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GO TO FULL SCREEN AND TURN UP THE SOUND....
MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT THE MOVIES!
WOW! This is a WILD ride.....
Amazing 3 minute video! Watch it in full screen and be prepared to be awed! How do these photographers capture such compelling moments? Are we all living on the same planet? At the same time?
Food advice
• Oranges: Eat the fruit, don`t drink the juice. Fruit juice in cartons has had all the fibre squeezed out of it, making its sugars more dangerous.
• Beef: Beef from grass-fed cattle as in Argentina is fine, but not from corn-fed cattle as in the US.
• Sugar, not fat, to blame for obesity. Sugar, not fat, exposed as deadly villain in obesity epidemic. It`s addictive and toxic, like a drug, and we need to wean ourselves off it, says US doctor. Always try non-refined, brown sugar.
• Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other sweetened beverages. These deliver sugar but with no nutritional added value. Water and milk are the best drinks, especially for children. Do not drink anything contains aspartame (an artificial sweetener produced from aspartic acid). It is dangerous for human and can cause cancer and this product is used, with other ingredients, to kill rats.
• Bread: Watch out for added sugar in foods where you would not expect it.
• Alcohol: Just like sugar, it pushes up the body`s insulin levels, which tells the liver to store energy in fat cells. Alcohol is a recognised cause of fatty liver disease.
• Home-baked cookies and cakes: If you must eat those, bake those yourself with one third less sugar than the recipe says. These even taste better that way.
• Anything white or refined (salt, sugar, white rice & bread, etc) is bad for your health. Try brown, wholemeal for everything. If possible, avoid use of vegetable oil.
• If possible, do not use micro wave oven at all. It heats up the liquid in the food, and the heated liquid heats the rest. It doesn`t cook. Try this: water on two similar plants everyday for weeks. For one, use normal water and for other, use micro waved water (after cooling). The latter will die. This can happen to yourself.
• Salad: Salad in packet, labelled as `ready-to-eat` is more dangerous than beef-burgers, following a spate of Cryptosporidium infections linked to the product. Certain types of bacteria found in the pre-cut salad bags can be almost impossible to kill, unless the leaves are irradiated - a process the public would oppose. `These bugs are very good at clinging on to salad and the risk from cryptosporidium, salmonella and listeria is very real. `I would advise people to thoroughly wash salad even when it says it has been washed and is ready to eat.`
• Avoid foods, oils in plastic bottles, jars. Try glass bottles, jars etc.
• If possible, try organic foods only.
If you carefully observe the people who are in stress, you will notice that they keep thinking about a specific event, conversation, failure, brawl or hard luck again and again which has happened to them in past. Such people do not have control on their thinking process hence they allow their brain to keep wandering in the past. While It's a known fact that bad luck happens to everyone, it's people's attitude and the quantum of reaction which defines the degree of stress. Since stress and happiness are vice versa so more stress results in less happiness or in some cases loss of happiness.
you will agree that the more you think about bad things happened in the past, the more magnitude of stress you give birth to. Hence the chains of negativity and stress around your neck need to be broken and thrown away so as to move on with your life.
The fact remains the same that you cannot change the past, neither you can boil the ocean so a wise person would not keep thinking about something which has already happened instead he would learn the lesson from the past and take measures which need to be done in order to prevent such happening in future. A wise man will always focus on the solutions instead of thinking about the problems.
The Last Post
If you have ever been to a military funeral, you would remember ‘The Last Post’ which was played. This note of mine may bring out a new meaning of it and it is surely something which everybody should know.
Some of us may have heard the song, 'The Last Post'. It's a song that gives me a lump in the throat and usually tears in my eyes.
Let me take you guys thru the story behind this.
Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the American Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia . The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.
During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through thegunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.
When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.
The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his son.The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted.
The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.
But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform.
This wish was granted.
This is how the haunting melody, we now know as 'The Last Post', used at military funerals was born.
The words are:
Day is done.
