Great lines by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam

• "When you speak,speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust... Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad..."

• "Conscience is a great ledger where our offences are booked and registered."

Eleven Minutes...

Taj Mahal : The Pride of India

Travellers from across the globe have ranked India's Taj Mahal among the top three landmarks in the world.

The top two places were taken by Machu Picchu in Peru and Angkor Wat in Cambodia respectively.

Some facts about our Taj Mahal:

Before his accession to the throne, Shah Jahan was popularly known as Prince Khurram.

Shah Jahan fell in love with the beautiful Arjumand Bano Begum and married her, making her his third wife.Arjumand Bano Begum was christened by Shah Jahan as Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the “Chosen One Of The Palace” or “Jewel of the Palace”.
Shah Jahan lost Mumtaz Mahal, when she died giving birth to their 14th child.
For the transportation of the construction materials, more than 1,000 elephants were employed.
As many as 28 different varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to adorn the Taj with exquisite inlay work.
Depending on what time of the day it is and whether or not there’s moon at night, Taj Mahal appears to be of different color every time. Some even believe that this changing pattern of colors depict different moods of a woman.
Passages from Quran have been used as decorative elements throughout the complex.
On the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, 99 names of Allah can be found as calligraphic inscriptions.
Taj Mahal was built in stages, with the plinth and the tomb taking up roughly 15 years. Building of minarets, mosque, jawab, and gateway took additional 5 years to be completed.
Different types of marbles used in construction of Taj Mahal were brought over from many different regions & countries: Rajasthan, Punjab, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Srilanka, & Arabia.
Many precious stones and Lapis Lazuli (a semi-precious stone) were ripped off from its walls by the Britishers during the Indian rebellion of 1857.Taj Mahal attracts 2-4 million visitors annually with over 200,000 from overseas.

Transferring large files to an external drive

 There were times when our files used to be in Kbs & MBs and pen drives had 512MB or 1-2GB of space. But now in the times of Full HD & BluRay videos and graphic intensive games all this has changed. Now 3D BluRay movies are in the range of 10-15GB.

Today we also have high capacity pen drives in the market even upto 1TB. Though you can store lots of data in these pen drives but you can't transfer a single large file (more than 4GB) in most of these even if you have lots of free space. You get a message 'There is not enough free space' or some other error message.
If you have experienced this, the most probable reason is that your external drive is formatted with FAT32 system. In this, size of each individual file cannot exceed 4 GB.

SOLUTION: It is quite simple. Just format your external disk to NTFS file system, and you are done!!! BUT before doing so don't forget to save the data from your drive as it will all get deleted during the formatting.
NTFS is a journaled file system and MAY decrease life expectancy of your device. So you MUST use "Safely Remove Hardware" to remove your device.

FOR MAC USERS:
Mac computers can read NTFS, but not write.
Mac users have to format the device to exFAT file system. exFAT is a new file system that allows files larger than 4GB to be stored.
Windows 7 is also compatible with exFAT. Older OS may need some upgradation to use exFAT.

Finally we have a proper Air Ambulance...

 India's first state-of-the art Air Ambulance, Flying Doctors India, has been launched in the national capital.

The new aircraft is tailor-made and equipped with a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit on a dedicated chartered aircraft. The goal is to provide critical care even when a patient is in transit.

"Earlier whenever we got a call, we would take a private aircraft, tape off the chairs and fit our equipment in. It was basically a 'jugaad' (temporary fix) of sorts. Now we have a dedicated air-ambulance ready for all emergency services," Dr Naresh Trehan of Medanta Medicity told NDTV.

With the air ambulance, flying doctors has taken a leap. The response time now is just 20 to a maximum of 90 minutes. Doctors say earlier it would take three hours just to prepare the aircraft.

Another timesaver is the aircraft's longer endurance level of upto seven-and-a-half hours unlike earlier when the aircraft would have to stop after 3 hours for refueling. 

"This could perhaps mean a matter of life or death for a patient," Dr Trehan says. 

