Broken Wings

For some time, I have been thinking about the meaning of life and of those who choose to end their life prematurely. During a visit to the GP, I noticed a couple of leaflets which said 'you are not alone', and to my surprise the material turned out to be for people who are depressed and who might think of committing suicide. This and the news about an Online Suicide caused me, once again, to reflect on life’s meaning, a life which has been given to us with so many possibilities and yet, can be so incredibly fragile.  Nothing can really stop a person who is determined to end their life.

At times, we brush shoulders with the thought of simply giving up. It feels as though we had fallen into a deep, dark hole, and the walls where closing in on us. The harder we try to climb out of this dark hole, the more we slip  and spiral even deeper down. It is very scary. We became withdrawn- even more so than usual, and feel that no one is able to help or even understand us. The small signs that we give for someone to realize that we are in a very dangerous place are not recognized. We feel ashamed and embarrassed that we are seemingly unable to help ourselves. Does this give us the right to give up on life? Many call it quits at this stage.

And then, our thoughts would clear as we remember the many hard times in the past with which we had had to deal with and how we have always managed to find a way to rise above them. We think about the many lonely days that we had already experienced yet was able to keep on going. We realize that the situations that we were facing would have been difficult, but not beyond some hope and some explanation. We then realize just how fragile life can be.  The experience makes us much more aware of how so many people can cover their true feelings because of fear of embarrassment, judgment, rejection, criticism and a host of other reasons. Life has so much more in store for us that we could not possibly foresee while living in that dark tunnel of lost hope.

No matter what school of thought one takes on suicide, telling a suicidal person how angry and selfish suicidal thoughts are does no good and is certainly not helpful.  A person in this state of mind does not function within a normal mental capacity because in some form or fashion, his or her brain chemistry has been altered. Anyone in this state of mind needs genuine, prompt and loving help. Harsh and judgmental words can bring even more harm to the already emotionally weakened and challenged individual. It pays for all of us to simply work on ourselves to become kinder and more loving human beings. One never knows when even just a smile and a kind word could turn things around for someone.

I have come to understand that those who seem to be in the darkest place in their lives, can experience the love of God most profoundly as they realize that their own strength simply is not sufficient enough. There is so much more to live for that you are not able to see right now. There is so much more to experience, so much more to love and so many more tender moments to cherish. Hope, true Hope makes life possible again! This truth lies within you, my friend….it lies within you!

Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence.
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendour of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But To-day well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!

                                             ~Kalidasa~

A Medical Miracle : Living without a beating Heart for 4 months.

Having nothing else to do, I resorted to reading on the net and almost immediately my attention was drawn to the story of a girl who lived without a heart for four months.

Can we live without a heart? When God created us he gave us a pump that pumps blood and keeps the circulation going. If calculated over an average life span of 70 years with normal 72 heartbeats / minute, the output of the average human heart over a life time would be about 1 million litres. It works, all the times. When it stops, we hear the chimes of the time clock... you know what I mean.

Believe it or not, a 14-year old American girl was kept alive for 118 days (almost 4 months) without a heart while waiting for a second heart transplant. She was fitted with a custom-made artificial heart after removing the first transplanted heart in July this year.

As per Reuter's, D'Zhana Simmons, who lives in South Carolina, had her first heart transplant on 2nd July at Holtz Children's Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Centre. But the new heart did not function correctly and was removed two days later, which is when she was implanted with an artificial heart made of two heart pumps to keep her alive until a second donor heart could be found.  A statement from the hospital said they believe D'Zhana is the first child to survive without a heart in this way, with an artificial device keeping the circulation going.

She was barely able to walk around without assistance during those four months, told reporters that she found the experience "scary" and that she never knew when the artificial heart would malfunction. She said felt like a "fake person", living without a heart. Her mother told her "God has a special heart for you and he will deliver it to you when he is ready." May be, this is what gave her the strength to go on.

Living with an artificial heart was not without risk. For the best part of four months D'Zhana's body was very weak and struggled to fight off infection. In fact she suffered kidney failure and the day after she received a second heart on 29th October, she also received a new kidney on the 30th.

The heart pumps, known as ventricular assist devices, are normally used when the patient's heart is still in the body, to help it pump blood more efficiently while waiting for a new heart. But in D'Zhana's case the first donor heart was in danger of rupturing and had to be removed.

This young girl has, with the help of medical science, overcome an obstacle that until now would have meant almost certain death. She's fortunate to have been born into a country and situation where this was possible. I can't even imagine the perseverance required, on her part and that of everyone around her. This is a story of hope. May her life continue through a much easier path.

Lord Ram in Politics

Undoubtedly, Tamil Nadu is one of India's most developed states, and yet it is one of her most conservative societies. The state has the maximum number of temples in any Indian state, many of them built to magnificent scale in size or architectural grandeur. It has produced great litterateurs, musicians, seers and scientists. The state is home to a glorious ancient culture and literary tradition.  A model of development and a haven for mayhem! The state is a mix of paradoxes.

It would indeed be surprising to know that the temples continue to practice ancient traditions of worship and rigid dress codes in a state ruled by professed atheists for over half a century. Most of the middle class families in the state initiate their girl children into the study of classical music or classical dances to nurture their artistic sensibilities. The growing crowds every year at Tiruvayyur during the annual Tyagaraja Aradhana festival and participation in other renowned festivals hold proof of this. Lumpen elements find their way into the cadres of political parties to cause murder and mayhem for love or for money. During the anti-Hindi agitation in the sixties its crowds burnt alive, police officers, who in the line of their duty obstructed them from venting their anger by burning public property. The people of the state are very expressive in their emotions.

This could be the reason for the Thalaivars or Thalaivis (leaders, male or female) to encourage their cadres to prostrate before them in public, as an expression of reverence. For the same reason, it was no surprise, when some of its citizens were so grieved that they did not hesitate to immolate themselves when their hero MGR passed away. Surprisingly, the most of the Tamil Leaders tend to be from other states. They can make a temple for an actress one day if her anatomy is appealing enough and bring it down when is she is seen to be crossing a conservative Rubicon. In Tamil Nadu, democracy and freedom of expression, lofty ideals for media men and women, are only to praise the Thalaivars or Thalaivis with encomiums and prefixes like Puratchi (revolutionary) and Kalaignar (litterateur). Even the most virtuous journalists dare not omit prefixing the names of Thalaivars or Thalaivis with the honorary doctorates that the states' universities routinely confer on them like confetti thrown about in a wedding.

