VASTU SHASTRA

VASTU PURUSHA MANDALA

Vastu Shastra is all about flow of energy.  In China they call it Feng Shui.  The layout of the house and placement of various things in the house is based on the flow of energy.  Vastu Shastra is entirely about the directional alignment in the house.  This will help in the proper and easy flow of energy.  When energy flows freely it helps in overall development and prosperity.

The concept of Vastu Shastra is based on the theory that the world comprises of five elements, viz., Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space.  These five elements have an invisible and constant relationship.  Vastu Shastra combines all the five elements of nature and balances them with the person and the material in the house.  It takes advantage of the benefits bestowed by the five elements of nature to create a congenial living and working environment thereby facilitating spiritual well-being and paving the way for the enhanced health, wealth, prosperity and happiness.



Home is known as "Human Temple".  The Vastu Purusha is the cosmic man and is the presiding diety of any site.  He is depicted as lying on the site with the head in the northeast and legs in the southwest.  There are 45 gods and 32 outer deities in the Vastu Mandala.

North is ruled by the god of Wealth - Kubera
South is ruled by lord of death - Yama
East is ruled by Solar Diety - Indra
West is ruled by lord of Water - Varuna
Center is ruled by creator of the universe - Brahma

The Southeast corner is known as Agni Moola - the fire diety
The Northwest corner is known as Vayu Moola - the god of winds
The Northeast corner is the Eshanya Moola - ruled by lord Shiva
The Southwest corner is ruled by ancestors - Pitru

The chart below shows the ideal placement of different utilities and requirements in the house:

Many people think that following Vastu Shastra is superstitious but it is a science which works on flow of energy.  There is scientific proof on the benefits that the people living in the house would derive from following the Vastu Shastra.

Nowadays most of us are not living in independent houses and we are confined to our pigeon holes called Apartment.  Vastu Shastra cannot be fully and properly complied in an apartment and hence certain balancing has to be done.  The balancing act is done through placement of Fish Tanks, Mirror, Wind Chimes and Pyramids in the house at the appropriate locations.

To lead a life with good health, wealth, peace and happiness it is better to follow the Vastu Shastr and most importantly seek professional help.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
7th August 2013

SUSPENDED FOOD

Suspended Food is a new concept that is catching up all over the world.  When you go to a restaurant you order food for two and eat your share.  The other share is reserved for a person who needs the food and cannot afford to pay for the same.

It all began nearly 100 years ago in Italy with the "caffe sospeso" which means "Suspended Coffee".  The customer will pay twice for one espresso, instructing the baristo to record the extra amount.  Paid items would then remain in the logbook until someone less fortunate would come and ask for something to drink. They would then be served the coffee for free.

It is a fantastic system that works on goodwill whereby the donors would never meet the beneficiaries.

Starbucks adopted the campaign recently and took the concept of "Suspended Coffee" across the world.

The Good Samaritans in Singapore have started a facebook campaign through a fb page "chope food for the needy".  It will allow people to reserve food in the food court and hawker stalls around the city and the food will be served to the needy.

The concept of "Suspended Food" has caught on well in Hongkong as well.  Watch this video:

While feeding yourself and treating yourself to a good lunch you end up paying for food which is reserved for someone who needs it and does not have the means to pay.  You do not know who that someone is and will never get to know or identify.  It is a great feeling to do something for someone whom you dont know and will never be able to identify and meet.

While it is a fantastic concept the real challenge is in implementing it and ensuring that the purpose is served well.  If the restaurant that I frequent is willing to do this in a credible way, I will have no hesitation to pay for two meals every time I go there to have a meal.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
31st July 2013

EXPERT

Who is an Expert?  Who can be an Expert?  Nowadays everybody is claiming to be an Expert in something or the other.  I was wondering how one can become an Expert? or when one can claim to be an Expert?

Why do you want to be an Expert?  If the objective is to reach a leadership position in the chosen field then it is important to gain the in-depth knowledge and expertise.

The most important and the first investment to be made by someone wanting to be an Expert is time and energy.  If the time is not allocated for upgrading the knowledge and gaining expertise then it would never be possible for one to become an Expert.

First to become an Expert there has to be a proper and positive Mindset.  The positive mindset will lead to professionalism and help gain further knowledge.  An open mind to upgrade and improve the knowledge base as well as the technical skills in the chosen field is the key to success.  This will also help to build the will power and self motivation to achieve greater heights.

Regular and sustained practice will help to perfect what we have chosen to do.  Through practice and repeated execution of the chosen task experience will be gained and thereby the expertise will automatically be gathered.

Positive Mindset to get the expertise and rigorous practice alone will not help us to become an Expert.  It is extremely important to build a network with the best in the chosen field and get feedback from them.  The feedback that we get from the Industry Peers who are best in what they do will also help us to constantly improve and get to appropriate bench-marking.  Over a period of time instead of bench-marking with the best we will become the best to be bench-marked by others.

Above all you should love what you are doing.  People expect a high level of substance, experience and knowledge which should get coupled with passion.  We will be passionate about our chosen field only when we form a love for what we do.  An expert will have a passion and a deep love for the chosen activity or skill or field.