However, Dr Trehan says hiring the aircraft it still not cheap. It can cost at least Rs. 50,000 per hour 

The aircraft can cater to patients even in smaller cities with the air ambulance having rough field capability which means it can land even on unprepared air strips.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-state-of-the-art-air-ambulance-376826

Back to the 90's....

Interesting thing about Thursday in
2013.
4/4/2013 Thursday
6/6/2013 Thursday
8/8/2013 Thursday
10/10/2013 Thursday
12/12/2013 Thursday.
Jo calendr 1991 ka tha,
............ wahi,,,
Calendar 2013 ka hai,
Date & Day...even Festivals
are same, Kaun kehta hai,
Ki, ................
Guzra hua waqt wapas nahi aata??.
...Enjoy the year of 1991 in 2013....!
So
We are back in the 90s....
GDP is back to 5%, Dalmiya is back
in BCCI, Murthy is back in Infosys,
Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan,
Madhuri is back in bollywood &
Sanjay Dutt is back in Jail

Enjoy D Coffee...!!!!

Group of ex students visited their University Professor. 
Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in life. 
Offering them coffee, Prof returned from kitchen with a pot of coffee in different cups: Porcelain, Glass, Crystal, some plain looking, some expensive. 
When all had a cup of coffee in hand.
# Professor said:
If U noticed all d expensive cups were taken up first, leaving d plain ones. It is normal for U to want only d Best. But that is also d source of Ur stress.
What U really wanted was Coffee, NOT Cup, But U all still went for d Best Cups & were eyeing each other's Cups!
If Life Is Coffee, then Jobs, Money & Status in Society are d Cups.
They are just tools to hold & contain life.
Don't let d Cups drive you.
Enjoy D Coffee.!!

World Environment Day 2013: THINK.EAT.SAVE

World Environment Day(WED) is celebrated each year on June 5 to spread global awareness among the inhabitants of earth regarding mother nature. Each year this day is celebrated with a theme and this year the theme is THINK.EAT.SAVE

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily due to hunger. 

This year's theme encouages reduction of food wastage, which in turn will help save money and minimise the environmental impact of food production. It encourages people to be more aware of the environmental impact of their food choices.

As a world citizen it is the responsibility of every citizen to help maintain the ecological balance.

Here are five things that you can do as a global citizen on World Environment Day:

1) Spread awareness: The major purpose of this year's theme is to start making changes from the household level. As an environment enthusiast, you can spread awareness on a small level by talking to children in your family, or at your office or in your locality. Inform everyone about this year's theme or spread awareness about the environment in general.

2) Build a small farm or garden: We know it's difficult to find space in a metropolitan city, but if you're blessed with one, make and maintain a small farm or garden. Grow fruits, vegetables. Learn about various seeds, plants and manure. Create a part of your garden where you grow edible plants and another where you can grow flowers.

This will help you interact with nature and will also give you an opportunity to do something new. For those who are not blessed with huge spaces, start with a sapling or potato in a bag or a small sprout garden in your windowsill.

3) Travel by public transport: Take public transportation on World Environment Day and vow to take it more often than you do. If you're already a public transport user, take a walk. Introduce the concept of public transport to your family or car-lover friends. Cycle. It's fun and a great way to exercise.

4)  Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Recycle: If you're not already into this habit, it's a good day of the year to start. These 5R's are magic mantras when it comes to environmental conservation and sustainable usage. The concept is already taught to students at school. The problem is that elders have forgotten about it. Take time on World Environment Day to learn about this concept. There are many things that you can do on a personal level, if you just keep these 5R's in your mind. 

5) Publicise: Did something nice to protect the environment? Talk about it! Show off. Share pictures and posts on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Let people know what you plan to do and do it this World Environment Day. You can use Facebook invites to invite your friends to participate. Use Twitter hashtags like #StayGreen or #WorldEnvDay to spread your message faster. 

You can also involve yourself with various conservation, restoration, or local eco-community projects in your area.

What else can we do? You can purposefully select foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the world and therefore limit emissions.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

Tum Mujhe Khoon Do Main Tumhe Azaadi Dunga...!!!!!

Beating Human Heart during a Surgery

Here Comes the Iron Man...!!!!! :-)

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." - Rabindranath Tagore. 

