Know your Nails !

Nails reflect your health. If you are not healthy internally, it shows on your nails. Brittle nails are caused by the lack of water in the body. Ironically, prolonged exposure of nails to water also causes this, as do certain health conditions. Symptoms include easy peeling at the nail edge, breakage and layering. Discolouration (psoriasis) of nails can be due to anaemia, a common problem among women.
Blue nails indicate certain heart and liver diseases. White spots are formed when there is low blood supply to the nails. They could also be caused by injury and certain diseases.
Pain and swelling in and around the nails can be an indication of fungal infection. Frayed cuticles also indicate lack of water in the body.

WHAT TO EAT
Biotin is essential for nails. Have foods like soybean and whole grains that are rich in biotin. Your diet must include ample fruits and vegetables to supply necessary vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Consume adequate fluids. A glass of fresh carrot juice everyday provides necessary calcium and phosphorus for nails.

SOME DOS, SOME DON’TS
Do not use your nails as tools. No picking. No scratching. No digging. Try to keep your hands dry, though not unmoisturised. Do not bite your nails. It damages the nails and cuticles, causing deformation, uneven growth and infections too. Wear rubber gloves when you wash clothes or clean dishes. Keep your nails enamel-free and aerated once a week.

SIMPLE TIPS FOR NAIL CARE
A good time to manicure is just after a shower or washing dishes. The dirt under your nails has already been removed. Soak your hands in warm water for 10 minutes everyday, preferably before sleeping. Pat dry and moisturise well. Apply a cream or lotion whenever you wash your hands. Nails tend to dry out due to soaps and detergents. Trim your nails regularly. Change your socks daily. Try to wear cotton socks as much as possible. Do not wear tight shoes. They damage toenails. If you must wear closed shoes, clip your toenails short.

HOME REMEDIES FOR SPOTLESS NAILS
To whiten nails, use whitening toothpaste. Scrub your nails to de-stain and add sparkle. Soak your nails in water with lemon juice. The lemon acts as an astringent and lifts off the stains.

Popping pleasure !

Stress relief, diet aid, lucky charm: few can resist the allure of bubble wrap and now a Japanese company is finding new reasons to pop till you drop.

In Japan, the plastic packaging material is best known by a local brand-name Puti Puti, pronounced "poochy-poochy", and Kawakami Sangyo Co, its biggest manufacturer, has set up the Puti Puti Culture Laboratory dedicated to finding unusual uses for it.

"I think about Puti Puti almost every waking hour," said Ayaka Sugiyama, the head of the laboratory whose hobbies include singing in a five-person band called "Puti Metal".

"I'm not an expert in psychology, but it is said that if people see a chair, they want to sit in it. If they see a button on an intercom, they want to push it," she said.

"It's the same with Puti Puti. The bubbles stick out, so you want to squash them."

Hoping to tap into Puti Puti's appeal, Sugiyama started jotting down notes on unusual uses of the packaging material about seven years ago and the ideas were compiled in a "Puti Puti Official Book" published last year.

Among the suggestions are injecting the bubbles with coloured ink to create mosaic-like artwork, sitting on the sheets at picnics, sewing them into in a wedding dress and -- this from an 85-year-old woman -- popping bubbles to help prevent senility.

Kawakami Sangyo teamed up with toy maker Bandai Corp to develop a Mugen Puti Puti, or an "infinite pop pop" key chain with eight re-poppable bubbles -- although Puti Puti purist Sugiyama admits the sensation isn't the same as the real thing.

Sugiyama, a slender 30-year-old, says she sometimes pops Puti Puti bubbles while watching TV as a way to keep her hands busy and refrain from munching junk food.

Kawakami Sangyo, whose main customers for Puti Puti are manufacturers, is creating products aimed at retail consumers.

"Pucchin Sukatto", a box of small bubble wrap sheets developed solely for popping, went on sale at convenience stores for 198 yen ($1.78) in October and a "Puti Puti Calendar" comes with a square bubble on each day of the month.

"For those who think one Puti Puti per day is not enough, there are extras at the end of each month," Sugiyama said.

Kawakami Sangyo also includes one heart-shaped bubble per every 10,000 on ordinary wrapping for good luck -- sort of like a four-leaf clover -- and offers special sheets of giant bubbles that make a startlingly loud cracking noise when popped.

