The pragmatic
Maharaja
Dr. D. C. Sharma
The early years of the 19th century
witnessed the power of Duranis on decline.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was encroaching the Afghan
Kingdom and Maharaja was eager to avail himself
an opportunity to snatch that rich province from
Duranis, the rulers of Afghanistan. An
opportunity came to Maharaja Ranjit singh, when
he annexed attack in 1813 from the Afghans. But
his initial attempts of 1814 and 1815 to seize
Kashmir failed miserably. But then arrived
another opportunity in 1819 when a Kashmiri
Pandit Birbal Dhar a revenue collector of the
Valley under Afghans escaped first to Jammu and
then to Lahore and urged upon the Sikh ruler to
free the Kashmiris from the Afghan’s
oppression.
The Sikh forces under the command of Missar Diwan
Chand and properly guided by Birbal Dhar and Mian
Gulab Singh invaded the Valley in 1819 A.D.
Jabbar Khan the acting Governor of Kashmir
collected his troops and faced the Sikh army but
he failed to stop the onslaught of the Sikh
forces. Jabbar Khan was defeated and his
remaining forces returned to Srinagar. In the
darkness of night, Afghan Governor and his forces
quitted Kashmir by the Baramulla Muzaffarabad
route for Kabul. After the victory of Sikh forces
under the command of Missar Devan Chand and Phula
Singh Akali halted at Shopian.
On 15 July, 1819, the victorious Sikh army
entered Srinagar. The commanders of the
victorious army were personally ordered by the
Sikh ruler that they should take special care for
the safety and the security of inhabitants of
Kashmir and also see that no harm or injury be
made to any individual. Contrary to the
victorious forces .. .. .. .
.....more
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The
heritage of architecture
Salman Nizami
Winston Churchill
once said, "We shape our buildings
in the beginning; ultimately they shape
us." Throughout history,
architecture has been a symbol of
success, glory and a sign of strength for
great dynasties and civilizations. Be it
Megaliths of Stone Age or Petronas of
today's jet age, people have always used
architecture to prove their superiority
over others. It has always been a symbol
of pride and reflected the character of
the rulers and their strength. Examples
are many; Pyramids of Egypt, Collosium in
Greece, Taj Mahal at Agra, Buland
Darwaza, Qutub Minar etc. Architecture is
nothing but a reflection of the culture
and traditions of its people. The great
Islamic architecture which spread
throughout the world reflects the great
Islamic era of finest art, character,
culture and stability.
Architecture cannot be same everywhere.
Every place has its own culture which
ultimately shapes the architecture of its
region. As the culture develops over
centuries, so does the architecture and
as the culture changes, so does the
architecture. Jammu and Kashmir has its
own culture and traditions which
developed over the centuries and
ultimately shaped our architecture. The
architecture that we see today is no
reflection of our culture and traditions
because our culture and traditions have
changed to a greater extent. Our culture
is changing everyday. There were specific
unique qualities in the kind of spaces
that our traditional houses had which had
become a symbol of our architecture. . ... .. ....more
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Bollywood 2008
Inderjeet ‘S’ Prince
The year 2007 turned out to be on
patchy year for the Bollywood. The Ist half saw
the success of only 2 movies - “Guru”
and “Namstey London”. “Guru”
depicted the transformation of an ordinary young
boy (Abhishek Bachchan) in to a successful
businessman. Abhishek rejuvenated with this film.
In ‘Namstey London”, Akshay, who was
paired opposite Katrina Kaif, proved his mettle
as a crowd-pulling star-Akshay, in fact, gave a
string of 3 back-to-back hits in 2007. They were
“Namstey London,” “Hey Baby”
and “Bhool - Bhulaiya”.
“Welcome” starring Akshay and others
too opened to good response of the audiences. The
major hits of 2007 were “Om Shanti Om”,
“Chak De India”, “Jab We
Met”, “Namstey London”,
“Guru”, “Partner”, “Hey
Baby” and “Bhool Bhylaiya.”
