Commit to Quit Tobacco – Happy World No Tobacco Day

Every year on 31^st May, World No Tobacco Day is celebrated. The initiative is taken up by World Health Organization… This year the theme is “Commit to Quit”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_No_Tobacco_Day

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-no-tobacco-day/world-no-tobacco-day-2021

Normally people start Smoking & Drinking at the young age due to various reasons discussed earlier in my previous post King's Habits

After few months or years, it will become a habit…

Let us now understand the terms Habit, Habit formation & difference between a Bad Habit & Addiction from this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit

Habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated & occurs subconsciously… After so many repetitions habits are formed… it varies from individual to individual… If a habit has an undesirable pattern either to self or society, it is called a bad habit.

This is still at the psychological level… This can be treated by replacing the similar stimuli and increasing the willpower. With solely willpower also, one can easily quit a bad habit.

But if the bad habit is still continued, the physiological/neurological system  gets tuned to the stimuli. Then it becomes an Addiction. Here it becomes difficult to the addicted person though he or she wants to quit the bad habit with full will power as the physiological/neurological system won’t co-operate…These are called withdrawal symptoms… If we forcibly quit the habit, the withdrawal symptoms may increase & may damage the health… some people again restart the habit & go to previous state or worse state – This is called Relapse…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relapse

To avoid relapse or withdrawal symptoms, we need a help of a psychiatrist/psychologist to guide these addictive persons to come out of these in a healthy way…

After understanding these basic concepts, now let us go for my thoughts….

Smoking kills – This we would have seen many times just before the movie an ad comes… It says tobacco consumption in the form of smoking may cause lung cancer and chewing tobacco may lead to mouth cancers etc…

I say the source of several fire hazards is smoking… The ignition source for fire can be a match stick or a cigarette or beedi whatever in the workplace, industry or petrol bunks or any place where they are strictly.

This, as using tobacco is a health & fire hazard most of the companies have gone for No Tobacco policy and banned the use of Tobacco.

The other important aspect of smoking is it greatly affects the persons around… Passive smoking has a huge affect on the health of the people who are continuously exposed to it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking

So the ill effect is airborne… So it becomes a social responsibility to avoid smoking in public as the smokers are damaging the health of the passive smoking.

By reading these lines immediately you might have made the analogy with the COVID-19, airborne, mask , social distancing etc. Exactly you are right. Smokers should be treated similar to the corona spreaders. They should also feel the responsibility to avoid smoking in public areas and this save the passive smokers. Everything is in Our Hands.

One more important connection is there between smoking & corona… Already the capacity & health of lungs might have been compromised with the smoking habit and just imagine this corona virus is also attacking the lungs further to an extent that  the oxygen saturation levels are dropping so drastically that several people are quitting this world…

So just decide… Quit Tobacco or you will Quit the World soon…

Quit smoKING to be the real KING.

 

 

 

Buy Wisely Using ‘Unit Price’ Comparison

Earlier Sundays used to be Fundays with a lot of shopping in malls & entertainment. But due to lockdown, all that has gone now… Now the purchases are through online… Anyways, whether it is a normal purchase or online purchase of FMCG goods, some factors influence the purchase decision… So we should understand those factors & act accordingly.  Let us discuss one of those now…

Earlier in good olden day, all the FMCG goods were packed & sold following uniform weights… such as 100gm, 200gm, 500gm or 1Kg etc…. uniform volumes such as 100/200/500ml/1lt etc…. We never used to see 110gm or 270ml etc…. But now a days, we see different weights or volumes of FMCG products… This is creating the problems for the normal customers to compare the prices and is impacting the purchase decision of several consumers. Let us take an example

One beverage let us say apple juice,  1lt price is Rs100/- for Brand-A, where as for Brand-B it is Rs95/- but the weight return on the pack is 900ml. If someone does not observe properly, it appears that the Brand-B is cheaper compared to the Brand-A. But the actual fact is Brand-B is costlier.  If we see the per litre price of both brands, Brand-A is Rs100/-, Brand-B is 95*1000/900 =Rs105.55/-. If Brand-C is 110/-

Here we should introduce the term Unit Price… It is the price of the product per unit or per kg or per gm or per ml or per lt etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_price

So the price comparison & analysis is greatly affected by the weight of the product/volume also. But unfortunately, most of the customers don’t consider it because of several reasons…

1.       Lack of awareness

2.       No scope to evaluate in normal retail outlets

3.       Very tedious & time taking job

4.       With the apprehension that the savings will be very minimal in comparison to the efforts made for the analysis

5.       So many other factors we can add on

As cited above, there is a need to increase the awareness of the customers. The research shows that using unit price concept has helped the purchasers to save around 17-18%.

