MSBLOGS: 2010

Pages

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Are we really unlucky or other's luckier then us ?? Read on to feel lucky..

Its worth reading...

Do you suffer from bad luck?  Here’s how to improve your fortune....
Are you one of those people who are always suffering setbacks? Does little ever seem to go right for you? Are you dogged by constant instances of sheer bad luck? Do you sometimes feel that the universe is out to get you?

Let me let you into a secret: your luck is no worse—and no better—than anyone else’s. It just feels that way. Better, still, there are two simple things you can do which will reverse your feelings of being unlucky.

Stop believing that what happens in your life is down to the vagaries of luck, destiny, supernatural forces, malevolent other people, or anything else outside your self.

Psychologists call this external locus of control. It’s a kind of fatalism, where people believe that they can do little or nothing personally to change their lives. Because of this, they either merely hope for the best, focus on trying to change their luck by various kinds of superstition, or submit passively to whatever comes,while complaining that it doesn’t match their hopes.

Most successful people take the opposite view. They have “internal locus of control.” They believe that what happens in their life is nearly all down to them; and that even when chance events occur, what is important is not the event itself, but how you respond to it.
This makes them pro-active, engaged, ready to try new things, and keen to find the means to change whatever in their lives they don’t like. They aren’t fatalistic and they don’t blame bad luck for what isn’t right in their world. They look for a way to make things better.

Are they luckier than the others? Of course not. Luck is random—that’s what chance means—so they are just as likely to suffer setbacks as anyone else. What’s different is their response. When things go wrong, they quickly look for ways to put them right. They don’t whine, pity themselves, or complain about “bad luck.” They try to learn from what happened to avoid or correct it next time and get on with living their life as best they can.
No one is habitually luckier or unluckier than anyone else. It may seem so, over the short term (Random events often come in groups, just as random numbers often lie close together for several instances—which is why gamblers tend to see patterns where none exist). When you take a longer perspective, random chance is just . . . random. Yet those who feel that they are less lucky, typically pay far more attention to short-term instances of bad luck, convincing themselves of the correctness of their belief.

Your locus of control isn’t genetic. You learned it somehow. If it isn’t working for you, change it.
* Remember that whatever you pay attention to grows in your mind.

If you focus on what’s going wrong in your life—especially if you see it as “bad luck” you can do nothing about—it will seem blacker and more malevolent. In a short time, you’ll become so convinced that everything is against you that you’ll notice more and more instances where this appears to be true. As a result, you will almost certainly stop trying, convinced that nothing you can do will improve your prospects.

Fatalism feeds on itself, until people become passive “victims” of life’s blows. The “losers” in life are those who are convinced they will fail before they start anything; sure that their “bad luck” will ruin any prospects of success. They rarely notice that the true reasons for their failure are ignorance, laziness, lack of skill, lack of forethought, or just plain foolishness—all of which they could do something to correct, if only they would stop blaming other people or “bad luck” for their personal deficiencies.

Your attention is under your control. Send it where you want it to go. Starve the negative thoughts until they die.
                                                                            To improve your fortune, first decide that what happens is nearly always down to you; then try focusing on what works and what turns out well, not the bad stuff. Your “fate” really does depend on the choices that you make. When random events happen, as they always will, do you choose to try to turn them to your advantage ......... or just complain about them?

Thomas Jefferson is said to have used these words: “I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”

Your luck, in the end, is pretty much what you choose it to be.

Hope you would have liked it and got the feeling that you are indeed very lucky..... Good Luck then..

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

ThE-Ganesha: Lets celebrate E-friendly Ganesha


-->
The Environmental Impact of Ganesh Chaturthi



1. Water Pollution:

The Issue:
For some years now we have been observing a growing awareness about the water pollution caused by the immersion of Ganesh idols made out of Plaster of Paris, in natural water bodies such as lakes, rivers and the sea. PoP is not a naturally occurring material. Plaster of Paris is a calcium sulfate hemi-hydrate: (CaSO4, ½ H2O) derived from gypsum, a calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4, 2 H2O), by firing this mineral at relatively low temperature and then reducing it to powder. While idols made out of naturally occurring clay (shaadu in Marathi) dissolve within hours of immersion in water, PoP idols may take anywhere between several months to years to fully dissolve. In addition, when chemical paints are used to decorate the idols, these paints contain heavy metals such as mercury and lead, which seep into the water as the idol dissolves.

The Solution:
Since the main issue around water pollution has got to do with the idol immersion ritual, several people are now suggesting a slight variation of this ritual to avoid water pollution. These include:

1. Immersing the idol in a water tan constructed by the government, instead of directly into natural water bodies.
2. Using only a natural clay idol and immersing it either in the tank or in a bucket of water at home.
3. Immersing a 'betel nut’, which symbolizes the idol and reusing the same idol every year.
4. If one is using a PoP idol, simply sprinkling a few drops of water on it as a symbolic immersion and donating the idol to be recycled for the following year.







