52:16.040+05:30Thanks.....But i am a vegetarian.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5a57yt0VAMGeYRgrn-uKo_R5mo97XHP_JNrIXFRr0l-52Vo5GwQ631XAQdMe4P9IPZ3ezVQLyOIl6rHaZgDFcK7ql4pmJOE4J5JVsKGHVllZ6oQ3aITh-5UqTB1LhUUwC9tD4-iOW4nA/s1600/6a00e54ee0f61288340111685850d2970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5a57yt0VAMGeYRgrn-uKo_R5mo97XHP_JNrIXFRr0l-52Vo5GwQ631XAQdMe4P9IPZ3ezVQLyOIl6rHaZgDFcK7ql4pmJOE4J5JVsKGHVllZ6oQ3aITh-5UqTB1LhUUwC9tD4-iOW4nA/s200/6a00e54ee0f61288340111685850d2970c-800wi.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today, sitting in the Cafeteria, staring at my plate with "Gemuese ravioli mit tomaten Sosse", i suddenly got inspired to write. Why exactly??....Because it tasted terrible. But ofcourse i didnt have a choice, it was after all the only vegetarian dish in the menu! Thank God there was one! i started gulping it down my throat.This is the sad life of a vegetarian.....to make things even worse, An "Indian vegetarian" when they travel around the world!..</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My mind wandered to India. The vegetarian friendly country, where there are always so many many options to choose from even if you dont eat meat. Where there is a sign on the product saying whether it is veg or non-veg. Where there exists the only vegetarian Mc Donalds!...And where it is normal to be a "vegetarian".....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It all started with my trip to Germany, where i went to pursue a higher education, my idea of starting to explore the world. My first flatmate was a latin-american girl. She and her friends were cooking together once..i didnt exactly know what, but it was a smell which choked me...i knew it should be meat. When i passed through the kitchen i saw some red meat being chopped....absolutely not a sight i was used to. It didnt feel good. I rushed to the toilet and was sprinting back to my room..her friend called out to me.."Hey Asharita, do you want to join us for dinner?". He was smiling pleasantly. I feld bad but then i had to say, " Thanks a lot...but i am a vegetarian". Then followed a set of questions. I didnt know these questions were going to haunt me over and over again. Let me give you some examples of the questions and comments i have faced in these three years in Europe:</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><b><i><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Non-Indians </span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Vegetarian? Is it because of your religion?...Oh btw is it true that you can find cows on the roads in India?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So in India people dont eat cows?why? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">You have never eaten meat in your life? Never??</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So you dont eat any meat?? What about birds?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Sorry we dont have any vegetarian dish in our menu..But we have fish?....You also dont eat fish??</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Vegetarian......oh ok, sure, we have boiled potatoes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Oh you are vegetarian...see there is also cheese on the plate next to the meat. You can take that. You eat cheese right? ( Err...Thanks...but it is touching the meat. I find it hard to eat it. But its fine..i am not that hungry.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ok,that day i observed that it was not ok for you if the meat was touching the vegetables and cheese, is it ok if the vegetarian dish is also cooked in the same pan as the meat ??( My boss asked me this, as he wanted to invite the international students for lunch to his home...i felt odd...i just smiled).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ok then it is not really ok...But is it ok if the meat and vegetarian dish are cooked in different pans, but they are standing next to each other while cooking? ( Actually it was not ok when i was in India...But Europe changed me. As long as it does not have any contact with the meat, i still eat it.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Vegetarian?...Oh..I dont know what you could eat when you come to Latin America..We just eat lots and lots of of meat there. But hey, you could get lots of fruits and vegetables. ( Thanks...thats good for health. Maybe i could lose a few kilos as well!).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">You know in our country they discourage children from being vegetarian. It is believed it is not good..But obviously it is ok i guess. </span></li>
</ul><i><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Indians</span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So tell me...are you really still a vegetarian?? Tell me the truth!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">How do you survive in Europe yaar?!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">You are really missing something in life...start eating non-veg. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Eating chicken is like eating paneer you know, just try it once</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Arey what is this! you people think too much of yourself...You treat meat like it is an untouchable!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">You know meat is a rich source of protein. Vegetarian food hardly has any nutrition...what is your protein source?</span></li>
</ul><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The questions, comments and criticism we the vegetarians face....Life is not that easy. Initially i was defending my stand, then started explaining to people about the psychology of vegetarians....But finally i got immune to all the reactions i received. Now i just say...I am a vegetarian because i chose to be, and i dont have a problem about being one.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So this is what it boils down to....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(a) If you feel like eating something spicy and yummy, cook it yourself !( or wait for invitation from other Indians for lunch or dinner).</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(b) If you are too lazy, then there is always bread and cheese, Yogurt, Pizza Margerita (frozen ones mostly), salads ( a healthier option) or Pommes!....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(c) and for extreme laziness, there is Vegetarian Doener, falafel............and the single vegetarian dish in the Cafeteria menu -The tasteless Gemuese Ravioli mit tomaten So</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">sse today!!</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So i finally finished my lunch and left to continue with my work....</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-73458570354173817352010-02-22T14:56:00.001+05:302010-02-22T15:00:29.954+05:30Can you predict my future? - continued...(an interview)<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><b>Me:</b> </i> What do you have to say about my education?</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><b>astrologer: </b></i> You will study a lot. There is still lot of education left for you. You will also soon get a chance to go abroad for education. (That was indeed true, i thought.)<br />
