Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The 3H Formula - Happiness, Health, Harmony

The 3H formula is the vital vitamin for a happy human being. Its not important how long you lived, but its important how happy and successfully you lived. Thanks to my husband Raghu who keeps on reminding of the 3H formula in life.
Happiness means different things to different people, I know friends who used to be happy getting degrees, few who are happy by frequent shopping, i had friend whose happiness was buying diamonds, I had another friend whose happiness was collecting books, one another was happy by taking care of her family, had another one who was happy with a go-lucky career, another was happy taking care of her sick mother, one another was happy doing social service, one was happy sleeping whenever time permits. Like wise happiness means various forms to various people. Identify what makes you happy and do it. There lies your happiness. Some find happiness in materialistic things, some find happiness in making friends, some find happiness in emotional upheaval, spiritual things, some find happiness in silence. To me happiness lies when I am able to do what I wanted to do.
Health, according to my man, is the most important thing in life..No matter how long we live, its important that we lead a healthy life. Little extra care on our food habits, sleeping pattern, handing emotions, and social cultures that would make us healthy. Age related issues are part and parcel of life,but it will happen when it should. Improper diets, surviving on fast food, junk things, getting over excited about events around us, and addiction to smoking, drinking and other things spoil our health and lead us to sooner aging. Healthy body brings in a smart brain and provides you not to exhaust your energies to keep up your health. Healthy families are also happy families in tune of the fact.
Harmony is one other vital ingredient of the 3H formula, which means that nothing can bring in peace except ourselves. Fighting for wealth, materialistic things, not able to forgive others mistakes, carrying the burden of hatred in our hearts will only effect us in reality. It is not easy to forgive who sin against us. But god has blessed the human beings to forget things and we need to give time, time to heal everything that effects us adversely. Time is the only healing factor amidst rough relationships, broken friendships, uttered hurting words, caused damages knowingly or unknowingly. Be away from something that is bad or wrong, if you are not able to change it. Be it a place, person or a practice, keep yourself away if it is causing an impact on your harmony in life. Love your family in abundance, care for your friends and share your things in the society, live in peace, socialise with all neighbours, keep active in local events, participate in organizational activities, be there when someone needs you... You never know when you would need someone to help you.
Friends, give this 3H formula a thought, practice it, preach it and prosper with it. Wish you all lots and lots of happiness, good health, and harmonious families and professions that make you successful and happy for ever in life...

What made her get killed? Shivani Bhatnagar- An aspiring journalist of Young India

Remember me as a child holding a fake mike and taking interviews of the people around me, sometimes asking them embarrassing questions that adults find difficult to answer. That was my passion for journalism. Unfortunately I could not make a career there but always kept watching the best of reporters and news readers with great enthusiasm.
24 January 1999, all the newspapers flashed the sensational murder of Shivani Bhatnagar, journalist of Indian Express in her Delhi flat. She was strangled to death and her months old child was crying few feet away from her dead body. The news created a biggest sensation during that time. Slowly and steadily the cases started to unfold. Bringing under its ambit a senior Delhi police officer Mr.Sharma and later gossips that linked Mr.Pramod Mahajan. The murder almost upset the political applecart of BJP and shook the Nation with new questions.
It took almost 9 years for the accused to be booked under the right sections of law and face the punishment. Lot of things changed and re vibrated during the course of this case.
Major questions that rocked the Nation:
How safe is the journalism in India for women reporters? Is it the profession or the behaviour of the person that caused the tragedy...
Why did Shivani had to go beyond her personal ethics and end up in unwanted relationships to achieve her professional objectives?
Can the Nation's most confidential information be leaked to print media or others because a woman can woo a top most person in politics or police or other areas?
Was it the extra-marital affair that was the root cause for her killing?
How can a police officer so carefully plan a murder and also get away with it for 3 years absconding?
Lessons to be learnt from this case!
Be it a woman or a man, you do not need to loose your personal ethics to achieve your professional objectives.
You may be anything big in this world, but remember every dog has its day and the culprits will be booked. Justice can be delayed but cannot be denied in the eyes of Law.



