Monday, 27 February 2012

Heart Attack: When Victim Is ALONE



Each Mississippi is very vital when one gets HEART ATTACK.
 The signs of Heart Attack:
·       Intermittent Chest pain which can be moderate to severe and some discomfort
·       feeling of uncomfortable pressure, fullness
·       Upper body discomfort in one or both arms, back, neck, and jaw
·       shortness of breath
·       nausea, vomiting
·       dizziness
·       cold sweat

Without help, one has only about 10-30 seconds before losing consciousness.

What does victim do if he/she is alone?

These victims can help themselves by :

1.  Coughing repeatedly and very vigorously: Coughing must be as deep from inside chest as possible similar to when producing sputum.
2.  Taking very deep breath before each cough.
3.  This must be repeated till help arrives, without break until help arrives, or the heart is felt to be beating normal.

Deep breath gives badly needed oxygen to body and heavy coughing movements squeeze heart and keeps blood circulating. The squeezing also helps heart in regaining normal rhythm.

This is like doing ‘Self CPR’.

This article is written under the guidance and instructions from Dr. R.S.Patel, a retired WHO medical officer for Africa, in charge of Preventive Medicine.

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Have Roller Coaster Ride And Save Income Tax


You will be taken to the top. You will be very happy with yourself for taking this ride.
Then you will be dropped to the bottomless pit.
You will have your ‘XXXXX in your mouth (heart in the mouth)
Then the ride will end and you will exit.
Consolation: You will be paying less Income Tax, that year.
Then, you will know  that you did not take the ride but you were taken for a ride.





 X: You are thinking of exiting. Isn't it obvious?

Few Things One Must Know About Share Market:
1.   It is a legal gambling system. It is legal Casino. In every casino, the only winner is Casino Owner.
Here, the Casino owners are those:-
·         Holding Cards and the broking agencies.
·         Politicians who have relatives holding Cards.
·         Politicians and government bosses who can take financial decisions.
·         Owners and major share holders of the companies.
·         CAs and finance companies who are paid to rig the share prices
·         TV, News paper experts and analysts, who claim to know everything. (I always wonder that these persons must be very kind hearted. They are sharing their knowledge for the gains of general population, when they could have simply traded the shares sitting in luxury hotels and made loads of money for themselves)
2.       The analysis, graphs and projections will hold good only in markets which are honest and not manipulated.
3.       In real terms or in actual value terms, the market will never go up in a decline economy.  You will never earn net profit in share market if you consider depletion in buying capacity of currency and the bank interest that you would have earned if you were to keep your money in fixed deposits.
4.       The cost of efforts, time and effect on heart and health will always negate the small profit which you may gain in an unlikely event.

All the same, many of us will have free ride and huge saving on income tax.



Next Blog: 100% sure way of getting huge profit in share trading if you have unlimited money. (I do not have unlimited money )

I also request you to visit my Cancer Awareness blog, and pass on to all your contacts, please!!



Saturday, 25 February 2012

Old Man From Zambia : Godsend


On our way back from Blantyre; Malawi, I and my wife Suneeta got unnecessarily delayed in Lilongwe. When we started off from Blantyre in the morning the plan was to reach Chipata, Zambia by 18.00 hrs. The total drive was around 550 Kms and we were sure that we can reach Chipata as planned. But then, Madam did not like the food at the restaurant where we halted for late lunch. We scouted around and found a Restaurant called Gazebo, which offered us lovely Indian food. We thought it was worth wasting two hours looking for good restaurant.
We reached Malawi border at around 18.00 hrs, quick customs, stamping of passports and we proceeded to Zambia border post at Michinji. Suddenly, weather drastically changed and torrential rain started pouring down. We were not much worried as Chipata town is only 40 Kms from Michinji, and such sudden weather changes were quite common. We were further delayed by nearly 1 hour due to rains and congestion by trucks at customs. It was really dark and was raining very heavy. Those who have travelled in Africa can understand that in Africa, being 40 kms away from town is like being in middle of thick wilderness. The visibility was nearly zero due to heavy rains. I could not see the road ahead. I drove looking at white lane-dividing line in the center of road and my wife was looking at the grass line at the edge of road. We were barely driving at 25 Kms per hour. Suddenly my wife saw an old African man standing by road side asking for lift. 

