"NO ONE CARES ANYMORE"... I AM TALKING TO MYSELF. AM I MENTALLY UNSTABLE?

Scene 1.

Sid: Hi buddy, how are you today?

Rohan: Am Okay

Sid smiles and walks away.

Rohan smiles back and continues to look into his mobile phone while moving his fingers aimlessly on the screen.

Scene 2.

Rahul: Hey Shalini, you okay, you don’t look good?

Shalini: Ya ya, am okay.

Rahul: Okay, can you, when you have time, forward me that file we spoke about yesterday

Shalini: ya sure.

Rahul goes back to his workstation

Shalini continues to stare at her blank screen.

Scene 3.

Mohit: Hello Suresh

Suresh: Hi Mohit

Mohit: What happened Suresh, you okay?

Suresh: Hey Mohit, yes am okay, why you ask?

Mohit looks at Suresh, moves closer and puts his hand around Suresh’s shoulder and says, “Come let’s grab a coffee”.

Both go to cafeteria, get their coffee and Mohit says, “Suresh let’s sit for some time and chat”.

They sit at a nearby table.

Mohit: Suresh, I know you are okay, but still talk to me. Tell me what’s troubling you.

Suresh looks at Mohit and before he could realize, his eyes are wet.

Mohit holds Suresh’s hand, gets up making Suresh to get up too and hugs him. Suresh starts crying. Mohit does not stop him but pats his back gently. After some time, Suresh calms down. Mohit asks him to sit and sip his coffee, “Suresh, my friend, am here for you and you can talk to me anytime. If you wish you can talk right now or whenever you feel comfortable.”

Suresh looks at Mohit and says, “I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I don’t feel like living any more”, and he removes a small bottle from his trouser pocket, which has sleeping pills, “I was to take these later today”, and then from his shirt pocket, Suresh removes and hands over a folded paper to Mohit… it was his suicide note.

Suresh opened up and shared what he was going through, while Mohit listened patiently. After about an hour of talking and in between crying for few times, plus two rounds of coffee, Suresh feels better and smiles at Mohit. After a pause, Suresh says, “Thank you my friend, I realize how stupid I have been and foggy in my head. Thank you for listening to me… you saved not just my life but also my family’s who are dependent on me.”

Thanks to Mohit for being sensitive towards his friend’s reaction, he saved Suresh’s life.

Many of us, in today’s fast paced life are no longer sensitive towards people’s feelings or reactions. Yes, we do greet people with whom we work or our family members and friends, but that is a mere formality, without even noticing if they received the greeting back or what did the person reply.

A simple greeting like “Hello”, “Hi”, and waiting for the response,

can actually save a life.

________________________________________________________

EMOTIONALLY: I’M DONE

MENTALLY: I’M DRAINED

SPIRITUALLY: I FEEL DEAD

PHYSICALLY: I SMILE

Mentally Unstable, Stressed, Depressed, etc, these words have become so common that we keep hearing and reading about it so often now. We hear children going through these, which was practically never the case when the Gen X, Gen Y or Baby Boomers were growing up. Why and what happened in this past decade or decade and a half that over 90% of the population today, across age groups, is suffering from some sort of mental disturbance. One can say that competition has increased, expectations have increased, life has become too fast. In the 1990’s we used to say that we are in “Jet Age”, referring to Jet Airplanes, which were recently developed then, that time and considered to be extremely fast or fastest man-made mode. But today, I think we would refer to Internet speeds like living in 5G era.

As per Wikipedia, Mental health is the level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness. It is the state of someone who is "functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment.

There are many who do not realize that they are suffering from some sort of stress or depression or mental instability. Most people believe that mental health conditions are rare and “happen to someone else." In fact, mental health conditions are common and widespread. Infact most families are not prepared to cope with learning their loved one has a mental illness. It can be physically and emotionally trying and can make them feel vulnerable to the opinions and judgments of others. For people who have mental illnesses, their brains have changed in a way in which they are unable to think, feel, or act in ways they want to. For some, this means experiencing extreme and unexpected changes in mood – like feeling more sad or worried than normal. For others, it means not being able to think clearly, not being able to communicate with someone who is talking to them or having bizarre thoughts to help explain weird feelings they are having.

Let me ask you few basic:

1. Have you in recent past been unusually irritable, hypersensitive or had unusual angry outburst?
2. Lost interest in daily activities, which otherwise you enjoyed engaging in.
3. Have you lately withdrawn emotionally?
4. Do you have trouble in sleeping?
5. Have you had aggression or violent outbursts?
6. Do you have difficulty in concentrating or memorizing things?
7. Have you been suffering from headaches, loss of appetite, unusual pains in different parts of body?
8. Have you been behaving recklessly like rash driving/riding, listening to loud music, gambling etc.

