What’s the Name for the Dot Over the i and j?

What’s the Name for the Dot Over the i and j?

Gateway to Happiness...

What is it about Happiness that people find it so hard to be happy? Why is it that for eternal happiness you have to join some ashram or courses and follow a regime? Nobody has been able to answer these questions and neither can I because it is not an external thing that can be incorporated rather it is something which need to be felt within yourself. And this exact practice seems tough for all to follow.

Okay let’s try and understand what exactly happiness is all about. It is purely a state of mind when you feel joyful, content, satisfied and high with positive spirits. So what are the hindrances in achieving these feelings? In today’s world, money pays a huge role in achieving happiness? Do you believe in that? I am guessing no here. Let’s dive in a little bit more here.

Reach out to a beggar and ask if he/she is happy? The only prompt revert you will get is a laid out palm for help. So if this beggar has no money, is he/she happy? Not at all rather the beggar is worried about food and place to sleep.

We all heard about famous quote “Health is wealth” which means everything is perfect if you are fit and fine. There are so many healthy options laid out for a fit breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now all you need to do is buy these items. To make a purchase you need money. Well here we go then, to follow “Health is wealth” you need wealth. However it is wrong to conclude direct proportion between happiness and money as long term happiness only comes with true friendship, beautiful marriage, stable job, meeting all expenses and living a healthy life.

In today’s world, money do play an important role in having an up and running home, spending quality time with family on holidays, giving out presents on festivals, owning a vehicle for family and fees for your kid’s education.

Have you all heard about term “Happynomics”------ well it is all about economics of happiness. Economists worldwide are deeply studying and researching on this very term as this leads to happiness of an individual, a community and even a nation. National happiness is most closely associated with health levels, prosperity, education and trust in public institutions. Democracy is a sure guide to happiness. The game of economic is purely managing your income against your expenses and yet having some savings left. Lower income does not lead to unhappiness however people enjoy simpler low cost things in their lives.

It is hard to be happy if your work is sucking up all your energy. This thing has been realized and so many companies have come up with options like “work life balance” at your workplace which means effective working in the required number of hours and spending quality time with friends and family. Options like giving a manageable health benefits to your employees and building day care facilities for employees who are newly turned moms and do not have help at home to manage toddlers. These things give more happiness and satisfaction than a big bonus check and company share options.

Psychologists Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener found that happiness is region based as well. They found Latin Americans to be happiest people in the world, in spite of their thick poverty. Asian are least happy due to self developed negative responses. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is introducing a metric known as Gross National Happiness. Considerations will include how people use and balance their time, the health of the culture and community, and the quality of governance. (Sources: BBC and Time Magazine.)

So is wealth does not bring happiness, what does? There is a huge virgin area in your brain where positive thoughts origin day in and day out. We all tend to ignore this in our daily lives. Hence being optimist makes you happy. It all comes down to four basic keys to be followed for happiness ---- believe in more sensory experiences, enjoy your work and family time, live meaningful lives and last and not the least manage your expenses to your income with a minimum savings.

Happynomics first appeared in the grow Qatar blog.

Making mouthwatering Besan Ladoos

In India cooking sweets at home is a more like a daily chore and eating is a ritual. During my childhood days and even after that eating Besan ladoos cooked by my mom was one of my fav sweets. Although been a doctor, my mom was always up and busy with her work but whenever she could take out time, it was cooking these delicious sugar recipes for me and my brother. 

After shifting from India, I tried my hand at cooking Besan Ladoos and came out very well. There are numerous videos and recipes available on internet but if anybody is looking for a 4 step recipe for making these awesome Ladoos, you have reached your destination.

The total prep time for cooking Besan Ladoos is exact 40 minutes.. So here we go.

Ingredients:

4 cups Besan(gram flour), 2 cup powdered sugar, 1 cup Desi ghee (keep same cup for exact measurements), 12-15 cashew nuts and 12-14 almonds(dry fruits).