Governance in the state is in a permanent state of musical chairs with the Thalaivars or Thalaivis of one dynasty alternating the other. Political parties nurture private armies of goons to do their bidding. When these mobs go on a rampaging spree no body save their masters are safe. We have seen sometime back, the internecine warfare within the ruling dynasty spilling out into the streets of many towns causing murder and mayhem. All in the name of social justice and secular ideals, it saw the burning of a newspaper's offices with some unfortunate employees included. This is not something new to the state or is it?

Beating up of journalists for offending the Thalaivars or Thalaivis has been such regular a happening that it no longer surprises. T. N. Seshan the then Chief Election Commissioner who made mighty political parties cover did not find the five-star Taj Coromondel hotel in Chennai safe, when he uttered something that displeased a Puratchi Thalaivi. Her goons ransacked the hotel guarded by one of the most powerful security companies that money can buy, only to find that the bird has flown the coup. Her private army did not flinch when ordered to kidnap the editor of a national, secular newspaper in the capital of a neighbouring state.

She did not hesitate to have a Shankaracharya arrested on trumped up charges when he crossed her path or when she felt that it would serve her political interests. Anti-Brahmanism as a credo… The lynching of Alfred Dreyfuss in Paris was said to be an indication of simmering anti-Semitism in Europe, which led David Ben Gurion to seriously contemplate the need for a separate Jewish state. The roots of anti-Brahmanism in Tamil Nadu are not clear but may have something to do with Christian missionary work. In any case it gave Ramaswami Naicker a handle to beat Brahmins with holding them responsible for all ills of the society although they have, if at all, only exceptionally wielded political power. The Dravidian movement made persecution of Brahmins its ideological plank to seize political power.

The tufts that they wore as a religious symbol were pulled causing acute pain, the holy tilak they wore was licked or forcibly erased, their customs ridiculed and their women molested. The situation of Brahmins during most of the twentieth century in the state was similar to that of the Kashmiri Pundits in J & K during the last decades of the century. The cream of them emigrated to other states or nations. Those who remain have to struggle for their existence in a state in which they are overtly not wanted. The reservation policy, an instrument of positive discrimination that gave a handicap to the downtrodden in other states, is an oxymoron in Tamil Nadu, as at 69%, it is designed to only exclude Brahmins from jobs, educational institutions and parliamentary democracy. There was a time when political persecution was extended to institutions owned by Brahmins as well and The Hindu, it was said, contemplated moving to Bangalore.

Indira Gandhi's infamous emergency was a godsend for Tamil Nadu and more for the paper as she dismissed the Karunanidhi government based on charges of possible secession and corruption. The grateful owners of the paper jumped on to the Samachar News Agency bandwagon shunned by all self-respecting newspapers as it was formed as a handmaiden to sub-serve her majesty's interests and to control the flow of news and information. The Veeranam project conceived to transport drinking water to Madurai was never completed but the 'existential dilemma' of evidence saved Karunanidhi from corruption charges - as happened in the cases of all other political leaders in India at whom a 'needle of suspicion' pointed. And as the wheel of musical chairs turned to bring his party back into power the charges were totally dropped. As the Hindu religion and rituals are considered a part of Brahminical culture it was portrayed as a north Indian import and the myth of the Aryan north and the Dravidian south was fuelled as a continuous tool to achieve political ends. Although later archaeological and other scientific evidence negated the 'Aryan-as-an-alien' theory, originally propounded by Christian missionaries to drive a wedge in the Hindu society, it suits the Dravidian parties to continue with its perpetuation.

The remarks from Karunanidhi, the secular chief minister of Tamil Nadu, posing an existential dilemma about Sri Rama whom millions of Indians worship fits into the general scheme of Dravidian politics, exhibiting if not ignorance of advances in scientific knowledge, low animal cunning, pandering to a constituency that may be slowly slipping away as the imaginary enemy, the emasculated Brahmin is no longer a perceptible threat. An apology will only enhance Karunanidhi's stature… When his predecessor, for personal or political reasons resorted to having the Shankaracharya of Kanchi arrested, there were no violent protests in the state, mostly because the Hindu pontiff was perceived as an icon of the Brahmin community, known for its stoic forbearance of hardships and not given to violent expressions of anger.

While most of the secular media remained a mute spectator, The Statesman of Kolkota was the one newspaper, which exhibited courage, objectivity and balance in questioning it. In an editorial entitled "God, man, law - Is India principled, secular enough?" the paper asked, "Jayendra Saraswati is acknowledged as a pontiff of India's majority community, and that hasn't stopped his arrest. But it could be asked, could the law go as far with religious leaders of the minority community - that, too, is a test of secularism." Could one ask whether Karunanidhi who wanted to know which engineering college Sri Rama attended for constructing the Sethu, would be bold enough to ask people of other faiths to proffer proofs of their messiahs and their credentials?

And by the same token could one ask an atheist to obtain a postgraduate degree in genetics and prove the legitimacy of his birth? According to the scripture, Sri Rama respected the word of a lowly citizen as more venerable than familial ties. Would the erudite Karunanidhi be gracious enough to respect the sentiments of millions of his own citizens and apologise for hurting their sentiments? It will only enhance his stature as a great leader.

Banking & Credit Crunch : Soothran's Formula

    

Gender Politics

Each of us perceives the world as we want it to be perceived. Yet sometimes we react harshly or angrily to the environment, cursing the world, or being downright nasty to people around us. We are human beings who perceive things with our logical minds & illogical hearts. Thus we are fallible in our preconceived feelings & judgment. Yet can we not open our hearts despite all the times we have been hurt before? Can we not try to believe with faith & keep our minds receptive to new input instead of cynically viewing the world against us?

Adding to this is the gender divide. Men and women trying to score off on each other has been using the Internet as a medium for the same. e-mails and weblogs had been created with the intention and you would have received / gone through some of them. I was going through the forwarded mails I have and found these two.

From women's point of view

From men's point of view

MEN - U cant live with them and U cant live without them !! If u TREAT him nicely, he says u are IN LOVE with him; If u Don't, he says u are too PROUD. If u DRESS Nicely, he says u are trying to LURE him; If u Don't, he says u are FRUMPY. If u ARGUE with him, he says u are STUBBORN; If u keep QUIET, he says u are BORING. If u are SMARTER than him, he'll lose FACE; If he's Smarter than u, he is GREAT. If u don't Love him, he tries to POSSESS u; If u Love him, he will try to LEAVE u. If u don't make love with him., he says u don't Love him; If u do! he says u are CHEAP. If u tell him your PROBLEM, he says u are TROUBLESOME; If u don't, he says that u don't TRUST him. If u SCOLD him, u are like a NANNY! to him; If he SCOLDS u, it is because he CARES for u. If u BREAK your PROMISE, u Cannot be TRUSTED; If he BREAKS his, he is FORCED to do so. If u SMOKE, u are a BAD girl; If he SMOKES, he is a COOL DUDE. If u do WELL in your exams, he says it's LUCK; If he does WELL, it's BRAINS. If u HURT him, u are CRUEL; If he HURTS u, u are too SENSITIVE!! & so hard to please!!!!!

Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE! 1. Men are NOT mind readers. 1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down. 1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be. 1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way. 1. Crying is blackmail. 1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it! 1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question. 1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for. 1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem. See a doctor. 1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days. 1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't Expect us to act like soap opera guys. 1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. 1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. 1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself. 1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials. 1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we. 1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is. 1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that. 1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. 1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear. 1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really . 1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as Cricket, Foot ball, or Rugby. 1. You have enough clothes. 1. You have too many shoes. 1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

Both sexes in the same species somehow ends up viewing situations differently. For example in a relationship, like how the female actually desires to know more about her significant others day & shares into his life. While the male tries to protect her in his own way by not telling her things trying not to cause her unnecessary worry.

In any kind of relationship: how, when & should we address something even if minor or trivial?

Americans embrace saving as nest eggs shatter

Americans who were banking on soaring home and stock prices to finance their retirement will have to go back to saving the old-fashioned way, ushering in a new era of frugality that may last for years. For much of this decade, easy credit that helped inflate the housing bubble and boost financial markets meant households did not need to set aside as much for a rainy day. Spending accelerated while the savings rate declined to near zero.

The trend is reversing now that the financial upheaval has blown a $7 trillion hole in Americans' wealth. Households are curbing spending at the sharpest rate on record, and economists see only a tepid rebound beginning late next year.

It seems the golden age of spending for the American consumer has ended, and a new age of thrift likely has begun.

As recently as the early 1980s, U.S. households were socking away about 10 cents out of every dollar to cover emergencies or save for retirement. By 2005 the saving rate was below 1 percent, thanks largely to higher returns on investment in the stock market and real estate, and financial innovation that made borrowing easier. The savings rate in 2008 stood at 0.2 percent and is expected to climb to 4 percent by the end of 2009. That would represent the sharpest eight-quarter rise in 50 years.

Flush with investment wealth, consumers stepped up spending over this decade, even though wage growth remained tepid. Imports soared, particularly from China, driving up both U.S. deficits and Chinese surpluses. From the start of the housing market boom in 2002 through 2007, imports from China rose by 157 percent to $321.4 billion.

Economists have long warned that these trends were unsustainable, and Americans would eventually need to curb consumption while China boosted its own domestic demand. The credit crisis is doing precisely that, but at such breakneck speed that it is worsening an already grim economic outlook. The global economy simply cannot adjust fast enough to the sudden drop in U.S. demand.

Households typically change spending behaviour gradually when they sense big shifts in their wealth. This time the effect may be much quicker because consumers have been bombarded with alarming news stories comparing the current slump to the Great Depression of the 1930s. At the same time, banks have grown wary of extending credit and global investors who eagerly bought securities tied to consumer debt have backed away, driving up borrowing costs.

For the economy, the rate of savings itself doesn't matter as much as what is happening to consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. During the 1980 recession, which was the last time that the savings rate rose sharply, consumers cut back so dramatically that the percentage of income spent on personal goods and services dropped to just under 74 percent at the end of 1981 from nearly 77 percent in the first quarter of 1980.

If history is any guide, next year's spending decline may be severe. An increase in the savings rate must be accomplished. Not just in the US, but all over the world. Gear up buddies, start saving before its too late.

Information Source : The world wide web

Microsoft to offer free security software

Microsoft Corp will discontinue sales of its subscription PC security service and instead offer free software to help protect computers from viruses, spyware and other threats. With the move, the software giant appears to be taking aim at McAfee Inc and Symantec Corp, its chief rivals in the PC security market.

Microsoft plans to halt sales of its Windows Live OneCare service on June 30. The service being discontinued costs $49.95 a year and covers up to three PCs. The new security program, which the company has code-named "Morro," will be available as a free download in the second half of next year.

Morro is designed to work with smaller, less powerful computers, the company said, which should make it appeal to a wide group of consumers. However, McAfee said the move is a sign of capitulation on the part of Microsoft. McAfee said OneCare managed to capture less than 2 percent of the market in the two years it has been out.

"Microsoft is giving up," a McAfee spokesman said. "They are now defaulting to a dressed-down free model that doesn't meet consumer security needs."

Microsoft has a history of butting heads with its competitors in the PC security space. In 2006 and 2007, Symantec and McAfee raised concerns that Microsoft had designed Windows Vista to deny them access to the heart of the operating system, which they needed to protect it from certain kinds of malicious software.

After negotiations, and some prodding from antitrust regulators in Brussels, Microsoft said it would provide the information needed.

It's watch-out time for those in the Security Market. Microsoft's claim might be, we make Windows and we know how to protect it better. What do you think?

Source : Reuters

Remembering Indira Priyadarsini

"I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation." - Indira Gandhi.

I was only six years old when she was assassinated in her office. India's first and only female prime minister, Indira Gandhi held the position from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. As leader, she instituted a number of economic reforms and fought a successful war against Pakistan. However, she was later embroiled in political controversy and a fierce ethnic conflict, which led to her assassination in 1984. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her as prime minister, but was himself assassinated by Tamil (LTTE) militants.

Had she been alive, she would have been 91 today. She is noted for creating a dictatorship by declaring Emergency after a court struck down her election in 1975, and also for her handling of the Operation Blue Star against Sikh militants, which eventually resulted in her assassination.

Born in the politically influential Nehru dynasty, she grew up in an intensely political atmosphere. Her grandfather Motilal Nehru was a prominent Indian nationalist leader. Returning to India from Oxford in 1941, she became involved in the Indian Independence Movement.

Chosen to become Prime Minister by the Indian National Congress insiders after Lal Bahadur Shastri's death, she soon showed an ability to win elections and outmanoeuvre opponents through populism. She introduced more left-wing economic policies and promoted agricultural productivity. A crushing 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.

Growing up in the sole care of her mother, who was sick and alienated from the Nehru household, Indira developed strong protective instincts and a loner personality. Her grandfather and father continually being enmeshed in national politics also made mixing with her peers difficult. She had conflicts with her father's sisters, including Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and these continued into the political world.

