GUJRAT INDIA

Who is Sanjay Nair?

I have always found very difficult to explain this question as I find myself to be just a small part of the infinite universe. My existence is just a small drop in the large ocean. I am evolving continuously and I am trying to understand my life’s purpose as I am spending time in this transitory place called Mother Earth.

Who is Sanjay Nair: More than the linear window

Linearly if I want to describe myself then my name is Sanjay Nair, I have done my B.Pharm & M.B.A with 8 & ½ years experience in the pharmaceutical industry with 7 & ½ years in product management. Thereafter from the year 2007, I am involved with project-9 and the rise of womanhood website as per my soul’s calling. After all these years, I have realized quite clearly that my existence is “not just about” me and therefore I feel it is very shallow to see myself from a linear window.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Systems Window

When I see myself through systems window then I clearly understand my purpose on earth and how to progress towards achieving the same. This evolution has been happening till now and this will continue to happen as I move ahead in my life. To just give an idea about what I have mentioned above, let me explain my academic & professional life till now through systems window.

Who is Sanjay Nair: The first attraction towards the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals

When I was in class ninth, I saw a program on T.V (1988) on pharmaceutical Industry. Those days it was just Doordarshan and this program that was shown on Doordarshan strongly made an impact on me. It was registered in my subconscious mind in a positive manner. After class 10, I opted for Biology, Chemistry & Physics as subjects. I developed a natural inclination to Biology & Chemistry and started doing self-study on these subjects with great interest.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Fascination and inclination towards Life Sciences and Chemistry

In class 11th when we had to submit biology project, I made a 3D structure of cell membrane which was adjudicated the best project in the class and this was the only model that was kept in the biology lab by my lady biology teacher, Tandon Madam. (1990-Kendriya Vidyalaya, 1 STC Jabalpur). In class 12th (1991-Kendriya Vidyalaya, Cantonment Area Cannanore) I liked my biology teacher Ms.Srilekha Kumaran very much. In one of the class tests I did very well with my paper. This paper I had written with my applied thought elaborating each answer in depth. After correction of the paper my biology teacher called me and told that I had great capacity of understanding the subject “biology” and I should enhance this power continuously. She said that she was surprised to see the way I had written the paper. She said she never expected this out of me. This was the turning point in my life towards self-discovery. I wrote my 12th board with just 2 months of continuous self-study, understanding each subject that is biology, chemistry and physics in depth. I scored highest in Biology in the board exams among all my papers.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences

After 12th, I had a choice to go for either Hotel Management or Pharmacy. I remembered the program that I had seen on T.V in 1988. I also remembered how I had a liking for Biology and Chemistry. I just opted for pharmacy (N.G.S.M College of Pharmacy, Mangalore) without any further thought. My liking for Biology and Chemistry helped me to understand each subject in my pharmacy course in depth and apply it in my theory and practical examinations. I developed great liking for Human physiology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Microbiology. I had great equations with my pharmacology professor Mr. David Banjee and I had great fascination for my analytical chemistry professor Ms. Krishna priya. I also fondly remember my pharmaceutics and pharmacognosy professors, Ms.Geeta & Ms.Shanti respectively.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Degree in Management

After my B.Pharm, I developed a fascination for serving in the corporate in Pharmaceutical industry. I remember telling my classmates in B.Pharm that I would like to either get in the industry directly as a medical representative or I will do my M.B.A and I shall get into product management in the industry. I went on to do my M.B.A from VAMNICOM in Pune and then got into the industry. The M.B.A gave me a stereoscopic vision along with my science background. So one eye was the “eye of science” and the second eye became the “eye of business management”.

Who is Sanjay Nair: The foundation years

Next 8 & ½ years in the industry were just like magic in my life. I have been traveling my life’s path with great focus. I acquired great management and scientific insights in these years, which I had applied throughout my career to “achieve results of magical proportions”. These were the years where I developed a deep interest and experience in path breaking management principles like “execution” as well as great scientific abilities to understand and communicate “intrinsic strengths” of a pharmaceutical molecule in depth.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Scientific insight for the betterment of humanity

Somehow new molecules and drugs just came in my life waiting to be explored and to be made into big brands in the last 8 & ½ years of my career. I cannot believe now that I was somehow instrumental in turning the NSAID market upside down in India. I have been also associated with cardiac medicine very closely and even during handling NSAIDs in my last assignment, the positive turn around came for the NSAID brand (Aceclofenac) that I was handling because of my identification of the cardiac side effects of a class of NSAIDs called as COXIBs and attacking it directly with all international scientific evidence meanwhile also positioning the unique safety and efficacy of Aceclofenac as a NSAID with more than 10 years of clinical evidence.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Gaining depth in the practice of management

On the other hand I also got great management books in my hand including “Execution” by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan, “The Fifth Discipline” by Peter Senge “Winning” by Jack Welch and understood the concepts of strategy and execution in detail. I also understood the importance of Human resource management in great detail during my product management career. I not only understood and assimilated but also practically applied these concepts and principles in my professional and personal life.

Who is Sanjay Nair: The years of change

The years 2006 and 2007 was very dissatisfying years as I was somehow not able to move towards my life’s vision and purpose. There was a great turmoil in my internal and external environment. I learned great lessons and developed great insights about how I was struck in the vicious and negative reinforcing structures partly which I was responsible for creating in the first place. I quit my last job and pushed myself to achieve my life’s vision and purpose. I had identified my life’s vision and purpose. I had opted to pursue my vision with creative tension rather than emotional tension. This has given me great strength to prepare the initial blueprint for “PROJECT-9” as well the determination to put continual efforts towards the rise of womanhood website.