<br />
<i><b>Me:</b></i> Money in my life??. <br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> You will not have finacial problems in your life.Money will keep coming.You will have the financial backup of your father and also from your husband. You will also earn on your own. Money wont be a problem. However you might have some health problems every now and then.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> I want to ask you some other questions too.<br />
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<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> Please go ahead and ask.<br />
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<i><b>Me: </b></i>You have a stick in your hand, shells and idols of some deity's. What are the significance of these things?<br />
<i><b><br />
astrologer:</b></i> Women like me have got the blessings of our deity "Jakkamma". It is inherited from my maternal side. When the women in my family are around 14 or 15 years, old, we get the word of jakkamma. The elders give us the stick in our hand and we do a pooja.After that we become an astrologer. It is just a plain wooden stick, but we decorate it with strips of silver.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> How do you predict about people? How do you give details about the person?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> As i told you, we get the word of Jakkamma. We have her blessings.When you tell your name or someother details,we suddenly get her word. We tell things which comes to us naturally in a flow because she instructs us.It comes automatically to us. I have got this power since the age of 15. Some men who are not married at the age of 35 or more would be having some marriage oriented defects in their horoscope(thirumangalyam dosham). In case of women, some might have some problems in their horoscope because the time they came of age was not good (poothagraham dosham).Some dont have kids also because of defective horoscope.So when we meet such people, we know about these defects and we know what can be done to rectify it.Jakkamma tells us.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Me:</b></i> Is it that only women get this power, as i have seen only women in several public places who have the similar stick in their hands and do palm reading?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> yes, only women get these powers.It passes on from the mother to the daughters. Every women in our family will have these powers. But the girls these days dont want to take up astrology. They want to study and go for other jobs. So they dont take up the stick. But they will also have the powers. Once we have taken this stick in our hand, we cannot do anything else. We cannot take up any other proffession. <br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> In several public places i have seen women with similar stick in their hands. They call out to you and ask you to show your hand to them. They say they can predict your future. It is quite common in several public places in Tamil Nadu. How do we know whether they are genuine astrologers? Can we take their word?<br />
<i><b><br />
astrologer:</b></i> Nowadays, people from many caste's claim that they can read your hand. Some can be genuine, but some just observe people like me and think they can also do the same. Not all can be trusted. Not everyone will have the word of Jakkamma. For instance, Powers i have are inherited. Women in my family have this power for generations. I am 69 now. I have been an astrologer and a palm reader since the age of 15.This is what i do.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> Does what you predict involve face reading?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer: </b></i>No, we dont read faces. We have the grace of God. When you tell your name and age, we tell you the things which come to our mind. It is more like a sixth sense. We can say, because it comes automatically to us because of God.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> I have heard that the lines in our hands keep changing with time. Is that true?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> Yes it is true. It changes once in six months or once a year. But it is the small small lines in our hands which change. The three main lines will be the same. The heart line, the head line and the life line. It is something which forms when we are born itself. The rest of the lines surrounding it will keep changing. There are specialist palm readers. We are not palm readers, but we also know palmistry.We also read palms a bit while predicting.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b>Me:</b></i> Which is your native place? Who is your family deity?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer: </b></i>My native place is Panchalankurichi. Do you know the freedom fighter Veerapandia Kattabomman?<br />
<br />
<i><b>Me:</b></i> Yes, ofcourse.<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> He was from Panchalankurichi. And his deity was Jakkamma. Same as ours.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> You asked me to tell a number in the beginning. After that you shook the shells and threw it and got a number. What is the significance of this?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> The 12 shells represent the 12 zodiac signs. What we do is match the number you say with the number we get after throwing the shells. If the number you say and the number you get are the same, then that number will basically be good for you. We ask this to tell you which number will be lucky for you.<br />
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<i><b>Me:</b></i> You said that if people have some defects in their horoscope, you know the means to rectify it. Either by some pooja or doing some deeds.How much can one rely on it?<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrology:</b></i> Belief is the key for anything you do. If one has belief in the things we tell them.If they truly have faith in our word, then they will definitely have their benefit. If you follow something without truly believing in it, then it wont have any effect. I was living in Bombay for 20 years. People who believe in our word call us. There has been times when some people have come searching for us to gift us something, because what we predicted happened. It depends on the trust and the faith. If you dont believe in this kind of astrology, you should not follow it half heartedly.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Me:</b></i> That is basically the questions i wanted to ask you. Thanks a lot for answering my questions patiently. I do believe in God, but i am not a very religious person. But the way you predict things and your profession intrigued me. I wanted to find out more about you. I believe some people have sixth sense.Some of the things you told about my family and about my character surprised me. Once you also told me what i had in my mind.I was shocked.If i ever get belief in the religious rituals you ask people to perform, i will definitely come to you. Till then i will live life as i believe it, Do good, be good. Live and let live.<br />