The worst major flops of the year were “Ram
Gopal Verma Ki Aag” (a remake of
“Sholay”), Shaad Ali’s “Jhoom
Barabar Jhoom”, and Nikhil Advani’s
“Saalem-e-Ishq”. The other major duds
were much hyped “Saawariya”,
“Nishabad”, “Eklavya”,
“Cheenikum” and “Aaja Nach
Le”.
In 2008, an expected Rs. 6000 crores is riding on
various films which are on the verge of an early
release.
Jodha - Akbar
This Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Film starring
Hrithik Roshan as the legendary king Akbar and
Aishwarya Rai as Jodha Bai was expected to hit
cinema halls in January 2008. However, film got
delayed due to Aishwarya’s marriage with
Abhishek Bachchan and was postponed . . ......more
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Advait Shaiv
Darsana
Shail Gulhati
Vouchsafed in the ancient past to
his rsis in His abode of Kailash, is said to be
as ancient, as perhaps the first teachings of
Shiva, beginning from the primal satyuga, when
Lord shiva came as Svacchandanath..
He taught the shiva tantras, the rudra tantras,
and the bhairava tantras, successively, the dual,
the intermediate, and the non-dual.By the time of
kaliyug, however, the important bhairava tantras,
which are 64, were lost.So Shiva came again as
Srikanthnath to teach Rsi Durvasa.
Ancient texts record that Rsi Durvasa, reoriented
it in this lifecycle, and taught it to Tryambaka,
who is also said to have lived in Kailash, around
the end of 3rd century A.D. and whose successive
generations, in turn, revealed and thus developed
the darsana by word of mouth ,in the preceptor
disciple tradition. About fifteen generations
later, a disciple of the line came and settled in
Kashmir. The teachings, and the revelations
continued...The Darsana, ripe in itself, began to
ripen in the manifest world also. Through a
galaxy of perfected beings,like Somananda,
Vasugupta, Utpala, Abhinava, and Lalleshwari, it
began to flourish in the heavenly kashmir, and it
now goes by the General name of Kashmir Shaivism,
Whereas, the 64 bhairava tantras, or the strictly
non-dualistic teachings, are actually the advaita
shaiv. In our own time, another perfected being,
Swami Lakshman joo appeared,and once again gave
out the priceless,and paramount divine heritage
,for all to re reach...through his teachings, and
writings, learnt and recorded‘ .. ........more
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Winter Care
Tips
Shahnaz Husain
Cleanser for
Dry Skin: To a
tablespoon of cold milk add 2
drops of any vegetable oil
(olive, or til or sunflower oil).
Mix well. Dip cotton wool in it
and use it to wipe the skin. You
can make this in a larger
quantity for 2 or 3 days, but
keep it in the refrigerator.
Honey: Mix honey
with one teaspoon orange juice
and apply on the face, to make it
soft and smooth. Wash off after
20 minutes. Honey suits all skin
types. For oily and acne-prone
skin, mix one teaspoon honey with
one teaspoon curd and a little
turmeric.
Cabbage & Carrot:
Cabbage is rich in vitamins and
minerals. Boil cabbage in enough
water. Cool the liquid and use it
to wash the face. Cabbage is rich
in minerals and is good for all
skin types. Then grate carrots
and apply on the face for 15 to
20 minutes. Wash off with plain
water. Carrot is rich in Vitamin
A and good for winter skin
problems.
For dry skin:
Mix half a teaspoon honey, one
teaspoon rose water and one
teaspoon dried milk powder. Mix
into a paste and apply on the
face. Remove after 20 minutes
with water. Applying mayonnaise
or egg ... ......more
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Timing Vs Asset
allocation strategy
Ram Anand
In present volatile market every
investor thinks that he will time the market or
will invest at lower market level but it is
difficult rather impossible to forecast this
volatile market. No one can predict the market,
as there is as such no appropriate formula to
forecast the market. In popular business channels
market researcher and analysts change their
statements every day. So first of all we should
be acquainted with the fact the “One general
stance should be goal centric not market
centric” i.e. when your goal achieves just
book the profit and convert or park your
investment (Principal Amount + profit) into some
safe plan. As ups and downs are the
‘FITRAT’ (tendency) of the market no
one can says that market will sit in which side.
