Down memory lane: Hindi poem from my school days

Few days back somehow I got into a discussion with my school friends about a hindi poem that we had read in our school days from a book called Bal Bharati. I tried hard to get the right words and after picking up pieces from all, here's the best version that we could get:

Title - Missing, don't remember

Utho lal ab aankhein kholo
paani laayi mu dho lo
beeti raat kamal dal phule
jinke upar bhaware jhule
chidhiya chahak uthi paedo par
behne lagi hawa aati sunder
Nabh mein nyari lali chaayee
Dharti ne pyari chavi paayi
aisa sundar samay na kho
mere pyare ab mat so

Author - Don't know

To not write or what to write

Sometimes I have all these thoughts in my mind that I would like to blog about. By the time my laptop is turned on, they seem to fizzle away. I still find blogging about something or nothing still difficult. How much time do all these millions of people in the world who keep blogging all the time spend on writing one entry ? It could be a flick of a second or it could be hours of your most productive time ?
Hey did you see above ? There's another blog entry...fuss about nothing.

Thanksgiving sale

Today was a 'Black Friday", day after Thanksgiving. This is the time of the year when you can see hundreds of people standing out in long queues outside stores to satisfy their thirst for materials on sale fighting any harsh weather be it cold winter or cats and dog rains.
Most of the products that were on sale in these big stores BB, CC, Staples, WalMart, one could easily buy them on internet in different times of the year with maybe even more discount. Then why this mad rush to buy things at odd hours of the day ? As if all these items on sale were about to be extinct after the sale. I think its one thing thats the best in this country - Advertising.
And you can move masses !!!

Daylight saving ends and snow sets in

Another week starts today. Couple of interesting changes happened this weekend. First we got an extra hour as Daylight saving ended on Oct 30th 2am. This means an extra hour to yourself which no one knows how went by.

Second I saw snow strains on the tip of the Cascade mountains visible from my apartment. This is a good sign as last year's Seattle region received only 25% of the avg snowfall. I am looking forward to a good snowfall this year in the cascades around Seattle so that there's a good ski season.

Don't feel like working very enthusiastically today. Winters in Seattle is all gray and grey.
More later.......

Just do it !!

Should be the guiding principle in life.........We always procastinate ourselves about things that we want to do, about things that we like to do, wish we could have done them. Its simple Just do it.

Home remedies for Common Cold and Cough, with a pinch of Turmeric

This weekend was a hell of a one for me. I caught what is commonly called as Common Cold with a lot of Cough. There's no one who has ever escaped from these viruses (Viruses in general always cause trouble whether common or computer).

So here's a few home remedies if you have one or just remember them for times when you are in dire need of something like this:

1. Put about a glass of water to boil. Add to it 1/2 tablespoon turmeric, 1/3 tablespoon pepper, 1 tablespoon ginger and about ~2 to 3 tablespoon of jaggery. Let this mixture boil for about an hour till the quantity of water reduces to half. You will also notice that the liquid has become little thick. Sip it regularly twice thrice a day and it will soothe your throat and help reduce your cold.
2. Drinking little hot than luke warm water with a tablespoon of honey soothes your throat. This can be done multiple times a day.
3. Gargling hot water with a table spoon of salt soothes the throat. If you are have constant cough, I recommend this strongly. It will help you get instant relief.
4. Taking steam fews times a day also helps decongest the nasal track. It will though result in yellow mucous coming out, but that's the sign that your body has started fighting the viruses.
5. And this one came in just recently about an hour back from a friend. Warm the frying pan on the burner to a good enough temprature that its hot. Then sprinkle 1/4 tablespoon of turmeric on it, and immediately inhale the vapours generated. The vapors will last for a few seconds and the turmeric will burn to black. Clean the pan with a dry tissue and repeat it again for a few times.
6. Mix jaggery and turmeric powder and make small balls. Eat a ball whenever you want to get temporary relief from continous cough.

Few more tips:

• Drink lot of water and fluids
• Make sure that your digestion is good. Take laxative if you have a constipation
• Taking extra Vitamin C and Zinc may help, but its not proven
• Wash your hands often so that your near and dear ones don't catch from you
• Avoid staying in a warm dry place. Make sure that there is enough humidity in your place
• Avoid taking cough suppressants syrups or pills; instead you can go for expectorant kinds of medication syrups
• Sleep well and don't go out in the cold weather

If there are any remedies that have worked for you, I would appreciate if you can tell me by leaving a comment to this post.

(I will try to update this post, as and when I get more to learn about more home remedies)

Ten get hikes around seattle

http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/guides/seattle_hikes.html

Good Trekking websites in and around Seattle

Whatcom county Parks and Recreation:
http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/trails/chuckanut.jsp

NWSource Outdoors (has excellent links and information):
http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/hiking/