<br />
<i><b>astrologer:</b></i> Sure, i would never force anyone to believe in things. You are welcome to come back when you believe. You will have God's grace. Do well!<br />
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<i><b>Me: </b></i>Thankyou!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-4310998209183847562010-02-08T01:47:00.003+05:302014-10-22T12:38:53.731+05:30Can you predict my future??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"You should have been born as a male, but were born as a female", she said." If you had been born a male, you would have been living life like a king. But you were born as a female, hence you will bring luck to the place you were born and the place you marry into".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This was the first statement the women told me when i told her what my name was. I was wandering around in a tourist place when i first saw her. she was seated in a shaded place in the entrace of the house which was a reconstruction of a traditional Chettinad house of Tamil Nadu. She had a short wooden stick in her hand decorated with strips of silver on the borders. She also had 12 small shells in her hand and a box with small gold idols of some Gods with her. The board read that she is an astrologer.She was a stout, short women with heavy diamond nose studs on either side of her nose and a big red cicular blotch of kumkum on the center of her forehead. I was intrigued by her very appearance and curious to know what she would tell about me.She asked me to tell a number and a name of a flower. She then shook the shells in her hand and threw it on the floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"You said 7. the number you have got is 6 which represents the astrological sign of virgo.You have also the luck, good will etc associated with that sign. Wherever you go, you will do well. You will generally never give a word to anyone. But if you do, you will make sure that you keep it. You will travel a lot. Wherever you go you will have good money and property. You will get wealth from the family of your birth as well as the family you marry into. But you will still want to stand on your own legs and earn.Moreover you have interest in one art. In the future you will get a lot of recognition because of that.It will not be your livelihood, but will make you popular.".... Wow i thought. life suddenly seemed so good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">" The current period is not a very good period for you. There will be some hindrances and issues till the month of april. But you have a strong will and mind to live through the period and face the problems which you encounter. Right now you have the ill sight, jealousy and resistance of some people, which will combine with some hindrances in your horoscope to give you problems. If these issues can be solved then life will be better and prosperous for you. Do not say what you have in your mind to anybody. They will steal your idea and benefit from it while you will be at loss."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"But like oasis in a desert, there will be an outsider who will come forward to help you without any fear or hesitation when you have problems. You might be confused whether to believe in him or not. You should believe in him as he will genuinely help you. But till april the time is not very good for you.", she said. Life is afterall not so rosy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Suddenly she took the topic of my marriage. She said," You should have been married by the age of 26. But because of some hindrances in your horoscope and some bad times, it did not take place.You will get married between the age of 27 and 29.You are confused whether you want to marry a guy chosen by your parents or to find someone yourself. Whichever way, He will be an outsider". "Outsider? what does that mean?", i interrupted her. "It means that you will not marry someone related either to your mother's side or your father's side of the family. He will not be related to you. Outsider can mean anything.", she said and continued, " You will have a good marriage. You will be well respected in the family you go into. Your word will be valued there. You will bring luck and wealth into the family you marry into. You can have three kids, two girls and one boy. Depends on how many you want to have".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">" You will do good for everyone, but would not gain fame from it.Even people who generally dont trust anyone will trust you. People who dont mix too well with anyone will really like your company. You have such a horoscope.But right now the time is such that people whom you trust will break your trust. You will have some mental tensions and losses due to this. Dont give anything from your hands on tuesdays and fridays. If you do, the people who take from you will benefit while you will be at loss. You can lend money or help to people on the rest of the days."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">" You have good grace of God.You have extreme belief in God at some times and at times you think 'What has he done for me? should i really believe in him?'. You are confused about to what extent you can have faith in him. But dont worry you will have the blessings of God always.You think good and do good for people. You will have God's grace to have a prosperous life. But currently it is not the best of times. Let it pass. You will do well." she completed what she had to say." If you have any other questions in mind you can ask me", she ended...........(<i>Click her for the continuation.. </i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2010/02/can-you-predict-my-future-continuedan.html</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-85227610743674878022010-01-01T15:11:00.000+05:302010-01-01T15:11:36.834+05:30Characters you meet in Life(2)<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i style="color: #660000;"><b>Trial-2 </b></i><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Niki, i need your help in this matter.It is getting out of control!", Dhisha said anxiously." But it is not right.We dont have any proof. How can you put the blame on her. I am not able to believe this myself", retorted Nikita.