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Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, August 20, 2010
Lakshmi-The Goddess Of Wealth And Wisdom
Lakshmi not only bestows wealth and all sorts of material prosperity, but also imparts divine wisdom to all Her devotees. She is "Vidya Shakti" and She is the one who introduces Her devotees to Her Lord for their salvation.
She is the power of "Lord Narayana" who is also known as Lord Vishnu or Lord Hari. Narayana is God's aspect of preservation. He is an embodiment of "Shuddha Sattwa". Lakshmi is His causal body. She is 'Maya', the illusory power of Nature. She deludes the whole world by Her veiling power and projects it through Her projecting power. She Herself as Vidya-Lakshmi enlightens the spiritual aspirant. Beauty, grace, a picturesque scenery or charming landscape, modesty, love, prosperity, music, the five elements and their combinations, the internal organs, mind, 'Prana', intellect - all these are Her manifestations.
Without Lakshmi even 'Sannyasins' cannot do propaganda or preaching work or run their institutions. They are in fact more in need of Lakshmi than the house - holders because they have to do great dynamic work for human weal. Sri Shankara worshipped Devi, Lakshmi and Saraswathi for success in his work. All great prophets and divine messengers who have done great spiritual work in the past were devotees of Mother Lakshmi, Devi and Saraswathi.
The Festivity
After a purificatory bath, the lady performing the puja should put on a clean, fresh cloth and make a mandala (place where the puja is performed) with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha (pot) filled with rice and topped with fresh mango leaves, a coconut and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein. Fresh grains are used in the worship as they convey the idea of growth and prosperity.
After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the 'Raksha' or the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the 'Raksha' is worshipped a second time and is then tied to the right hand of the lady who is performing the puja. Special varieties of sweets like 'Paayasam' and 'Laddu', fruits, milk etc are offered to the goddess.
She is worshipped with different varieties of flowers like Lotus, Jasmine, Marigold etc. Many devotees buy gold ornaments on this day and place it near the goddess and take her blessings. After the worship various auspicious articles are given as charity to some deserving ladies whose husband's are alive.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Vande Mataram
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The world learned the power of nonviolent protest as Gandhi lead the diverse peoples of India in a struggle for home rule.
The state of India formally gained independence on August 15, 1947 after centuries of British rule - and years of turmoil. Today, the date is marked with somber speeches, colorful parades, and celebrations....in far-flung communities from New Delhi to New York City.
Around the Web, join the celebrations and learn about the events leading up to the historic moment, and the words of inspiration that the heroes of the movement used to move their people closer to independence.
Explore both traditional and modern customs that surround the holiday in India, as well as in areas throughout the world where India's emigrees have made their homes.
You'll find Independence Day ecard greetings to send to family and friends, favorite recipes for sweets, special holiday dishes and kid-friendly resources to help commemorate this historic day ....
“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge... At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India
will awake to life and freedom.”
Friday, August 13, 2010
Sri Kudupu
Kudupu is in the state of Karnataka, India. It is in Dakshina Kannada or South Canara District. It falls within the city corporation of Mangalore, it is located just 12 km away from Mangalore city. It is en route to Moodabidri and Karkala By National Highway # 13. [1]
There are several languages spoken there, including Tulu, Konkani, Kannada, and Beary.
Kudupu is famous for Sri Ananta Padmanabha Temple. Nearest schools are Government Primary School Kudupu, St. Joseph The Worker Primary School Vamanjoor, St. Raymonds High School Vamanjoor, Mangala Jyothi, Dharma Jyothi. Other Educational institutes are St. Joseph Engineering College, Vamanjoor and Karavali College of Pharmacy.
Subrahmanya shashti, Kiru shashti and Nagara Panchami are the main festivals celebrated in kudupu.
[edit]Kudupu Sri Ananta Padmanabha Temple
This temple is situated in Kudupu village,Shri Ananthapadmanabha Temple is situated on the Mangalore-Moodabidri route in the Kudupu village, 10 km from Mangalore. It is dedicated to Lord Anantha(Shiva) Padmanabha(vishnu), another name by which Lord Vishnu is known. This temple is famous for serpent worship. Main deity Lord Anantha Padmanabha and the serpent deity face in the western direction. Naga Bana (place of serpent deity) is in the eastern portion of the temple. On the left side of the temple is the holy pond Bhadra Saraswati Tirtha. Jarandaya, Shree Devi, Mahaganapathi, Lord Subramanya, Jaya and Vijaya are the main sub deities.
Shashti is a famous annual religious festival that falls in December. Nagarapanchami, another festival is celebrated with great devotion, which attracts a large number of devotees from far and near.
Also Nagarapanchami, a worship of sacrificing the milk to Lord Naga is celebrated with great devotion.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Problem Solving: The Easy Way To Solve Problems In Life
Life is full of problems.
The more you solve them, the more new ones come up.
And you can sweep problems under the carpet or run away from them.
Wherever you go, sooner or later there will be problems for you to solve.
Since this is a fact of life, you may as well develop some skills on how to handle problems in life.
Here are some insights on how to deal with problems in life so that you may achieve success and happiness.
One of the best ways to handle problems is to have the right attitude towards them.
Sometimes problems may be blessings in disguise.
Problems may be a way that existence is trying to assist us to create opportunities for us to grow and become better human beings.
Problems can hide opportunities not only for personal growth but also to create wealth and success.
For every problem, there should be a solution.
Whenever you encounter any problem that has no solution, you may well understand that it is not a problem to begin with.
Problems are also the first step in a new invention.
Dr. Scholl's foot medications would not be around if people had not had problems with corns, calluses and other ailments.
We wouldn't have automobiles today if people had not had problems getting from place to place quickly.
Every single invention was created because people had problems with something, so problems can really be motivational!
Problems also help you to meet new friends. If you are recently divorced,
you may join a group and meet some wonderful friends that will bring you
into a better life than the life you were living previously.
If you have a problem getting back and forth to work, you may decide to join a carpool and save money while meeting others.
Problems also are always a learning experience. You don't actually realize
that fire burns until you get burned with it!
Unless a problem occurs, you do not learn why something happens the way it does. You cannot change your viewpoints and opinions unless you experience problems first hand.
Problems also cause you to become active in helping others. The organization
M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) would have never been born if the
founder didn't lose her daughter in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
That one death has literally changed all the drunk driving laws throughout
the United States and saved MILLIONS of lives!
Without problems, we couldn't solve a lot of future turmoils and save people
a lot of money in business.
Any company that introduces a new product will hire people to try it out before it is introduced to the market.
These people report the problems they find and the company refines it until it's right.
Without problems developing early in these tests, the company could never
improve and fine tune their product to perfection.
Problems and mistakes are also a blessing in disguise. For instance,
Post-It(R) Notes would never have been made possible unless the guy at
the factory didn't mess up mixing the glue recipe.
Sure, this is an isolated incident, but it shows just how important mistakes and problems can be.
However, most people have some perceived notion that making a mistake or
having a problem is "bad."
Instead of looking for ways to SOLVE the problem, they try to live with it, cover it up or condition themselves to accept it.
This is silly! There is no problem that can't be solved. There is a solution
to every single problem you can think of.
The solution may not always be what you want it to be but it's a solution just the same.
And covering it up is like putting a piece of foil over a piece of spoiled
meat and expecting it not to draw maggots.
You have to dispose of the entire thing before you are finally rid of the problem.
Attack the core of the problem! Dig until you uncover it! Face facts! Admit you have problems!
Stop trying to make people think you are problem-free. It's unnatural!
When you solve a problem that most people try to avoid or can't solve, you get recognition and their admiration.
You may become a hero or heroine.
So, next time you have a problem, look at it logically and with enthusiasm.
That may sound a little strange but most problems can be dealt with this way.
Love the fact that you have problems because they will give you something to work on and solve.
They also will give you a way to invent new ways of doing something, new ways that will save you time and make you happier with your life.
And when you solve problems, you not only gain experience in solving other problems as they occur, but you build respect for yourself.
Then you can have the admiration of all those people who encountered the same problems but didn't do anything to solve them.
You also will find that when you look at problems with a POSITIVE mind, you
will accomplish more, relieve stress and succeed.
May these insights about problem solving help you to succeed in life and be all you can be.
The more you solve them, the more new ones come up.
And you can sweep problems under the carpet or run away from them.
Wherever you go, sooner or later there will be problems for you to solve.
Since this is a fact of life, you may as well develop some skills on how to handle problems in life.
Here are some insights on how to deal with problems in life so that you may achieve success and happiness.
One of the best ways to handle problems is to have the right attitude towards them.
Sometimes problems may be blessings in disguise.
Problems may be a way that existence is trying to assist us to create opportunities for us to grow and become better human beings.
Problems can hide opportunities not only for personal growth but also to create wealth and success.
For every problem, there should be a solution.