Who is Sanjay Nair: The stereoscopic vision of science and management

As I had moved towards preparing PROJECT-9, I could appreciate now my training in Science (especially biology & Chemistry and its application in Cellular & Molecular Biology based Drug Discovery process in cardiac medicine) & Management (Learning Organization based on fifth discipline) and how they are helping me to move forward with Project-9. As I had mentioned before, Science & Management are giving me a stereoscopic vision to understand the complex drug discovery process based on dynamic and detail complexity as well as the systemic structure of the generative and creative learning organization respectively.

Who is Sanjay Nair: The “rise of womanhood” website

Further the rise of womanhood website on which I am currently working is an effort to take project-9 to the larger world especially “women” with a message of a new beginning for creative and generative living. The rise of womanhood website shall galvanise a worldwide force towards awakening of the feminine. The creation of a learning organization based on project-9 will be one of the manifestations of this feminine awakening.

Who is Sanjay Nair: Movement towards life’s purpose

That was a glimpse of “real Sanjay Nair” from the systems window perspective. There are many more perspectives. All of them are anyway fitting as per the need of the universe just like all the pieces of a Jigsaw puzzle. I am moving in a magical way towards discovering and fulfilling my life’s purpose.

What You Don’t Know About Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman has some of the most fascinating buildings lined up all along the way.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman was the shopping hub of Kuala Lumpur before modern shopping malls took over the city. All along this road, one will see many pre-war buildings in Art Deco and Neo-Classic styles, whose beautiful exterior have been preserved to accommodate modern retail shops. Anyone walking down the road will be greeted by a riotous scene of people, bags and carpets.

Tourists dying to run away from touristy areas and are keen to see how ‘normal’ Malaysians live will find Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman fascinating in giving a glimpse of real Malaysian life.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman or as it was formerly known as Batu Road, was named after the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong or King of Malaysia. Oddly enough, many Malaysians confuse him with Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. One is Tuanku, which means King, and the other is Tunku, an honorific for royalty. By simply knowing this, you’re ahead of many Malaysians!

The road itself is very prominent in KL, and one will find it crowded at most times of the day and even at night. Dataran Merdeka, or the independence square, is just a short distance away.

PH Hendry

The white and orange building at the beginning of the road is the former P.H. Hendry building, or what is left of it. P. H. Hendry was the oldest existing jeweller in Malaysia, appointed the Royal Jeweller to the states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Kelantan in the 20s. In the early days, the craftsmen and stone-carvers came from Sri Lanka.

PH Dineshamy founded the Hendry dynasty. In the 1920s, his son PH Hendry opened a jewellery shop at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. In fact, the Hendry family business is still in existence.

The eye catching white and orange was only recently painted. Its style is Neo-Classic and its façade has three large pilasters, which are the slightly projected vertical columns. If you trace the columns all the way up, you will see that they are capped with Corinthian capitals, or the ‘heads’ of the columns. The pediment, which is the triangular structure on the top, is a feature of Neo-Classic architecture that gives the building an imposing feel. The windows on both floors are different; the first floor has a bay window while the second floor has a Venetian window consisting of a semicircle arch and four vertical pilasters. It is covered with plaster; and right on top at the triangular structure, see if you can spot the star and crescent, the Islamic symbol.

Shops Number 1-19

The buildings across the road from P. H Hendry are fine examples of Neo-Classic features. Painted in white and sharing similar architecture with the PH Hendry building, the buildings were constructed at different times and built by Malay and Chinese tycoon.

Tourists find the giant pilasters, which are the slightly protruding columns that support the pediments, or the triangular structure on the top, very fascinating. The beautiful bay windows adorn the first floor and the block is brought together by the typical cornice treatment of that time. You can also see the huge rectangular piers that form part of the covered five-foot way. The façade is embellished with plaster scrolls and emblems.

Art Deco and Neo-Classic buildings along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

The fascinating buildings along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman are repainted with bright colours while some are left in their original colours, but all of them exhibit the theatrical qualities of Art Deco. Art Deco was an art movement that lasted from 1925 to the 1940s. It was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional and modern; and you will undoubtedly find these qualities in many of these buildings. The movement mixes many styles such as Neo-Classical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau and Futurism. It was most popular in Europe during the Roaring Twenties.

In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Art Deco style was shaped ‘by all the nervous energy stored up and expended in the War’. The characteristics of Art Deco are very apparent here. Cubic forms, ziggurat shapes- a terraced pyramid where it gets smaller the higher you go, complex grouping of rectangles and squares, bands of bright and arresting colours, zigzag design, strong sense of line and an illusion of pillars.

Many have been restored and preserved to house retail shops and restaurants.

Coliseum Cinema

One of Malaysia’s famous landmarks, it is the oldest continuously running cinema in the country, save for a short break during the Japanese occupation. It was built by Chua Cheng Bok, a well-known Chinese businessman and property developer, who eventually leased it to a group of gentlemen who opened this cinema back in 1921. It was constructed with reinforced concrete, with a double roof. The building was then considered one of the coolest places in town quite literally, with its numerous fans and ventilation. There are wide verandahs upstairs, with balcony seats and private boxes tastefully fitted with separate fans and lights, to cater to well-off patrons’ comfort. The Coliseum had its own power plant, making it independent of the town’s system. Next to it one will see a square, usually with fairs or sales or exhibitions that are organised by the KL Tourism body every month or so. It was one of the first few buildings in Southeast Asia to have safety designs such as emergency lighting and fire prevention systems. Also, state of the art ventilation grills and exhaust fans enhance air circulation.