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Sometime earlier Dhisha had come to Nikita's room asking her for a favour.They were in the college girl's hostel. For the past 10 days many of Dhisha's posessions were going missing from her shelve. Her favourite pair of earings, body loofah set, gifts she received from her friends etc. It was a while before she realized that it indeed was missing and not displaced in her room by carelessness.One day she suddenly found one her body loofah's hanging from her roomates bucket after she had returned from her shower.And her previous suspicion on her increased.She wanted to confront her roomate regarding this issue and came to seek Nikita's help for the same.Nikita and Dhisha's roomate were classmates in college and good friends as well.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Niki, i am sure i am not imagining it. For long i thought it was my carelessness and that i would find it somewhere in my suitcase. But it should be more than coincidence that the loofah which was hanging out of her bucket looked exactly likt the one i lost. She immediately claimed that she had also bought the same type only sometime back", Dhisha said. "Besides, she broke her leg 10 days back and has been sitting in the room while the rest of us had gone for classes. I do not have doubt on anyone else.Only Chitra" she argued.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"But how can you go and ask a person if she has stolen your things. What if she hasnt? And you want to drag me into this matter. I am not involved in any way. She is my classmate and a friend.She would not be able to take it if i also confront her along with you!", said Nikita. " Please Niki. You are her good friend. I need some support for doing this.And i think you are the best person for this situation. I need you. Please once come with me. You dont have to talk. I will. But i need your support.Please!" pleaded Dhisha.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Nikita finally gave in and accompanied Dhisha to Chitra." Chitra, can you come out for sometime. We need to talk to you", Dhisha called out. The puzzled Chita came out and sat with the other two."Wassup?", Chitra smiled. " Chitra, i need to ask you something quite frankly. I think i cannot wait any longer as it is going out of hands", started Dhisha. Chitra looked puzzled.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" Some of my things have been going missing from my shelf and i have a feeling that you have been taking them", Dhisha said bluntly. Nikita sat there like a horror show had began, feeling extremely uncomfortable already. " What!! Dhisha this is a completely baseless allegation. I cannot believe you just did what you did", said Chitra firmly. " I did not suspect you initially.But your activities were extremely doubtful and i still think you have taken my things. I dont care for the food items. Not even for the body loofah or soaps and stuff. But please give me back those gifts you took from me. They are very precious to me. Especially those earings which you said looked lovely and which dissappeared from my shelf soon after", said Dhisha.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Dhisha, this is the limit. What in the world made you think i would do such a thing?!! For heaven's sake i did not take anything from you!!", snarled Chitra. She was getting angry. " Listen, i may be spending money on really fancy stuff, but my dad is really not rich. I am from a normal family and i am taking a loan for paying my fees. So please return my things back to me.Please", continued Dhisha. " And my family is well-to-do. My dad sends me enough money and i dont need to do some petty stuff. Please know that.", said Chitra. She looked as though she could not believe what was going on. Nikita was even more convinced of Chitra's innocence. They have been together in class as well and she could not in the world believe that Chitra could be even capable of stealing. She was also getting a angry at Dhisha for dragging her into this and thought about the humiliation Chitra was facing.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">" I beg you Chitra", cried Dhisha. "Please return my things and i promise that neither i or Niki will let this matter out. I assure it will stay between us".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Chitra fumed now. "What is wrong with you?!!! I did not take your stuff. And the loofah was mine. I bought it. It is unfortunate that it looked similar to the ones you had.Stop making a scene here", scowled Chitra. Now Nikita had no doubt that Chitra was not involved in the theft.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"Thats it Chitra! This is the last chance. I was very patient with you and also pleaded to you. I asked that we could finish this properly, if you just handed over my things silently and be done with it. But now i have to go the next level. Open your bag and show it to us.Today, i saw something of mine hanging loosely out of it. Do it now!", said Dhisha firmly.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"This is ridiculous. What is wrong with you Dhisha?!!You are really insulting me and crossing the limits. I DID NOT TAKE YOUR STUFF",yelled Chitra. Nikita felt really bad for her.She interrupted, " She says she hasnt taken it Dhisha. Maybe she hasnt". " If she hasnt, then what is her problem in opening it to us?! Chitra, Now!! You do it now or i will report you to the warden. Then there will be an official enquiry. Now!Do it", yelled Dhisha. " Dhisha i cant believe you are doing this", said Chitra. "Come in now. I am opening your bag and you cannot stop it. Niki come with me!", Dhisha marched towards her room. Nikita followed reluctantly, feeling terrible for Chitra. Chitra was angry and she went running behind her as well.Dhisha took out Chitra's blue bag from under her bed and despite protests from Chitra, unzipped it.</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Nikita's jaws dropped as she saw the contents.Dhisha was right. There were several packets of maggi, a bottle of honey, The remaining loofah's from Dhisha's set, three pairs of earings, small dolls, greeting cards, bracelets,a watch and so many other things which belonged to Dhisha. Nikita could not believe to what level Chitra had stooped down to. There was absolutely no necessity of any of those things for her. Nikita could not believe her eyes. Looked at Chitra, who looked at Nikita and put her head down. " I am so ashamed of myself that i believed in you Chitra", Nikita said shocked and walked out of the room..</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Sometimes there are no logical reasons for people's action. Chitra did suffer from some kind of sickness one could presume. She could not control herself when she saw pretty things. She took it when the owner was not there and did not feel guilty about it.She also denied it when people suspected her or caught her red handed. Nikita had encountered the first Kleptomaniac in her life. " I didnt know people like this existed", she told Dhisha." I still have not recovered from the truth...not yet".