Whenever you encounter any problem that has no solution, you may well understand that it is not a problem to begin with.
Problems are also the first step in a new invention.
Dr. Scholl's foot medications would not be around if people had not had problems with corns, calluses and other ailments.
We wouldn't have automobiles today if people had not had problems getting from place to place quickly.
Every single invention was created because people had problems with something, so problems can really be motivational!
Problems also help you to meet new friends. If you are recently divorced,
you may join a group and meet some wonderful friends that will bring you
into a better life than the life you were living previously.
If you have a problem getting back and forth to work, you may decide to join a carpool and save money while meeting others.
Problems also are always a learning experience. You don't actually realize
that fire burns until you get burned with it!
Unless a problem occurs, you do not learn why something happens the way it does. You cannot change your viewpoints and opinions unless you experience problems first hand.
Problems also cause you to become active in helping others. The organization
M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) would have never been born if the
founder didn't lose her daughter in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
That one death has literally changed all the drunk driving laws throughout
the United States and saved MILLIONS of lives!
Without problems, we couldn't solve a lot of future turmoils and save people
a lot of money in business.
Any company that introduces a new product will hire people to try it out before it is introduced to the market.
These people report the problems they find and the company refines it until it's right.
Without problems developing early in these tests, the company could never
improve and fine tune their product to perfection.
Problems and mistakes are also a blessing in disguise. For instance,
Post-It(R) Notes would never have been made possible unless the guy at
the factory didn't mess up mixing the glue recipe.
Sure, this is an isolated incident, but it shows just how important mistakes and problems can be.
However, most people have some perceived notion that making a mistake or
having a problem is "bad."
Instead of looking for ways to SOLVE the problem, they try to live with it, cover it up or condition themselves to accept it.
This is silly! There is no problem that can't be solved. There is a solution
to every single problem you can think of.
The solution may not always be what you want it to be but it's a solution just the same.
And covering it up is like putting a piece of foil over a piece of spoiled
meat and expecting it not to draw maggots.
You have to dispose of the entire thing before you are finally rid of the problem.
Attack the core of the problem! Dig until you uncover it! Face facts! Admit you have problems!
Stop trying to make people think you are problem-free. It's unnatural!
When you solve a problem that most people try to avoid or can't solve, you get recognition and their admiration.
You may become a hero or heroine.
So, next time you have a problem, look at it logically and with enthusiasm.
That may sound a little strange but most problems can be dealt with this way.
Love the fact that you have problems because they will give you something to work on and solve.
They also will give you a way to invent new ways of doing something, new ways that will save you time and make you happier with your life.
And when you solve problems, you not only gain experience in solving other problems as they occur, but you build respect for yourself.
Then you can have the admiration of all those people who encountered the same problems but didn't do anything to solve them.
You also will find that when you look at problems with a POSITIVE mind, you
will accomplish more, relieve stress and succeed.
May these insights about problem solving help you to succeed in life and be all you can be.
Friday, June 18, 2010
How to Take Protein the Right Way
Throughout my years of working out, I have noticed a lot of confusion on why you should take protein, and how you should take protein. Pay close attention. What I’m about to tell you is very important if you ever want to see any fitness gains.
First of all, let’s talk about why you need protein. This is a very simple question to answer. You need protein because that is what your muscles are made out of. So in order for them to grow, you must supply them with the appropriate amount of protein.
Now, for the second question: How should I take protein? There is an easy little calculation, that you must remember, that will tell you exactly how much to take per day. It’s a little different for men and women.
Women:
You need to take approximately: 1g of protein X your body weight = g of protein per day.
Next, divide that number by 6 meals, and that is how many grams of protein you should be eating per serving. By the way, you need to be eating 5 to 6 times per day.
Men:
You need to take approximately: 1.5g – 2g (depending on if your goal is for general fitness or bodybuilding) X your body weight = g of protein per day.
Divide that number by 6 meals, and that is how many grams of protein you should be eating per serving. You also need to be eating 5 to 6 meals per day.
Now, men and women, listen up. If you don’t eat enough protein every day, your body will actually suck protein out of your muscles to fuel other parts of the body. You have all heard of muscle atrophy. Well that’s what it is, in a nutshell.
Last, but not least, if you eat too much protein in a serving or per day, you end up just pissing it down the drain. What a waste of money! So don’t do it!Helping the world lose weight, and gain muscle One day at a time .
First of all, let’s talk about why you need protein. This is a very simple question to answer. You need protein because that is what your muscles are made out of. So in order for them to grow, you must supply them with the appropriate amount of protein.
Now, for the second question: How should I take protein? There is an easy little calculation, that you must remember, that will tell you exactly how much to take per day. It’s a little different for men and women.
Women:
You need to take approximately: 1g of protein X your body weight = g of protein per day.
Next, divide that number by 6 meals, and that is how many grams of protein you should be eating per serving. By the way, you need to be eating 5 to 6 times per day.
Men:
You need to take approximately: 1.5g – 2g (depending on if your goal is for general fitness or bodybuilding) X your body weight = g of protein per day.
Divide that number by 6 meals, and that is how many grams of protein you should be eating per serving. You also need to be eating 5 to 6 meals per day.
Now, men and women, listen up. If you don’t eat enough protein every day, your body will actually suck protein out of your muscles to fuel other parts of the body. You have all heard of muscle atrophy. Well that’s what it is, in a nutshell.
Last, but not least, if you eat too much protein in a serving or per day, you end up just pissing it down the drain. What a waste of money! So don’t do it!Helping the world lose weight, and gain muscle One day at a time .
Monday, May 3, 2010
What's the secret of India progress
Why India is progressing day by day.What's the secret behind India's strength.Do u know that india has the best IT market in asia.Do u know that indian mostly never not used imported cars and other things.Do u know that Indian govt prefer to die rather than to take foreign aid.Once Late Indra Gandhi said ,"It's true that i refused foreign aid .It was the country that said no.All of a sudden inscriptions approved on the walls.Signs appeared and that "no" exploded all over India ,in act of Pride .Then even the political parties.all of them even the deputies in parliament said no.It's better to die of hunger than be taken as a nation of beggar".Do u know who was Indra Gandhi ,if not see profileIndira Priyadarshini Gandhi: Nehru; (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was the Prime Ministerof the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, a total of fifteen years. She was India's first and, to date, only female Prime Minister. Despite the same last name, she is unrelated to the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi.Born in the politically influential Nehru Family, she grew up in an intensely political atmosphere. Her grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a prominent Indian nationalist leader. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a pivotal figure in the Indian independence movement and the first Prime Minister of Independent India. Returning to India from Oxford in 1941, she became involved in the Indian Independence movement. In the 1950s, she served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India. After her father's death in 1964, she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha by the President of India and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastris cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.The then Congress Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister after the sudden demise of Shastri. Gandhi soon showed an ability to win elections and outmaneuver opponents through populism. She introduced more left-wing economic policies and promoted agricultural productivity. A decisive victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan was followed by a period of instability that led her to impose a state of emergency in 1975; she paid for the authoritarian excesses of the period with three years in opposition. Returned to office in 1980, she became increasingly involved in an escalating conflict with separatists in Punjab that eventually led to her assassination by two of her bodyguards in 1984.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
What is love?
What is love? It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love. To some Love is friendship set on fire for others Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it. No matter how you define it or feel it, love is the eternal truth in the history of mankind.
Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life. Always stand steadfast in love, not fall into it. It is like the dream of your matter of affection coming true. Love can occur between two or more individuals. It bonds them and connects them in a unified link of trust, intimacy and interdependence. It enhances the relationship and comforts the soul. Love should be experienced and not just felt. The depth of love can not be measured. Look at the relationship between a mother and a child. The mother loves the child unconditionally and it can not be measured at all. A different dimension can be attained between any relationships with the magic of love. Love can be created. You just need to focus on the goodness of the other person. If this can be done easily, then you can also love easily. And remember we all have some positive aspect in us, no matter how bad our deeds maybe. And as God said �Love all�
Depending on context, love can be of different varieties. Romantic love is a deep, intense and unending. It shared on a very intimate and interpersonal and sexual relationship. The term Platonic love, familial love and religious love are also matter of great affection. It is more of desire, preference and feelings. The meaning of love will change with each different relationship and depends more on its concept of depth, versatility, and complexity. But at times the very existence of love is questioned. Some say it is false and meaningless. It says that it never exist, because there has been many instances of hatred and brutality in relationships. The history of our world has witnessed many such events. There has been hatred between brothers, parents and children, sibling rivalry and spouses have failed each other. Friends have betrayed each other; the son has killed his parents for the throne, the count is endless. Even the modern generation is also facing with such dilemmas everyday. But �love� is not responsible for that. It is us, the people, who have forgotten the meaning of love and have undertaken such gruesome apathy.