It was not uncommon to go over in the 30s to see bangsawan or Malay opera performed by local troupes. However, since the 1940s the cinema played Hindi and Malay films. Moviegoers of the old would load up on tit bits such as sunflower seeds and fried peanuts and drinks in plastic carriers before entering.

It was beautiful the way these movies were advertised, as they were not printed by a press, but instead were painted by hand on large billboards! This process continued well into the early nineties proving to be quite eye catching to passers-by. Of course, canvass painting has been discontinued with the dawn of computers and other graphic design tools, so it is rare to see hand-painted billboards anymore.

Coliseum Cafe

Next to the Coliseum Cinema, is the Coliseum Hotel and Restaurant, which also was built in 1921 as part of the same complex. It was a popular watering hole for Colonial planters, miners and traders, just like Selangor club down the road, but less exclusive. Tea dancing was a popular pastime among young people as a way of courting and dating in those days. It was a chance to waltz with a boy or girl you liked under the watchful eye of chaperones who sat with their tea and sandwiches surveying the room. Amongst Coliseum’s famous patrons was Somerset Maugham, the English author, who made it a point to visit the café and the Selangor Club when he was in Malaya.

The special atmosphere of yesteryear is retained with its unchanged décor and furnishings, and white linen-clad waiters. But the waiters are now much older, and some hard of hearing, and in less than white clothes. The table clothes and the walls look stained while the air inside smells like grease! The Café serves mainly English cuisine, and the menu has remained largely the same. Many of the dishes are still cooked over charcoal and firewood stoves. When you order the sizzling steak, it comes to the table sizzling and the waiter pours sauce on it in front of you. Since most of the wait staff is old, expect them to be slightly grumpy, but that’s part of the charm in the Coliseum Cafe.

Odeon Cinema

Along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is the popular cinema of many a baby boomer’s childhood, Odeon. It was built by the Cathay Organization in 1936, and became an expression of the links between cinematography and Art Deco. A.O Coltman was the architect.

‘Odeon’ is a Greek word for a building for musical competition. This building featured new safety designs such as emergency lighting and fire prevention systems for the projector room. There was also a then state-of-the-art ventilation grill and exhaust fans to enhance air circulation, while the foyers were laid with locally produced rubber flooring.

Above the entrance, a horizontal beam, embellished with a mosaic depicting drama, comedy and music, intersects the strong vertical window dividers. On the side façade, the “ribs” create a vertical rhythm.

The Resurrection of the Cinematic Culture in Nigeria

Films such as The primitive, Primitive Man, Buffalo Hill were considered suitable while Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, The Isle of forgotten sins, House of Frankenstein were considered unsuitable for viewing. The Yoruba travelling theatre group of the 60’s and 70’s is renowned for being the arrowhead of movie productions in Nigeria. They took their theatrical skills a step further to film productions using the celluloid format.

Notable filmmakers during the 70’s celluloid boom era include but not limited to Ola Balogun, Eddie Uggbomah, late Herbert Ogunde, Adeyemi Afolayan (father of Kunle Afolayan), Moses Adejumo, Ladi ladebo, and Afolabi Adesanya. Movies released during that era include Kongi Harvest, Alpha, Bull frog in the sun, Amadi, Muzik man, Bisi daughter of the river, Ija ominira, Aiye. Our founding film makers were faced with the herculean task of raising funds to produce their movies.

Nigerians further worsened the situation by opting to watch movies of occidental and oriental origin at the cinemas and exhibition centres. Chinese films with the late legendary Bruce lee thrilled us with films such as Big boss, fist of fury, while Indian films from 60’s to 70’s paraded stars such as Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra singh deol, Amitabh bachchan, Hema Malini and recorded hits such as Bobby, Sholay, kabhi Kabhi, Dharamaveer, Amar Akbar Anthony.

The movies treated Nigerians to outstanding combat/sound and special effects, cinematography, good story lines amongst others. The founding fathers could not recoup their investments and with fewer investors unwilling to take a plunge into the dicey venture, the number of films produced began to decline. The deluge of VCRs in the 80’s provided the alternative of making movies on VHS format than on Cine. Productions turned out to be easier to make, faster, cheaper by a mile stone in comparison to the cine productions.

Cinema houses and other exhibition centres were finally shut down in the early 80’s. The 1992 rise of Ken Nebue’s “Living in bondage” brought forth the Home video industry a.k.a Nollywood, though it was debunked by late prince Alade Araomire who insisted that his movies actually paved the way for the industry. Nollywood, blossomed over the years with the telling of our stories, projecting our lifestyle, culture, local fashion, burning issues and problems affecting our society. However, the presence of over flogged themes and trippy plots, flawed scripts, choppy editing, high predictability rate, formulaic movies amongst others, have added to the declining rate at which home videos are purchased and watched. Home video thrived in the 90’s and early millennium. Foreign movies were still patronised by those who were tired of the lack lusture performances seen in home videos.

The cinematic culture was resurrected through the establishment of the Silver bird galleria (which houses the cinema) by chairman of the Silver bird group (Ben Murray Bruce). At first people thought it was a flash in the pan judging from the fall of yester years, but over time the galleria has played host to thousands of movie enthusiasts through its release of latest movies(dominantly Hollywood). The galleria capitalizes on its synergy (silver bird TV and rhythm 93.7fm radio station) and of course movie listings in Friday Vanguard and The Sunday edition of the Nation newspapers. Nollywood movies have also been accorded the same opportunity to be viewed by all.

