Blessings packaged

Blessings:
-----------------
A young man was getting ready to Graduate College . For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a , Holy book "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta". Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta" ?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book. He never contacted his father again for a long time.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.
Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta", just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta" and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the "Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta".
It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL. How many times do we miss GOD'S blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

AUM SAI RAM

The colourful nailpolish

Nailpolish - Is one of the very feminine possessions which has been an all time favorite make up tool. No ladies' kit is complete without a nailpolish.
And of late, far from being just a luxury the nailpolish has become a necessity or even a customary thing for women.

It is unknown what percentage of women regularly use nail polish but it is a safe bet that more than half of the women on Earth use it at least once a month.
So where did this all begin ?? The Chinese who are infamous for their inventions need to be given credit for the nailpolish as well. They did this 5000 years back and guess what their favorite colors were? Red and Black. At their times, nailpolish was made out of beeswax, vegetable dyes, gelatin and Arabic gum. The polish we use today, thanks to the car industry, is a refined version of car paint - thin and lustrous. The chemical composition of nail polishes is close to that of car paints, which constantly raises questions, but it looks that environmental issues alone are not convincing enough for consumers to stop using nail polishes. Probably the demand is too high and the fact that it is technologically impossible to make a nail polish out of natural ingredients only, make nowadays nail polishes acceptable to people.

Colored nail polishes were invented in the 1920s and the first nail polish was launched by Revlon. Basically, a nail polish is made of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent, to which various pigments are added.
Nail polishes come in different colors. There are some companies that offer more than 100 shades! There are also transparent nail polishes that only add gloss and protection to the nails. Also, there are many crazy nail polishes with huge chunks of glitter in them but they are harder to apply and often the glitter fades away after a couple of days. No matter what color you have chosen, the techniques for applying it are the same.

• Lets now get down to some interesting facts about nailpolish:
  * Few suggest to keep nail polish in the fridge to preserve it for longer periods of time, keep it in the fridge. But few others say that condensation and cold negatively affect nail polish, making it too thick to use reliably. So, use your intuition to preserve your polish. The best place would be any dry, shady place.
  * If the smell of nail polish makes you dizzy, you can go to the terrace and apply it there. When you are in the open, the smell is less suffocating. In any case, ventilate the room properly, after you have finished polishing your nails.
  * Even the best of people spill drops of nail polish on the bottle or on the table. If you happen to drop nailpolish, remove the drop quickly because it will leave permanent stains on the table. If you don't remove nail polish drops from the top of the bottle, the bottle might become glued shut.
  * Best way to apply nailpolish is make a base coat, two layers of nail polish and a top coat.Each layer must be thin and done in three strokes. Top coat can be applied daily if your nails are subjected to constant scratches to preserve your polish for a longer time.
  * Do not apply thick layers of polish as thick layers dry very slowly and also chip faster as they are in lumps.
  If you want to minimize chipping, paint a little across the edge and under the nail tip. This thickens the polish and increases its changes to stay for longer.
  * If you have polished your nails and have some work in the kitchen or in water, do not forget to use rubber gloves or any gloves for that matter. We get gloves made of cellophane plastic of late and that is very very affordable. Check these out in your nearest cosmetics store. Even if there is no polish on your nails, it is always advisable to wear gloves during kitchen work to keep your hands off from cuts, bruises, and preserve the manicure effect.
  * The shelf life of a nail polish is 2 yrs ONLY. So if you have an old bottle in your closet, please do not use it. And for those who think that costly polishes last long, it should be noted that price has no relation to how long a nail polish will last.
  * People who are fed up of traditional colors can try nail art for a change. But make sure, this is not done when you are venturing out for business or office work as it reflects very poorly on one's personality to act 'crazy'(as nail art is usually referred) in a dignified environment. :-)
  * After you've finished your polish application, use a rich hand cream and apply it on using circular movements until it is absorbed. Don't forget that our hands are constantly exposed and need constant attention.
  
• Well, now for those who have emptied their nailpolish bottles and dont know what to do with them, just fill the clean bottle with vegetable oil and paint your nails and cuticles several times a day. Oh yes, even this can be reused.
• People who just cannot afford that bottle of polish, dont worry, the most beautiful women - the Egyptian women, never used any polish. Instead they dipped their fingernails in henna paste and allowed it to dry. The effect of henna(or mehendi powder) on nails is known to all. It provides a very deep orange-red shade which doesnt fade for many weeks. Maybe one can try this, if you dont want chemicals on your nails and later apply just cuticle cream to keep your nails safe from chipping.
• Finally, it is always said that one should choose the right colour for their nails depending on their skin tone(of the hand/feet). If one has olive or yellow skin tones choosing peach or clear polish will help cover minor nail imperfections. And if the skin tone is pinkish, pink shades suit the best. For other tanned or dark skin tones, it is always a safe bet to go in for mild shades.
• Last but not the least, imitation is least expected when it comes to personal grooming. Choosing your foundation, powder cake, lipstick and nailpolish all depend on your skin tone and face cut. Just because your friend has that lovely lavender shade on her eyes or lips or nails, doesnt require you to own the same. It might just make you look out of the place, which is the last thing one wants.
  

I hope reading this was as useful to you as it was for me.
If someone is really interested, I would be encouraged to write on How to do a perfect Manicure and Pedicure yourself at home!

