1) Corrections on previous Blogs.
2) Topic of this Blog
3) US Media on our Economic progress vs Caste system.
4) US Media on Korean lady's wil-power.
5) The Ten Commandments in Life.
6) The Art of Giving.
7) Appeal from Yahoo Group of Thatha Patti.
8) The case of the Screaming Man.
9) Humour.
1.1)- Part- 14:-
Mentioned by me- The United States uses nine standard time zones. From east to west they are Atlantic Standard Time (AST), Eastern Standard Time (EST), Central Standard Time (CST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Pacific Standard Time (PST), Alaskan Standard Time (AKST), Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST), Samoa standard time (UTC-11) and Chamorro Standard Time (UTC+10). View the standard time zone boundaries.This was as per the Link provided in the relevent Para.
Correction by Reader - It has only Six Time Zones, not Nine, Four of which are in Mainland of US i.e. 48 Contiguous States & the rest Two pertain to Hawaaii & Alaska.
Which version is correct?
1.2)- Part- 20
Mentioned by me- the National Logos of the state of Massachusetts which are as under:-
Bird- Chickadee.
Flower- Mayflower.
Beverage- Canberry Juice.
Nickname- The Bay state.
ALABAMA- is the 2nd State taken up now, alphabetically to start with, follwed by 48 more due in the ensuing Blogs. As you are aware now, each & every State have their own National Flag, Logo, Motto, Nickname, bird, flower, etc.
Capital of Alabama- Montgomeri.
Bird- yellowhammer.
Flower- Camellia.
States
Motto- ' We dare defend our rights!'
Nickname- ' The heart of Dixie ' or ' The Cotton State '
State Nut- Pecan.
Correction by Reader:- States have their own State Flag, Logo, etc., not National, which is found to be correct!
Thanks for their observations.
Having completed 20 Parts of my Blog, Can we call it ' PLATINUM ' Part?
Focus is now on Topic of this 21st Part!
2)- NEWPORT MANSIONS & BEACH
Let us enter into the Smallest State of US, Rhode Island, the neighbouring State of Massachusetts, 50 Miles away from our Apt.Its State symbols are-
Nickname- The Ocean State.
Bird- Rhode Island Red. It is infact not a bird but Red Chicken, a Breed developed in 1850s.
Flower- Violet.
Rock- Cumberlendite.
It is not at all an Island, just 48 Miles long & 37 Miles wide that can be covered by drive in one hour. It was the First to declare independence 2 months before the other 12 Colonies of The British but the last to sign The Constitution.
Providence is its Capital.
Earlier, it was involved in triangular trade- Exporting State Rum to West Africa > Importing in return The Slaves > Exporting Slaves to West Indies > in return for Molasses imported!
Just click the Link below for more details.
http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/make-plans/facts-and-history/
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/rhodeisland/index.html
http://www.ri.gov/
Let us now get into the American Heritage Homes situated in the Island, the details of which can be had from the Link given below.
The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island's largest cultural organization, preserves and protects the best of Newport County's architectural heritage. Its 11 historic properties and landscapes - seven of which are National Historic Landmarks - trace America's architectural and social development from the Colonial era through the Gilded Age. In keeping with its mission, the Society strives to offer its members and the public a comprehensive view of each property's architecture, interiors, landscapes and social history. Their collective name is - Newport Mansions.
http://www.newportmansions.org/
Also enjoy Slide show of Photos taken outside the Mansions & the Ocean produced below.
3)- US MEDIA ON OUR ECONOMIC PROGRESS vs CASTE SYSTEM
The spectacular progress of South India compared to North India has been highlighted as under!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11caste.html?ref=asia
4)- US MEDIA ON KOREAN LADY'S WIL-POWER.
Just click the Link below & get inspired by this Korean Lady on how to win Goals in life!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/world/asia/04driver.html?_r=1&ref=southkorea
5)- THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN LIFE.