</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Dhisha did not report Chitra to the warden on Nikita's request. Chitra later came to Nikita and cried to her and tried to give her some stories why she became like this and pleaded her not to tell any of their classmates about this. Nikita did not speak a word about it to anyone but she knew that she had nothing to do with Chitra anymore...</span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-6798541109418516572009-12-28T23:55:00.001+05:302009-12-29T00:17:23.206+05:30Characters you meet in Life<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Characters that you encounter in your life sometimes inspire you to write. Needless to say that my life has been rather colourful in that aspect! At every phase of life, i met some interesting people giving that extra flavour to my journey. Some experiances were pleasant, some unpleasant and a limited few..quite a disaster! <br />
I thought it would be an interesting read if i could pen down some real life inspired incidents as short-scenes with characters! Its a new effort...hope it turns out decent!!wish me luck!<br />
( Disclaimer: The short-scenes are not completely real-life incidents.they may contain fiction and/or fictious characters. Offense to any person dead or alive is unintended.)<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i style="color: #660000;"><b>Trial 1:</b></i><br />
" It is quite a sunny and beautiful day today", he said, trying to avoid an uneasy silence after she had come and sat in the chair next to him for a while.She was quite surprised by the sudden effort of her next seat companion to start a conversation. " Yes, it is quite beautiful. ThankGod it didnt rain today", she smiled back. <br />
It was the outdoor Fun fest in the company grounds. A variety of things were organised on the day. Lots of games, international food and stage programs. The whole ground was decked up in the summer colours. She had taken care of her stall for a while, then gone around the different stalls to explore the options available and also cheered for the friends who performed on stage. Her legs were aching and she had slept only for a total of four hours in the past two days. She finally decided to retire on a seat and found two seats empty next to him. He had been sitting there and observing the stall for a long time. She left one in between and sat on the other.<br />
" I really liked the classical music performance of Tinku, it was amazing!", he continued." Yea, it was. Although he missed a few notes in between. I have been in the practice sessions. But since the audience havent heard it before, i dont think they would have realised it", she said.<br />
" Our stall is doing pretty good business.We sold a lot of food and drinks. The dart game we have put up is also pulling crowd", he brimmed." Yes, the dart game has become quite popular among the visitors. I was selling out food. But right now i am too tired to stand there.My legs are craving for some rest", she said.<br />
They were both students in a University.They were in the same team in the funfest for putting up a stall.He was the person responsible for their stall. He and his team had toiled for the past 24 hours the put up the stall and prepared the food for sale.<br />
<br />
" I have organized several events in my college before", he continued. "I was the chairperson of the cultural organization committee.Once i organised a concert of a famous rock band in the college ground. You know, the crowd loved it. They went berserk. The place was jam packed. I am used to organising events.", he said."Wow, thats cool. Its good to have such experiances", she smiled.<br />
" In my previous job, i used to travel so much.The job demanded it you know.I was in one city one day. Never knew what the next day had in store for me.I was into consulting business" he said with pride all over his face." Thats cool.Consulting huh? I have heard that there is a lot of travel and also a lot of money. You must have had an interesting life". His face lit up when she mentioned the money." Yea, just two years into the company, when i quit the job i was earning about 60,000 rupees a month", he made a statement." Cool! That is a real good salary for two years experiance.Quite impressive", she said.<br />
<br />
That pumped him up a little more." You know i actually used a strategy to sell the items in our stall.People always like to try all the different items. Thats why i decided on the combo offers. They have something salty and something sweet. And when i noticed that the item 2 was not that popular, i reduced the price and it sold well after that. I think we will make a good profit.Let's see!", he said. "Sure hope so!", she smiled back.<br />
<br />
It is always interesting to observe a conversation between a man and a women who are just aquainted and finally the guy gets to introduce himself to the women.The women did find him interesting and was slightly flattered by the fact that he was interested in making an impression on her.The guy felt that he made a first good impression and got a proper response from the girl.<br />
<br />
" The courses i have this semester are really taking a toil on me", he changed the subject." It takes a while to settle back to studying after working for two years. I miss the earning part though. But i am a very ambitious person. I need the degree. I want to make a good thesis and get a good internship during the study period. I have a good plan in mind", he smiled. And continued to tell her more about his plans and his aspirations.<br />
"Thats good to know that you have thought a plan through", she told him. Suddenly she felt slightly amazed by how much the guy could speak. Eversince she sat next to him he had been talking. About what? she thought.She was constantly nodding her head at what he was saying, making some exclamatory remarks every now and then when he let her talk.<br />
<br />
"Sanjuktha", two of her friends called out to her in chorus."Come here quickly". She finally cut him in between," I have to go now. My friends are calling me. See you later". She smiled and walked to her friends.<br />
They were beaming back at her, giving her a dirty smile." What happened madam? You said that you wanted to sit for sometime. But seems like you were in no mood to come back to the stall. What was going on? You guys were talking for more than 30 minutes!", they laughed. <br />
"Oh com on guys. We werent talking..he was talking!I didnt know someone could speak so much. Anyways good that you guys rescued me.I started getting a feeling that he would never stop! Anyways why did you call me??" she asked."We are closing the stall soon and we have saved some sweet for you. Eat it before someone else finishes it" her friend said. "Awww, thats so nice of you guys. Thanks a lot. Now hand that over to me. I never got a chance to taste it from morning", she brimmed.<br />
