A Tribute to Bob Dylan

Not a day goes by without hearing or remembering at least one of his songs. Bob Dylan, one of the most successful artist and songwriter of the century, has had an overwhelming presence on me. Innumerable hits over the past forty years and his songs are still so relevant and popular.

Bob Dylan's lyrics can't be beaten. The phrasings are subtly beautiful and still pertinent today. It isn't just the songs and the performance – he is clearly somebody who has a real sense of purpose and conviction. He stood up for the cause he believed in and this got him turned into the "voice of a generation".

As I got older I became more interested in Dylan's mythology. Dylan's magnaminous mythology is a matter of perspective that changes over the years, as you grow, as you become wiser. You get to discover this fascinating human every day in a new way. He is an endless mystery.

How else would you explain the phrasing of 'Blowing' in the wind..."!!


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

(C) Bob Dylan

Photo Credit: DG

Bunions and Heel Spur: Two painful feet conditions

The two terrible feet conditions that people often suffer from are heel spur and bunions. Both are inexpressibly painful and are persistent so much so that it becomes hard to get rid of them. 

Calcaneal spur, commonly known as heel spur, is the in-growth of the calcaneal (heel bone) mostly due to deposit of calcium. Bunion is a foot condition where the big toe bends towards the second toe forming a sharp bony prominence. Pains, from mild to severe, are caused by the inflammation and the bone pressing against the shoe.  Bunions are more common in women and are caused by a number of reasons, including wearing shoes that are too tight, years of abnormal motion, poor foot mechanics, bone deformities, flat feet and arthritis. However, common to both feet conditions are our body weight. Obese people are more prone and it’s generally reported that being overweight is an aggravating factor.

 Symptoms of heel spur:

Excessive continuing pain on putting your heel flat

On slow and less walking it decreases temporarily

On fast walking, jumping, carrying weights the pain increases

Treatment:

Stretching exercises

Losing body weight

Wearing shoes that have cushions, heel cradle and heel cup all over and absorb shocks

R.I.C.E therapy

Symptoms of bunions:

Moderate to severe pain on walking

Bony growth of the big toe

Big toe bent towards the other toes

Both feet usually affected

Treatment:

Choose shoes with roomy toe box, cushioned cradle and padding all over to accommodate the bony prominence.

Losing body weight

R.I.C.E therapy

Surgery is an option when conservative treatment fails and you have chronic pains.

What is  RICE-(M)?

R – Relative Rest

I – Ice

C – Compression

E – Elevation

M – Motion

When you goof up with your words

Jack, my friend in another forum, had written about foot-in-the-mouth disease where people, as a matter of fact all of us, goof up with words. However, it isn't a headline when I mess up with words. But when famous people do they certainly cannot undo it! It gets written in the pages of history. Here are some infamous quotes from famous people:

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." -- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for a federal anti-smoking campaign.

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," -- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

This one is senseless:

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air & water that are doing it." -- Al Gore, Vice President

And this one, very gross:

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." -- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.

Why I Admire Sachin Tendulkar

We all are aware of the legendary feat of Sachin Tendulkar. He has enthralled his fans all over the world with many great cricketing moments for 15 long years. The superlative innings are carved in the history of cricket. Having said this, I look up to the man for many other reasons that make him a person of great human values.


His untainted career and personal life

This is something hard to believe! He has always been in the limelight but for all the right reasons on earth. Never, can I remember that he is in the news for anything wrong or anything not so cricket. It certainly takes a lot of discipline and dedication to do that.

Modesty, humility, being down to earth, deeply rooted

I have always had this on my mind while watching him play and grow. Be it on field or off field, he has been an exemplary persona right from his building years. Never have I come across as an angry or seething Tendulkar who is puking words or snapping at the fellow players. Does that mean that he hasn’t been criticised ever? We all know how raw and bitter the game of cricket can be. So, Sachin too had his days when he was met scathing criticism for not being in performing form. But the great man of composure that he is, he has never lost his cool. He has dealt with the life’s untoward hassles with grace and maturity.

Carrying the legacy of Tendulkar family


He is a complete family person. In order to shine out in professional life the role of family is very important. Tendulkar family is one of the few families of India that still lives and thinks the same way as it used to, before and the after the birth of the master blaster on field. The values and morality that have been instilled in young Sachin is the legacy of the Tendulkar family, and I am sure he is passing that on to his children as well. I salute the whole family (the members of which are good names in their respective fields) for having being such a support all through his career.


Discipline, dedication, self-restraint

Discipline is something that makes or breaks a man, and Sachin has been an epitome of discipline. This has been reflected in the way he has carried himself all these years. His sense of time and punctually is something worth cultivating.  I am deeply moved by his self-control, restraint, and ascetic discipline.

Non-publicized charity

Sachin Tendulkar has an income more than many of us put together and the amount of charity he does is a matter of mere speculation since he loves to stay away from publicizing it. This makes him even greater human.