Very inspirational, just like ten commandments to follow in the life all the time - GEMS of Wisdom!
i] Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout
ii] Do you know why a cars' WINDSHIELD is so large & the Rear-view Mirror is so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. Look Ahead and Move on!
iii] Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write one!
iv] All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.
v] Old Friends are Gold! New Friends are Diamond! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!
vi] Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!
vii] When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.
viii] A blind person asked Swami Vivekanand: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"
ix] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.
x] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow’s TROUBLES, it takes away today’s PEACE!
6)- THE ART OF GIVING.
Courtesy- My Friend, C.G.S.Manion
"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others?
Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.
The first question is 'when should one give?'
Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices, that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around tomorrow to give. Yudhisthir gets the message.
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give therefore is NOW.
The next question is 'how much to give?'
One recalls the famous incident from history.
Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army , he had lost his wealth , and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight.
At that time in his darkest hour , his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.
The answer to this question how much to give is " Give as much as you can!
The next question is 'what to give?'
It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile. It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters.
When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks!
"You can give anything but you must give with your heart !
One also needs answer to this question 'whom to give?'
Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking.
However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified.
"Give without being judgmental!"
Next we have to answer 'How to give?
Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.
'Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives?
Charity without publicity and fanfare, is the highest form of charity.
'Give quietly !
While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated.
After all what we give never really belonged to us.
We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing.
The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period.
Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us?
Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.
What should one feel after giving ?
We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru = Dakshina".
He unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story.. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb when he was dying.
His reply was "Yes ! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama and had stopped fighting.
It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb.
If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru?
The message to us is clear.
Give and never regret giving !
And the last question is ' How much should we provide for our heirs ?
Ask yourself , 'Are we taking away from them the "gift of work? - a source of happiness!'
The answer is given by Warren Buffett: "Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!"
I would conclude by saying: let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting
Sant Kabir:
When the wealth in the house increases ,
When water fills a boat ,
Throw them out with both hands !
This is the wise thing to do!
7)- APPEAL FROM YAHOO GROUP OF THATHA PATTI.
Here is an Appeal placed below which is self-explanatory please!
Hi all,
I am doing this in memory of my beloved music teacher Mrs. Vijaya Raman who
passed away last year due to heart disease. She was a wonderful lady (mother
like) and she was suffering for heart related complications for quite a few
years and finally passed away March 2009. She was born in September which is all
the more reason for me to do it tomorrow. I have a very ambitious goal and hope
you can help.
This year, I am participating in the American Heart Association's Bay Area
Start! Heart Walk. It’s like a big party – we celebrate those who are survivors,
those who have pledged to live healthier lives, and those whose research has led
to amazing medical advances. We celebrate the people whose generosity makes all
the research and medical advances possible. I’d like you to join the
celebration.
My personal goal is to raise as much money as possible for the American Heart
Association, and I need your help to succeed! We are raising critical dollars
for heart disease and stroke research and education.
You can help me reach my goal by making a tax deductible donation online. Click
on the link below and you will be taken to my personal donation page where you
can make a secure online credit card donation. (The American Heart Association's
online fundraising website has a minimum donation amount of $25.00. If you
prefer to donate less, please mail a check directly to me, made payable to the
American Heart Association.)
Your donation will help fight our nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers – heart
disease and stroke. Thank you for your support.
Follow This Linkto visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to
support American Heart Association - Bay Area, CA
******************************************************************************
Some email systems do not support the use of links and therefore this link may
not appear to work. If so, copy and paste the following into your browser:
http://heartwalkbayarea.kintera.org/bhagi?faf=1&e=3671891129
******************************************************************************
Bhagirathi Lakshmivarahan
Note: Please forward this to any friends/relatives whom you think will be able
to help. Thanks to all for the support.
8)- The Case of the Screaming Man
- Paula Lyons
As everyone knows, the human body has orifices. Occasionally, these become occluded, or occupied, by things that aren't supposed to be there. Every doctor knows this, as does almost everyone else. Who hasn't heard, as a child, the cautionary phrase "Don't stick beans up your nose"?