As natural reaction, she shouted, “Stop!”  I jammed the breaks thinking I must have gone far too much to the edge of the road.  Then she told me about the old African man. We were in dilemma. It was far too risky to offer lift to anybody or even to stop the car in middle of nowhere. But then, we could not leave this old man alone. We backed up about 20-25 meters and asked the man what could be the problem.   
The man said, “Bana, my car broke down about 2 Kms back. My wife is admitted in Cipata General Hospital. I thought of walking down but at my age, it is very difficult to walk this distance especially when it is raining so heavy”.  We did remember seeing a car parked by road side few kilometers before. We offered the old man lift. Took him to the hospital and drove to overnight halt, feeling very nice about what we did.
Three years passed and once again we were driving from Lukasa , capital of Zambia to Chipata, en route to Malawi.  We were three of us in the car, I, Suneeta and my 1 year old son. 300 Kms from Lusaka and nearly at same distance from Chipata, there is a place called Kacholola. We had our lunch at Kacholola and we proceeded towards Chipata. All of a sudden, something happened and car stopped firing. I tried my mechanical skills with on effect. Suneeta was sitting down on the rock by roadside, hoping I shall manage to get the car moving.

Hardly 10 minutes had passed and a shinning Land-Rover, stopped by with loud screeching. One elderly person from the Land-Rover, Zambian man, got down and asked me what could be the problem. Then he asked, “ Bana, don’t you recognize me? I am the man whom you gave lift in the night when it was raining heavily. I stopped because I recognized your wife sitting by the road side”.
He told his driver to do the needful. The driver took out a big knife from the vehicle and went into the bush. He came back in few moments with bunch of vines in his hands. He made good strong rope, tied my car behind his Land-rover and towed my car for next 270 kms, safe and sound.
What were the odds???


Tuesday, 21 February 2012

That is Life : LOVE



An old lady was lying in comatose condition on hospital bed. The hospital was well-equipped and the lady was well looked after.

Every evening her husband who was equally old used to visit her. 
He would sit beside her, hold her hand and would tell her all stories of their good days. This went on for days.

One day, a hospital staff said to the old man, “Sir, why do you sit near this lady, hold her hand and tell her stories? She is in coma and does not even know that you are there”

The old man replied, “Son, But I Know She Is There”.

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Few Mississippi For This One


WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST

She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee.
 
Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box.
 
Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.
  
Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl.
 
And her husband is on the back of the milk carton.
 
WOMEN'S REVENGE
 

'Cash, check or charge?' I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase.
 
As she fumbled for her wallet
, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.  
'So, do you always carry your TV remote?' I asked.
 'No,' she replied, 'but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally.'
 
UNDERSTANDING WOMEN
 

I know I'm not going to understand women.
 
I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root,
 and still be afraid of a spider.


CIGARETTES
  AND TAMPONS 

A man
walks into a pharmacy  and wanders up & down the aisles.. The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him. 
He answers that he is looking for
 a box of tampons for his wife. She directs him down the correct aisle. A few minutes later,  he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter. She says, confused,  'Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife? 
He answers,
 'You see, it's like this,  yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo  much cheaper. 
So, I figure
 if I have to roll my own . so does she...  

(I figure this guy is the
 one on the milk carton!)


Ellora: Do not Visit unless you have spare batteries for your camera.