If your answer to any of the above is ‘YES’, then my dear friend, you too are a victim of this new disease called Mentally Unstable. And you are not alone, so that’s one solace. Now that we have identified about our condition and acknowledged it, that’s the first brave step. Second brave step is to seek help without feeling ashamed or nervous or thinking of being judged as “WEAK”. Reach out to a professional or a friend or family member. Remember if and when someone reaches out to you, be there for them, that’s the simplest thing to do, but very very critical. No one is looking for answers here, and you are NOT expected to provide any solution. Yours is the easiest job…to LISTEN, yes just listen to them and allow them to talk. Provide a safe and non-judgmental space for conversations. Don’t stop them from talking and crying. Hold their hand or give them a friendly hug and keep acknowledging with an occasional nod.

Human touch has magic, it has healing powers, for the touch connects our souls.

Remember untreated depression can not only trigger problems in relationships, concentrating in school or at work, but it can also cause severe health problems like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, even death by suicide or nervous breakdown.

Few symptoms to identify a nervous breakdown are;

• depressive symptoms, such as loss of hope and thoughts of suicide or self-harm
• anxiety with high blood pressure, tense muscles, clammy hands, dizziness, upset stomach, and trembling or shaking
• insomnia
• hallucinations
• extreme mood swings or unexplained outbursts

Recognizing the symptoms is the key and it is important not to ignore the signs.

Besides seeking help from people, which at times may not always be possible, I believe one can self-help too by engaging in activities, which one enjoys. This will not just change your focus from the existing problem, which fogs the mind from thinking rationally, but it also helps in feeling happy, by making one forget the “challenge, life is making you face” which is causing this mental problem. Feeling happy is the key and there are many such harmless things that one can engage in, to make us feel happy from inside; like going for a long walk in the garden or on the beach, workout in a gym, running, gardening, playing with a pet, cooking, traveling, watching movies, reading, visit a friend, talking to strangers, talking with children, etc. All these will help you overcome your stress and life challenges.

Let us take couple of steps back and see what the root cause of this mental instability is. One can put down a huge list, but what I have noticed is all that narrows down to extremely basic human traits; the three basic human postulates, which are “Insecurity”, “Needs and Wants” and “Fear of the Unknown Future”. Now I am not propagating that one should follow the path of King Siddhartha who on learning about life, renounced his throne to become Gautam Buddha. No, we live in a materialistic world and we are humans who have needs and wants and responsibilities. But why have we taken up the burden of these three postulates and instead of them being our companion, which should help us progress with happiness, instead we have made them sit on our shoulders and head, whose weight is pushing us down. Why are we getting buried with their overwhelming weight? Are they more important than our happiness and human life? Why are we giving them so much importance and at what cost?

Let’s take an example. Children are under so much pressure to perform and excel in everything they do: academics, sports, extracurricular activities. Why… why are they in this race where everyone is expected to come first. Why are we quoting examples of only those who stood first or succeeded Why are we in this number game. Are we saying that those who did not come first, or who did not succeed, or those who did not participate, they are failures, or they don’t exist? No, this is a lie, which we have been telling our children and making children believe in this lie. Why do we have such high (inhuman) cut off percentages for college admissions? On one side we are trying to promote and encourage literacy and education and on the other side we have such high cut off percentages for admission (besides high school & college fees), aren’t we setting off these children to fail? Why can’t we instead build more schools and colleges and sports stadiums and train more teachers and coaches. Why, can’t we address this problem differently, instead of creating problems, why can’t we address the problem with a solution. No house would deny that one of the biggest reasons for unrest at house is to see their children suffer. No pain is more painful for a parent to see their children in pain, and then imagine losing your child to these unrealistic expectations of the world.

This is not all, children have their own challenges too. Challenge to look the best, to fit in, to be valued & recognized amongst their friends and cousins. Aesthetics, Appearance, Popularity etc, all these add up to the existing set of challenges. And then there is challenge which has cropped in our lives, the special dose of social media. We have become slaves of this ghost who has possessed our body and soul.

By the time this child grows into youth, these challenges have compounded into bigger demons and they now have many other tributaries. There are expectations in their relationships, professional courses, getting a job and then excelling in this job, parents, house and owning of other materialistic products, etc. Why have we created a world of these expectations to be fulfilled at a much shorter duration of time.

These keep getting bigger and bigger as we move from one phase of our life to other, the circle of life or wheel of our life, keeps getting bigger and heavier. We became part of this wheel at such a young age that we never realized it and thought that this is part of us. It is like gravitational force, which we don’t feel on us because we are born in this gravitational environment, but unlike earth’s gravity, which remains constant at 9.807 m/s², this force keeps increasing and keeps burying us down.