:-)

Changing Habits - Article by Michael Dylan

I read this article and really liked it, which is why it is listed as one of the topics in my blog. Ofcourse entire credit goes to the actual author of this article Mr. Michael Dylan.

Human beings are creatures of habit. We get into a routine that we are comfortable with and we stick to it unless something big comes along and shocks us out of it. Our daily habits often force us to put up with all kind of degrading and destructive events, all in the name of keeping things comfortable or familiar. We would rather put up with the habits we know because we can put up with them, rather than create new habits that we have never experienced before.
The excuses for clinging to our habits range from almost acceptable to completely neurotic. For example, staying in a job that you don't like so that you can continue to pay the mortgage and feed your family is almost an acceptable excuse for staying at your job. It would be just foolish to suddenly quit and start thinking about how to pay your bills.
But it is wrong to think that this job that you dislike has to be it for the rest of your life. Sure it's comfortable, you know you can do it, but don't you owe to yourself, your family, and your employer to get out and do a job that is right for you?
Nothing will change if you don't change. The first step is recognizing that change is necessary. Secondly you have to figure out where you would be more fulfilled in your career. Maybe you have to do something more creative, something outdoors in nature, something that allows you to be in different places, or maybe you have to be the one making all the decisions with your own business. When you are clear about what it is that you really want from your career, you have to start taking steps towards it.
A new job is not going to come running to you just because you're unhappy with your old one. If it's a new industry you may have a lot to learn before even thinking about applying for new positions. You may have to take classes at night while you put up with your dull job during the day.
If it's your own business that you dream of, you may have to start from your home. Working during the night and weekends to move closer to doing it fulltime and leaving your old job.
Just because we are familiar with something is no reason to continue doing it. It's easy to get caught up in day to day living - especially if you have a family to take care of - and to put off any changes that could improve your life. Change can invoke fear, insecurity, and feelings of loss in people. Make the change anyway!
Life is not pausing for you while you are putting up with something that you dislike. Life is passing you by while you waste it doing the wrong thing. There's no rewind button, there's only now, and if you're not happy with your now, Change it!

The Harry potter revolution

Most of us have noticed the character Harry Potter emerging from nowhere 9-10 years back. And before we could notice, it has become a household name, a fantasy for kids, a timepass for teenagers and an amazement for adults and 'elderly' people. Probably even the author would not have imagined that her works would become so famous one day.
Harry potter is a series of seven novels by the famous author J K Rowling. This series is about a boy named Harry J Potter and his study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches. The entire plot focusses on Harry Potter's fight against the evil lord Voldemort. Basically, it is a fight between good and evil and the author has creatively brought in the whole idea of witchcraft into this so called 'war'. Voldemort kills Harry's parents Lily and James potter 18 years back, in a personal vengeance when they try to stop him from taking over the magic world. However, when he attempts to kill Harry, the Avada Kedavra killing curse rebounds upon him, and he gets destroyed, becoming nothing more than a spirit: neither dead nor alive. Meanwhile Harry is left with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry is the only known survivor of the killing curse, and his mysterious defeat of Voldemort results in him being dubbed "The Boy Who Lived" by the wizarding community. Voldemort is known as "He who should not be named".
Harry is raised by his relatives, the Dursleys, who are very cruel to him and intentionally hide his magical secrets and keep punishing him.However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he receives letters from Hogwarts school which are delivered by owls. The letters are taken from him by his Uncle before he has a chance to read them. On his eleventh birthday he is informed by Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, that he is in fact a wizard and has been invited to attend the school. Each book describes one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts, from then on.

Who doesn't like magic and tricks? And this is exactly the trump card for potter's stories. And apart from just the books, slowly movies were made on HJP (Harry J Potter) and video games and merchandise gained immense popularity. Some people feel that all this is fantasy and unbelievable. In South India, we simply call it a 'Vittalacharya movie' a nickname for movies made with tantra and magic as base. There are several famous movies in this genre viz., Mayabazar etc. And so when people still swear on the creativity and logic of these Vittalacharya movies till date, I am one of the millions who swear by Potter-mania.

The wizarding community shown and depicted in this series is both imaginary and yet intimately connected to our own world. While Narnia was a fantasy world and Lord of the Rings a mystic past, I felt that the magical world in HJP is very much believable. Most of the institutions and locations are in towns and cities, including London for example, that are recognisable in today's world.
Regarding the narration style of Rowling, I have always felt that her novels have drawn inspiration from a whole lot of authors (like Stephen Kings, Sherlock Holmes) ofcourse making it an irresistable combo and ultimately a super hit. Her stories are always told from a third person point of view except in few books like opening chapters of Philosopher's stone, Goblet of Fire and few chapters of Half Blood Prince, where the reader comes to know the truth as and when Harry comes to know. All books follow the same pattern though - Each begin with Harry at home with his relatives ill treating him and later he going to a magical location like Diagon Alley, Weasleys' or No.12, Grimmauld Place for a period after which he boards the school train at Platform 9 3/4. Honestly, i felt that was such a creative thought of Rowling to imagine a platform in between 2 platforms.....which would instantly give the reader a sense of magic :-).