Kunle Afolayan’s “Irapada”, Jeta Amata’s “The Amazing Grace”, kingsley Ogoro’s “Across the Niger”, Teco Benson’s “Mission to nowhere”, were among the early set of Nollywood movies viewed at the galleria. Perhaps, the booster for the film makers to have their movies on the big screen came with Stephanie Okereke’s “Through the Glass” which made N 10 million in two weeks at the galleria. This has further prompted filmmaker / producers to go for the big screen rather than the customary straight to the VCD /DVD approach. Tunde kelani’s “Arugba”, Vivian Ejike’s “Silent scandal”, Emem Isong/Desmond Elliot’s “Guilty Pleasures”, “Nollywood Hustlers” co-produced with Uche Jumbo, Lancelot Imaseun’s “Home in exile”, kunle Afolayan’s “The Figurine, araromire, Teco Benson’s “High blood pressure”, Jude Idada / Lucky Ejim’s “The Tenant” have towed the cinematic path.

Nu metro and Genesis Deluxe cinemas also exist and even the cinema halls at the National Theatre have come alive! Foreign investors can catch in on the growing profitable trend to establish cinema houses in other parts of the country. We can only hope that the cinematic culture will thrive across our Greenland and will never undergo the dearth experience of the 80’s.

Enjoy the Vibrant and Versatile Marathi Songs

Marathi songs depict the true nature of the culture and tradition followed in Maharashtra. This Indian state is known for its exquisitely crafted caves, forts, and palaces along with rich festivals and vibrant music.

Marathi music is recognized for its liveliness, versatility, and vibrancy that plays and influential role in the life of people living in the state. The distinct chord, astounding music, and the amazing lyrics strike every human heart and stir every soul. It is also known for spreading humanity, love, and spirituality.

In the early days, Marathi songs were restricted to certain musical instruments and few specific types but over the period of time, the genre has witnessed various advancements and improvements. New experiments are done using advanced instruments and technology whilst preserving the richness of traditional value that the songs deliver. In the present day, these songs also showcase the influence from western music and traces of music from the Bollywood that prevails in the state.

Marathi music industry is truly blessed with some of the most talented and outstanding music artists. The Indian nightingale Lata Mangeshkar has also sung various Marathi songs that have deeply touched the depth of every heart leaving a lasting impression. Some of the other outstanding singers who have contributed in the significant growth of this musical genre are Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Jatin Lalit, Ramlaxman, Ashok Patki, Milind Ingle, Dinnanath Mangeshkar, Rahul Deshpande, Sonu Nigam, Ram Marathe, Vaishali Samant, Kanhopatra Kinikar, and Pt. Jaggannath.

These singers and along with iconic lyricists and composers have shown remarkable contribution in the field. Some of the most popular Marathi songs that form a hot list are apsara aalo, jiv ranga, tu yena priye, ye ishq, pori tu kamal, jantar mantar ratila, vithala konata zendu, nusate nusate dole bharatana, aehuk padli thingi, sutalela ambada, de Dhaka, checkmate title song, sang ukase priya me, bakula namedo ghotale, and many more.

This long and unending list of soothing Marathi songs are continuously showing moderations and changes to suit the taste of present day youth. Nowadays, these songs are available in various formats like hip hop, rap, rock, and jazz styles. The charm of these songs is unique and the entire breed is deeply appreciated by many people in and around the state as well as the country.

The Cat’s Eye Gemstone Actually Works

Let us now get to know in more detail about the Cat’s Eye Stone.

The most characteristic feature of Cat’s Eye Stone is its exquisite beauty.

The Cat’s Eye Stone is found in a host of colors, green, yellow and brown being the most common among those. The white band which often occurs in the midst of Cat’s Eye Stone makes it easy to recognize.

In Hindi, the Cat’s Eye Stone is known as the Lehsunia.

This is a very special Gemstone, and yet another characteristic feature of the Cat’s Eye Gemstone is its opaqueness.

The Gemstone Cat’s Eye is hot in its constitution.

CAT’S EYE GEMSTONE – KNOWN TO BE RELATED WITH KETU

The Gemstone Cat’s Eye is known to be related with the planet Ketu. Ketu is a planet which is vengeful in nature, and it signifies the south node of the moon.

In actuality, the planet Ketu does not exist as such.

So why is Ketu recognized as a planet at all?

Ketu is known as a planet purely because it is possessed with the capability to create a deep impact on the lives of people.

In essence, Lord Ketu is a ferocious planet and withholds Karmic influences within it. So the planet Ketu does have impact on a person’s life, be it positive or negative. This is subject to the placement of the planet Ketu in a person’s horoscope or Birth Chart.

The Cat’s Eye Stone is also sometimes known as the Gemstone of Lord Ketu.

Let us now run through some of the major benefits of adorning a Cat’s Eye Gemstone:

1. Characteristics of the planet Ketu have similarities with the characteristics of Saturn which is a dominant planet.

Just like Lord Saturn, Lord Ketu too is capable of bringing about an instant change in the lives of people, subject to its placement in one’s horoscope.

By adorning a Cat’s Eye Gemstone, it just might be possible that you are able to receive positive results instantly with the blessings of Lord Ketu.

2. When Lord Ketu resides in positive or favorable houses, an individual is sure to come across positive results.

This is achieved as Lord Ketu brings to fore the positive forces, and the individual is empowered to find spiritual enlightenment, and also accomplish his desires.

So when an individual adorns the Cat’s Eye Stone, he would find or come across these benefits with a much greater degree of ease and comfort.

3. It is known that a Cat’s Eye Gemstone facilitates one in achieving a higher degree of financial wellness and monetary benefits.

4. Lord Ketu also signifies the negative and evil forces of black magic, and also dosas, such as the KalaSarpa Dosa and Sarpa Dosas.

