I love watching Buddha statue in Hussain Sagar. It reminds my golden days spent over there. Peace. Such a wonderful word. No idea of how many of you all are through this. But, when I am there, I feel it. It just makes me think now of what I learnt at my school age like the four noble truths, eightfold path, and many things about them. I would like to key in some points of what we all learned earlier.

The Four Noble Truths :

1. Suffering
2. Craving or selfish desires
3. The end of suffering is Nirvana(A state of ultimate peace and understanding)
4. The Noble Eightfold Path

 What are the Eight Factors of the Noble Eightfold Path?

They are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

 How are they categorised?

The eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path (often symbolized by a wheel consisting of eight spokes) can be grouped into three strands - wisdom, morality and concentration. Right Understanding and Right Thought develop Wisdom. Right Speech, Right Livelihood and Right Action develop Morality. Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration develop Concentration.

Wisdom
1. Right Understanding - includes the four noble truths, the law of karma (good deeds lead to happy states, bad deeds to miserable ones) and the three marks of existence (suffering, impermanence and not-self).
2. Right Thought - is thought free from ill-will, cruelty and lust.

Morality
1. Right Speech - is to abstain from lying, harsh or malicious speech, gossip and tale-bearing.
2. Right Action - abstains from killing (including animals), stealing.
3. Right Livelihood - would preclude any occupations that would involve the breaking of the five precepts. Consequently, jobs which involve killing (a butcher, for example) or drinking (a publican) would be seen as unwholesome.

Concentration
1. Right Effort - involves avoiding or overcoming unwholesome states and developing and maintaining wholesome states. For example, you decide to avoid losing your temper and instead develop and maintain a sense of equanimity.
2. Right Mindfulness and 3. Right Concentration - relate to two approaches to meditation that are seen as vital to one's spiritual development. Without meditation, nirvana can't be won - morality and understanding on their own are not enough. In fact, all three strands, all eight factors are necessary.

Dalai Lama advises:

'I myself feel, and also tell other Buddhists that the question of Nirvana will come later. There is not much hurry. If in day to day life you lead a good life, honesty, with love, with compassion, with less selfishness, then automatically it will lead to Nirvana.'

This has become my favourite Quote. And I hope, I'll lead this life like that. PEACE TO ALL.

Vitamins help regulate metabolism, help convert fat and carbohydrates into energy, and assist in forming bone and tissue.

Vitamin A plays a really big part in eyesight. Foods rich in Beta Carotene will help reduce the risk of lung cancer & certain oral cancers.

eggs, milk, apricots, nectarines, cantaloupe, carrots, Mangoes, sweet potatoes, spinach

In Vitamin B, there's more than one. Here's the list : B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid. The B vitamins help make energy. This group of vitamins is also involved in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout your body.

whole grains, such as wheat and oats; fish and seafood, poultry and meats, eggs, dairy products, like milk and yogurt; leafy green vegetables, beans and peas, citrus fruits, such as oranges

Vitamin C helps your body heal if you get a cut. This vitamin also helps your body resist infection. Vitamin C will decrease the risk of getting certain cancers by 75%.

citrus fruits, like oranges; cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage

Vitamin D helps if you need strong bones and strong teeth. It helps your body absorb the amount of calcium it needs.

milk and other dairy products fortified with vitamin D, fish, egg yolks

Vitamin E maintains a lot of your body's tissues, like the ones in your eyes, skin, and liver. It protects your lungs from becoming damaged by polluted air. And it is important for the formation of red blood cells.

whole grains, such as wheat and oats; wheat germ, leafy green vegetables, sardines, egg yolks, nuts

Vitamin K helps to clot your blood, when had a cut.

leafy green vegetables, liver, dairy products, like milk and yogurt

Let's sum up :

