The Walkathon . . .Come One, Come All

I am kind of going out of breath now! OK just a second, let me engulf a mouthful of air - yeah now it feels much better!

Alright, I am just back from a walkathon conducted by the nearby community in the midst of 200 participants and we all united, completed a distance of 5kms. It was a fantastic event and indeed got our adrenaline rushing.

The main purpose of the walkathon was to increase an awareness of how exercise is the key to staying fit and also stressing upon the fact that alcohol, drugs and smoking are indeed hazardous to an individuals well being.

I am sure, our message was successfully conveyed to people, because our group size of 200 participants at the beginning of the walkathon, expanded to a bigger size until we reached the finishing point. It was truly encouraging!

The walkathon was then followed by a sports event especially for kids, but since each participant was all pumped up in high spirits, everybody participated in the games.

Then, we sweated it out while playing badminton (doubles match) and yes, I will admit here that I lost all 4 matches, but believe me, I am not such a bad player. Lets engage in a badminton match some day. . . what say?

Okay, I believe, its now time to do some relaxing and lazing around a bit, because tomorrow is a Monday again . . . and you know how much I hate Monday’s because Monday’s make me think of my ever brimming and over expanding mailbox size. God save this obedient child of yours!!!

Before I sign out, I will leave you with some real motivating thoughts,

"Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer.

“Fitness - If it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body and mind.”

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Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

When an underdog (for years) becomes a superstar (in a blink) - That's who we call ‘destiny's child’

Guess what, I walked the red carpet at the Oscars last night. It was an amazing feeling and I was exhilarated! It’s only when I was forced to accept that it was fiction all the way – that indeed it was a dream! :-( So guys . . now stop consoling me for God sake!

Vokayy, so you know why I dreamt the Oscars. Yeah exactly, the Oscar ceremony happened on 23rd Feb 2009 in Los Angeles, USA and people in India were really excited about the 9 award nominations against which we swept 8 awards at the Oscars for the blockbuster movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, directed by British Director Danny Boyle.

Frankly, at the beginning, I was not very much in favour of the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. My first reaction was …how can a stranger come to India and expose only the darker side of Mumbai in India. Yes, agreed that over half of the 15 million population in Mumbai live in slums but remember that Mumbai is also the financial capital of India where both the educated & successful vis-à-vis the less fortunate people below poverty line co-exist.

But, looking at it more carefully – one realizes that this is a wake up call for the government of India to treat this firsthand. We do not want heritage, we want development is the key message.

We know that the population in India is the second largest in the world but we also know that the government is capable of eradicating poverty and illiteracy by attacking and treating it from its core. But not taking this task too seriously is the key problem.

The trailers of the movie, showed poverty stricken Mumbai in the limelight and this completely de-motivated local people at the beginning but I believe, we have changed our minds.

Danny Boyle made sure, he absorbed the best Indian talent in the film, in the field of music & lyrics, sound, singing and also roped in newcomers who played the lead roles in the film. He also absorbed a few slum children to play important roles in the film, hence giving them a sense of freedom and a sense of determination that the sky is the limit. Danny believed in each one of them and yes we salute him for that.

I haven’t watched the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ as yet, but plan to catch up with the movie very soon. Hopefully, it’s running in some theatre in Mumbai, since it has been a long time now since the release of the film.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Do write to me with your reactions, opinions or critical comments at simplymearl@live.com or leave your inputs in the comments tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Until I am back with my next article, “Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.”

Keep those cortisol* levels down . . .

Stress can be deadly. It can take away your life or even worse, it can paralyze you for life.

I am sure, you must be thinking . . . that here comes the newly baptized Health and Fitness guru giving those healthy fundas.

But hey, I am basically not going to do this because I go by the belief that all you people out there who take a peep in my blog are pretty intelligent and talented.

When I think of stress management, the first person that comes to my mind is indeed Britney Spears who suffered from a major breakdown (Year 2007-2008), caused due to her personal struggle and divorce. And worst was still to come when she lost the custody of her two children.