<br />
The funfest finally ended. They wrapped up the stall and cleared the place.She finally went back home at night and fell on her bed. She was dead tired. Suddenly the conversation she had with the guy came to her mind.The guy really talks a lot, she thought. Self-centred for sure, very proud of himself and quite a brag, she made her first judgement.But she could not deny to herself that she was a bit impressed by the way he presented himself.<br />
Ya whatever, i need to make up for my lost sleep before i get back to me part-time job tomorrow, she thought and closed her eyes. Within a few seconds she fell into deep sleep.....<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-82620965280178019142009-12-21T20:22:00.007+05:302009-12-22T12:16:37.561+05:30A smile from deep within<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;">I still consider it as a wonderful part of my life....a wonderful experiance!<br />What am i talking about?... ........ The time i spent volunteering at CHES orphanage for AIDS affected children in Chennai.<br />It was a tough time in my life. Tough is a relative word. Rather i could say, it was the time in my life where things were not going smoothly for me. There were obstacles in my path and i had to fight it out at every step. I was game for it. But i used to spend several evenings, walking alone in the beach, taking my time to stare at the sea for as long as i could as if i was absorbing all the strength from it. I often used to seek out my destiny in life. I wanted to do something which would make me happy from deep inside. Thats when i found out about the NGO CHES (Community health education society).<br />The next day i rode down to Kodambakkam in Chennai and met Dr. P. Manorama, the founder of the NGO. She spoke to me about the NGO. It was basically an NGO which ran an ashram for orphan kids affected by HIV AIDS. Some children attended public schools, while rest of them were taught in the Ashram itself. She told me that monetary flow was really not an issue. What she wanted was some help of people who could spend time with the kids. Teach them some spoken english, arts and craft making and help them out with the school exams. She told me that she would be really grateful if i could spend some time with the kids instead of donating money. She also assured me that i would not be in danger of catching the virus because of physical contact with the kids. I just had to be careful not to come in contact with their body fluids. I thought about it and decided to oblige to her request.<br /><br />I spend several weekends with the kids. I taught them spoken english. For the first time i had to think about how to make english learning an interesting experiance. I tried to make it interactive and made them speak it out confidently. It was a lovely experiance, eventhough patience testing at times, when i had to resolve their fights. They used to be so excited to see me and all the kids literally used to come and fall on me. Some of the kids used to come and hold my hands and tell me that i look very beautiful. I always used to look forward to that time of the week when i had to go and interact with them, especially because of the enthusiam they showed in learning. I taught them stainglass painting and made them do their individual works on small square pieces of glass which i prepared for the class. And they wanted to make painting on all the windows and and mirrors after that. Several weeks later when i met Dr.Manorama, she actually was so glad that i interacted with the kids. She narrated an incident when some foreigners came to the ashram and the kids greeted them in english and asked a few questions to them too. She was immensely proud of their effort! I was so happy to learn that my students actually implemented what i taught them. She also told me that they were planning to shift to a new place and there she wanted to have a huge glass partition where all the children could do their stainglass paintings and display it. She told me that they were so excited to do the paintings and showed the small square pieces to her when she came to visit them. Small things like this can give you an immense satisfaction which cannot be explained by words. Life is beautiful i thought!!<br /><br />Some information about the NGO:<br /><br />* Home Address : Anantha Illam, CHES(Community Health Education Society), 1,<br /> Kumaran Colony(Near K.R.Vijaya Garden), Sridevi Kuppam Main Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600 087, TN.<br /> Tel: 91-44-24726655 , 44-24840148<br /> Email: ches_cheschennai@yahoo.co.in<br /><br />* Started in 1994 by Dr.P.Manorama M.D.,DCH.,DM(Gastro) based on two HIV affected kids & now it is a home for 45 HIV+ kids(upto age of 15). This home provides complete shelter/education/medical support for kids.<br /><br />* They receive orphan kids(HIV affected) from hospitals and government agencies from across Tamil Nadu. After completion of HIV test, based on the results the HIV+ve kids are retained in the ashram & -Ve kids are sent to the Government Child Welfare Society/GULID.<br /><br />* They are running their own school within the Orphanage for upto 4th standard , for higher classes they send the students to Cauvery School, Saligramam and Kodambakkam Gov School (10 students) for education.<br /></div>(<span style="font-style: italic;">Courtesy</span>: http://indiasudar.wordpress.com)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQqgdgFTvr5dXbgGa2I4YywHPKZ1g9gg5U2hmrIfkcwMjiXm5zsEIsC-F84AMtDDWrNBs0ZbYLqCH5-sQyaUvXAn_G8N2mJNaYiiBJB7PEXBFw4LX0cB0Jai6nLbfNYYDH_pcx8hL9ks/s1600-h/101D0516.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQqgdgFTvr5dXbgGa2I4YywHPKZ1g9gg5U2hmrIfkcwMjiXm5zsEIsC-F84AMtDDWrNBs0ZbYLqCH5-sQyaUvXAn_G8N2mJNaYiiBJB7PEXBFw4LX0cB0Jai6nLbfNYYDH_pcx8hL9ks/s200/101D0516.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417944864232397602" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-45971506441935816122009-12-16T14:26:00.001+05:302009-12-22T12:20:02.439+05:30Go Orange on Queen's day!<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It was the spring of 2009, precisely on the 30th april, during my short stint in the Netherlands. I had gone to the pretty little city of Delft in Netherlands for a period of 6 months for my final master thesis work. I worked in one of the departments in the Delft University of technology.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Having arrived on the 15th of april, i was still very new to the place. I lived in one of the most happening student hostels in Delft called 'Marcushof', which mostly hosted all the exchange students to the University from all parts of the world. It was a different type of an intercultural experiance. Since the students were there mostly for a short period of time, their basic motto during the stay over there was, Party hard on weekdays, and Party harder on weekends!!!...Well, what can i say..they indeed lived upto it! I on the other hand was still pretty much closed. I was still getting used to using the common kitchen to which i had to rush even if i had to boil a glass of milk. The kitchen was filled with people almost always when i entered it. People sitting with their beer bottles or wine glasses and chatting or cooking together, or just chilling out on the sofa and smoking.