2. Appropriate Management of 'NIRMALYA':

Along with the idol, there are several accessories used during the worship, which are collectively referred to as 'nirmalya'. These include flowers, fruits, coconuts, cloth, incense, camphor etc. Further, many people create elaborate temples out of thermocole to house their idols. Until some years ago, all these were also immersed along with the idols. 
Possible solutions:

1. Avoiding the use of non-biodegradable material such as thermocole altogether.
2. Composting all biodegradable material.
3. Distributing food items such as coconuts and fruits among the poor.
4. Recycling flowers to make hand made paper or dried flower products.
5. In Pune, the municipal corporation has successfully convinced people not to immerse the 'nirmalya' into the water. Instead, they have installed large bins shaped as traditional pots or 'kalashes' to receive this nirmalya. While this is a good first step, the appropriate management of the nirmalya is still crucial considering the volumes that are collected every year.


Fact of the matter:

Do you know that photography is not allowed the next day at the beaches where immersion takes place? If you ask why then that’s because the beaches are full of desecrated idols, decaying flowers and dead fish the next day, and the Government tries its best to hide this from media and other activists.

3. Sound pollution:

Songs and dances are an integral part of the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. However, ear-splitting decibels are not just disturbing, but a major health hazard.
The new-born kids and the old people who get severely affected due to the high sound levels the fireworks produce. The effect of high noise levels on small children and old age people have been known to cause physical health damages (High heart beat rate etc) as well.



These can be summarized as shown below:

1. The water pollution caused by the immersion of Plaster of Paris idols into natural water bodies
2. The water pollution caused by chemical paints used on these idols
3. The waste generated by the non-biodegradable accessories used during the worship
4. Noise pollution
5. Traffic congestion
6. Increased consumerism



          Some Evils in the festivals:
·                                                        Extravagant decoration.
·                                                        Water polluted by immersion of plaster of Paris statues.
·                                                        Scaring decorations
·                                                        Lewd songs and vulgar dances
·                                                        Noise pollution
·                                                        Advertisements of addictive substances
·                                                        Participation of anti-social elements
·                                                        Extortion of funds
·                                                        No programs of Righteousness or Nation building
·                                                        Domination by politicians
·                                                        Gambling and drinking liquor within the ‘Pandal’





Some do’s and don’ts for celebrating environmental friendly Ganesh Chaturthi.
DO’s
1. House and decoration
A. Importance to Shree Ganesh first, then secondary importance to decoration.
B. Cleanliness, saatvic decoration, so also everybody should collectively prepare for pooja with devotion.

2. Idol
A. Made of clay and painted with natural colours
B. Seated on a platform
C. Made according to the science of idols.


3. Religious rituals
A. Preparation of puja after purification to maintain the sanctity.
B. Everyone should remain present and experience the divine
consciousness.

4. Aarti
A. Selective and with devotionful aarti.
B. Prayer and chanting after aarti.

5. Prasad (offering)
A. Chanting while preparing prasad.
B. Taking prasad in a queue peacefully.

6. Procession
A. Disciplined,with chanting and concluding on time.

7. Immersion
A. According to the science immersion in flowing water.
Don’ts

  1. House and decoration
    A. Expensive lighting and decoration and a gaily-decorated frame of thermocol.
    B. While watching entertainment programmes on the television.
    C. Listening to desireless songs during preparation

    2. Idol
    A. Plaster of Paris and big size.
    B. Of strange attire (e.g soldier,saint etc)
    C. Made out of items like coconut, bananas, utensils, bottles.



3.  Religious Ritual
A. Children's noise and chatting during rituals
B. Not remaining present at the time of ritual.

4. Aarti
A. Long aartis and in loud tone.
B. Laughing and making fun during aarti.

5. Prasad
A. Chatting while preparing prasad.
B. Crowding during taking of prasad and teasing.

6. Procession
A. Slow paced procession, alcohol, forcible application of gulal.

7. Immersion
A. Donation of idol and throwing from a height.


Idols of Lord Ganesh should not have weird forms and attires. This is totally erroneous because Lord Ganapati cannot be compared to a leader, soldier, sportsman, etc. The Ganesh idol is humanized to gain cheap popularity and publicity.

       
Denigration of Ganesh Idol!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUD9_9XEkYLIKjJZV28_lIN1UnA-FxDnaDaD_pbsx12Ai5Js6IVY_6gsla-RzY_Hc7OkFyfFMGNXVu_2IVXuSZuzF0F2MlHOAy_-j4XO9czWYV-1hY7zqK2-ajEqd8lTuONHxWEsHPDPc/s320/thisISnottight.JPG


GANPATI BAPPA MAURYA!!!

Have a jouyous ganesha chaturthi...