The Dharma Of Money

Can money buy Grace? When the basics are covered, extra money can buy extra food, clothes, houses and whatever else.  However, you can live in only one house at a time, wear one set of clothes at a time, and eat as much as your stomach can hold at a time. Therefore money is useful to buy goods and services and there is nothing wrong with money, per se. It is after all the core need and everybody’s entitled to earn it in order to have some kind of purchasing power.

Our scriptures go as far as to declare it as artha, one of the four purusharthas of human life-- dharma, artha, kama and moksha.  Yet, money corrupts. Why? According to Sri Sathya Sai Baba this is because the basic and first principle of dharma is bypassed. It is on the basis of dharma that the balance purusharthas have to be worked out.

You just witnessed the Idiocracy election of 2012 ...

(NaturalNews) I don't normally watch television (the "zombie tube"), but I couldn't resist on election night. So I tuned in and found myself reacting in total shock at the live news interviews with Americans who had just voted: These people were complete morons!

I don't mean that in a flippant derogatory way. What I mean is that they were cognitively incapable of intelligent thought. They had no grasp of the issues, no comprehension of political reality, and no clear idea why they even voted for their candidate.

Without exception, the people I saw interviewed on the news appeared to be babbling idiots yanked right out of the movie Idiocracy. Some of them gave "reasons" for voting that had no basis in fact. "He's good for the economy and created more jobs," one Obama voter explained, apparently not realizing Obama has gutted the U.S. economy and destroyed tens of millions of jobs over the last four years, causing unemployment to skyrocket and food stamps to more than double.

Life After People : Welcome to Earth...Population: Zero.

Do you ever thought of Life on Earth after People ... if not this might catch your attention.

Life After People was a television speculative fiction series on which scientists, structural engineers and other experts speculate on about what might become of Earth should humanity instantly disappear. The featured experts also talk about the impact of human extinction on the environment, and the vestiges of civilization thus left behind.

Tagline : "Welcome to Earth...Population: Zero."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• The Bodies Left Behind  : This episode looks at the future of cities like Boston and Houston and their static structures after the disappearance of man and what will happen to the human bodies that are buried, embalmed, and mummified, as well as the fate of the Immortality Drive inside the International Space Station, cryonically frozen bodies and human embryos, and parrots. This episode also examines the fate of the Statue of Liberty and the Sistine Chapel. The episode also explores Hashima Island in Japan, which was abandoned by people 35 years ago.  

• OutBreak :This episode predicts the uncontrolled encroachment of nature upon the abandoned cities of Chicago, Atlanta and London, and how deadly viruses, like rabies, could spawn out of control as the populations of escaped pets and other animals, like wild hogs and the corgis belonging to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, could explode without the interference of man. The episode also explores Gary, Indiana, portions of which were abandoned by people over 30 years ago.

• The Capital Threat : In a life after people, the forces of nature could consume Washington, D.C. and America's national treasures as they fall into ruin, zoo animals could escape their enclosures, and Los Angeles could burn in an inferno and eventually return to its original state before it became civilized by humans. The episode also explores the temples in Cambodia, which were abandoned by people about 600 years ago.
• Heavy Metal : This episode projects how long the nation's buildings and bridges will stand before the elements consume the steel and concrete, from the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Brooklyn Bridge and the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and how once domesticated animals, like horses, will return to wild herds that roam America's grasslands. The episode also examines the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada, which was abandoned by people 90 years go. 
• The Invaders : After the disappearance of man, sandstorms could sweep through Phoenix, Miami and Shanghai might disappear into the ocean, and invasive plants and animals such as Burmese Pythons will spread uncontrolled. Also included is the fate of the Taj Mahal in India. The episode also exploresTyneham, England, which was abandoned by people 65 years ago during World War II. 
• Bound and Buried : In a post-apocalyptic future, even sealed artifacts such as the Liberty Bell, the United States Declaration of Independence, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will not survive indefinitely. Wolves and feral dogs struggle to survive. In San Francisco cables snap on the Golden Gate Bridge and the cable cars are sent careening through the streets, while the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur survive longer than most other modern towers. In Paris, the fate of the Mona Lisa, Lascaux, Lascaux II, the Venus de Milo and the Notre Dame de Paris is shown. The episode also examines Centralia, Pennsylvania, which was largely abandoned over 25 years because of a coal seam fire burning beneath the town.
• Sin City Meltdown : This episode predicts how two gambling cities will deteriorate without people; rats invade Las Vegas, Nevada, the famous hotels such as the Stratosphere Tower and the Luxor Las Vegas crumble to dust, the Las Vegas sign falls from its location, and the wax statues of celebrities melt away. Atlantic City is destroyed as ocean waves smash through casinos, break up the boardwalk and piers and tarnishes the fate of Lucy the Elephant. Camels go wild in North America, like their ancestors, and are transformed after the next ice age. Over thousands of years, the Voyagerspace probes are battered by impacts from dust and debris, leaving few recognizable remnants of humanity behind. The episode also examines the Americana Amusement Park in Monroe, Ohio, showing how degraded it has become after only recently having been abandoned in 2002.
• Armed & Defenseless : In a future without people, the machines of war deteriorate; nuclear submarines lie on the ocean floor, and the USS Missouri is the target of a renewed "attack" on Pearl Harbor, as the ship transforms into a plant-covered island. Most dairy cows die, but a few survive and adapt to life on America's plains alongside thriving herds of bison. This episode also examines Honolulu, the Wells Fargo Center in Denver and North Brother Island off of New York City, which was abandoned 45 years ago. 
• Roads to Nowhere : This episode looks at how vehicles will deteriorate without people, how America's automobile plants and transportation symbols such as the Renaissance Center and the Ambassador Bridge will shatter in Detroit's harsh winters, and how unattended oil refineries will explode. In San Antoniothe Alamo falls to a new invader, and the Tower Life Building meets its demise. Also, animals adapt, armadillos spread, some dogs rekindle their hunting instincts, and longhorn cattle flourish once again. This episode also examines the Packard plant and the 60 square miles (160 km²) of Detroit which was abandoned 40 years ago. 
• Waters of Death : In a world devoid of humans, water floods cities like New Orleans. Its aquarium's power goes out, spelling trouble for the animals inside. Head lice die off without human hosts. The fate of Seattle and its symbolic Space Needle is shown as the city returns to a saltwater marsh, and humidity in the Middle East wrecks the space-age structures of Dubai, including the Burj Al Arab Hotel. The fate of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is shown and Louisiana's tallest building One Shell Square collapses. The episode examines buildings in New Orleans that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina and were subsequently abandoned four years before the airing of the episode.

