Latte with Phoenix

PLACE NAMES Since centuries, Districts have been named after the District town itself. Examples … Nagpur   District   named   after Nagpur town                        Allahabad   District   named   after Allahabad town                        Muzaffarpur District named after Muzaffarpur town                        Patiala   District   named   after Patiala   town                        Salem   District   named   after Salem town                       And so on….. It was easy to place a district or town in our mental map of India. Every child has learned geography in school and she/ he can roughly pin the place g...

WHY   VOTING   PERCENTAGE   is   LESS General Election 2019 is currently in full swing. We have had continuous debates on TV, acrimonious barbs thrown at each other by political parties, rallies by the leaders, ads in the media etc.,etc. People take sides, WhatsApp posts and videos fly about. Close friends and relatives are found batting for opposite parties. Discussions in get-togethers and chats grow in volume and time. There is an appeal by the government, Election Commission to check your name in the voters list. First time eligible youth are urged, mobilized to get their name in the voters list. Camps are held all around to facilitate this. Polling days come nearer and everybody from the government, Election Commission, Schools & Colleges, Corporate ads et-all urges everyone to be a good citizen and Vote on your polling date. Polling Day arrives. All offices, Schools, Colleges, Universities etc are closed. Private sector is also closed or give...

ARE   YOU   SITTING   COMFORTABLY ? You must have read hundreds of news articles, health advisories and now WhatsApp posts about keeping a correct posture. Most jobs nowadays require working on your laptop during office hours and even at home. Too late you realise that the purpose of issuing laptops is to keep you working 24x7, whether in office or home, train or plane. They even expect you lug your laptop on well deserved holidays too. Your posture becomes stooping down to the screen for long stretches at a time. In no time you start to feel like a pudding. Research data say that 40% of sick leaves are due to back problems.   Using the gym provided by the office during lunch hours is futile thinking, as there are several persons with the same idea. Also doing any exercise after lunch is strictly no-no. You decide to join a gym near home, resolving to get up early. You make a timetable of getting up, gym, return, bath, breakfast and then to office. The...

SLEEP   timings   of   CHILDREN Since ages we in India have been taught that getting up to study at crack of dawn is best as you are fresh and can assimilate better. This was the prevalent idea and parents/ elders used to din it into the minds of children.   Researchers since early 1990’s have determined that sleep patterns of younger children, adolescents and adults vary considerably. (We thought it was common sense, and everyone knew it) Pre-adolescent children wake up easily and are mostly eager to start the day. Experts also believe that an early start of the day and school is best for this age group. Sleep pattern of adolescents in age group 12 to 18 differs considerably from others. Their body clocks have a different rhythm and there are other factors telling to stay up late and get up late. This may be due to extracurricular activities, hobbies taken up in this age, TV, novels to be read, having a tete-a-tete with friends, projects to be finished or...

Separate Capitol Towns Situation 1 In Lucknow, the State Capitol of U.P., the State Assembly is situated smack in the centre of the town on its main arterial road. So whenever there is a Dharna, Protest march, Sit down protests, etc, the road is closed for about a km, for 4 to 6 hours during peak time of the day. Detours are through narrow roads which immediately clog up and become as useless as the main road blocked by the strikers. And Dharna, Protests are numerous whenever the Assembly is in session. Since Dharna, Protest marches cannot be banned, being rights in a democracy, what happens ? The strikers are happy that their message has gone to a vast majority of people, by inconveniencing and affecting a majority of the city’s population. The Assembly House being in the centre of the city on an arterial road, the population of the city on the south side cannot go to the north side where are situated the University, all the courts including the High Court, all the ...

The  day    EURO   Came Celebrations in Brussels the administrative capitol of the European Union were on a grand scale. There were some fantastic light & sound shows. Crowds were cheering and enjoying the event, which was celebrating the arrival of the Euro. European Union officials claimed it as a historic event of Europe’s history. European Union had been formed some years ago, and the idea of a common currency of the 12 European countries was floated in the Treaty of Rome in 1957. It was in the Treaty of Maastricht in 1991 that set the route for a single common currency. The idea of a common currency gained ground and in 1995 the euro got its name. Euros had started to be used as a medium of exchange in financial transactions since 1999, but New Year’s Day 2002 was the debut for the Euro notes and coins. People all over Europe were bringing in their used old and torn mark’s, drachmas, liras, pesetas, francs, schilling etc to purchase anything a...

          I treasure the picture post cards sent to me from all over by friends & relatives. They radiate a feeling of affection that the sender remembers you, wishes that you also were with them and cares for you. The cards bring to you visions of places that you visited and life associated with it. They also prompt you to make plans to journeys to lands far-off. You could browse through these cards, revive memories. A whole industry of photographers who photographed the scenic places, printers who turned out B&W or coloured cards on glossy paper; manufacturing and distributing these post cards was flourishing. You went on holidays; you carefully selected post cards, took time out to write a few words, addressed it, searched for a post office to stamp and post it, or had a helpful hotel desk to do the needful.                       ...