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A day earlier, i entered the kitchen and smiled at the people who were sitting inside and told my usual 'hi'. Two Italian girls were making their usual pasta. They greeted me back. One of them called out to me, " Ciao Aash, so are you also coming to Amsterdam tomorrow with us?". I was puzzled, " Amsterdam? what is happening in Amsterdam tomorrow?". She replied,"Well it is the Queens birthday tomorrow, there is going to be a big party and lots of concerts in the city"..I could see the excitement on her face. I was embarassed of my ignorance about the country i had decided to come to. I was completely unaware of the monarchy in the Netherlands. I said, " The Queens birthday is it?, cool. I can come, i have never been to Amsterdam till now".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As we reached the Amsterdam station it was 11 AM. In total 20 of us from our hostel went together in the train. I hardly knew any of my companions. Just as we came out of the station there were people standing on the way and distributing bright orange foldable hats. We all took it in our hands and wore it. The italian girl walking beside me told me, " Oh ya, i heard that everyone should dress up in orange today because that is the national colour of Netherlands". Hmmm....wierd i thought. I didnt know what was in store for us. As we went to the main street, we were all really surprised..In front of us was a swamp of people, all dressed in bright fluorescent orange. Tees, skirts, bikinis, hats, garlands, giant cooling glasses, masks, armbands, earings, lipstick, Boobytubes...everything everything in orange. We all looked at ourselves, we were dressed normally, looking out of place. We bought ourselves an orange garland.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The streets were crowded like crazy. keeping to the group was very difficult.But i was always concious of the fact that this was my first time in Amsterdam and i had no idea of the routes. All local transport was non-functional on that day. It was a national holiday. The city was so crowded and so orange. People were carrying pom-poms and whistles and small drums with them. Each and every street was packed with people. Even the famous canals of amsterdam carried big boats filled with people dressed in orange shouting out in celebration and waving their hands to the onlookers on the streets. There were several concerts all over the city...and several people on the streets selling different things, right from cloths, souveneirs, handicrafts items and every other thing which one could think of. And last but not least loads and loads of alcohol was sold on the streets. My companions from the hostel had an amazing capacity for alcohol. I was awed by the amount of alcohol they consumed. They bought shots which were brewed and sold in test-tubes too. They smoked pot (oh ya isnt it Amsterdam, its legal there!!). On top of that they carried big bottles of vodka mixed with orange juice in their backpacks (well that was for when they felt thirsty!). What did i do?...i stood there and walked with my group, just amazed by the sight around me. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My group decided to go to one of the major concerts in the heart of the city. We pulled and pushed our way and found the place the concert took place. We had already walked for 4 hours without finding a place to sit down in the crowd. My feet hurt badly. But as i noticed, i didnt see a single sign of tiredness on the face of any of my companions. We pushed our way with a lot of difficulty into the crowd to get a decent location at the concert. I went on for another 2 more hours. I had not sat in 6 hours...and i was really thirsty. I finally decided to give up my apprehensions and moved away from my group in search of some coke. I lost them in the crowd and surprisingly i was so happy to be lost!! I found a empty place on a bench and immediately sat down. It was already 5:30 PM. I really didnt want to get back into the crowded concert or my alcoholic companions. I asked people around how to get back to the train station and headed back to Delft! Pheww, i fell dead on my bed like a dead person! But it was a day worth experiancing once in a lifetime.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Some facts about the day: On April 30, the Dutch celebrate </span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Koninginnedag</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> ("Queen's Day"), a national holiday to commemorate the birthday of the country's (former) Queen. It is by far the most widely celebrated holiday in the Netherlands. Amsterdam is packed to the gills on April 30, welcoming up to two million party-going visitors. The Dutch have been observing Queen's Day on April 30 since 1949, when the new Queen Juliana ascended the throne.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDYlknM3MxGSIB-Th_wE09XpKGa7gqaFwvacXeojHBZgH4HCLPFJGuUZxMD3Lcnx2ReIAxSMfzyu7uP7L3X2Sft-kUKWC79HKE9XhfyRDck4ogaz80NgJcUAAunydyoES9dJqkisc89g/s1600-h/DirkvdM_koninginnedag_3.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDYlknM3MxGSIB-Th_wE09XpKGa7gqaFwvacXeojHBZgH4HCLPFJGuUZxMD3Lcnx2ReIAxSMfzyu7uP7L3X2Sft-kUKWC79HKE9XhfyRDck4ogaz80NgJcUAAunydyoES9dJqkisc89g/s200/DirkvdM_koninginnedag_3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415876469459902914" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-39018315775150171772009-12-15T22:05:00.000+05:302009-12-16T10:47:41.618+05:30When Bobby came home<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;">It was on 29. May 1994..It was summer vacations in school. The time of the year when all my cousins came down to Chennai. We lived in a two bedroom apartment on the third floor at that time. The colony i eventually spent 10 wonderful years of my childhood...Sneha Sadan.<br />Our house was always crowded during summer vacations. We were already three kids,mom, dad and grandmom. But summer vacation meant having fun with my cousins, aunts and uncles who used to come down to chennai from Trivandrum, Bangalore, Mumbai and Boston. The house used to be so crowded and noisy, when all the elders would catch up with the news of the year and for the kids it basically meant running up and down, playing games, fighting. We used to go for picnics to theme parks and to Marina beach. Food was always divided amongst all of us. Buying ice cream for one meant buying ice cream for all! That was the rule.