Posts
“…….It is cholesterol, means fat”
I happened to over hear such a conversation, when I was in the gym. I think many people think that way. ‘Cholesterol is just fat’. Is that really? It is fat like but it is not fat. The last two letters ‘ol’ gives us a clue about what it is.
Cholesterol is actually a waxy alcohol (means hydroxyl (a Hydrogen and Oxygen friendship) group bound to a carbon atom and not alcoholic beverage). In Greek, Chole means ‘Bile’ and Stereos means ‘solid’ and since it is an alcohol the ‘ol’. Thus
Chole + Stereos + Alcohol = Cholesterol
It is made by our liver (and not absorbed from fatty food, though it can absorb some) and present in every cell of our body and is used by the body to build healthy cells, apart from some other functions (like make some hormones and Vitamin D etc).
Then why is it considered as bad? What is this Bad guy (LDL) and good guy (HDL) in cholesterol? Are they really cholesterol?
11.15 pm doesn’t look like a healthy time to talk about cholesterol… let’s look into it later tmrw…
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Jesus! Terrorist On the Moon with Gita...
It’s a mixture of events that happened in the last week. I thought I will write about this.... then I thought I will write about that..... And finally I did not write about anything I wanted to write.
One was a mail from somebody about one of my blogs where I am talking about the two communities that were involved in the recent forced conversions that ended in a clash. Initially I suspected that it can be from one of my own friends/acquaintances from a fake mail id. But after exchanging a couple of mails and studying those mails in detail, it looked like real.
I read a real sarcastic article about the India’s mission to moon. The writer asks which is important, filling the craters (potholes) we already have or exploring the ones that moon has. Author feels its real waste of money.
It all depends on people’s perception and it happens when people fail to look around the world and understand how it functions. I have a book on Visual Basic Programming written by the world famous Peter Norton. In that book, he feels mountaineering is nothing but waste of time, energy and money. When the news of the moon mission came, the news paper carried small news too, about female Spiders. Some scientific body spent thousands of dollars to find out why the female spiders eat the male, after mating (not every spider and every species). Non American people have this idea that there are no poor in America. But that’s wrong. Even in the U.S. there is poverty. Had America spent all those money they literally wasted in Iraq to find out the non existing weapons, they could have fed those poor. I still remember, one of my friends from the U.S. sharing her bad moments with me. She wasn’t able to afford insurance and she was living availing social security benefits. She couldn’t even take enough rest after a surgery coz of fear of losing her job.
So, it all happens in this world. Go to a café and see the kind of coffees available and the snacks. The other day I had a Blueberry cheese cake. Lots of people are buying such stuffs from that shop. Do I really need that? Do we need a cappuccino? A frappuccino? Do we need any Moca? Do human beings need beer or wine or any other alcoholic drinks at all? The billions people spent for drinking is more than enough to feed the hungry. And look at the luxuries of people like Benny Hinn (somebody who is into god business), who is just a preacher. He become richer than the Pope himself! He has money to feed every hungry human in the U.S, at least for a couple of days. Is he doing that?
I got couple of comments for my blog in Friendster, which is just a copy paste from here ! I did not get it here. In one of them, somebody asked me to help feed the hungry in India and Africa, by making a donation to a particular fund. Dear friend, I myself is an Indian and I do help the poor around me, in many ways. I don't have to go to Africa or Philippines (recently I saw a video about the poor and street children in that country) to feed a hungry. But thanks a lot for that comment. I got a message...thanks again.
Its a hard truth, but the Vice President of Cisco (Wim Elfrink) lives in my city and he spends 1,700,000 bucks per month just as rent for his home cum personal office. So do many other senior executives. More than enough to feed the hungry Indians, at least one meal.
But I do support science and scientists. It has a place of its own. I too fancy going to Moon!
A headline which was so amusing was this ‘ Terrorists study other scriptures religiously’. Yes, these journalists know how to give proper heading and catch the readers. Police found out Bible and some Hindu scriptures from terrorists. Agreed...What is the truth behind it?
When we read the complete story, it becomes clear. Why they read other scriptures is to just take out those parts which can be misinterpreted or used against Hindus or Christians to confuse them and then convert them into Islam. Since many decades Christian missionaries from around the world came here and bought many people into their religion. And now they got the reply in the same coin. Muslims bought a Varghese Joseph, who was poor and turned him into a Muslim terrorist. Finally this poor boy died in an encounter with police. I strongly believe that he might have done that just for money to help his family, just like most of the Hindus here changed their religion. For a human, when we think at the humanitarian level, the first thing needed is the basic amenities – food , shelter and clothing. Those who cant afford it were more than willing to exchange their poverty with a new religion.
The other day I happened to read a lot about Islam. Why coz, one American was threatened to death by some Indonesians for proposing to a Muslim girl. The girl is a Muslim and the boy was a Christian. Girl liked him but her family asked that American to ‘get lost’ if he want his life. I was wondering why such a stand by Muslims. That research took many deviations and at some point I read this - Abraham was not a Christian but Muslim. Jesus is just a messenger and not the son of God........ Many biblical names appear in Koran but these are not seen in Bible (the contra entry). Now I started understanding why Bin Laden asked the American Christians to embrace Islam or face death.
