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March 16-31, 2014
HEALTH
Random Thoughts V. N. Gopalakrishnan Mahashivaratri ('the Night of Shiva') festival is celebrated with devotion and religious fervor in honour of Lord Shiva, one of the deities of Hindu Trinity. The festival falls on the 13th or the 14th night of the new moon during Krishna Paksha in the Hindu month of Phalguna. The Sanskrit term, Krishna Paksha means the period of waning moon and Phalguna corresponds to the month of February-March in English Calendar. This year Mahashivaratri is celebrated on the moonless night on February 27. Lord Shiva ('auspicious one') is one of the most complex gods, embodying seemingly contradictory qualities. He is the destroyer and the restorer, the great ascetic and the symbol of sensuality. Shiva's female consort is known under various manifestations as Uma, Sati, Parvati, Durga and Kali. The divine couple, together with their sons, Skanda and Ganesha are said to dwell on Mount Kailas in the Himalayas. Lord Shiva is usually depicted
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Mahashivaratri & Its Significance Vegetables that boost your Immune System as ash-coloured, with a blue neck, his hair arranged in a coil of matted locks and adorned with the crescent moon and the Ganges. He has three eyes bestowing inward vision and capable of burning destruction when focused outward. He wears a garland of skulls and a serpent around his neck and carries in his hands a deerskin, a trident, a small hand drum or a club with a skull at the end. He is represented in a pacific mood as the cosmic dancer, as a naked ascetic, as a mendicant beggar and as a yogi. Lord Shiva has more than a thousand names, which are detailed at length in the 69th chapter of Shiv Purana. Among his common epithets are Sambhu, Sankara, Pasupati, Mahesa and Mahadeva. Mahashivaratri is considered to be auspicious especially for women. The married women and unmarried girls perform puja with great faith since Parvati is considered as the giver of married bliss. While unmarried girls pray to give them handsome husbands with wealth and knowledge, married women pray for the well-being of their husbands. According to Hindu mythology, Mahashivaratri symbolizes the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. However, many believe that Lord Shiva performed the Tandava Nrita, the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction on Mahashivaratri. According to Linga Purana, Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a linga on Mahashivaratri. Devotees of Lord Shiva throng Shiva temples across the country in the night and spend Mahashivaratri by chanting hymns in praise of the Lord. They observe strict fast in honor of Lord Shiva, though many go on a diet of fruits and milk. Devotees believe that worship of Lord Shiva on Mahashivaratri, absolve them of their sins and
liberates from the cycle of birth and death. To mark the festival, devotees wake up early and take a ritual bath. After wearing new clothes they visit the nearest Shiva temple to give ritual bath to the Shivalinga with milk, honey or water. Shiv Purana has prescribed the rituals to be followed during Mahashivaratri. Accordingly, every three hours, Shivalinga is given a special bath with milk, yoghurt, honey, sandalwood paste and rose water. Vermilion paste is applied on the Shivalinga followed by Puja, meditation and chanting of Om Namah Shivaya Mantra. Bathing of Shivalinga with water, milk and honey represents purification of the soul; vermilion paste applied on the linga represents virtue; offering of fruits symbolizes gratification of desires; burning of incense sticks yields wealth; lighting of lamp symbolizes attainment of knowledge and offering of betel leaves marks satisfaction with worldly pleasures. Devotees break their fast only on the following morning by partaking the prasad offered to the deity. They believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva ensures spiritual growth. Traditionally, leaves of Bilwa (aegle marmelos) are used for Shiva puja believing that Goddess Lakshmi resides in them. In the Shanti Parva of Mahabharata, Bhishma, while resting on the bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma (righteousness), refers to the observance of Mahashivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story is also narrated in Garuda Purana. For many, Lord Shiva is Paramatman, the Absolute Brahman, but others prefer to see Lord Shiva as a personal God. He is considered as Yoganath, the lord of Yoga and is also the Adi Guru or the highest guru of Sanyasins.
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Cruciferous vegetables are the gold standard in immune-boosting vegetables. Although all vegetables have nutrients and some protective powers, for these vegetables, it's off the charts. Cruciferous vege-tables have a special chemical composition: They have sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent flavors. When they're broken down by biting, blending, or chopping, a chemical reaction occurs that converts these sulfur-containing compounds into isothiocyanates (ITCs). ITCs prevent and knock out cancer and have infinite proven immune-boosting capabilities. They contain antiviral and antibacterial agents that keep you disease free. Adding the following cruciferous vegetables to your daily plate is like taking an anticancer pill: arugula, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, red cabbage, turnip greens, or watercress.
Missing 22-year-old MCA student found dead on tracks in Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai : A 22-year-old MCA student from Nerul, who was missing since Tuesday, was found dead on the railway tracks between Kharghar and Kamothe railway stations on Wednesday. A few railway workers spotted her lying in an isolated area and rushed her to MGM hospital at Belapur, but she was announced dead on arrival. According to the police, Nikita Balakrishnan, a resident of Sector 8 in Nerul, was a first year MCA student at SIES College in Nerul. Her results were out on Monday and she reportedly could not clear one paper. She went into depression after that. "The deceased left home for college on Tuesday morning, but she did not return home. Around 9.30pm, she messaged her father that she went to Siddhivinayak temple at Dadar and donated all her ornaments to the temple. She further added that she was fed up with her life and she was going to commit suicide by jumping at
Kharghar creek," said a police officer from Belapur police station. The shocked parents tried to contact her, but her number was switched off. They registered a missing person's case with Nerul police and went to Kharghar to find her. "Even after searching for hours, the family members could not trace the girl. So, they went home in the wee hours. They got to know about the death after a few hours," the officer said. According to preliminary reports, the girl suffered severe injuries on her head and both hands. "Prima facie, it appeared, she committed suicide by jumping off a moving train. We have registered a case of accidental death. The case will be transferred to the Government Railway Police (GRP) and they will investigate further," another police officer said. Her body was sent to NMMC hospital in Vashi for a post-mortem and then handed over to her family.
(Plummeting Rupee sparks ........... continued from page 1) composition of flows, particularly dependence on portfolio and short-term debt flows, represent an added source of concern.” The vulnerability of the Indian economy to a balance of payments crisis is increasingly drawing comparison to the situation faced by the Indian government in 1991. At that time India's foreign currency reserves fell to a level barely enough to cover a few weeks of imports. This prompted the Indian elite to turn to the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan. In return, the Congress Party government decisively abandoned stateled economic development and moved to fully integrated India into the world capitalist economy by transforming the country into a cheap – labor haven for international capital. Another major worry for India's elite and one that is being heightened by the rupee's depreciation is the increasing reliance of India's corporate sector on foreign borrowing. India's companies have greatly increased their overseas borrowing, with the aim of taking advantage of record low interest rates in the US, Europe and Japan. But dollar denominated “cheap money” can quickly be transformed by the rupee's slide into massive losses. As a percentage of the RBI's foreign currency reserves, India's short-term dept has increased from a low of 5.1 percent in 2002-03, to 14.8 percent in 2008-09, and 31.1 percent at the end of 2012. - Indebted to sprout
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