Let us say we have 4 brands with 4 different weights & prices. We have to calculate for all the unit price and compare. This is for one product. If we want to purchase several, just imagine how much tedious and impracticable it is… Thus, we are bound to make a mistake in the price assessment, comparison, and analysis & finally purchase decision.

The only way to go about is to either go for standard uniform weights like in olden days or to get the information about Unit Price. As the product manufacturers are cleverly doing it, the purchasers should also be smart.

1.       If the products to be purchased are less in number, please do the unit price analysis to compare.

2.       Visit the supermarkets where we have the Price as well as Unit prices both are displayed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_price_information_in_supermarkets

3.       Please use the online purchase websites/apps which give the unit price information beside the price. A famous online purchase app gives Unit price within the brackets just beside the selling price.

 

Thus, think twice, buy wisely after comparing the unit prices of the products especially FMCG products.

Happy Sunday… Happy Shopping…

Interoception & Introspection – Happy Buddha Purnima

The first full moon day of vaisakha in lunar calendar is celebrated as the birthday/enlightenment day/death day of Gautham Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha's_Birthday

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

The moment we think of Buddhism, or Gautham Budhha’s teachings, Mindfulness meditation technique comes to our mind. It is very famous all over the world… Extensively used by many psychologists integrating it to therapy…

Please go through this to understand ithe basics about mindfulness…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness

Here if we see an interesting term is introduced – interoception – the sense of the internal state of the conscious or unconscious body. This basically talks about the brain sensing the physiological status or feel of the body. This is used in mindfulness to be aware of our breathing, body scan, focus on surroundings- sounds etc. This is how the mental state of the body can be controlled by using the physical state of the body… This clearly explains how both r interconnected.

Now it is very interesting to understand introspection… we all know it that introspection is looking inwards or knowing thyself or self analysis or self awareness. If we observe, it is almost synonymous to interoception. But there is a difference… Introspection is the porcess of observing one’s own thoughts and emotions. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection#:~:text=Introspection%20is%20the%20examination%20of,the%20examination%20of%20one's%20soul.

It is more about the mental state of mind. Whereas interoception is related to physiological state…

Please go through the following to understand about these two…

https://alliancechampions.com/interoception-introspection-intuition-and-longevity/#:~:text=Interoception%20%E2%80%93%20The%20sense%20of%20the,the%20need%20for%20conscious%20reasoning.

https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMBPP.2012.11470abstract

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-020-01318-5

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051114002294

After understanding the difference between interoception & introspection, as we can’t separate the psychological process from the physiological process, let us have an integrated view at both the things supporting the mindfulness meditation process.

Mindfulness meditation involves interoception as we try to focus on the breathing or sensations etc.(physiological). At the same time, we are observing the deviations & thoughts and are trying to consciously but not forcibly bringing back the attention… this is how we are introspecting ourselves and integrating it to interoception, to achieve the mindfulness meditative state.

Kabar Zinn’s famous Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) technique uses mindful eating of a raisin which is a combination of both psychological & physiological processes and an integrative & holistic approach.

Apart from Mindfulness, another greatest contribution of Lord Buddha to the world is in the form of his teachings… U might have already come across so many wonderful & inspirational quotes & slogans from Buddhism. The ethics & discipline are the main pillars of Buddhism… This is how Buddhism is beyond the boundaries of religion… it is a way of life… guiding us how to live in present and be mindful about whatever we do… it gives us the true inspiration & motivation to be mindful at each & every moment of our lives …

Be Mindful always…

Happy (World Book & Copyright Day + English Language Day)

23^rd April is the death day of William Shakespeare and is considered to be his Birthday also as exactly the birthday was not recorded… But he was born in April… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

https://guides.nyu.edu/shakespeare-bday

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/when-was-shakespeare-born/

The same day coincides with the birth & death days of other prominent authors also… Thus, it is decided by the UNESCO to celebrate World Book & Copyright Day on April 23^rd every year.