Gone the sun.
From the lakes.
From the hills.
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
-------
Fading light.
Dims the sight.
And a star.
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright.
From afar.
Drawing nigh.
Falls the night.
-------
Thanks and praise.
For our days.
Neath the sun
Neath the stars.
Neath the sky
As we go.
This we know.
God is nigh
Here is a link in case you would like to listen to the tune again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYtlyFSTlU&NR=1&feature= fvwp
Each time I listen to this tune, I get tears in my eyes; the memories of the past are still afresh.
During the academy days, one of my very close friends used to say:
I am a soldier, not afraid to die
2 stars on the shoulders worth millions in the sky
If I die in the combat zone,
Box me up and send me home.
Pin my medals to my chest,
Tell my mom I did my best.
I was born a soldier, so did I die.
I lost this dear friend a few years back but he is still alive in my heart and I still cherish the times we spent together. This braveheart gave his life forthe country he loved more than anything else – in the highest traditions of the Indian Army and once again passing the message that we always put “Service Before Self”.
Always remember the fallen officers and soldiers – who lost their lives and their present for the better future of the nation. And respect the ones who have returned and who are still serving the armed forces
THE GLACIERMAN:
He built reservoirs that froze in winter and melted in summer to help farmers Ladakh
Chewang Norphel is nearing 80, and is not in the best of health. But that does not stop him from speaking about the ‘artificial glaciers’ he had built in Ladakh to help farmers in the region.
The ‘glacier man,’ as Norphel is known, has built reservoirs near villages located in altitudes of around 13000 feet, where water is stored from the melting snow in summer.
The ‘glacier man,’ as Norphel is known, has built reservoirs near villages located in altitudes of around 13000 feet, where water is stored from the melting snow in summer.
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Chewang Norphel built 12 artificial glaciers that provided water for farmers in Ladakh (Photos by Mahesh Bhat) |
This water freezes in winter and turns into ice - an artificial glacier. The ice melts in April to provide water for farmers during the sowing season.
Natural glaciers, on the other hand, are located at higher altitudes, at about 18000 feet. They need few more weeks to melt and feed the streams with water. However, by then it is too late for the famers to begin sowing and get a full harvest before onset of winter.
Norphel was moved by the condition of the farmers.
Lack of livelihood opportunities in the villages led to migration of locals to nearby towns, where they took up low paying menial jobs.
Those who persisted in agriculture opting for a compressed cycle of the cultivation process obtained low produce. They earned little and lived in poverty.
As an engineer in Jammu& Kashmir government’s rural development department, Norphel analysed the problem and tried to find a solution. In later years, he would develop the artificial glaciers.
These glaciers, he believed, would provide fresh water to the parched and cold fields and change the fortunes of the villagers for whom life was an everyday struggle in one of the most treacherous terrains in the world.
“As a civil engineer of the rural development department, I visited most of these villages and saw the utter helplessness of these simple yet hardworking Buddhists. Watching how water froze during winter months, I decided to experiment with reservoirs and see if that would help provide fresh water supply in April,” says the 78-year-old.
He built his first artificial glacier near Phuktse Phu village and it worked wonders for the local populace. The villagers reaped a good harvest in the first year itself due to the availability of water in April.
Norphel joined the Leh Nutritional Institute in 1996 and started building artificial glaciers in several small and nondescript villages of Ladakh.
The sites were carefully selected to ensure that the glaciers did not thaw until April when farmers needed a continuous supply of fresh water for the sowing.
Wheat, barley, peas and potatoes are the major crops grown in the region. After the introduction of these artificial glaciers, the agricultural production went up by 2-3 times and the local economy started showing signs of revival.
“Farmers growing peas and potatoes saw a massive spurt in their yield. In some villages the production went up by 4 -5 times,” recalls Norphel.
He was soon being addressed as the ‘glacier man’ and felicitated for his pioneering work.
Norphel received many prestigious awards for his breakthrough work.