Do You Remember Mahatma Gandhi???

I was taken by little jerk, when my kid asked me to help her write an essay on Mahatma Gandhi. It took me few minutes before I could think of writing down a sensible essay that she can submit in the school....had it been any other topic, I just go fast typing it of. But what happened when I was asked to write about Mahatma Gandhi, Father of our Nation... let me admit that I was not spontaneous. Was it because Gandhi is now becoming a distant memory with people like me? Anyway, Remembering Gandhi, the essay that finally got delivered with due respects to the simple man is given below, for people like me to recall the great man of India:
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One of the greatest men that ever walked on the face of this earth. Mahatma Gandhi. The man largely responsible for India's freedom from the imperial British rule after approximately 190 years. The life o f Mahatma Gandhi from his birth in Porbandar, Gujarat to his unfortunate death teaches every person a lesson on how to handle bad and good in general. We also had an opportunity to learn from various events that occurred in Mahatma Gandhi’s life which moulded him into a person that he was. Gandhi was a man of ideals and he treasured, followed and preached all his life the ideas of Truth, Satya graha, Ahimsa and Swaraj. Gandhi was largely a National leader during the most important events in the history of India’s Independence which included his responses to Jalianwala Bagh tragedy, Chauri Chaura incident, the cabinet mission, the Cripps mission, Quit India Movement and Dandhi March towards the 1947 Independence from the clutches of the British rule.
Mohandas Karamchand born on 2 October 1869 was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi a” Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore) and in India also as Bapu . He is officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanthi, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non-Violence.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2nd in 1869 and was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic January 30th 1948. To the majority of us he is now more familiarly known by his honorific, Mahatma, meaning Great Soul, rather than the names he was born with, and for his dedication to non-violent resistance as a form of protest. Such is his international reputation that in 2007 the United Nations designated his birthday International Day of Non Violence.
Gandhi, popularly known as Bapu, gave simple things that had bigger changes in the Nation’s history. With his simple living and high thinking he triggered the National Movement with non-violence and harmony. The philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi is universal which include simple living, non-violent protests and creating a sense of belongingness in the country and raising the voices of freedom.
As children of this country, we all should learn few things from the life of Gandhi- Our Father of the Nation. Those principles will make us good citizens and help our country free from the existing problems at large scale like avoiding terrorism, bringing in communal harmony, education and employment, eradication poverty and bringing in a safe and sound society.

I would like to tell you the ten principles of Mahatma Gandhi that we should follow in our lives to be good citizens as a simple small man led a widely diversified big nation towards its freedom:
Speak truth and be honest. Do not lie any day
Do not be violent. Protest in a simple non-violent way if you refuse to accept anything
Maintain tolerance for it’s the highest knowledge of education
Be Kind to others and to animals around us
Help people in the smallest ways possible
Follow simple living and high thinking
Remember education and hard-work goes hand in hand
Be obedient to your parents and teachers
Strive for the growth of our Mother land
Do not let us lose the hard-earned freedom of our country.
In the name of Mahatma Gandhi and with an ardent love for my country, I hope all of us practice the principles of Gandhi that would help us go head in our lives in more peace and harmony towards success and happiness as nation. I vow today to follow the best of ideals laid by our Father of Nation and promise to be a good citizen would make this country proud.

Jai Hind!

Are Horoscopes Really Working?