From all these incidents, one thing is becoming clearer and clearer. We will see more and more brutal killings. Lots and lots of human life will be lost. Blood will be shattered all around, just coz of religion falling into the wrong hands.
This reminds me of once incident that happened 11 years ago. Three people sitting together. Me, a Hindu, Alex, my friend a Christian and Riaz, my friend, a Muslim. What happened then? We were just happy and busy catching up.
This will be the same case if Krishna, Jesus and Mohammed sit together. They will hug each other, crack jokes and enjoy every moment together (well, if its Rama instead of Krishna, tears will come out of his eyes when he hug Jesus, out of joy, for sure…coz, that’s Rama). Believe me, they are all friends...
And here in this earth? I really pity those religious ones who can't even understand why religion originated in the first place and why it is seen in different way in different parts of the world.
I belong to the minority, yes, I understand that…
Om Shanthi ..Shanthi ..Shanti..
One was a mail from somebody about one of my blogs where I am talking about the two communities that were involved in the recent forced conversions that ended in a clash. Initially I suspected that it can be from one of my own friends/acquaintances from a fake mail id. But after exchanging a couple of mails and studying those mails in detail, it looked like real.
I read a real sarcastic article about the India’s mission to moon. The writer asks which is important, filling the craters (potholes) we already have or exploring the ones that moon has. Author feels its real waste of money.
It all depends on people’s perception and it happens when people fail to look around the world and understand how it functions. I have a book on Visual Basic Programming written by the world famous Peter Norton. In that book, he feels mountaineering is nothing but waste of time, energy and money. When the news of the moon mission came, the news paper carried small news too, about female Spiders. Some scientific body spent thousands of dollars to find out why the female spiders eat the male, after mating (not every spider and every species). Non American people have this idea that there are no poor in America. But that’s wrong. Even in the U.S. there is poverty. Had America spent all those money they literally wasted in Iraq to find out the non existing weapons, they could have fed those poor. I still remember, one of my friends from the U.S. sharing her bad moments with me. She wasn’t able to afford insurance and she was living availing social security benefits. She couldn’t even take enough rest after a surgery coz of fear of losing her job.
So, it all happens in this world. Go to a café and see the kind of coffees available and the snacks. The other day I had a Blueberry cheese cake. Lots of people are buying such stuffs from that shop. Do I really need that? Do we need a cappuccino? A frappuccino? Do we need any Moca? Do human beings need beer or wine or any other alcoholic drinks at all? The billions people spent for drinking is more than enough to feed the hungry. And look at the luxuries of people like Benny Hinn (somebody who is into god business), who is just a preacher. He become richer than the Pope himself! He has money to feed every hungry human in the U.S, at least for a couple of days. Is he doing that?
I got couple of comments for my blog in Friendster, which is just a copy paste from here ! I did not get it here. In one of them, somebody asked me to help feed the hungry in India and Africa, by making a donation to a particular fund. Dear friend, I myself is an Indian and I do help the poor around me, in many ways. I don't have to go to Africa or Philippines (recently I saw a video about the poor and street children in that country) to feed a hungry. But thanks a lot for that comment. I got a message...thanks again.
Its a hard truth, but the Vice President of Cisco (Wim Elfrink) lives in my city and he spends 1,700,000 bucks per month just as rent for his home cum personal office. So do many other senior executives. More than enough to feed the hungry Indians, at least one meal.
But I do support science and scientists. It has a place of its own. I too fancy going to Moon!
A headline which was so amusing was this ‘ Terrorists study other scriptures religiously’. Yes, these journalists know how to give proper heading and catch the readers. Police found out Bible and some Hindu scriptures from terrorists. Agreed...What is the truth behind it?
When we read the complete story, it becomes clear. Why they read other scriptures is to just take out those parts which can be misinterpreted or used against Hindus or Christians to confuse them and then convert them into Islam. Since many decades Christian missionaries from around the world came here and bought many people into their religion. And now they got the reply in the same coin. Muslims bought a Varghese Joseph, who was poor and turned him into a Muslim terrorist. Finally this poor boy died in an encounter with police. I strongly believe that he might have done that just for money to help his family, just like most of the Hindus here changed their religion. For a human, when we think at the humanitarian level, the first thing needed is the basic amenities – food , shelter and clothing. Those who cant afford it were more than willing to exchange their poverty with a new religion.
The other day I happened to read a lot about Islam. Why coz, one American was threatened to death by some Indonesians for proposing to a Muslim girl. The girl is a Muslim and the boy was a Christian. Girl liked him but her family asked that American to ‘get lost’ if he want his life. I was wondering why such a stand by Muslims. That research took many deviations and at some point I read this - Abraham was not a Christian but Muslim. Jesus is just a messenger and not the son of God........ Many biblical names appear in Koran but these are not seen in Bible (the contra entry). Now I started understanding why Bin Laden asked the American Christians to embrace Islam or face death.
