Postpone What I WANT To Do For What I HAVE To Do

Source: Unknown

Yesterday, I was driving, and the FM radio went off for few seconds. I thought I should have an iPod. Then suddenly I realized that I have not used my iPod in last 6 months. And then& more things, Handy cam in last 2 years, Digital Camera in last 2 months, DVD player in last 1 month and many more. Now I can say that I bought that Handy cam just out of impulse, I have used it twice only in last 4 years.

So, what's wrong and where? When I look at myself or my friends I can see it everywhere. We are not happy with what we have but all are stressed and not happy for the things we don’t have. You have a Santro, but you want City & you have a City, but you want Skoda. Just after buying a new phone, we need another one. Better laptop, bigger TV, faster car, bigger house, more money. I mean, these examples are endless. The point is what is it actually worth? Do we ever think if we actually need those things before we want them?

After this, I was forced to think what I need and what I don't. May be I didn’t need this Handy cam or the iPod or that DVD player. When I see my father back at home, he has a simple CRT color TV that was bought few decades ago; he does not need a 46" LCD wall mount. He has a cell phone worth Rs 2,500. Whenever I ask him to change the phone, he always says "It's a phone; I need this just for calls". And believe me; he is much happier in life than me with those limited resources and simple gadgets. The very basic reason why he is happy with so little is that he does not want things in life to make it luxurious, but he wants only those things which are making his life easier. It's a very fine line between these two, but after looking at my father's life style closely, I got the point. He needs a cell phone but not the iPhone. He needs a TV but not the 46" LCD . He needs a car but not an expensive one.

It is very simple- Our ancestors treated Necessities as Luxuries, we are looking at Luxuries as Necessities. This is making our life miserable...

Assume Not

A teacher teaching Maths to five-year-old student asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”Within a few seconds the student replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "My boy, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

The student had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four…"

The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that this student liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, the boy calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile the student enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Promptly the student answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How my boy, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice. In a voice that was low and hesitating young student replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

Moral of the Story:
When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect, don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion.

You Reap What You Sow

A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and the echo returned, "I hate you, I hate you."

Having never heard an echo before, he was scared, and ran to his mother for protection. He said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you"

The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you". The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo.

That taught the little boy a lesson: Our life is like an echo. You Reap What You Sow in another words We get back what we give.

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage Compartment and sat down in my Assigned seat. It was going to be a Long flight. 'I'm glad I have a Good book to read perhaps I will get
A short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally Surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.
'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

Petawawa in the USA. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then We're being deployed to Afghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an Announcement was made that sack Lunches were available for five Dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I Quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he
Planned to buy lunch.'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably Wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and Handed the flight attendant a Fifty dollar bill.

'Take a lunch to all those soldiers..' She grabbed my arms and squeezed Tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a Soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up The aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat And asked, 'Which do you like Best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why She asked. She turned and went to The front of plane, returning a Minute later with a dinner plate from First class. 'This is your thanks..'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down The aisle, looking at the aisle Numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he Was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand with a booming voice he said, 'I was A soldier and I was a military pilot once, someone bought me a lunch.It was an act of kindness I Never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of The passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows In front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them And handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to Reach the base.

It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.
These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little. A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'Australia ' for an amount of 'up to and including My life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did but
People will never forget how you treated them

Saving Account for Marriage Life

Monica married Hitesh this day. At the end of the wedding party, Monica's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook. With Rs.1000 deposit amount.

Mother: 'Monica, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Hitesh. When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.'

Monica shared this with Hitesh when getting home. They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can be made. This was what they did after certain time:

- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage
- 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Monica
- 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali
- 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Monica got pregnant
- 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world.... no more love...Kind of typical nowadays, huh?

One day Monica talked to her Mother: 'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!'
Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.' Monica thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account.

While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record.. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home. When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, asked him to spend the money before getting divorce.

The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Monica. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe. Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask. I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all the good years in their life.

"When you fall, in any way, Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped. Life is about correcting mistakes."

Causes of Liver Damage

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.
2. Not urinating in the morning.
3. Over eating.
4. Skipping breakfast.
5. Consuming too much medication.
6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.
7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.
8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver.
Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

Bring down High Blood Pressure Naturally

Are you the one sick and tired of taking Blood Pressure tablets and looking for a natural remedy? Try the few of the following steps sincerely and post your comment if it helped.

Meditation: Calming your mind from high stress definitely helps lowering blood pressure. Sure way to way to achieve this is by practising meditation every day.

Garlic: Garlic is very effective in lowering blood pressure. Take 2-3 raw garlic cloves a day. It slows down the pulse rate and relieves the symptoms of dizziness, numbness and shortness of breath and formation of gas within the digestive system.

Indian Gooseberry: Indian gooseberry is also very effective in controlling high blood pressure.