Once at school, Harry is shown interacting with old and new characters, be it teachers or students and challenging issues to be overcome inspite of few people swearing to make his life difficult. Also as Harry grows old, awkward crushes, confusing affairs are also shown. All stories reach the climax just before or after final exams when he confronts either Voldemort or one of the death eaters. He learns some lesson out of this and interacts with Dumbeldore and becomes one more step closer to the headmaster. The scene always closes with him going back to Dursleys at the end of the year.

Whatever it may be, this film and books have been constant entertainers and fascinated people like me over a very long period. It is like i wait for either one to be released.... and this month is a bumper gift for Potter fans. The 5th book's film and the 7th book's publication is out in the same month, which is adding to the ecstasy like never before. All said, i do not like just one thing and that is the highly priced books which are not affordable in original print by the age group of people who actually ought to read it - Kids & Teens.
As employed people, it is okay to buy a 500/- book.... but the last book "Deathly gallows" is priced at a whopping Rs. 975/- in India.
Yet, people are ready to make Rowling and her publishers rich day by day. This in turn is also encouraging piracy experts who sell "indian version" at cheaper rates.

Rowling once fondly said that she is in favor of killing Harry potter and making him immortal so that she doesnt want other authors to write sequels on say for example, Harry life after Hogwarts etc. This has stirred off a fear among fans if it will be true and she has seen a constant pour of fan mails and requests asking her to rewrite the story with an alternative conclusion.

All depends on 21st July when the book will finally be released. Some silly websites quote statistics like "80% of readers say they will flip to the last page first to see if their hero is alive or dead."
And as the non-reader population of HJP sums it up, its a big revolution persuading people into unreal stuff and imagination which makes them dream a lot and do unreal stuff. Yes it is a revolution but as far as i see, it aims at giving a person a chance to dream, a chance to feel powerful, magical and equipped.... For those few hours, one can just forget everything and bask in an imaginary glorified cloud.
For me- thats entertainment....and thats the reason why I am a true Harry potter fan.

What it takes to be a good cook!

Yesterday i watched the film "Cheeni Kum" and was probably fascinated at the way chefs were shown in this movie. Hence am inspired to blog it out.
Cooking is a very easy task yet a very uphill one for few. Some lucky people are trained from childhood to make good food and some learn it due to circumstances. I belong to the former group.
To my surprise, cooking was not just about putting the vessel on the stove, adding veggies and ingredients and eating it..... but i learnt with this film that there was something more serious to it as a profession and i learnt what exactly it is.... These are a few of my learnings.....
Should you study at a hotel management college in order to cook well ?
Well, it’s not absolutely necessary. Experience is the ultimate teacher. But education coupled with experience is even better. We regard our mother and grandmother to be the best cooks in the world. They havent studied anywhere but learning once and practising a 1000 times has made them experts. They learn the tricks of the trade in due course of time and are all set to impart their knowledge to youngsters. They know shortcuts, ways to reuse leftovers, tastier way of preparing food. Their efforts were time consuming but their concentration entirely lay on serving us the best dish. As far as anyone remembers, our mother and grandmother hardly resorted to shortcuts, processed food, ready to make foods etc to fill our stomachs. Their recipes were neatly designed and crafted from Square 1 at home. Be it tedious masala preparation, sambar rasam powders or even all those tasty snacks and sweets.
Today is the day of perfection. People are ready to spend that extra buck for a tasty morsel of food. Further, due to lack of time and interest, ready meals and pre-processed foods are in vogue. Everything comes prepared and ready. Just dip in water and eat...Thats the mantra. But how many of us take time to read the ingredients of such a packet and what it really contains apart from rice and cereals and food? Preservatives et al.
Anyways, since i am drifting away from my actual topic, let me come back and explain what my chef friend told me about their profession. I must say i was both awestruck and sympathising at the end of it. Schooling will give you a good platform from which to begin, and make you more hirable. But it is only the start.
Learning about a dish and making it once or twice in school is nothing compared to the person who’s done it 400 times, as I already wrote.
He says, a catering student (I will call him a chef ) won’t go from school to a position of sous chef directly. One has to do more than his/her share of "dirty work" first. Forget your homemade food and think standing on your feet for hours filling vegetables with masala, cleaning artichokes, peeling potatoes, chopping onions, mincing meat, dressing chicken, cutting salad artistically and being expected to perform these monotonous, mechanistic chores with assembly line speed and accuracy. :-) Well i just kind of sighed hearing this.
At the next level, the chef is responsible for making appetisers, soups, salads, cocktails and other preparations. How long the chef remains at this position depends on their skills and the restaurant's main speciality. If the place was famous for these preparations, ideally they would hire 5-6 such chefs of this level, known as being a line cook. Their work is also equally gruelling and consists of nonstop work until demand exists.
Once a line cook is too good, they become a sous-chef. This designation is known to many of us. Imagine what a sous chef might have gone through in order to become this in life. Hence a fresher out of catering school becoming a sous chef is an IMPOSSIBLE feat. A sous chef is a prestigious designation and their responsibilities just double up. Monitoring the line cooks, waiters, making sure dishes are rightly garnished, trying a hand at inventing something new, taking feedback from customers, a sous chef does it all with élan. Like all aspiring souls, a sous chef's ultimate goal is to become a executive chef. This is probably the highest position before one goes on to own their own restaurant. But my friend says, this transition from a sous chef to a exec chef is mixed with hardwork, sheer luck and also some backing. But this probably exists at every professional "that-last-step-to-success" level.
Neverthless, a chef's life never is a 8-hour job however high he is on the ladder.
And this is not just the only occupation for a catering institute pass out. There are other occupations like cooking school teachers, food stylists, caterers, and restaurant consultants to name a few. But inevitably, these people have spent years paying their dues in front of hot stoves when everybody else was out having fun or being with their family. If one is not interested in being any of these, they could still end up being Food writers. Remember all those articles and columns you read in newspapers, mags and websites and wondered who has the time for this.... Well thats a food writer for you ! You probably have a better chance of ending up on the Food Network than being able to support yourself, (let alone a family), by food writing alone. Let me not sound discouraging, but people now are smart to grasp this truth and everyone does their bit at multitasking to make ends meet. After all, at the end of the day, one measures success by not just money but also one's experience.
If i were to correlate it to the IT industry, it would be like a software engineer doing their job, coming back and writing technical papers, columns, coaching freshers etc. The same career path is spanned by catering professionals in order to make their lives worthwhile.
Finally, I dined at this restaurant at Hyderabad - Krsna Bistro, the brainchild of a sales guy who worked with TATA. He says he felt bored doing his job and since he was inclined to good dining, he thought why not open his own restaurant. And lo, he is now a proud owner of a very happening place.
And as Amitabh says in this film Cheeni Kum about the profession of cooking - Other art forms just draw the vision, hearing and touch senses whereas cooking attracts all the senses of a human being, the most important being taste.
Wish you good food! :_)