                                                    

Top 5 New York Times - Bestsellers, Fiction (print and e-books between October 28, 2012 and November 11, 2012)

1. Title: The Bone Bed     

    Author: Patricia Cornwell  

   Publisher: Penguin Group

 

Synopsis: Author Patricia Cornwell's 20th in the 'Scarpetta' novel series, The Bone Bed is ajourney into the dinosaur age. Paleontologist Emma Shubert has suddenly gone missing in the wilderness of Canada while digging a dinosaur bone bed. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a forensic pathologist receives a video footage in her inbox that in turn can help decode the mystery behind the missing woman. Things begin to complicate when Scarpetta encounters a number of events close to home that give her clues on Emma's disappearance. Will Scarpetta be able to join all dots or entangle herself more in the labyrinth of evidences?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Title: The Panther
    Author: Nelson DeMille                                            
   Publisher: Grand Central     Publishing

Synopsis: Nelson has set 'The Panther' in the year 2004 when people are still coping with the repercussions of the September 11 disaster and the suicide bomb attack on the destroyer USS Cole. Anti-terrorist task force agent John Corey and FBI officer Kay Mayfield (his wife) are on a mission in Yemen (known to be one of the most dangerous places in the Middle-East) to hunt for the killer, 'The Panther', the prime suspect (an Al-Qaeda operative) in the Cole bombing case. The thriller novel takes a new turn when we see The Panther planning another lethal attack on the United States with the knowledge that Cole and company have begun their search operation. Will the US government be successful in bringing The Panther down to dust or will they lose their federal agents in the operation?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Title: The Twelve
    Author: Justin Cronin
   Publisher: Random House Publishing    

 Synopsis: Justin Cronin's The Twelve, the sequel to the first book of the trilogy, The Passage, takes off after a government experiment goes horribly wrong and unfolds the story of three strangers and their lives after an apocalypse. In this book, Cronin lets the intensity deepen and hence reveals an epic story of a man-made apocalypse. Lila is a doctor and mother to be who prepares for her child's arrival in the midst of a collapsing society. Kittridge is armed but alone on the road, depending on a tank of gas to escape the violence and infection. And April is a teenager endeavouring to save her little brother from getting killed. The three strangers are stuck in a chaotic and deathly situation, each one fighting on for humankind's salvation and emerging out hopeful in the process.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


4. Title: Fifty Shades of Grey 
    Author: E.L. James
    Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing

Synopsis: E.L James, a former TV journalist and mom of two in West London, fulfills her childhood dream of writing a book with Fifty Shades of Grey, the first of the trilogy, and turns into a bestselling author. Serving erotica to the audience with a plot that revolves around a drop-dead-gorgeous billionaire Christian Grey and his dangerous liaison with literature student Anastasia Steele who goes to interview the young tycoon, and ends up falling for him. They embark on a passionate physical affair while Ana unravels Grey's dark desires including her own.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