In her years in continental Europe and the UK, she met Feroze Gandhi,a Congress activist. Nehru was not happy; Kamala (Indira's mom) was dead already or dying. Just before the beginning of the Quit India Movement - the final, all-out national revolt launched by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party. In September 1942 they were arrested by the British authorities and detained without charge. She was ultimately released on 13 May, 1943 having spent over 243 days in jail. In 1944, she gave birth to Rajiv Gandhi followed by Sanjay Gandhi.

The couple later settled in Allahabad where Feroze worked for a Congress Party newspaper and an insurance company. Their marriage started out well, but deteriorated later as Gandhi moved to New Delhi to be at the side of her father, now the Prime Minister, who was living alone in a high-pressure environment at Teen Murti Bhavan. She became his confidante, secretary and nurse. Her sons lived with her, but she eventually became permanently separated from Feroze, though they remained married.

When India's first general election approached in 1951, Indira managed the campaigns of both Nehru and her husband, who was contesting the constituency of Rae Bareilly. Feroze had not consulted Nehru on his choice to run, and even though he was elected, he opted to live in a separate house in Delhi. Feroze quickly developed a reputation for being a fighter against corruption by exposing a major scandal in the nationalized insurance industry, resulting in the resignation of the Finance Minister, a Nehru aide. At the height of the tension, Indira and Feroze separated. However, in 1958, shortly after re-election, Feroze suffered a heart attack, which dramatically healed their broken marriage. At his side to help him recuperate in Kashmir, their family grew closer. But Feroze died on September 8, 1960 while Indira was abroad with Nehru on a foreign visit.

Initially Sanjay had been her chosen heir; but after his death in a flying accident, his mother persuaded a reluctant Rajiv Gandhi to quit his job as a pilot and enter politics in February 1981.

"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." - Indira Gandhi.

Soya and Cancer

Soy products have received a lot of interest in the past few years.  Food products made from Soybean have long been touted as healthy additions to the western diet. Tofu, Soy Milk and other soy products work to promote healthy cholesterol levels and have been said to help protect from certain types of cancer, including breast, colon and prostrate cancer.

Claims have been made that eating foods made from Soya beans can help prevent breast cancer or help treat it once it has been diagnosed.  There are also claims that it can replace hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women.

However, Soy (Soya) has its dark side: it has a weak estrogen effect, and its long-term effects on breast cancer are not known. Soy may also decrease the absorption of thyroid medication, so the combination of the two should be avoided.

In a nutshell, at least at this time there is no clear answer to the question of soy's potential contribution to, or protection from, breast cancer.  The experts are split on this question. What research does exist on this topic is conflicting and confusing. Hundreds of small studies on isoflavones and breast cancer have found dramatically different results.

Soybeans are a melange of complex chemical components. Their main components are protein, essential fatty acids, and to a lesser degree what are known as isoflavones. While isoflavones are found in other legumes, the versions in soybeans are also phytoestrogens: plant-derived weak estrogens, chemically similar to the female hormone estrogen. Because isoflavones behave like estrogen, in certain situations, they could stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent.

Research data, however, is far from conclusive, and some studies show just the opposite: that under some conditions, soy may help prevent breast cancer.

Some physicians caution breast cancer patients against eating too much soy for fear it could promote tumour growth in women whose disease is sensitive to estrogen. In addition, health agencies of New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain have voiced concern about the safety of soy-based infant formula for fear that it might spark reproductive or thyroid problems in babies in later life. 

In 1999 the Food and Drug Administration allowed food manufacturers to claim that soy-based foods help lower the risk of heart disease.

Here is a couple of links I found on the net on Soya. The links explain both sides of the story:

Soy cancer warning

Soya breast cancer link dismissed

Conclusion : I am not a Doctor to give sound medical advice. My knowledge is based on reading. It will take many years before enough research is completed and we know whether soy products have any effect on cancer.  In the meantime, it probably isn’t a good idea to eat large amounts of them if you have been diagnosed with cancer.

The Value of a Weblog

Can we place actual value on blogs? if so, what are we really measuring? Is it measurable at all?

It's been over an year since I started publishing my blogs. 57 posts, 3282 visits,12 readers, a number of controversial posts - that's my blogging credit. Not much when I compare these credentials with some of the most popular bloggers. Nonethesame, I have been able to make my presence and make it felt.

I guess it's easy, particularly when you first start blogging, to get enamored with the idea of having a voice in the world and having such a huge potential audience for your ideas. After a few posts, I realized that the benefit lies elsewhere.  It's about co-creating with others, about putting aside our personal agendas and joining the conversation so a shared meaning can emerge.  I guess at some point in blogging, all the bloggers get to realize  this, the change of perspective from personal to shared benefits.

Is it really possible to measure the value of a blog? If so, exactly what should we measure?' May be, this can be achieved with a widget to show "what the readers think of a blog?" Mostly, looking at the comments in the blog help us reach a conclusion without using a gadget. But then again, there are people who are opposed to what you have written and this might attract negative comments.

There are already some tools out there that let users measure user opinion while on a site, I wonder when that will come to blogs. I know it's been a feature of forum and bulletin boards for quite a while. I'm noticing that that the blogosphere is becoming more aware of value, is this a trend that is going to continue? What are we really measuring however? Is it a blog, the ideas, the person, or a brand?

A blogger's reputation of course can change the weight of measurement, how can you measure true popularity? If Barrack Obama had a blog, how would you rate that? What if it were Bin Laden?

Do feel free to say how you feel about my blog - Criticism's, especially when positive are most welcome.

The truth about "Lord Macaulay's Address To The British Parliament - February 2, 1835"

A forwarded mail with the title "Lord Macaulay's Address To The British Parliament - February 2, 1835" is in circulation and I received it recently. See the image below:

Being a patriot, I was hurt and angry on reading it, and decided to check it out. My conclusion: The image is a complete forgery. Macaulay was in India from 1834-38. There is no way he could have even addressed the Parliament in 1835. The forger has not read even one of Macaulay's speeches. However, there is some similarity with one quote from the "Macaulay Minute" of 1835, PROVIDED one twists that quote (as many do!) to misrepresent what Macaulay was saying. A number of people keep using that quote without actually reading the "Minute".

For those of you who would be interested in knowing the truth, please click here to read "MACAULAY'S MINUTE ON INDIAN EDUCATION". The text on top of the forgery seems to be in Tamil. The Tamilians are renowned for their love of Tamil and the 'Fight Against Hindi'. May be the forger is a Tamilian and want provocation of anti-English thoughts on the minds of the one's foolish enough to believe him?