Some Latest Medical Research Findings

This would be a short article about few latest international research findings that you can use for betterment of your health.

• Hatha Yoga reduces blood pressure in mildly Hypertensive patients:

Hatha yoga introduced to individuals with mild to moderate hypertension appears to lower blood pressure, and while the reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure aren't earth-shattering, they might just be enough to avoid starting antihypertensive medications, say researchers.With a reduction of 4 to 5 mm Hg, you could really have an impact on cardiovascular-disease risk. So, you should obviously use yoga as an adjunct to other lifestyle modifications, such as weight loss.

P.S. : ANY YOGA OR EXERCISES SHOULD BE DONE AFTER PROPER GUIDANCE AND TRAINING

• Vitamin C kills Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Vitamin C kills drug-sensitive, multidrug-resistant (MDR), and extensively-drug resistant (XDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in culture as a result of prooxidant effects.

Apart from this Vitamin C has many anti-oxidant benefits, infection fighting and wound healing properties.

So, just having a diet rich in Vitamin C can give you so many health benefits. Rich sources include amla, citrus fruits (like orange, mosambi), kiwi, mango, papaya,  berries, watermelon, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, sweet potato. Best is when you eat them uncooked and raw or steamed.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

Fatafat Fat Facts...!!!!!!

Everybody wants to look slim. So, should you have a Fat Free diet? Absolutely NO. Your body needs fats as much as it needs other nutrients. But you need the good ones in right proportions.

• Fats provide you about 9 calories per gram. But they should not be totally removed from your diet.
• Some fats are absolutely essential. You can take about 3-4 tsp per day.
• Dietary fats provide essential fatty acids required for absorption of fat soluble vitamins like A,D,E and K.
• Fats help in insulation of body.
• Fats are a major component of hormones, and also required in the production of happiness hormone, endorphins.
• The ones that you have to avoid are transfats, found in deep-fried foods, margarine, doughnuts, potato chips, etc.
• You also have to avoid saturated fats found in meat, cheese, butter, cream and hydrogenated oils.
• Unsaturated fats are good fats and should be a part of your diet in balanced proportions. These are found in nuts, seeds, oils like olive & canola.
• High consumption of bad fats result in accumulation of bad cholesterol which increase the risk of heart diseases and other morbidity.
• Even in unsaturated fats the ones with higher quantities of MUFA(MonoUnsaturatedFattyAcids) are to be preferred.
• Foods made up mostly of unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature such as olive oil, safflower oil, peanut oil and corn oil.
• Olive oil is a good source of MUFA so it is good for your heart and even helps to lower blood pressure.
• Extra virgin Olive oil, which comes from the first cold press of the olives, is the best. It is also rich in antioxidants and polyphenols.

And whatever you eat you need to exercise regularly to maintain your fitness.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

World Malaria Day 2013

"Invest in the future. Defeat malaria."

Each year Malaria causes about 6,60,000 deaths, mostly in children under five years of age.

We can do a lot on our part to reduce burden of Malaria and many other mosquito-borne diseases:

• Most important is to eliminate their breeding places by simple steps like filling, levelling & drainage of stagnant water. Don't let waste water to stagnate in our surroundings.
• Mineral oils like kerosene when applied on water,it spreads to form a thin film & cuts air supply to mosquito larvae.
• Mosquito sprays: After spraying, doors and windows should be kept closed for at least half an hour.
• Mosquito nets: To protect against mosquito bites during sleep. There should not be even a single hole in it. Size of openings should not exceed 0.0475 inch diameter.
• Using mesh in doors and windows is very effective.
• Mosquito repellant creams should be applied on exposed parts especially when going to crowded and unhygienic places.

Most of you people reading this will find it useless as you are living in neat and clean high societies. But all of you must be having workers, maids, drivers or any kind of servants who daily face numerous mosquitoes. Do your part by making them aware. Some of them might take some of these precautions.

And don't forget even a single mosquito can transmit the disease from them to you too.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

Getting Fit the Healthier Way...

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is addictive. You just have to push yourself to the point where you start to see results. Later, your mind and body will automatically remind you.