To stay an Expert it is important to indulge in Continuous Education.  Reading, Writing, Speaking and consulting on the chosen area will help to stay focused.  Focus and ability to dig deeper into the chosen field will eventually help us to stay as an Expert for a long long time.

Each one of us is capable of becoming an Expert.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
16th July 2013.

MADELEINE CAMERA

Madeleine is the Camera that has been recently invented to capture and store smell.  We are used to Camera that can capture and store important moments in life.  The Digital Camera is now very much part of all the mobile phones and we have got so much used to taking pictures with our mobile phones.

The capturing of moments through still photography and video has been widely used by most people across the globe.  How about capturing those smells in life and storing the same so that we can feel the smell at a later stage in life?  What an idea and what an incredible invention.

In order to use the Madeleine Camera a person needs to place the funnel over the object or environment they wish to capture, then a pump sucks the air across an odour trap made of Tenax - a porous polymer resin, which absorbs the volatile particles that make up the smell.  Users can take their exposed odour traps to the local lab in the same way they would take a 35mm film to be processed - the product being not photos, but delicate vials of the scent, along with a bronze disk o the specific formula bringing a precious, ritualistic quality to the process.

Watch the demonstration in this simple video:

HOW TO SUCCEED WITH YOUR MADELEINE from AMY RADCLIFFE on Vimeo.

Having got used to recording images and video clippings, we will now start capturing and recording favourite smell.  This gadget is the result of the invention by designer Amy Radcliffe at Central Saint Martins, U.K.  She is a student at the University of Arts, London.  With this invention we will now start moving from Photography to Scentography.  We are not far away from the day when the Scentography will get integrated into the Mobile Devices as the Mobile Device already has so many features and gadgets rolled into one.

Madeleine is designed to capture the molecular information of a smell and store the same for retrieval at a later stage whenever needed.  This new Madeleine Camera will bring a new revolution in the world of Technology.

Well done Amy Radcliffe and wish you many more such successful inventions.

T.P.Anand

Dubai, U.A.E.

2nd July 2013

WALK ACROSS GRAND CANYON

Nik Wallenda is the "King of the High Wire".  He created yet another record last week by walking across the Grand Canyon.  He walked a distance of 1400 feet in 22 minutes and 54 seconds without any safety net.  To describe this as a daredevil act is an under statement.  We all talk of tight rope walking in life and we keep saying the key is to stay focussed on what we are doing.  This walk shows exactly what that focus would mean and what it takes to really do the tight rope walking.

He walked at 1500 feet above the Little Colorado River and when he reached the other end he kissed the ground.  Throughout his walk he was praying to God and kept his focus and concentration.  The wind was blowing at 30 mph and he had to kneel down twice during the walk to maintain his balance on the rope.  There was tension all around and he had only his singular objective in mind to walk on the rope with perfect balance to reach the other end.

The Walk Across the Grand Canyon comes after one year of his feat of walking across the Niagara Falls.  This is the seventh Guiness World Record for the seventh generation high-wire artist.  His family has done this for seven generations as Circus Artists and Nik realised his teen age dream of Walking Across the Grand Canyon and did it in style.  He literally ran the last few steps in his excitement to complete the walk.  As he came down from the Wire he bent down to kiss the ground.



Nik Wallenda says he has a dream of walking across the two famous New York sky scrappers, viz., Empire State Building and Chrysler Building.

Nik you are not a normal human being and I feel you are exceptionally super focused human being.  I cannot walk on a 2 inch steel cable for 1400 feet even if it is placed on the ground.  God Bless you and keep doing many more such things to inspire the rest of the human race in this world.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
30th June 2013

ADVERTISING SON

This is a new book which has been publised by my close friend Sathyamurthy and is written by his eldest son Niranjan.  It is a compilation of seventeen short stories and poems written by Niranjan over the last five years.  I bought this book on Amazon.com (Kindle Version) and read it.

Niranjan has a unique style of writing and his command over the language is truly amazing.  His flare for the language and his style makes it compulsive reading.  Very deep rooted thoughts and intellectual sparks get well presented through the strong vocabulary that Niranjan commands.  He moves very smoothly into various topics like love, family, fiction with his bombastic language skills. I admire his writing style and his ability to express so much in such small sentences.  He makes the reader think a lot and it is really a treat to read the writings of this youngster.

I wish him all the very best and look forward to many more such works.  You can download this book from Amazon.com by following the below link:

http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Son-ebook/dp/B00DFMZUVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371703265&sr=8-1&keywords=advertising+son

The book is very reasonably priced at $0.99 and hence a very good investment with huge ROI.

T.P.Anand
Chennai, India
20th June 2013

KAMADHENU

Kamadhenu is the mother of all cows and is the goddess worshiped by Hindus.  Kamadhenu will fulfill all the wishes.   All the Hindu Gods and Goddesses are believed to reside in the body of Kamadhenu.  The milk and ghee that is given by Kamadhenu is used in the Hindu ritual of Fire Sacrifices and hence Kamadhenu is also known as Homadhenu.  Every cow that we see in the day to day life is regarded as the Avatar of the Kamadhenu and hence the Cow is being worshiped by Hindus.  Worship of Kamadhenu on Friday is very auspicious and considered very good for the family.

