EMPATHY Each one of us goes through some sort of trauma in our lives from time to time. There is none who can say that they never go through stress-even the so called Baba’s go through times when they may not be getting dakshina from their chelas. The cause could be emotional (loss of a loved one), physical (some illness nor the other), educational (career related) or financial (money problems). So how does one cope with such a situation? People around you( friends&family) will give you many suggestions, even I would counsel them the same but then I do put...

SUMMERTIME “Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it”-Russel Baker But summer has its goodness too if you are a positive thinker and look on the bright side of everything. Crib about the heat, the power cuts, or the water shortage but then do not forget to be thankful for the bird song early in the morning or the delicious mangoes that you drool over. Half the night went off without power and I was tossing and turning in bed. But by 6.45am I was out and ready to hit the gym. It was a...

Aarushi Talwar RIPIt was four years ago when Aarushi Talwar, all of 14 years, was mercilessly murdered and her clever parents even misled the CBI to believe that they were ignorant of the goings on in their house on that sordid summer night.The murder weapon was a scalpel and used with a clean sweep cutting the right nerve to snuff out the young life. Hemraj was the house help. He couldn’t have known how to use the scalpel and rather would have used a ram pyari . Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, both doctors and dentists laid the blame on 3...

                                                                                                         BATTLE OF THE BULGE Twenty years ago there was no Internet and no PSP’s, people walked more for leisure rather than exercise. Kids played real gully cricket rather than virtual street cricket; when the most popular games were "chuppan-chupai","pakdam-pakdai", "land or water" or "tokkudu billa”. When the best...

a dollar sign is the cheesiest Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world Aha-ahaaa All the things I could do If I had a little money It's a rich man's world I grew up singing this song little knowing the relevance of the lyrics.When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is. Money has different synonyms these days; "bread" (an allusion to the importance of money), "buck", "clam", "milk", "dosh",...

Beauty Tips 2 1. To get rid of dark circles and want to care for your eyes just massage a few drops of coconut oil around the eyes or grate a potato and place it on your eyes. To reduce puffiness take a steel spoon and cool it in the freezer for a couple of minutes and place it on the eye to reduce the swelling 2. While massaging around the eyes be careful not to drag or pull the skin. To massage lightly use your middle or ring finger so that u don’t exert too much pressure. Tap below...

Ribbon SandwichSandwich breadGreen Mint-Coriander chutneyButterTomato sauceGrated carrot for garnishingSpread the green chutney on one slice and place a buttered one on top of it. Then apply sauce on this slice and place another slice of bread on it. 4 slices in all make a sandwich. Cut the edges of the bread and diagonally across so that it is triangle shape. Arrange on a plate like a house and on the sloping roof add butter and place the grated carrot to look like red roof tiles. Tuck a soup stick on top like a chimney. Use toothpicks to hold the sandwiches...

AFTERWARDS JAISREE MISRA Stories usually begin with a foreword, then the story and the ending where they lived happily ever after. But this piece of fiction is aptly called Afterwards. There is a beginning wherein Rahul meets Maya and love follows-Maya dies. The story should have actually reached the end here but it actually takes off from this point. The author describes how Rahul and Anjali cope after Maya’s death. Maya….the name itself means illusion. How Maya enters Rahul’s life and is a part of it for 5 years. She leaves a major impact on his psyche. Rahul is cast...

  The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall is a lesser known book but the message in it sweeps across nations , cultures and creeds.The book is short but thought provoking and it highlights the ups and downs of life and is actually a guidebook forthe youth. It starts off rather tamely with an old man on his death bed wanting to hand over his legacy in the right hands rather than his good for nothing sons or covetous relatives. He finds a spark of the qualities he is seeking, in his nephew, Jason Stevens, who at first comes across as...

This book by Anurag Mathur is an unbiased and a little jaundiced look at American life seen through the eyes of a nerdy Indian student in the seventies who was suddenly dislocated from a comfortable and cocooned life in the small town he grew up in to the land of dreams..US.US was the Mecca of education at that time and still is. The culture shock that Gopal faces is so palpable and the letters that he writes to his brother are a laughter riot. It wasn’t a time of satellite TV with 300 channels at your fingertips. When he says”...