My Quotes

Here are some more quotations composed by me today -

1) The wise know there is limited time while fools believe it is in abundance.
2) Being away from home brings you closer to it.
3) Upbringing lives with you till the end.
4) Daring to stand up for the right is a virtue of the courageous.
5) I met myself the day I chose to be different.
6) To think of changing the world without changing yourself is hypocrisy.
7) The best results come from having been through the worst.
8) Those who cannot create have no right to destroy.

Forward But In The Right Spirit

I had been thinking of writing on rules for forwarding mails for sometime but had not done so. I recently got a mail that spoke about email rules. This reminded me to write on the art of forwarding mails. I know that a lot of people do not want to receive such mails and especially the ones that want you to forward them to more people. This adds to work. To forward a mail one must try to make the mail as concise as possible so that the receiver’s inbox is not clogged. One can zip large attachments in a mail before forwarding it. I find it best to forward the main content of the mail from the forwarded mail and not just forward what I have received. This makes me bring down the size of say a 4 MB mail to as less as 0.25 MB. Names of all the people who have forwarded and received the previous mails is not required by those whom we want to forward the mail to. Nobody likes reading names of people whom they do not know. Caution and judgement are required in forwarding mails as to the age of the audience. There are times when mails have adult content that might need censoring if the mail is meant for a larger audience of mixed ages and tastes. Forwarding mails blindly is like acting as a post office. One thing that I would be implementing in my mails is to write the email ids under Bcc and not under To. This will help in non disclosure of personal email ids to others who will get the forwarded mails at a later date and it will also keep the mail content clean and crisp for my mail recipients. One must check with the mail recipients in advance if they like receiving global mails. I know I have not done this as I assumed that my friends and relatives would like the mails. I should have ideally checked with them so that I do not offend anyone. Greetings and language of the mail should be proper and polite. Non official mails should not read like official circulars or memos. Adding a personal touch to personal mails would be surely appreciated by the readers. Giving credit to the mail originator or the person who sent you the mail is also a good gesture. Another point needs to be noted while replying to a forwarded mail that had attachments. It is good to thank the person who sent you a nice mail but this should be done by deleting the attachments from the original mail so that the sender gets a 1kb mail instead of a 2 MB or 4 MB mail. Imagine having sent a big mail to 5 people and all 5 replying with attachments. In most likelihood four of these replies will bounce or get lost in the server. A separate thank you mail can also be sent to avoid replying with attachments. I can think of these main points as of now that I have noted in the forwarded mails that come to me. I will add to these rules later in case I notice something worth sharing.

Little Faces

Don't these flowers look like little children looking up to you for appreciation and affection.

The Trespasser

There was an eerie silence that whispered to him that someone had been in the room. His things were not in their place. He knew that his books had been touched. The album that now lay on the floor had been on the table in the morning. The pillow was out of place. He did not leave it in that corner that morning. Something was amiss!! He quickly reached to the drawer where he kept his money. He thanked God as his money was lying secure in his drawer. But he knew that his room had been searched. The feeling of a stranger having been in his room was unwelcome and horrifying. He wondered why anyone would walk in here and go through his possessions. It was unbelievable and disturbing. He was frowning and groaning at the same time as he was not ready to accept the fact that he had been robbed of his privacy. It was his room and its possessions belonged solely to him and he would not have anyone else close to them. He was slowly coming to terms with the situation as he got up from the bed and tried to walk towards the bathroom. He was petrified on reaching the door to the bathroom. He saw something glowing in the darkness, eyes of a Dracula!! It made a dash at him before he could switch on the bathroom light. A black cat ran out of the bathroom and headed out of his room to the terrace. “Ah”, he said heaving a sigh of relief, “So, that was the culprit!!”

A Rose

A rose by any other name would be as pretty ....................

A Nice Way To Say Good Morning

Blog Pictures

I have not had the chance to talk about the pictures on my blog till now. 97% of pictures/ photographs on my blog have been taken by me. All the flowers seen here are from my garden that we cultivate with the help of my gardener. These photos have been captured by me through the eyes of my camera.