400 Kms and 10 hours' drive from Mumbai, and you can be at Ellora. The roads are good and the driving is pleasant. If you want Baba’s blessings, then side trip to Shirdi will not add too many kilometers to your odometer.
One can take 55 minutes' flight costing approx. Rs.4000/- to Aurangabad. Alternative is an overnight train that drops you at 4.00AM or a day train called Intercity taking you to Aurangabad by 2.30, afternoon. On reaching Aurangabad by plane or train, you can hire an air-conditioned taxi for Rs.1200 to 1500 for the day and head to Ellora
but I would say
Do not visit Ellora if you don’t have spare batteries for your cameras.
 Mumbai-Aurangabad








It is not 'Pawar' but vehicle No. 4912













Kailash Temple. Main cave, carved out of single rock, starting from Top to lower levels.










The magnificent pillar. (The shadow reminds you of the moving shadow from the movie Mackenna's Gold)













wall was painted 1400 years ago. All temple walls were smoothly coated and painted; but now we can see only small patches.


















The carvings similar to these are everywhere and in large number. Each one is different and better than previous one.










Wall painting ( Nobody is looking after nor has any protection)
To get this view , one has to climb the hill from which the entire temple is carved. The view is spectacular and one can get true idea of the magnitude of the caves.










The finest creation by the man and The God




Thursday, 16 February 2012

500$ : Found



My sister found $ 500, nicely clipped together, in a parking lot outside a shopping mall in Sydney. She inquired around if anyone has lost any cash. Nobody claimed. She went to a nearby police station and deposited the money there. Even policeman on duty was surprised to see somebody bringing money to police station and not quietly taking it home.
 He said, “Madam, there is no precedent for such and I cannot give you receipt for this. All the same, give me your address and phone number. If anybody comes to claim the money we shall hand over the money after careful verification of facts”. Then he took out an envelope from the drawer , wrote my sister’s address and phone number on it, kept the money inside, sealed the envelope and said to my sister,” Madam you can go now. We shall do the needful and inform you accordingly”.
My sister came home very pleased at herself for being an honest citizen, but at the same time, somewhere in a corner of her mind, doubting the policeman’s intentions.
Three months passed and my sister had completely forgotten the incidence. One fine day, she received an envelope by post from same police station. The envelope contained a letter from Police station praising my sister’s action and 500$ bank pay order.  The letter also said that nobody had come to claim the money; hence they were sending the money back to her.
How many of us can think that following is possible
(1)    One would look around to find out if anyone has lost money
(2)    Nobody will try to claim money when some idiot is moving in public place inquiring if anyone has lost money
(3)    One would go to police station to deposit money
(4)    Nobody claims money in three months
(5)    POLICE RETURN MONEY TO THE FINDER AFTER THREE MONTHS
What would happen if one finds equivalent of 500$ in
(A)   India: (Rs.25000): Too many people will notice the fallen cash at the same time and there will be riot. Police will come after some time and take money to police station. What happens next is anybody’s guess.
(B)   Pakistan: (Rs.45000) Too many people will notice at the same time and there will be riot. Police will not dare to come, and all the same, people will burn police station and blame it on USA
(C)   Nepal:  (40000 NPR) : In all likelihood, it will be Indian currency and nobody will pick it up because all will know it is fake currency printed by Dawood in Pakistan and is on the way to India.
(D)   Bangladesh: (40000Taka) Too many people will notice at the same time but nobody will dare to touch. The local Landlord will send his servant to collect the money and the matter will end.
(E)    China: (3150 RMY) somebody will quickly take it home, start new industry for making Apple or Microsoft products, and export those around the world.
(F)    Russia: (15000RUB) Nobody will touch the money. KGB will keep all round vigil to find out if money is planted by CIA
(G)  Dubai: (does not matter) Nobody will pick them up as everybody would know that the notes must be thrown by some Shaikh after using them as toilet paper.
(H)   Afghanistan: (24500AFN) The fastest man picks up and runs to buy brand new AK47.
(I)     Saudi Arabia: (does not matter) some poor Indian worker picks up and then they chop off his hands for robbery.
(J)     Zimbabwe: (25000 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollars, rate at the moment) One cannot drop equivalent to 500US $ in Zimbabwe in local currency. Equivalent to 500 US $ means one 20 Ton truck load.