Forms of art in my life

From my childhood, all forms of art - be it dance, music, stitching, knitting, drawing, drama were part of my daily schedule. And now, after so many years, when i look back at what i have achieved in life, apart from just professional success as a software engineer, these so called "extra curricular" talents are the actual ones that make me feel satisfied and as a "special" person.
When people ask me "You dance?? You sing ?? You stitch ?? Wow...", it makes me feel elated and a sense of gratitude goes out to my parents who aspired to see me as an all rounder and hence provided me a chance to learn everything......and my teachers who taught me all this.
I was not born with a silver spoon but everything in life came pretty easily to me, thanks to my parents' never-say-die attitude. They were prepared to do their best to make us happy people...

Coming to my art, the most cherished talent i feel is the art of my expression that has come to me through dance. It has helped me take a new turn in understanding people, their expressions, situations and I succesfully respond to all of them. Also what dance has taught me is the power of silence. A danceuse remains silent throughout the dance. Yet she conveys a lot of meaning through her eyes and body. Not that being silent helps a big deal. But people should learn to keep quite when they HAVE to. Opening up unnecessarily makes way for lot of arguments.....this too i learnt after lot of experiences.

Music, another art form, which runs parallel to dance for me, is something that has given me the power to voice out. I have never been an introvert ever since. Stage fear kind of disappeared the moment i started to sing. I have performed shows in many places, as a child and even when i grew up. Singing made me feel powerful and equipped. And as they say, music releases so many toxins and tension that body becomes very light and easy.

As a high school student studying in Tamilnadu, i faced lot of tension, competition & study pressure in academics. My parents were desperate to make me an engineer at any cost but i was to get a free seat in a decent college, for which marks were vital. With everyone getting 95 and 96%, it was a tough job for a OC candidate for me......
Music was the only thing that gave me the relaxation i needed at that level and it made me unwind pretty fast and later come back to the same level of seriousness.
I would really suggest people at high stress levels to take up either singing or listening to music or learning some instrument at free intervals.

As a kid, i did my schooling in Calcutta where "Work education" or Art classes, were in vogue for school kids. West Bengal was already a land of arts. I was taught Yoga, hand stitching, wollen knitting, crotia, making handkerchiefs, scarves etc.
This was a 4-yr schedule along with regular subjects. And now, till date, i havent forgotten even a thing that i have learnt, thanks to my sound basics and dedicated teachers.

Now, i have settled down as a professional in the software industry and a married person that too. These small things that i know make me go a long way in planning small things for my household as well as making my people feel proud for what i have in me.
For instance, I do my own embroidery on my clothes, I do up design patterns on pillows, bedspreads, hankies, make Crotia covers, wollen knitting etc, making small money purses, etc etc which may seem silly at times but are my way of personalising my things.
I sing when i am free and my family is proud about that. I have performed many shows in temples, stages and functions.

Cooking, i feel is another form of art, which is by far the most useful art i have come across. I have learnt my basics from my parents and
Thanks to all this talent, I also used to head the music club & fun club at my workplace.

What i would like to convey through all this, is that, life is a long journey. Just family, studies and career is not everything in life.
A person's worth is calculated by not just his salary but the value he brings to the table as an all rounder.

Managing your boss........

BOSS - Not the bachelor of Social service sorts that i am going to talk about..... This is our real world, real-time boss :-)......

Most of us keep wondering about this person called Boss... He might have been your best friend till yesterday and the day he/she becomes your superior, the entire vision changes in a minute...

A few lucky ones have a great rapport with their managers...... but there are quite a few who never manage to make it click....