Lemon: Lemon is also very effective food in controlling high blood pressure. It helps in maintaining capillary fragility.

Grapefruit: Grapefruit is useful in preventing high blood pressure.

Watermelon: Watermelon also safeguards against high blood pressure. The seeds of watermelon also can be dried and roasted and taken in liberal amounts.

Rice: Rice is low-fat, low-cholesterol and low-salt content is very good for people suffering from high B.P. who have been advised salt-restricted diet. Particularly brown rice having calcium soothes and relaxes the nervous system and helps relieve High B.P symptoms.

Potato: Boiled potatoes are very valuable in lowering high B.P. Boiled potatoes absorb very little salt and thus are very useful. Potatoes are rich in Potassium and not sodium salts and magnesium present in potato is also beneficial.

Parsley: Parsley is very useful in high blood pressure. It helps maintain the blood vessels .Parsley can be taken as a beverage by simmering 20gms of fresh parsley leaves gently in 250 ml of water for a few minutes. Drink this several times a day.

Vegetable Juice: Raw vegetable juices, especially carrot and spinach juices, taken separately or in combination, are also beneficial in the treatment of high B.P If taken in combination, 300 ml of carrot juice and 200 ml of spinach juice should be mixed to make 500 ml and taken daily. If taken separately, one glass should be taken twice daily, morning and evening.

Cut down on these: Cut down on salt, cholesterol, fat, tea, coffee and alcohol intake to keep a tab on high blood pressure.

Expres your feelings: Don't repress your feelings, talk about them to friends and exercise regularly.

Exercise: Excercising 30 minutes a day can help you lose weight, which can lower blood pressure.

Heart Quotes

Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.
If your head tells you one thing and your heart tells you another, before you do anything, you should first decide whether you have better head or a better heart. Heart is always better than head.

There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. That is the light that shines within your Heart.

A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that the world is transformed.

Today, see if you can stretch your heart and expand your love so that it touches not only those to whom you can give it easily, but also to those who need it so much.

Love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart.

Once a woman has given you her heart, you can never get rid of the rest of her.

The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Traditional Fishing using Pathal Kattai

I was trying to write about this traditional fishing technique using Pathal Kattai for quite a long time. During my recent trip to my home town I got an opportunity to click some snaps to get you picture based explanation of this unique fishing technique that is followed in South Tamil Nadu. Without dragging further I shall write to you more detailed picture about this technique.

If you see the diagram mentioned below,
1) The canal that is coming from river and reaching to the lake.
2) Pathway for diverted water to flow through the Pathal Kattai
3) Mud pot will be buried with just mouth opened that serves as temporary storage of fish
4) Kazhungu – An outlet that provides air circulation for pathal kattai
5) Canal is blocked with sticks and sand bags for restricting fish traveling towards opposite direction to approach pathal kattai. This is also helping to adjust the level of water flowing through the pathal kattai.
6) Smooth surface filled with muddy grasses further upwards near pathal kattai
7) This portion is filled with very nice mud (technically called Nenju kali) that feels smooth as marble that is a sure trap for fish to jump upwards above pathal kattai.

During my childhood days, we used to go as a gang from my village for fishing during winter season. All we had to do was to perform some initial work in laying a proper structure for water to pass by the pathal kattai and we are almost done for fishing nearly a month.

Firstly we will go to the paddy field and get huge amount of clay that is key player in the whole process. We will also get some muddy grass & clay to form the smooth surface (6-7) for fish to come towards the pathal kattai.

After collecting the clay & grass, we will dig the pathway for flow of water in the area (2), (7) & (6). Then pathal kattai will be placed and will fill the surrounding area with clay. Area (7) is filled completed with smooth mud clay stacked layer after layer that is very crucial for fishes to come onto the pathal kattai and jump over it.

Then In Area (5) barrier is created by filling with Sand Bags, cut tree branches to regulate the flow of water through pathal kattai path way. Once this is done water will make it’s way through pathway (2) and comes out from the pathal kattai.

Now everything is set, all we need to do is just wait for the fish to come onto the pathal kattai and jump over to the pot. Only during night time there will be variety of fishes will start to fall. It is important that we need to maintain silence and sit still without much of movement around area (6) & (7)

At the time of Sun raise and set, Ayirai fish will be the first catch. Followed by that we get variety of fishes like Kezuthi, Kendai, Uluvai and all sort of other Lake fishes during the whole night. We will just have to keep emptying the temporary storage fish pot all night. The next day morning we will share the fish that was caught with full of sacks that we have. What to do with such a large quantity? We cook very little from them and make the rest of it into Karuvadu (Salted Dry Fish).

When the lake water level goes down after farming, the whole village will come down for fishing using Kacha (net) and lot more other techniques handled that is countless.

For now, Let me leave you with a short clip and snaps that I have taken about unique method of catching fish by using Pathal Kattai…