Recipe:

11)  Grind all cashew nuts and almonds in a mixer/blender and place them aside

22)  In a non stick pan, add ghee and once it is warm (not very hot), add besan (gram flour) and cook it at medium flame for about 45 mins. This need to be exact 45 mins so that Besan is cooked uniformly. The aroma of cooked Besan will tell you that it is done.

33) Add powdered sugar and grinded dry fruits to cooked Besan

44)  Let it cool for 10 mins and not more than that cause forming Laddos will be tough once this mix is too cool. Now begin the fun game of making balls. Go nuts and make any shape.

Enjoy these Ladoos anytime of the day just like me.. I am eating one while writing this blog. Cheers!!!!

How Christmas came along

So it is “Christ mass” season!!! We have Rudolph - the Red-nosed Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”, receiving and giving gifts everywhere and of course Santa Claus is coming to town. Engaged in all these activities, the importance of sharing the origin of Christmas has been lost. So here it goes, this is my Christmas gift to all the readers…

Once upon a time, a long long long time ago, an angel was born in Bethlehem. He was Jesus, son of God, born in the world to fight against the wrong doings and bring a message of goodwill to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child. And this marked the start of Chritmas…

However if you wish to know the real history behind this festival, please continue reading….

There is no mention of this festival in Bible. Per The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, the Christian church used to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth. It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.”

On the contrary, the pagan world has celebrated this festival for thousands of years before the birth of Christ. Nearly all aspects of this festival have their roots in Roman culture and religion.  It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia (December 17-25^th), a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. In ancient Rome, December 25th was the shortest day of the year. So actually the Romans were celebrating the pagan festival of Saturnalia and not Christmas. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth and warmth so that plantation can occur. Shocking isn’t it!!!!

As per ancient Greek writer, poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue Saturnalia), this festival was a long period of lawlessness. There was a widespread of human sacrifice, Roman pagans used to sing and run naked from home to home consuming human shaped biscuits (which all Christmas celebrating people buy now from bakeries).  So in the 4th century CE, Christian leaders persuaded pagan masses to convert in Christianity promising they can continue to celebrate Saturnalia as Christians. However the concern was there was no relation between Saturnalia and Christian. To eradicate this issue, Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. Here you go. That’s how Christmas came along as “Christ mass”.

No reading is complete without talking about Christmas tree. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Actually the tree is an interpretation of these non Christian cultures wherein Evergreens were thought to represent the ever-burning fire of life, green affirms nature and ongoing life, red is a symbol of fire of spirits. All the decorative balls represent the planets. The bright star on the top of the tree points towards heaven, all the gods and symbolizes that spirit unites with nature.

The Christmas tress came in fashion by 1846 when popular royals, Queen Victoria and German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. However the credit of starting the Christmas tree tradition goes to Germans where trees were decorated at homes.

Now comes the turn of our sweet Santa Claus. Some of this elf’s characteristics date back many centuries. The belief that Santa enters the house through the chimney developed from an Old Norse legend. The Norse believed that the goddess Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the home.

Although there comes another European theory wherein the original Santa Claus, was a bishop by the name of St. Nicholas of Asia Minor of the fourth century, who used to give gifts to the needy under an evergreen tree.

And here is another factual intake for you. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa.  Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face.  The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red.  And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

What so ever is said or written about Christmas’s origin, the fact remains the same in all cultures. Christmas is the season of happiness, goodwill and helping the needy. God is one and He says the same. Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Why Greenland named so....

The naming of Greenland is pretty contrary to its climatic appearances. Do you ever wonder that with a total ice cap of 80% of the island, how come the naming went all haywire? It is pretty interesting to know that there are many theories behind the naming of this country. One of the most exciting and traditional is the saga of Erik the Red Viking.

The Vikings were a race of Scandinavians (settlers of Northern Europe mainly Denmark, Norway and Sweden) commonly known as blood thirsty warriors who paved their way through Europe marking many well settled trade colonies. Before I start to narrate this theory, here is a small historic tale of Greenland.