But when one adorns a Cat’s Eye Stone, it allows one to get over these negative forces. The mind is then infused with positive thoughts, which augur well for an individual in every possible way.

5. If one is afflicted by serious disorders, adorning a Cat’s Eye Gemstone is believed to be very helpful.

CAT’S EYE GEMSTONE – BENEFICIAL IN PARTICULAR WHEN LORD KETU IS IN THE TWELVTH HOUSE

When Lord Ketu is placed in the twelfth house, the individual becomes more vulnerable in his actions.

In such a scenario, the person might tend to give in to exercises and patterns which are unlawful. The individual would then try and escape from the true substances in his life, and he would then come across issues, be it in business, or at his workplace.

As per Vedic Astrology, Lord Ketu is the master of evil spirit.

When placed in the twelfth house, he infuses the mind of an individual with considerations which are negative in nature.

The person then may find himself wavering from the right path in life. He might involve himself with activities or tendencies which have a wicked overtone, or might be against peace altogether.

o THE TWELFTH HOUSE

It is the Pisces zodiac, and the planets Jupiter and Neptune which manage the twelfth house. In general, the twelfth house has a deep influence in framing the general state of mind of an individual, and the person’s nature and intrinsic tendencies are defined by the twelfth house as well.

There are lots of negative effects that a person is required to bear up with when Lord Ketu is placed in the twelfth house. This even includes a person’s relationship with his spouse. Some other ways in which Lord Rahu in the twelfth house could hinder an individual’s progress is by posing obstacles in one’s overseas journeys. One may even at times face a difficulty in matters such as obtaining a visa.

With Lord Ketu placed in the twelfth house, the individual tends to waste his money and energy alike in futile things, and these may even involve things that might over time affect the property. Abundance of the family life too could be affected.

With its influence on one’s state of mind, the planet Ketu may have an effect on the disappointments a person undergoes in his lifetime, and maybe even the victories he might come across.

BUT THERE ARE WAYS TO OVERCOME THE ADVERSE DASA OF LORD KETU

With a Ketu Dasa, one can expect to come across a host of problems and obstacles in life.

But there are nevertheless ways to overcome the same. One must make sure that one seeks an astrologer’s advice.

THE CAT’S EYE GEMSTONE IS A POTENT REMEDY TO OVERCOME THE KETU DASA

For getting over the Ketu Dasa, Astrologers often recommend going for the Cat’s Eye Gemstone.

So if a family member or you have Lord Ketu placed in the twelfth house, you may ask them to go for a Cat’s Eye Gemstone as a ring or a pendant.

THE KETU DASA

Ketu dasa, as defined by those knowledgeable about Vedic Astrology is one of the most dangerous dasas for human beings. It possesses within itself the capability to drive away positive results in ways which are unexpected.

And this is a dasa long in duration. It lasts for as long as 42 years!

When Lord Rahu does not suit an individual, it is just about sure to yield negative results in one form or the other.

However, when Lord Ketu is well placed in one’s birth chart, abundance in life is sure to follow. One comes across good fortune, along with wealth, luck, good health, and a bright intellect as well.

THE CAT’S EYE STONE COULD TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE FOR BETTER!

With the Cat’s Eye Gemstone, you come across prosperity, and the effect is almost instantaneous. Then, one is also empowered to get over the terrible effects of the planet Rahu which may have been placed negatively in one’s Janam Kundali.

THE CAT’S EYE GEMSTONE ACTUALLY WORKS!

Cat’s Eye is a divine stone. Within itself, the Cat’s Eye Gemstone preserves the divine powers of Lord Ketu.

And when afflicted by the Ketu Mahadasa, one must wear the Cat’s Eye Stone. So the Gemstone Cat’s Eye would counteract the negative effects of Lord Ketu, and make way for bringing the planet’s positive effects into our lives.

With the Cat’s Eye Gemstone, one would lead a happy and contented life even while one suffers from the Ketu Mahadasa.

ORIGINS OF RAHU AND KETU

Let us now quickly run through the mythological tale which tells us about the origins of Rahu and Ketu.

The churning of the Milky Ocean is a famous story from Vedic Mythology, and tells us about the formation of the planets Rahu and Ketu. The Gods and demons together decided to churn the milky ocean to get the pot of amrita (immortal nectar) at the bottom. And when the nectar was found from the bottom of the ocean, the Gods wanted to ensure that demons do not consume the nectar.

The Gods and demons were seated on different sides, and Lord Vishnu disguised himself as the beautiful Mohini to distribute the nectar. She gave the nectar only to the Gods, but the demons, enchanted by her beauty, did not notice that she was not distributing the nectar among them. However a demon, Rahu noticed what was happening. He disguised himself as a God and managed to drink the nectar. The Sun and the Moon told Lord Vishnu what was happening, and he returned to his form and chopped Rahu into half with his Sudarshan Chakra. But Rahu had consumed the nectar and was already immortal. So he lived as two separate parts; Rahu, the head, and Ketu, the body.

Rahu and Ketu are the Karmic planets, and are greatly defined by the Karmas from our previous births. Through the Rahu/Ketu axis, we come to know about the main forces of Karmic desires. While Rahu is believed to be outgoing, verifying and aspirational, Ketu is self-examining, contradicting and detached.

5 Really Good Fiji Cultural Delights

Fiji is made up of 333 mountainous islands, each bordered by pink coral reefs and the warm startling aqua-colored waters of the South Pacific. In Fiji you will find white sand beaches ringed with swaying Palm trees, stunning coral islands where no one lives or stays, lagoons, high mountains, tropical rain forests, a culture focused on the traditional, pleasant weather and exciting dining and night life. But it is the people of Fiji, who are friendly and welcoming, who have given this country its reputation as a paradise. A Fiji Holiday is filled with fascinating attractions for tourists.

