Attitude

Message For the Day…” Youth Must Hold Fast to God …”

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Adi Shankara remarked to his disciples that young people were more keen on sensuous pleasures than enquire about the Soul (Atma). It is piteous that people are more attached to the body, which is a container of many filthy objects. They are carried away by the external physical attractions of the body, without understanding its impermanence. How long can youth last? His message is a strong warning to the young to be very careful in the life they lead and encourages them to shed body-consciousness. You must practice recognising the Divine Principle present in all beings, even though they may be called by different names and appear different. Youth must hold fast to God as their only true Friend and Supporter. Once you have firm faith, the Divine will Himself manifest and reveal Himself to you.

Sathya Sai Baba

Password…Will There Be One to Unlock Human Emotions !!!

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Every now and then people are creating passwords which demand patience, ingenuity and a

bit of jugglery

What is supposed to be intrinsically strong, have different characters, be case-sensitive, kept as a secret and can only have a single owner? Not many guesses for that — it’s a password.

Remember Enid Blyton’s The Secret Seven and their password, meetings and investigation of mysteries. Well, passwords are not passé any more. They are not just for children to have a thrill and a bit of excitement either. In the cyber world it’s the key to unlocking sites and unravelling new worlds. It helps operate your bank account, buy movie tickets, shop from home, plan your travel, and much more….

My own tryst with passwords began the day I opened a GMail account. I’m not tech-savvy, and I have my limitations when it comes to using the personal computer. My profession demanded that I acquire certain computing skills, whereas in my personal life I have to occasionally log in to glean some information or view popular videos, and so on.

I was soon at ease managing my e-mail, and the password was also taken care of. But I was blissfully unaware of privacy settings. My complacency crashed when, after a hiatus of five weeks I tried to log into my account. The message, ‘your password is incorrect’, did not perturb me the least, even though it flashed even after three unsuccessful attempts.

With apprehension and also a cocky sense of confidence I went to the password assistance page, where a series of questions with multiple-choice answers were settled. Yet at the last page, the message, ‘try again’, stared at me.

So for the next three to four days it was me and Google, trying different combinations. What little I remembered of my password proved futile. My heart went out to my unopened inbox.

Panicking, I contacted a few of my students who I knew had an edge over me as far as technology was concerned. Swallowing my pride, I had to confess before them my inability to log in. They patiently heard me out and tried to help me — but to no avail.

Tearfully, I had to come to terms with opening a new account. Sighing over the loss of memorable links, mails and photographs, I decided to give it one last try. Armed with a sheet of paper and pen, I logged into GMail, and with the rule of elimination tried several combinations. That worked, to my utter delight and surprise, and the page magically opened. I quickly reset the password and noted the recovery e-mail id, the secure question and all.

With a sense of relief, I scribbled the new password in the form of various cryptic clues all around the house — the telephone diary, calendar and the notepad. Finally, with a very strong feeling of security and satisfaction, I signed out.

Every now and then people are creating passwords which demand patience, ingenuity and a bit of jugglery. We are cautioned not to use nicknames, birthday or anniversary dates and school or college names, in short not to create anything that might be very familiar or too easy to remember.

The trick, therefore, lies in living out your fantasies, digging deep into mysterious references, a reference known only to you. And so, with a sense of achievement, a password is created. A page solely for passwords is also created, going by the number of them an individual has. Scrolling to the bottom line, since a password is that one vital link to connect to the virtual world, its role cannot be undermined or overlooked.

Yet, one can only wonder if there could be passwords to unlock the human emotions to enter a person’s mind and delete any anger, hatred lurking there, or a universal password whereby we can reach out to people across the globe irrespective of gender, caste, creed or nation. It may not be possible, but who can tell?

nimyvarma@gmail.com 

SOURCE::::Nirmala Varma  in the hindu.com

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Message For the Day…” Childhood is a Very Sacred and Golden Phase in Human Life …”

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Today many parents, even those highly educated, are acting without any sense of discrimination – discouraging children from worshipping God and participating in bhajans. They tell them that they would have ample time to think of God, post retirement. This is a grave mistake. You can remember God in old age, only when you practice thinking of Him from early on. Childhood is a very sacred and golden phase in human life – do not misuse it! Gayatri Mantra is the embodiment of Mother Principle. Practice chanting it every day – in the morning, afternoon and evening. When your back is towards the Sun, your shadow will be in front of you. It will fall behind you only when you stand facing the Sun. Similarly illusion (maya), which is like your shadow, will overpower you when you turn your mind away from God. You can easily overcome illusion, when you turn your mind towards God.