A great master of English prose, European classics, and English history, Macaulay was an advocate of liberal attitudes in politics. He was a staunch English patriot, and thought that the Empire had a role, function, and duty to civilize the colonies, by bestowing upon them and nurturing among them the English political and judicial institutions. English was the means par excellence for this purpose, Macaulay advocated. Although he was patriotic to the core and was even prompted to be vengeful or vindictive because many Europeans were murdered in India during the "rebellion," yet, as we saw, he was not wholly convinced about the need and justification for these feelings. He appeared to have no particular admiration for anything Indian! And yet as a well-meaning intellectual, he wished that Indians should prosper and excel in such a way that one-day they might even end the rule of the Empire!

We may question the logic and the arguments of Macaulay, particularly his diatribe against Indian culture, religion, theology, arts, and sciences. He wrote these words nearly 173 years ago, and as a representative of a ruling power. Some of his words certainly hurt us even today when we read him, and if he were to write to this generation, I have no doubt that he would have been perhaps more circumspect, and would have been "restrained by the necessity of paying a decent reverence to the practices of an established religion". However, we all know that the number of Indians who wish to learn and use English has been growing steadily for the last two centuries. We all know that English has come to stay in India. The ruling Indian castes or classes have embraced English with suitable modifications as to the contents of lessons and the lexicon that are used in textbooks and taught in classes. English has become the language of higher castes and the affluent in the Indian subcontinent. The lower castes and poorer classes try to emulate the model set by their peers. The net result is that English will continue, and no central or state government will dare to abolish it from the curriculum in India. Globalisation makes English a value added language, the access to which becomes a passport for jobs around the world.

Despite his staunch patriotism and contempt-like posture towards Indian culture, languages, arts, sciences, and theology, Macaulay wanted Indians to prosper and excel themselves in all ways of life. He told the House of Commons in his speech on July 10, 1833,

We are told that the time can never come when the natives of India can be admitted to high civil military office. We are told that this is the condition on which we hold our power. We are told, that we are bound to confer on our subjects every benefit-which they are capable of enjoying?-no; --which it is in our power to confer on them? -no ; --but which we can confer on them without hazard to the perpetuity of our own domination. Against that proposition I solemnly protest as inconsistent alike with sound policy and sound morality. . . . We are free, we are civilized, to little purpose, if we grudge to any portion of the human race an equal measure of freedom and civilization. Are we to keep the people of India ignorant in order that we may keep them submissive? Or do we think that we can give them knowledge without awakening ambition? Or do we men to awaken ambition and to provide it with no legitimate vent? Who will answer any of these questions in the affirmative? . . . It may be that the public mind of India may expand under our system till it has outgrown that system; that by good government we may educate our subjects into a capacity for better government; that, having become instructed in European knowledge, they may, in some future age, demand European institutions. Whether such a day will ever come I know not. Abut never will I attempt to avert or to retard it. Whenever it comes, it will be the proudest day in English history. To have found a great people sunk in the lowest depths of slavery and superstition, to have so ruled them as to have made them desirous and capable of all the privileges of citizens, would indeed be a title to glory all of our own. The sceptre may pass away from us. Unforeseen accidents may derange our most profound schemes of policy. Victory may be inconstant to our arms. . . .

Macaulay's contributions to Indian political administration and justice were manifold, but two among these stand out as his outstanding contributions that influenced the course of ideas and life in the Indian subcontinent. These were: his minute on the education that had a direct impact on the content and methodology of what was best to be taught in Indian educational institutions along with the medium through which these should be taught. The second relates to his monumental work for the development of the Indian Penal Code.

Perhaps because of the reasons mentioned in this post, most nations have embarked upon a process of textbook contextualization when it comes to teaching English. The original pieces of writing by the native speakers of English are sought to be replaced by the writings of the nationals who are masters of English prose and poetry. In their creative writing, metaphors, idioms, and set phrases from the national languages, which imply local culture and religion, are more freely used. Translations from the local tales are more frequently substituted for tales from Europe. In addition, government-inspired documents on ideology become part of the textbook. Nations (and individuals) want to appropriate English as a language minus the culture and religion it represents and communicates. And this trend has been successfully established in the last fifty years in India. Macaulay's diatribe is simply a nuisance at the moment for the ruling castes and classes, but his momentous decision to introduce English in the Indian School System is followed with a force never before seen in the Indian subcontinent for any language.

Smoking : It's Expensive

Some of my closest buddies are chain smokers and together, they burn down a huge number of packs every day. I used to be an active volunteer for Anti-Addiction Forum during my college days. However, I feel too bad when I realize that I haven't worked towards a smokefree environment in a very long time. These days, when I walk the street, I see a lot many people smoking off. I know some of my readers do smoke, and may be this post would initiate a thought in their minds - 'to call it quits'.

How much do you think you have spent on cigarettes in the past and how much can you really afford to spend on them in the future? It’s easy mathematics, just calculate on average how much your daily spending on cigarettes is, and multiply that by 365 to know approximately how much you spend on smoking per year.

If you plan to continue smoking, then multiply the number you calculate from above by ten and see how much you will have spent on cigarettes ten years from now. This number doesn’t even take into consideration the rising costs of inflation or increase in any other factor as such. The real amount would be much higher. This is just to give you a general idea on how much you can end up spending on smoking.

Let me share with you something I learned a couple of years ago, when you buy something whatever it may be, say a T.V for instance, apart from the direct cost of the T.V it comes with numerous other hidden expenses. For one thing you have to buy and fix an antenna to pick up the local channels and pay for DTH, Dish or Cable to receive other Channels.

It's your T.V and it's now costing you XXX. Now, you decide to add a DVD player to your T.V, surround sound, DVD / CD costs, maintenance and soon you start to get a notable bill from that single T.V. Never thought about that .... hmm?

Smoking is no different, only here you end up spending your money on cigarettes that ruin your health, this means more visits to doctors, a higher medical expense. If you continue smoking, the money you spend on treatment becomes useless, because it’s getting you no where and the expenses keep rising as the ailments increase. Apart from that think about the money you’ve spent on lighters and ashtrays. What about the money you spent replacing things that got burnt by smoking cigarettes? That fine Louie Philippe which got a hole in it ....?

When you smoke, it affects not just you. Secondhand smoke comes from the tip of a cigarette and the smoke that is breathed back out by the smoker. Wherever people smoke, there is secondhand smoke in the air although you might not notice it because it is almost invisible and odourless. Even if you open a window, secondhand smoke will still be present in a room after two and a half hours! Even if you can't see or smell any smoke, it's probably still there. Smoking in a car is even worse because all of the smoke is concentrated into a small space.

Children are particularly affected by secondhand smoke because their bodies are still developing, and most of the children are growing up in homes where at least one parent is a smoker.