Let us together break this wheel and try to be happy. Let us say and believe that we are Human’s and

it is as okay to Fail as it is to Win.

It is okay to fall and get up, that’s how we all learnt how to walk. It is okay to sit back or slow down and let others go ahead. It is okay to miss the train or bus. It is okay if your child repeats a class. It is okay if we don’t own that mobile phone or house or piece of clothing. Life does not stop because any of the above happened or did not happen. Enjoy and Value what you have. Feel Blessed that you are still breathing and have people around you. Be patient, for everything changes, bad phase will change to good and good to bad, nothing is constant, though it may seem the current phase will remain till eternity, but it is not. Stop reading about successes only, read about failures too. Embrace failures and losers and celebrate loss.

Stop by and sit with your friends and enjoy that unhealthy snack… make happy memories

Next time when you say “Hello”, stop and say it from your heart and then wait for reply, if you sense something amiss, stay there, hold their hand and ask again. If it’s okay then give a friendly hug and give a comforting look and ask again. Who knows, you might just make someone happy or save someone’s life…. Let’s join to fight this mental instability by reducing the pressure of those three postulates.

Be Happy and Make others Happy too.

JI LE YE ZINDAGI, KYUNKI TU ZINDAGI HAI JEENE KE LIYE.

BAHUT WAQT MILEGA, APNE DARD KA AFSOS KARNE, MARNE KE BAAD.

ABHI TU ZINDA HAI, TOH ZINDAGI KO GALE LAGA

ABHI TU MUSKURA, KYUNKI ABHI HAI ZINDA.

RO LENA JITNA RONA HO, MARNE KE BAAD,

PAR ABHI TOH HASS DE MERE YAAR.

Translated in English

LIVE YOUR LIFE, FOR IT IS TO LIVE.

YOU’LL HAVE LOT OF TIME, TO LAMENT ON YOUR GRIEF, AFTER YOU DIE.

YOU ARE ALIVE RIGHT NOW, SO HUG YOUR LIFE

SMILE RIGHT NOW, FOR YOU ARE STILL ALIVE.

CRY AS MUCH AS YOU WISH, AFTER YOU DEAD,

BUT RIGHT NOW, SMILE MY FRIEND.

Next Evolution of Humankind…Humans evolving into HUMANOIDS.

My phone is ringing, I can’t find it. Has anyone seen my phone?

I can’t locate my file, which I worked on last month, where do I  search?

Where are my medical files? What was my last blood report?

My battery just died on me…aah!

Does this sound familiar? Yes, we all have gone through this and still do, but behold, all this is going to soon change;

change which is inevitable,

change which is happening and we don’t even realise it,

change which is going to make us live like nothing what it was 20-years from now or even current.

This is going to sound a lot more like one of those Sci-Fi movies, but this is going to be a reality of our lives. This is already happening, and we don’t know about it. Let me try and connect the dots, more like arranging the blocks of a jigsaw puzzle.

We all have heard of Nano Technology, few might be aware of it being used in multiple sectors, more in medical and bio-tech sectors. In the last few decades, there have been lot of advancements in this technology, found use in many applications, which are still being explored. A very important and emerging area of nano technology are the nano-bio sensors and biochips, which have numerous applications in nanomedicine in the coming future.

Bit of technical stuff here to explain what and where this is being used, which is helpful to life on Earth, before I explain how this is going to be misused.

In molecular biology, biochips are essentially miniaturized laboratories that can perform hundreds or thousands of biochemical reactions simultaneous. They help in genome (Genes) study, which generates huge amounts of information from each individuals’ genomes. A new generation of programmable diagnostic devices are being made now, called ‘programmable nano-bio-chip’, which helps in decoding this information and will potentially bridge the significant scientific, technology and clinical gaps through the creation of a diagnostic platform to measure the molecules of our life.

Some of the applications where this study would help are disease diagnosis and prognosis for areas including cancer, heart disease and HIV.

Biochips applications are widespread across the fields of biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacogenemics, proteology, clinical pathology and DNA analysis. Today, there are three main types of biochips that are used;

1. Lab-on-a-chip 

2. DNA chips 

3. Protein chips.

Seeing successful clinical trials and potential of these biochips, a new parallel

use of these biochips has been explored and these are being called HUMAN MICROCHIP. These are implanted in the upper layer of our skin (epidermis). These human microchips are integrated circuit (IC) devices (what we see in practically all electronic devices like music systems, computers, etc.) or RFID transponder encased in a silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being. This type of subdermal implant usually contains a unique ID number that can be linked to information contained in an external database, such as personal identification, government documents, medical history, medications, allergies, and contact information.