The company is now trying to develop star-shaped bubbles as well as scented Puti Puti, though both have proven tricky.

"The scent doesn't last," Sugiyama said of the efforts so far to make strawberry-scented Puti Puti.

"But we're still trying. Bursting the bubbles makes you feel calm and reduces stress and if there were a scent, it would be even more soothing."

Which one is your real face ?

When you meet your boss, you have one face. When you meet your wife, you have another. When you meet your competitor, you have yet another… We’re experts at changing faces. But which one is real?
During an India–Australia cricket match, things took an ugly turn when Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was subjected to racial abuse by some spectators. ‘Monkey chants’ were hurled at Andrew. Then someone in the stadium started jumping up and down, imitating a monkey. Soon, others joined in and made life at the boundary tough for Andrew.
We may have evolved into humans but the animal within us has not died totally. Every human carries something animallike, deep inside. It surfaces in situations of deep frenzy when our love towards our nation, caste or race makes us intolerant of outsiders. This is the root cause of all religious wars, all communal riots. Not just in India but all over the world, wherever crowds behave in collective ‘unconsciousness’.
There are two ways to deal with this problem—correct it or ignore it. The first step in rising above animalistic tendencies is to accept them. People who don’t accept them are hypocrites. They hide their instincts cleverly but these can erupt unconsciously and shatter their suave image. The second option is meditation—the process of peeling off our masks and discovering our original faces, which we carry with us from birth.
Let us observe what faces we present to people around us, every day. When a man meets his boss, he has one face. When he meets his peon, he has another. When he meets his wife/girlfriend, yet another face. People have become experts at changing faces and thus acquire thousands of them. It has become mechanical to change one’s face to suit the situation. When such people are in a crowd that thinks and acts like they do—all mechanical, all unconscious, all automated —they start making monkey faces. And that is how and why political leaders can exploit them!
Here’s a simple method to shed this mentality. Stand in front of a mirror. Let your emotional faces/masks appear. Make grim faces, funny faces, monkey faces… Grin or grimace, smirk or sneer… Soon, you’ll begin to laugh at your hypocrisy. And this laughter will set you free. You will soon unmask yourself to find your original face. Do this meditation playfully. Don’t be serious. Let your real face surface gradually.
After this, practise Osho’s laughing meditation. Laughing is probably the only activity in which we can involve mind, body and heart. Thus, it is a simple yet powerful meditative practice. It is done in two stages. Each stage can last anywhere from five minutes to an hour, and the stages need not be equally long.
The first stage can be done with eyes open or closed while sitting comfortably on the floor. To begin, just laugh and when you stop, start laughing again. It may help to think of humorous situations, jokes, funny faces, even to think how silly it is to do a laughing meditation! If tears come, cry for a bit before bringing yourself back to the laughter. Don’t be rigid. Let your body move and express itself through laughter.
In the second stage, sit with eyes closed. Witness your mind, body, emotions. Focus on the gap between the in-breath and out-breath at the navel area. Thus, acting consciously and playfully, you can realise your original face.

Be healthy with Garlic !

Garlic is an ingredient that almost anyone who does any cooking, and absolutely everyone who enjoys cooking would not be without. The Greeks and Romans believed that garlic has magical qualities. Warriors would eat it for strength before going into battle. Gods were appeased with gifts of garlic and cloves of garlic were fastened round the necks of babies to ward off evil.
A bulb of garlic, the most commonly used plant part, is divided into numerous discrete fleshy sections called cloves.

WHY GARLIC IS GOOD...

Garlic has many therapeutic properties and it’s just not an old wives’ tale. The most significant of these is that it lowers blood cholesterol thus helping to prevent heart disease. Also, raw garlic contains a powerful antibiotic and there is evidence that it has a beneficial effect against cancer and strokes, and increases the absorption of vitamins. Raw garlic if consumed can help limit the damage done to the heart after surgery because of its natural antioxidant properties.

HOW TO BUY GARLIC...

Garlic bulbs should be firm and round with clear, papery skins. Avoid the one’s that are beginning to sprout. Garlic bulbs keep well when stored in a cool, dry place. If the air is damp they will sprout and if it is too warm the clover will eventually turn to grey powder.