Iron - Meat, Fish, Spinach, Strawberry
Folic Acid - Spinach, Beans, pachchi batani
Zinc - Beans, Chikkudu jaati ginjalu
Calcium - Milk, Curd, Butter, Beans, Wheat atta
Vitamin A - Carrot, Mangoes, Eggs
Vitamin B1 - Rice, Fish
Vitamin B2 - Butter, Eggs, Spinach, Liver
Vitamin B3, B12 - Liver, Chicken, Fish, Milk, Egg, Spinach, Tomato, Carrot, Kharjura
Vitamin C - Lemon, Kamala, Baththaayi(All Citrus Fruits), Tomato, Boppaayi, Molakettina Vittanaalu, Cauliflower, Palakura.
Vitamin D - Sunlight

Despite antiquity of Vedas, they preach the most modern and the most progressive thoughts. Woman enjoys high position at home as well as society according to Vedas. Both man and woman enjoy equal rights. For husband and wife, Vedas mention two masters of one house. Not only husband, but also his wife is equal owner of the house. Both enjoy the same prestige, power and position. None is subordinate to the other. To say that wife is servant or slave to husband is not okayed by Vedas. The performance of yajna is considered to be complete only when both husband and wife sit together. Woman enjoys the same right as man, to study and preach the sublime philosophy of Vedas. According to Vedic religion, marriage is a union of two souls enjoying constant peace and prosperity at home. It entitles woman to enjoy permanent safety, security, serenity and sovereignty at home.

Now, we also need to know exactly what Veda means. The word Vid or "to know" is the Sanskrit root-word of Veda which means Knowledge. Vedas state "Self Realization" is one and the goal of human life. There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda (composed of hymns), Sama Veda(melodies), Yajur Veda(sacrificial prayers) and Atharva Veda(magic formulas). The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. Rig Veda, is the oldest of the four Vedas.

Every hymn of the Rig Veda is attributed to a Rishi. Though the majority of these hymns were the work of male rishis, the Rig-Veda contains hymns that were revealed by women seers also. The latter were called rishikas and brahmavadinis...Several hymns of the Rig Veda were composed by female rishis (sages). Together, they sing of the sacrificial love of the Absolute and the passion of praising God’s myriad name. The poems are available here : http://www.advaita.org.uk/

The Rig Veda also refers to women engaged in warfare. The Sama Veda is mostly a rearrangement of the Rigveda for musical rendering. Sama Veda deals with the knowledge of chants. Sama means "melody". The classical Indian music originated from this Veda. The Yajur Veda gives sacrificial prayers and the Atharva Veda gives charms, incantations, magic formulas etc. Ayurveda is based on the Sankya philosophy of the Rig Veda. Health is defined as the harmony of the body (gross), mind and spirit (subtle) triad. Ayurveda concentrates and deals with the physical body, Tantra with the mind and Yoga with the spirit.

You can know more about Hindu Women And Religion In Vedic Times from the following site. It's an interesting one.
http://www.mailerindia.com/hindu/veda/index.php?hinduwomen

#   A fresh egg will sink in water, but a stale one won't.
*   An espresso has less caffeine than a cup of coffee!
#   Eating carrots can help you see better. Vitamin A is known to prevent "night blindness," and carrots are loaded with Vitamin A. One carrot provides more than 200% of recommended daily intake of Vitamin A. Carrots have zero fat content.
*   A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.
#   Unless food is mixed with saliva you cannot taste it.
*   TIP is the acronym for "To Insure Promptness."
#   Watermelons are 97% water, lettuce 97%, tomatoes 95%, carrots 90%, and bread 30%.

*   There are more than 2,700 languages spoken in the world.
#   The first credit card was issued in 1951.
*   Mercedes cars are named after an Austrian girl.
#   Our eyes are always the same size from birth.
*   A house fly lives only 14 days.
#   A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon. A dog was the first to parachute.
*   Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

#   The names of all the continents end with the letter they start with. On every continent, there is a city called Rome.
*   The words "electronic mail" might sound new but was introduced 30 years ago. Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent her first email in 1976.
#   The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.
*   A green diamond is the rarest diamond. If you hit a diamond with a hammer, it will break!
#   Sound travels through water 3 times faster than through air.
*   Air becomes liquid at about minus 190 degrees Celsius.
#   Hot water freezes quicker than cold water.