Besides storing information about an individual, what else will Human Microchipping do, how will it change our lives?

Well it is going to rock our skin’s world…quite literally.

With these embedded or implanted chips, we soon would be able to open our front door, start our car (recall this ardent Tesla car fan who implanted her Tesla car keys in her forearm), and provide our entire medical history. Well it can also be used in corporate offices for functions like HR, attendance, to gain file access, etc.  This is going to be our epidermis as we have never (ever) imagined.

Am quite sure that technology will further evolve and instead of implanting these chips, soon we will have these RFID chips like a tattoo or tattoo design implanted on the epidermis of our skin, using advanced mesh technology. Scary? Well we ought to me right now, but this soon will become a norm or part of our life system.

Let’s go few steps back and think how and when did all this start. The signs have been there for a while, it’s just that we never noticed. It is our fascination to miniaturize everything; Phones went from being static and on table to cordless to fitting in our pocket. Computers went from desks to laps to palms. Headphones went from over the ear to inside the ear. If there’s a trend in technology, it is this: Go small. Smaller still. Even smaller than that, till devices may start disappearing altogether and technology will literally be part of our skin, which we are today calling as “Wearable Technology”. This wearable technology will become “Implanted Technology”.

Let me draw your attention to one more thing, which we have already started using, but yet again, we have not connected the dots. These microchips, well your pet probably already has one, but right now this probably is being used for quite different applications for your pet than it would for humans. Pets’ microchips help locate them if they get lost. For us, microchips will make life more convenient or otherwise, you decide, while I try to explain what future holds for us.

These microchips would not be restricted to just implants but will get deeper till we don’t have physical hardware’s or devices or let’s say we humans become devices like HUMANOIDS.

So how will all this work or come together. Let’s deep dive a bit here. There will be technological advancements in eye lens, which will have multi-functions; serve as screens and cameras. Micro earphones would be implanted inside our ears, this is already being used to help people who are unable to hear properly. Microchip implanted in our skin which will be like a computer in a chip. Now what will this do? To begin with, you will never say any of those statements, which is mentioned at the start of this article. How will this happen, let me explain.

all are moving everything into the cloud and we are no longer dependent on a particular device or hardware. Like our emails are not restricted to any one computer, we can access our emails from any device, anywhere, anytime. Our documents, photos and other multimedia files too are being saved on cloud and we are no longer being restricted to a particular device. This has happened slowly but steadily and consumers without being aware of, has moved into this space. So, what’s next? We would no longer need these heavy and expensive hardware’s like computers, laptops, phones. Also, we would no longer need those large storage and storage devices because all that we wish to save, all that can be saved, all that needs to be saved, will be saved on cloud and everything will be integrated. Once this happens and with these biochips being implanted in our body / skin, we would carry our data with us all the time. Further, thanks to us using Intelligent personal assistants like Siri and Alexa’s of the world, we are using voice commands to access data and information. And of course all this would be rendered useless if we do not have the backbone called internet; super fast and seamless internet and lo-behold we are about to enter the world of 5G mobile network technology, which will make us always connected.

These Biochips will use our voice commands and do the work of the devices, which we currently use, but without them. Example, to make a phone call, we will use our voice command (which few of us are doing right now) and the biochip will make an audio or video call and screen will get projected in air in front of us through the eye lens which we are wearing (like contact lens which we wear right now). These projected screens will be viewed privately by us or by others for public viewing by providing a unique code. Audio will be directly in our ears with micro earphones implanted in our ears. Similarly, documents will be projected in air using our eye lens and we shall type through air-keyboard or through voice commands.

Everything will soon get converted into electronic and no paper would be used, again something that has already started; e-Passport, E-money, E-Wallets, E-credit cards, Online Banking, Aadhaar and Pan are numbers, E-License, etc. All our documents, banking, transactions, etc will be electronic and all these would be connected through a single identity, which will be a number. We all would become a number and lose our name as an identity. We all have slowly been moving towards this unknowingly; to get a new mobile number, we have to share our Aadhaar number, or PAN, or Passport etc, to open a bank account, its similar, for any government form or work where identification is required, we provide these documents or numbers. All these are getting interlinked, hence leading to each individual being associated with one single number as identity in the government records. Now if someone who has access to these records, changes your name against this associated number, there will be no proof or document for you to prove otherwise, which we can right now.

And then we have this whole thing called Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, which is threatening the very intelligence of humans. So now if we connect all the blocks of this big jigsaw, the picture which is getting formed is that of a human which is not a human in traditional form. We would not only compete with fellow humans, but with these artificial humans too.