The Fiji Museum is located just outside of Suva City in the Thurston botanical gardens. Its collection includes archaeological remains of the nation’s indigenous people from some 3,700 years ago. The museum’s main wings are the Masi Gallery, which features traditional cloth, the Pre-Historic Gallery which specializes in ancient Vitian culture, and a history gallery which includes the rudder from the HMS Bounty mutiny, war clubs, cannibal forks, shell jewelry and tanoa bowls. An air-conditioned upstairs gallery is packed with Indo-Fijian exhibits of the clothing worn, agricultural practices, and displays related to the Hindi experience. The museum also has a gift shop.

The Suva Municipal Market, the largest and busiest market in all of the South Pacific, offers a wide variety of very fresh tropical fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and much, much more. Its rows of stalls are stacked with produce, clothes, shoes, and handicrafts. Many of the tables sport a few brightly colored spice bins for sale. Women can be seen sitting on blankets and under tarps to stay cool. There is a huge display with all types of weighing scales for kava, a prized Fijian herb. All of the produce is extremely fresh, since it is brought in by trucks and buses from the countryside each day – perfect for a Fiji holiday!.

The Arts Village-Pacific Harbour is a beautiful Fijian village built on the banks of a lake. Within it is the tallest traditional temple in Fiji and the head chief’s bungalow is decorated with a thatched roof. There is much to see and do in in this village. The Bega Firewalkers put on a show that has something for everyone; singing, dancing, acrobatics, storytelling and mock fighting. There are boat trips around the village, or tours into the village for personal visits with Fijians working at different crafts including wood carving, weaving and boat building.

Sigatoka River Safari is an extremely popular eco/cultural tour in Fiji. Part of the reason could be that the operation is very well run. Air-conditioned buses pick up travelers and take them to the custom-built safari jet boats. These boats anchor at a different village within the community each day, so as not to disturb the people living there. The tour is brought to life by the driver/guide who shares with participants facts about the area’s history, customs of the Fijian people, and legends that exist about the area. So, you might see villagers bathing themselves in the river, children at play and women doing their laundry. You also might get to participate in a Kava ceremony, get to taste real Fijian foods, and only if you want to, take a swim in the crystal-clear Sigatoka River.

Navala Fijian Village, known as the most picturesque place in Fiji, is situated in the Navala Valley, Lautoka, Viti Levu. This is where you will see a living example of Fiji’s indigenous culture, where residents exist as their ancestors did. There are 200 traditional thatched-roof bure huts within the village. They were built not with concrete or sheet metal, but only bamboo and wood. Visitors are asked to present a sevusevu, which is literally a presentation or a ceremonial gift, traditionally a bunch of the herb kava, to the village chief. Once that is offered, they may be given the opportunity to participate in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony before being taken on a village tour.

The Perks of Watching Movies Online

Do you want to watch your favorite movie but it is not available on the cinema or video rental store? Or do you have no time to go to the cinema to watch recent releases of action and thriller movies? Never worry since there are some websites available online which offer links to movie database ready to be viewed online. Comparable to the cost of cinema tickets, this is a better choice to watch movies at the comfort of your home. You may even find high quality movies from the selection of movies available from these websites.

The website which offers access to new movie releases may also allow its visitor to watch television shows on the computer. There are several channels which are available on the Internet, which you may only find on your local cable network. In some cases, there are television shows you can view on the website which is not available on the provided cable or satellite TV channels.

There are numerous websites providing online users to watch movies online thus it is difficult to determine which of these sites are considered as reliable sources. There are some websites that contains a wide variety of movies and videos available on their video indexes. If there are children on the house and you want to spend some family time watching movies together, you may search for the suitable movie online. For example, a nursery rhyme such as Little Miss Buffet can be easily searched on the website’s index and can be viewed immediately by streaming the video online. If you have a decent Internet connection, it may appear as if you are watching a movie from a DVD player. These high quality videos are great finds, though accessing and viewing such movies require a registration procedure before the movies appear on the screen.

In order to watch movies online, there are some requirements that you should have:

o You should have a 56K modem or higher. Having a broadband connection is highly recommended for faster buffering of the streamed online movies.

o You should have a suitable media player to play the videos acquired from the website. This video player plug-in is often available for download from the Internet.

o The cookies on your web browser should be enabled. The setting to toggle the cookies of the Internet browser is accessible on the options Menu of the web browser. The web browser should be set to “always accept cookies”.

There are accessibility options to watch movies you want from a database. Most movie lists are grouped into genres and more often alphabetically arranged. You may watch the movie by simply clicking the play button provided on the web page.

The comfort of having to watch movies online is a relaxing way to spend your time. Yet, it is important to have the suitable equipment so that you may not encounter any buffering problems while watching your favorite movie.

Whether you are an old movie aficionado or just into viewing movies online, this is the best site for you. With just a simple click of a button, you may watch your favorite movies anytime you want.

Technologically Man is a Giant, Morally a Pygmy

Technologically man has made tremendous advancements. From humble beginnings last century with the Industrial Revolution we have come to the stage where we have invented and built so many gadgets that our very existence is threatened by them, like the atomic bomb.

We cannot deny that technology has improved the quality of our lives immeasurably. A journey to anywhere on the globe now takes merely a few hours by airplane, whereas it may have taken many years to do so before. We communicate with one another with increased ease and efficiency. All it takes is the pressing on a few buttons and we are able to talk to anyone almost anywhere in the world. A flick of the television switch gives us news, sports, and entertainment in glorious color. Modern methods of cooking do not leave dirty messes behind. For the even more lazy ones, fast-foods are always available, some twenty four hours a day.

