Vaastu Shastra

Habitation is the basic need of every living being. Man builds houses for his living. Any piece of land and structure built on it is known as 'Vastu'. It has been derived from the word 'Vaas' which means 'to live'. Vaastu shastra is an ancient science which helps one to get the natural benefits freely offered by the five basic elements of the universe in which we all live. These basic elements are Akash (SKY), Prithvi (EARTH), Paani (WATER), Agni (FIRE), and Vayu (WIND). Vastu Shastra can be applied by keeping in harmony with these basic five elements of nature. It is an edifice science that was developed by our learned people thousands of years ago. Its application today is purely architectural and its principles are based on becoming one with nature. Like astrology and palmistry it is a vast & complicated science, easily misunderstood by most people.

SPACE : Internal space of a building should be utilized in such a manner that it should not obstruct the ventilation and entry of Sun light. Therefore the height of the ground floor, planning upper stories, multiplex, cupboards, other internal fixtures, placement of furniture, bed etc. are decided accordingly.
Eight Directions:
NE or Ishaan Kon (Water): Pooja room, water storage tank, boring, lawn, portico, Drawing room, water supply connection.
East: Main gate, living room, bathroom, kitchen, guestroom, open space, balcony, Tulsi plant.
SE or Agni Kon (Fire): Office, fire, toilet, plants, basement, stairs, generator / inverter storeroom, clothes.
South: Bedroom, room to store heavy articles like machines etc., overhead water tank, big trees, godown, toilet, paying guest / tenant.
SW or Nairitya Kon (Earth): Arms and ammunition, room to store raw materials, sleeping room, room for father or elder brother, stairs, overhead water storage tank, trees.
West: Dinning room, septic tank, stairs, water storage tank on the ground, toilet cum bath, drawing room, living room.
NW or Vaayaya Kon ( Air ): Cattle and animals, grains storage, kitchen, living room, stairs, medium sized trees.
North: Treasury, finished material store, reception room, children’s room, recreation and entertainment room, gas plant or connection, swimming pool.

Relaxed Meals for Good Health

The following tips on healthy eating are simple and yet very effective. If eating and dietary habits are substantially different from these, introduce the Ayurvedic guidelines gradually.

Eat only when genuinely hungry and when your last meal is fully digested (about 3-6 hours after a main meal).
Eat in a quiet and relaxed atmosphere. While eating you should not read, work or watch television. Always sit down to eat.
Do not over eat. After eating, the stomach should be only up to 3/4 full.
Sit quietly for 5-10 minutes at the end of each meal
Lunch should be the main meal of the day. Breakfast and evening meals should be light. The evening meal should not be taken too late.
In the evening avoid heavy foods such as meat, fish, yoghurt, cheese, buttermilk and fromage frais.
Try to be regular in your meal times. Eat at the same times each day.
Avoid eating between meals. Instead drink hot water, or if necessary eat ripe sweet fruit.
Food should be freshly prepared; it should be wholesome and should taste good. Avoid reheated or stale food.
Most of one's food should be cooked, as the body can more easily absorb cooked food. Raw food should be eaten only as a side dish (e. g. salad).
Make use of culinary spices. They not only make the food tasty, but support the digestive processes as well.
Include all 6 tastes in each meal: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. The tastes also have their own influence on the subtle inner balance of the physiology.
During meals you may sip liquids such as water, juice or lassi. Do not drink a lot and avoid ice-cold drinks - they dampen down the digestive processes.
Milk should not be drunk with the main meal. It can be taken alone or with a light meal of sweet tasting foods (e.g. toast, cereals etc). Minimise food of other tastes.
Honey should not be heated above body temperature (40 degrees C) and therefore should not be used in cooking or baking.
Take appropriate food supplements as required.

Ayurvedic tips For Better Health

Drink Hot Water :
Drinking hot water regularly is a classical Ayurvedic recommendation for balancing Vata and Kapha dosha, strengthening digestive power, and reducing metabolic waste (Ama) that may have accumulated. Boil a sufficient amount of unchlorinated tap water or (still) mineral water in an open saucepan, for at least ten minutes. Keep this water in a thermos flask and take a few sips (or more, if you are thirsty) every half-hour throughout the day. It is the frequency rather than the quantity that is important here. To increase the positive effect you can add 1-2 slices of fresh ginger (or a pinch of ginger powder) to the water when boiling it.
Daily Oil Massage :
One of the most enjoyable things you can do for your body and health is to have a full-body oil massage in the morning before your bath or shower. An oil massage has a soothing effect on the nervous system (Vata), strengthens the circulation, and helps to remove toxins from the body. The Ayurvedic texts explain that the use of oil massage brings about a soft, flexible, strong and attractive body. It is extremely beneficial for the skin and should therefore be done regularly.
Soothing Sleep:
Nowadays many people find it difficult to switch off in the evening and enjoy a good, deep sleep. The Ayurvedic texts give the following recommendations for people who have difficulty in sleeping: Regular oil massages; occupying oneself with pleasant and uplifting things; warm baths; light food in the evening (e.g. soups) and not taken too late; use of aroma oils; listening to relaxing and pleasing music; a comfortable bed and a pleasant atmosphere in the bedroom. Ayurveda recommends going to bed before ten o'clock: Each time of day has a different "quality". From 6 to 10 in the evening Kapha dosha is predominant, which facilitates failing asleep. From 10 o'clock onwards is Pitta time, when mental experiences should be being processed during sleep. If instead one remains awake, it is a common experience that the tiredness gradually disappears and one is then unable to fall asleep till well past midnight.
Drinks :
Lassi is an Ayurvedic yoghurt drink, which not only tastes wonderful but also helps digestion and balances all the doshas. Yogurt and lassi are not considered the same thing in Maharishi Ayurveda.
Ghee or Clarified Butter
Ghee has many fine qualities according to ayurveda. Used in cooking it enhances the sattva or pure quality in food. Also it acts as a digestive. It is good for both Vata and Pitta.

