THE FAMED KAPPAD BEACH IN CALICUT

A few days before New Year, we visited the famed Kappad beach in Calicut, a place of historical and geographical significance.  Traders from Kuwait travelled to Calicut with dates and returned home with spices, cloth and wood. Vasco Da Gama, Portuguese explorer landed at the Kappad Beach on May 20, 1948. His voyage led to the discovery of an important sea route from Europe to India, followed by the Portuguese colonial holdings in several western coasts and regions in India, up until the independence of India from British colonial rule.  Gazing at the seascape at Kappad beach, I couldn't help thinking .. if waters could speak and tell us all the stories that are wrapped secure in a bygone era. Is everything in history known to us today, and taught in schools,  exactly what occured in history? There would been so much  which  we will never ever come to know. 

Fisherman casting his net

My son on the right with the driver (left) who took us to the Kappad Beach

HUMOUR - LIFE IS HARD

INTERESTING MESSAGE

I was surprised to see this note at a food court, placed in a manner quite visible and 'clear' to the people who would come to eat. 

FASCINATING THINGS FROM KERALA

Spices that people can't do without!

 

Beautiful wooden hand crafted elephant statues

Culture and heritage of Kerala

Important ingredients for Kerala food (less chillies for me though)

Decoration for the elephants during festivities

Freshly prepared banana chips

 

Flowers on the roadside

Beautiful brass statues

EXPRESS AVENUE MALL IN CHENNAI

The Express Avenue Mall in Chennai is a beautiful must visit place for those aspiring to visit Chennai. It's Chennai's largest retail shopping destination that will find you spending a good many happy hours. It was awarded with the 'Most Admired Shopping Mall of the Year' award in 2011. My aunt took me to the Express Avenue Mall while I was visiting her. It's a huge mall with lot of shops, eateries, movie theatres and gaming. A great place to be!

ANNOYING PEOPLE PATIENCE AND PRESENCE OF MIND

Variety is the spice of life! And the world is filled with people of different temperaments, personality and view points. Some people are born to make things as difficult as possible, which becomes way too spicy to digest!. And some triumph over the difficult task of dealing with annoying people,  without being emotionally boggled.  Patience and presence of mind...that's so important. Emotional equilibrium is absolutely  vital in handling certain obscure situations crafted by annoying people as their sole purpose in life is to create chaos and rob others off their balance. Cut yourself off emotionally from annoying people and don't let provocative things they say ruin your time or day. Sometimes ignoring or keeping quiet or not responding with an attitude of  'an eye for an eye',  does not mean you are weak, it just means, you are strong and  you don't wish the other person to ruin your peace of mind. If you need to speak your mind, make it short, firm and clear without being affected by any negative response. Let them dwell in their negativity, and you can revel in your positivity. Experience the blissful peace which they don't. 

What kind of people annoy you?


* The know it all
* The argumentative type
* Taxi drivers who overcharge and try to cheat
* Rude sales persons
* Lazy, inefficient workers
* Service personnel who don't know what they are doing
* Those who say yes by default or just to please you for the moment
* Those who can't be honest
* People who think they are super smart and bigger than God
* Those who are full of talk or tall tales because they think they being entertaining.


You can add to this list with your own set of 'annoying people'. 

MY PICTURE FOR THE DAY

Wonder what he is upto now?

HUMOUR - NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

WHAT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS FOR 2012

I haven't been blogging since I am still on holidays.  I found some time today to do my first blog for 2012. Hope you all had a great New Year's eve and New Year's day!

How was the past year? Was it a great year or did you face some rough times? What are the memories you hold dear from 2011? 

Welcoming the New Year is a great feeling, that is experienced year after year on 31st of December. Ushering in the New Year is so full of dreams and wishes, saying goodbye old habits, trials and tribulations of the past year,hoping that they be replaced with great blessings and new ventures and good fortune. Sounds and feels great....that the new year has begun, although everything around us might still be physically the same. 

If we are looking for a positive change, then the attitudes we carry, our honest intent,  the efforts we put into our ventures are important. No change is possible or no goals can be met without determination and a will to succeed. So be it a change in job, education, losing weight, replacing negative habits and traits with empowering habits, restoring emotional balance,   it's entirely up to us. What are the lessons you  have learnt from the past year? What are the blessings you have experienced in the past year? What changes should you consider to make life better? The choices you make today is important, for they define and shape your future. If you made a resolution for greater good, twelve long months is a good amount of time to see through your resolutions. 