Sathya Sai Baba

” A Virtual Tea -Stall…chotuchaiwala.com…” !!!

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From clothes to shoes, televisions to mobile phones, baby products to medicines, everything and anything is available online for purchase at the click of a mouse button. But can anyone (stress on anyone) start selling online? How about chaiwalas? The answer is: why not!

Zepo, an eCommerce platform that has helped 1500+ businesses in India to start selling online, offered Mumbai chaiwalas a fun way to celebrate this new idea through a virtual tea-stall:ChotuChaiwala.com

A cute little initiative that celebrates the spirit of Mumbai with a sip of garam chai.

Because good things should go online.

SOURCE::::www.storypick.com and You Tube

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“Ebola Has been the Biggest Challenge I Faced as a Doctor ….”

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Gomathinayagam, part of Doctors Without Borders who served Ebola victims in Liberia, speaks about her experiences

Vidya Krishnan in http://www.livemint.com

Ebola has been the biggest challenge I faced as a doctor: Kalyani Gomathinayagam

Gomathinayagam says they had to win the trust of the community first—they suddenly see foreigners giving them instructions. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

Kalyani Gomathinayagam is a general physician based in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, who has just returned from Liberia, the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, after spending six weeks caring for patients in the West African nation. She is already talking about going back.

Gomathinayagam, 46, joined Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF (Doctors Without Borders) after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. She has served as an emergency doctor in the Ivory Coast, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo before her stint in Liberia, from where she returned to Delhi on 20 October after being quarantined for 21 days in Geneva, Switzerland.

Working in Foya district of Lofa county in Liberia, the doctors operated in small hutments, plastic-sheeted from inside to prevent infections—much like the ‘kill room’ in the popular television series Dexter. The doctors worked in temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius, swathed in protective gear including face shields, goggles and boots, that made even simple tasks like placing an intravenous (IV) line or giving an injection seem like hard labour.

Health workers have been the most critical resource at the frontline of the battle against the latest outbreak of Ebola, which has so far claimed 4,919 lives—2,413 in Liberia alone, according to the World Health Organization.

Gomathinayagam spoke about her experiences in Liberia and other disaster-struck regions in an interview during a visit to New Delhi. Edited excerpts:

You have seen people suffer earthquakes, civil wars and medical emergencies. Which one has been the most challenging?

Ebola. Without a doubt. This outbreak is unprecedented in so many ways. The disease threatens doctors and health workers, severely limiting our capacity to treat patients. And this is happening in countries where the health infrastructure is not robust to begin with. Additionally, we had a few scares with some of our colleagues falling sick, but thankfully, it was not Ebola.

We had to win the trust of the community first—they suddenly see foreigners giving them instructions. The families see their loved ones taken to the hospital and coming back dead. Even burial is not under their control. So, it was a very challenging experience.

Working with the nurses was the trickiest bit. The nursing staff was given clinical information without passing over pieces of paper from inside the quarantine zone. So everything was dictated. This takes a lot of time when you have over 100 patients and just four doctors. It was a tremendous amount of work to get the data collected.

How difficult is it to care for an Ebola victim with basic health infrastructure?

The most difficult part was to administer any kind of treatment without coming in physical contact with the patient. (In treating) this disease, everything is complicated. The patients can only see my eyes and recognize my voice, and I have to shout through a perimeter to be heard. Everything has to be done from across the ‘perimeter fencing’. It was challenging to gain the community’s trust because all they (see) is a hazmat suit (protective gear).

In this setting, I had little or no access to the patient. I had to figure out how to put the IV fluid, but my goggles were getting foggy and I was no longer able to properly place an IV. If I cannot see, there are chances of me pricking myself with the injection instead. I was sweating a lot because of the protective gear. And somehow you manage everything and within minutes the patient is lying in a pool of faeces or vomit—and you have to do this all over again.

Do you choose these assignments for an adrenaline rush? Because this must have been difficult for your family.

Their first reaction was “Are you crazy?” But they know I work for a humanitarian aid agency, which responds to acute medical emergencies for the most vulnerable population—civil wars, epidemics, natural disasters.