Yesterday night, my thoughts went on thinking about life after death (Might be, I thought about my Uncle's). And is death of a person, you like, so painful? I remember my dad calling up n informing Somesh Uncle expired. And again, within a month, VenkateswaraRao(V) Uncle passed away. This happened a year and a half back. I used to call them mamayya which made me feel so near to them. I used to talk to them normally only, but might be, I never used to know how to express my feelings towards them that they are my favorite mamayya's. They are more than close relatives, to my dad n mom, u can say them as best friends to our family. I know how much my dad is missing them even now. He only says what can we do, n we can't get them back. Yeah, it's the Truth that none can deny.

My V mamayya's death was so horrible. It was a car accident. He was driving on the highway and u know how lorry people drive over there. The car hit the lorry and it fell into the river near by. Only after 3 days, people knew what happened and knew about the body there. The body was too horribly damaged. The skin came out so easily with the creatures nearby. A dreadful scenario. It's only the body, right. No soul. It just got damaged. If soul is there, he would definitely have been alive. Body and soul r totally different. When we are alive, we take care of our body so much that we tend to forget to care for our soul. We never even ask what does it really want? We just move towards worldly attractions. We just will strive throughtout our life to make it comfortable by ignoring our soul. We just think about ourselves. That's how, things are turning out. I donno how many of u will agree?

I remember Robert Frost's poem: Miles to go before I sleep..... It's one of my favorite's, which makes me think to do many things in life. I feel strongly, that we need to do something good, which makes us happy throughout our life, or even after life, since, life is too short and we all need to use it in proper means. I remember my Uncle's doing that. Helping the needy and being very receptive. They talk with everyone in a sweet way. Might be, that's why I liked them and am even still thinking of them. Missing them a lot too.
May their soul rest in peace.

We need to know some tips to get our work done easily. I have just included few of them. So, just have a glance.

1. Always mash potatoes when they are still quite hot. They mash more easily and can be finely mashed too.
2. Add a few tsps. of milk to cauliflower while boiling, to get rid of the raw smell. Drain and wash before adding to the recipe.
3. Always soak cauliflower in warm salted water for some time to get rid of the tiny insects sometimes present deep inside the florets and not visible to the eye.
4. Store chopped vegetables in airtight plastic containers in the fridge to keep from browning and drying up.
5. Add some salt or vinegar drops while washing vegetables and greens to make them clean and germ free, eg. cauliflower, spinach, etc.
6. Place tomatoes in hot water for 5-7 minutes, before using for easier peeling and better taste in any recipe where tomatoes are required to be cooked.
7. Blanch green leafy vegetables ( fenugreek, spinach, etc.) in boiling water for 2 minutes. Hold under cold running water, press out excess water,and store in freezer for about 2 weeks without spoiling.
8. Add a few methi (fenugreek) seeds to toor dal while pressure cooking. This makes the dal easier to digest.
9. Indigestion ? - Add 3-4 crushed cloves of garlic to boiling milk and drink it. It gives immediate relief.
10. For indigestion/acidity - drink lime juice mixed with ginger juice. Pudina too(Mint) helps in digestion.

11. Oatmeal helps reduce cholesterol. Regularly eating oatmeal for breakfast results in significant reduction of cholesterol in a few days.
12. It is better to use round dishes in the microwave oven rather than square or rectangular dishes as round dishes spread heat faster.
13. Oil applied to dal before it is cooked helps it to cook faster by softening the proteins.
14. A pinch of turmeric powder added to all kinds of dal when cooking hastens the cooking process.
15. Excess salt in any dish can be brought down by adding diced potatoes, tomatoes or a teaspoon of sugar.
16. If the milk begins to boilover, quickly sprinkle a little cold water over it and the overflow will subside.
17. Always use a clean pair of kitchen scissors to trim edges of bread. So, u'll have much neater and less messy edges as compared to those trimmed with a knife. 18. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to chop chillies, etc. fine. It will keep hands from burning, and the job is done much faster too.
19. When ginger, garlic, etc. are crushed in a mixie, it gets tedious to try to remove all of it, from under the blade, etc. Once crushed and removed, run a little water in the mixie, and pour into the batter. The mixie will get cleaned as well as ingredients will be used economically. In case of fritters, use the cornwater itself.
20. If a grater is not handy, cut ginger or garlic into small bits. Crush with the back of a steel or wooden ladle. It will easily crush.