Friday, 10 February 2012

Paying Respect at Kargil War Memorial



Many of us have seen film ‘Lakshya’ starring Hritik Roshan, Preeti Zinta and AB. In the film, it is shown that some shepherds notice infiltrators from Pakistan and report the same to Indian army. In other scene, we see bodies of ‘5’ Indian soldiers who were tortured to death by Pakistanis. We all watch this thinking them to be just the fictional parts of the film, not knowing that these are the actual incidences which took place on May 03 and May 05 1999, respectively.  Our country is permanently indebted to those shepherds and the five brave soldiers.
Though it is very well known to all, I feel I have to state some details about the Kargil War. The war was fought between May 03 and July 26, 1999. Since then, July 26 is celebrated as Kargil Vijay Divas. The major offensive by Indian army started on 06 July, 1999. Indian Air Force lost one MIG21, One MIG27 and one M17 and total 8 crew members, during Operation Safed Sagar.  Total 30000 Indian troops were involved in Kargil war. The official casualty figures as 527 dead and 1,363 wounded.
Two years back, I and my wife were on our road trip, Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai. The trip was stretched over 35 days and 7000kms in our sweet little Tata Indica. We were on our Srinagar-Sonmarg-Kargil section. The completely unadulterated nature, lofty peaks, chill in the air, constant company of Indus River and everything else about the drive was divine. The complete loneliness, isolation and the thoughts of being so near to the line of control (LOC) was little scary. Naturally, we were discussing Kargil War and bravery of our soldiers. As we were approaching kargil, suddenly on the left hand side, emerged this beautiful ‘DRAS WAR MEMORIAL’.  

 (This wall has names of martyrs engraved on it)

 I got down asking the guard at the gate if we could go inside, while my wife parked the car, in tree shade. (One can see me wearing shorts, standing near the guard)
We were allowed inside. We were also given a guide to explain the details of the war and significance of the memorial. There, a wall is erected on which the names of all the martyrs are engraved. We were moved. We stood in front of the wall for a while, with our heads bowed down with respect and gratitude for those who gave away their lives so that people like us can enjoy our freedom.  Then, we were escorted to the room where “Shahid Kalash’ (Ashes of Martyrs) was kept.

(Shri.Ombir Singh, who was our guide, needs special mention. We could feel his intense feelings when he was narrating the entire war to us)

It was our most natural reaction to remove our foot wares and to pay our most heartfelt respect by touching our foreheads on ground in front of “Kalash”.  Our actions were noticed by the commanding officer who was standing in the next room. He called us to his cabin and offered us some snacks and a warm cup of tea. We were surprised to receive such hospitability, and wondered if they offer such treatment to everyone who visits the memorial.  Our doubts were soon cleared when he said,” Saab, many people come here. They move around, take photographs, joke and laugh, touch a few things here and there and leave. They treat this place as one of the sightseeing spot they have to visit and no more. This is the first time I am seeing somebody paying honest, heartfelt respect to my dead brothers.”

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Please Do Not Tell Anyone!!!


There was an old man who was very gentle and kind.
 
who had nothing but an elegant horse as his only companion.
 Then there was a rich, greedy baron, who desired to get that horse by any means.


In spite of all persuasion, force and hefty offers the old man refused to part with the horse. One day baron dressed himself as sick person and collapsed in front of old man's shack. Old man offered to help in whatever way he could. The baron said that he was very sick and was going to the doctor in next village who had remedy for the sickness.
As sick man was unable to walk, the old man offered that he could ride his beloved horse to go to the doctor. The baron promised to return the horse on the way back  and rode off.
Many days passed but the baron obviously did not return the horse.
The old man was heartbroken and had stopped helping other needy persons, as well.
After a few days, the crafty baron came to the old man's house, riding the very horse he had stolen from the old man.
The old man was shocked beyond imagination when baron told him that he stole the horse disguised as the sick person.
After recovering from the initial shock, he did not curse the baron but said " Sir, you can keep the horse, but please do not tell anyone that you stole the horse disguising as a sick person; because if many people hear this story, then they will stop helping those who might be really sick and needing help." 





