Happy New Year blog Advices

The year ending blog reading is becoming tedious. Most of the bloggers are tired/busy, and are wrapping up their posts with the gist of their activities, which is running into pages. Endless pages of photographs which one has already seen, does not make it a happy reading.Eyes are getting hurt,I am hitting the "mark all as read" button quickly.

I found one page which was sensible and offered some simple words. Many of you might have seen it already.

Doctor’s prescription for a Happy New Year: Free
30 December 2011

http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/free-a-doctors-prescription-for-a-happy-new-year/

Enjoy!

Happy New year.

Weddings Season and Police Control

This week has been a hectic one for the family. Having friends over, the cold weather, and the festive season added to all the fun and also stress to some extent.

There were a couple of wedding and allied celebrations to attend to, this week. For the few preceding weeks, we have been having very joyful expectations from these weddings, especially one wedding from our dear family friends. Our associations goes to some few decades,the bridegroom is part of our extended family. So the excitement in taking part in the wedding arrangements, shopping for things, meeting the members of wedding party that traveled from overseas, all was pretty heady.

(courtesy Google)



Last nite the celebrations finally ended, and we are all happy. But there was a major setback. When the couple were arriving at the reception areas, to be greeting by a nice welcoming music, we had a shock of our life. The Police came over and snatched away the equipment for the sound system etc and sternly denied permission to play any kind of music in the hall. This was the worst dampener that can happen in a celebrating atmosphere. What is a wedding reception without a dance and kids having fun?

It is understood that the general denial of permission is for the oncoming New Year festivities planned by many organisation. But that does not justify the cancellation of music playing at wedding celebrations. What they could have imposed was restricting the hours for music blaring out and that would have been tolerable.

This is pretty unfair on the couple , and for a long time this incident could cause a shadow . I hope the Police will exempt the wedding celebrations form such restrictions.

Watching movies

In our family we have a habit of following all major festivals with a movie , the same day, next day ...

In keeping with that tradition, we continued our celbration of holiday season with "Don 2". All you guys who do not favour Shah Rukh Khan , can stop reading .:-). We are totally biased towards Shah Rukh and Amri Khan. We may not like their movies, but we have to decide how the movie is, We will not go by any one's verdict.

We also read all the reviews, collect opinions and then watch the movie. At the theatre, we will be trying to prove critics wrong, and prove friends right ( those who favoured the movie). All in all we have a good time.

And so you know the next sentence. We did like the movie. :-)

Cheerful Christmas Day

Today seem to be having some magical spell in it.Entire day was spent in lovely anticipation of near and dears coming over for dinner, the preparation of it and the decoration of the house. Throughout the day , the telephones were ringing, bringing wishes from many friends and relatives. A perfect day it seems.

I had revived this blog today, making it a point to share my emotions on hearing the Carol " O Holy Night". And the tune is still ringing in my ears, the night is magical today too.

(courtesy Google)


To top it all, there was a greeting call from a long lost friend too. The forging of the familiar ties, and the eagerness of the response from our family to their family, asking about each one's health and happiness... It was magical indeed.


Thanks you Christmas season, you made my day, and year!. It is nice to cement old ties and, start anew, the friendship spirit is glowing right now all over. Let us revive our friendships and spread cheer all around.


Complements of the season.

Christmas Carols

It is Chirstmas time. All over the world people are singing hyms, carols . I am sure whatever I write today will be superfluous.


As I was lying in bed , on 24th evening, just before getting ready to go to the midnight celebrations, I was struck with a longing to hear this Carol" O holy night". Music has no religion nor language. You only have to feel it with your heart and, it touches your soul!


I also wanted to know who it was, who wrote the lyrics, and composed the divine music. The song was haunting me for some hours. With Google's help, I found what I was looking for and also stumbled upon this site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRF9PuXBzLc


This is it. It made my day. Afterwards, when I heard the Church choir , sing the hymn, I felt how badly they were singing!.


There are carols and carols, but for me this is the best. O holy night Performed by Celtic Woman.

Courtesy Google

Cows and confusion

When one finds an article about fresh milk , it is not something new or we did not know about it.But ,from USA , it is amusing indeed. http://www.examiner.com/parenting-in-san-francisco/exploring-the-benefits-of-a-family-cow-and-raw-milk is extolling the virtues of fresh milk. And that made me laugh out loud.

Hey, in this part of the world this is what our Gouds,paalkarar and others are doing for centuries. And after the advent of packed milk on polythene, we forgot the cows and buffaloes and shunted them out of city limits, and are still shunting them out!