Going smokefree isn't easy, but when you see the drastic improvements to your life and health, you'll want to set your action plan going as quickly as you can.

How will your health benefit?

• You will reduce your risk of developing illness, disability or death caused by cancer, heart or lung disease.
• You will reduce your risk of gangrene or amputation caused by circulatory problems.
• You will protect the health of those around you by not exposing them to secondhand smoke.
• You will reduce the chances of your children suffering from asthma or glue ear.
• You will improve your fertility levels and your chance of a healthy pregnancy and baby.
• You will improve your breathing and general fitness. 
• You will enjoy the taste of food more.

How will your lifestyle improve?

• You will save money - as much as several hundreds a month, if you're a heavy smoker.
• You will no longer smell of stale tobacco, you wouldn't need to use a mouth freshener.
• The appearance of your skin and teeth will improve.
• You will feel more confident in social situations - you won't be worrying about the secondhand smoke you create anymore.
• As a non-smoker, you may even find you get approached more often by potential new friends when out socialising.
• Your home will smell fresh and you will no longer be staining your walls with nicotine.
• You will reduce the risk of fire in your home.

Smoking is unattractive and costs you loads of money. Just imagine yourself being smokefree. Feeling great and having that extra money in your pocket! Think it’s a good time to quit smoking?

Google Says, 'Sorry, You Search Like A Bot'

Lately my attempts to visit my blog have been foiled by a 403 Forbidden error message from Google! Neither can I run a Google search!!!!. Can you believe it? Google, the giga-powerful near-deity of the web, hindering my surfing? Fortunately, I am using Windows Live Writer to blog, so I can publish this.

I am just a home user who has been Googling without incidents for more than a decade. All of a sudden, here it goes. I was on this morning, and then late in the evening, without having done anything to induce a spyware in my laptop, I have been hit.  Now I realize more than ever just how critical Google is in my life.

This is what it says:

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't  process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

I have an every day updated AntiVirus / Internet Security program installed on my laptop, and my full system scan reported that my laptop is not infected with any malware just this morning. Just to make sure that my laptop is not infected, I re-ran a comprehensive full system scan over-night, and no risks were detected other than a tracking cookie. So, definitely that's not the cause of this bugging message. Nor are my searches so frequent as to seem automated. I tried deleting my Google cookies but that did not help. Another laptop used by my wife on the same Internet connection, with the same public IP address, has no trouble.

It certainly doesn't make me want to let Google host any of my data, as they seem so rabidly eager to do (off late, I have been thinking of hosting my blog using Google Custom domains). It doesn't inspire confidence!

I decided to do some Google Search on the problem from the other laptop and this is what I found :

This usually happens because our system detects automated querying (which is against our Terms of Service: http://www.google.com/terms_of_service.html) coming from your network's IP address. Here are some examples of what's considered automated querying:

- using any software which sends queries to Google to determine how a website or webpage "ranks" on Google for various queries
- "meta-searching" Google
- performing "offline" searches on Google

There's a good chance someone in your network is violating our ToS. If you identify this user and he/she gets rid of the program, the ban on your IP address will automatically be lifted.

I also found that unfortunately this problem can happen if you have a proxy server with a large amount of traffic as well (may be my ISP makes use of a proxy? for netboost purposes?).  Anyway's, within the last couple of days, something seems to have changed at Google to see proxy servers / net boosters as "evil" automated bots. 

Google : There are thousands of users out there in the web space, who are experiencing the same problem. Please fix it from your end OR @least tell us how we can have it fixed from our end.

Should you blog or not?

Employees have been fired when their employer construed their blog posts as sharing confidential information, making inappropriate comments about the company, or both. Posting company news, pictures, and even making positive comments about a company have cost bloggers their jobs.

How about job seekers? Can having a blog, a personal web site, or an account on a social networking site impact your job search, for better or for worse? It could. One blogger posted recently that he lies in interviews. That wouldn't thrill a prospective employer if they knew about it. Another job seeker's blog mentions that she loves to party all night, drinks to excess on a regular basis, and steals on occasion. Again, not a profile that would thrill most employers.

Should prospective employers be reading your personal information? Maybe not, but, if you put it on the Internet and it's readily accessible, they can and they might. Some people list their personal web site or blog on their resume and most of us Googlers (my own term for people who use Google to find answers for anything) we're interested in knowing more about. There's nothing to stop a hiring manager from doing the same.

Even if it's not on your resume, if your blog, web site or profile contains information on your real identity, the people you least expect, and those that you certainly don't want reading it, may find it. Not only your boss and prospective employers, but, also your customers, colleagues and coworkers.

Keep in mind that just about anything that is online can be read by someone - or everyone. If you don't want the world to read what you've posted, make sure they can't. Don't put it online or post it anonymously.

Blogging can become a passion, but, don't let that passion hinder your employment prospects. Keep blogging, but, blog safely, securely and carefully, so your current or future career opportunities aren't jeopardized.

Microsoft says : Active X - A Threat to Vista :(

Microsoft Corporations Windows Vista Operating System is far better protected from attack code than Windows XP is. However, in a report issued last week, the company said that its own ActiveX plug-in technology is a significant threat to Vista.

The latest of the company's twice-yearly security intelligence reports said that half of the top 10 browser-based attacks against Windows XP over the past six months exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft's own software.

None of the top 10 attacks against Vista systems did so, the report said. Instead, most of those attacks targeted bugs in third-party Internet Explorer add-ins created using ActiveX controls.

George Stathakopoulos, general manager of Microsoft's product security and security engineering group, said the results show that the company has improved new-product security.

"Our security development processes do pay off," he said, though he acknowledged that "eco systemwide, we still have a problem."

Source : Computer World

Conflicts : Why be afraid?

I recently came across a brilliant article by Tammi Leinski entitled - How to Appreciate Workplace Conflict. It's so good I'm almost tempted to copy and paste the whole text here.. but I'll resist and just quote this gem.

"Sure, it’s easy to name the problems with workplace conflict. Like the peel of a ripe banana, the problems are what you see first, in a colour you can’t miss. Bite in and the taste won’t soon leave your memory. Yet if you peel back the outside layer of a conflict, you’ll find the sweet fruit of a vibrant organizational future."

This is so true. As Tammy explains in her article conflict leads to better decisions, to creativity, to learning and to engagement. I would also like to add that it also builds commitment. Expressing more of who we are and what is important to us it is very liberating, and we naturally gravitate towards people and situations were we feel comfortable and free to do this.

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." ..... Albert Einstein.