Invariably, when people think of managing someone at work they think of it as a one way street. They think of their boss managing them. Yet, in my small little experience of 4 yrs, I've found that bosses also need to be managed.
Bosses need to be managed by their people because they often over- or under- manage them. For example, they over-manage by micromanaging and continually checking on a project's status. They under-manage by not giving their people enough direction, detail or feedback.
These kinds of problems occur for a number of reasons. Managers are often promoted from technical positions and they have rarely been trained to have good people skills. Many times, they also don't have any good role models for what a manager should do. And they rarely get feedback as to how they're doing.
So, if you have a boss who over- or under- manages you, what can you do to get what you need from him or her? How can you effectively manage your boss? Can't figure out what makes the boss tick?

Ask yourself these 10 questions and you may arrive at a better understanding of the boss -- and a better work life for yourself.
What is your boss trying to accomplish?
What are your boss's goals? (These may be different from what the boss is trying to accomplish.)
What does your boss want you to accomplish -- and how does that relate to question #1?
Is your boss ambitious or content?
If your boss is ambitious, is it about substance or recognition -- or both?
Why is your boss the boss? Why did they pick your boss for the job?
Are you more ambitious than your boss?
What do you want out of your current position -- and is this compatible with your boss's goals and ambitions?
Do your goals advance your boss's ambitions -- or conflict with them?
What kinds of problems most worry your boss? What kinds of victories most please your boss?

But if you are of the "dont care" types, remember that some day you will be the boss. You too will understand.. Until then just 2 mandatory rules before signing off:

1. Boss is always right

2. If boss is wrong, please refer to rule # 1......

:-) :_) I dont know why....but i love these 2 rules....... all time classic....

God hasnt made a boss out of me yet ;) so I am also following the above 2 rules.

Why you SHOULD be a Vegetarian?

Here's Why You Should Be One

People ask me why I am a vegetarian. I almost invariably say, "Because I am!" That normally cuts the conversation short.
There were times when I would start explaining why ... but the enquirers were almost always meat eaters. Within seconds, they would attempt to put me on the defensive.
Some felt guilty - "I really wish I could do what you do! It would be very hard to survive! It must be so hard for you."
Others remarked, "But you eat vegetables ... what's the difference?"

Sometimes people start conversations but they don't wish to hear what you really have to say. I sense that and I tell them that we don't need to justify our respective beliefs to each other.
I am not a preacher. I don't seek to convert anyone.

I have a choice and so do you. If you are sensitive and not open minded, exercise your choice and stop reading right now!
I choose not to eat anything with eyes, limbs, ears, and noses – anything that moves or that will be born with such features. Anything with five senses.
By eating animals, I would be eating someone's mum, dad, son, daughter, brother, sister or partner. On an evolutionary scale, I would have progressed just one step ahead from being a cannibal.

I would be deluding myself by thinking that an animal can be killed humanely so that it doesn't suffer. You can't kill humanely. Humane killing is an argument advanced by morons for morons - not by or for enlightened spiritual beings. You may kid yourself about humane killing to lighten your guilt.
However, killing remains the ultimate sin.

What if someone else murdered the animals on my behalf? Would I eat meat? No. If you get someone else to do your dirty work, your karma is still tainted. In fact, doubly so.
Take, for instance, the wealthy person who adorns himself or herself with ivory. In essence, he or she causes the murder of the elephant. The poacher kills, the designer crafts the ivory, the salesperson sells it. They are all tainted with murder. But the instigator attracts bad karma on a cumulative basis.

If I get the butcher to slaughter an animal for me, in spiritual terms, I would still be the killer.
Look at an animal in the eye. Do you have any compassion? Are you merciful? Do you believe in karma? Do you believe that we are spiritual beings or just glorified omnivores? Do you believe in causing as little harm as possible as you continue your journey to enlightenment?
Do you give a damn?
If yes, then let's be friends and share our bread.

Why one should choose to be a Vegetarian, as per Hindu Dharma?

For many Hindus, vegetarianism is more than a way of life, it is a tradition. Vegetarianism can also be realized as a daily ‘sadhana,’ or spiritual practice, for a vegetarian lifestyle becomes a practice of ‘ahimsa’ or non-violence in thought, speech and action.

Vegetarianism Not a Must for Hindus
Though vegetarianism is associated with Hinduism, it is not true that even a majority of Hindus are vegetarian, nor is it a condition of Hinduism to be a vegetarian. In fact, it is stated in the “Manusmriti” (5:56), “There is no sin in eating meat… but abstention brings great rewards.” So, one cannot state, “I am a vegetarian because I am a Hindu.” Stating this may also imply that all Hindus are vegetarian, which is not true.
In this case, why are some Hindus vegetarian and some are not? It is believed that before India was invaded by outsiders (Vedic era) the majority of Indians were not meat eaters. Influences of outsiders (i.e., Aryans and Muslim invaders) came to change that. It was also common practice for the ‘Kshatriya’ caste (warriors) to eat meat as it gave more strength and set the mind up ‘more’ for fighting. This may seem odd, after all how can eating meat make one feel ‘more’ predisposed to violence i.e., anger, aggression, fighting moods, etc. This stems from the philosophy of ‘himsa’ or violence.

So is meat-eating violence ?
By partaking in eating meat, especially in the old days before prepackaged, supermarket foods, and fast food, one had to think of where to find the animal, how to kill it, how to prepare it for consumption, and then how to cook, eat and preserve it. Hence, the whole process of eating animals was ‘himsa,’ because one had to think of all this, possibly speak of it (planning the killing, etc.) and act on it by killing, preparing and eating the animal. In Indian history, we have the seminal example King Ashoka (circa 273-232 BC), who - from being a ruthless warrior - not only became a Buddhist, but also promoted ahisma and vegetarianism in his later life.