He built around 12 artificial glaciers. His largest glacier measured about 1000 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 4 feet in depth.
Natural glaciers, on the other hand, are located at higher altitudes, at about 18000 feet. They need few more weeks to melt and feed the streams with water. However, by then it is too late for the famers to begin sowing and get a full harvest before onset of winter.
Norphel was moved by the condition of the farmers.
Lack of livelihood opportunities in the villages led to migration of locals to nearby towns, where they took up low paying menial jobs.
Those who persisted in agriculture opting for a compressed cycle of the cultivation process obtained low produce. They earned little and lived in poverty.
As an engineer in Jammu& Kashmir government’s rural development department, Norphel analysed the problem and tried to find a solution. In later years, he would develop the artificial glaciers.
These glaciers, he believed, would provide fresh water to the parched and cold fields and change the fortunes of the villagers for whom life was an everyday struggle in one of the most treacherous terrains in the world.
“As a civil engineer of the rural development department, I visited most of these villages and saw the utter helplessness of these simple yet hardworking Buddhists. Watching how water froze during winter months, I decided to experiment with reservoirs and see if that would help provide fresh water supply in April,” says the 78-year-old.
He built his first artificial glacier near Phuktse Phu village and it worked wonders for the local populace. The villagers reaped a good harvest in the first year itself due to the availability of water in April.
Norphel joined the Leh Nutritional Institute in 1996 and started building artificial glaciers in several small and nondescript villages of Ladakh.
The sites were carefully selected to ensure that the glaciers did not thaw until April when farmers needed a continuous supply of fresh water for the sowing.
Wheat, barley, peas and potatoes are the major crops grown in the region. After the introduction of these artificial glaciers, the agricultural production went up by 2-3 times and the local economy started showing signs of revival.
“Farmers growing peas and potatoes saw a massive spurt in their yield. In some villages the production went up by 4 -5 times,” recalls Norphel.
He was soon being addressed as the ‘glacier man’ and felicitated for his pioneering work.
Norphel received many prestigious awards for his breakthrough work.
He built around 12 artificial glaciers. His largest glacier measured about 1000 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 4 feet in depth.
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Norphel's artificial glaciers thawed in April, the period when farmers needed water most |
“A single glacier can easily cater to 3-4 villages with populations of around 300 to 3000 people,” he says.
There are other advantages as well. The glaciers can be built at one fourth the cost of a cement reservoir.
They are built with local materials and can be easily maintained by villagers. Such was his watershed programme that many countries invited Norphel to teach them the technique.
In 2010, flash floods destroyed many of Norphel’s glaciers. “It was unfortunate as too much time and energy had been spent on building them. We now have close to 3-4 glaciers that are fully functional,” he says.
There are other advantages as well. The glaciers can be built at one fourth the cost of a cement reservoir.
They are built with local materials and can be easily maintained by villagers. Such was his watershed programme that many countries invited Norphel to teach them the technique.
In 2010, flash floods destroyed many of Norphel’s glaciers. “It was unfortunate as too much time and energy had been spent on building them. We now have close to 3-4 glaciers that are fully functional,” he says.
Norphel has been diagnosed with a heart condition and doctors have strictly asked him to avoid any stress. He is at present recuperating in Jammu as the weather is too harsh for him in Leh and he is not sure whether he will be able to devote the same attention to his beloved project ever.
But Norphel has trained people to continue his work. “Leh Nutritional Institute is still working on restoring these glaciers and creating new ones. I am getting too old for all this. I have showed them the way and I am sure that they will continue with it,” he says.
Norphel’s story is inspirational and proves how human grit and perseverance can even move mountains. In his case it created glaciers.
But Norphel has trained people to continue his work. “Leh Nutritional Institute is still working on restoring these glaciers and creating new ones. I am getting too old for all this. I have showed them the way and I am sure that they will continue with it,” he says.
Norphel’s story is inspirational and proves how human grit and perseverance can even move mountains. In his case it created glaciers.