All because ,we wanted commerce, efficiency and no-pain no-stain no-stink milk at door step. we forgot the morning walk required for going to the milk man and wait for some minutes, chit-chat and be grateful to the Buffalo/cow. We forgot how to be vigilant and see that the milkman does not add water to the milk , before he measured out the frothy liquid. We forgot how the can would be warm to hold, and the coffee would smell like heaven and taste like one!

(courtesy Google)

(courtsey The Hindu)



Now , back to the article, and the knowledge it imparts. So what do we do now? Ape the practice and bring back our fresh milk vendors? Feel mighty good that our forefathers knew what was good life , and our civilisation was far superior? Confused.

A writer I admire Ramachandra Guha

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110813/jsp/opinion/story_14371185.jsp

Please read this , by my favourite writer Ramachandra Guha.

I know there is a doubt on people's mind that I comment on other blogs, using my page. Yes, I do. I get inspired by some blogs,and I want to add my thoughts to it. Sometimes, I have this grandeur idea of wiritng a big text, and then I end up with trivia.I can't write too much on others blogs.:-)
Very often, when I get to a topic of interest to me, the comments section is already closed,or I am unable to comment on that site due to my limited internet knowledge.

Anyway , I cant help it. I have to draw attention to topics I feel about:-).

Ramachandra Guha is a writer I admire. I feel that in Public life, the highest post held by a person is of immense importance. In cricket , which is as much emotional for Indians, the person who holds a post should be one with some exposure to the game. We see very often, or all the time, sports being administered by guys from Political arena, wielding their clout. Why is there no protest form public on these appointments? Public need to demand that "one man One post" concept for sports, so that it is free other influences apart from sports.

harassment in public places

//There's been a consequent flipside to Anna Hazare's movement against corruption in the country. A number of people have been complaining of some fringe elements in the movement creating a nuisance - harassing and misbehaving with women, raising vulgar slogans and picking pockets.

Shanta Sharma, a student of Delhi University, said that she was harassed by a group of men returning from a protest site on Wednesday evening.//
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/harassment-and-obscenity-during-rallies-backing-anna-hazare-792


I saw this news item in today's papers. And it reminded me of the blogs I had seen earlier in the week. Harassment of women is a irksome problem all over India. Anonymity helps those cowards to behave badly and get away with it. It is a fundamental flaw in many men/guys/boys.The seriousness of it is felt only by women . It is time someone took up this cause as well. And who else could be better than...
I think the next civil society agenda can be a good one for women. They can take up this cause, as they have done so much improvement in villages, by using a very strict moral code. Have a look at this.

//Anna Hazare recognised that without addressing the menace of alcoholism, no effective and sustainable reform was possible in the village. He organised the youth of the village into an organisation named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association).[20] Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became in a sense religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units were closed by their owners voluntarily. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close down their businesses when the youth group smashed up their liquor dens. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.[21]

//When some villagers were found to be drunk they were tied to poles/pillars of the temple and flogged, sometimes personally by Hazare. He justified this harsh punishment by stating in an interview to Reader's Digest in 1986 that “rural India was a harsh society”. //
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare

I could not help giving a reference to this:

//The bottom line, however, remains-and this is the National Tragedy in which Anna Hazare is playing the part of Hamlet- is that we have a model of rural Development and Empowerment which institutionalises corruption, stupidity and availability cascades of the silliest sort. Thus, if there is a way forward, it is to be found in Modi's Gurjerat, not Hazare's Maharashtra. Otherwise, yet more momentum will be given to the great rural past-time of everybody forming his own Brashatachar Andolan and filing f.i.r's against everybody else in the village for assault, battery, anal rape, abetment to suttee, being pissed on from a great height, having one's land encroached on, not washing hands after doing tatti etc, etc.
The greatness of Anna Hazare is he finally ran away from the village and came to Jantar Mantar and sat down and declared a tatti bandh and humbly fasted till he got something or the other which would keep him out of the mad-house of N.G.O overpopulated Indian villages and their tremendous moral integrity and pure Gandhian values.
The extract from the Comission's report given below features a complaint by an aggrieved bus-conductor who started up his own Brashtachar Virodh outfit. Truly, we so called 'liberal' middle-class Indians have much to learn from Hazare and his ilk about the real meaning of 'Hind Swaraj'.

//http://socioproctology.blogspot.com/2011/04/justice-sawant-commission-on-anna.html

mmm...... If only wishes were horses , women could walk without fear!