Ebola has had a huge impact on me as a person. One cannot imagine the magnitude of this epidemic unless you go there. I have never seen or felt such helplessness. I could also, like normal doctors, set up a regular practice. My patients would have a choice of going to another doctor if they didn’t like me. But I serve in places where people cannot go to another doctor. There is no other doctor.

It is stressful moving from one suffering to another, but we also have a rest period in between. I don’t know about the adrenaline rush, but this gives me tremendous satisfaction. I do what is needed. My family and friends understand I chose this profession. They have adapted so I can keep going back.

Is there a ‘good day at the office’ in situations like these?

Well, not often. I had one which made me very happy. I had skipped the morning rounds one day and when I went in the evening, a patient came up to me and asked me why I didn’t turn up in the morning. And I realized he knew me. By my voice. He could still identify me despite the hazmat suit and face shield, and it was heartening.

Source:::: http://www.livemint.com
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World”s Tallest Tower Building … Saudi Arabia Set to Build …

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  • STORY HIGHLIGHTS    ::::::::Saudi Arabia is set to start on Kingdom Tower, slated to be the world’s tallest building
  • The Kingdom Tower will reach 3,280 feet, have 200 floors and cost $1.2 billion
  • It would require 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel
  • The foundations would be 200 feet (60 meters) deep

 

  • It is expected that construction of the tower will require 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel.

 

There are plans for a 98-foot sky terrace on the 157th floor. When completed, it will be the highest terrace in the world.

Like the Burj Khalifa, the Kingdom Tower will have a flower-shaped footprint.

 

 

(CNN) — Dubai, long champion of all things biggest, longest andmost expensive, will soon have some competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, could be stripped of its Guinness title if Saudi Arabia succeeds in its plans to construct the even larger Kingdom Tower in Jeddah — a prospect looking more likely as work begins next week, according toConstruction Weekly.

Consultants Advanced Construction Technology Services have recently announced testing materials to build the 3,280-feet (1 kilometer) skyscraper (the Burj Khalifa, by comparison, stands at a meeker 2,716 feet, or 827 meters).

The Kingdom Tower, estimated to cost $1.23 billion, would have 200 floors and overlook the Red Sea. Building it will require about 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel,according to the Saudi Gazette.

Building a structure that tall, particularly on the coast, where saltwater could potentially damage it, is no easy feat. The foundations, which will be 200 feet (60 meters) deep, need to be able to withstand the saltwater of the nearby ocean. As a result, Advanced Construction Technology Services will test the strength of different concretes.

Wind load is another issue for buildings of this magnitude. To counter this challenge, the tower will change shape regularly.

“Because it changes shape every few floors, the wind loads go round the building and won’t be as extreme as on a really solid block,” Gordon Gill explained toConstruction Weekly. Gill is a partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the design architects for the project.

Delivering the concrete to higher floors will also be a challenge. Possibly, engineers could use similar methods to those employed when building the Burj Khalifa; 6 million cubic feet of concrete was pushed through a single pump, usually at night when temperatures were low enough to ensure that it would set.

Though ambitious, building the Kingdom Tower should be feasible, according to Sang Dae Kim, the director of theCouncil on Tall Buildings.

“At this point in time we can build a tower that is one kilometer, maybe two kilometers. Any higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework,” he told Construction Weekly.

SOURCE::::: http://www.edition.cnn.com

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” Food For Thought …” !!!

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Illustrations: Sreejith R. Kumar
The HinduIllustrations: Sreejith R. Kumar

At marriages, all seems to be fair in the love for food and the war to reach it

“Do you know there were only 80 guests at the wedding?” A friend who had attended a marriage in the United Kingdom was describing the experience. He was full of praise for the function, but appeared a little bewildered too. “Only 80, can you beat it, and that included the families of the bride and groom. Eight tables in all with every guest allotted a particular seat.” After attending marriages here where half the population is invited and the other half gatecrashes, he had every right to sound astonished.

“Can you change seats?,” I asked, intrigued. This sounded like booking tickets for a movie. “No way,” he replied. “I can’t imagine something like this happening in our part of the world.”