Technology, which was introduced to be an enabler for humans/mankind, will enslave us soon. We would become technology. Are we ready for this? Well there is no choice, as this is the next evolution of humankind…humans evolving into humanoids.

#AI, #ArtificialIntelligence, #Humans, #Humanoids, #EmbeddedTechnology, #WearableTech, #NanoTechnology, #BioChips

Economic Recession: A Psychological Fear

Economic Recession… Do we really have anything called recession? Or is it more sentimental and psychological or is it just a way of looking at how things or business, industries are behaving or acting upon, during a particular time?

Life is never a straight line, and when it does, it means life does not exist. A healthy life is when we have up’s and down’s, that’s what our cardiac line tells us that you are still alive. Similar are the situations in every relationships and business. No business will have constant growth, there will be cardiac line growth and that’s healthy, because when we are in the downhill phase, we try to put in extra efforts to better ourselves and rise. That’s what we all have grown up with or our instincts have been. But education has misguided us. These so called educated and certified professional have made us believe in unbelievable things. When these unbelievable or unnatural things don’t happen as per their suggested ways, these educated people panic, and they make others panic too. Using their educational qualifications, they come up with phenomenon’s which makes the good look bad, and then they try to implement even more bad business practices by projecting that this is the right way to do business, resulting in worse or losses. And then these people who are considered as experts and derive their market watch and economic papers to share with larger audiences to further spread this fear, it’s like ripple effect, hence leading to making people believe that “we are living in bad economic times”.

I am not against education, nor am I promoting any sort of negative feelings towards these educated and certified economists. Neither am I a qualified professional to pass any judgements. But what I feel is that education should not be a standalone variable to decide. Use human intellect too, else there is no difference between us and robots who are getting “Intelligent” using what we have termed as “Artificial Intelligence”.

Let me try and explain this with a simple story.

There is this middle-aged man called Mr. Venkat who hails from Kerala, and he is Dosa vendor from a very long time. He inherited this business from his father and over the years they had gained a lot of goodwill in their small city. His business was flourishing, family was happy, customers were happy because they believed in Venkat for his quality, ingredients, taste and customer service. On an average he used to sell about 1000 dosas in a day. On any day, for whatever reason, if he did not finish the dosa batter or the chutney, he would make the dosas and distribute to the poor, but never carried forward to next day. This too was known to his customers. Hence, he nor his father had ever seen a downslide in their business.

Venkat, like many of us wanted his son to study and attain professional degrees so that he could become a “Big Man” and does not remain a small time Dosa vendor. So Venkat made his only child Swami go to best of the school in his city and later Swami went on to study professional course; MBA in Finance from a very reputed college in India.

Swami finished his MBA with good percentage, got placed in a good financial consultancy company and started to grow professionally. Venkat was very happy looking at his son’s professional growth, while he continued selling dosas. Now Swami was unhappy to see his father and mother living in that small city selling Dosas, so requested his parents to move in with him in a metro city, but his parents refused saying that they are very happy where they are and more so do not wish to be a burden on Swami.

Few years later, due to retrenchment in Swami’s company, he lost his job and as luck would have it, Swami could not find a new job for 6-months. Getting frustrated staying in a metro city alone and without a job, Swami went back to his hometown to take a short break before he decided about his next professional move. His parents were very happy to see Swami and for few day’s life was good. His mother fed him with all his favorite food dishes etc. One day Swami, who till now had never visited his father’s Dosa shop even once, went with Venkat to spend a day at their shop. He observed his father and how he interacted and served his customers and how all the customers relished the Dosas. Venkat very proudly introduced Swami to his customers and they chatted with him for some time. One customer while talking on general things with Swami and asked about his job, why did he lose his job and why was it so difficult for an educated person like Swami, finding it so difficult to get a new job. Swami replied saying that our country is not doing good and that we have entered recession phase. The customer and Venkat did not understand this term ‘Recession’. Later in the evening, Swami started thinking about this recession and that soon it will engulf every city of India and people in this city are not even aware of recession or what is going to hit them. Swami thought that he should advise his father of the risks in the business of selling Dosas because of this recession.

That day, after dinner, Swami sat with his father and explained what recession is and told him that recession may cause fall in sale of his Dosas, so he should prepare for cost cutting to maintain his profits. Both his parents were staring at Swami with pride as well as fear. Venkat was so happy that his son understood so much about finance and business and his advising him in his business. Venkat agreed to follow Swami’s advice.