When we eat the flesh of a dead animal, we not only partake in ‘himsa’ in our own spirit, but we can also become affected by the spirit of the dead animal. In order to have been eaten the animal had to die. In dying, it felt pain, it struggled, cried, tried to continue living as long as possible. Since it was slaughtered, it died in fright, pain, mental and emotional anguish and struggle. Then it has to be skinned, gutted, processed and packaged to end up on a plate, decorated and consumed in human pleasure. In human pleasure, one does not think of the pain of the once living animals on the plate. Hence partaking in eating meat, one is not just ingesting and digesting protein and nutrients, but the feelings of violence which erupted in the animal from its unnatural death.
The “Mahabharata” states: "The purchaser of flesh performs himsa by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing. He who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts of the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells, or cooks flesh and eats it-all of these are to be considered meat-eaters." (“Mahabharata,” 115:40)
Similarly, vegetarianism and ahimsa can be realized through the old adage “treat others as you would like to be treated.” Swami Dayananda, in his “The Value of Values” connects this to ahimsa and vegetarianism by stating that we should not think of ‘somebody’ being our dinner if we do not want to be ‘somebody’ else’s dinner.’
Further, the “Mahabharata” (18.113.8) says: “One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting differently, one becomes guilty of adharma.”

Humans, unlike other animals that work on instinct alone, have the god-given ability to make conscious choices about the food they enjoy, ingest and digest. This food, in turn helps to fuel our bodies and keep us in good health emotionally, mentally and physically. Food that robs us of energy, such as heavy products that are hard on digestion, like meat, weigh us down emotionally, mentally and physically, even if we do not realize this immediately.
These are the major reasons, all related to ‘ahimsa,’ why Hindus naturally take to vegetarianism as a daily ‘sadhana’, and abstain from eating flesh.

The world of mobiles

Today belongs to a small handheld device which almost controlls a man's bioclock, tasks, appointments, reachability & his entertainment - The mobile phone. Guess this is what scientists in older times dreamt of .... something which becomes a replacement for a secretary + alarm + gaming.Yes true indeed! Nowadays, mobile phones are ruling the roost and one can see that every person around has this with them. Thanks to the over-publicity and raining offers and competitions, mobile companies are vying with their offers and tying up with SP's to get the customer hooked. Well, i m one such gadget fan and love to have the best of tech in my hand. I remember well when i started my career as a software engineer, mobiles were getting familiar among people and not many had them.....no you neednt imagine some 1996 or so ..I m talking abt 2003. By many i meant students, drivers, autofellaws, almost everyone including the temple priests.....My father gifted me a Nokia 2100 to me then. After 2 yrs, this phone seemed too outdated and oldfashioned. Well, some may claim that mobile phones are like gold. The older, the better.... but sorry guys! I say the contrary.

One needs to be in touch with the latest technology....but another irony is that technology keeps changing at the drop of a hat and mobiles are so many out there and MONEY SO LITTLE.......doesnt everyone face this?And so, being a software engineer also gave me the guts to change my job in 2 yrs as well and here I was in a bigger MNC, a bigger workplace, more salary and i wanted to splurge in the treat of getting this job........my fiance got me a 2300 (Mind you, FM was just picking up & ppl already hooked on to it). This was my phone for another year after which i got married and my hubby's bday coming near. Like all other newly wed brides, i wanted to gift my hubby a good mobile phone coz he had lost his phone.Meanwhile he was adjusting with another ok-sorts phone.....And so i exchanged my mobile and bought a 6600 which was a rage amongst youngsters then! i had to spend 4k out of my pocket apart from my old mobile....and that was the end of my 2300. Later, since i didnt have a good mobile, my hubby got me a LG phone with the "latest" features......but soon i found that he was more interested in my mobile than his mobile and so i shifted to his 6600 one fine day! Now, thanks once again to my mobile-changing ways and my latest possession is the Sony Ericcsson Z550i.Well, life hasnt changed much but journey from a ordinary mobile to a flip model is a lot of change.Features are pretty much the same......but looks arent! And thats what the world moves on........................Right from fairness creams, clothes retailers, jewellery, shoes, frenzy etc.....everything is about looking good......

But some people , as i already said never like to change their mobile phones no matter how outdated it is & how non-valuable its depreciation would have become. Well, mobile phones have become a matter of solicitation and subject to fancy, rotating SIM cards & extra bucks.....but BUT but......if people dont mind going to parlours to shed weights in dozens of kgs, goto beauty clinics to get "glycolic peels & derma -abrasions" done to get dead skin and ageing eliminated, just coz they want to FEEL good..... My opinion is that - changing your mobile phone is also about Feeling good.Just like your watch, your dress and your hairstyle speak abt ur character, the mobile is very soon going to become a statement! So watch out..... As of me, i m still getting used to the traditional questions from colleagues "why sony, why not nokia" types of them!!!! Huh! !!!

Life of a working woman

I have been married for the past 2.5 years now and have been wondering of late whether it is just me who is having all the trouble in the world managing my job & my well-designed & maintained home. Well, I know most women always crib & yet advise that its a man's world out there and we women are the ones who have been given the golden opportunity to 'adjust' to situations. I am a software engineer by profession and just like any other techie, i get to spend a minimum of 10 hours 'for' my profession.