Thursday, 2 February 2012

When The Sun Is Setting


Beautiful, is it not? Setting sun brings so many happy memories to our mind. We think of bright hues of the sky, the pleasant breeze, and the company of friends or of somebody very special and close to heart. We see the red cherry changing colors of waves or peaks of distant mountains. We thank God for all creation, this land, this light, this water, this sand. We thank God for all those beautiful things He has bestowed on us. We thank him for life. We thank him for our past, present and future. We also thank him for the dark night that is on close heels of the setting sun. We thank him even for the darkness of the night because we know for sure that there is going to be a bright sunny morning to follow. But everybody is not that lucky. There are some advanced age seniors who think that this might be their last sunset. Worse still, is the fact that there are some seniors who want this to be their last sunset. We all are going to witness such sunset sooner or later in our lives. We all are going to experience a hopeless sunset with no future. Our bodies will be old and our joints will be painful. Our minds will be blank and our eyes will have no sparkle. Is it scary? I think not. Why should it be scary if all of us have to go through that? We have to accept it and help those who are old and tired. No, no, please do not think that I am talking about doing something noble or charitable.  There is a simple rule that when we supposedly help others we are actually paving our way for accepting help with dignity and with a guilt free mind when we need help, assistance or support.
One section of my mind is always occupied by thoughts about Cancer Prevention, Symptoms and causes and by cancer patient care. Palliative care of cancer patient is a very specialized topic. I have my own opinions based on experience, about the same. I shall be blogging about these as well but this post is about our responsibilities towards our very old seniors.
There are many things we can do for our aged seniors. We can spend few minutes daily with them chatting about their good memories, about sports and films or even juicy gossips as if they are of our generation. Reading a book or watching a film together on your computer will make them very happy.  Remembering them on their birthdays, anniversaries and festivals make them wholeheartedly enjoy special days. Gifts are always special, but at their age, electronic gadgets, collectibles, and clothes are not much important to them. Tasty food from the joints they like or sugar free cakes and sweets if they are diabetic will be highly appreciated by them.  The list can be big and everyone can think of numerous ways to make their lives more pleasant.
It is important that we must not harm our seniors' self respect and dignity. We must bear in mind that nobody is pleased to be in a position of needing help. I remember an incident in a Mumbai local train compartment to which I was witness. It was a practically empty compartment on a Sunday morning. An old man was slowly moving between the aisles leaning heavily on his walking stick. Suddenly the train jerked rather violently, probably it was changing tracks. The jerk made the old man lose his grip on the walking stick and he fell down on the floor with his walking stick tossed away to some distance. Many of us rushed to help him but he sternly said, “Please don’t, I can manage”.  With some effort, he got up, picked up his walking stick and sat on an empty seat. One could clearly see that he was not sorry for falling but he was proud of being able to manage his own affairs. He was telling all of us “I CAN”.

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

30 Minutes at Jaugram

On my way from Patna to Kolkata our train halted at Jaugram station for about 30 minutes, due to some problems on the railway line ahead. Jaugram is a very insignificant station and hardly any trains other than passenger trains halt there.
The compartment conductor was very prompt in switching off the air-conditioner as he was not sure of the duration of the halt and the juice in backup batteries.

Since it was not possible to sit in the compartment, I walked around and I was so very pleased that I did so.
This is a picture of the control room of Jaugram station. Impressive! Isn't it? I was told by the controller that from the control room, he can control trains within 40 Kms on either side.


While waiting, I was lucky to visit a small workshop nearby where they were making Durga idols.



Then I saw the state of art 'Rest Room ' at station and laughed :)




But my laughter vanished when I reached Kolkata. Now I know why life is better in the villages.



Shape Matters

I was on a short visit to Alang, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Alang is the world's largest ship breaking center. My night halt was at Lion Lords Inn, Rajula. I had booked a room online after going through a very attractive website. The hotel was true to all the claims on the website but for the 'Swimming Pool'. I could not use the swimming pool because 'Shape Matters'!!!