From all these incidents, one thing is becoming clearer and clearer. We will see more and more brutal killings. Lots and lots of human life will be lost. Blood will be shattered all around, just coz of religion falling into the wrong hands.
This reminds me of once incident that happened 11 years ago. Three people sitting together. Me, a Hindu, Alex, my friend a Christian and Riaz, my friend, a Muslim. What happened then? We were just happy and busy catching up.
This will be the same case if Krishna, Jesus and Mohammed sit together. They will hug each other, crack jokes and enjoy every moment together (well, if its Rama instead of Krishna, tears will come out of his eyes when he hug Jesus, out of joy, for sure…coz, that’s Rama). Believe me, they are all friends...
And here in this earth? I really pity those religious ones who can't even understand why religion originated in the first place and why it is seen in different way in different parts of the world.
I belong to the minority, yes, I understand that…
Om Shanthi ..Shanthi ..Shanti..
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sweet n Cute
If anybody thinks they have found the sweetest person in this world to share their life, a person who is so sweet and nice and cute and this and that and.., well, they are wrong. They better come to the reality. There is no such person in this world who is nothing but goody goody things, whose environment is filled with only goody goody things. They dont exist. Its just a dream…. its not real…come out of it.. Open your eyes and SEE....ASAP
Deepavali - The Festival Of Lights..
Today is Deepavali or Diwali. A festival a child can never forget in his life, even for a grown up child. It is the festival of lights but what stays in the head is the firecrackers. Though I was engaged till 7.45 pm today, after that I joined my son to burst crackers. I just sat there and watched since I am not able to walk fast or run, just in case its needed since its with fire and crackers we are playing with. That sitting brought lots of memories of this festival.
Apart from the new variants of firecrackers, one major difference between the old days and new days is the cost of these stuffs. Unbelievable, but one has to believe. I have never seen anything in this world priced like this. If something is to be sold at 20 bucks (inclusive of margin/profit) in this case, its priced as 100 bucks, at least. That is the maximum retail price. The funny thing is everyone knows that it wont cost that much, coz it cant be. So, shops offer at least 75% discount ! very funny. In my childhood, this practice was not there.
It is a festival which signifies the victory of good over evil. Whether its about Lord Krishna winning over the demonic Narakasura or Lord Rama returning to Ayodhya after 14 years, there is not much difference. I liked the Rama returning thing, though its mostly a north Indian belief. I can imagine how the Ayodhya city looked like since the people welcomed him with lamps, lots and lots of lamps..
The environment in our complex was so festive. It was colorful and people looked happy and smiling. Kids were jumping and running. And then boom boom boom.
Yes, its Deepavali today, the festival of lights, but not JUST festival of LIGHTS, its more than that, a little more deep…
Apart from the new variants of firecrackers, one major difference between the old days and new days is the cost of these stuffs. Unbelievable, but one has to believe. I have never seen anything in this world priced like this. If something is to be sold at 20 bucks (inclusive of margin/profit) in this case, its priced as 100 bucks, at least. That is the maximum retail price. The funny thing is everyone knows that it wont cost that much, coz it cant be. So, shops offer at least 75% discount ! very funny. In my childhood, this practice was not there.
It is a festival which signifies the victory of good over evil. Whether its about Lord Krishna winning over the demonic Narakasura or Lord Rama returning to Ayodhya after 14 years, there is not much difference. I liked the Rama returning thing, though its mostly a north Indian belief. I can imagine how the Ayodhya city looked like since the people welcomed him with lamps, lots and lots of lamps..
The environment in our complex was so festive. It was colorful and people looked happy and smiling. Kids were jumping and running. And then boom boom boom.
Yes, its Deepavali today, the festival of lights, but not JUST festival of LIGHTS, its more than that, a little more deep…
Sunday, October 26, 2008
WinZip Alternative
I get technical (computer related) questions from some of my friends and acquaintances, just like I ask about stuffs I don’t know but they know. Many a times it helped me understand some concepts better, or made me think, or sometimes it even demanded some research from my side. It can be useful to others also. So, I thought me blog a couple of them.
Q: I use WinZip evaluation copy.. Can you get me a serial? Is there any other software I can use?
A: It’s not a big deal to get a serial for your WinZip. Yes, there are many WinZip alternatives. If you are not specific about WinZip, I suggest you to ditch the idea of getting a serial and go for an alternative. Why don’t you try 7 Zip? It has three major advantages over WinZip.
It’s free.
It takes 80% less space (WinZip12 takes about 14 MB space where as 7 zip takes less than 3 MB).
Its open source.
If you want high compression rate, you can go for KGB Achiever. Its purpose is not to compress small text files and hence its not resource friendly.
Q: I use WinZip evaluation copy.. Can you get me a serial? Is there any other software I can use?
A: It’s not a big deal to get a serial for your WinZip. Yes, there are many WinZip alternatives. If you are not specific about WinZip, I suggest you to ditch the idea of getting a serial and go for an alternative. Why don’t you try 7 Zip? It has three major advantages over WinZip.