Mornings are like a mad rush as if to catch some last train to earth from Mars. You get to prepare the breakfast, keep a prying eye on the maid servant, clean the house almost simultaneously, plan for lunch & if lucky dinner also. Whoever said that women have just 2 hands....are perhaps kidding.The office space is not much heartening either. Work keeps coming and apart from that u have unrealistic deadlines and people who never seem to attribute the fact that a working women is as busy as her male counterpart. So when the world seems to appreciate a man coming late or a man working extra to bring himself some extra bucks or a promotion, why is it that a working wife is always shunned for spending an extra hour at work or coming an hour late to office? why is she labelled as a 'career woman' if she gives preference to work for some period in her life? Does that mean all men are "career men'"?

And then after a tiring day at work (as tiring for women as it is for men), you've got to rush back home just in time to cook rice and something "tasty" for dinner....if u are capable it is just another quality that a working wife has and if the wife doesnt know cooking, the wife is considered good for nothing.(I think its a very good quality coz atleast then the husband gets to know what it means to work and cook DAILY).

And if you thought this is all in the day.....the night has just begun dear :-) ! Now, I am not trying to blah-blah about the routine life of a working woman at home nor am i trying to prove that all men are bad or this world is unrealistic. Its a fact after all and I guess God once again (I think God is also a man) gave us women the power to suffer, cry , forget and start life fresh once again from the next morning as it was a day before.Some argue that women are born to bear - whether it is the brunt of someone's imperfect ways, caustic tongues of family, husband's demands or kids!!!! Like as if someone asked God while creating human beings "You have given us all good. Now what if we have to face something unpleasant in life.? " And then God said " Here's my invention son - The woman. She bears it all for her man". .

This might seem too sarcastic or philosophical but thats how it is.....hard to digest. All said and done, this is just a blog and am just penning my thoughts out here. There might be many of u who might just about agree with me or some who feel that i m thinking crap. Atleast we have got a brain of our own and can fortunately reason out our lives why the world is like this? People want a "working girl" as their wife. Why ? Is it just for monetary support or do they also feel that the wife/bahu has her own life and dreams like themselves ?

-Aparna
10/7/2007

Chain mail, Link letters - A matter of disgrace to God and us

Hey folks, by now, reading the title you might have figured out what i was attempting to write about. Most of us have received many times, spam mails/chain/link mails which take the name of GOD (any religion be it), quote a few holy hymns and demand that if this mail is forwarded to 10 people in next 1 hour, something good will happen within 1 week etc etc.

And most of us, succumbing to the divine obligation, whether out of greed or loyalty or in the name of God, just forward it. For those who do that, it is just a matter of clicking the "Forward" button. Little do they actually judge the situation and see it with their true eye.

And so What should we do when we get link letters or chain e-mails?

One has to understand the fact that any god/godessess/ divine incarnations such as Sri Saibaba do not need to resort to blackmail to spread HIS name by promises of wealth and warnings of punishment.

As is the nature of GOD, “Ahambhava heenam prasannaatma bhavam (one without ego and one who is ever kind)” God himself has stated in holy scriptures that, the purpose of his incarnation is to bless the devotees with his grace, “My mission is to give blessings”. He also said that he would never be angry with any one. The grace of saints like Baba is ever falling on us as a waterfall, but it is our ignorance which acting as an umbrella obstructs us from receiving it in the full measure. If we surrender to GOD with the felling of exclusive love for him only and single-minded devotion, the obstruction is removed and we receive his grace in full measure. To think that one will get the divine grace by passing on the letter to 10 or 20 people, and to do that with a feeling of fear is foolish. It is an insult to the divine god that he would be angry if we do not do that and will, like devil harm us. It is those who do not even know the basics of spiritual sadhana or the teachings of God who initiate these letters. Some seek to justify this by saying,” What they are asking us to do is to write the holy name of God and spread the message to all.

A few people would ask - What harm is in that? What do we lose by doing so?”

It is sheer delusion to believe that to pass along such anonymous letters, like a coward, would constitute service to GOD. It seeks to degrade us to the level of the ignorant persons so lacking in self respect that we would stoop to the level of sending anonymous letters like cowards. Any encouragement given by us to this foolish practice would be a transgression against the tradition of devotion to GOD. My only advice to those who receive these letters is- tear them up and consign them to the waste paper basket or delete them.

Prettiest hands in the world !

Our Mother Baba said, "I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child. I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved" in Sri Sai Satcharitra , Ch. VII. A little boy sat with his parents in their cozy home. He said to his mother, "Mama, you have the kindest, prettiest face in the world! I wish I could look at it forever!"

As he uttered these words, his glance fell on her hands. They were twisted out of shape, badly deformed. "Why mama!" he exclaimed, "Yours must be the ugliest hands in the world! I can't bear to look at them!" The father took the little boy on his knees. "Let me tell you a story," he said gently. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was sleeping peacefully in his cradle when the cradle caught fire." "What happened to the baby?" asked the boy.

"The nurse who was suppose to take care of the baby, ran away in alarm," the father continued. "But the mother saw the fire and rushed to save the baby. She found it was impossible to lift the baby though the surrounding flames, without hurting him. So she beat the fire out with her own hands. "Her hands were badly burnt. It took months before they could heal. Even then, they were left badly scarred." "What a brave mother!" the little boy exclaimed. "Do you know who she was?" the father asked. "She was your mother! Her disfigured, scarred hands were the ones that saved your life!" The little boy turned to his mother with tear touched eyes and kissed her hands, again and again.

