Check your mechanical ability

Some people have a flair for building mechanical things. Contraptions come in that category. I just stumbled upon a website built in flash. The name is Fantastic Contraptions. What is the objective of that game; you just have to roll the ball in the goal area. That's it! But is that all easy as its said? Hit this site: fantasticcontraption.com It is a really addictive puzzle game for those who love mechanics. O.A.K.

Kung Fu Panda

Truly Enlightening movie! A real entertainer!! It has got a simple yet superb story line and is successful in keeping the viewers enthralled till the end. Po's father expects Po to takeover the reigns of the noodles business after him. But Po has different dreams. He dreams of fighting hordes of enemies with Tigress, monkey, crane, viper and mantis; the "famous five of kung fu". Master Oogway predicts the release of the dreaded Tai Lung and mentions the dawn of Dragon warrior who will defeat tai lung. Master Sifu hosts a ceremony where the dragon warrior would be selected and spreads the news in town. Po reaches the mountain top where the ceremony is arranged. Po reaches late and he misses the chance of witnessing the selection. But Po skyrockets and lands up in the selection party. When he opens his eyes after the fall, he realises that master is pointing finget at him saying he is the dragon warrior. The question arises how could a fat flabby panda bear who knows the history and facts about the 5 warriors but knows nothing about kung fu can fight, Tai Lung? Well I am not going to narrate the whole movie, for sure. But what is really worth of mention is that the movie has surely got a philosophical base. The fact that nothing in this universe happens accidentally, Its all the plan of the divine, is emphasized thoroughly! Haaa.. And Master Oogway reminded me of guruji to certain extent. Po is a real entertainer and the critical element of the movie. There are no scenes in the movie which seem out of place. Intricately built story! I have watched this film 3 times in last 5 days before writing this post! You enjoy it too !!! O.A.K.

Stones and straw: Macroni & Soy Chunks recipe

I prefer calling this dish Stones and Straw because that is what it looks like. Especially when you do it with macaronis. You will require 1 Packet Macaroni 250gm Soy Chunks Ginger Garlic paste 2 Finely chopped Carrots a cupful of Finely chopped Beans 4 Finely chopped Spring Onions Hot Chilly Sauce A dash of Soy Sauce 5 tbsp. Tomato Ketchup Olive oil or sunflower oil. Salt to taste A little Sugar Lots of Water How to make it: Take half liter water and bring it to boil. Take the boiling water off the flame and pour the Soy Chunks in it. Let the chunks be in the hot water for 20 min. Take a frying pan; pour 6 cups water, some olive oil and little salt. Boil it. Then put the macaroni in to it. Let it boil for some time. Once the macaroni looks like its boiled, drain the water. Sieve the macaroni under the running water. This helps the macaroni become non sticky! If you want to use noodles instead of macaroni then the process of cooking noodles is the same as macaroni. Now take cooking pan. Pour 3 tbsp. olive oil. Add ginger garlic paste. Finely chopped Spring Onions and its leaves. Stir fry till the aroma becomes strong, then add carrots beans. Cook the vegetables well. By now the soy chunks that were kept soaked in the hot water should be ready. Squeeze out the water and cut the chunks into smaller pieces. Some of them are too big. Add the chunks to the cooking vessel. Stir occasionally. Now add the Hot chilly sauce in generous proportions, a tsp of soy sauce and tomato ketchup. You can vary the proportion as per the requirement. The hot chilly sauce is also a little sweet and the soy chunks soak up all the sauces very well. Add salt to taste. Stir occasionally. At last add the macaroni or noodles. They are already boiled & cooked so it shouldn't take much time to become a part of the delicious dish. Within 5 min. of adding macaroni your dish should be ready. Stir only once or twice after adding noodles or macaroni. Else it will become too messy or sticky. It takes approx 35 to 40 min to prepare the dish and serves 4-5. Let me know when you do it. More interesting recipes are on the way! Heartfelt thanks to Sonali and Vishal C. for prompting me to get some of my recipes on the blog. O.A.K.

OUTLIERS: Those who lie outside!

