"Our Journey Together is so Short"

A beautiful message for all of us....Take a minute please !

(Thank you Col Venkat Subbiah for the forward )

A young lady sat in a bus. At the next stop a loud and grumpy old lady came and sat by her. She squeezed into the seat and bumped her with her numerous bags.

The person sitting on the other side of the young lady got upset, asked her why she did not speak up and say something.

The young lady responded with a smile:

"It is not necessary to be rude or argue over something so insignificant, the journey together is so short. I get off at the next stop."

This response deserves to be written in golden letters:

"It is not necessary to argue over something so insignificant, our journey together is so short"

If each one of us realized that our time here is so short; that to darken it with quarrels, futile arguments, not forgiving others, discontentment and a fault finding attitude would be a waste of time and energy.

Did someone break your heart?

Be calm, the journey is so short.

Did someone betray, bully, cheat or humiliate you?

Be calm, forgive, the journey is so short.

Whatever troubles anyone brings us, let us remember that

our journey together is so short.

No one knows the duration of this journey. No one knows when their stop will come.

Our journey together is so short.

Let us cherish friends and family. Let us be respectful, kind and forgiving to each other. Let us be filled with gratitude and gladness.

If I have ever hurt you, I ask for your forgiveness. If you have ever hurt me, you already have my forgiveness.

After all, Our Journey Together Is So Short! !

                              Diets, Fads and Longevity .

A hot topic of interest these days is Longevity and Diets. Some of the many Diet Fads that come to mind, are Paleo Diets, Mediterranean Diets, Fruitarian Diets, Raw Vegetable Diets, Raw Meat Diets, Calorie Restriction Diets, No Sugar Diets, and Poo Injections. Yes, Poo Injections!! More of that later in this article!!

Now ,these diets are too many to discuss in a Facebook article, where reader attention spans are now at an all time low, conditioned as we are, like the Pavlovian Dog, to surf the channels and social media,in search of the Breaking News! We have truly reached the Darwinian Evolutionary stage of Instant Solutions ! In short, Adaptation to Fleeting Fads at it’s Alarmingly Worst. Instead of Adaptation at it’s Evolutionary Best!

And each diet has it’s legions of loyal followers,swearing by their effectiveness. So, we must not take these diets lightly.Else,they will settle heavily and add to the inches in our middles. As they say,One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison! So,let us take this subject with due regard to each follower's diet.

Yet, behind all the diet froth, there is a modicum of medical and scientific basis. There are solid well researched, peer reviewed medical articles that refer to Gut Health as the very fundamental basis for Good Health and Longevity. Microbiomes are lurking in our guts that dictate how long we will live and Our Well Being.

And the earlier reference to Poo Injections is also having some relevance to Gut Health, apart from Probiotics and Prebiotics. Apparently, the Poo of a Gut Healthy Person, who now can be termed A Person of Interest, because their Poo is rich, yes Rich,in The Right Microbiomes that can be (sic) injected and transplanted into a Wannabe Gut Healthy Person of Increasing Microbiomes Interest!

Blue Regions of Longevity.

And yes,there are the Blue Regions of our Planet,that have been scientifically studied to prove that the Right Combo of Supportive Relationships, Positive Fulfilling Activities, Olive Oil based Mediterranean Diets, supplemented with Rainbow coloured Fruits, and of course the Right Genes, can lead to Longevity and Well Being.

So, let us not be carried away by the latest Fads .We must separate the wheat from the chaff, the froth from the nutritionally naturally rich super foods, the bacteria from the Microbiomes, the Poo from The Person of Interest to The Wannabe Person of Interest.

The Golden Rule applies here as well. Moderation is Key.

Whether all this will lead us to happier Longer Lives, only Time Will Tell!

Till then,Each to their own Diet.

MPSingh

Ruchir Sharma :"Democracy on the Road."

                         Folk Wisdom enlivens the book's pages.
"Democracy on the Road" by Ruchir Sharma, of  Morgan Stanley Global Strategy, is a ground-breaking book in many senses of the term. It focuses on the Dance of Democracy in India, and has over 2 decades of  Ruchir Sharma's observations of  the polls in India ,behind it. It is,in that sense, not an over night phenomenon of a cut & paste compilation .
Ruchir Sharma belongs to a small town,  Bijnor, in UP, from where he spread his wings globally. Hence, he is rooted in the heartland of India, and is able to look at the Indian poll-scene, through a global lens, without letting the heat and dust of a small town, fog the lens.
 What is noteworthy about Democracy on the Road, are the many incisive insights which pepper the book. The author has his ear to the ground,and identifies many local and regional trends that influence state polls. Caste and local rivalries need to be taken into account,as he says,that India may have changed,but not fast enough or deep enough. Alliances seldom last, and usually are region-specific. The author discerns an anti-incumbency factor, that over-rides party politics,and is a long-lasting trend in Indian politics. He has a knack for recording pithy folk wisdom, that rings true.For instance, never get too close to a politician,because, like coming close to the sun, you may get singed.
All in all, the book makes interesting reading. Also available on Kindle.

MPSingh

Devil's Advocate & Karan Thapar.

"Devil's Advocate : The Untold Story"  by the well known journalist Karan Thapar, was recently released . The book makes interesting,and occasionally compelling reading, with Karan Thapar's  incisive pen-portraits of well known personalities,ranging from Amitabh Bachchan, Former PM V.P.Singh, Benazir Bhutto, Amma, and Sh. Narendra Modi.

Sh. V.P.Singh comes across as a warm human being behind the political mask, and Karan Thapar  profiles him well, revealing his little known abilities of being a prolific painter, as well as a photographer,adept at catching his subject(in this case Karan Thapar), in  unrehearsed, unkempt candid pictures . Talk of the tables being turned on the interviewer by the interviewee!

Amitabh Bachchan is also sharply etched by Karan Thapar, along with his wife Jaya Bachan. Karan Thapar at his provocative best,asked him about Rekha and Praveen Babi, and elicited an emphatic "Yes,Why will I not believe him(Amitabh) ?" ( from Jaya Bachan),when he asked her about trusting her husband. That put the lid on any speculation.

The book is worth a dekho, it throws interesting sidelights  and profiles that are sharply etched.

M.P.Singh

Blog For Browsers . Digital Detox.

                                            Digital Detox .
We live at a frenzied pace,and the ubiquity of the internet and social media has shortened our attention spans. Twitter has narrowed our messsaging to a specified number of characters. Facebook has transformed most of us into a never-ending addiction to "status updates". And "Selfies" have pandered to the innate(basic?) instinct in us to capture for the moment,if not posterity, whatever trivial pursuit we are engaged in at that time. Lastly, like Karaoke was to the earlier generation, You Tube has projected our sometimes hilarious "takes" on everything under the sun,right into our living rooms.
And all this barrage of  infomedia has threatened to overwhelm us into passive consumers of  what every Tom,Dick,Harry and Jane,fondly thinks is the ultimate in creativity,though usually it may lull us into boredom and sleep.
So,in this ever-speeding and quickening pace of life, the book reader and the book browser is fighting a brave battle to save the neibhourhood book-shop from extinction,so that he/she can snatch a few peaceful moments away from the maddening din.
Hence,the title of this blog suggested itself,in a way, to allow the browser to quickly browse through a few interesting topics and titles, without having to wade through lengthy reviews and books. By keeping the canvas and focus wide enough,beyond only books,  the readers' interest will be sparked,hopefully, to skim through this blog,and glean something relevant and thoughtful.

M.P.Singh