"Mummy, these are the prettiest hands in the world!" he said, through his tears. Indeed, there is nothing more beautiful than a mother's love!

The story behind my beautiful name

I am from a middle class Telugu brahmin family from Hyderabad.
As we Indians have this tradition, a kid is named usually on the 21st day of birth or thereafter and the entire family, friends and community gathers for this auspicious ocassion.
South Indians are infamously known for prefixing many names of their favorite gods, godesses, ancestors, or even someone they admire. The list sometimes is so long that the poor kid might have a dozen names before his/her actual first name begins.

And so, as they fondly joke, you might find some people with 5 to 6 initials in their name.....and immediately it comes to mind how many names he would have been named after...
For instance, P.S.V.N.K.L.M.R. Sarma would have been P. Sri Venkata Naga Krishna Lakshmi Murari Ratnakara Sarma........... :-).....ohhh this is just the beginning...

Fortunately, i didnt have to go through so much gruelling on my 21st day.... famously known as "namakaranam" which means naming ceremony.

My name is Aparna and there is a beautiful story behind that name, which I would love to share with you all. My dad said the name 'Aparna' in those days struck little modern plus it was a name that his favourite actress had - Aparna Sen. He thought if he had a baby girl he would name her 'Aparna' which he apparently did. But there is another story about the name.
Reborn again to the mountain king Himavanth as Uma, Parvati always wanted to have Lord Shiva as her husband. She used to go to the icy caves where he lived and meditated and brought him food and served him. But Shiva was so preoccupied in himself that he never noticed her at all. Parvati did not know how to win his heart so she called upon the God of Love, Manmadha and his consort Rati. They transformed his cave into a pleasure garden and the God of Lust fired his arrows of desire into Shiva's heart.

Shiva was furious than lovesick and in his anger opened his third eye and burned Manmadha to ashes. Rati seeing her husband die in that manner, pleaded Parvati to bring him back. Parvati assured her that when she would marry Shiva, Manmadha would come alive. She now knew that it was more important than ever to become Shiva's wife because, without the God of Love, there would be no creation, no man no women and the world would cease to exist.Parvati now sorted for a more stern way to win Shiva's heart. She thought doing severe penance to prove that her love for him was true might melt his stonecold heart and then he might marry her. Very determined, she went to the forest and did rigorous Tapas. She put her mind to Shiva and chanted his name. She wore nothing to protect her tender body and she never moved. Insects and creatures crawled over her skin thinking her to be a rock. She did severe fasting, eating nothing, not even a single leaf, hence the name. A - without and Parna - leaf. Aparna the leafless one.

Impressed by her determination, Lord Shiva accepts her and they both are united in one. God of Love Manmadha becomes alive and there is harmony in the world. Thus, Aparna brings back the balance to the world. Lord Shiva and Godess Parvati are perfect for each other because she calmes him down and he attains the balance of Yoga and Bhoga with her.

Another fact that perhaps only my close family knows is that my name is not just Aparna.....it is Aparna Swathi Suhasini....
I was born on 1st July in Swathi Nakshatram (ruling star at time of birth) and hence my maternal grandparents decided to suffix the star name Swathi (which is also a very famous name in India) to my first name. Now it was time for my paternal grandpa also to show his naming skills............ He was a great fan of the then bengali theatre actress Suhasini (i honestly dont know who she is ) and also a devotee of Durga Ma. And so he named me Suhasini...

My parents, not to let anyone down, hence put 2 more names to my first name. Thus was born my 3-names saga...

I always love to be called Aparna.........but for some reasons, i also love my other 2 names. Unfortunately, no one wishes to call me so, though i have on many occassions requested them to do so..... My hubby dear thinks Suhasini is too "oh-my-god-what-a-name" and Swathi sounds like he is calling some other lady. Valid excuse but poor me :(

On my paternal front, all my first cousins have been named on the alphabet A as a sentiment. The second name has been framed as per their star or time of birth.

And hence, calling each of my cousins would fill an entire name column for the alphabet A......

Neverthless, I always feel Aparna is a great name - then, now and forever !

Aparna
9/7/2007

My first blog

As i sit down to create this blog space of mine, i feel a rush of ideas to fill in.........and i hope i have this forever :_)..........But as most bloggers always admit, it is a probability of 55% that they experience this blogging fever on any given day....

The day is fine....it is the first day of the week......and best news is there is no work and no one to boss over me as of now...... and so it is time to blog....

People have expressed their thoughts over a period of time through articles, media, speech, letters and now blogs. I have no such serious intentions but the thought of writing something on a topic that sounds funny, interesting or worth a thought for me, indeed inspired me to create this account of mine......... and damn it..... the first step itself was worth stumbling...... no matter how many blog names i chose, all were taken ! and so i chose finally this URL........... do keep in touch and do let me know ur feedback..... your comments are most welcome...... and as for me, i m just a beginner...... i will learn to swim this tide as well......
Ciao for now....
Aparna
09/07/2007 (I have taken a resolution to use the DD/MM/YYYY format from now for clear reading purposes).... check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format if you really had something to know about the various date formats.