From Palm leaf & ink to the paper & pen, printing, e-books, it has taken several shapes as a medium of providing the intellectual content over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book

Normally, we are in an apprehension that the books are meant to be read or studied… Just read few lines about ‘reading’…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading. But normally, we forget the important aspect of writing… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing

Ideally, both reading & writing should go hand in hand… As the reading improves our knowledge, writing improves our cognitive skills and enhances our creativity & innovative ideas… Writing a notes, journal/diary, an article, a book, poetry, prose or anything useful is the best habit to inculcate… It is a must for the researchers… It always forces you to continually improve your thought process. If we practice to be a critical reader, we can become a good writer… While reading, understand the concepts from the writer’s point of view… Just put yourself in the author’s shoes to identify the skills of writing…

In my view, reading is nothing but the process in which the writer in us critically follows the writer of the book to ignite new thoughts in our minds… the whole process adds value to us… As a writer, we should also follow the same… we should add value to the readers… In this reading & writing process, we should not make use of the others' ideas or texts… Using others’ ideas & texts without giving due credit to the author is called plagiarism… As the reading & writing are very important aspects of research, all the researchers should be careful to avoid plagiarism… To protect the text & ideas, copyrights act is enacted… Plagiarism is a punishable offence…  If we learn the art of critically reading the manuscripts & books, we will automatically get new ideas to contribute to the world… This is how we should nurture the creativity & innovation…

I have to bring one more perspective of looking at reading a book or manuscript, the moment we are reading a book, we will get confined to the thought process of that author if we are blindly following it… That’s why we should have an open & critical mind while reading so that we will have a sufficient scope for the new thoughts to bud… We should identify the thin line between getting into the author’s shoes & getting carried away by the author’s thought process… That line brings the scope for new thoughts… Let us explore those budding thoughts and make them blossom into a book or manuscript or a blog or a diary at least…

Most of the people still prefer to read the books in the physical form only… I want to discuss here about the advantages of e-books, audiobooks, though they have also got some pros & cons…

Advantages of e-books

Ø  Readers can customize the settings of the font, colour, background etc., to their comfort levels…

Ø  Very easy to share digitally

Ø  Can take a print anytime

Ø  Can save huge volumes in a smart device & carry & read anytime

Ø  No external lighting is required

Ø  Preservation is not a problem

Ø  Searching is very easy

Ø  Can highlight & take a note simultaneously

Ø  It is easy to use the dictionary or translator or any other useful digital application on the digital content…

Ø  It can be changed to other digital formats also as per convenience

Ø  The list goes on….

Ø  The audiobooks are very useful for those who have the problems in reading… They can get the knowledge by listening to the audiobooks.

Coming to English, English is the only language in the world in which most of the intellectual information is shared in terms of books, manuscripts, research papers, journals etc., Thus, we need to master this language a lot… Most of the Asian researchers face the problems in publishing due to the problems with their English language skills… Let us take the English Day (today) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_English_Language_Day )as the opportunity to focus on our reading & writing skills of English & continually improve on it…

Let us make a habit of reading & writing books in English… All the Best…

I just recall the quote from William Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage and all men and women are merely players”, which I had used in my blog post Be an 'Actor' of 'Emotions'.

Happy Earth Day

On 22^nd April, every year, Earth Day is celebrated throughout the world to reunite all of our thoughts and efforts to save the Mother Earth… Let us first understand some basics about Earth & Earth Day… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day

The theme of this year is to “Restore Our Earth” https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/

It is our prime responsibility to understand all the following terms and its importance…

Environment – Environmental protection

Ecology – Ecological balance

Biodiversity

Green House Effect- Green House Gases – Global Warming – Climate Change

Energy sources- Fossil Fuels- Energy Conservation

Environmental Pollution- Carbon Footprint

Sustainability- Environment vs Development/Economy- Sustainable Development

Agriculture – Soil properties

Ground water, Forests

 

I have made an attempt in my previous blogs to introduce some concepts briefly… Actually, integrating all the above concepts will give us the holistic picture of the Environment Management to save the Mother Earth…

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/06/save-environment-biodiversity-from.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2019/06/happy-world-environment-day.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2016/09/ptotect-ozone-layer-to-get-protected.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/08/inclusive-growth-of-agriculture-and.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/06/environment-sustainability.html

 

 

As per UN, the COVID-19 pandemic situation has also got an influence on the eco-system. https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/06/everything-is-in-your-hands.html

 

We have also seen earlier how the Health, Environment, Safety and Happiness are inter-related and interdependent. https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2021/01/wishing-happy-safe-healthy-eco-friendly.html

If we see from the technical perspective-

Earth has the gravitational force which is pulling us towards the centre of the earth, thus facilitating to hold the things on the surface of the Earth… We all know the importance of Earth in the Electrical & Electronics fields… With its zero potential, how it is protecting us… Earth also behaves a natural magnet and provides the North & South poles for the magnetism. The list goes on….