Tehelka article on Anna Hazare

Here I go again,
But I can't help it.
Ranjit Haskote , whom I admire a lot has this wonderful write up on Jan Lokpal Bill agitation.

A must read.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne230411Coverstory15.asp

Impressive blog

//The Great Indian Conundrum
What makes India so interesting, is its sincere, hypocritical, self-righteous nature. Some of the things that makes one wonder, some great paradoxes that are unique to India as I know it, perhaps many other places too I am sure.//

Once again, I am hit by a sensible and thought provoking page from here
http://harimohanparuvu.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-indian-conundrum.html


I wont write anymore, let the page impress and provoke you as it did me.

Being an Angel?

I know whoever reads this blog, which aren't many , actually, will think that she is a copy paste expert and she has nothing to say. But even at the fear of being what you think I am, I get hit by some emotions when I read good stuff/or what I think is good stuff. I would really like to know the experience of others to this reactions of mine. Welcome... to criticise me.

Did you ever experience these emotions and feeling explained in the article?.

//INSTANT ANGELS
by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Many years ago, I decided to travel from New York City, which was my home at the time, to attend a week-long workshop at Esalen Institute, a beautiful spiritual retreat located on a cliffside a few hours drive south from San Francisco. With great excitement about the upcoming week, I flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and began my drive south on the picturesque Highway 1 which runs along the coast.

I wasn't in the car any longer than ten minutes when the skies darkened and the rains came down fast and furious. It was a difficult drive, to say the least, but my mind kept focusing on the wonderful workshop I was looking forward to attending.

When I finally arrived in the little town just north of Esalen, I thought to myself, "It won't be too long now." So you can imagine my disappointment to see a barrier in the road as I was driving out of town that said...ROAD CLOSED...FLOODING AHEAD. What a blow! Since it was the only road that leads to Esalen, I wasn't going to get to the opening of my workshop in time. Drat!

It's then that I made a downright stupid decision. I said to myself, "The road's probably not too bad. They're just being over-cautious." I then proceeded to make my way around the warning signs and continued driving. Stupid, indeed! As I drove, I noticed I was the only car on the road for an obvious reason...all the other drivers were wise enough to obey the ROAD CLOSED sign! For those of you who've never driven the magnificent Highway 1, let me explain that it is a turning, twisting, road with many areas that had no guard rails to stop one from hurtling down to the cliffs and the ocean below. If the truth be known, I began to feel a bit uneasy as I surveyed what I had gotten myself into.

Suddenly I was aware of a strange sensation. Instead of moving forward, I could feel the car being lifted as it slowly began "floating" toward the edge of the cliff. What had looked just like road was actually a big crevice in the road filled with water! I thought to myself, "This is the end! I'm going over the cliff!" I tried opening the door but with no luck; the water was blocking the door.

And, then it happened. At that very critical moment in time, a highway patrol tow truck rounded the corner. The driver immediately saw what was happening, quickly ran out of the truck, attached a rope to my car, and pulled me and the car to safety...thereby saving my life. What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that Highway 1 stretches for hundreds of miles and the likelihood of that tow truck coming around the corner just as I needed it was remote, to put it mildly! In fact, I put it in the "Miracle" category as I put the driver in the "Instant Angel" category.

I might add that he was an Instant Angel who couldn't stop cursing at me, calling me an idiot for disregarding the sign, and telling me if I didn't go back to the little town I just came from and stay there until it was safe to proceed, he would have me arrested and thrown in jail! (Instant Angels come in all forms.) I meekly apologized, sheepishly thanked him, and headed back into town wondering how I could have been so reckless. An important lesson learned: When it comes to personal safety, there are times to "feel the fear...and DON'T do it anyway!"

It was a few days before the rains stopped and the road was once again passable. But it was a life-changing few days. At first I was understandably disappointed. So near and yet so far! Reluctantly, I checked into a cozy inn. When hunger pangs made themselves felt, I made my way to a local restaurant and bar which looked over the ocean. After spending a few hours there, I decided it was a great place to just hang out and enjoy the crackling fireplace and the sensational view...which I did for a few days until the road was free and clear and ready for travel.

Unexpectedly it became a workshop of a different kind and certainly one that I needed: I learned the pleasure of having nothing to do and nowhere to go. I spent hours just looking at the view and happily passing time with interesting people. I laughed a lot. I appreciated a lot. In fact, I am convinced that I learned more about what I needed to learn there than I could have learned at the workshop I was supposed to be attending. (It's all happening perfectly!) I then realized that the rain was a blessing in disguise.