In the past the study of philosophy and religion has done many speculations on the phenomenon of love. But love has always ruled, in music, poetry, paintings, sculptor and literature. Psychology has also done lot of dissection to the essence of love, just like what biology, anthropology and neuroscience has also done to it.
Psychology portrays love as a cognitive phenomenon with a social cause. It is said to have three components in the book of psychology: Intimacy, Commitment, and Passion. Also, in an ancient proverb love is defined as a high form of tolerance. And this view has been accepted and advocated by both philosophers and scholars. Love also includes compatibility. But it is more of journey to the unknown when the concept of compatibility comes into picture. Maybe the person whom we see in front of us, may be least compatible than the person who is miles away. We might talk to each other and portray that we love each other, but practically we do not end up into any relationship. Also in compatibility, the key is to think about the long term successful relationship, not a short journey. We need to understand each other and must always remember that no body is perfect.
Be together, share your joy and sorrow, understand each other, provide space to each other, but always be there for each others need. And surely love will blossom to strengthen your relationship with your matter of affection.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Highest Elevation .... MOUNT EVEREST
World Famous Extremes
Mount Everest is so famous for being so high that you've probably heard of it before. It has been known the world over since the early 1950s when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay first climbed to its awesome summit. Hillary surveyed Everest at the time and determined that it was 29,000 ft/8840m high - a figure amazingly close to the current reading of 29,035 ft/8850m, which was confirmed using radar and global positioning satellite (GPS) technology.
Using state-of-the-art technology Professor Brad Washburn of the Boston Museum of Science, the world's foremost mountain cartographer, and his team have calculated that earth's highest elevation is actually 7 feet higher than the previous record. That makes the official height 29,035 ft/8850m. Thanks to some engineering whizzes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who developed really light, high-tech gear, the work of Washburn was made easier because he was able to hand carry a radar device to the top of Everest where it could be positioned to measure the actual height of the mountain - underneath all that snow. GPS technology was also deployed near the summit, which uses satellite signal relays to take readings from the top of Everest. After months of crunching numbers Washburn's team arrived at the new, official world-record elevation.
They've also determined that the Himalayan Mountains are still growing higher, at a rate of about 2.4 in/6.1cm per year. That's twice as fast as previously thought. A growth rate of 2.4 in/6.1cm per year doesn't sound like very much. If you think about it, that means in the last 26,000 years the Himalayans have risen almost a mile into the upper reaches of the earth's atmosphere!
When Hillary and Norgay climbed to the top of Everest they wore oxygen tanks. Because Everest is so high it juts into the upper reaches of the earth's atmosphere, where there are much lower concentrations of oxygen than at sea level. What that means to folks trekking up the side of Everest is that their bodies get less oxygen from each breath they breathe while climbing. But their brains and muscles require the same amount of oxygen to perform as they would at sea level. That makes it especially tough to climb Everest.
Try to imagine what it feels like to climb up a mountain with very little oxygen in your body - you get dizzy, your nose, fingers and feet get numb and tingly, your heart thunders in your chest trying furiously to keep up with the muscles' demand for oxygen. You feel sleepy, confused, downright stupid as your brain struggles to function on limited oxygen. Every step you take is extremely slow and plodding, requiring every ounce of will you have. Hillary and Norgay had extra oxygen to help them make the trip, but there have been a few people who have made the trip since who did it without the aid of oxygen - taking one step about every five minutes! Approximately 6,000 climbers have attempted the summit of Everest, but only 2,249 have made it. Over 200 people have died trying and of those, at least 120 bodies are still missing on the mountain.
Highest Mountains
Mount Everest is just one of over 30 peaks in the Himalayas that are over 24,000 ft/7315m high. Himalaya is a Sanskrit word meaning, "abode of snow", which is so true. The name of the mountain in Nepal is Sagarmatha, which means "goddess of the sky". The snowfields which dominate many of the peaks in the Himalayas are permanent. Yes, they never melt (not even in the summer). That means there are glaciers in the Himalayas - lots of them. Mount Everest is permanently covered in a layer of ice, topped with snow. The "top" of the mountain at which the elevation was measured can vary as much as twenty feet or more, depending on how much snow has fallen on its peak. Scientists believe that the actual tip of the rock lies tens of feet below the ice and snow on its summit. There are current plans to use ground penetrating radar to get a reading of the actual height of the mountain beneath all that snow. Although the Himalayan Range is only 1,550 miles/2480km long, the average height of all the major peaks in the Himalayas easily makes it the highest mountain range on land.
The Birth of a Mountain
Mountains aren't just big piles of dirt, they're made of solid rock. Believe it or not, the rocks that make up the Himalayan mountains used to be an ancient sea floor. Over millions of years, rivers washed rocks and soil from existing mountains on the Indian subcontinent and nearby Asia into a shallow sea where the sediment was deposited on the floor. Layer upon layer of sediment built up over millions of years until the pressure and weight of the overlying sediment caused the stuff way down deep to turn into rock. Then about 40 million years ago, in a process called "uplifting", the sea floor began to be forced upward forming mountains.
Plate Tectonics in Action
What caused the sea floor to be pushed up toward the sky was the result of the action of plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics was developed about thirty years ago by scientists who discovered that the earth's crust is made up of many "plates" which are constantly moving around. They are still moving around, even today, but the speeds at which they move are REALLY SLOW. In human terms the movement can't even be seen, but it can be felt occasionally when we have earthquakes. Earthquakes happen when plate margins (edges) move past, or bump into each other. In the case of the Himalayan mountains, the continent of India is part of a plate that "crashed" into southwest Asia, but it didn't stop when it hit. It continued to push northward, crushing and rumpling the earth's crust, resulting in the mountains we see today. If you look at a map of the Himalayas, you can see that the mountains look kind of like a rumpled blanket. India is still pushing northward today, raising the Himalayas even higher!
How Do They Know?
Scientists know this because they've been measuring the increasing height of the mountains. There have also been a lot of earthquakes recorded down deep in the mountains, which indicates continuing movement. The Himalayas are growing, but only about 2 inches a year. That's not very much in human terms, but imagine how much that would be over millions of years! You may be thinking, "That would have been kinda cool to be here on earth 40 million years ago to be able to watch the Himalayas forming". You would have been really bored, though. The movement that took many millions of years to form the mountain range is still taking place today, and I doubt you would stake out a camp at the foot of the mountains just to watch them grow. You'd be waiting a LONG TIME.
Greatest River.... THE AMAZON
How Great is the Amazon River?
The Amazon is the greatest river in the world by so many measures; the volume of water it carries to the sea (approximately 20% of all the freshwater discharge into the oceans), the area of land that drains into it, and its length and width. It is one of the longest rivers in the world and, depending upon who you talk to, is anywhere between 6,259km/3,903mi and 6,712km/4,195mi long.
For the last century the length of the Amazon and the Nile Rivers have been in a tight battle for title of world's longest river. The exact length of the two rivers varies over time and reputable sources disagree as to their actual length. The Nile River in Africa is reported to be anywhere from at 5,499km/3,437mi to 6,690km/4,180mi long. But there is no question as to which of the two great rivers carries the greater volume of water - the Amazon River.
At its widest point the Amazon River can be 11km/6.8 mi wide during the dry season. The area covered by the Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season 110,000 square km of land are water-covered, while in the wet season the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square km. When the flood plains and the Amazon River Basin flood during the rainy season the Amazon River can be up to 40km/24.8 mi wide. Where the Amazon opens at its estuary the river is over 325km/202 mi wide!
Because the Amazon drains the entire Northern half of the South American continent (approx. 40% landmass), including all the torrential tropical rains that deluge the rainforests, it carries an enormous amount of water. The mouth of the Amazon River, where it meets the sea, is so wide and deep that ocean-going ships have navigated its waters and traveled as far inland as two-thirds the way up the entire length of the river.
The Amazon - Home of Extremes
The Amazon River is not only the greatest in the world, it is home to many other "Extremes" of the natural world. Have you ever seen a catfish? They're usually found in warm, slow moving waters of lakes and streams, and some people keep them as pets in aquariums. Catfish are pretty creepy looking fish with big flat heads and "whiskers" on either side of their heads (hence the name, catfish). Most catfish that we're familiar with here in the U.S. are anywhere from eight inches long to about five feet, weighing in at up to 60 pounds. But the catfish that live in the world's greatest river have all the room in the world to grow as big as nature will allow - they have been captured weighing over 200 pounds! One of the largest freshwater fish in the world is found living in the waters of the Amazon River. Arapaima, also known locally as Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas are the largest, exclusively fresh water fish in the world. They have been found to reach a length of 15 ft/4m and can weigh up to 440lbs/200kg. (Read about the biggest freshwater fish in the world.)
The Amazon is also home to some other extreme creatures, featured here in "Extreme Science"; the Anaconda (biggest snake), and Piranha (most ferocious). Check it out!