21. If you have boiled spinach etc. in excess water, do not throw away this liquid so full of health. Just stir in some salt or sugar and drink up, to you well being. Make this a habit, and drink up the vitamins and minerals, with a smile!
22. Use water in which vegetables are boiled to make soups, doughs, etc. instead of wasting this Nutrient rich liquid.
23. Store chopped vegetables in airtight plastic containers in the fridge to keep from browning and drying up.
24. To prevent lumps while adding flour to any liquids, eg. Water, buttermilk,etc. first mix the flour in a little bit of the liquid to form a smooth paste. Add this to the remaining liquid and stir well.
25. Rub slices of onion on dosa tawa (griddle) before spreading dosas. This will avoid the dosa from stubbornly sticking to the griddle or tawa.
26. Keep rolled puries in the fridge, for 10 minutes. It will consume less oil, and puries will be crisper.
27. Before frying onions soak them in milk for 10 minutes.The onions will fry fast and have a uniform colour and will be more crisper.
28. Store chapathi dough after applying some milk ,it will not turn black.
29. Whenever we buy vermicelli or sooji, before storing, if we fry them until it turns light brown colour, it can last longer. And whenever we want to cook them, it will be instantly ready to cook and this consumes less time.
30. To make soft 'idlis' and 'dosas' add a handful of Puffed rice or Poha or only just add cold water while grinding.

31. When you are cooking brinjal add a spoon of milk so that the brinjal retain its colour without becoming black.
32. Store plain flour in clean ziplock bags in refrigerator, to keep insects from attacking it. This way the flour will stay fresh much longer.
33. Rub mirrors with first wet and then dry newpaper. The mirror will sparkle without leaving any wipe lines.
34. To make your glass windows shine like new ones, wipe it with used tea powder in boiled water.
35. To sharpen the knife, just keep the knife in warm water for half an hour.
36. A clove and a cardamom kept in the mouth while travelling, brings relief to those suffering from motion sickness.
37. Place candles in a dish of water while burning. They will last longer.
38. Clean all your Silverware with toothpaste (You can use cotton for rubbing). When you use water, add milk also. They will sparkle.
39. Immerse nails in hot water for a while before nailing into the wall. This will keep the surrounding plaster from coming off.
40. A glass of warm water, to which the juice of 1 lemon, and a tsp. of honey has been added, helps in weight loss if taken first thing in the morning, regularly. And also it prevents throat problems.

41. Rinse washed hair with a dilute decoction of tea in the last mugful, to add a lustre and bounce to your hair.
42. Do not discard strained tea leaves. Add them to the soil of rose plants, to act as an excellent manure. If you have many plants, feed one a day, in rotation.
43. Add salt to a tsp. of lemon juice to make a paste. Apply all over teeth, brush to give a gentle massage, rinse. Makes teeth white. Repeat weekly for very yellow cases.
44. To get rid of flies from the table, just place pudheena(Mint) leaves on it. You can add turmeric powder in water to clean the kitchen floor, so there will be no flies.
45. To get rid of mosquitos beside bed, keep a crushed onion.

You can even get more tips from the following sites too:
http://www.indianink.net/forums/Tips/
http://www.geocities.com/vemulasweb/tips.html
http://www.teluguwebsite.com/Telugu_Mahila.html

This telugu site beautifully connotes 7 ways to attain blissful knowledge.
http://www.eenadu.net/antaryami/antarmain.asp?qry=1605anta
It directs us to the path of Brahmavidya. Following it, is not so easy. Only through constant efforts, it might be possible. But, it's a must read one. After going through this, I really felt like sharing the same with everyone. Along with this, u can go thru other articles from that site.