"I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss, or the perfect parent or the perfect outfit but maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been given and accessorize the outfit we've got."
- Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City
I think that is really the bottom line, try to do the best with what we've got. Can't keep wishing for things I just can't have!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Curing PMS
So many women out there suffer a long week every month reeling under the effects of PMS. Feeling weak-willed, trying to get up and move on but not finding the stamina too. I am one of those women. It is almost as if for about ten days every month I turn into someone else I don't quite know. I want to do things, find energy to get up and actually do it but it is as though something has tied me and I just can't do. Most of the time, I would spend these days procrastinating, sleeping, lying down, doing unproductive thing, watching movies, anything which just blocks the thoughts in my head and doesn't need me to make any effort.
They say you take vitamins, eat well, exercise, etc. and that helps PMS. Well I don't actively exercise but I am active. None of these worked, not even a little. Add to that the stressful lifestyle, and there is no hope!
Recently I read somewhere that PMS is caused by serotonin deficiency. Some people are more prone to it for unknown reason. How to fix the serotonin? Well you could exercise, take anti-depressants or in some cases, it has been found that a deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids causes serotonin deficiency. So I looked around for supplements, generally too expensive. Then I found ground flax seed supplement. Well, it was worth a try.
I took one spoon of ground flax seed, also called linseed everyday with a glass of juice. Voila! No PMS! Let's just hope it wasn't a temporary fix, that it works consistently every month.
Precautions for taking flax seed:
1. Keep it in an opaque, air tight container.
2. Don't cook them. Sprinkle over not-very-hot soup, add to juice or sprinkle over a cold salad.
3. Drink 2 glasses of water extra per spoon of linseed taken.
Go try it!!! It is liberating!!!
They say you take vitamins, eat well, exercise, etc. and that helps PMS. Well I don't actively exercise but I am active. None of these worked, not even a little. Add to that the stressful lifestyle, and there is no hope!
Recently I read somewhere that PMS is caused by serotonin deficiency. Some people are more prone to it for unknown reason. How to fix the serotonin? Well you could exercise, take anti-depressants or in some cases, it has been found that a deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids causes serotonin deficiency. So I looked around for supplements, generally too expensive. Then I found ground flax seed supplement. Well, it was worth a try.
I took one spoon of ground flax seed, also called linseed everyday with a glass of juice. Voila! No PMS! Let's just hope it wasn't a temporary fix, that it works consistently every month.
Precautions for taking flax seed:
1. Keep it in an opaque, air tight container.
2. Don't cook them. Sprinkle over not-very-hot soup, add to juice or sprinkle over a cold salad.
3. Drink 2 glasses of water extra per spoon of linseed taken.
Go try it!!! It is liberating!!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Living Green
We seldom think about how little actions of ours are harmful for the environment. It does not need big changes, only a slight thought before we just do things the way we have been doing them. I was able to figure out a few:
- Keep a handkerchief, as we used to do in the old days. Instead of just asking for a tissue wherever you eat, take out your handkerchief, just as you used to back in school!
- In office, just keep a tumbler or coffee mug to get your coffee and water instead of using the million disposable cups.
- Take bath the Indian way, bucket and a mug. It saves water.
- Fix all the taps that drip.
- Take the stairs. Save electricity and get some much-needed exercise.
- Run a full load while doing laundry. Saves electricity and water.
- Use a detergent such as Surf Excel Quickwash, takes less water.
- Turn off the charger once you disconnect your phone or laptop. It keeps using electricity even after the phone or laptop is charged.
- Use an insulated electric kettle to boil water. It is designed to be more energy efficient.
- Use rechargeable batteries.
- Install an economy flush system in your loo. It saves a lot of water.
- Use the back of your printouts for rough work. Or take two-sided printouts.
- Hibernate your computer before leaving work.
- Turn off the power of electronic devices when not in use. The standby mode consumes power.
- Turn off the lights when leaving the room.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Rotting here
This institute leaves a lot to be desired, and that is just putting it mildly. Here are some data points to support my "hypothesis":
- We have been charged mammoth fees in the name of facilities and hostel. Facilities such as computer and phone. The document said that there would be a phone in every room. Nada! Nothing at all like that! On top of it, the condition of the hostel is filthy. The paint chips off the walls and ceilings. The lift does not work. In fact the warden and programme director have themselves told us to refrain from using the lift. It is supposed to be replaced and they are aware that it is dangerous. Yet, batches after batches pass out without seeing any real action.
- The placements are entirely the business of the students. Students must go out, get companies, entertain them without even so much as cooperation from the powers responsible. The director can be caught unawares... wouldn't even know that a process is going on! Unique!