I have been a great admirer of Brtiney's style, music & lyrics, hip hop moves and was waiting for her comeback after she suffered from the huge mental meltdown. I was waiting to see that talented girl back on stage with her live performances.
And yes, indeed Britney fought it out bravely and this toxic and firecracker pop singer has made a major comeback with her super-duper fast selling pop album "Circus", released in Nov 2008.

Stress had taken its toll on Britney, so much so that she had to check-in a rehab to get over this disease.

This is just an illustration, which justifies the saying by Winston Churchill, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

One cannot really avoid stress but we need to beat it by not taking things too seriously. It’s the determination that will get you out of it. Remember, when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

And if you know of a person who is depressed, we shouldn't treat it as an illness or a disease. We should try to help this person to come out of the trauma. There are various programs and rehabilitation centers in India and in the world such as the Art of living, which help traumatized individuals to come out of depression and lead a healthy and great life.

Before I sign out, I will leave you with a quote from Paulo Coelho, who says, “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”

This saying was re-quoted in the super-hit Hindi movie Om Shanti Om by Shah Rukh Khan, “Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kainath tumhe usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai."

So friends live life king size and be happy with the little that you have. Wealth is important but it shouldn’t be a reason for living.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Do write to me with your feedback & comments or brickbats, at simplymearl@live.com or leave your inputs in the comments tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!
(*Cortisol is a stress hormone)

Obama: “I screwed up”

I picked up the newspapers that morning and the headline that caught my attention was Obama: “I screwed up”. On reading this, I thought there was a misprint while naming the president of US and quiet literally assumed it should have been Clinton: “bla bla bla” ;-)

To clear my doubt, I immediately peeped into another national newspaper and quite surprisingly read the same thing. Must say, here is the president, ‘The Obama’, who truly represents the people of the world because he speaks and does what the common people of the world would normally do.

We were waiting for this change for a long time and I believe it has finally arrived. A person at the most powerful position in the world, shows how straightforward and open minded he actually is and simply speaks his mind.

He does not adjust, compromise with his behavior, attitude, ethics and principles to mimic the flashy and the oh-so-polished lifestyle of the President of the United States. This is because, Obama has traveled and has lived in different countries (incl. the third world countries) in the world and has experienced different cultures in his childhood days. Because of his very humble upbringing, he can understand and get into the skin of the common man. He says, that I am not here to make the rich richer but here to see that all Americans are employed and live a comfortable and healthy life in the United States.

India and every country truly needs a leader like Obama. Or why not appoint Obama as the global CEO?

Today Pakistan has agreed and admitted that the terrorists, who attacked and devastated Mumbai, were their state actors who operated in the hideout in Pakistan to plan this attack. It’s been 2.5 months now since Mumbai was attacked and until now Pakistan was in complete denial of it. But with pressurization from the Obama administration (US withheld $50 million dollars as aid to Pakistan, demanding that Pakistan be more accountable towards the terror probe), Pakistan couldn’t remain in denial for long. They have now promised us that they would take concrete steps in helping the world eradicate terrorism.

Critics say that Obama only speaks but does not act. My answer to the critics is that yes Obama is indeed a fantastic orator and does what he suppose to do as the President of the US and uses his power wisely keeping the welfare of the people of his country on the top of his mind.

Obama you truly rock!

Before I sign out, I will leave you with inspiring quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.,

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men".

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent".

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Before I sign out, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Morals, values, loose, modern, western – What are you talking about?

We have watched hooligans creating violence and discomfort to women in the name of 'Indian culture' on national television and what are we doing about it . . . Nothing!!. These are perverts who for cheap political publicity have gone to the extent of hitting women in pubs.

India is the largest democratic country in the world, where citizens (whether a man or a women) has the right to do what they want, the way they want it and when they want it, provided it is permissible under the Indian law.

What do these cheap political goons want to prove, by saying and demonstrating that women should not go to pubs and should not drink and smoke. Why are we looking at man and women with this level of inequality. I am not saying that women should drink or smoke or whether she should go to a pub or not.