Human nature being what it is, almost every clinician must deal with foreign objects--flora, fauna--that have been put into places where they don't belong. Sometimes, though, "beans" can materialize without a patient's permission.
Here is one such case--a personal favorite of mine--that I've mentally entitled "The Screaming Man."
I was back in the furthermost part of the clinic, arguing with an insurance company representative about the need for a patient's CT scan, when one of our receptionists ran up.
"Dr. Lyons! There's a man screaming in the waiting room!"
"Is he bleeding?"
"No, he's banging his head with his hands and screaming! I think he might be crazy!"
I ran to the front. There in our packed waiting room was in fact a seemingly crazy man, screaming, dancing around and batting at his left ear with both hands. The other patients were cringing away from him, their eyes wide. He was burly, dressed in a City laborer's jumpsuit soiled with leaves and debris. With every leap, his heavy work boots left red mud clods on the floor.
"Jesus Christ, help me! Get it out! Get it OUT! It's MOVING!"
Okay, now I had a clue. I grabbed the man by his suit front, assured him that we would help and pulled him into an exam room, calling for the ear, nose and throat tray and some mineral oil.
When I looked through the otoscope into his left ear, I nearly screamed myself: Staring back at me were the multiple, horrifyingly enlarged eyes of a common spider. Probably equally terrified, it was clinging with all eight legs to the inside of this man's ear canal.
Now the cause of my patient's frenzy was clear. Once an arthropod (as the medical literature likes to call spiders and insects) makes its way into the human ear, every one of its tiny movements sounds as loud as a jet airplane to its unfortunate host. Add to this the creepy knowledge that your ear has been "invaded" by a creature that would make you recoil if you encountered it in the bathroom sink, and you have the perfect recipe for temporary insanity.
My patient, calming down a bit, explained that he had been clearing brush with one of his coworkers close behind and had felt a tickling sensation on top of his left ear. Suspecting a joke perpetrated by his coworker, he had swiped at the ear, only to feel the sensation of many wriggling feet running for cover, right into the nearest dark hole.
Now that I'd had a chance to assess the situation, I realized that only one of my two patients could survive. I chose to save the larger. A syringe of mineral oil, gently instilled, quickly euthanized the spider, and I washed the tiny carcass out of the man's ear with saline.
One part of me rejoiced at the relief in my human patient's face, now that he'd been freed from the tormenting interior flamenco dance. Another part of me wondered wryly if we should be playing "Taps" for the intrepid arachnid explorer.
The man insisted that I spread its draggled corpse with forceps so that he could make sure that none of the legs remained within his ear. Together, we counted all eight. Then he paused and reflected.
"Doc, you don't think it had time to lay eggs in there, do you?"
I hid my smile. "No, certainly not."
My patient began to recover his composure--and his swagger. He asked me to place the tiny body in a sterile urine container so he could show his friends the proof of his ordeal. By the time he left our clinic, amid the smiles and congratulations of the staff, I felt certain that, had the spider been just a bit larger, he would have had it stuffed and mounted.
The clinic staff and I went on to enjoy a long and congenial relationship with this patient--whose nickname forever after, of course, was "Spider Man."
About the author:
Paula Lyons is a native of New Jersey who graduated from Emory University School of Medicine. She now practices family medicine just outside of Baltimore, MD.Some of her other writings have appeared in Pulse, The Pharos and The Journal of Family Practice.
Story editor:
Diane Guernsey
9)- Humour:-
Customer: "I've been ringing 0700 2300 for two days and can't get through to enquiries, can you help?".
Operator: "Where did you get that number from, sir?".
Customer: "It was on the door to the Travel Centre".
Operator: "Sir, they are our opening hours".
With that Kadi joke, I am not sure how many of you could atleast smile! Here is a serious attempt with a serious joke again forcing you to smile, if not laughing!
With that, bidding good-bye to you all until our next meeting at Blog- 22!
Krishnan