Amazon River Facts
So, how did the Amazon get to be so big? The first reason has to do with its location - right at the equator. Around the "belt line" of the earth lies a warm, tropical zone where over 400 in/1016cm of rain fall every year. That averages out to more than an inch (3cm) of rain, everyday! A lot of water falls onto the land surrounding the river, what is called the "Amazon River drainage basin". A good way to understand what a drainage basin is to think of the whole northern half of the continent of South America as a shallow dish, or saucer. Whenever rain falls and lands anywhere in the river basin it all runs into the lowest place in the pan, which happens to be the Amazon River. The sheer volume of rain in the Amazon jungle, as well as the slope of the surrounding land, combine to create the enormous river known as the Amazon
The Amazon is the greatest river in the world by so many measures; the volume of water it carries to the sea (approximately 20% of all the freshwater discharge into the oceans), the area of land that drains into it, and its length and width. It is one of the longest rivers in the world and, depending upon who you talk to, is anywhere between 6,259km/3,903mi and 6,712km/4,195mi long.
For the last century the length of the Amazon and the Nile Rivers have been in a tight battle for title of world's longest river. The exact length of the two rivers varies over time and reputable sources disagree as to their actual length. The Nile River in Africa is reported to be anywhere from at 5,499km/3,437mi to 6,690km/4,180mi long. But there is no question as to which of the two great rivers carries the greater volume of water - the Amazon River.
At its widest point the Amazon River can be 11km/6.8 mi wide during the dry season. The area covered by the Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season 110,000 square km of land are water-covered, while in the wet season the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square km. When the flood plains and the Amazon River Basin flood during the rainy season the Amazon River can be up to 40km/24.8 mi wide. Where the Amazon opens at its estuary the river is over 325km/202 mi wide!
Because the Amazon drains the entire Northern half of the South American continent (approx. 40% landmass), including all the torrential tropical rains that deluge the rainforests, it carries an enormous amount of water. The mouth of the Amazon River, where it meets the sea, is so wide and deep that ocean-going ships have navigated its waters and traveled as far inland as two-thirds the way up the entire length of the river.
The Amazon - Home of Extremes
The Amazon River is not only the greatest in the world, it is home to many other "Extremes" of the natural world. Have you ever seen a catfish? They're usually found in warm, slow moving waters of lakes and streams, and some people keep them as pets in aquariums. Catfish are pretty creepy looking fish with big flat heads and "whiskers" on either side of their heads (hence the name, catfish). Most catfish that we're familiar with here in the U.S. are anywhere from eight inches long to about five feet, weighing in at up to 60 pounds. But the catfish that live in the world's greatest river have all the room in the world to grow as big as nature will allow - they have been captured weighing over 200 pounds! One of the largest freshwater fish in the world is found living in the waters of the Amazon River. Arapaima, also known locally as Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas are the largest, exclusively fresh water fish in the world. They have been found to reach a length of 15 ft/4m and can weigh up to 440lbs/200kg. (Read about the biggest freshwater fish in the world.)
The Amazon is also home to some other extreme creatures, featured here in "Extreme Science"; the Anaconda (biggest snake), and Piranha (most ferocious). Check it out!
Amazon River Facts
So, how did the Amazon get to be so big? The first reason has to do with its location - right at the equator. Around the "belt line" of the earth lies a warm, tropical zone where over 400 in/1016cm of rain fall every year. That averages out to more than an inch (3cm) of rain, everyday! A lot of water falls onto the land surrounding the river, what is called the "Amazon River drainage basin". A good way to understand what a drainage basin is to think of the whole northern half of the continent of South America as a shallow dish, or saucer. Whenever rain falls and lands anywhere in the river basin it all runs into the lowest place in the pan, which happens to be the Amazon River. The sheer volume of rain in the Amazon jungle, as well as the slope of the surrounding land, combine to create the enormous river known as the Amazon
How Old Is the Earth?
In the very beginning of earth's history, this planet was a giant, red hot, roiling, boiling sea of molten rock - a magma ocean. The heat had been generated by the repeated high speed collisions of much smaller bodies of space rocks that continually clumped together as they collided to form this planet. As the collisions tapered off the earth began to cool, forming a thin crust on its surface. As the cooling continued, water vapor began to escape and condense in the earth's early atmosphere. Clouds formed and storms raged, raining more and more water down on the primitive earth, cooling the surface further until it was flooded with water, forming the seas.
It is theorized that the true age of the earth is about 4.6 billion years old, formed at about the same time as the rest of our solar system. The oldest rocks geologists have been able to find are 3.9 billion years old. Using radiometric dating methods to determine the age of rocks means scientists have to rely on when the rock was initially formed (as in - when its internal minerals first cooled). In the infancy of our home planet the entire earth was molten (melted) rock - a magma ocean.
Since we can only measure as far back in time as we had solid rock on this planet, we are limited in how we can measure the real age of the earth. Due to the forces of plate tectonics, our planet is also a very dynamic one; new mountains forming, old ones wearing down, volcanoes melting and reshaping new crust. The continual changing and reshaping of the earth's surface that involves the melting down and reconstructing of old rock has pretty much eliminated most of the original rocks that came with earth when it was newly formed. So the age is a theoretical age.
When Did Life on Earth Begin?
Scientists are still trying to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of earth: When did "life" first appear and how did it happen? It is estimated that the first life forms on earth were primitive, one-celled creatures that appeared about 3 billion years ago. That's pretty much all there was for about the next two billion years. Then suddenly those single celled organisms began to evolve into multicellular organisms. Then an unprecedented profusion of life in incredibly complex forms began to fill the oceans. Some crawled from the seas and took residence on land, perhaps to escape predators in the ocean. A cascading chain of new and increasingly differentiated forms of life appeared all over the planet, only to be virtually annihilated by an unexplained mass extinction. It would be the first of several mass extinctions in Earth's history.
Where do Gemstones come from?
Scientists have been looking increasingly to space to explain these mass extinctions that have been happening almost like clockwork since the beginning of "living" time. Perhaps we've been getting periodically belted by more space rocks (ie. asteroids), or the collision of neutron stars happening too close for comfort? Each time a mass extinction occurred, life found a way to come back from the brink. Life has tenaciously clung to this small blue planet for the last three billion years. Scientists are finding new cues as to how life first began on earth in some really interesting places - the deep ocean.
Checking the Fossil Record
Scientists have studied rocks using radiometric dating methods to determine the age of earth. Another really cool thing they've found in rocks that tells us more about the story of earth's past are the remains of living creatures that have been embedded in the rocks for all time. We call these fossils. It has been the careful study of earth's fossil record that has revealed the exciting picture about the kinds of creatures that once roamed this planet. Fossilized skeletons of enormous creatures with huge claws and teeth, ancient ancestors of modern day species (such as sharks) that have remained virtually unchanged for millions of years, and prehistoric jungles lush with plant life, all point to a profusion of life and a variety of species that continues to populate the earth, even in the face of periodic mass extinctions.
By studying the fossil record scientists have determined that the earth has experienced very different climates in the past. In fact, general climactic conditions, as well as existing species, are used to define distinct geologic time periods in earth's history. For example, periodic warming of the earth - during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods - created a profusion of plant and animal life that left behind generous organic materials from their decay. These layers of organic material built up over millions of years undisturbed. They were eventually covered by younger, overlying sediment and compressed, giving us fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas.
Alternately, the earth's climate has also experienced periods of extremely cold weather for such prolonged periods that much of the surface was covered in thick sheets of ice. These periods of geologic time are called ice ages and the earth has had several in its history. Entire species of warmer-climate species died out during these time periods, giving rise to entirely new species of living things which could tolerate and survive in the extremely cold climate. Believe it or not, humans were around during the last ice age - the Holocene (about 11,500 years ago) - and we managed to survive. Creatures like the Woolly Mammoth - a distant relative of modern-day elephants - did not.
Read about a really exciting recent find of a perfectly-preserved, frozen Woolly Mammoth! This was a particularly exciting find because it wasn't a fossil that scientists found, but actual tissue, which still has its DNA record intact.
Also, read more about the Ice Man - another frozen tissue sample of a human being who was frozen into the high mountains of France. He was just recently discovered as thousands of years of ice pack have finally melted from around his body.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Mental Treatment and Therapy Guide
Warning Signals
Many people are not sure how to judge when professional help for mental problems may be needed. There are some behaviors that may be signs of trouble:
1. Is the person acting differently than usual? Could this change be linked to something that has happened recently? Any event, such as the death of a close relative, loss of a job, marital break-up, or even something positive – like a job promotion – can trigger a troublesome emotional reaction.
2. Does the person complain of episodes of extreme, almost uncontrollable, anxiety or "nervousness"? One sign of an emotional problem is "free floating" anxiety that is unrelated to a normal concern, such as a child's illness or a backlog of bills.
3. Does the person become aggressive, rude, and abusive over minor incidents or talk about groups or individuals "out to get me"? If such remarks are made in all seriousness, and if violent behavior occurs, it is likely that help is needed and should be sought.