5. Title: The Casual Vacancy                                           
    Author: J K Rowling
   Publisher: Little, Brown & Company                                                

Synopsis: Moving away from the world of wizards and magic wands, J K Rowling's first 'adult' novel, The Casual Vacancy is a tragicomedy set in a West Country town named Pagford. The story begins with the death of Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother and moves to the subsequent conflict over the 'vacant' seat on the council. An inevitable war breaks out before the elections for a suitable successor and there is mayhem in the town of Pagford. The author explores multiple themes ranging from class politics, prostitution and other social issues that probably the Harry Potter Series was devoid of. Will Pagford ever get its eligible successor or will the 'vacant' seat spell inexplicable doom?


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Man of the Millennium : P.KalayanaSundaram

A will to serve combined with a sense of social justice has been the guiding principle of P. Kalyanasundaram, who has spent over 45 years in social service. A gold medallist in library science, he is also an MA in literature and history. During his 35-year-career as a librarian at the Kumarkurupara Arts College
at Srivaikuntam in Tuticorin district, he gave away all his salary for charity and did odd jobs to meet his daily needs. He has also come forward to donate his body and eyes to the Tirunelveli Medical College.

The Union Government has acclaimed him as `The Best Librarian in India'. He has also been chosen as `one of the top ten librarians of the world'. The International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, has honoured him as `one of the noblest of the world', while the United Nations Organisation adjudged him as one of the Outstanding People of the 20th Century'. An American organisation has also selected him as the `Man of the Millennium.'

SIMPLICITY IN life and exemplariness in practice has been the hallmark of Mr. Kalyanasundaram. Born in August 1953 at Melakarivelamkulam in Tirunelveli district, he lost his father at a very young age. It was his mother, who inspired him to serve the poor.

When he was at college, the Indo-China war broke out, and he contributed his gold chain to the then Chief Minister, Kamaraj, for the war fund. At this time around, he went to meet Balasubramanian, Editor, Ananda Vikatan. "He sent me away, saying he would write about me the day I donated something I had earned myself. I did not speak a word to anyone about what I had done. I took it as a challenge," Mr. Kalyanasundaram recalls. Ever since he got a job as a librarian in Tuticorin, he has contributed all his salary,
pension benefits and ancestral property to social welfare. It was not until 1990, when he received his pension arrears and contributed it to the Collector's Fund, that the then Tiruneveli Collector felicitated him, despite his protests. The `Paalam' serves as a bridge between donors and beneficiaries: it collects money and materials from those willing to donate and distribute them among the weaker sections.It has also contributed to the cyclone relief funds in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, and has helped the earthquake victims in Maharashtra and Gujarat. "We cannot sustain ourselves, unless we contribute towards the society in someway or the other. I strongly feel if even one person does his bit towards social good, there will be some change," he asserts.

Mr. Kalyanasundaram feels that one must achieve something in his chosen field. His contribution to library science is immense.A thesis he submitted as part of his post-graduate course to the Madurai Kamaraj University fetched him distinction. He has also hit upon an easy way of tracing and accessing books in libraries.


His ability to strike a rapport even with youngsters is remarkable. He cites the instance when he started wearing khadi. At college, he was required to take classes on Gandhianism. "I had to speak about simplicity and everything Gandhi stood for, but I was clad in expensive clothes. That was when I decided to switch over to khadi," he relates. Since then he had always practised what he stood for, making himself a role model for many youths.He was popular among college and school students, and many of them have joined his organisation.


He has long-term plans for his organisation. One is the setting up of a nationalised digital library with modern equipment, which could be accessed by people from all walks of life.He also wants to set up an international children's university in Tamil Nadu, with foreign aid. However, he says, a mission has a meaning only when the right people are involved in it. The Directorate of Public Libraries should recruit people with a library science background to be librarians, he says. "And good librarians should have a broad knowledge of everything."

Papaya recipes for your skin

With your skin constantly losing its moisture in this season, exfoliating it is a good way to keep it looking great.

Papaya is considered a wonderful wholesome fruit as it meets with some of our most essential vitamins, minerals and protein needs. Both ripe and raw papaya can be used to rejuvenate the skin. Ripe papaya is excellent for exfoliation of the skin and brings about newer looking skin and generally suits all skin types.

Recipe for skin rejuvenation:
1/2 cup ripe papaya pulp, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup of oat flakes. Run the mixture on your face and neck gently for about 5 minutes. Wash off with milk and water and notice the glow for yourself.

Recipe for skin glow:
1/2 cup ripe papaya pulp, 4 tsps orange juice, 4 tsps carrot juice, 1 tsp honey or glycerin. Mix the above ingredients and apply or massage the pack all over the face and neck.