Spiritually, Earth is considered as the Mother-God & is worshipped. We would have heard “Down to Earth” while describing the personality trait of a person… Lack of Ego is the important aspect of Learning and Growth… Moreover, Earth is the symbol of Patience, Endurance, Strength, Vastness/Broadness, Inclusive Nature, Embeddedness, Supporting Nature… These are some of the psychological factors we can learn from the Earth…

Considering all these aspects into account, let us try to follow some of the following responsibilities-

Ø      To conserve the natural resources & go for the alternative/renewable resources

Ø      To reduce the carbon footprint and GHG emissions

Ø      To prevent deforestation

Ø      To promote agriculture- to reduce the use of chemicals as fertilizers- To reduce the soil/ground water pollution

Ø      To understand the interdependence of Environment, Health, Safety & Happiness and follow the holistic strategies to ensure the overall growth.

Ø      To take up Sustainability initiatives to take care of the future generations.

Ø      To optimize the energy consumption

Ø      To protect the biodiversity & ensure ecological balance

Ø      To ensure proper earthing of all the electrical appliances

Ø      To be a ‘Down to Earth’ person always

From our Birth to Death on the Earth, let our journey be so environment-friendly that we and the earth mutually protect each other always…

Happy World Health Day

First of all, let us understand what Health is… as per World Health Organization (WHO), “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution.

Every year, on 7^th April, World Health Day is celebrated to promote good Health in the world… This year the theme is “Building a Fairer, Healthier World for Everyone”. As we have seen in this pandemic, some countries, some regions got badly affected compared to some countries in the world… As per the principles of WHO, “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition”. It is the high time that all the people in the entire world should unite and cooperate each other to fight against this deadly virus… ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः। (Sarve Bhavanthu Sukhinaha) is the Sanskrit verse for the universal prayer for a happy life to all… Sarve Janah Sukhinobhavanthu… Let all people live happily… लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु || - Happy World - A Prospective Perspective

 

We have already seen the holistic view of interdependency of Health, Safety, Environment with Happiness…https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2021/01/wishing-happy-safe-healthy-eco-friendly.html. Maintaining good health is in our hands only… Maintaining good health is in our hands only.

Now let us see the ‘health’ through the holistic spectrum…

Our body is an organization functioning through several complex sub-systems (processes) in perfect coordination & cooperation similar to various functional departments in a business organization. The health of the organization is defined as the integration of the performance of each & every component of the sub-system. If it is matching with the desired performance then we can call the organization is healthy… Managing the health of this organization depends on how much clearly, we understand the various systems and their interdependencies, their roles and importance…

We all know every process (system) or sub-process (subsystem) has inputs and outputs… The efficiency of that system is defined as the output divided by the input… The quality of the output is directly dependent on the quality of the input…

The inputs (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste) to the body are taken through the 5 sensory organs (eyes, ears, skin, nose, and mouth). These inputs are fed to both the psychological & physiological processes, thus greatly influence the performance & outcomes… Using proper controls in the input may enhance the performance of the process and yield good results… Thus, being mindful of whatever is fed to the body is very important in ensuring the overall health of the systems.

What we sow is what we reap… If we feed healthy food to the body, systems will be healthy, we will be healthy… So let us feed a well-balanced, nutritious diet to our body which consists of proteins, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, fibres, anti-oxidants etc… We should understand the importance of each & every component in these and ensure the proper mix of these in desired proportions…  

Healthy Diet  is the key for Holistic Health… 

Ideally, we should go for the natural (raw) food (without chemicals & pesticides)… we should reduce carbohydrates… we should reduce fat, sugar, salt intake… All these suggestions we often listen… We should be mindful of designing our meal (input)… Both quality & quantity are to be monitored and optimized to ensure optimal performance of the systems… We will take one example… We are often advised to increase the vegetable curries or green vegetables or cereals, pulses ( proteins) percentage in the meal & reduce the rice/ roti (carbohydrates) percentage… Suppose 100gm vegetable curry/daal consumes 1gm of salt & 5gm of oil… If we double the quantity of curry or daal in our meal & obviously major part of our meal is with good things only, so we think it is a good diet… but we forget to consider that the intake of salt & oil also has also been doubled to maintain the same taste… Thus, again it does not help to ensure holistic health… Being mindful of this, for good health, we should either compromise on taste or to go for healthy alternatives… Always take the advice from the qualified nutritionist… The imbalance in the diet may lead to imbalance in the systems & may adversely affect the health…Let us plan our meal to ensure a sustainable health in future…

Thus, the quantity& quality of the inputs to the body are to be so controlled that those enhance the efficiency & effectiveness of all the sub-systems & the systems of the body to ensure the sustainable holistic health of this complex but yet beautiful organization.