It’s free.
It takes 80% less space (WinZip12 takes about 14 MB space where as 7 zip takes less than 3 MB).
Its open source.
If you want high compression rate, you can go for KGB Achiever. Its purpose is not to compress small text files and hence its not resource friendly.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Chandrayaan - India joins Moon Club..
And the wait is over. Yesterday at 6.22 a.m. , PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) C11 thundered into the sky and placed the Chandrayaan into the temporary orbit around the Earth. And thus India became the 6th country in the world to launch a scientific mission to Moon. CONGRATS !!
In the next 15 days, it will move into the higher elliptical orbits, moving away and away from Earth and closer and closer to Moon. Then it will enter into lunar orbit and finally will drop the Moon Impact Probe (a bunch of scientific instruments and cameras) and then these will get activated…
And it’s a nice thing that everything is controlled just 15 km away from my home…
Good Good
In the next 15 days, it will move into the higher elliptical orbits, moving away and away from Earth and closer and closer to Moon. Then it will enter into lunar orbit and finally will drop the Moon Impact Probe (a bunch of scientific instruments and cameras) and then these will get activated…
And it’s a nice thing that everything is controlled just 15 km away from my home…
Good Good
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Good, Bad, Ugly and The Innocent !
A slow moving traffic turns into a jam. The road was a sloppy one. A Toyota Qualis ‘touched’ an auto-rickshaw. And he just kept his vehicle as if nothing has happened – The Bad
The auto-rickshaw driver gets down (usually many of these guys are rowdies) and scolds the other driver with clenched fist. Then he grabbed the him and slapped – The Ugly
The Qualis driver loses his control and his vehicle starts moving backwards. There is a car behind him and there was another auto-rickshaw next to it. The person who drives the car kept on honking. The passenger in the auto next to him tells that its about to hit. Then the driver of that auto-rickshaw gets down and tries to stop the Qualis, in vain – The Good
The Qualis hits the car behind it and thus stopped. – The Innocent
(Who is that innocent man?)
The auto-rickshaw driver gets down (usually many of these guys are rowdies) and scolds the other driver with clenched fist. Then he grabbed the him and slapped – The Ugly
The Qualis driver loses his control and his vehicle starts moving backwards. There is a car behind him and there was another auto-rickshaw next to it. The person who drives the car kept on honking. The passenger in the auto next to him tells that its about to hit. Then the driver of that auto-rickshaw gets down and tries to stop the Qualis, in vain – The Good
The Qualis hits the car behind it and thus stopped. – The Innocent
(Who is that innocent man?)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Shame on you Religion !
Do we need to ban any religion? Do we need to kill some religious leaders for talking nonsense? If somebody had asked me yesterday or if somebody asks me tomorrow, I might say no. but today is one of such days where I might say ‘yes’. Sometimes I get that feeling when I see small kids with polio.
Today I had been to a shop which makes orthopedic shoes and I happened to see some pairs of small shoes made for kids who suffer from polio. In India, we still have that virus. We still cant eradicate polio. Why? One major reason is some religious people not willing to take vaccines. And the government not forcefully imparting that rule. Those stupid religious people believe that praying will help. Praying and clapping your hands won’t help eradicate polio, you fools. You open your eyes and see and understand that the vaccine is provided by none other than God Himself. He is trying to save your kids.
I have seen a man dying a painful death coz he hesitated to take medicines. He just prayed. His prayer group joined him every evening and prayed with him. One among those who prayed for him was one of my friends and what was she doing that time? She was a pharmacy student and she used to take medicine when its needed, may be without her community knowing it.
Its high time those who are against medicine due to religious reasons understand that its God who provided us with doctors and medicine. When you pray, he answers thru them. He will not come as 'God' .
This doesn’t mean that He don’t love us or wont take care of us. That’s why He has kept people around us.
Today I had been to a shop which makes orthopedic shoes and I happened to see some pairs of small shoes made for kids who suffer from polio. In India, we still have that virus. We still cant eradicate polio. Why? One major reason is some religious people not willing to take vaccines. And the government not forcefully imparting that rule. Those stupid religious people believe that praying will help. Praying and clapping your hands won’t help eradicate polio, you fools. You open your eyes and see and understand that the vaccine is provided by none other than God Himself. He is trying to save your kids.
I have seen a man dying a painful death coz he hesitated to take medicines. He just prayed. His prayer group joined him every evening and prayed with him. One among those who prayed for him was one of my friends and what was she doing that time? She was a pharmacy student and she used to take medicine when its needed, may be without her community knowing it.
Its high time those who are against medicine due to religious reasons understand that its God who provided us with doctors and medicine. When you pray, he answers thru them. He will not come as 'God' .
This doesn’t mean that He don’t love us or wont take care of us. That’s why He has kept people around us.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Virtual Lessons...
Do we need to take this life and things connected to it very lightly?