My question is who are you to dictate women on what is right and what is not right. Women are capable of dictating their own terms!

In that case, we need to legally close all pubs, stop the manufacturing of cigarettes and alcohol in all forms in the country. Why are we allowing the sprawling pubs to operate in the city in the first place? Why are we allowing big brands to manufacture alcohol and cigarettes?

We are the citizens of this country and there can be no differentiation to what is right for women to do and what is right for a man to do.

I find this stupid and ugly to even be writing about this situation, but the truth is that this is the truth and in this fast forward world that we live in, we are experiencing such cheap behaviour from perverts with a narrow mindset.

You guys actually need a reality check!!

Today using a mobile phone, using a computer for our daily work is not a luxury. These are basically necessities in the fast pace world that we live in. We need to move ahead with the world to see our country progress with times. And we are doing well, infact we are doing very well for ourselves.

How can you call this modernisation and westernization? Coming to look at it, it is not Indians who are aping the west, infact the world is learning from the great teachings and experiences of experts from India, for which we should be proud of ourselves.

I have written this article in shame and complete embarrassment. But I had to write it, to make my point heard because this blog space is my voice concerning issues/ facts that either interest and/or bothers me, my freinds, my family, the society, my country and people of this world.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Do write to me with your feedback & comments or brickbats, at simplymearl@live.com or leave your inputs in the comments tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Anita is jealous . . .

Wokkay….you must be wondering, who on earth is Anita? Let me explain and give Anita a little coverage ;-) Anita is the girl who comes to my home daily to help us in the household chores and I must mention that she does a real good job.

Now, you know who Spotty is, don't you? Spotty is the white fury creature, who lives with me and who loves eating and sleeping and whose only objective in life is to simply disobey (look at my previous blog articles to read about this pain in my......you know what!).

Right, so coming to the point, every morning when Anita walks inside my home, she notices Spotty sleeping in comfortable poses and she cracks that daily morning anthem. "Spotty kitni lucky hain na, woh din raat basket mein soti hain, na koi tension, na koi kaam", translating this is English – Spotty is so lucky, she sleeps all days and nights in the basket, she has no tensions in life and no work to do ;-)

I actually didn't know that people envy my fury pet. I always wonder why some people find this fatso so adorable and so sweet and so gentle. Believe me, she is the most painful thing I have ever come across.

Now, Am I getting jealous of Spotty? . . . Naaaah! I just feel that she is overfed and given too much of footage. She is the reason behind my holed harems, pants and T-shirts, since she loves scratching, chewing and biting textile.

Spotty loves eating junk food, like her latest love is for chicken lollipops. Believe me, you can make Spotty dance the Samba for lollipops. So if it is my turn to feed her, then I make sure, I keep her busy dancing on her toes for 30 mins atleast. My objective is to make Spotty look slimmer. This would help her look good and also it is little work entrusted upon her digestive system, leading to less clean-up to do;-)

You might find this a little amusing but you will not understand my plight until you are a daily visitor to my home. Spotty just needs to get used to you and then her job begins of making your life hell . . . Ha Ha

Thanks for visiting my blog. Do write to me with your feedback, comments or brickbat to simplymearl@live.com or simply leave your comment in the tab below.

Before I sign out, , as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

The centre has finally realized … that they too need to abide by traffic rules

Yes, we know that you are the government and you are the countries almighty who oversees the countries smooth running but hey . . . you also need to know that you are entitled to follow the rules and regulations that are applicable and enforced by law, upon the citizens and people of this country.

Mumbai and various metros in India, have been distressed and battling traffic jams, bad roads since decades now. The government off course does its part of getting the roads concretized and fixing up those potholes and yes we have no complains on that, infact we appreciate it! But we are filled with anxiety and anger when we hear that you have a visit scheduled in the city.

It scares us, when we see these huge welcome hoardings, invitation pamphlets and news/ radio stations making announcements that the Prime Minister, The President or top officials at the centre would be visiting the city.