Friends, do not mistake me when I bring in this topic of horoscopes for a deep discussion. I am not hear to debate on the science called Astrology nor to hurt the sentiments of the people who believe in predictions. Am only trying to analyze, to what extent we can rely on our stars, birth dates and times, and predictions? I do understand that astrology is a science based on the earth's orbitrary movements and also acknowledge the fact that our ancient superstitions and beliefs also had a scientific reason to promote such a belief. At times, when things go right and in accordance with the predictions, it so happens that we start to believe more and more on our horoscopes that defined the outcomes. When we do not see such things happen, we blame on our weaknesses and pitfalls that came as a hindrance to make what is predicted in the horoscope. Instead, I would suggest we start believing in what we can be, what change we want to see in us and work towards it. If it is destined to happen, it will happen. Nothing can be stopped. Faith is the only thing that can change our destiny, and to me the horoscopes were the yardsticks that measured our faith. That gave us confidence that such things can happen in future, good or bad. Good, will be achieved as we strive for it, and Bad can be prevented as we exercise certain amount of care and caution. But despite this, accidents happen, eventualities occur, terror strikes, natural calamities happen, and all this effect us one way or the other, though its tracked, predicted and informed in our horoscopes or not. I am not asking you to forget astrology, and challenge the science that had its own value and identity. I am only suggesting that we do not blindly go by the horoscopes and fret for something drastic that's going to happen in future and forget looking at opportunities that could actually make us prevent from such unfortunate things in life. I have seen best of people not agreeing for marriages irrespective of everything matching between the girl and the boy, just because the horoscopes did not match. I have seen marriage break in cases where they had 100% matching of the horoscopes. Don't you agree with such instances? . It cannot be one of the rarest cases, it is possible. Believe in your hard work, do not loose focus, concentrate on the work in hand, try to help at least one person in a day, give something back to the needy, spend a minute in prayer, keep yourself active...and am sure your horoscope would only speak good and predict nice things for future. It is all in your hands to walk towards glory!!!

What is Friendship? Is it an association or an untagged relationship????

Since my childhood, if I had possessed something in abundance, its definitely called friendships. To me friends influenced all through my life at various stages and continue to do so till my end. I am very proud of the kind of friends I have in life and to me they are my best treasure. My friends range from 10 year old to 80+ year old, from various walks of life, from various parts of the globe, from various faiths and languages. Yet, what keeps them in tact with me in life, is a generic bonding that I share with each one of them. To me every friend is precious, every friend is unique and every friend is a strength and a weakness in one way or the other. We were 76 students in my 10th class when I was leaving the school, ST.Theresa's Girls High school in Eluru, AP, of which at least 7 of them are still the same to me even after nearing 2 decades. We have now extended this friendship from classroom, till our families and corporate lives, sharing time, fun and anxieties and growth in life together. Lucky I am to have both my bench mates (Archana Lunani, Lecturer, Corporate Interior designer and a business woman and Sridevi whose now a Principal of an Ekhopadhyapatasala) are still in touch with me and this is a life time bondage. College, computer class, neighbours, tuition mates, typewriting class friends, my colleagues who became close friends, my social organizations friends, my online friends, my friends on global writers and poets forums, my family friends, parents of kid's classmates, and the list goes on and on. Some people inspire you, amaze you, bond you so much that you would cherish their association for life time. Every step in my career was taken because one or the other friend of mine extended their hands to swim further. It was like a relay race for me.
I always wondered, what is friendship?? Is it just knowing someone for a long time??? Or is it having something in common with the other person?? Don't really know. There are many people whom I know for ages but can never be called as my friends. There are many of my friends with whom I have nothing in common. Then what is this? May be some part of our lives, we live together for a while, share something together, care for each other, find fun, and share sadness, know each other to lean on at times of trials, have someone to rejoice your success and share your happiness, share workplace or some where where you met them in life. Not all my friends can share everything of me in life. Each one made their mark by being there in that point showing compassion, care, love and solace. Few friends travel with me in this journey by just being with me in the parallel track. I always looked upon my immediate family as my best circle of friends and we have been living together sharing an undefined depth of friendship. To me personally, I am a person who is in love with this word called -Friendship and closest of my friends would vouch that I stand by my friends when they need me no matter what. I love to be called a friend on whom they can rely on, they can look upon, when they feel that they need someone to lean on. I have lot of amazing stories of solid friendships that I can write upon as sequels to this label called "Friendship- A Global Phenomenon" . I am sure my friends would enjoy this and other readers could relate to lot many people in their personal lives.