In other words, if your goal was to earn 25%
& your portfolio has given you return more
than your target then better to book the profit
or convert into safe schemes, rather being more
greedy as greediness can wash out your earned
returns:
From the above we understand that only 1.8 %
portfolio performance is determined by Market
Timing whilst 91.5% by Asset Allocation. So Asset
Allocation is more important than market timing..
. ..........more
Aromatherapy
Som Dutt
 Aromatherapy, better known
as flower therapy or Pushpa Ayurveda, is gaining
momentum especially among health-conscious
people. Flowers, very delicate and rich in
fragrance, have huge potential and immense
importance on account of their aroma. The
aromatherapy gives relief in stress, headaches,
migraines, allergies, neck pain, shoulder pain,
general aches and pains, menstrual problems,
anxiety, nausea, isomeric, chromic conditions,
backstrain, menopausal imbalance,
gastrointestinal problems, fatigue/ tiredness
etc.
Aromatherapy is an art and science of using
essential oils from flowers and plant parts for
health and well- being. Essential oils have been
used in healing since ancient times. They are
obtained from various plant parts - petal (rose),
leaves (eucalyptus), roots of grasses (vetiver),
heartwood (sandalwood) and resin (frankincense).
Oftenly known the 'life force' of plants, these
oils have unique properties of the plants in a
concentrated form that can help our body
holistically to heal itself. Through aromatherapy
and using essential oils we can improve both our
emotional and physical health. The oils if
applied on our skin act as anti-bacterial,
anti-viral and anti-fungal. The aroma affects our
emotional senses because the olfactory nerves
pass directly from our nose to the limbic system,
the emotional centre of the brain. To enjoy the
smell of essential oils is very essential since
this gives us emotional balance.
The early civilizations - Egyptian, Greek, Roman,
Chinese, Egyptian etc.,-used aromatic plants in
their religious rituals, promoting their physical
and mental wellness. The essential oils have had
been used in herbal remedies, but the term,
'aromatherapy' was coined in 1930's only.. ......more
Crimes of
passion
Arup De
History bears out
that jilted lovers are dangerous species.
The latest example is Amaresh Kundu, a
canteen employee at Tollygunge police
station, Kolkata, who barged into the
hostel room of Saswati Pal, a music
student at Santiniketan, and shot her
dead, no one suggested that it was the
act of a deranged lunatic. Pal had broken
off her engagement with Kundu and, unable
to deal with the rejection, he killed his
beloved rather than allow her to be
married to someone else.
Psychiatrists point out that even the
sanest mind can have moments of suspended
rationality and nurture thoughts of
violence if rejected by someone he or she
loves. Two types of destructive thought
occur in the mind of someone who has been
rejected, explains Kolkata-based clinical
psychiatrist Dr. Debashis Ray. "One
is when a person contemplates hurting
himself or herself and the other is when
a person contemplates inflicting hurt on
the other. And often it is a combination
of the two." That was the case with
Kundu.
"In his mind, Kundu had linked up
his entire identity to an association
with this girl," Ray explains. He
adds that in the social context she
belonged to a higher stratum. The fact
that she was close to him added to his
self-esteem. "When she denied him
this, for him it was tantamount to losing
his identity. His wanting to kill her
could be his subconscious attempt to
regain control over this identity. And
his wanting to kill himself could be an
affirmation of the sense of loss of
identity.".. .. .
...more
Improving
hospital performance
Dr Arun Sharma
& Dr. Manoj Bhagat
Public Hospitals should
focus on engineering a culture which
motivates values and recognizes employees
to give optimum output in delivering
service.
Any hospital's performance is dependent
on multiple factors like capital
structure, available infrastructure,
technological acquisition, spectrum of
clinical services and culture of the
organization. Each of these parameters
plays a major role in patient's decision
to avail the service of the organization.
If we compare hospitals of equal size
providing service in same segment of
clinical care, the most important
parameter for patient that emerges is the
culture and the service delivered by the
support staff.
If we try and find out the patient
satisfaction quotient in any hospital,
the critical factor is the attitude and
behavior of the staff. A patient-
friendly culture is the key driver of the
success. Hospital's should focus on
engineering a culture which motivates,
values .........more
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