Any of these symptoms, if they persist or become severe, may suggest a need for professional help. Fortunately, early identification and treatment of the problems causing this behavior often can make these symptoms disappear.
What to Do in Emergency Situations
If a person becomes violent, gets completely out of control, or tries to commit suicide, there are several things you can do:
1. In a dangerous or violent crisis, call the police. Often the police are the best equipped, most available resource, especially when violence has occurred or when there is a strong possibility that the person may do physical injury to self or others. Once the emergency situation has been brought under control, if the troubled individual is already in treatment, call his or her therapist.
2. In a nonviolent crisis, contacting other resources may be the best choice. For example, if an individual hasn't eaten for a substantial period of time and has become weak and dehydrated, call his or her physician or therapist. If the person doesn't have one, get him or her to a hospital emergency room where there are doctors on duty – even if you have to call an ambulance to get there. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Ambulance," or call the fire department or rescue squad. Look under the list of emergency numbers in the front of your phone book or call the operator if you can't find a number in a hurry.
Emergency room doctors will treat injuries resulting from violence, a suicide attempt, or a drug or alcohol overdose. They may also be able to provide temporary help for an emotional problem, even if they are not mental health specialists. In addition, they will be able to tell you where and how to get further help.
If the person in crisis is a member of a church, synagogue, or temple, you may choose to call the minister, priest, or rabbi. Many members of the clergy are trained to deal with emergencies, or they can refer you to other sources of help.
You may choose to call a mental health or crisis hotline, drug hotline, suicide prevention center, "free clinic," or Alcoholics Anonymous chapter, if your area has such services. Their telephones are often staffed around the clock. Look for a number in the list of emergency or community service numbers in the front of your phone book, or you can find a listing in the white-pages section of the Yellow Pages under "Suicide," "Mental Health" or "Alcoholics Anonymous," or ask the operator for help.
Another option would be to call the nearest mental health center. If it is not listed that way in the phone book, look under "Hospital," "Mental Health," or "Physicians" in the Yellow Pages. Mental health centers generally provide a wide range of services. Included in these are:
1. 24-hour emergency service – day or night service available at hospitals or other mental health clinics.
2. Outpatient care – a person goes into the center's clinic for treatment that has been set up on a regular appointment basis.
3. Inpatient service – a person stays at the hospital where care is provided.
4. Partial hospitalization – a person might spend occasional days, nights, or weekends at the center, living at home and going to work as much as possible.
5. Consultation, education, and prevention services – assist schools, community organizations, institutions, and businesses in dealing with mentally ill persons and in developing programs that help in the understanding and prevention of emotional disorders.
Treatment Methods
The goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms of emotional disorders; improve personal and social functioning; develop and strengthen coping skills; and promote behaviors that make a person's life better. Biomedical therapy, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy are basic approaches to treatment that may help a person overcome problems. There are many specific types of therapies that may be used alone or in various combinations.
Biomedical Therapies
Treatment with medications has benefited many patients with emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders and is often combined with other therapy. The medication that a psychiatrist or other physician prescribes depends on the nature of the illness being treated as well as on an assessment of the patient's general medical condition. During the past 35 years, many psychotherapeutic medications have been developed and have made dramatic changes in the treatment of mental disorders. Today there are specific medications to alleviate the symptoms of such mental disorders as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Electroconvulsive Treatment
(ECT) is another biomedical treatment that can help some patients. It is generally reserved for patients with severe mental illnesses who are unresponsive to or unable to tolerate medications or other treatments. While ECT is most commonly indicated in the treatment of major depression, often with psychosis (delusions or hallucinations), it is also used in selected cases of schizophrenia. Severe reduction in food and fluid intake with little physical movement (catatonia), or overwhelming suicidal ideation, where urgency of response is important, are reasons for considering ECT as treatment of choice. Modern methods of administering ECT employ low "doses" of electric shock to the brain along with general anesthesia and muscle relaxants to minimize the risk and unpleasantness to patients.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is accomplished through a series of face-to-face discussions in which a therapist helps a person to talk about, define, and resolve personal problems that are troubling. Psychotherapies generally appear to be more effective and appropriate than medications or ECT for less severe forms of emotional distress.
Short-term psychotherapy, lasting for several weeks or months, is used when the problem seems to result from a stressful life event such as a death in the family, divorce, or physical illness. The goal of the therapist is to help the patient resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Often this takes only a few visits. Long-term psychotherapy, lasting from several months to several years, emphasizes the study of underlying problems that started in childhood.
The following is a list of a few types of psychotherapy:
Psychodynamic psychotherapy, which may be either long- or short-term, examines important relationships and experiences from early childhood to the present in an effort to analyze and change unsettling or destructive behaviors and to resolve emotional problems. One form of psychodynamic psychotherapy is psychoanalysis, a long-term, intensive therapy that emphasizes how the patient's unconscious motivations and early patterns of resolving issues are important influences in his or her present actions and feelings.
Interpersonal therapy focuses on the patient's current life and relationships within the family, social, and work environments.
Family therapy involves discussions and problem-solving sessions with every member of a family – sometimes with the entire group, sometimes with individuals.
Couple therapy aims to develop a more rewarding relationship and minimize problems through understanding how individual conflicts get expressed in the couple's interactions.
Group therapy involves a small group of people with similar problems who, with the guidance of a therapist, discuss individual issues and help each other with problems.
Play therapy is a technique used for establishing communication and resolving problems with young children.
Cognitive therapy aims to identify and correct distorted thinking patterns that can lead to troublesome feelings and behaviors. Cognitive therapy is often combined effectively with behavioral therapy.
Behavioral therapy uses learning principles to change troublesome thinking patterns and behaviors systematically. The individual can learn specific skills to obtain rewards and satisfaction. Such an approach may involve the cooperation of important persons in the individual's life to give praise and attention to desirable changes. Behavioral therapy includes an array of methods such as stress management, biofeedback, and relaxation training.
Other Treatments
Some treatments, called "adjunctive," are used in combination with other therapies, and sometimes they are used alone. They include occupational, recreational, or creative therapies, as well as some that focus on special education. A mental health professional can help a client find the kind of therapy, or combination of therapies, that is best suited to his or her situation.
Rehabilitation Services – Community Support Programs
Many individuals with severe mental illness find it difficult to work, learn, socialize, and live independently outside a controlled setting. To help in these matters, community support programs offer rehabilitation services, either through freestanding programs that are similar to clubs, or through mental health centers. These agencies offer a variety of activities to assist clients in learning skills that will help them to live and work independently and productively in the community. For information on community support programs, contact your local or state mental health agency.
The Helping Professionals
Helping professionals work in a variety of settings, such as mental health centers, outpatient clinics, private and group practice, general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and prisons. They also work in residential treatment centers, partial care organizations, family or social service agencies, and the psychiatric departments of university medical centers or teaching hospitals.
Who They Are – What They Do
Psychiatrists
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental disorders, is licensed to practice medicine, and has completed a year of internship and three years of specialty training. A board-certified psychiatrist has, in addition, practiced for at least two years and passed the written and oral examinations of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Psychiatrists can evaluate and diagnose all types of mental disorders, carry out biomedical treatments and psychotherapy, and work with psychological problems associated with medical disorders. Of the mental health professionals, only psychiatrists can prescribe medications. Child psychiatrists specialize in working with children; geriatric psychiatrists concentrate on helping the aged.
Psychologists
Psychologists who conduct psychotherapy and work with individuals, groups, or families to resolve problems generally are called clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, or school psychologists. They work in many settings – for example, mental health centers, hospitals and clinics, schools, employee assistance programs, and private practice. In most states, a licensed clinical psychologist has completed a doctoral degree from a university program with specialized training and experience requirements and has successfully completed a professional licensure examination.
The field of psychology also includes those who specialize in such areas as testing, community organization, industrial relations, and laboratory research.
Psychiatric Nurses
Psychiatric nursing is a specialized area of professional nursing practice that is concerned with prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental-health-related problems. These nurses are registered professional nurses who have advanced academic degrees at the master's degree level or above. They conduct individual, family and group therapy and also work in mental health consultation, education and administration.
Social Workers
Psychiatric (or clinical) social workers have master's or doctor's degrees in social work, have completed a field supervision program, and are licensed/certified. In addition to individual, family, and group counseling and psychotherapy, they are trained in client-centered advocacy. This includes information, referral, direct intervention with governmental and civic agencies, and expansion of community resources.
Mental Health Counselors
A clinical mental health counselor provides professional counseling services that involve psychotherapy, human development, learning theory, and group dynamics to help individuals, couples, and families. The promotion and enhancement of healthy, satisfying lifestyles are the goals of mental health counselors, whether the services are rendered in a mental health center, business, private practice, or other community agency. Clinical mental health counselors have earned at least a master's degree, had supervised experience, and passed a national examination before they can be certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. (NBCC).