 

Please click on my previous posts on Health…

Whose Wealth is Our Health?

“Test” for the “Best“

‘Dynamic’ or ‘Diabetic’?

Know the Numbers and Optimize the Blood Pressure...

Integrating Yoga, Meditation & Music...

Is “Yoga” only to cure “Roga”?

Happy World Mental Health Day

Add Colours to Life – Happy Holi

We all know that Holi is the festival of colours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi

We all know VIBGYOR is the acronym for the colours… The primary colours are Red, Green & Blue and the combination of all the colours is White (Reflection)… Lack of colours is Black (Absorption)…

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/White

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_mixing

Now let us see how the colours are tied with the emotions & psychology… Colours have an influence on the emotions of the people and the emotions are also represented by the colours… Let us now just understand the Color Psychology here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_psychology.

If we bring the analogy between colours and emotions,

There may be good emotions (represented by some colours) and bad emotions (represented by some colours)… The mix of these emotions and our response to it determines our Personality & Behaviour. However, proper blending of these emotions (colours) is required to achieve the level of Self Actualization (White colour is the combination of all the colours)…  White is considered to be a reflection of Purity (Soul)… After the birth (Plain emotion=Pure soul=White), we start adding different emotions and perceptions (different colours) to life… but in the process we forget to realize that it is in our hands to properly mix these (emotions=colours) to achieve the enlightenment (self actualization= White)…. The conscious attempt to properly mix these mindfully will enhance our Emotional Intelligence as well as the Spiritual Intelligence…

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it… Danny Kaye

Be a painter; Add colours to Life to make it more Vibrant & Beautiful… ResearchSubbu

Happy Holi

Happy 'Happiness Day'

Yesterday, it was World Sleep Day & today,  it is International Day of Happiness. The Sleep & Happiness compliment each other… When we have a sound sleep, we feel very happy… When we are happy, we get a sound sleep… That’s how both are mutually dependent on each other…

World Sleep Day is celebrated every year on the Friday before the northern hemisphere vernal equinox… This year it was on 19^th March… The theme was “Regular Sleep for a Healthy Future”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sleep_Day

https://worldsleepday.org/

 

A deep sleep recharges both our mind and body giving sufficient rest… It is said that we should not use the mobile while it is in charging… In the same way we should not make the mind & body work during the sleep as it is the recharging time… If we eat late, the liver will be still functioning to digest… if we eat heavy supper then it works more… Similarly, if we give a food for thought before the sleep, then it continues… So, before the sleep, ideally we should avoid all these & try to sleep peacefully… It is a conscious & mindful attempt to free from all to enjoy a pleasant sleep… It is as good as yoga nidra… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_nidra

Lack of full sleep is like a debt… It gets accumulated, if we don’t repay it… If we don’t pay interest in having a sound sleep, we will be forced to pay huge interests accumulated on sleep debt… Still if we don’t take action, we will land in trouble… Both the health & wealth will be under danger… https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/05/whose-wealth-is-our-health.html

As there is a mutual relation between Health & Happiness and are interdependent on each other, we should pursue both…

International Day of Happiness is celebrated every year on 20^th March… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Happiness

Happiness is defined in so many ways… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness

Earlier in my blog I said Happiness is the main goal of life…

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/04/happiness-main-goal-of-life.html

So how far it is correct to measure the progress or success or development in monetary/economic/academic terms… This is the question we should all think of… Ideally, it should be on the basis of Happiness… Right? But can we measure Happiness?