“Yes” is the answer I got from many people. Sometimes I responded to it and sometimes I kept quit and some other times, I just sighed. Many a times people misunderstand or don’t understand the ‘take this life lightly’.
Some takes life real light. During their life, then enjoys many boy/girl friends. They marry so many times. They take relationships lightly. They don’t plan life. They don’t keep time and when others express their dislike towards such an attitude, they think ‘what’s wrong with these guys? Why are they taking everything seriously?’ they don’t think spending quality time with family is that important. They don’t think returning the ‘ok, sir, you can give that one buck next time’ buck is important (after all its just one buck). They don’t think its not very important to keep the word ‘ I will call you tomorrow’ or, ‘ I will drop to your house this weekend’….its a long list.
That is not the meaning of ‘taking life lightly’ it doesn’t mean one should be irresponsible and lazy. It doesn’t mean one should not take responsibilities. It doesn’t mean one should not be committed. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to take any effort to keep our words. It doesn’t mean many such things and it also doesn’t mean that one should take everything in life very seriously.
One major difference between taking life lightly and taking it seriously is that, if we take it lightly, most of the time it will be others who suffer and if we take it seriously, most of the time its we who get disappointed and frustrated.
Let it be there…should we take our virtual friends seriously?
My personal answer is ‘It depends’, though I got hit many times. My wife asked me to not to take such people very seriously. And once she even dared to say ‘ I think that person doesn’t deserve you as a friend’...... why?
She had seen me spending my personal time, effort, sleep and money for many such people and at the end, sitting very disappointed or got hurt or insulted or ignored... Many a times, they takes it lightly, as if my time is valueless and my efforts are not worth considering…
The extended week which just passed was one such one (from last Saturday till today).
Learn Jay, learn..learn from these lessons…you always like learning new things, na?
“Yes” is the answer I got from many people. Sometimes I responded to it and sometimes I kept quit and some other times, I just sighed. Many a times people misunderstand or don’t understand the ‘take this life lightly’.
Some takes life real light. During their life, then enjoys many boy/girl friends. They marry so many times. They take relationships lightly. They don’t plan life. They don’t keep time and when others express their dislike towards such an attitude, they think ‘what’s wrong with these guys? Why are they taking everything seriously?’ they don’t think spending quality time with family is that important. They don’t think returning the ‘ok, sir, you can give that one buck next time’ buck is important (after all its just one buck). They don’t think its not very important to keep the word ‘ I will call you tomorrow’ or, ‘ I will drop to your house this weekend’….its a long list.
That is not the meaning of ‘taking life lightly’ it doesn’t mean one should be irresponsible and lazy. It doesn’t mean one should not take responsibilities. It doesn’t mean one should not be committed. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to take any effort to keep our words. It doesn’t mean many such things and it also doesn’t mean that one should take everything in life very seriously.
One major difference between taking life lightly and taking it seriously is that, if we take it lightly, most of the time it will be others who suffer and if we take it seriously, most of the time its we who get disappointed and frustrated.
Let it be there…should we take our virtual friends seriously?
My personal answer is ‘It depends’, though I got hit many times. My wife asked me to not to take such people very seriously. And once she even dared to say ‘ I think that person doesn’t deserve you as a friend’...... why?
She had seen me spending my personal time, effort, sleep and money for many such people and at the end, sitting very disappointed or got hurt or insulted or ignored... Many a times, they takes it lightly, as if my time is valueless and my efforts are not worth considering…
The extended week which just passed was one such one (from last Saturday till today).
Learn Jay, learn..learn from these lessons…you always like learning new things, na?
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
God of Perfect Timing...
Today, my appointment with the physiotherapist was at 8 am. (Since they allot time slots, it is always better we keep time. Else we might even lose a session or have to wait for long time. So far, this did not happen to me). I used to keep alarm at 6.30 on days when I have an 8 am appointment, so that I don’t have to hurry and I can be there in time. But since wife said she is working from home today, and she has to get up bit early, I did not keep any alarm and asked her to wake me up at 7 am (I was bit tired yesterday night).
“Get up!, else you will get late” I heard the voice. I opened my eyes and looked at the timepiece. It was 7.20 already!
She did not call me at 7, just coz she ‘thought’ that I am already awake. I knew that there is no point in arguing with her and waste my time. I was sure that I will be late. But I decided to try my level best.
As soon as I was out of my apartment gate, I zoomed. When I connected the main road, there was heavy traffic. I sighed. Then there is this deviation I have to take which goes to the hospital. That road is a narrow road; only one car/medium sized vehicle can ply comfortably if there are pedestrians (there is no footpath). When two cars come, we need to drive carefully, that too at turnings (there are three 90 degree turnings). Close to one such turning there was one water supply tanker parked. I managed to get through and the next moment, what I saw was a Bus!. What timing…
That bus might have created a jam there for sure. And had I did not cross that turning at that time, I would have been held at that point. Thank God!