Regular applications of the above two-treatments can do wonders to the face.

Courtesy : TOI

Salute Armstrong Pame

Armstrong Pame : Naga IAS Officer Builds 100-km Road in Manipur  Without Govt Help

Villagers of Manipur's Tousem sub-division in Tamenglong district are a busy lot these days. At least 150 of them on a daily basis are clearing away a thicket with their machetes and daos. Some are lugging away heavy branches of recently felled trees; and others are operating bulldozers and earthmovers to give themselves the "best Christmas gift ever".

Theirs is one of the remotest corners in the country, where the India shining story has not yet reached; but the villagers are part of modern India's most ambitious road project embarked upon by one man, a young Naga IAS officer, without any funding from the government.

A 2005 graduate from St Stephen's College in Delhi, Armstrong Pame is the sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, his home district, and the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe. He has, of his own volition, begun the construction of a 100-km road that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam. Incidentally, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 101 crore in 1982 for the construction of this road, but for some unknown reason the project never took off. "Last December, then Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Manipur and asked what happened to the road.

The state government declared that it would be 'done soon', but nothing moved on the ground. Then in June-July this year, there was an outbreak of tropical diseases like typhoid and malaria. It takes two days for anyone in the village to make it to the nearest hospital on foot in the absence of a motorable road. Hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers, but very few made it to the town alive.

Also, town doctors were unwilling to come to the village because of its inaccessible terrain," Pame told TOI over phone from Tamenglong.

Perplexed and frustrated with the situation, the officer decided to reach out to doctors in his friend circle. A woman friend agreed, and Pame promised to sponsor her stay. "She treated over 500 patients and conducted quite a few minor surgeries. Many lives were saved in this way; but I realized how perilously poised the situation was in the absence of a road. That was the catalyst," Pame said.

To construct an all-weather, motorable road in an area untouched by the progress made by Independent India in the last six decades was an uphill task. And with no help coming from the government, Pame turned to his family and well-wishers.

"Armstrong and I grew up in a village in Tousem amid a lot of hardships. Our father was a schoolteacher and had a limited income. We used to walk down to the district headquarters—about 60km away—and carry 25 kilos of rice back home. It used to take us four days to go and come back and the rations used to last for two weeks. When we came to Delhi for higher studies, we would survive on biscuits for days without enough money to buy food. The remoteness of our village ruined its economy; and we knew that unless there was a road, there would be no development. So, when Armstrong proposed to undertake the venture, we all threw our lot with him," said Jeremiah Pame, an assistant professor at the Delhi University and elder brother of Armstrong.

"My wife and I donated our one month's salary, Armstrong paid five months' of his, and our mother paid our dad's one month's pension of Rs 5,000. Our youngest brother, Lungtuabui, recently started working. He donated his entire first month's pay for the project," he added.

The family together pooled Rs 4 lakh to start the project. They hired a bulldozer and bought two earthmovers. "But it was not enough; we needed more. So, we turned to Facebook. We created a page, seeking donations, and the response has been overwhelming. In the last three days, we have received Rs 1.2 lakh from friends all over the globe, with contributions varying from Rs 50 to $1000. And they are willing to contribute more," the young bureaucrat said. "The villagers, too, have contributed as per their capabilities: some are providing food and accommodation for the workers; some are supplying fuel for the earthmovers. They have also provided manpower for the project. We did not have to engage a contractor with so many people volunteering to shoulder that responsibility," he added.

Donation centres have been set up in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Shillong and Dimapur and NRIs from Canada, USA and the UK have been sending their contributions for the project christened as Tamenglong-Haflong Road. A monolith will be erected once the road is completed and names of all donors will be inscribed.

The road will form a tri-junction with Nagaland and Assam over the Jiri River before entering the Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills district) of Assam. Construction began in August this year, but stopped midway due to the rains. It resumed in September, and so far, work on 70km has been completed.

"Work moved at a swift pace because there were dirt tracks already; but laying the next 30km will be difficult as it is covered by dense forest. Nevertheless, we hope to complete the project before Christmas," said the young officer named after famous American astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Indian Revenue Service officer Gaigondin Panmei is the commissioner of customs for the northeast. He believes the road can do wonders to the economy of the district as a whole and Tousem sub-division in particular.

"Tousem is the most backward sub-division in Tamenglong district; but it is also the place where the best oranges are grown. We have an orange festival in Manipur every year, but most of the time the local produce fails to make it to the fest due to its inaccessibility. Medical care, too, is in a bad shape because of this. Once this road becomes operational, it would open up the market for Tousem, and that would, in turn, bring prosperity to the people. But yes, it would be very essential to maintain this road. The builders will have to figure that out, too, but the progress of the road has been impressive so far," Panmei said.

Courtesy : TOI