Following day, Swami suggested adding more water in the dosa batter and reducing the size of dosa saying that his customers would not realize the change in the taste, and Venkat sold his usual1000 dosas. Venkat was surprised with extra profits and thanked Swami for helping him. Next day Swami suggested to add little more water and to further reduce the size of dosa, also to add water in the chutney and to serve less.  Surprisingly that day Venkat was able to sell only 800 dosas. Also end of the day, on seeing Venkat preparing the dosas of the leftover batter and feeding the poor, Swami was aghast. He told his father that as he had mentioned, recession is setting in because today he sold 200 less dosas, hence we need to further curtail our costs, hence he should not discard the batter, instead use it the next day.

Venkat listened to Swami, whom he considered as having more business and financial knowledge than him. Next day Venkat added fresh batter to stale batter and fresh chutney to yesterday’s leftover chutney. This day number of dosas sold were about 700, but his customers were not happy and started discarding the dosas saying the taste is different. Venkat was not happy, but Swami told him that tougher times call for tougher decisions. This is recession period and we have to control our costs, because people/customers too would be stingy in spending their money. Venkat listened to his son and next day he used the same leftover batter and chutney, because Swami asked him not to discard. Following day, the sales reduced to less than 300 and everyone complained of the taste being bad. Swami countered that by saying recession is here and during these times, people become very demanding and expect much higher value for the money they spent, hence he should not think too much about these customer complaints. Further Swami said that tomorrow we shall prepare batter for lesser number of dosas and start charging for chutney too. Venkat still believing in his son, did as he was told, but following day the sales was barely of 100 dosas and customers not just complained for the stale taste and small size of the dosa but were upset that Venkat for the first time is also charging them for chutney. Swami told his father that now recession has affected all the people in this city too and they are not aware of it because they don’t know what recession is, but only thing they know is that they have lost lot of their money. Hence, his customers are not going to return soon and so, this dosa business will be in loss and they should stop selling dosas now and think of doing something else.

Venkat was now skeptical about what Swami was saying. First thing Venkat did was taste his dosa and chutney and he immediately spit it out. Venkat was furious and told his son Swami that he is shocked to know that these professional schools and colleges teach their students on how to cheat their customers of their trust and belief. These schools did not teach them of winning customer goodwill and customer service. Venkat further added it was his mistake to think and believe that higher education will make his son a better man and lead a better life than theirs. In last two generations, they never faced such a situation in their business which he (Swami) through his business and financial acumen has within 10-days of advising. Swami’s concept of business profits by cheating people and calling it as recession has led him (Venkat) to near closure of his 2-generation old flourishing business. He politely asked his son not to ever intervene into his business and that he shall try to revive it the old traditional way. He (Swami) was welcome to stay put at home as long as he wants or finds another job, but to never advise him (Venkat) or any of the shopkeepers in this city about their business and definitely never utter the word ‘Recession’ ever again in front of him and his customers.

From next day, Venkat went back to his age-old way of running his dosa business and in no time, his business started to flourish again. While Swami is still wondering what wrong, he advised and has the recession got over because he can see his father’s business doing very well.

Hence, according to me we can fight this Recession, because Recession is nothing but greed of big corporate houses to be more profitable by reducing quality and using unfair business practices and of uncaring and unprofessional employees giving wrong advises and bad service as long as their business is making profits.

So, recession is an unnecessary fear being created by these economic gurus and consultants to retain their jobs and make more money while rest of the businesses and people suffer.

#Recession, #EconomicRecession, EconomicSlowdown

Artificial Intelligence... Can Intelligence get Artificial?

Artificial Intelligence is nothing but Aided Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence; one of the definition states that “It is the study of how to train the computers so that computers can do things, which at present human can do better.”

Let us try to understand this little better. What does Artificial mean? It refers to something which is made by human or something which is not natural or is fake like artificial flowers. Intelligence means an ability to think or understand, process or reason it and then act or react to a situation.

Hence, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fake or defined (programmed) action or reaction to a situation bases some algorithms. But what a common man perceives AI is that it is the intelligence of a computer to think and act like a Human Brain. 

According to me this is wrong. This is Aided Intelligence or Programmed Intelligence or just a Smarter Computing Device. An Artificial Intelligence in true sense will be when we input or feed our brain with information / data through other sources where we do not use any of our 5-senses. The input of information to our brain is transferred artificially, like we scan a document and then transfer the information of data of that document through radio waves directly into temporary or semi-permanent or permanent memory of human brain area. Very similar to how we send emails or text messages from our computers or handheld devices, but here the recipient is a human brain. This in true sense is called Artificial Intelligence.

Building this device, which can help achieve Artificial Intelligence is not difficult or challenging. We need a scanning device that scans the data, stores in its memory, and on being transferred to human brain, converts the data into neurons or code in which human brain understands and stores the data. The only challenging part is knowing or decoding the brain code and converting the data into that code on being transferred. Depending on length of time one wants to retain this particular data, the data transfer happens to that part of the brain memory: temporary, semi-permanent or permanent memory.