Have a great year ahead!

HUMOUR - IT'S SPIDER DOG

ART OF GIFTING

Its after years that I actually picked up lots of gifts from Kuwait  for some special people in my life in India. Everyone has different tastes and sometimes while something appears as 'beautiful' to someone, it might not all be appealing to another person. While travelling, I prefer to travel light and I quite don't like to end up wondering how to fit everything into my suitcase.  But this time, it is different. I decided to buy some gifts. A lot of  time and care is spent from the inception, careful selection of gifts with much love and feeling, buying and  ultimately gifting. And then what happens? We look for that for that glow or smile on the recipient's face. Being very receptive to people's emotions and the vibes they sent out, I for one, can at once sense, if a person liked or disliked the 'gift'. Well, I do hope the lovely gifts I chose and picked up with my husband's help, bring a smile of happiness on their faces. 

In the art of gifting...you are doing what you feel is important, you do it out of love or affection, perhaps as a way to thank someone for their presence or support or help.   Or it could even be for an important occasion. What ever might be the reason....gifting someone special is beautiful thing, that lets them know they hold an important place in your heart. And gifting those who are less fortunate like the needy, orphans, the poor is a great deed. 

WHEN LIFE GETS SOUR

What a beautiful and inspiring saying, don't you think?

ON VACATION

Ooooo,  I am travelling again...this time to India,  for a month!  Boy, do I have loads of things to do before I travel on Thursday. I will be visiting several places in India and I am quite excited about that. 

I am sorry I won't be posting regularly until after New Year. I am truly going to miss blogging for a while, but I shall make up for that with lots of interesting things to share with you after the New Year. I am going to miss all the musical events, christmas and New Year celebrations in Kuwait. Thank you all for your support and do visit my blog as there are lots of older posts you could read that are interesting, inspiring and empowering in many ways that is designed to encourage you to live a life of positivity and happiness. I shall be back in Kuwait in mid January 2012.

Wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Kuweight 64

MY PICTURE FOR THE DAY - LIBERATION TOWER

 Liberation Tower,  Kuwait City

WEIGHT LOSS - HOW I LOST ALL THE EXCESS WEIGHT

I have been posting a lot on Weight loss, healthy eating and lifestyle, since February 2011. All the  information I share is absolutely safe, based on tried and tested methods  on losing excess weight adhering to healthy nutrition and exercise;  feeding your body what it really needs,  cutting down on unwanted calories and  eliminating sugary and fat laden foods. I have always given importance to behavior modification as a means to promote and accomplish permanent healthy eating habits, a gateway to losing weight.

I am so excited....guess why? Well, at last….I managed to lose all the excess weight!!!!!.  I weighed 76 kg in February 2011. I couldn’t fit into my clothes and my weight made me uncomfortable, that’s when I decided, this can’t go on…I have to lose weight. My goal was to become 64 kg, which meant losing 12 kilos. While  trying to lose weight, I made an effort to eat from healthy food groups. After 10 months of being on a weight loss journey, I have lost 11 kg and now I weigh 65 kg. I must admit that though I used to follow a healthy low calorie diet, I wasn’t exercising regularly. So losing all the excess weight took some time.  Now  I just have one more kilo to lose and I am working towards it.

One important thing I must share with you is being on a ‘wheat free’ diet since October 2011, accelerated my weight loss. I used to have wholemeal breads and brown breads earlier and I  substituted wheat with rice and potatoes for my carbohydrate requirement.  I didn’t resort to ‘gluten free’ substitutes to wheat.  Had I exercised regularly atleast  five times a week for those 10 months, I am certain I would have achieved my goal faster and earlier. But it does not really matter, as I have lost all the excess weight and since the past two months, I have included exercising as an important part of my life.

Losing weight is something you can actually do by cutting down on calories, eliminating junk food, eating healthy wholesome foods and exercising – go jogging, walking, swimming, cycling or get a tread mill and use that. Go outdoors and get your exercise.  There are so many videos on you tube and so many exercises you can browse on the internet to help you chose exercise that best suits you.  Take a look at interesting aerobic exercises and put on some music and lose weight while you have fun. Rope in some like minded friends to join you for exercise to beat the boredom of doing it alone.  Losing weight is not a herculean task! Give yourself couple of months and you will be so surprised and delighted at what you can achieve and your family and friends would be equally shocked too!  Don't go for any fad diets or weight loss pills and potions, they don't help at all. If you want to lose weight – don’t wait until New Year…start today.