Years have passed and I have never stopped thinking about my tow-truck Angel who kept me from going over the cliff so many years ago. Nor can I forget the enlightening few days I was "forced" to spend in Big Sur where I learned so much about life. All "grist for the mill".

Often I wonder, "Was my rescuer really an 'Instant Angel'? Or was the fact that he rounded the bend just in time to save my life merely a coincidence?" While I can't offer any proof, I choose to believe that it was something more than a coincidence...that it had something to do with the Grand Design - the Grand Plan for our lives that our mortal mind's cannot see.

I also choose to believe that we can all be "used" by a Universal Energy to be Instant Angels to others. I know I was an Instant Angel to someone recently. I was standing in a pharmacy I seldom frequent when I overheard an elderly women telling the pharmacist that she was in pain and needed her prescription filled but she didn't have any money with her. The pharmacist wouldn't give the medication to her without payment. Business is business... unfortunately.

Without giving it any thought, I said, "I'll pay for your prescription." And I handed the pharmacist my credit card. The elderly woman turned around and looked at me in amazement and exclaimed, "Are you an Angel? I just know that God sent you to me." I answered, "I never thought of myself as an Angel, but maybe God did send me to you. After all, how come I showed up here just when you needed me?" And I thought to myself, "Why did I show up at just the right time?" Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? But for the first time in my life, I realized that all of us can become Instant Angels as we step in to "rescue" others who need our help. When we do, it's as though the Light of a Higher Power comes shining right through us. And as many of you may have already discovered, the feeling is divine.

The good news is that it's so easy to become an Instant Angel. All we have to do is focus our awareness on others who may need our help. As we find creative ways to feed the hungry, heal the sick, give comfort, and just be there for others in a multitude of ways, we embrace the status of Instant Angels, embodiments of a Higher Energy of love coming through us. I can promise you a heavenly result, a feeling of joy like nothing else. And when someone says to you, "Thank you. You're such an Angel." Bask in the glory that you truly are!//

I have felt this many times . I had taken comfort when I was used by people. I have felt helping hands when I needed. I had encountered angels, have been "angel" many times over.

It gave me faith in our society and people. It makes me realise there is something extra-ordinary in my life.

Life is great.

Cleaning the River Ganga - Possibilities in Politics

//New teacher

Digvijay Singh better watch out. Uma Bharti has now decided to mentor none other than Rahul Gandhi. There are whispers that the sadhvi has decided voluntarily to shower her pearls of wisdom on the young Congress gen-sec. During her recent meeting with Sonia Gandhi, ostensibly to garner support for the ‘Clean Ganga Campaign’, Bharti regaled one and all by recounting her excellent rapport with the former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. The Gandhis and Bharti may be placed on opposite ends of the political spectrum but that has not stopped Bharti from maintaining cordial ties with 10 Janpath. But what are Bharti’s lessons for Rahul? If the grapevine is to be believed, Bharti wants Rahul not to waste his time trying to revive his party in Uttar Pradesh as the Congress does not have a bright future in this populous state. Instead, Rahul, Bharti believes, should spend his time reading good books. It remains to be seen whether the diligent student takes Bharti’s lessons seriously.//

This is what I read in The Telegraph today. I felt kind of touched. Touched because,the participants involved had carried themselves in a dignified manner and interacted without any rancor., usually associated with meetings of the politically opposite parties. What we see daily on the TV , wherein silly remarks are made about each other was absent.

I liked that. This may be beginning, hope that this is carried over to other occasions too. Hope that the young leaders form political parties are able to work together without blaming each other, on matters of national importance.

May be I am imagining things, but I feel good. Atleast for now.

Breathtaking - Alaska

Alaska... Land far far away.. made famous on the news/TLC by Sarah Palin.

Sitting in Hyderabad one can't even imagine the weather or the amount of ice and wind.

I dont think I will be going to visit Alaska anytime soon.., but I could so some Arm chair travelling

And what I found in my Inbox is this link

If you want to see awesome pictures of unseen places, below the surface,

Go ahead.

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/inside-glacier-caves-17-photos

I loved them.

Perspective

I was down and out after a heated argument with family. I know I was hurt and it felt like end of everything. Meanwhile, I too refuge in the internet and I fould this article which gave me a lot of encouragement.

"THE LATE Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, often helped his patients gain perspective, and when he successfully did this, it changed their lives. When you know how to gain perspective, your life will be changed, and you’ll be better able to help others.

For example, because Frankl knew how to gain perspective, he was able to help an elderly and severely depressed man who came to him for therapy. The man’s wife had died and she had meant more to him than anything in the world.