- The course scheduling is horrible. Perhaps they need to take some lessons from the OR guy on project scheduling. For one course, we were supposed to have only five classes. Can anybody guess when those happen? No, wrong. They take place all in the last week of the term when we have a hundred other submissions lined up and we are actually supposed to wind up everything and study for a couple of days before the exams begin, instead of just sitting in one class, learning alien concepts and analyzing cases, pretending that we have nothing better to do in life.
- The mess sucks. Unlike all NORMAL places, there is no system of pay-as-you-consume. You have to pay an astronomical amount regardless of whether you eat once a day or once a month. And then you find cockroaches in the food. Of course, the caterer cannot change. There is a tender to be floated and I am sure you can figure out why they like only this one caterer for years and years.
- The infrastructure is poor, to say the least. There is no place to entertain companies, play sports. There is an area near the canteen that stinks as though there are some remains decomposing there. God help! Maybe we need to call Dr. Brennan to figure out what it is.
- There will be random guest lectures scheduled. Each person coming and talking about the same thing, sometimes. I understand, sometimes it is needed for networking. But imagine this, some guy coming and telling you how he hasn't fallen ill for 40 years and how you must use his methodology in your life.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Worst Rooms at IIFT
The x7-x8 series of door-less rooms at IIFT are probably the worst ones. Let me explain the architecture of the rooms here in the old hostel. There are two adjacent rooms separated by a gallery that houses a bathroom and a restroom. Usually, each of the two rooms has an independent entrance and a second door that opens into the gallery with the bathroom. This gives a reasonable sense of separation from the washing area and the so-called adjacent room.
However, on each floor the 7-8 pair of rooms are an anomaly. There is only one entrance that goes in via the x8 room. There are no doors between the two rooms and washing area. It is like living in a noisy dormitory with little privacy or peace. Everyone who goes into x7 has to go via x8. The x8 people have to act as doorkeepers all the time. All this becomes much worse when the people in x7 have a proliferating social life and absence of paraphernelia that enables people to speak in a normal human low tone.
Living in x8 is tiring and irritating, especially for someone who needs some quiet time during the day, needs peace to study or sleep. This is extremely testing. Why don't they just put all noisy people in such rooms and let them enjoy each others' company? Why torture peace-loving souls?!
Lastly, exams are around the corner. I hope the noisy events in the adjacent room go down or I might have to resort to some tough talking. I hope it doesn't come to that.
However, on each floor the 7-8 pair of rooms are an anomaly. There is only one entrance that goes in via the x8 room. There are no doors between the two rooms and washing area. It is like living in a noisy dormitory with little privacy or peace. Everyone who goes into x7 has to go via x8. The x8 people have to act as doorkeepers all the time. All this becomes much worse when the people in x7 have a proliferating social life and absence of paraphernelia that enables people to speak in a normal human low tone.
Living in x8 is tiring and irritating, especially for someone who needs some quiet time during the day, needs peace to study or sleep. This is extremely testing. Why don't they just put all noisy people in such rooms and let them enjoy each others' company? Why torture peace-loving souls?!
Lastly, exams are around the corner. I hope the noisy events in the adjacent room go down or I might have to resort to some tough talking. I hope it doesn't come to that.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Pain
On Pain
Kahlil Gibran
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
Kahlil Gibran
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Love Thyself
Carrie Bradshaw in final scene of Sex and the City:
"Later that day, I got to thinking about relationships - there are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back; But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself, and if you find someone to love the you that you love, well, that's just fabulous!"
"Later that day, I got to thinking about relationships - there are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back; But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself, and if you find someone to love the you that you love, well, that's just fabulous!"
Friday, August 15, 2008
Use Browser URL History to Estimate Gender
An interesting tool to estimate gender based on your browser history. Go here to analyze yours.
My results were:
Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 47%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 53%
:P
My results were:
Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 47%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 53%
:P
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Hotel Monarch Mussoorie
I went to Mussorie last weekend with family. We had reservations at Hotel Monarch. Apparently some friend's relative's relative owns the hotel so my parents had booked two rooms there for backup, in case we didn't find any other hotel. The room cost was Rs. 2200. They said that they would give a ten percent discount and breakfast free. On our way, we started getting calls from the hotel to check whether we would be staying at the hotel indeed. My dad bought some time, he thought we could look at couple of other hotels too. We should have really figured that something is wrong with Hotel Monarch, given their desperation.
Anyhow, we reached on the Landour side of Mussoorie and checked the Jain Dharamshala. It is supposed to be good. My aunt is a Jain so she could have gotten rooms but the place was completely full. The rooms cost about Rs. 200 a day. After this, we found a sort of agent who took us to the Himalayan Club. He showed us two kinds of rooms, one kind was for Rs. 1320, but it was small; the other was huge and great and it was for Rs. 1800. However, only one of the bigger rooms was available for two nights, the other one was available for just one night. At that time we thought that we'd stay for two nights. My dad tried to bargain but they wouldn't agree so finally we thought we might as well go to the "good" hotel we had reservations in and take advatage of the free breakfast. Bad decision.