Case Managers and Outreach Workers
These individuals assist persons with severe mental illness, including some who may be homeless, to obtain the services they need to live in the community. Most persons with severe mental illness need medical care, social services, and assistance from a variety of agencies, including those dealing with housing, Social Security, vocational rehabilitation, and mental health. Because such services are uncoordinated in many areas, case managers provide a critical function to monitor a person's needs and assure that appropriate agencies get involved. In many instances they also act as advocates for the client. Case managers can be nurses, social workers, or mental health workers and can be associated with mental health centers, psychosocial rehabilitation programs, or other agencies. Case management and outreach services are frequently provided by teams that may include people who are recovering from a mental illness who function as peer counselors, case management aides, or outreach workers.
Mental Health Research and Services
The core mission of the National Institute of Mental Health is to understand, treat and prevent mental illness. Research into the kinds of mental health services that will support this mission plays an important role. The Center for Mental Health Services provides national leadership in mental health care delivery and policy development to facilitate accessible, comprehensive and quality mental health and support services. The institute and the center, in cooperation with consumer and family groups, professional organizations and other federal and state agencies, work to advance the application of scientific findings and practice-based knowledge to improve the range of effective prevention and treatment services.
Many people are not sure how to judge when professional help for mental problems may be needed. There are some behaviors that may be signs of trouble:
1. Is the person acting differently than usual? Could this change be linked to something that has happened recently? Any event, such as the death of a close relative, loss of a job, marital break-up, or even something positive – like a job promotion – can trigger a troublesome emotional reaction.
2. Does the person complain of episodes of extreme, almost uncontrollable, anxiety or "nervousness"? One sign of an emotional problem is "free floating" anxiety that is unrelated to a normal concern, such as a child's illness or a backlog of bills.
3. Does the person become aggressive, rude, and abusive over minor incidents or talk about groups or individuals "out to get me"? If such remarks are made in all seriousness, and if violent behavior occurs, it is likely that help is needed and should be sought.
Any of these symptoms, if they persist or become severe, may suggest a need for professional help. Fortunately, early identification and treatment of the problems causing this behavior often can make these symptoms disappear.
What to Do in Emergency Situations
If a person becomes violent, gets completely out of control, or tries to commit suicide, there are several things you can do:
1. In a dangerous or violent crisis, call the police. Often the police are the best equipped, most available resource, especially when violence has occurred or when there is a strong possibility that the person may do physical injury to self or others. Once the emergency situation has been brought under control, if the troubled individual is already in treatment, call his or her therapist.
2. In a nonviolent crisis, contacting other resources may be the best choice. For example, if an individual hasn't eaten for a substantial period of time and has become weak and dehydrated, call his or her physician or therapist. If the person doesn't have one, get him or her to a hospital emergency room where there are doctors on duty – even if you have to call an ambulance to get there. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Ambulance," or call the fire department or rescue squad. Look under the list of emergency numbers in the front of your phone book or call the operator if you can't find a number in a hurry.
Emergency room doctors will treat injuries resulting from violence, a suicide attempt, or a drug or alcohol overdose. They may also be able to provide temporary help for an emotional problem, even if they are not mental health specialists. In addition, they will be able to tell you where and how to get further help.
If the person in crisis is a member of a church, synagogue, or temple, you may choose to call the minister, priest, or rabbi. Many members of the clergy are trained to deal with emergencies, or they can refer you to other sources of help.
You may choose to call a mental health or crisis hotline, drug hotline, suicide prevention center, "free clinic," or Alcoholics Anonymous chapter, if your area has such services. Their telephones are often staffed around the clock. Look for a number in the list of emergency or community service numbers in the front of your phone book, or you can find a listing in the white-pages section of the Yellow Pages under "Suicide," "Mental Health" or "Alcoholics Anonymous," or ask the operator for help.
Another option would be to call the nearest mental health center. If it is not listed that way in the phone book, look under "Hospital," "Mental Health," or "Physicians" in the Yellow Pages. Mental health centers generally provide a wide range of services. Included in these are:
1. 24-hour emergency service – day or night service available at hospitals or other mental health clinics.
2. Outpatient care – a person goes into the center's clinic for treatment that has been set up on a regular appointment basis.
3. Inpatient service – a person stays at the hospital where care is provided.
4. Partial hospitalization – a person might spend occasional days, nights, or weekends at the center, living at home and going to work as much as possible.
5. Consultation, education, and prevention services – assist schools, community organizations, institutions, and businesses in dealing with mentally ill persons and in developing programs that help in the understanding and prevention of emotional disorders.
Treatment Methods
The goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms of emotional disorders; improve personal and social functioning; develop and strengthen coping skills; and promote behaviors that make a person's life better. Biomedical therapy, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy are basic approaches to treatment that may help a person overcome problems. There are many specific types of therapies that may be used alone or in various combinations.
Biomedical Therapies
Treatment with medications has benefited many patients with emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders and is often combined with other therapy. The medication that a psychiatrist or other physician prescribes depends on the nature of the illness being treated as well as on an assessment of the patient's general medical condition. During the past 35 years, many psychotherapeutic medications have been developed and have made dramatic changes in the treatment of mental disorders. Today there are specific medications to alleviate the symptoms of such mental disorders as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Electroconvulsive Treatment
(ECT) is another biomedical treatment that can help some patients. It is generally reserved for patients with severe mental illnesses who are unresponsive to or unable to tolerate medications or other treatments. While ECT is most commonly indicated in the treatment of major depression, often with psychosis (delusions or hallucinations), it is also used in selected cases of schizophrenia. Severe reduction in food and fluid intake with little physical movement (catatonia), or overwhelming suicidal ideation, where urgency of response is important, are reasons for considering ECT as treatment of choice. Modern methods of administering ECT employ low "doses" of electric shock to the brain along with general anesthesia and muscle relaxants to minimize the risk and unpleasantness to patients.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is accomplished through a series of face-to-face discussions in which a therapist helps a person to talk about, define, and resolve personal problems that are troubling. Psychotherapies generally appear to be more effective and appropriate than medications or ECT for less severe forms of emotional distress.
Short-term psychotherapy, lasting for several weeks or months, is used when the problem seems to result from a stressful life event such as a death in the family, divorce, or physical illness. The goal of the therapist is to help the patient resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Often this takes only a few visits. Long-term psychotherapy, lasting from several months to several years, emphasizes the study of underlying problems that started in childhood.
The following is a list of a few types of psychotherapy:
Psychodynamic psychotherapy, which may be either long- or short-term, examines important relationships and experiences from early childhood to the present in an effort to analyze and change unsettling or destructive behaviors and to resolve emotional problems. One form of psychodynamic psychotherapy is psychoanalysis, a long-term, intensive therapy that emphasizes how the patient's unconscious motivations and early patterns of resolving issues are important influences in his or her present actions and feelings.
Interpersonal therapy focuses on the patient's current life and relationships within the family, social, and work environments.
Family therapy involves discussions and problem-solving sessions with every member of a family – sometimes with the entire group, sometimes with individuals.
Couple therapy aims to develop a more rewarding relationship and minimize problems through understanding how individual conflicts get expressed in the couple's interactions.
Group therapy involves a small group of people with similar problems who, with the guidance of a therapist, discuss individual issues and help each other with problems.
Play therapy is a technique used for establishing communication and resolving problems with young children.
Cognitive therapy aims to identify and correct distorted thinking patterns that can lead to troublesome feelings and behaviors. Cognitive therapy is often combined effectively with behavioral therapy.
Behavioral therapy uses learning principles to change troublesome thinking patterns and behaviors systematically. The individual can learn specific skills to obtain rewards and satisfaction. Such an approach may involve the cooperation of important persons in the individual's life to give praise and attention to desirable changes. Behavioral therapy includes an array of methods such as stress management, biofeedback, and relaxation training.
Other Treatments
Some treatments, called "adjunctive," are used in combination with other therapies, and sometimes they are used alone. They include occupational, recreational, or creative therapies, as well as some that focus on special education. A mental health professional can help a client find the kind of therapy, or combination of therapies, that is best suited to his or her situation.
Rehabilitation Services – Community Support Programs
Many individuals with severe mental illness find it difficult to work, learn, socialize, and live independently outside a controlled setting. To help in these matters, community support programs offer rehabilitation services, either through freestanding programs that are similar to clubs, or through mental health centers. These agencies offer a variety of activities to assist clients in learning skills that will help them to live and work independently and productively in the community. For information on community support programs, contact your local or state mental health agency.
The Helping Professionals
Helping professionals work in a variety of settings, such as mental health centers, outpatient clinics, private and group practice, general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and prisons. They also work in residential treatment centers, partial care organizations, family or social service agencies, and the psychiatric departments of university medical centers or teaching hospitals.