How could Frankl help this man gain some perspective on such a tragic event? “What would have happened,” Frankl asked the man, “if you had died first, and your wife would have survived you?”

The man answered: “Oh, for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!” The man was beginning to gain a new perspective, wasn’t he?

“You see,” said Frankl, “such a suffering has been spared her, and it is you who have spared her this suffering; but now, you have to pay for it by surviving and mourning her.”

The man didn’t say anything. He shook Dr. Frankl’s hand and calmly left. He’d gained an entirely different perspective on his situation in an instant.

Frankl wrote, “Suffering ceases to be suffering in some way at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

from http://www.youmeworks.com/how-to-gain-perspective.html

I felt good after reading and contemplating.

Cheating Indian Bridegrooms - Dowry Harassment

Cheater, Fraud, Dowry seeker, what to name these guys , who are into marriage business. For their vanity and good life they spoil good girls' lives. What to withe them
Theya re all over India, This case is from UP/Bangalore. But there are cases from Hyderabad , Mumbai and other places.

What to with them?

Kindly help , if you come across information.
http://chitranshicase.blogspot.com/2011/07/help-us-find-them.html?showComment=1310063864574#c5616328294208407081

River Ganga Once again, at last

//It is in the shadows of a mango grove that Swami Nigamananda has found his final resting place. Buried under a mound of cowdung and mud in Haridwar’s Matri Sadan ashram, the ascetic died on June 14 of suspected poisoning at the hospital while on a fast to save the Ganga from indiscriminate mining. Ironically, it took his death (after two-and-a-half months of fasting) for the cause of a cleaner Ganga to come alive again. Despite over two decades of planning and action, which have little to show for it, the Ganga, holiest of India’s rivers, still remains an embarrassing sight. In her upper reaches, she is reduced to a trickle because of the numerous ill-planned dams that obstruct her natural flow and divert water into tunnels to power turbines. Downstream, in cities like Kanpur and Calcutta, the Ganga has to suffer millions of litres of untreated sewage finding its way into her waters.//

This is from Outlook this week. Most of you might have read the story , but I wanted to feel good about this intitiative. I am sad about that swamy, but am also hopeful Ganga will be cleaned soon and some of its past glory restored.

Link"http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?277355

Satyagraha, media focus

On Lathicharging a Satyagraha: Dilip D’Souza
JUNE 11, 2011

This topic appeared in Kalifa


http://kafila.org/2011/06/11/on-lathicharging-a-satyagraha-dilip-dsouza/


How sad that our country is being subjected to brutalities of all kinds. The role of media is becoming more and more biased. A thought is crossing my mind. May be media also needs quotas, some rule saying they should cover 20% social issues on various districts in India( again quota of districts?).

And such coverage should feature in assessing their " Padmashri" and "Padma Bhushan" awards, as well as their own back patting awards!

Crazy Indian , you think? :-)

Kindly let me know

படித்ததில் பிடித்தது

இது என்னை தொட்டது.

எம் எப் ஹூஸைன் ஒரு பார்வை.. ஆஹா என்ன பார்வை!

http://kafila.org/2011/06/10/alvida-maqbool-fida-m-f-husain-free-at-last/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kafila%2Ffeed2+%28Kafila%29

Banned drugs

"March 1: Banned drugs that are harmful to adults and kids are still widely available in the medical shops in the city. Even 20 days after the ban came into effect, the drugs, which have been proved to have dangerous side-effects, are still sold and this correspondent managed to purchase several banned drugs from medical shops in the city.

The ministry of health and family welfare on February 10, prohibited the manufacture, sale and distribution of the “cough and cold” drug phenylpropanalamine that causes stroke, the analgesic anti-inflammatory drug Nimesulide for children below 12 years which damages the liver, Cisaspride that gives rise to cardiac problems and other drug formulations, with immediate effect.

A gazette notification was issued in this regard by the Centre and all states. Reacting to this, the State Drug Control Administration has issued instructions to all drugs inspectors and assistants in the state to ensure the recall of the drugs on February 21. The State Drug Control Administration has claimed that they have recalled `12.88 crore worth of the banned drug formulations in the state till now.

The drugs are, however, still available in the market as many medical shops haven't stopped their sales and distributors haven't recalled them in several areas of the city. Nimesulide, which is often described as the “dirtiest drug” in the market for its damaging side-effects on the liver, is still available for kids."

This the news in Deccan chronicle today.

Sad , but how do the public realise some drugs are banned.?
Why can’t the shops be made to display the list of banned drugs ?

What is your take on this?