We reached the other side of the Mall Road, climbed a steep slope to get to the hotel and the rooms turn out to be smaller than the small rooms at the Himalayan Club that we were getting for Rs. 1320. The breakfast was not free, apparently he said that they had never said anything like that! Unfortunately, we were way too tired to go back to Landour so we just took those rooms.
Hotel Monarch is probably the WORST hotel in Mussoorie. The rooms are tiny and suffocating. The room service is pathetic. The sheets were dirty. The bathrooms were dirtier. There were no blankets. After much argument, we got a torn blanket. After we checked in, instead of asking if we would like tea or water, their receptionist kept calling to ask us to go and give the advance as though we would just run away. Alas! We should have run away! When we asked for an extra bed in a room, we got a tiny dirty mattress that we sent back. We ended up with three people sleeping on their tiny double bed that so damp, it could have been wet. The next morning, the hotel ran out of hot water. There was no hot water for an entire hour! Our trip got delayed because of this. Worst hotel. Worst infrastructure. Worst service. It doesn't even have 24 hours room service.
Because of the suffocating and discomfort, we decided to check out the next morning, do some tourist things and head back home. So on Saturday night, we were back home after a trip to Mussoorie in less than 24 hours.
My advice - stay clear of this hotel if you ever go to Mussoorie. They have other hotels too - Landour Manor is one of them. It would probably be as bad.
P.S. - I asked them for a feedback book. Obviously, they didn't have this either.
Anyhow, we reached on the Landour side of Mussoorie and checked the Jain Dharamshala. It is supposed to be good. My aunt is a Jain so she could have gotten rooms but the place was completely full. The rooms cost about Rs. 200 a day. After this, we found a sort of agent who took us to the Himalayan Club. He showed us two kinds of rooms, one kind was for Rs. 1320, but it was small; the other was huge and great and it was for Rs. 1800. However, only one of the bigger rooms was available for two nights, the other one was available for just one night. At that time we thought that we'd stay for two nights. My dad tried to bargain but they wouldn't agree so finally we thought we might as well go to the "good" hotel we had reservations in and take advatage of the free breakfast. Bad decision.
We reached the other side of the Mall Road, climbed a steep slope to get to the hotel and the rooms turn out to be smaller than the small rooms at the Himalayan Club that we were getting for Rs. 1320. The breakfast was not free, apparently he said that they had never said anything like that! Unfortunately, we were way too tired to go back to Landour so we just took those rooms.
Hotel Monarch is probably the WORST hotel in Mussoorie. The rooms are tiny and suffocating. The room service is pathetic. The sheets were dirty. The bathrooms were dirtier. There were no blankets. After much argument, we got a torn blanket. After we checked in, instead of asking if we would like tea or water, their receptionist kept calling to ask us to go and give the advance as though we would just run away. Alas! We should have run away! When we asked for an extra bed in a room, we got a tiny dirty mattress that we sent back. We ended up with three people sleeping on their tiny double bed that so damp, it could have been wet. The next morning, the hotel ran out of hot water. There was no hot water for an entire hour! Our trip got delayed because of this. Worst hotel. Worst infrastructure. Worst service. It doesn't even have 24 hours room service.
Because of the suffocating and discomfort, we decided to check out the next morning, do some tourist things and head back home. So on Saturday night, we were back home after a trip to Mussoorie in less than 24 hours.
My advice - stay clear of this hotel if you ever go to Mussoorie. They have other hotels too - Landour Manor is one of them. It would probably be as bad.
P.S. - I asked them for a feedback book. Obviously, they didn't have this either.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Short and Refreshing Weekend Break!
I had a great weekend visiting Shakumbhri Devi and Haridwar. It was a nearly flawless trip with the best of weather, traffic, and fortunate setting. We didn't have to wait much anywhere. The air was fresh, the Ganges even better! I took a dip in the Ganga after about 15 years or so. It was extremely refreshing and I feel like my batteries have been recharged and a lot of negativity, including my sins, has literally been washed away. Took two dips in the Ganga. One of those was a very quick one and it was raining! So there was rain from the top and water water everywhere! Amazing experience. Rain water actually felt lukewarm because the water of the Ganga was chilled!
I had two early mornings. Woke up at 4 am on Saturday and 6.30 am on Sunday. I did not mind it at all though. I guess that as long as I have something to do and something to look forward to, I can manage to wake up early. Now I suppose the only thing I need to work out is to find something amazing to do every single day of my life! ;)
I had two early mornings. Woke up at 4 am on Saturday and 6.30 am on Sunday. I did not mind it at all though. I guess that as long as I have something to do and something to look forward to, I can manage to wake up early. Now I suppose the only thing I need to work out is to find something amazing to do every single day of my life! ;)
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