Conflict is a good thing - it's how we learn and grow. But as Einstein suggests in the quote above, this is too big a mind shift for most people to make; and so we find that even the most enlightened of organisations tend to shy away from welcoming it outright. And yet conflict is the very grist of the organisational mill - without it nothing really significant happens.

We associate conflict with angst but in reality it's only our resistance to it that's painful. Conflict is never the problem, only our defensiveness. Instead of defending our point of view and resisting conflict we could just as easily choose to come together with a shared intent to explore the basis of our differences in order to see the underlying truths. This way we both learn... we get to see the bigger all-inclusive picture... and what we imagined divided us has actually brought us together. As Tammy quite rightly says, we choose how we view conflict. Whether it a gift or a curse is entirely down to us. It is simply a choice.

You may have recognized that anyone who decides to live a remarkable life tends to invite conflict - it sort of goes with the territory. But what's perhaps not so obvious is that these conflicts can be stepping stones for us... our opportunities for greatest gain. Approaching conflict lightly and defenselessly transforms it into greater understanding... a mutual benefit. We get to see a little more clearly, understand a little more deeply.. and not just about the issues at hand, but about our Self.

We might not get the answers we wanted or the outcome we expected, but there's always a mutual and permanent gain, often in a far wider context.

"We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't."

Expectations Unlimited

Over and over, Barack Obama told voters if they stuck with him "we will change this country and change the world." They did, and now their expectations for him to deliver are firmly planted on his shoulders. Many supporters greeted his victory with euphoria. Impatient for a new American era and overcome by a black man's historic ascension to the White House, they took his achievement for their own — weeping, dancing in the streets, blaring happy horns into Wednesday morning.

But campaign rhetoric soon collides with the gritty duties of governing, and hard realities stand in Obama's way.The youthful president-elect appears to know this. His victory speech emphasized humility far more than his fabled confidence, with remarks heavily leavened by references to the difficulties before the nation.

He declared "change has come to America" and closed with his "yes we can" campaign slogan, but not before speaking of the certainty of setbacks. "The road ahead will be long," Obama warned. "We may not get there in one year or even one term." Atop Obama's challenge list is the global and domestic turmoil that he inherits. None of it is his own making, but it will shape his presidency before he lifts one finger. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Two wars in unstable, hostile lands. Other foreign hot spots such as Pakistan and Congo, nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran. A warming planet.

Then there are high health care and energy costs, sunken home values, wiped-out retirement and investment accounts. A federal deficit that is exploding as the nation throws money at its economic problems, sure to crimp Obama's ability to spend his way to solutions. He also faces challenging political realities.

Obama has a largely liberal voting record and owes a debt to the left wing of the Democratic Party, which mobilized millions on his behalf. These folks embraced his promises to end the Iraq war, move toward universal health care coverage and address harsh terrorist interrogation practices. But Obama also appealed to the broader electorate as a pragmatist who pledged virtually party-blind government.

Once the changeover happens, those who believed his "change we can believe in" slogan will want things to move quickly. Even after nearly two years in the spotlight, little is understood about the 47-year-old first-term senator's approach to leadership. His resume: community organizer, eight years as state legislator, and less than four as U.S. senator. As a lawmaker, he has displayed a knack for working with Republicans on a handful of favourite issues. But he has devoted most of his time in the Senate to running for president. Unlike the past seven presidents, he was never a governor or vice president. And unlike John F. Kennedy, the last senator to move directly to the presidency, Obama has not commanded troops in wartime.

He did lead his campaign, a huge, nearly billion-dollar operation. Throughout, he showed himself to have a detached, cerebral decision-making style that can sometimes seems out of sync with his natural charisma. He also showed himself to be a highly disciplined, CEO-style manager. The leak-proof, tightly managed and orderly Obama operation mimics the Bush White House, and flows from "No Drama Obama" himself — a man so focused that he didn't give himself a day off from working out, even the morning after winning the presidency.

In keeping with his measured demeanour, Obama did nothing flashy his first day as president-elect, keeping to breakfast with his family and a thank-you visit to campaign workers. All that said, he's got plenty of things in his favour. First and foremost, he was elected exactly the way he wanted to be — in an electoral landslide. He took not only traditionally Democratic states, but once-solid Republican territory too. That allows him to claim, credibly, a broad mandate for his ideas.

So the Democrats who run Capitol Hill, for all their savvy in the ways of Washington and potential disagreements with their president, might think twice about clashing too aggressively with him. On a more practical level, they will not want to risk missing out during the midterm election cycle two years from now on Obama's eye-popping fundraising skills. Further, the much-vaunted technological side of Obama's campaign means he could appeal directly to voters around recalcitrant lawmakers, using e-mail, text messages, Face book and other tools.

Still, Obama's honeymoon with the public — both anxious and hopeful — could be fragile.

Source : Yahoo, AP.

US Elections : An attempt to understand.

At least 130 million Americans are expected to cast votes on a successor to Republican President George W Bush. People living outside America find it difficult to get a clear picture of the issues and candidates in the US presidential election 2008 as a majority of the US media and the blogs seem to have become rather emotive (and partisan?), and the verbiage in the news reports and commentary is not of much help to non-Americans.

Perhaps this is understandable owing to the unenviable situation the USA finds itself today…but isn’t the media supposed to uphold the basic tenets of journalism by providing fair, objective and understandable news/commentary, whoever the audience?

I also wonder whether this emotive/sensational/partisan approach to presidential election is leading to an increasingly garbled reporting and commentary, which may, in turn, also create a degree of confusion among the American voters. It is a known fact that in the US elections the voter participation varies between moderate and low (not a good commentary on the state of democracy in one of the world’s leading democracies).

Maybe I don’t have the correct information. But I, and many others worldwide, would be delighted to know which magazine/newspaper/blog/site/journalist offers the most objective/fair election information with a degree of clarity and simplicity. It will be a good exercise to conduct a poll to this effect.

Voting ends in 48 states in hours and the first polls begin to close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky late Tuesday night. Barack Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, would be the first black US president if he is elected.

Opinion polls indicate he is running ahead of his rival John McCain in enough states to give him more than the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. A victory for Mr McCain, 72, would make him the oldest president to begin a first term in the White House and make his running mate Sarah Palin the first female US vice president.

Mr McCain, an Arizona senator, embraced his role as an underdog and said he is gaining ground on Mr Obama. He was hitting seven states on the last day of campaigning as he tried to pull off the biggest upset in recent political history.

Opinion polls show Mr Obama ahead or even with Mr McCain in at least eight states won by Mr Bush in 2004, including the big prizes of Ohio and Florida. Mr Obama leads comfortably in all of the states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

Breakthrough victories in any of those traditionally Republican states - including Virginia, Colorado, Indiana and North Carolina - would almost certainly propel Mr Obama to the White House.