The illusionary world in which we live is set in some patterns. Da Vinci code by Dan Brown, explored the golden ratio of 1.618:1 in every aspect of nature be it the snail shells or attractive credit cards! Some patterns are quantifiable, some not. Statistically speaking there is something called data set. In layman's terms, data set is a group of data values which have an average and deviation from the average within the data group. They can be observations or any (meaningful) statistical data value. But there lies something absolutely outside the data set and yet they seem to influence the behaviour of the data set. In statistics, an outlier is an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data. They are called "Outliers". It literally means those who lie outside. This book called "Outliers" very well written by Malcolm Gladwell is truly an amazing book. It starts with a mysterious country side in the west coast of US called Rosseto. A replica of a Italian country side, where the people seem to have no health issues. While the US had heart attacks as epidemic the rosseto dwellers lived hale and hearty! What was the well guarded secret of their health? Why was it that the sportspeople born in the month of Jan thru' March were good at Ice Hockey in Canada? The entire statistical data on their performance didn't reveal something very obvious. Well, that was the outlier. But what was that obvious fact the analysts overlooked every time? Another chapter explores the wonder of people having astronomical level of IQ. Does an IQ of 150 mean that the person can fare better in the day to day life, than those with the IQ level of 130. Answers is, as mater of fact, NO. It is grossly misunderstood that higher IQ means that the person is more intelligent. But actually any higher IQ than 130 does not seem to make any additional difference! HOW? WHY? Aren't these interesting things to know about? Hey and let me tell you all one thing. I am an aficionado of Maths and stats, hence for me such explorations intrigue me. If you are interested then just grab this book and read. One more thing, This book is one that needs to be borrowed, not bought. It is a good book but not worth keeping in your book shelf. (unless of course you have ample space in the shelf) Overall, The author seem to miss one important fact. The fact that there are no co-incidences. He has explores the destiny of billionaires like Bill gates, Steve Jobs, great attorney Flom from Skadden Arps Law firm. etc, etc. He has justified their pinnacle of success with many attributes. How the opportunity fell on their lap. It was one in a billion chance to get such opportunities in their individual lives. I do not know whether the author has seen things from a wider angle. But it is true that everything is pre-planned and there are no accidents. That's the way it should have happened. The next review will be on a movie, Kung Fu Panda! O.A.K.

Yet... My mind was calm

For the first time in my life my pocket got picked by a professional PP (Pick pocket-er). All the five points of YES!+ were utilised yesterday. The day began early as I had the to appear for the last paper of third sem of MBA. It was the most boring subject of all for me; Human Resource Management. The first principle I applied was "Accept the situation as it is." I gave my 100% for the subject and got good score in the exam. (Exams are online hence score appears after the paper is submitted) Then I realized that I had given two commitments in evening at the same time. I had to miss one for the sake of other. One was the satsang with Harshal Bhaiyya and Rishi Vidhyadharji. And the other was a small, personal but important meet of 20 min with my YES!+ Teacher. I was in dilemma where to go. I realised "Opposite values are complimentary" One gained, other missed. Shortly, I got to know that the meet was not possible that evening. Then came the evening. The satsang was one of the best I ever experienced. The QnA of Rishiji was par excellence. While returning home from the mumbai local train, somebody made my pocket very light. For a moment I was shocked! This was one of the worst I ever experienced. Again "Opposite values are complimentary" Then other people in the train told me to get down and catch the PP. What a hell of an idea!?! As if the PP told me to meet me down on the platform! It would have been really stupid if I heeded their advice. So I didn't become "Football of their opinion". Then I thought why should I bother knowing who PP-ed my pocket. He's gone anyways. Even the money I lost could be regained soon. I then thought, Guruji always protects this loved one's. Now what happened? Why did guruji let this happen? Then a superb thought sprang in my mind. "Do not find intention behind guruji's style of work." Mysterious are the ways of the master, they say. Even after an eventful day, my mind was steady and calm. It was like, 'I got PP-ed, So-what?' A little "So-ham So-ham" and things are normal. After all this, I feel that I am so lucky that I have a master who really cares for me. All he wants from us is a GENUINE, True to heart, Smile! Well, If you are one of those who have not yet done the YES!+ course then, do not wait. Do it soon. The points above are explained along with a breathing technique named sudarshan kriya(TM) Do it ASAP because you die only once! Jai Gurudev O.A.K.

Old is GOLD !!!

I recently read an article in the newspaper covering health issues. The whole discussion was on the lipids in our body. Ever heard of LDL and HDL? Well they are carry cholesterol inside our body. The LDL carries and deposits cholesterol in inner parts of arteries and the other fellow HDL carries those deposits to liver for recycling and burn down. Nowadays, clinics are flooded with patients with a lot of heart related complaints, BP Attacks and other life jeopardizing ailments. People blame it on the lifestyle they choose; Eating synthetically prepared food, preferring foods that are stored for months together on the grocery shelves, living a sedated lifestyle. Humans cannot live without oxygen. Nowadays some people cannot live without Air conditioners! Fans seem to blow their life away! Duhhh... Well, if people live life with so many tantrums then lifestyle diseases are going to pop up in the society. People hardly get the fact that the way they choose to live affects their mental and physical health. So to counter this problem doctors prescribe drugs that decrease the LDL or the bad cholesterol. Does this solve the root of the problem? NO, a big NO. Unless there is some increase in the metabolic activities in the body, the HDL will not rise! If you reduce the LDL only the cholesterol depositors will decrease, but what about the HDL that carries the fats to bio-furnace? Now technology seems to have an answer to this situation. Gold Nano-particles are being invented that will be covered in all sorts of fat molecules covered with proteins. This robotic intruder in our body will act like HDL. The non toxic gold Nano particles are also water soluble. So the near future holds a key in nanometers to reduce the cholesterol. But isn’t this a roundabout way of solving a problem. People first have wrong kind of food at wrong hours of the day and in wrong amounts and end up on clinical bed. They are then diagnosed with hearth problem and are given some pills which they carry wherever they go. Instead, an hour of exercise and proper diet can not only do wonders but also can save a lot in medical bills. “Mysterious are the ways of urbanites” O.A.K.