Health has 3 components i.e. a healthy body, mind, and soul.

• Staying fit is essentially an important part of it. That doesn't mean just losing your weight and getting thinner.
• Regular exercising is very important. Cardio workout is a must. Do as per your general condition and capacity- running, jogging, skipping or just brisk walking at least for 20- 30 mins.
• As you progress include weight training to tone up your muscles.
• Try to use your core muscles(abdominals) while exercising. It burns calories as well as fat.
• Most essential part which most of us ignore is a proper Warm-up and Cool-down session before & after any exercise.
• Any of your exercises will not give you the desired results unless you follow a regular schedule BUT your muscles need rest too. Five days a week schedule is a good way to follow.
• Yoga, Pranayam and Meditation are very good relaxation techniques which will boost your health much more than you could ever imagine, if done properly.
• Just exercising won't do all. A good, healthy and balanced diet is a must. 
• Don't restrict yourself with some superfoods and all that crap . All foods have some unique benefits. Experiment with variety of fruits, vegetables and cereals. Your body needs a large variety of nutrients. Natural foods have right proportions of vitamins and minerals required for various body functions.
• Drink lots of water...it is the best natural tonic.

And remember you can give thousands of reasons for not exercising. I know we all are tooo busy to spare an hour for our fitness but that one hour a day will give you many many years of Healthier life ahead.

Just start with it and in a few weeks you will notice how you save much more of your time daily as your overall efficiency improves drastically.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

Some More Information About Hypertension

Hypertension or High B.P. as commonly said is mainly a disease of lifestyle.

As asked by one friend there are no specific symptoms and High BP is largely a symptomless condition. Patients with High BP may have headache but you can't rely on it. In extremely high BP, symptoms like severe headache, anxiety, chest pain, vision problems, nose bleeds can occur. 

As for diagnosis regular check-ups is the key.

 But there are many risk factors which need to be considered. They are:

• Family history/ Hereditary
• Advanced age
• Lack of physical activity
• Obesity- Maintain BMI between 20 to 25. (You can use a tool at the bottom to check BMI)
• High salt intake
• High saturated fat intake
• High alcohol consumption
• High stress levels (Stress may also result in overeating and alcohol consumption)
• Smoking - Both active and passive
• Disturbed sleep patterns

The good thing is that there is lot YOU can do to prevent or atleast delay the development of High BP:

• Again regular check-ups
• Prevention and treatment of obesity
• Appropriate and Regular aerobic exercises
• Diets low in salt and Saturated fats
• Including healthy components to your diet
• Limited alcohol consumption
• Stop smoking

Then there are few guidelines to be followed for those who have already been diagnosed with High BP:

• Weight loss (range of approximate systolic BP reduction [SBP], 5-20 mm Hg per 10 kg)
• Limit alcohol intake to no more than 1 oz (30 mL) of ethanol per day for men or 0.5 oz (15 mL) of ethanol per day for women and people of lighter weight (range of approximate SBP reduction, 2-4 mm Hg)
• Reduce sodium intake to no more than 100 mmol/day (2.4 g sodium or 6 g sodium chloride; range of approximate SBP reduction, 2-8 mm Hg)
• Maintain adequate intake of dietary potassium (approximately 90 mmol/day)
• Maintain adequate intake of dietary calcium and magnesium for general health
• Stop smoking and reduce intake of dietary saturated fat and cholesterol for overall cardiovascular health
• Engage in aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes daily for most days (range of approximate SBP reduction, 4-9 mm Hg)
• One more very important thing is to follow your Doctor's recommendations and take regular medications as prescribed. NEVER modify your medication doses as per your wish or on advice of some friend or relative. Its your life at stake not theirs.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

Aa Bhains Mujhe Maar...!!!!!!

Sometimes it gets boring without occasional humour....so enjoy this...!!!!!

Apni Suraksha Apne Haath...

1) What should a woman do if she finds herself alone in the company of a strange male as she prepares to enter a lift in a high-rise apartment late at night?
Experts Say: Enter the lift. If you need to reach the 13th floor, press all the buttons up to your destination. No one will dare attack you in a lift that stops on every floor.