Greenland was first inhabited about 4500 years ago. Due to extreme weather conditions, these inhabitants either died or left leaving their signs of presence near Maniitsoq (a town in western Greenland).  The next migration came from East, following southern coast exploration by Erik the Red Viking. It is believed that after being sent to exile from Iceland, he landed up discovering Greenland. This was a punishment rendered for committing a murder. Surviving for several years in Greenland, he ended up liking the island and wanted to settle more fully. Erik the Red is believed to have lived from circa 950 to 1003CE. However since he needed to convince others to come and live with him, after going back he painted the island as a wonderful place to settle in. So the naming has nothing to do with the arctic conditions however purely a marketing strategy by this Viking was. Interesting, isn’t it?

One theory is that the “green” in Greenland is actually a translation error. The word “grunt” actually means ground and it could be that Greenland was meant to be named Gruntland (or ground land).

Another theory follows as Scientists have estimated that the ice sheet that covers Greenland is between 400,000-800,000 years old! It covers approximately 80% of the island, and is about 3 kilometers thick in places… so the ancient settlers to the island probably didn’t see much difference in appearance or terrain from what we see today.

Here are few fun facts I came across while reading about Greenland:

v  Much of the island is covered by a sheet of ice. The only area that is not covered in ice is only clear because the air is so dry that ice cannot form and was used as a hunting ground by native inhabitants and several nations have used the island as a strategic launching point or a base during various conflicts and wars

v  Geographically Greenland is part of North America however nationally is part of Denmark. In 1946, US offered to buy Greenland however Denmark refused.

v  Capital of Greenland is Nuuk

v  Approximately 10-15,000 glaciers break off Greenland’s glaciers each year.

v  The ice cap of Greenland was first crossed in 1888 – on skis!

v  The sun never sets from May 25th to July 25th.

v  The Northern Lights can be seen on clear nights all throughout the year.

v  July is the only month when the temperature gets above the freezing point.

v  June 21, the longest day of the year, is a national holiday.

v  All of Greenland's cities are built along the coast because it is the only area in the country that is ice-free. Most of these cities are also along Greenland's west coast because the northeastern side is comprised of the Northeast Greenland National Park

v  The official languages of Greenland are Greenlandic and Danish, but English is also widely understood

v  Currency is Danish Krone

v  Fishing and fish exporting is a major part of the Greenlandic economy, with shrimp fishing industry being by far the biggest income generator

v  Transport between cities in Greenland is by air and boat as there are no connecting roads due to the many fjords

v  Football (soccer) is the national sport of Greenland. However, the Football Association of Greenland is not yet a member of world governing body FIFA because it cannot grow grass for regulation grass pitches

v  Greenland is the 12th largest country in the world, with a size of 2,166,086 square kilometers, making it the world’s largest island that is not a continent

One of my fav quotes from Khahil Gibran

This time it is Uber...

What conspired in New Delhi on 5^th Dec 2014 was yet another shameful act. A driver of an international renowned cab service provider, Uber, allegedly raped a 25 year old MNC executive. 

Utter negligence of this San Francisco, California based company in hiring the drivers with sound background and right attitude.

So the question arises, how to ensure that the booked cab comes with a driver of sound mind? Who to blame, the driver or the company providing the cab service? Nobody can take guarantee of anyone whether the one will commit a crime or not but these companies can definitely ensure that the drivers hired do not have any criminal background. The driver involved in this crime had a previous history of involvement in another rape case and yet he was hired by this company, now what does this say about the attitude of leader? The leaders have issued a statement that they cannot do a background check of 4000 drivers in India. Can we ask why?

In Thailand and Vietnam, Uber’s operations are reported to be illegal as the company and drivers were not authorized to run cab service.

In Portland, the company is in violation of more than 20 civil and criminal provisions.

Spanish phone companies have ordered to block Uber App following similar actions as around the world.

Now the irony is that in spite of all a black background why did the Indian government allowed this company to operate here? Is there no background check done when a company launches itself in a new country? If not this is high time, government should lay in place few important check points for any company to position itself.

Don’t know how many more crimes are required for these leaders to wake up and stand up!!!