Tiger

"Tiger" was our pet who stayed with us for fifteen years. He became a part of the family within days of his coming to our home. It was a great experience to have him with us. People were always scared of him as he had a loud voice. His bark was thunderous enough to rattle the window panes and make people tremble. But he was a gem of a dog with a heart of gold. I spent most of those fifteen years in his service - food, walk, bath, medication, veterinary visits, etc. Having a pet is a big responsibility as they are like infants who never grow up. You need to serve them food, give them a bath, take them for a walk and be with them when they are at the vet's. He had tantrums of the world and a very sensitive nature. It was a joyous feeling to watch him waiting in the balcony when I returned from college. He loved car rides. He proudly had his snout high up in the air when he went for a car ride. He was never left alone so I had to baby sit when the family attended parties and functions where Tiger was not invited. He did accompany us to our relations who were outstation but not all relatives could be comfortable at the sight of a huge Labrador Retriever in their home. He died on his fifteenth birthday. It was a very sad time. Tajinder helped us carry him to the graveyard where we buried him. Mummy had a prayer (puja/hawan) held at home for him after the burial so that his soul rests in peace and he finds an even better life in his next birth.

Nature As A Stress Cure

Stress can ruin both physical and mental health alike. Spending time with nature relaxes the stressed muscles. The beauty of nature takes away the focus from our worries as we start appreciating the natural surroundings. Taking a walk in the garden is refreshing and rejuvenating as the fresh air brings a soothing effect to the body weakened by stress. The pretty flowers usher in joy to not just the body but also to the soul. There is no harm in trying to cure stress by coming closer to nature.

Beautiful Stitches

Embroidery has varied styles and forms across the world. There are manifold embroidery types in India itself. Every State of the country has an art form of traditional embroidery to cherish. There is immense beauty in this art whichever State it may originate from. The cultural heritage of this art is a treasure to be preserved.

Traditional and modern embrodery work combined together produce exquisite pieces of art. The embroidery styles are innumerable but to name a few we have, Kantha, phulkari, zardozi, parsi, neemzari, goti patta, aari, chikankari, sitara, dabka, kundan, resham, shibori, kashmiri/kashida, dori, shibori, mirror work, beads, meenakari, booti, sequin work, stone work, zari work, cutdana, etc.

Chikankari, kantha, parsi, kashmiri and zardozi are some of my top favourite emroidery styles.

Purity Of White

White is a colour that is so serene and pure and can enhance the beauty of any colour if placed on it. It has the grace of a swan and the calmness of the expanse of snowy mountains. Even white flowers look so amazing and stand out if placed with coloured flowers. Pure white crockery looks more attractive than its competitors in varied colours. White table cloth can put even pastel shade ones to shame. A white flower vase can add beauty to any colour flower that it holds. White is the colour of peace, purity and joy.

Lovely Dahlias

Uncommon Common Sense

Many of us would have noticed/ taken part in these actions that are contrary to common sense:

1) Placing a glass or cup on the edge of a table to allow it to fall instantly and break.
2) Leaving loose papers under a fan knowing very well they will get blown away by the drought.
3) Picking a jar or bottle from the lid to drop it while the lid remains in the hand.
4) Trying to open a bottle which is full up to the brim by holding it at the centre thereby spilling water that gets squeezed out as soon as the lid opens.
5) Blowing into infant’s food and filling it with germs on the pretext of cooling it and still claiming to be hygiene conscious.
6) Opening the car door without checking for traffic/ pedestrians coming from behind and in turn hitting someone or getting hit by a speeding vehicle passing by.
7) Giving infants hot food without telling them it is hot and burning their tender mouths.
8) Keeping sharp objects / medicines / match boxes/ lighters within easy reach of children.
9) Letting infants near hot objects on pretext of making them independent. Or on pretext of teaching them what warm / hot means. (So I assume these parents will throw the infant in front of a car to teach them what an accident means. I feel such careless people do not have a right to parent children.)
10) Trying to distract a driver by pointing at things on the road.
11) Asking a person why he/she does not have children. Is it not obvious that either there is a medical reason or there is no desire for parenthood!! Why ask such silly questions??
12) Holding the car door rim while trying to seat inside the car, giving every opportunity to the other passengers/ driver to smash the fingers while closing the door.

13) Leaving wallets/ handbags/valuables unattended to later grieve over theft of valuables.
14) Writing passwords on the credit card/debit card cover and then complaining of card misuse/fraud.

The list is endless and we still talk about Common Sense.