Cow is giving us Milk which contains the much needed Protein, Calcium and Vitamin.  The byproducts of Milk such as Butter, Ghee, Cream, Curd, Buttermilk, Cheese, etc. are also very good and useful for our day to day food.  Milk is very useful as it helps in several ways:

1. Healthy bones and teeth
2. Glowing skin
3. Helps rebuild muscles
4. Weight Loss
5. Reduction of stress
6. Healthy Body

Cow is such a useful animal as anything and everything relating to cow is very helpful and useful for mankind. Cow eats grass and gives plenty of Milk.  Cow dung is used for generating power and it is also used as a natural fertilizer.  Cow dung is also a good mosquito repellent.  When the cow dies its skin is used for making musical instruments.

There is a mistaken idea that a cow gets angry on seeing red colour.  In reality the cow cannot see red colour, however it can see blue, yellow and green.  

GAU-MATA

The various parts of the body of the cow in which the deities, the revered sages, the various elements, are believed to dwell are given as follows:

1) Two Horns of the Cow   The Creator 'Brahma'

2) The Head of the Cow   The Deity 'Indra'

3) Forehead of the Cow   The Deity 'Agni

4) Collar of the Cow   The Deity 'Yama'

5) Brain of the Cow   The Deity 'Moon'

6) Upper Jaw of the Cow   The Highest world Dyuloka

7) Lower Jaw of the Cow   The Earth

8  The Tongue   The Lightening

9) The Teeth   The Deity 'Marut'

10) The Throat   The 'Revatee' Constellation

11) The Shoulder   The 'Kritka' Constellation

12) Bones of the Shoulder   The Summer Season

13) All the Organs of the Cow   The Deity 'Vaayu'

14) The Heaven   The World to which cow, belongs

15) The BackBone   The Deity 'Rudra'

16) In the Chest   The Eagle

17) Is the Power & Strength Of the Cow   The Space

18) Hunch of the Cow   The Sage Vrihashpati

19) In the bones of the Chest   The Stanza by the name of Vrihatee

20) The Back   Angels & Fairies

21) Bones of the Ribs   The Hostesses of the Angels & Fairies.

22) The Shoulders   The Deity 'Varuna' and Friend

23) The Forelegs   The Sage 'Tvashta & the sage 'Aryama'

24) The Hindlegs   The Destroyer 'Lord Mahadeva'

25) The Backside of the Cow   The wife of the Deity 'Indra'

26) The Tail   The Deity 'Vaayu'

27) The Hairs of the Body   The Sage 'Pawamana'

28) The Buttock   The Caste 'Brahmin' & The caste'Kshatriya'

29) Lies in the Thighs   The Strength of the Cow.

30) Bones of the Knees   The Deity Sun and the Creator

31) The Calf of the Cow   The Celestial Beings 'Gandharva'

32) In the Smaller Bones   The Celestial Beings 'Apsara'

33) Hooves of the Cow   The Mother of the Sun, God, 'Aditi'

34) In the Heart   The Mind

35) In the Liver of the Cow   The Intelligence

36) The Nerve By the Name Of 'Puritat'   The Religious Vow 'Vrata'

37) The Belly   The Hunger

38) In the Intestines   Goddess Sarswati

39) In the internal part of the intestines   The Mountains

40) In the Ovum   The sorrow (Manyu)

41) In the sense Organs   The Subjects & the People (Praja)

42) In the Ovary   The River

43) In the Breasts   The Deity 'Varuna'

44) In the cells of the Breasts which produce milk   The Thundering clouds

45) In the Skin   The 'All-Pervasive power'

46) In the hairs of the Body,Of the cow   The Various Medicines

47) The Anus   The heavenly & Celestial Beings 'Devagana'

48) In the Intestine   The Man

49) In the Stomach   The Celestial being 'Yaksha'

50) In the Kidney   The Anger

51) In the Blood   The Demon 'Rakshasha'

52) The Appearance of The Cow   The Constellation are

53) In the Stomach   The Other living beings

54) Is the Grossness   The sky

55) In the Bone-Marrow   The Death

56) Is Like Fire   The Posture while sitting

57) Is the Deity 'Ashwinee Kumar   The posture while getting up

58) The Deity 'Indra'   The Posture while standing and facing East

59) The Lord of Death 'Yamaraja'   The Posture while standing and facing South

60) The Creator 'Brahma'   The Posture while standing and facing west

61) The Sun God   The Posture while standing & facing North

62) The Deity Moon   The Cow while Grazing

63) The Friend   The Cow while looking

64) Pure Joy   The Posture of the Cow while turning it back

Cow gives us benefits in several ways and also helps the farmer by working in the fields.  Let us worship and preserve this fantastic animal.

T.P.Anand

Dubai, U.A.E.

7th June 2013