Intrinsic strength

Sachin has dealt with the hurdles and the life’s odds with composure and poise. He too had his days when he was heavily critiqued for his bad patch and also, more recently, in an incident recently when a major political party in Maharashtra wanted him to blabber its words. Sachin, on the contrary, resolved the matter with an off field communicating excellence that’s hard to beat.

Kudos to this man who is my favourite cricketer not merely due to his cricketing ability but also for being a man of stupendous stature as a person.



Image: cricketclub

Few Tips for the Newbies Earn from the Internet

Earning on the internet involves a lot on activity. You need to do a lot of networking, sharing, interacting in a way that benefits each other. A major earning logarithm works on down line building and gathering referrals, while others require you to write proactively, consistently and voraciously. Having spent days researching on the right kind of approach on right kind of sites and to earn from them, I have learned a few basic things on which the virtual world works on. I would like to share those with you here.

How to start off

Don’t expect to become rich overnight. Online earnings happen slowly and take a lot of time and effort.

A few cents from several sites add up to a decent amount. So, invest in lot of genuine sites instead of just one or two. Your effort and time would build up a network that’s very important in converting the cents to dollars.

Your profile speaks volumes about you and your work. Invest time to build an enhancing profile. Be honest and modest. It pays off.

Stay away from scam sites. Most of the sites which ask you to pay first invariably are scam sites. The best opportunities are free sites unless you know someone who has got paid from the sites requiring upfront payment. If you are not sure, ask questions in the forums or amongst online friends.

Spend some time learning while you earn. Join forums which talk about your interests and your skills. There is always an opportunity out there with your specific skill set and interests.

Start with a few activities and gradually expand as time permits you. Be prepared to devote your time and effort.

Open a Paypal account, if you do not have one already. Some sites pay you directly by cheque, while most use payment gateways like Paypal. Another important account that you must have is Google Adsense. It helps you earn from your blog or other sites.

The importance of Networking

A lot of online earning opportunities involve networking. The more successful you are in online networking the more you likely to succeed in your earning endeavour.

If you are already part of a social networking site, make as many new friends who are active online as you can. Visit their blogs/sites/articles, leave comments and votes.

When you join a particular site which involves interaction with other members, make as many friends you can and comment/rate their articles.

There are sites which are ideal for promotion or drawing traffic to your articles/content. I strongly recommend Twitter which gets traffic to your websites. You can also consider sites like Digg, Mixx, stumbleupon, Youtube and Facebook.

Lastly, do not lose heart if you are not successful. Keep trying. It took me almost ten years to earn a modest amount from the internet. Perseverance does pay off.

Good luck!

From Dawn to Dusk

The two most beautiful moments in life are the dawn and the dusk. Both are similar, with the same kind of mellowness, but they bring in different kind of feelings. One the beginning and another the end. Both have mesmerizing beauty and an overwhelming presence. Both are precious and magical yet so different, unique and individualistic!


“Don’t look so sad, it’s not so bad, you know.
It’s just another night. That’s all it is.”

Aloo Gobi with Garam Masala (Indian style)

India has an interesting mix of people eating vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. It's hard to tell the proportion but at the end of it we do come up with excellent variations on both veg and non-veg dishes. Two days back, when I posted one article on the good old 'garam masala', my friend from US was inquisitive about the recipes that should go well with the spice blend. Today, I will explore one of the age old, traditional recipes that's been a hit with our family since many generations now.

Read the article on Garam Masala by clicking here.

Aloo Gobi Curry


Aloo gobi is cooked in an Indian curry sauce. It's old but never outdated. Aloo means potato and gobi means cauliflower.

Ingredients


* oil/ ghee (clarified butter)
* cauliflower, broken into small florets
* potatoes, peeled and cubed
* cumin seeds
* turmeric powder
* coriander, cumin paste (the whole seeds are soaked and ground)
* red chili paste
* ginger paste
* garam masala (whole)
* bayleaf
* Salt to taste

Note: you can also use chopped onions.

Heat the oil mixed with ghee in a wok. Toss the cumin seeds, whole garam masala, bay leaf in the oil for a few seconds till they get a shade darker. Add the rest of the ginger, cumin, coriander, red chili paste and saute till the mix dries up. Add sugar (a pinch, for colour), salt and turmeric powder. Add the previously fried cauliflower florets and the fried potato cubes. Mix the vegetables with the curry paste. Allow it to cook till the potato gets tender and the cauliflower beautifully absorbs the spices. Add little amount of water, cover the wok till the ingredients absorb the remaining water. Season with garam masala powder, one tea spoon of ghee and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

The vegetables should absorb all the flavour of the spices maintaining their individual integrity. And if you could strike a balance with the right amount of spices, water and the cooking - you are a great cook!

Accompaniment: freshly cooked white rice, fresh lime, whole green chili.