Modern computers have infiltrated into all aspects of business, governments and even at home. City traffic is also computer-controlled. So it is too with many other things where computers are virtually indispensable. Computer breakdown means also the breakdown of whatever system it controls. The computer has become almost all-powerful. Such is our dependence on it.

In war, our technological expertise has given us super-efficient weapons. Instead of swords and spears, we now have machine-guns, heat seeking missiles, cruise missiles, jet-fighters and other tools of murder and mayhem. Our ability to kill and destroy is frightening. We have become so powerful that the possibility of killing ourselves completely is very real indeed.

It is in the light of this possibility of self-annihilation that we suddently find ourselves most vulnerable and wanting. While we go about creating for ourselves millions of gadgets to fulfill our fancies we have neglected our basic self. We can make machine guns that fire a thousand rounds a minute but we do not take responsibility for our creation. So these guns fall in the hands of terrorists and war-mongers. What is the result? Death and destruction on an unprecedented scale now ravage the people of this earth. Few are brave enough to stand up to oppose this scourge. Manufacturers make profits from weapons. Armies use them to destroy one another but hardly anybody does anything to stop it.

We let our creations run riot. In the name of class, creed and religion we plunder one another with the most powerful weapons available. We kill innocent people without batting an eyelid. Morally we are no better than dumb animals.

In the short span of the first eighty years of this century, we have had two world wars and innumerable other wars. Millions have died as a result. Yet the wars go on, unabated. Some men stood up against this madness but, like many others before them, were assassinated, pushed aside or simply forgotten. So the majority of us, including the so-called world leaders today, remain quiet and let the violence continue. Some even aggressively perpetuate it.

Industrialization has brought us many benefits. It has also brought about environmental tragedies. Air-pollution, sea-pollution, acid-rain and other forms of threats may one day overwhelm our very existence. Yet few of these polluters are willing to face up to reality and do something concrete to end the pollution. They are more interested in making a profit. They do not want to spend their ‘hard-earned’ money to clean up the environment. Let someone else do the dirty job. Such is their moral responsibility.

In other areas too there are crimes committed against ourselves and mother earth. We reclaim land from the sea, level mountains and blast each other to smithereens. We do not know how to live peacefully and harmoniously with one another. Nobody wants to be responsible for that. We have no moral courage. Einstein once said that we have ‘a perfection of means, but a confusion of ends’. We are capable of great wonders, but we do not know how to wield such capabilities responsibility.

So we continue in our confusion, commit all sorts of crimes and blaming one another for them. It is high time that we assume responsibility for our actions, strengthen our moral courage and make the world a wonderful place to live in.

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor, daughter of the separated couple Randhir Kapoor and Babita, was born on September 21, 1980 in Mumbai. She is the sister of senior and former actress Karishma Kapoor. She is called “Bebo” by her family members, fans and some close industry people. She is at the present time one of the most beautiful, successful and on-demand actress in the Bollywoood film Industry.

Kareena was born in a influential film family, where you can see a number of film actors. Her grand father was Raj Kapoor and great grand father was Pridviraj Kapoor, who were legendary actors of Bollywood film Industry. Her father Randhir Kapoor and mother Babitha also played important roles in the Hindi film industry in India.

Kareena had her education in Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai and later studied in Welham Girls’ Boarding School in Dehradun. Later she took a course on microcomputers and information technology at harvard for summer school for three years. She then joined Government LaW College at Churchgate. But she didn’t complete the course. After one year of studying there she went back home to take up acting as her career and joined the Kishore Namit Kapoor acting school.

Kareena was given the opportunity to debut with the film “Kaho Na Pyaar Hai” but after a few days of shoot she quit it. She debuted with the film “Refugee” opposite Abhishek Bachchan in the role of a pakistan girl. The film was a flop at box office but she managed to catch the attention and praise of critics as she succeeded in justifying the role of her. The role brought her Filmfare Best Debut Award in female category. Kareena’s next movies were “Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai” and Asoka. But they failed at box office. However she earned the praise of critics for her performance in Asoka. After the success of the film “Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham”, where she played a nice role, she became on of the top actors. After this film she acted in some more films but none of them did any good to her. In 2004, she came up with different character in the film “Chameli”, where she played the role of a prostitute. With the success of that film and with her nice performance again she caught the attention of everyone and won the Filmfare Best Performance Award. For her film “Dev”, she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance in the same year. In 2004 she also acted in the films “Aitraaz” and “Hulchul” which were above average films. in 2006, she acted in “Chup Chup ke”, “36 china town”, “othello” and “omkara” out of which she got good response for “Othello” and “Omkara”. Kareena’s latest release is “Don”, Which did a good business at box office.

Kareena has done a lot of stage shows throughout her career up to now. Her latest tour was the Rockstar’s concert of May 2006 was a huge success. In this concert she performed alongwith Salman Khan, Shahid kapoor, Jayed Khan, John Abraham, Esha Deol and Mallika Sherawat.

Google Translate Serbian Tool – Should Human Translators Be Worried?

“Machine translation”. Translators shudder to hear those words! It is partly in disgust, due to a firmly-held belief that a computer will never replace a superior human translator (like us!), partly because we are scared stiff that it will! So we either vehemently deprecate machine translation, or we carefully skirt around the subject and hope, for example, that our customers won’t find out about the Serbian-English-Serbian translation tool, recently made available for free by the almighty Google (link below)!