2) What to do if a stranger tries to attack you when you are alone in your house, run into the kitchen.
Experts Say: You alone know where the chili powder and turmeric are kept. And where the knives and plates are. All these can be turned into deadly weapons. If nothing else, start throwing plates and utensils all over. Let them break. Scream. Remember that noise is the greatest enemy of a molester. He does not want to be caught.

3) Taking an Auto or Taxi at Night.
Experts Say: Before getting into an auto at night, note down its registration number. Then use the mobile to call your family or friend and pass on the details to them in the language the driver understands .Even if no one answers your call, pretend you are in a conversation. The driver now knows someone has his details and he will be in serious trouble if anything goes wrong. He is now bound to take you home safe and sound. A potential attacker is now your de facto protector!

4) What if the driver turns into a street he is not supposed to - and you feel you are entering a danger zone?
Experts Say: Use the handle of your purse or your stole (dupatta) to wrap around his neck and pull him back. Within seconds, he will feel choked and helpless. In case you don’t have a purse or stole just pull him back by his collar. The top button of his shirt would then do the same trick.

5) If you are stalked at night.
Expert Say: enter a shop or a house and explain your predicament. If it is night and shops are not open, go inside an ATM box. ATM centers always have security guards. They are also monitored by close circuit television. Fearing identification, no one will dare attack you.

6) Always carry a Pepper Spray with you. It is a very effective self defence product. It is not at all expensive and you can easily carry in your purse or pockets. And please don't misuse it.

After all, being mentally alert is the greatest weapon you can ever have.

Please spread it to all those women u care & spread awareness as dis is d least we can do for a social & moral cause and fr d safety of women.

Few words about Hypertension

* There is something called 'Iceberg Phenomenon'.

Most of u must have seen Titanic. In an Iceberg only some part is visible from above while majority of it lies submerged under water and it is the major problem. Same is true for diseases like Hypertension. The no. of cases apparent in the society is far less from the actual no. of patients who are still undiagnosed.

Though we are highly deficient in availability of medical services BUT your Ignorance is the major reason for it. Nobody visits the doctor unless there is a major symptom. Even after so much advertisements...so many free check-up camps people don't have time and money for their Health.

Routine health checks are never there in our To-Do lists.

To justify their fault people would say that 'Doctor to loot te hain' but what about paying twice or thrice the actual price for a cold drink or a snack in malls n other places?? And Doctor will give you atleast some health benefit while these things will infact do bad for your health if taken in excess.

It takes hardly anytime to get your B.P. checked and routine check-up and investigations. Less than what it takes for going to watch a movie. Atleast you can spare 3-4 days(MAX.) in a year for all your routine checks including General, Eye, ENT, Dental, Investigations- all of which are equally important. And this will be your best investment ever - better than those being advertised by your Financial Planners. It will save you money as well as discomfort in future times.

If you are diagnosed with Hypertension, routine follow-ups and regular medication is must.
Best thing is if diagnosed early in time most people can control it with proper Diet and Exercises alone.
And always remember "Prevention is Always Better Than Cure".

Thats all for now.

Stay Healthy Stay Happy

World Health Day 2013

Happy World Health Day 2013.....!!!!!

World Health Day is WHO's Birthday. It is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948.

This year theme is "CONTROL YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE"

BEGINNING OF MY BLOG

Let me first introduce myself...I am just a routine 'aam aadmi' like you all and a Doctor by profession. 

I have always noticed people having no idea or false knowledge about many basic things vital for our day-to-day life situations. We have things inscribed in our minds and resist to change even after knowing what is actually right. And that includes many educated, so-called modern people.
I am not the exception. I am one of the crowd. 

But there are few such things which I would like to share with you. These would be mostly related to health for obvious reasons. To make it little more interesting, there will be facts from all walks of life in-between.

I will not be giving any prescriptions here but general doubts and queries are always welcome.
I am not doing any research of my own so the information shared here would be from various sources. Many of the things I post here will be those that you already know BUT have always ignored. 

You can always share your information and provide suggestions too.
Happy Blogging.....!!!!!