There were pedestrians on the road, but I decided to drive as fast as I can. When I passed a guy in an inch to inch distance, I even got butterflies. Then? There it is… there is this green car in front of me. He did not give way. I tried my level best, but no use. It looked like he had decided that he will not give way for me. Thus I had no choice left but to drive slowly, since he wasn’t driving in a hurry and overtaking him in that road was a big risk.
As I was about to reach the hospital, I put left indicator hoping that he will move to right and give way. But he too put left indicator and he too entered the hospital. I have this habit of driving fast (both up and down) in the ramps inside that four story parking area, but this guy!
I parked my car and proceeded to physiotherapy department. When I opened the door, there stands my therapist giving me a ‘kind of look’, but smiling.
“Sorry, I am late”
“yes, you ARE late…come”
She was about to go out, thinking that I might not turn up for today. Can’t blame her coz I did that last Saturday. What timing!
Was that car my enemy? If that car wasn’t there in front of me, I am 100% sure that I would have driven very fast inviting trouble….. if he wasn’t there, I would have taken more risks….
At the end, did I miss the session? Nope…
Coz, the timing was perfect.
God, I LOVE YOU!
“Get up!, else you will get late” I heard the voice. I opened my eyes and looked at the timepiece. It was 7.20 already!
She did not call me at 7, just coz she ‘thought’ that I am already awake. I knew that there is no point in arguing with her and waste my time. I was sure that I will be late. But I decided to try my level best.
As soon as I was out of my apartment gate, I zoomed. When I connected the main road, there was heavy traffic. I sighed. Then there is this deviation I have to take which goes to the hospital. That road is a narrow road; only one car/medium sized vehicle can ply comfortably if there are pedestrians (there is no footpath). When two cars come, we need to drive carefully, that too at turnings (there are three 90 degree turnings). Close to one such turning there was one water supply tanker parked. I managed to get through and the next moment, what I saw was a Bus!. What timing…
That bus might have created a jam there for sure. And had I did not cross that turning at that time, I would have been held at that point. Thank God!
There were pedestrians on the road, but I decided to drive as fast as I can. When I passed a guy in an inch to inch distance, I even got butterflies. Then? There it is… there is this green car in front of me. He did not give way. I tried my level best, but no use. It looked like he had decided that he will not give way for me. Thus I had no choice left but to drive slowly, since he wasn’t driving in a hurry and overtaking him in that road was a big risk.
As I was about to reach the hospital, I put left indicator hoping that he will move to right and give way. But he too put left indicator and he too entered the hospital. I have this habit of driving fast (both up and down) in the ramps inside that four story parking area, but this guy!
I parked my car and proceeded to physiotherapy department. When I opened the door, there stands my therapist giving me a ‘kind of look’, but smiling.
“Sorry, I am late”
“yes, you ARE late…come”
She was about to go out, thinking that I might not turn up for today. Can’t blame her coz I did that last Saturday. What timing!
Was that car my enemy? If that car wasn’t there in front of me, I am 100% sure that I would have driven very fast inviting trouble….. if he wasn’t there, I would have taken more risks….
At the end, did I miss the session? Nope…
Coz, the timing was perfect.
God, I LOVE YOU!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
XP's Hidden Song..
Many a times people hide something from others. It can be many things. Most of the time, it could be personal things. But what is personal about this song?
What song and who hid it?
There is a song that comes with Windows XP, which most of us are not at all aware of. May be Bill Gates wanted this to be played at some windows event? Or may be one of the developer kept this for fun?
It is hidden in this path:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe\images\title.wma
(copy this and paste it in ‘Run’ ( Start-Run) and press Enter)
Is this a completely hidden stuff, we might never listen unless we directly access that folder? Well , that folder is a hidden folder, but it is said that this song is the background song when the user is asked to fill in details during the setup. May be its true. I had installed XP many times, but never got a chance to listen to this song.
Is this a secret? Not anymore.
May be I am a little late in blogging about this, since its an old stuff !!!
What song and who hid it?
There is a song that comes with Windows XP, which most of us are not at all aware of. May be Bill Gates wanted this to be played at some windows event? Or may be one of the developer kept this for fun?
It is hidden in this path:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe\images\title.wma
(copy this and paste it in ‘Run’ ( Start-Run) and press Enter)
Is this a completely hidden stuff, we might never listen unless we directly access that folder? Well , that folder is a hidden folder, but it is said that this song is the background song when the user is asked to fill in details during the setup. May be its true. I had installed XP many times, but never got a chance to listen to this song.
Is this a secret? Not anymore.
May be I am a little late in blogging about this, since its an old stuff !!!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Flotation Spas
Since thousands of years ago floating in water is practiced in India, mainly as part of yoga and meditation (many even could walk on water). Now the modern science and research supports it and result is a more convenient way to float. One can not float in a pool if one is not familiar with that technique or swimming. But now, there are flotation spas which offer such facilities. Anybody can float just like that.
Here, water used is salty one. They mix Epsom salt to gain this high density and this salt is a natural disinfectant too. We float just like that in these tubs. The environment is sound proof and light proof too. we can float in a calm environment, without any disturbance at all. An ideal place and way to relax and meditate.