There is only one country in the world which measures Happiness of its citizens and says it is the basis for the development… That country is Bhutan… It measures Gross National Happiness (GNH) in stead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness

After understanding the importance of Happiness, let us now focus on how to achieve it…

Happiness is neither created destroyed… But can be shared with others… Happiness has to be embraced...https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/12/happy-world-prospective-perspective.html

We should spread Happiness around us always… Happiness can be short term or long term… Achieving the Sustainable Happiness should be our goal… Please go through the steps I mentioned in my earlier blog… https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/08/driving-towards-your-goal.html

The key factors of Happiness are- Contentment, Gratitude, Humanity & Humility, Positivity, Discipline & Determination, Patience & Perseverance, Kindness & Love, Generosity … etc…

Let us try to mindfully attempt to enhance these good qualities for the pursuit of Happiness in life…

Someone may have the doubt that some of the factors said above contribute to success…how they are connected to Happiness…

Many people think, Success gives Happiness… but Happiness is beyond success… It includes the journey also… Happiness is a state of mind & a way of life… But success is materialistic in nature… It depends on achieving the sub-goals of life… That’s why being Happy is the biggest goal of life one can have…

Sustainable Happiness can only be achieved when we are on the right path with the holistic understanding… Otherwise we will fall a prey to the petty small things which give short term happiness…

Let us enjoy a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Life…

 

Three ways you can celebrate the International Day of Happiness https://www.dayofhappiness.net/ :

Happier

Do something for your own happiness - make time to do something you really enjoy, get moving outside, learn something new or write down three things you’re grateful for.

Kinder

Do something for someone else - donate to a food bank or charity, text or call someone to tell them what you appreciate about them, volunteer in your local community.

Together

Share the International Day Of Happiness with others and help more people get involved in the day and thinking about ways to promote happiness and mental health.

#InternationalDayOfHappiness

Happy Women’s Day... Women EmPOWERment...

Today, i.e. on 8^th March, every year, is celebrated as International Women’s Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women's_Day

In India, we celebrate National Women’s Day on 13^th Feb to commemorate the birthday of Sarojini Naidu https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/national-women-s-day-2021-remembering-sarojini-naidu-on-her-142nd-birth-anniversary-1768881-2021-02-13

Some people say every day is a women’s day… https://www.indiatvnews.com/lifestyle/books-culture-international-women-s-day-2021-theme-history-significance-all-you-need-to-know-689459

If we see Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Lover’s Day, Independence Day etc., ideally all these days are to be all the days in the year. But we celebrate them on a particular day commemorating someone or to focus on a particular theme… Some critics say they remember those on that particular day & forget on the remaining days… That’s why even I wrote in my blog also that let everyday be a safety Day, Environment Day etc.

Actually, if we see, all these people and emotions are really important to us on a continuous basis on the time scale. All these are a part of our life. Everything is important for us every day.  https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/12/happy-world-prospective-perspective.html

We can perceive the celebrations on these special days as the sources which reinforce or intensify the emotions, inspiration in us to recharge our mind to focus on these. They are like the reminders for enhancing the emotion towards them to create the new benchmarks every year for achieving the continual improvement in the concern, efforts made, emotions etc towards them… This is how all the special days are tied with a theme to focus on…

This year the theme of the International Women’s Day is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. In her statement for International Women's Day (8 March), UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: "We need women’s representation that reflects all women and girls in all their diversity and abilities, and across all cultural, social, economic and political situations. This is the only way we will get real societal change that incorporates women in decision-making as equals and benefits us all." https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxrKS6eCg7wIV2w0rCh3PbQXvEAAYASAAEgJPyvD_BwE

Thus, #ChooseToChallenge. It indicates that a “challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change”.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/international-womens-day-2021-date-history-and-importance-of-the-day-7210013/

Let us now introspect ourselves about Women in India…

India is the country of Gods & Goddesses… Each God & Goddess is associated with some emotion or important aspect in life. Even they are connected to the nature and animals also https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/06/save-environment-biodiversity-from.html…

Thus, it forms the basis to understand how well the Diversity is treated in India. Diversity is respected as the God in India.

Goddess Durga is worshipped as the form of Aadi Parashakti (The Supreme & Prime Source of Power).

Other forms of Shakti are also worshipped as the symbolic representations of important aspects of life-

Parvathi- Growth & Prosperity

Annapurna, Dhaanya Lakshmi- Food

Dhana Lakshmi- Wealth, Money

Saraswathi- Education

 

Even in real life also, if we closely observe,

Woman is the backbone of the family for the growth & prosperity… Women are playing an important role in Monitoring & Improving the Children Education… Working women have become a helping hand for enhancing wealth…. Etc. The list goes on to infinity with their multi-talents and multi-tasking abilities.