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People and their Different Foods: Balanced Diet - Part 2

Balanced Diet – Part 2

People and their Different Foods

We saw that there is nothing called a Balanced Diet for anyone. The diet should change on a daily basis and one has to be alert and sensitive in listening to their body. Anything in excess is bad to your bodily requirements, including drinking excess water.

In this article I am attempting to share my little knowledge on what in general should an individual fill their plate with depending on few basic attributes like Age phase in life, Physically active level, Metabolism etc. These are further classified into before and after. I am no certified dietician or nutritionist to suggest diets, but my basic understanding and reasoning has helped me research on this more and what am going to state is through my proven records.

I am not a believer of any ‘Thumb Rule’ where it states that one’s plate should have particular percentages of proteins, fat, carbs, etc, nor do I believe in portions of food variety like fruits, vegetables, meat, etc, neither believe in having Fiber, Dairy in certain portion, etc. My take is again that each person is different, and lot depends on how your foundation years or childhood have been. If your childhood was more of activity based and ate, as we say, everything that was cooked and there was no definition of a particular food item has to be part of one’s staple diet, or there was limited exposure to sweets, or consumed more of fruits, etc. All this form, what I call as foundation blocks of our digestive system, body activity and muscles. Basis this our youth and adulthoods are defined. We cannot alter the diet overnight nor plan activities, which a body is not accustomed to. It is important to understand one’s upbringing, then what changes in body does one wish to bring in basis which plan the process that too has to be gradual.

Attempting to share what to eat for few categories of individuals:

• Before Running & after Running
• Before Gyming & after Gyming
• Expectant Mothers & New 
• Person who spends more time inhouse and less 
• Person at Desk 
• Person whose job is 
• Manual 
• Children active in 
• Children active in 
• Old people who are still active
• Old people who have resigned from major activities

Broadly a person’s lifestyle can be classified into two: Active and Sedentary lifestyle. These are the two extremes of a spectrum and all would fit in this scale at varied levels. Then other factors get added like: Age, Metabolism, Gender, Weather, Past Lifestyle to Present, Allergies, Medications, few aspects specific to Females like hormonal changes during a month, pregnancy, motherhood etc. All these have a direct or indirect impact on people’s lifestyle, bodily needs, leading to their individual nutritional requirements.

I am attempting to share very few and basic foods, which one can consider under few of the above identified heads. For more detailed food chart for an individual, I may be able to help by deeper analysis of an individual after interacting with them in person.

The first one in the list are the Runners, here am considering people who have been running for a considerable number of years: If one runs early in the morning, I suggest not to hit the road or treadmill immediately after waking up. Allow the body / muscles and mind to thaw and recuperate from rest position to activity mode. It is okay to have your shot at caffeine or warm water with some basic snacks like biscuits. Nothing which would fill your stomach, this is to avoid stomach acids lying bored in your stomach. Next before stepping out, please do basic stretches, breathing, spot jumping or jogging, idea is to get your mind programmed for the run, muscles to wake up and up your heart rate.

If you are an evening runner, then make sure your last meal has been at least two hours before your run. Would not advice caffeine before this run.

Suggested Food. Before the run, I advise stomach to be nearly empty, hence if there has been a long break in your food intake, then I suggest the following food (any of them in small quantity) before the run, again there has to be break of about 20 – 30 min before you start running.

1.    Bananas

2.    Oats

3.    Plain yogurt

4.    Chocolate

5.    Almonds and Walnuts

6.    Berries

7.    Cottage Cheese

8.    Boiled or Half-Boiled Eggs

After a good run, please stretch to cool down, sip water and after a break of about 30 min have either of the following:

1.    Bananas

2.    Boiled Potatoes

3.    Banana Shake

4.    Sweetened yogurt

5.    Berries

6.    Cottage Cheese

7.    Boiled or Half-Boiled Eggs

8.    Boiled Soy

Second category of people, Gym goers: This also depends on type of gym activity one engages into and how long one works out. Heavy weights – long duration to Light weights and shorter duration. And then what has one been brought up eating, what is the purpose of joining the gym, etc. If one sweats a lot, then please keep sipping water. If its warm weather with high humidity, it is advisable to add glucose to your water or sugar and salt in cold water (and the likes). Personally, I do not advise any of the energy drinks, which are available in the market. Regarding what food is good, customisation will be needed, but to give an energy boost before one hits the gym, following food can be considered in small quantity, again minimum 30-minutes before the gym.