How to create folders in Gmail ?

Recently I felt the need to organize my mails into separate folders. But unfortunately, there is no option of creating folders as in Yahoo. workaround. Here’s the process which will be useful for organizing messages.

Create a new label (eg. LIC) by clicking on “Edit labels” in the Labels panel or going to “Settings”
In Settings, click on “Filters”
Click on “Create a new filter”
Type in mailing list prefix (eg. lic)in subject field and press “Next step”
Make sure “Skip the Inbox” is checked and select the new label from the “Apply the label” dropdown
Select “Create Filter”
The Labels panel will now act as a folder list. This filter will prevent mailing list messages from showing up in the GMail Notifier. This would be a benefit for those who want to really organize the data. Labels can be used as an alternative since folders facility is not available.

One of the benefits is being able to store messages under multiple labels rather than being stuck with a single folder.

Current lifestyles affecting Health

I have been always conscious of my health since the age of 12, when I started noticing myself on account of others teasing me saying a quite fat girl who looks 15 or 16. But I could never realize the reason behind it unless I started excavating the reasons of overweight. I started taking less chappatis and rice. But the problem with me was, I was very much and in fact was and am still addicted to eating varieties of food and love eating delicious food. Hence after a week or so I would think I'll do it from next week. Next week comes and eat less for a day or so and the same excuse, I'll eat less next week. The result, I could not reduce my weight. But I could overcome this lethargic attitude during my college days, when I realized that mere less eating will not suffice and a long walk or some sort of physical exercise is mandatory for a good health.

A variety of lifestyle or health related habits (behavioural factors),material factors (such as the environment and living standards),and psychosocial factors (for example, stress and risk taking) can have a major impact on a person’s health.
Being overweight can contribute or lead to a range of health conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, indigestion and some cancers. Young people should eat the five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. But very rarely this is followed. This results into increased rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in the later age.Many parents don’t recognize the long-term health problems of overweight children. Parents are often disengaged from their children’s eating habits. The resulting trend is a generation of children with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Many of us have no idea of our own nutritional status, weight, or diet.
Inactivity increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis, and obesity. Research studies have linked from 14 percent to 23 percent of deaths from major chronic diseases to sedentary lifestyles.Obesity increases the risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoporosis, respiratory problems, and some cancers. Obese older adults are more likely to be severely disabled and to suffer from chronic symptoms of illness than those who are not obese. They are also more likely to suffer from chronic symptoms such as fatigue.
Prevalence of cigarette smoking is highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (42 percent), followed by whites (24 percent), and African Americans (22 percent). Smoking is the major cause of lung and esophageal cancer. Alcohol abuse is highest among adults aged 18-29 and lowest among older adults. Women become more impaired than men do by drinking the same amount of alcohol, even when the differences in body weight are taken into account. Also, alcohol dependence and related health problems such as brain, heart, and liver damage progress more rapidly in women than in men.
Healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight and regular exercise, often help to control, and may even help to prevent, high blood pressure, which is one of the leading causes of kidney failure.

Stock market

A stock market, or (equity market), is a private or public market for the trading of company stock and derivatives of company stock at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.

The size of the stock market is estimated at about $51 trillion. The world derivatives market has been estimated at about $480 trillion face or nominal value, 30 times the size of the U.S. economy, and 12 times the size of the entire world economy. It must be noted though that the value of the derivatives market, because it is stated in terms of notional value and cannot be directly compared to a stock or a fixed income security, which traditionally refers to an actual value. Many such relatively illiquid securities are valued as marked to model, rather than an actual market price.

The stocks are listed and traded on stock exchanges which are entities a corporation or mutual organization specialized in the business of bringing buyers and sellers of stocks and securities together. The stock market in the United States includes the trading of all securities listed on the NYSE, the NASDAQ, the Amex, as well as on the many regional exchanges, e.g. OTCBB and Pink Sheets. European examples of stock exchanges include the London Stock Exchange, the Deutsche Borse and the Paris Bourse, now part of Euronext.

Insurance policies

There are various options available :

Term plan : A term plan is pure risk cover. This essentially allows you to insure with lesser premium for a larger sum assured. But this does not offer any returns if you survive the tenure (However, there are some policies, which return the premium amount paid). The idea of this policy is purely to ensure that the beneficiaries(usually the family) aren’t left desperate in financial terms and future prospects in case of unfortunate incidents. Term insurance is undoubtedly, the cheapest insurance cover, mainly because this only includes administration expenses and mortality charges. In fact, this is not savings.

Endowment policy : An endowment policy involves a life cover for a certain term of years during which a regular (annual) premium is to be paid. At the end of the term the accumulated premiums plus a certain return will be paid back. In case of premature death, before the term ends, the beneficiary will be paid the sum assured value of the cover.

Money back policy : Money policy is an endowment policy but with periodic returns. These returns are a certain percentage of the sum assured. Between money-back and endowment, money-back is always more expensive, as these policies charge higher premium, plus there are various charges levied when the periodical returns are given.

Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIP) : This is equity based insurance investment. This is for those who are looking at higher returns on investments along with a life cover. When investing in ULIP – unless the market is consistently doing well, the returns may not be good within short term. But within a period of 10 or 15 yrs, the returns will be high.