The first thing that comes to our mind is a day when we would see, a white ambassador pass by & a huge convoy of cars (around 50 of them) follow it and the entire traffic of the city (the common man) being forced to be at a standstill. We were furious and didn’t just know what to do. We are citiizens who pay our taxes and who funds the entire running of the government…so please spare us!

It’s like buying an item from a store, but instead of the buyer taking the benefit of the item, the store keeper himself enjoys its benefit.

Thank goodness for the new Chief Minister of Mahasrashtra (and his creative thoughtfulness) that henceforth all top officials in the governments office visiting Mumbai would be airlifted using helicopters to their destinations, hence permitting the already burdened Mumbai roads to move uninterrupted. Just hope that our birds do not have any complains (thank god they don’t speak or blog like we do;-)

We need to thank the government for what it has done for this country until today. It is because of your market laws and restrictions that we are not so badly hit by the economic downturn and we wish it doesn’t hit us real bad in the next few months to come.

But we are sure you can do better and we are there with you always.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Do write to me with your feedback, comments or brickbat to simplymearl@live.com or simply leave your comment in the tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Fedex, we love you even more . . .

The recent Australian Open Grand Slam 2009, final tournament between Federer and Nadal was a match that gripped the whole world with excitement, entertainment and all the more the climax of the match with sheer anxiety and nervousness.

I have been an ardent admirer of Federer since years now and honestly we wanted him to win this tournament, but hey it goes without saying that you don’t need to win all tournaments right. Infact, Fedex gave a tough fight (against Nadal) in the five set match 7/5 3/6 7/6 3/6 6/2, and that’s all that his million fans actually need to see.

My heart was burning when Federer got real emotional on that last day of the tournament but we respect his emotions when he said, “In the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad, you know, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you,” he explained afterwards. “The problem is you can't go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You can't. You know, you're stuck out there. It's the worst feeling. It’s rough.”

Yes, it is rough and tough for the world’s number 1 to not win, but Fedex, we all still love you and find you even more irresistible ;-)

We did not really know of the emotional side of Federer and this is what distinguishes him from the rest. You made me cry too!!

Fedex, you are getting better each day and if you couldn’t make your 14th win in this 2009 Australian Open, then you can hit it big time the next year for sure . . just keep the faith and hard work going.

Fedex . . . you are super-duper!

If you want to drop a question to Fedex or want to join the online forum, visit Federer's homepage - www.rogerfederer.com (I highly recommend this ;-)

Thanks for visiting my blog. Do write to me with your feedback, comments or brickbat to simplymearl@live.com or simply leave your comment in the tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent”

I quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. Eleanor was also First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945.

People give up and do not explore their creativity, thoughts, ideas, if what they think does not match their superior’s teachings (maybe your boss, your seniors, your teachers etc.). Believe me, your superiors who don’t even give a listening hear to your ideas, before making a decision….ought not to be taken too seriously.

Remember, these are a few people who like to take credibility upon themselves and even if your ideas match theirs, they would damn you and criticize you. So never give up to such people because you’re not being listened to…….you should take them as your opposition and let your ideas flow.

There are also those few kind of inspirational motivators, who will go out to get the best out of you. You may not have the right ideas on a job all the time, but it would be tried and tested for sure. These are people who we call “Mentors”. We need more of such inhabitants on our planet and we should also try to be like them.

So don’t really be bogged down by what others say or feel about you, just believe in yourself and respect yourself the most. Such people need to be ignored and allowed to do what they think is right, while you do what your heart and mind says and always make it a point to speak up!!!

I think, we should not talk too much about such people, because remember, Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

So be creative and keep secreting those great ideas. But make sure, you convert those ideas into actions by making good use of them in your life.

KKeep smiling and be sunshine happy always ;-)

Thanks for visiting my blog! Do write to me with your feedback & comments or brickbats, at simplymearl@live.com or leave your inputs in the comments tab below.

Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!