What are the health benefits? They say it has many. Some of them are:
Stress reduction
Helps reduce blood pressure
Helps remove lactic acid and other body toxins
Speeds up healing
Mind becomes clear and more open
Reduces pain
Creates harmonious brain wave patterns (like in a deep meditation)
Enhances creativity……
So, lets floooooat and forget everything…just relax, relax and relax
Here, water used is salty one. They mix Epsom salt to gain this high density and this salt is a natural disinfectant too. We float just like that in these tubs. The environment is sound proof and light proof too. we can float in a calm environment, without any disturbance at all. An ideal place and way to relax and meditate.
What are the health benefits? They say it has many. Some of them are:
Stress reduction
Helps reduce blood pressure
Helps remove lactic acid and other body toxins
Speeds up healing
Mind becomes clear and more open
Reduces pain
Creates harmonious brain wave patterns (like in a deep meditation)
Enhances creativity……
So, lets floooooat and forget everything…just relax, relax and relax
Saint Alphonsa !
I don’t remember whether I mentioned it in any of my blogs about the pedigree of Indian Christians. But I had thought about it a couple of weeks ago. Christianity here has a tradition of nearing 2000 years (Saint Thomas, the apostle, arrived here in AD 52).
Today was a special day for the Christian community here in India. They got their second Roman Catholic saint (and first woman saint) from this country. From today, sister Alphonsa is Saint Alphonsa.
One more reason to stay where they are. One more reason to not to shop for another new brand of faith group or fellowship.
Hope this moment will make them proud.
Today was a special day for the Christian community here in India. They got their second Roman Catholic saint (and first woman saint) from this country. From today, sister Alphonsa is Saint Alphonsa.
One more reason to stay where they are. One more reason to not to shop for another new brand of faith group or fellowship.
Hope this moment will make them proud.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Knee Injury
Every organ in our body is important, in one way or another and I don’t think God did any mistake in that creation process (one way circumcision is trying to correct ‘God’s blunder’ by those who think they know about God and His ways better than the God himself!). The way our body works is just amazing. In fact the whole research that’s happening in the field of science and technology is trying to understand the know-how of God’s technologies, in one way or another, knowingly or unknowingly.
What about the knee then? I read an article by somebody (don’t remember his name, can be a doc coz it was technically a good article about the structure of the knee) where he said knee is a faulty design by the God. Knee is the most complicated joint in our body and one of the easily injured one too. For walking, running, standing, kicking, sitting…we need support from knee. We can lift a person of our weight (or more). It goes thru our knee. It can bend, twist and even has the ability to rotate limitedly.
The volume of Arthritis reported among the old and not- so- old and the number of knee replacement surgeries happening around us these days show how this joint can be overused. Injuries to the knee can be of different types. A muscle strain, tendonitis, bursitis , a runners knee …..and in the little more severe cases, it can be tear of ligaments and more.
There are many ligaments in our knee and the most injury prone ones are MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament), ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) and LCL (Lateral Collateral Ligament). The role of ligaments are to connect two bones.
What should one do when there is a knee injury? If you check the net for that purpose, almost every site will advise you to do RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation). Is that all? Just be relaxed and take some rest with an ice pack?
Since I did not get the results I expected for my LCL tear, I decided to go for a second opinion with one of the best doc in my city. He was known to me and is a friend of my family doc. He was my son’s doc and at some point of time, my wife also had to consult him. Thus I had an idea about his approach. He always believed in going with the latest technology.
I briefed him about what happened to me and what I did. And then he said (he always speaks very loud):
“See, these days, our approach to knee injuries are very aggressive. The problem with knee injuries are that, if we don’t take care of it properly, it can lead into irreparable osteoarthritis especially in middle age people, in a very short period. When I started my practice about 25 years ago, we never had any equipment to asses the severity of these kind of injuries. If people were old, we used to suggest some pain killers, rehabilitation programme that included wearing a brace that you are wearing now or some exercises or life style change. And if they were young, we had to cut it open and see what it is. But as you know, science is growing fast. Now we have MRI and Arthroscopy to evaluate the injury. I suggest you to go for an MRI and then we will discuss. I don’t want you to end up with arthritis in five years time”
I did MRI and while lying down inside that machine, I was thinking about the reasons why it can lead into arthritis.
Its so simple. It is ligaments that keep the bones together and the joint intact. What happens when that’s torn? The joint becomes unstable and loose. That leads the joint to function in ‘not so normal’ way, which again giving a chance for bone to bone direct contact. Our joints are built in such a way that bone like hard stuffs won’t make direct contact with its counter part and when it happens, the wear and tear starts leading to osteoarthritis.