Expanding horizons

A disciple once visited his guru. The disciple was perpetually unhappy and ever dissatisfied. The disciple asked the guru, "Guruji, Bless me with your wisdom and help me find happiness." So the guru instructed the disciple to put a fistful of salt in the glass of water and taste the water. Guru then asked the disciple, "How does it taste?" Disciple replied, "Awful" The master then said now put the fistful of salt in the lake nearby. Guru and the disciple went to the nearby lake. The disciple put the salt in the lake and tasted the water. Guru again asked the disciple, "How does it taste?" Disciple: Sweet. Guru: Did you find it salty? Disciple: No not at all! Guru smiled at the young man and said, "The miseries of life is like the pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of miseries in your life will remain exactly the same. But the amount of pain we taste entirely depends on the container we put it into. The container is nothing else than mind. So whenever you feel miserable or in pain, only way to get rid of it is to stop being a glass of water. Become a lake or an ocean.

Message Monitor

That's what my guru make me realize every moment. Just few minutes back I used internet enabled messaging service to send Guruji's quote. Due to the limited character support, I had to change few lines. But guruji didn't want me to send edited text. Everytime I clicked "post" it would give error message. Then I found another quote that would fit within the limit. That was typed exactly as guruji said. Later when I clicked post it went off smoothly. I realized that guruji takes responsibility of every word he says. If anyone has typed wrong message that just does not work! Isn't it amazing how guru works? Jai gurudev O.A.K.

US Dollar

I loved this pic a lot!!! O.A.K.

Cool Contraptions!

I came across some cool video. It's some South East Asian Video on contraptions. The way they have shown it is really KEWL!! Copy & paste this link in your browser and enjoy the video. http://www.4shared.com/file/42106930/88e47993/CoolContraptions.html Courtesy: 4shared O.A.K.

4 year old French Fries!

Most people devour McDonald's Food. So proudly they say - "I'm Loving it" It's so tasty and delicious! But do you know the reality of the McDonald's Food? I am amazed at the technology used in preparing McDonald's Food. I am not against McDonald's but the food they serve is claimed to stay fresh for 4 years. It's not typo error! The food stays intact for 4 grand years. Generally a potato fingers breaks down. Mold and powdery mildew gathers on the "organic" food. But the super food from McDonald's stays afresh or at least it seems to for 4 years! That's what Julia Havey has to say about McDonald's Foodstuff (Watch the video in the link below). Copy this link and paste it in your browser>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI After watching the video do ask you self - "Am I loving it?"

Oh... Those yonder days...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I recently received an email. After reading it I started wondering how did one survive growing up in the 80's and 90's? We had no seatbelts, no airbags and sitting in the back of a truck was a treat… Our baby prams had the most gorgeous lead based colours… No such thing as tamper proof bottle tops… Opening kitchen cupboards was a breeze… as safety locks were unheard off… Cycling was like a breath of fresh air… No safety helmets, knee pads or elbow pads, with plenty of cardboards between spokes to make it sound like a motorbike… When thirsty we only drank tap water, bottled water was still a mystery… We kept busy collecting bits & pieces so we could build all sort of things … and we were fearless on our bikes even when the brakes failed going downhill… We were showing off how tough we are, by how high we could climb trees & then jumping down….It was great fun…. We could stay out to play for hours, as long as we got back before dark, in time for dinner… We walked to school, or sometimes we even rode our bike. We had no mobile phones, but we always managed to find each other…. How? No one knows… We lost teeth, broke arms & legs, we got cuts and bruises and bloody noses…. nobody complained as we had so much fun, it wasn't anybody's fault, only ours We ate everything in sight, cakes, bread, chocolate, ice-cream, sweet sugary drinks, yet, we stayed skinny by fooling around. And if one of us was lucky to find a 1 litre coca cola bottle we all had a swag from it & guess what? Nobody picked up any germs... We did not have Play Stations, MP3, Nintendo's, I-Pods, Video games, 99 Cable TV channels, DVD's, Home Cinema, Mobile phones, Home Computers, Laptops, Chat-rooms, Internet, etc ... BUT, we had REAL FRIENDS!!!! We called on friends to come out to play, never rang the doorbell, just went around the back… We loved being let loose in the big bad world…without bodyguards… We played with sticks and stones, played cowboys and Indians, doctors and nurses, hide and seek, soccer games, over and over again… When we failed our exams we were given a second chance by simply repeating the same grade…without visiting psychiatrists, psychologists or counselors… Such were the days… We had freedom, success, disappointments and responsibilities. .. Most of all, we learned to respect others… HAVE A SUPER DAY! with Golden Days Value!!!!!!! !!