HOW TO COOK GARLIC...

First break the garlic bulb into cloves and then remove the papery skin. When a garlic clove is split lengthwise, a shoot is revealed in the centre, which is sometimes green and often removed. Don’t use a bulb when you just need a clove. Crush cloves with a blade of a knife or use a garlic crusher. Crushed garlic cooks more evenly and distributes its flavour in food better than when used sliced or finely chopped.

The Valuable Lemon !

• Lemon juice is valued in the home as a stain remover, and a slice of lemon dipped in salt can be used to clean copper-bottomed cooking pots. Lemon juice has been used for bleaching freckles.

• Lemon peel oil is much used in furniture polishes, detergents, soaps and shampoos. It is important in perfume blending and especially in colognes.

• Petitgrain oil (up to 50 per cent citral), is distilled from the leaves, twigs and immature fruits of the lemon tree in West Africa, North Africa and Italy.

• Lemon peel, dehydrated, is marketed as cattle feed.

• Lemonade, when applied to potted plants, has been found to keep their flowers fresh longer than normal.

• Lemon wood is fine-grained, compact, and easy to work. In Mexico, it is carved into chessmen, toys, small spoons, and other articles.

• Lemon juice is widely known as a diuretic, antiscorbutic, astringent, and febrifuge.

Diwali in Goa !

Diwali which is the festival of lights, is a one-day festival in Goa. Bhaubija and the New year day are also celebrated as part of Diwali festival. In Goa, huge effigies of Narkasura the demon, are made and burnt at dawn. The night of Diwali is also be jeweled with millions of flickering candles and an explosion of fire works and fire crackers, so it is known as the Festival of Lights. The lamps signify enlightenment or upliftment of the mind and edification of the spirit.

Narak Chaturdasi is called Diwali in Goa. On this day, early morning, a paper made Narkasur (demon) filled with grass, wastepaper, crackers etc is taken out and to the accompaniment of taunts and insults, burnt and cremated. Early on Diwali day after burning the Narkasur the Hindu menfolk will return to their homes to be massaged by their wives / mothers with the same type oil and 'utnem'. The family then visits the local temple and returns to a similar feast of 'foav' sweets.

Hold with Style !

She's forty something and on top of the world. Her world is a fantasy caravan. In her quiet moment, she’s a romantic. In Mumbai, she’s known as the ‘Accessory Queen’. Meet Meera Mahadevia, the stylish designer who creates heirloom masterpieces. But there’s more to her than her work. She’s a woman of all seasons.

Her zardosi batuas are the most-wanted items by some of world’s leading celebrities. Bollywood actress Rekha carries her bags, Parmeshwar Godrej walks in her sandals, Malaika Arora Khan flaunts her broad belts, Kirron Kher matches every sari with her bags. So does Sunita Kapoor, Diana Hayden, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan. On her India trip, Angelina Jolie bought her bag in Pune. Meera has also held successful exhibitions in Singapore, Dubai and London.

Most talked Uncoupling in tinsel world !

Everyone believed their relationship was for life long.

Years of steadfast commitment and people thought theirs was an affair set in stone. So when the Kareena-Shahid love story which went awry was splashed in media, many dismissed it as a publicity ploy to promote the pair’s forthcoming flick.

While that’s a thought, it wouldn’t be too wrong to suggest splitsville as another name for Bollywood/Hollywood. Here are the some famous break ups in tinsel world:

SAHEED KAPOOR - KAREENA KAPOOR

AISHWARYA RAI – SALMAN KHAN/VIVEK OBEROI

AAMIR KHAN – REENA

YUVRAJ SINGH – KIM SHARMA

SAIF ALI KHAN – AMRITA SINGH/ROSA

JENNIFER ANISTON AND BRAD PITT

BRITNEY SPEARS – KEVIN FEDERLINE

TOM CRUISE – NICOLE KIDMAN

JEMIMA GOLDSMITH – IMRAN KHAN/HUGH GRANT

It's mostly about dalliances rather than alliances in the world of celluloid charmers.