My biggest achievement during that past 10 months  – Not craving for junk food , sugary or fried stuff and I am able to say ‘No’ to bad food.  I am able to have a nice time in so many ways which certainly does not include indulging in food.  

LIFE IS A GREAT BALANCING ACT

CALVIN AND HOBBES - GHOSTS

MY PICTURES FOR THE DAY - POETIC SKYSCAPE

As if an invisible hand painted the sky.... If I were a poet, I'd write a few verses in awe and admiration. (view of the sky during sunset as seen from Salmiah Park)

WEIGHT LOSS - NOT EVERYTHING YOU LOVE IS GOOD FOR YOU

What is the one thing that you love that is not good for you?

For me, its sweets! But I am okay with it, I can do without it. Ever since I adopted healthy eating habits and lifestyle, I don't crave for sweets, for I know and accept the fact that  it's not good for me; once in a fortnight or once a month,  I would treat myself to a tiny portion. I am able to say 'No' when someone offers me sweets. My body does not require all that sugar or extra calories.


It's important to let go of certain things you 'love' which are not good for you when you have made up an important decision like losing excess weight. What are those things you have to eat in moderation, what are those things that you have to give up to lose weight? Giving up is not a sacrifice. It just means, you have made a decision to eat consciously and feed your body with what it requires to stay in optimum health. 

DREAM AND DREAMER

LAST LUNAR ECLIPSE FOR 2011 - A RARE TREAT

The last lunar eclipse for this year took place on Saturday December 10. Watched by millions of people around the world, it is said to be a spectacular sight in countries and places where it was clearly visible. The moon turned copper/ red during the total eclipse.  Being unwell, I couldn’t go outside to see this beautiful view. Wondering how the eclipse would have looked like in Kuwait.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth in course of its orbit around the sun, comes between the moon and sun in such a way that the moon is hidden in the shadow cast by the earth. This can occur only when the sun, earth and moon are aligned in a straight line.

Lunar eclipse above Buddha statue, Kurunegala, Srilanka. Photo by Eranga Jayawardena / AP.  

Shortly before total lunar eclipse as seen from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Image credit Colin Chatfield

SIMPLE EXERCISE FOR YOUR KNEE

Instead of going for complicated stretches for strengthening your knee,  do this simple exercise to strengthen your knee joint and prevent arthritis.  Spend 30 seconds daily reaching for your toes while sitting straight legged on the floor. This will make your hamstrings flexible and keep your knee in top shape.

MY PICTURE FOR THE DAY - CAMEL SCULPTURE

Artistic camel sculptures in wood and metal. I noticed them at Midas In Life Center complex, Shuwaikh

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS CENTERPOINT

I came across some Christmas gifts and decorations at Centerpoint, Salmiah. They would also be available in all Centerpoint outlets.

DANGERS OF LAPTOP OVERHEATING

One of the biggest negative points about laptops is how easily they would overheat. If there is obstruction or prevention of proper ventilation especially when the laptop is placed on the bed, blanket or couch, the flow of air through the laptop is blocked by the surface where it is placed, holding the hot air in. Overheating can also occur due to a clogged ventilation system in the laptop. Prolonged overheating issues can damage vital components such as the CPU, hard disk drives, graphic cards and motherboards and you would have to end up buying a new laptop

You can fry an egg on an overheated laptop! (really)

Although its called a Laptop, it advisable not to place it on your lap as far as possible;  it's not good for your thighs; placing them on your lap for a long time can cause skin discoloration on the thighs. The bottom of an overheating laptop can become so hot that it can burn the skin, even when protected by clothing. Research also states that in male laptop users, the heat from the laptop can damage the sperm count and adversely affect the male fertility. There has been recorded incidents time and again, where laptops left on for prolonged hours have caught fire due to overheating! Imagine how dangerous it is to go to sleep with the laptop beside you on the bed or couch and it gets overheated and catches fire.

laptop cooling

Laptop cooling pad

It's best to place laptops on cooling pads or cooling stand to cool your laptop and prevent overheating. You can check out the different ones available in the market that makes the least noise, while its fans work to keep your laptop cool.

Awareness of laptop hazards and simple measures to avoid them can safeguard your health and life. 

ATTITUDE CHANGE

WEIGHT LOSS HUMOUR