I can’t, either. Kerala weddings have always been known for their brevity, but the austerity that used to be associated with them is gone. Everyone’s invited to witness the extravaganza. The hall is huge, the decorations unique – event management has seen to that – the bride is covered with gold, silk and flowers, in the order of visibility, while the groom looks self conscious and uncomfortable in an ‘Indian’ costume. He need not be, for the guests have come with their priorities firmly in place. The bride, the groom and the ceremony are mere trappings; the feast is the thing.

The beating of the drums and the ‘nadaswaram’ rising to a crescendo signals the tying of the ‘thali’ around the bride’s neck. It signals something else for the guests – it’s the welcome meal bell that indicates it’s time to make a dash for the dining hall.

The most coveted seats in the wedding auditorium are those nearest the doors to the gastronomical heaven and many canny guests have taken strategic positions there, already half out of their seats in their eagerness to sprint at the right moment.

Before you know what’s happening, almost all the guests rush out as if the fire alarm has been sounded. And then begins the jostling, the pushing and the shoving. The wedding feast is a great leveller. Class, caste and gender distinctions are ignored while good manners are thrown to the winds in this mad rush to sit reverentially before the banana leaf. The well heeled rub eager silk covered shoulders with the down at heel, men ungallantly push women aside while women, not to be out done, return the compliment – sexual harassment is not an issue here. Children cheerfully bring down old grandmothers, students think nothing of aiming well directed elbows into whomever stands in their way and all seems to be fair in the love for food and the war to reach it.

Those with the swiftest feet and the quickest reflexes manage to gain entry and the doors close leaving high, dry and hungry, a huge group that is left ruing its lack of initiative. These days it’s not just feasting that is important but telling the whole world you have feasted.

The other day I noticed a young chap taking a picture on his phone of the leaf after food was served. “Whatever for?,” I asked my husband. “To put up on Facebook, what else?,” he replied. One can imagine the likes that would appear and the comments: “Wow, three rows of curries! You lucky dude!”, “I’m hungry!”, “Oh for the taste of Kerala. Homesick!”, “What’s that interesting looking item, middle row, third from right?”…

The hungry ones, watching hawk eyed from the glass doors and windows, perk up the moment they see the buttermilk being served. “Over!”, they announce to their ravenous companions. Before the first group can exit, they rush in, causing a stampede of sorts, while the catering manager and the long suffering uncle of the bride seek vainly to bring some order into the proceedings.

“Allow us to clear the tables first”, they plead, trying to close the doors but in vain. “So what if the used leaves are just being cleared? We aren’t finicky or squeamish, are we?,” the self appointed spokesperson of the group asks rhetorically, as all scramble for seats and watch with satisfaction the leaves being taken away, fresh ones being placed and curries being served.

If you chance to glance at the stage as you leave with a burp, you might find two people in a corner with lost expressions on their faces, waiting resignedly to be taken for lunch. They are the bride and the groom.

[khyrubutter@yahoo.com]

(A fortnightly column by the city-based writer, academic and author of the Butterfingers series)

Keywords: Inside view column, marriage food, Kerala weddings

SOURCE::::THE HINDU.COM

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Message For the Day…” Sanctify Your Birth by Leading a Pure and Sacred Life …”

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The body is made up of five elements and is not real at any time. Body is like a water bubble. The bubble is born in water, sustained in water and ultimately merges in the water. Similarly the Self is born from Divine Consciousness (Satchidananda) and merges ultimately in the Divine. Birth and death are scenes in this drama of life; do not consider them to be true. In your sleep you may have seen many mansions, but when you are awake, you don’t see any of them! The buildings you see during your day are not visible to you when you are asleep. Hence both are untrue – day-dreams and night-dreams at best! The only fact in it is that ‘you’ are present in both times. Similarly though you have a human form, in reality you are Divine. Therefore sanctify this birth by leading a pure and sacred life. Don’t accumulate the dirt of worldly life.

Sathya Sai Baba

At This Lion Safari, Lions Watch You !!!

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At this safari in Chile, the lions watch you

Lions are native to Africa, not South America. But here at the Safari Park Zoo, the only park in Latin America where tourists can see from a short distance six lions in a two-hectares large open area, the lions are the biggest draw. The roles, however, are reversed. Inside the safari, tourists travel in a cage-like vehicle, and the lions are free to examine them (with hungry curiosity, perhaps) and walk atop the cages. It’s a rare kind of thrill and, hopefully, entertaining for both parties.

AFP PHOTO/MARTIN BERNETTI

SOURCE::: Yahooindia.com

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