<br /><br />On that day, my dad was as usual sitting on his big sofa in corner of the hall, reading his newspaper in the morning. All the kids used to sleep in the hall in a row. It was late enough and my mom was shouting out for us kids of wake up and fold our bedsheets and roll our matresses so that the servant could sweep the hall. I didnt want to budge from my place...Well until my dad suddenly announced something from the paper. He read out that there were 4 German shepard pups for sale and asked, " Aashrita, shall we buy a pup for our home? ". I got up from my bed that instant and ran to him. I was so excited. I said," Yes, yes, we should buy a pup for our home..i always wanted a pup you know. Please pa, let us buy one". I saw a wicked smile on my dads face. My mom gave him the coldest stare. He told me, " I dont mind buying one you know. But your mom has to give the permission". I went begging to my mom. But she told "NO" in all the different ways she could. But i am a very very stubborn person. If i make up my mind for something, nothing can change it. My main goal at that moment was to convince my mom. I went about doing it. I remember all the promises i made that day..." Promise Ma, i will take the dog for walk everyday. i will take the responsibility of feeding it. I will bathe it regularly, take it to the doctor for injections, remove the ticks, also clean the house if it shits there. You dont have to do anything..I promise" ( Well as we all know, promises are meant to be broken :P ).<br /><br />So finally we set out to Blue cross. After all the drama and rebellion from Mom, the consenses reached was that we will adopt an abandoned pup from Blue cross and i will have to take care of it for one year. If i do a good job at it, my dad will buy me a German shepard pup. A good deal, i thought. My uncle, aunt, little sister, dad and i dropped by Blue cross at Theosophical society to have a look at the pups there. I loved that place! They had many abandoned stray pups in cages with a cup of milk and a cup of water each. There were so many other animals also there. some injured birds, cats, squirrels etc. I was so excited to see them all. The doctor said that we could pick up a pup we liked from one of the cages. Oh my, they were all too cute..so small, cuddly and friendly..The pups were so excited to see us . They were jumping in the cages, trying to reach out to us. I went the one of the cages where there were 4 pups. One of it had light eyes. I didnt like it too much. There were two pups jumping up and down and trying to lick me. I picked up one of it and told my dad," Lets take this one..it likes me a lot :)" . It was a female. My dad said, " see i already have 5 females at home. I dont have a male company. Let us get a male pup". The 4th pup in the cage was a male. It was there, sitting in the cage, not even bothered by our presence. He was more keen on getting his sleep. The guy picked him up and gave him in my hands and said that he was one month old. He was too cute. Black eyes giving a sad look and a jet black nose, the rest of the body was light brown. He was shivering as i held him.<br /><br />We decided to take him home. I was the first to hold him. My little sister ( 4 years old at that time) was too scared to touch him. We took him home in the car. He remained there cuddled on my lap..still shivering because we were strangers to him. I carried him up the three floors like he was a baby in my hands. My mom opened the door and gave him and me a cold stare, said nothing and went inside..My cousins and my elder sister were scared of him...They ran from the house to the terrace, two of them also climbed the water tank and shouted from there! I took him to the terrace to introduce him to them. I left him down on the terrace floor. He was timid and small. He was shaking in his new environment and didnt understand what was going on around him. I still remember his first steps on the floor. He was an angel. My first dog and my first love!<br /><br />I was very innocent as a child. I believed all the stories that was told to me. My aunt told me that only if you whisper the name of dog in its ears three times, he will remember it and respond when called so. She asked me," so what shall we name him?"...After a long discussion round amongst all of us..we finally decided on one name....BOBBY!.. I took the pup on my lap and sincerely followed what my aunt told me...I whispered "Bobby" into his ears three time.....Thats when Bobby entered our lives and became a part of our family. Today, he is 15 years old and still alive and very much a part of our lives. And 29th May 1994 is a day that is still imprinted on my memory like it was just yesterday!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UjRb_2CyFV-uICJsxQQHuzgoheuD2pu36IORNg2NhunaNdmjLziidfAX7WtojHU62DgH0b8JK51ITmOBhstIdc6z5mwzKeM_KLfp8bZwhLOnVMf7R_eLxb1p2IoQO6Saeii7smk96jA/s1600-h/26072007011.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UjRb_2CyFV-uICJsxQQHuzgoheuD2pu36IORNg2NhunaNdmjLziidfAX7WtojHU62DgH0b8JK51ITmOBhstIdc6z5mwzKeM_KLfp8bZwhLOnVMf7R_eLxb1p2IoQO6Saeii7smk96jA/s200/26072007011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415527022450693554" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-686840559217643667.post-54276081384924969222009-12-15T20:54:00.000+05:302009-12-16T00:14:22.853+05:30The beginning of my blogging journey<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >I perhaps am a late starter of blogging...Having thought of starting it several times, i always postponed the process. I, like many others in this world suffer from the infamous "starting trouble". But like the old saying goes, Better late than never!!</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Today sitting shut in my home due to the torrent rains in Chennai, i was bored to the core. I am back home for my vacations and soon will start my PhD in Austria...Well 'soon' is still 92 days away!!! Whether that is a lot or not, totally depends on the reader. As far as i am concerned, my days are crawling...and i feel i still have a looong time to go!!</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Shortly about me....I am the second of the three daughters of my parents..the 'middle one', a biotechnologist who loves experimenting on things. I love mother nature in all her versatile forms. I believe in experiancing this world to the fullest...and am always in the pursuit of this goal, which i have realised is a neverending process. I am approaching my silver jubilee very soon and i feel the time is right to start blogging!</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Writing was never one of my strengths. But i believe one has to start doing it to become better at it...So here it goes...My first experiment!! I dont know what i can promise the readers..... perhaps simple language, simple stories and simple thoughts........Wish me all the best!!!! :)))</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328915266961648396noreply@blogger.com3