1.    Bananas

2.    Boiled Potatoes

3.    Boiled or Half-Boiled Eggs (whole egg)

4.    Almonds

5.    Peanuts

6.    Boiled Soy

7.    Chicken Sandwich

After workout, besides the above, following should be added:

1.    Chicken, preferably roasted or grilled

2.    Cottage Cheese

3.    Chocolate

4.    Yogurt

5.    Lentils

6.    Soup: Vegetable, Chicken, Lentils, Broccoli. Mixed or individual

7.    Almonds

8.    Boiled Soy

9.    Berries

10. Chikoo (Mudapples)

Meals for a decent to heavy gym goer should include the following;

1.    Chicken in any format – dry or curry

2.    Fish in any format – dry, fried or curry

3.    Fruits – all fruits are good, not juices, definitely not canned juices

4.    Vegetables – in salad format, minus any oils or dips. Squeeze a lemon with little salt and black pepper or oregano. Sprinkling herbs is best.

5.    Lentils

6.    Sweet Potatoes

7.    Rice

8.    Breads / Chapatis (Preferably of Ragi or Jowar)

9.    Milk

10. Cheese

11. Cottage Cheese

12. Yogurt

13. Pasta

14. Cereals

15. Pure Ghee

16. Sweet Potatoes

I again repeat that people who works out in a gym, their diet chart will be different and will need much more detailed understanding to draw up their diet chart.

The third category and an important one is the Mothers, both Expectant and New (Lactating) Mothers. Their requirement of food is different because they have one more life, inside her or outside who draws all the nutrition from her. Hence it is extremely important for these mothers to take good care of themselves when it comes to food intake. For them, definitely follow what the doctor suggests, but what I can suggest are the following foods;

1.    Milk

2.    Eggs

3.    Cheese

4.    Cottage Cheese

5.    Pure Ghee

6.    All fruits and vegetables

7.    Nuts

8.    Rice

9.    Chapatis – preferably of Ragi or Jowar

10. Chicken

11. Fish (ones which are low on mercury)

12. Sweet Potatoes

13. Lentils

14. Nuts

15. Broccoli

Please do not forget to keep sipping water. It is one of the most important food category, which is often forgotten to consume.

I am generalizing the fourth category of people who are Less Active with slow metabolism or who lead a more of a sedentary lifestyle or who spend more time at their workstations and travel using automated vehicles. It is a common belief that a person who is not much mobile or has a sedentary lifestyle, does not require much calories etc. My understanding is that this person needs to get active (move more on their feet) and there are foods which make us lethargic or less energetic and the quantity in which they are consumed and at what intervals. Like for this type of person, my advice will be to reduce the quantity of food intake per se. Should avoid heavy foods like biryani, rich curries, parathas, lassi, milk shakes, rich Indian desserts, rice, puri, etc. Food that should be consumed:

1.    Chicken (roasted or grilled)

2.    Fish (Grilled)

3.    Eggs

4.    Butter Milk

5.    Lentils (watery)

6.    Citrus and water rich fruits

7.    Vegetables, more of seasonal vegetables, leafy vegetables

8.    Salad of Carrots, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, roasted Gram & Peanuts

9.    Milk

10. Yogurt

11. Soups

Fifth category of people are Active or Kinetic people with high metabolism. They will need foods which are rich in proteins and carbs because their body will digest the food faster, while proteins, besides giving necessary fuel to muscles, is also heavy, hence will make person less hungry. Carbs will help in giving the necessary energy and power. Foods that are good for such people are:

1.    Chicken

2.    Fish

3.    Lean meat

4.    Eggs

5.    Milk

6.    Cheese

7.    Cottage Cheese

8.    Soy

9.    Nuts

10. Chapatis

11. Yogurt

12. All type of Fruits & Vegetables

13. Lentil

14. Indian dessert

15. Ice Creams

16. Soups

17. Salads

Food consumption is a matter of discipline but at the same time one should not be too harsh on oneself. Enjoy life, try all types of food, be sensitive to your body and listen to what it says. By Discipline I refer to the time of food intake and burn out the consumption. The other important and non-tangible thing is our mind and thinking; Think positive, feel happy and channel your energies towards general good. Use your Limbs more in Movements and Tongue in Tasting.

Lastly, I am not a follower of Fasting of any sort. Yes, there are times when we need to detox our body or fast when our body feels blotted, or sluggish or ate heavy food. The other times could be when one travels to a different time-zone and that can possibly disturb your usual food regime and so to set their body clock to that time zone, people fast. But fasting per se is bad for health, instead correct your eating habits and change your food type. Don’t deprive the body of nutrients that they need. Eat what is good for wellbeing of your body and not necessarily for your greedy glutomy.

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