Because the fact is that Google’s translation tool, which now provides automatic translation into English of Serbian websites and of copy-pasted blocks of Serbian text, is really surprisingly good (we will not discuss Google’s English-Serbian translation tool in this article, i.e. the reverse direction, as it is pretty awful right now)!

Rather than acting as if it didn’t exist, we think it is better to get this subject out in the open and examine its implications for the clients of translation companies and for the translation industry in general. So this will be the first in what is planned to be a series of articles looking at automatic and machine translation, both in the context of Serbian-English translation and of translation in general. In this article we will look briefly at the quality of Google’s automatic Serbian-English translation and explain why we do not think translators and translation companies working in the Serbian-English pair should be too concerned for their livelihoods right now.

An example of Google’s Serbian English translation

Let’s carry out a little experiment first. We took a paragraph of Serbian text (taken from a Serbian Wikipedia article) and pasted it into the Google Serbian-English translation tool.

A human translation from the Serbian to English would read something like this:

A translation memory is comprised of segments of text in the source language and of their translation into one or more target languages. These segments can be passages, paragraphs, sentences or phrases. Individual words are not handled by translation memories, these are dealt with by terminology bases. Research has shown that many companies using multilingual documents use translation memory-based systems.

Within a few seconds, Google Translate outputs the following translation into English:

Translation memory consists of segments of the text in the original language and their translation into one or more target languages. These segments can be passages, paragraphs, sentences or phrases. Individual words are not in the field of translation memory, but they deal with terminoloske database. Research shows that many companies have multilingual documentation systems used to translating memory.

Can you understand it? Apart from a few problems the translator had in identifying passive/active constructions and an unknown word, of course you can! It’s certainly a lot better than any Serbian-English machine translation tool we’ve tried before. If you look at what an old-style machine translation (which shall remain nameless) did to this paragraph, maybe you can begin to appreciate how good Google Translate is:

Prevodilacka store sastoji oneself off segmenata textual on izvornom jeziku too njihovog prevoda on unity whether over ciljanih jezika. Those segmenti might lie flinders,pasusi,recenice whether fraze. Pojedinacne reci did not of domenu prevodilacke memorije,vec oneself to them bave terminoloske baze. Istra%u017Eivanja pokazuju ought mnoge kompanije wo there are visejezicku dokumentaciju koriste sisteme with prevodilackom memorijom.

I beg your pardon? That was supposed to be English, in case you were wondering! And NO, we did not doctor this in any way! Also, if anyone can tell us what “flinders” are, then they know more Middle English than we do!

Google Translate is perhaps not as successful with all texts as it was with this one, but it is certainly a major improvement over the above example in practically all cases! So perhaps translators should think twice before discounting machine translation from Serbian to English (and other languages, if this is anything to go by).

What makes Google Translate different?

Google’s system is a little different to previous machine translations in that it uses a statistical method to analyse existing translations from Serbian to English and applies what it has learned to the new text. Old-style systems merely use a dictionary to translate texts word-for-word by “brute force” and tend not to be very successful. However, it should be noted that Google themselves have recognised that their statistical method has now hit a wall of diminishing returns and it is unlikely that, as the technology currently stands, the standard of translation will be able to improve appreciably, and that goes not just for Serbian and English, but for all language combinations.

Death-knell for human translators?

So are we crazy to tell you all this? After all, translation companies rely on the (paid) work of human translators! What happens if all your clients go off and begin using Google Translate free of charge? Indeed, we have already seen examples of amateur translators supplying “translations from Serbian into English” that have clearly been carried out using this tool! It is only a matter of time before translation companies begin receiving “previously-translated” texts (texts that suspiciously resemble Google translations!) from clients and being asked to “just proof-read this” for a rate considerably lower than a translation from scratch would cost.

Well, we would like to talk about a few reasons why you and your clients should know about Google Translate for Serbian and English and why we think translation companies need not fear for their business:

A translation business should value transparency and seek to work within the realities of the market – it does not make long-term business sense to “hide” valuable resources like this from our clients! Besides, they will find out about it sooner or later! Rather, we should accept the reality that tools such as this bring to the translation industry – the market will always be changing and we need to be prepared to adapt, not cling to an outdated reality.
We should want our customers to use Google Translate for Serbian-English translation! After all, the vision of a translation company should be to enable their customers to communicate with other markets and cultures. So if this tool helps a client who only understands English to understand a text in Serbian, then you have surely gone some way to achieving this vision!
But the core of the issue and the reason translation companies have nothing to “fear” from Google Translate is what you have been suspecting all along: computerized, automatic translation is not going to replace professional human translation from Serbian to English (or any other language) any time soon. Or let’s phrase it as a question: would you, as the marketing manager of, say, a Serbian company wanting to do business in the West, entrust the translation of your website or of your corporate magazine into English to a machine translation tool? The simple reality is that, no, you would not.
This is not necessarily to knock automatic translation tools – they are after all a soft target for us superior human translators! They may well have their applications, and we may discuss this in another article. This is merely to say that any business that is serious about a given market, given the current quality of machine translation, will settle only for a professional, human translation of their promotional materials. After all, we said Google’s Serbian English translation was good, but it’s not THAT good! In fact it’s not nearly good enough.

Perhaps in a future article we will also take a look at some of the differences between machine translation and human translation and investigate some of the reasons why, despite the remarkable advances, and the positive things we have said about Google Translate, automatic translation software is not currently a serious choice for professional translation – from Serbian to English or in any other language combination – and why it may never be. Indeed, we have some deep concerns about possible misuses of a tool like this, in an environment where even now translation is often not taken seriously enough.

In the meantime though, check out the tool and perhaps open up a whole new world of translated Serbian web content that you could not access before! Try Google Serbian-English and English-Serbian translation here.