Who They Are – What They Do
Psychiatrists
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental disorders, is licensed to practice medicine, and has completed a year of internship and three years of specialty training. A board-certified psychiatrist has, in addition, practiced for at least two years and passed the written and oral examinations of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Psychiatrists can evaluate and diagnose all types of mental disorders, carry out biomedical treatments and psychotherapy, and work with psychological problems associated with medical disorders. Of the mental health professionals, only psychiatrists can prescribe medications. Child psychiatrists specialize in working with children; geriatric psychiatrists concentrate on helping the aged.
Psychologists
Psychologists who conduct psychotherapy and work with individuals, groups, or families to resolve problems generally are called clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, or school psychologists. They work in many settings – for example, mental health centers, hospitals and clinics, schools, employee assistance programs, and private practice. In most states, a licensed clinical psychologist has completed a doctoral degree from a university program with specialized training and experience requirements and has successfully completed a professional licensure examination.
The field of psychology also includes those who specialize in such areas as testing, community organization, industrial relations, and laboratory research.
Psychiatric Nurses
Psychiatric nursing is a specialized area of professional nursing practice that is concerned with prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental-health-related problems. These nurses are registered professional nurses who have advanced academic degrees at the master's degree level or above. They conduct individual, family and group therapy and also work in mental health consultation, education and administration.
Social Workers
Psychiatric (or clinical) social workers have master's or doctor's degrees in social work, have completed a field supervision program, and are licensed/certified. In addition to individual, family, and group counseling and psychotherapy, they are trained in client-centered advocacy. This includes information, referral, direct intervention with governmental and civic agencies, and expansion of community resources.
Mental Health Counselors
A clinical mental health counselor provides professional counseling services that involve psychotherapy, human development, learning theory, and group dynamics to help individuals, couples, and families. The promotion and enhancement of healthy, satisfying lifestyles are the goals of mental health counselors, whether the services are rendered in a mental health center, business, private practice, or other community agency. Clinical mental health counselors have earned at least a master's degree, had supervised experience, and passed a national examination before they can be certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. (NBCC).
Case Managers and Outreach Workers
These individuals assist persons with severe mental illness, including some who may be homeless, to obtain the services they need to live in the community. Most persons with severe mental illness need medical care, social services, and assistance from a variety of agencies, including those dealing with housing, Social Security, vocational rehabilitation, and mental health. Because such services are uncoordinated in many areas, case managers provide a critical function to monitor a person's needs and assure that appropriate agencies get involved. In many instances they also act as advocates for the client. Case managers can be nurses, social workers, or mental health workers and can be associated with mental health centers, psychosocial rehabilitation programs, or other agencies. Case management and outreach services are frequently provided by teams that may include people who are recovering from a mental illness who function as peer counselors, case management aides, or outreach workers.
Mental Health Research and Services
The core mission of the National Institute of Mental Health is to understand, treat and prevent mental illness. Research into the kinds of mental health services that will support this mission plays an important role. The Center for Mental Health Services provides national leadership in mental health care delivery and policy development to facilitate accessible, comprehensive and quality mental health and support services. The institute and the center, in cooperation with consumer and family groups, professional organizations and other federal and state agencies, work to advance the application of scientific findings and practice-based knowledge to improve the range of effective prevention and treatment services.
INDIAN HISTORY
Origin
India is home to one of the richest and the most ancient civilizations in the world, which existed over 5,000 years ago. This civilization originated in the Indus River Valley, hence the name given to it was Indus Valley civilization. It is the origin of many of the ideas, philosophies and movements which have shaped the destiny of mankind. The civilization with its main cities Mohenjadaro and Harappa flourished for over eight centuries. Its people thought to be Dravidians, whose descendants still inhabit the far south of India.
Aryan and Greek Invasions
The country was influenced by many invasions, the Arya or Aryans (1500BC) as they are known today, are the first invaders. Aryans were a group of nomadic tribes who had originally inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, in particular the region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Tall, fair haired, with clear cut features, they spoke a group of languages which have become known as Indo-European. They settled in the region to the north west of India, known as the Punjab. They brought with them new ideas, new technology and new gods, this is one of the most important epochs in Indian history. With time, the Aryans were engaged in struggle with the dark skinned people or Dasyus. The Dasyus were the Dravidians. The superiority of the Aryans resulted in the Dravidian submission.
The second great invasion into India occurred around 500 BC, when the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius, pushing their empire eastward, conquered the prized Indus Valley. After centuries of obscurity, doubt and conjecture, India came into the full light of recorded history with the invasion of Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 327 BC. Although Alexander crossed the Indus and defeated an Indian king, he turned back without extending his power into India.
Maurya and Gupta Periods
The receding tide of Greek power led to a period of confusion and uncertainty in northern India as various rulers tried to make capital of the vacuum that Alexander had left behind. These circumstances saw the rise of Mauryas, India's first imperial dynasty, founded by Chandragupta Maurya. Maurya dynasty reached its peak around 260 BC under the Emperor Ashoka, the most famous figures in Indian History. He left a series of inscriptions on pillars and rocks across the sub-continent. But after his death, the Mauryan empire gradually fell apart because his descendants were not as strong rulers as he was.
At the beginning of the fourth century AD, India was fragmented into a lot of small kingdoms. They were often invaded by stronger neighbors like Greeks. They conquered Indus Valley again but they didn't stay for long. Out of this seeming Chaos, King Chandragupta II united all of northern India into a great empire again.
The Gupta period has been described as the golden age of Indian history and under their rule of northern India, arts, including poetry and literature, flourished. The exquisite Ajanta and Ellora caves were excavated in this period. Gupta period extended from 320AD to 480AD. But in 455 AD the Huns invaded India from the north and destroyed the Guptan Empire. Again India was split into small kingdoms until the Muslim invasions around 1000 AD.
In South India, great empires rose, entirely independently from those of the north. These included the Kalachuris, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadhavas, Hoysalas, Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras and the Vijayanagar kingdom.
Muslim Invasions
The Medieval Period in Indian history began with the Muslim Invasions. While the Hindu kingdoms ruled in the south and Buddhism was fading in the north, Muslim invasions from the Middle East began, towards the end of the 12th century. The Muslim period in India began with the Turkish conquests under Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori. Many famous dynasties such as the the Slave Dynasty, Khilji Dynasty, Tughlaq Dynasty, Saiyyid and Lodhi, Bahmani Dynasty, and Others followed. In the16th century, Babur from Fergana (Uzbekistan), a descendant of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass, defeated Ibrahim Lodi the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate at the battle of Panipat and established the Great Mughal Dynasty which lasted for 200 years.
The Mughal (Mogul) period saw a remarkable blend of Indian, Persian and Central Asian influences manifested in an impressive legacy of magnificent palaces, forts, tombs and landscaped gardens-including India's magnificent edifice, the Taj Mahal. The golden era of the Mughal period was under the rule of Akbar the great.
European Invasions
The country’s riches in different cultures, wealth in spices and minerals - made it a target for invasion and colonisation by European powers from the fifteenth century onwards.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to settle in India, in Goa, in the fifteenth century (1498). The Europeans arrived even before the Mughals. The Dutch East India company was chartered in 1602 and they established spice trade and factories in Cochin, Nagapatinam and Agra. They did not have any military ambitions for India. In 1613, the British East India Company, a trading company, started its first trading post in Gujarat. Later in the century, the East India Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers.
Meanwhile around 1644, the French established trade with India. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French factories and settlements were at Surat, their first trading post in 1666, then Masulipatanam, Karikal, Chandernagore in Bengal and Mahe at the Malabar coast. The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the English and the French in the Deccan. The latter of the three successive Carnatic wars between them, from 1746-48, 1748-54 and 1758-63 moreover sealed the fate of the French possessions in India
In 1757, at the Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive, an employee of the British East India Company, defeated the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah and established their political sovereignty in India. It was an important step towards the eventual British dominance of the country. The First War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny) or the first major Indian rebellion against the British after the battle of Plassey took place in 1857. Although the rebels succeeded in capturing territories in the Gangetic plain, it was recaptured by the British and the rebellion was completely crushed by mid 1858. The British government took over control of India from the East India Company. Britain then ruled India with local rulers for over three hundred years.
Indian Independence
Eventually demand grew for Indian independence. The socio- religious movements brought forth by various social reformers all over the country inspired national consciousness to improve their social condition and invoked the spirit of patriotism among the Indian masses. A national movement for independence was created. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Subhash Chandra Bosh, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Mahamana, Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Chander Shekhar Azad were the notable people of the movement. But the most relevantverent leader of the movement was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a lawyer who believed in non violent protest (civil disobedience). Gandhi worked with Jawaharlal Nehru, the secretary of the Indian National Congress and transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against the British colonial rule. After several years of struggle, Britain decided to quit India.