My MRI showed a chronic tear with wavy fibers to the LCL even after 3-4 months. Not just that, it showed the early symptoms of OA changes (welcome, osteoarthritis)in the patellofemoral. Is that all? Nope it showed Grade I injury to my Medial Meniscus. As per the X-ray I had done earlier, everything looked just normal and it didn’t even show any OA changes in the knee. Thus my old therapist and doc thought my knee cap pain was some radiating pain.(X-rays wont show ligament tear, since ligaments are made of soft tissues)
What does it all mean? Simple. When you end up in a knee injury, don’t take it lightly. Don’t listen to Tom ,Dick and Harry and let a doc examine your knee on day one itself (or next day). This is important coz, the damage due to the delay can not be repaired in many cases. It is always wise to learn from others experience than waiting for things happen to us. So learn from me. The biggest blunders I did with respect to this knee injury are:
Listening to “ I had many such falls. It pains a lot initially and then it goes by itself” from somebody close to me
Not following the RICE principle at all
Self medicating with pain killers/anti inflammatory drugs
Delay in seeing the doc
Meeting the nearest doc just for convenience and thus not getting the right treatment at the right time.
And the result?
(sigh....)
Monday, October 06, 2008
In Me...
In me, the infinite ocean, the ship of the universe moves here and there, driven by the wind of the mind. I do not have any impatience.
In me, the boundless ocean, the waves corresponding to the worlds spontaneously rise and vanish; I experience neither gain nor loss on this account
In me, the limitless ocean, rests the familiar illusion of the world. In this knowledge, I, profound serene and formless, abide.
- Janaka
In me, the boundless ocean, the waves corresponding to the worlds spontaneously rise and vanish; I experience neither gain nor loss on this account
In me, the limitless ocean, rests the familiar illusion of the world. In this knowledge, I, profound serene and formless, abide.
- Janaka
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Mercy !!
As usual, today’s news paper too contained news about death, killing, communal upset, rape etc. But it had something else too. Death of 30 calves (and 15 in fatal condition).
They were being taken to the slaughterhouse, in a van. As per this State’s rule, transporting more than 6 animals in a single van is against law. But here in this case, there were 95 calves. Their mouth was tied to prevent them making noise.
It was a patrolling police inspector who stopped this van at 3 am in the early morning and it was a shock for him. He proved that every policeman is not just corrupt and heartless by taking the van to a animal shelter. What was the condition of the rest of the animals?
The Vet who examined them said they died of respiratory problem and transportation stress. (Do animals feel stress? I have seen them crying during such a transport). They developed high fever out of fear and stress. They were dehydrated too.
Yes, they were being taken to be killed. But is this the way to treat animals? If you want to kill them, kill them but not in a barbaric way. Treat them kindly till they are being killed. There is no point in whispering something from the scriptures to the animal’s ears after treating them this way.
We are humans, only we can be merciful to animals and not the other way.
They were being taken to the slaughterhouse, in a van. As per this State’s rule, transporting more than 6 animals in a single van is against law. But here in this case, there were 95 calves. Their mouth was tied to prevent them making noise.
It was a patrolling police inspector who stopped this van at 3 am in the early morning and it was a shock for him. He proved that every policeman is not just corrupt and heartless by taking the van to a animal shelter. What was the condition of the rest of the animals?
The Vet who examined them said they died of respiratory problem and transportation stress. (Do animals feel stress? I have seen them crying during such a transport). They developed high fever out of fear and stress. They were dehydrated too.
Yes, they were being taken to be killed. But is this the way to treat animals? If you want to kill them, kill them but not in a barbaric way. Treat them kindly till they are being killed. There is no point in whispering something from the scriptures to the animal’s ears after treating them this way.
We are humans, only we can be merciful to animals and not the other way.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Indonesian Eid Surprise !
Today Muslims of many parts of the world celebrated Eid. In India, it will be celebrated tomorrow (this depends on the position/visibility of moon).
I had promised one of my friends in Indonesia that I will call her and wish. But in the morning, she asked me (in reply to my sms) to call after two hours and then when I texted asking ‘ can I call you now?’, she did not respond. It was bit disappointing. But when I was busy with some other thing and forgot about this disappointment, there comes her call…..
Today, for the first time in my life so far, I talked to somebody from Indonesia. What is the big deal? Well, in my life, these little little things are happy moments. First of all, apart from the Indonesian element, it had the 'talking to a friend' aspect, which always is nice. Sometimes little things can give big happiness. I still remember, I was soooooo happy when I talked to one of my friends from Philippines for the first time ( She was very happy that time coz she got a salary hike ! )
Thank you God for this gift of surprise..
I had promised one of my friends in Indonesia that I will call her and wish. But in the morning, she asked me (in reply to my sms) to call after two hours and then when I texted asking ‘ can I call you now?’, she did not respond. It was bit disappointing. But when I was busy with some other thing and forgot about this disappointment, there comes her call…..
Today, for the first time in my life so far, I talked to somebody from Indonesia. What is the big deal? Well, in my life, these little little things are happy moments. First of all, apart from the Indonesian element, it had the 'talking to a friend' aspect, which always is nice. Sometimes little things can give big happiness. I still remember, I was soooooo happy when I talked to one of my friends from Philippines for the first time ( She was very happy that time coz she got a salary hike ! )
Thank you God for this gift of surprise..
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