In Remembrance ! ( Ustadji )

What a way to offer a tribute to the maestro! Subhankar Ghosh’s docu-drama titled Yaad-EBismillah on the shehnai maestro was a perfect treat for music lovers at the GD Birla Sabaghar. What perhaps saddened many was to see the footages of the maestro when he was on his death bed, looking frail with too many tubes jutting out of his body.

But such is life and the only solace lies in the music of the maestro that has transcended all such mortal barriers. It was indeed nice to hear Dr Soma Ghosh’s tribute to Khan saab. Her rendition of kheyal, kajri, ghazal and Shayamsangeet had the audience hypnotised by the charm of the Benaras gharana. Equally captivating was the brief jugalbandi between Ghosh and Khan saab’s nephew, Mumtaz Hussaain .

The concluding session saw the performance of Tal Rang ensemble with endangered instruments including, Bangla dhol and eshraj. By the time the recital ended with a five-minute-long dhun on the eshraj, youngsters were seen enthusiastically clapping to the music. An instrument that can generate such response surely can’t be allowed to fade into oblivion. Surely, the city could do with more such concerts to wean listeners to this form of music.
Related Link - Tribute to a master : Yaad-E-Bismillah !

..and GOD created Hands !

This is a snap of a soft toy making factory . Workers are assembling Tiny hands !

An all-star salute to Julia Roberts !

That famous Julia Roberts smile was flashing more than usual Friday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the American Cinematheque honored the actress with its 22nd annual award.
The ceremony, to air Dec. 5 on AMC, featured her co-stars past and present sharing memories of working together and introducing themed montages from her films.

The montage that got the biggest laugh most likely will never air on AMC. Introduced by Sally Field, who noted their mutual fondness for expletives, the package featured clips of Roberts using various curse words.

Tom Hanks did a bit equating Roberts to the letters in QUAKE: Q, for the question he always gets: "What's it like working with Julia Roberts? U: Upstaging. A: Asterisk, as in actors' credits punctuated by a "* worked with Julia Roberts." K: The Knowledge that Julia will be going home to a husband who is way better looking than you will ever be. And E: Everybody loves Julia Roberts.

An affair with Raima Sen !

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Everyone knows about Raima Sen’s brief relationship with Kunal Kapoor (of Rang De Basanti fame). But here’s more. After that, late last year, Raima had another brief affair, this time with politician Kalikesh Singh Deo who is a Bhubaneshwar-based MLA. However, the relationship did not last long and they parted ways at the end of March, this year. Says a source, “Raima and Kalikesh were very close. They looked very good as a couple. Everyone thought that their relationship would get more serious, but sadly, that did not happen. They parted ways, but not on an ugly note. The main reason was that their careers were as different as chalk and cheese. Their work did not allow them to meet much and relationship lost its fizz. They were together for only four months.” Unlike most actors, Raima did not beat around the bush about her love life, when we asked her about it. She frankly admitted that she was involved with Kalikesh towards the end of last year. “We were together, but the relationship did not last long. He is in Bhubaneshwar and I am in Mumbai. We didn’t make much headway because of the distance between the two cities.”


Kalikesh Singh Deo comes from the royal family of Bolangir and is the youngest member of the Orissa State Assembly. Elected to the House in 2004, he won from Saintala Assembly constituency, which was previously held by the Indian National Congress. He completed his schooling from the Doon School, Dehradun and graduated in Economics from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University. He represented India in shooting and basketball. He is currently the BJD Bolangir District President and member of the Public Accounts Committee and Energy Committee of Orissa Assembly.

‘Yes, I’m going international’ -Bipasha

Bipasha is going to Hollywood, but only on her own terms. “Within a month, I’ll be signing my first international film,” she reveals. And what kind of roles is she looking at? “I’m going to oppose any effort to slot me as an Indian with a sing-song voice in any international project. If I was willing to play the stereotypical Indian, I’d have done Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Ltd and so many other projects that have come my way. But I want to play mainstream, normal characters in the West, not ethnic Asian people.” Even John Abraham is playing a non-Indian in Deepa Mehta’s Luna. “Well, having a global diction certainly helps. Any film-maker that I’ve met abroad has liked my voice. Everything is in-sync sound out there. So, a correct voice and diction is a major battle won.” Elaborating further, Bipasha adds, “There’re so many beautiful actors from Korea and China who have failed to make the grade abroad because of their thick accents. I think India can work there.”