It was a bittersweet last campaign day for Mr Obama. He choked up in North Carolina when talking about the death of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise him. Mr Obama, who learned earlier in the day of his grandmother's death from cancer in Hawaii, called her a "quiet hero."

Some 27 million of them have already voted - either by absentee ballot, or in the 30 states that allow people to vote early. There have been reports too numerous to mention of ten-hour long queues, of insufficient poll workers or voting machines. But state officials are adamant they will be prepared for the influx. It's all too important for this to go wrong.

Victory, be it a landslide or a knife edge - it's a last, thrilling finish to a long, long campaign. Let's wait for the results, and see what effect it's going to have on the world.

Adios Kumble : A Tribute to the Gentleman Cricketer

The last day of the 3rd test match between India and Australia saw a legend of Indian cricket bowing out of the international arena after serving the country with a valour and strength comparable to a mighty soldier. Yes, I am talking about the Indian with the most number of wickets to his name, the Indian who is also the third highest wicket taker in test cricket in the world, and the Indian who is also a gem of a man! Yeah I am talking about Anil Kumble, or (as the public addresses him) Jumbo!

The sharks were circling, with the clamour for him to step aside for wicketkeeper and born leader Dhoni equalled by speculation about the condition of the 38-year-old leg spinner's body.

Kumble chose to finish on his own word, and, in doing so, allowed himself the deserved honour of a farewell bowling spell and a lap of honour at the ground where he reached a personal peak - second innings figures of 10-74 to win a Test for India against arch-rival Pakistan in 1999, one of only two instances of a bowler taking all 10.

Kumble did not shock the Delhi crowd alone, but shell-shocked a cricketing nation, just like he bamboozled batting greats throughout his career. We all knew it was coming, and soon, but it seemed to fans to come out of the blue. Why you may ask? Perhaps because there was no time to let it sink; maybe because he has been such a regular fixture in an Indian line up; perhaps because we admire him so much; perhaps because this is the end of a Golden Era in India cricket. The numbness and lumps in the throat are justified for this is no mere bowler. This is Anil Kumble. The man who took all 10 wickets in one innings; the one who took over 600 wickets in all; the one who bowled with a broken jaw; the man who never gives up; the Kumble whose statesmanlike captaincy through an acrimonious tour of Australia made him the best ambassador of the gentleman’s game; the Kumble who bowled with a stitched up finger and the Kumble who took his last international wicket from a return catch with an injured hand.

Kumble decided to quit after sustaining an injury to his hand during the 3rd day of the 3rd test match, although he had already made his mind up to quit after the end of the series. The end of the match though quite uninteresting witnessed a heart warming farewell to the Jumbo of Indian cricket. All the players lifted him up on their shoulders and gave him a lap of honour around the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi ( where he claimed 10-74 in an innings against Pak).

Kumble, the cricketer, has been special to me in many ways. Aside of inspiring me to experiment spin bowling with a tomato, he’s done much inspire any average Joe that with hard work, one can scale great heights as Anil Kumble’s career is a tribute to this. As a bespectacled young man who took the field, he did not take the cricketing world by storm. He did not spike to success either. Kumble’s career progress has been almost boringly gradual, one nurtured by sweat, blood, toil, unrelenting hard work, a craftsman’s talent and soldier’s spirit. Yet underneath it all, there is a good human being, a man who managed the impossible task of staying clear of controversy in a cricketing nation that thrives on and devours it with voracious appetite. His manner was distinctly south Indian: low-key, polite, and humble. His success is testament to the fact that one does not need showmanship or bravado to reach great heights. All that is required is a committed soul that always gave a hundred percent to the task at hand. Success will automatically follow.

Kumble made his debut against England at Old Trafford in 1990, but rose to prominence in 1992 and 1993 through a string of performances that emphasised his tremendous accuracy and ability to make the ball spit vengefully from a helpful surface.

Never a spinner in the classical sense, Kumble instead relied on persistence, changes of pace and subtle variations delivered at near slow medium pace. Opponents commonly remarked the safest way to play Kumble at his peak was to treat him as something of a slow inswing bowler, with the odd delivery breaking away from the bat.

Intelligent but always a fighter, Kumble played a key role in shaping a far more streetwise and aggressive Indian team than the one he entered 18 years ago. The mantle of the captaincy thus passed on to M.S.Dhoni, who now has become the overall captain of the Indian cricket team!

As he left the ground he raised his cap to the crowd of Delhi and all those who were watching!

I salute that mighty warrior of India with all my heart!

NRN rules out job cuts in IT sector

The global economic meltdown and the financial crisis looming large over the Indian economy will not result in any downsizing or job cuts in the IT industry, says N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Technologies.

I have always been a big fan of Narayana Murthy and have read hundreds of articles and stories on him and his wife. At times, I think I should compile the inspirational stories and biographies.

"There are no job cuts. The growth has certainly slowed down but it is not making any significant impact on us," Murthy, who was in the national capital Saturday to announce the finalists for Rhodes scholarships, told IANS.He also hinted that the net rate of growth of employment in his sector will stay in the green. "Despite reports of companies laying off some staff as a cost cutting measure, they have been advertising for new employees at the same time."

According to him, the key challenges facing the Indian industry in these turbulent times were inflation and the psychological impact of the US crisis, leading some companies to hit the panic button.

He also said that the weakening of the rupee was just an offshoot of the global economic meltdown and was proving to be beneficial for the IT industry.

"The foreign exchange rates are helping us and in some way, they mean higher revenue for my industry," Murthy said, and added that a weaker rupee was making exports of Indian IT industry competitive vis a vis other countries.

I am also listing out Five Elements of Success as put forward by Narayana Murthy:

• Openness to learn: Openness to subordinate your ego to take ideas from others.

• Meritocracy: The best ideas are adopted and implemented using data to arrive at the best decision.

• Speed: Assuring you do things faster compared to yesterday and last quarter.

• Imagination: You continually bring better ideas and better innovation to the table.

• Excellence in execution: That is implementation of these great ideas with a higher level of excellence today than yesterday.

Here's his tips and insights on how to move up in the corporate leadership ladder. (May be this would be an eye opener for some ... hopefully :) )

• Take risks. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new. It is the express lane to corporate success.
• Behave transparently.
• Go where the growth is, even if this means making a lateral move.
• Be flexible and multi-dimensional.
• Look back and learn from mistakes.

Look back and learn from your mistakes, before it's too late.