Women are special and unique with their diversified qualities

Patience

Perseverance

Motherhood

Kindness

Emotional/Social/Spiritual Intelligence

Determination

Hard work

Love

Forgiveness

Beauty

Leadership

Creativity/Innovation

Adaptation to new cultures

 

Let us now discuss one best example to understand the greatness. Just think, in India, there is a system of entering the in laws house & staying there with the husband after marriage leaving the parent’s house. After so many years of staying with the parents, suddenly with the marriage, there is a paradigm shift. She has to get accustomed to the new environment & culture. On one side, she must be feeling home sick, on the other side she has to adapt to the new culture & new role… There are so many emotional, social pressures in her mind. Still, she manages and gets integrated into the new culture & role and becomes the key in the overall growth of the family. It is almost similar to the people joining an organization from the college. But for them formal induction/orientation training is given. But in the previous case, the women could handle everything without formal training. That is the inherent Emotional/Social skill of the women… With all the other qualities of women, they are best suitable for the leadership roles…

Thus, we should not talk only about ‘great women’ as all women are great… Being a woman itself is great…

If we see the other side of the coin, being a woman has become a curse for them… It is quite unfortunate that so many atrocities, domestic violence, gender inequality /discrimination etc. have forced us to debate on Women Empowerment & Leadership of Women even in India, the country in which Goddess Maa Durga (being the source of power) empowers all including men.

My perspective of looking at “Women Empowerment” is “Women are empowering Men”… So the minds of men should be empowered to think & respect the women, their freedom of thoughts, emotions etc…

Safety First?

First of all, I am very happy & delighted to write my 50^th blog on Safety on the 50^th National Safety Day. It is a nice coincidence.

National Safety Day is celebrated every year in India on 4^th March (National Safety Council was formed on 4^th March 1966) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Safety_Council_(India)

Road Safety Week/Month & National Safety Day/Week are celebrated to spread the awareness among the people & workers about the various aspects of Safety.

Please go through my previous posts on Safety -

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2015/06/improving-safety-at-work.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2016/03/pro-active-approach-in-safety-at.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2017/03/building-safety-culture.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2018/04/firing-fire-from-god-to-ghost.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2018/05/improvement-in-workplace-safety.html

https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/03/prevention-is-better-than-cure-can-it.html

This year, the theme of the National Road Safety Month (18^th Jan to 17^th Feb) was “Sadak Suraksha- Jeevan Raksha” https://www.mygov.in/campaigns/national-road-safety/ . Whereas, the theme of the National Safety Day is “Learn from the Disasters, Prepare for the Safer Future”

We might have heard “Safety First” several times… But unfortunately, Safety is the first thing compromised while driving or working… Let us now find out why it is so…

Let us take this example… The moment we get into the car, the first thing we are asked or we are supposed to do is wearing the safety belt. But in spite of keeping the alarms in the car indicating to wear the safety belt, penalties imposed on the road for not wearing the safety belt, still we don’t wear the safety belt. This is the first compromise we do on safety. If we critically observe the reasons- Are we doing it due to lack of awareness? Definitely no. Are we not concerned about our life? No. Then why?

Some common reasons & myths in the minds of people about safety are-

Safety PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is not comfortable to wear, not stylish (you might have observed many people saying these when they are asked to wear helmets), costly, so many other reasons…  Some people use karma Siddhant here saying jo hoga so hoga means whatever is destined to happen, it will happen… But unfortunately, they are not able to realize the importance of Safety.

But this pandemic situation has made all of us to understand how we are responsible for our own safety and the safety of others. https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2020/06/everything-is-in-your-hands.html

Thus, the Safety is not only an individual responsibility, it is the social responsibility of all. Unless we feel the responsibility, we won’t fulfill it. Culture has an effect on people's behaviour. Integration of people's behaviour is culture. Individual’s Safety Behaviour only collectively builds the Safety Behaviour of a society or organization and finally the Nation’s Safety Behaviour. So the change in individual’s safety behaviour is critical in building a safety culture. So, let us all be the catalsysts for such a change.

We say life is a journey… Safe driving only ensures this journey to be happy and leads to Happy Life.

Thus, Safety is the way of Happy Life… Happy Journey…

Let us analyze & learn from the previous near miss incidents, accidents and disasters to ensure the safety in our lives… Never think Past is Past… Learn from the past…

 https://researchsubbu.blogspot.com/2021/02/past-is-past.html