But a major problem had arisen. A large Muslim minority doubted that an independent India would also mean a Hindu-dominated India. The Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah began to call for an independent Muslim region- Pakistan. On 15th of August, 1947, India became completely independent from colonial rule, ending nearly 350 years of British presence in India. Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India.
Following independence India was divided, to create Pakistan, which initially also included present-day Bangladesh where there were Muslim majorities. The separation escalated the brewing violence into a bloodbath. It is estimated that over one million people were killed in sectarian violence as up to six million Muslims moved towards Pakistan and up to five million Hindus and Sikhs moved towards India. Mahatma Gandhi opposed partition and in 30th January 1948 he himself was gunned down by a Hindu fundamentalist, enraged by his support for the Muslims.
On January 26, 1950 India became a republic. The country adopted a new constitution based on the British parliamentary model. Newly independent, India worked to establish strong institutions of justice, media and bureaucracy.
Governments of India
Nehru governed India until his death in and Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him as Prime Minister of India in 1964. He successfully repulsed Pakistan's twin attack on India-in the Rann of Kutch and in Kashmir. After India-Pakistan War of 1965, Shastri met in Tashkent with Pakistan's President and signed a “no-war” declaration.
After Shastri's death he was succeeded by Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi. She rode a wave of success in1971 with India's victory in the second Indo-Pak war (1971), resulting in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh; launching of the India's first satellite into space (1975), nuclear explosion in Pokhran (1974). Other major decisions during her tenure include the nationalization of banks and the abolition of privy purses to the princes. In her attempt to control population growth, she implemented a voluntary sterilization program. But her adversaries criticized it. In 1975, beset with deepening political and economic problems, Mrs. Gandhi declared a state of emergency and suspended many civil liberties. The Emergency was a dark night in Indian democracy.
The people also suffered a lot from this emergency rule. In the same year India acquired Sikkim. Seeking a mandate at the polls for her policies, she called for elections in 1977. Congress party lost the election to the Janata Party and Moraji Desai became India's new prime minister. In 1979 Desai's government crumbled and Charan Singh of the Janata Secular Party formed an interim government. But in 1980, Gandhi's government returned to power.
In 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh guards in apparent retaliation for dispatching troops to the Sikh Golden Temple. The years following the assassination, saw the Sikh Terrorism in Punjab. The situation has returned to normal after a decade of bitter violence.
Within 24 hours, Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as the new prime minister. But his government was brought down in 1989 by allegations of corruption. Two major scandals, the "Spy" and the "Bofors" affairs, tarnished his reputation and he resigned his position. This was followed by opposition coalition governments headed by V.P. Singh and then Chandra Shekhar. That alliance also collapsed, resulting in national elections in 1991. But Rajiv Gandhi who stood for the elections, met with a tragic end in 1991 at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai by an LTTE Suicide Bomber when he was attending an election meeting.
In the elections INC becomes the largest party and returned to power at the head of a coalition, under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. In 1996, he and his cabinet officials were subsequently indicted for major corruption. Religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims lead to bloody riots in 1992. Rao's tenure also marked extensive economic reforms under the Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the early 90s, which paved the way for India's economy growth at a high rate.
In 1996, When general elections were held Rao and Congress were badly defeated, and he lost the prime minister ship. The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged from national elections as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha but without a parliamentary majority. Under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP coalition government lasted only 13 days. With all political parties wishing to avoid another round of elections, a 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal formed a government with H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister but his government collapsed within a year. Another minor party leader, I.K. Gujral replaced Dev Gowda. In November 1997, the Congress Party again withdrew support from the United Front. In new elections in February 1998, the BJP won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but fell far short of a majority. The President inaugurated a BJP-led coalition government under Vajpayee. This coalition fell apart and new elections in 1999 improved the position of the BJP, Vajpayee formed a new coalition. In 1999, Pakistani infiltrators crossed the line of control in Kargil, Kashmir resulting in an armed conflict between the Indian army and Pakistani paramilitary forces, resulting in eventual withdrawal by the Pakistani soldiers. In 2004 elections, Congress formed the government under the former Finance Minister popularly known as the father of Indian Economic Reforms, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Fresh Breath Treatment
Breathlessness, rapid breathing and wheezing are symptomatic of asthma, a chronic condition in which the airways are narrowed and inflamed due to the hypersensitivity towards allergens. The primary step in treating asthma therefore is to open up the airways and improve breathing in the patient.
This is done with medications such as bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs and they provide quick relief. In addition there are some airway clearance devices that can help in severe conditions. So if a person is diagnosed with asthma, it is very important to reduce and prevent the symptoms. Preventive measures include having a healthy diet and nutrition, exercises and managing environment to eliminate triggers.
This would help the patient to maximize lung functions and remain as active as possible. Poor nutrition, particularly deficiencies in antioxidants and certain minerals including vitamins A, C, and E, potassium, magnesium, selenium and zinc, is associated with asthma and breathing conditions. Such nutrients can be obtained from an adequate daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and whole grains.
Exercise helps some people with asthma and breathing treatment conditions as it strengthens and improves endurance and reduces breathlessness to some extent. Some breathing exercises may help improve lung function and can be learnt by working with a respiratory therapist. When learning breathing techniques, it is important to work with an appropriately trained professional because the techniques are not good for everyone. Attending pulmonary rehabilitation is the best way to learn exercise and breathing techniques.
Besides all these, a patient should continue with the control medications on a regular basis, particularly when the condition is persistent. Breathology Programme, a revolutionary asthma treatment incorporates Buteyko breathing exercises and features over two and a half hours of one-to-one tuition on asthma management and periodontal therapy prevention. It is designed to be better than a taught class as no vital information can be left out, you can go back to the method again and again and, once you've found out how well it's working, you can re-evaluate your progress at your own pace, time and place.
Practicing simple breathing techniques like relaxed breathing and breathing out through pursed lips to slow down breathing, leaning forward while exercising to control shortness of breath and belly breathing may also help patients to improve their breathing patterns and have self-control over their condition. Remaining physically active will also improve breathing ability and help feel better
Friends and Friendship
by Dr. Bill Denton
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A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)
You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself, he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job. (Laurence J. Peter)
A lot of people go through life with only a few friends. It seems that some have less than that. They have no one on whom they can call in good times or bad. There is no one with whom to bounce ideas around, or to talk about deep and troubling subjects. They have no one to call in times of need or difficulty. They are at the mercy of life, standing alone.
Others seem to have a multitude of friends. Wherever they go, people know them, and like to be around them. Should trouble strike, their biggest hesitation might be over which friend to call. They know exactly the person with whom to discuss the topics of inquiry and debate. Life is full of entertaining and invigorating relationships because it is full of friends.
There ought to be a course in school on friendship. Of course, some people are perfectly happy to operate with fewer friends. They might rather have a few deep and loyal friends, than many superficial ones. Others thrive best when friends are everywhere and numerous. It is not so much the number of friends that is important as is the possession of friends, period.
Friendship is a blessing...
Friendship is a blessing, and a friend is the channel through whom great emotional, spiritual, and sometimes even physical blessings flow. Friends can cheer us when we’re sorrowful or depressed. Friends can challenge us when we allow ourselves to get beyond our reasonable boundaries. Friends can motivate us when we’re ready to give in, and they can provide for us when life falls apart. They are there when all is well, and we want someone with whom to share life’s pleasant and memorable moments. We often just want them around to have a good time, to laugh, to act silly, to enjoy some mutually liked activity. In how many ways have friends enriched our lives and made us feel loved, accepted, respected and cared for? Probably, too many to list, and the list grows daily.
It is safe to say that when God created the world and all the majestic things in it, when he streaked the heavens with radiant color and the earth with grand mountains and awe-inspiring canyons, when he painted the plains with waving grasses and erected noble forests of towering trees, he outdid it all by creating friends. Why not take a moment or two and thank someone today for being a friend to you?
May God bless you with all the friends you need, and may he turn you into a blessing by using you as a friend to others.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Refrigerated Transport System L.L.C DUBAI
REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT SYSTEM L.L.C
TEL : 04 2859158 / 04 2859214
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TEL : 04 2859158 / 04 2859214
FAX: 04 2857545 (PARTS) FAX : 04 2861524
P.O.BOX- 13727
DUBAI-U.A.E
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam'
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's Speech: A Must Read
I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.
I see four milestones in my career: ONE: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.
TWO: After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.
THREE: The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon.
FOUR: One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300 gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic centre. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is: She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Allow me to come back with vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country?
YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs. 650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kph) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot you be the same here in India. Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr.Tinaikar had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
Lets do what India needs from us
I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.
I see four milestones in my career: ONE: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.
TWO: After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.
THREE: The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon.
FOUR: One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300 gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic centre. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is: She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Allow me to come back with vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country?
YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs. 650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kph) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot you be the same here in India. Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr.Tinaikar had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
Lets do what India needs from us
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