::::::::: Its My LifE :::::::::

What is Patriotism????

Is it just singing the national anthem on 15th and 26th and forgetting about it or is it applying it everyday to your life.
For me it’s the latter. I am very senti and loyal (patriotic) about issues which are close to my heart and which I associate myself with.

Recently we had our college fest and on the last day I was sitting with my friends enjoying and applauding my college at the only programme I was able to watch, as on the other days I was busy participating in different events.

Just 5 min. into the programme when this gentleman sitting in the row behind us, belonging to a different college, started voicing his poison dipped, dry-rot words against my college and the events organized……..saying that the judging was very partial, the winners were already decided, we did not have any infrastructure, etc…

The people of my college sitting around me decided to ignore him and keep mum, but I could not do so…….. will i keep shut if some foreigner comes to India and abuses my country in front of me………NO I wont, in the same way I have great love for my college and hold my college in high esteem and will not tolerate anyone abusing it in front of me, especially when the allegations made are baseless and completely wrong.
So I stood up to this guy and told him to shut up and stay within his limits and ………

On this issue, later on, one of my friends commented that “aathi devo bhava”, (meaning a guest should be treated as god)……well, coming from a spiritual and conservative family I know this fact very well, but if the guest does not behave like god he/she should not be expected to be treated like one.

Tonight i have this strong desire to have a cup of hot Coffee, but unfortunately their is no way i can get it at this hour of the night.So i planned to quench my thirst by looking at some pictures on the net and feel the aroma of a hot cup of coffee near me.........when i chanced upon this information.............TATA's sell Coffee also, other than Barista.........


The coffee market in India
The most popular kind of coffee consumed in this country is a mixture of chicory and coffee, and the biggest-selling brand is Deluxe Green Label (DGL). It contains chicory in the same percentage as DGL.

Coffee bars have, to some extent, increased the consumption of the beverage in India, with the youth segment taking to these bars in a big way. Today Tata Coffee is the sole supplier of coffee blends to Barista. Markets in South India lean towards the filter option, while instant is preferred in other markets. The chicory-to-coffee percentage is unique to different markets, so the composition depends on the region it is selling in.

Challenges of the instant-coffee market
Tata Coffee is the second largest exporter of instant coffee from India (after Nestle); the instant-coffee division contributes 50 per cent to theturnover. This business is growing rapidly and the thrust is on the exports through value additions. The two Tata brands for international markets — Mysore Gold and International Tata Café — are doing extremely well in Russia and its neighbouring countries. Tata’s exported about 4 million kg of instant coffee last year and this accounted for about 60-70 per cent of the overall exports.

Tata Coffee has two brands in the Indian segment: Tata Café, which is a pure instant coffee, and Tata Kapi, which has a chicory mix. Besides retail, these brands are doing very well in the institutional sales market.

The vending-machine culture
There has been significant progress in the vending-machine business. Tata Coffee’s jiffy-vending machines, which were first rolled out in 1996, have sold fast. They have a strong presence in southern, eastern and western India, with some 4,000 machines in the market and a growth rate of 80-100 per cent per annum. These machines, which are targeted at offices, railway stations and airports, are playing a major role in the company’s volume game.

The company’s retail chain
Tata Coffee’s Coorg Coffee Works, a chain of 32 franchisee outlets in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, retail fresh roast and ground coffee. Roasted coffee beans of different varieties are displayed and consumers are given the choice to make their own blends.

I am amongst those people who are very passionate about their work, what ever it might be.So i WORK passionately, WIN passionately and as a matter of fact LOSE passionately as well.

We had our annual inter-college fest this weekend. I had participated in two case study events one in marketing and the other in finance.My marketing team members were Rajesh,Joydeep,Poonam & I, and my finance team members were Santosh,Joydeep & I.

We spent about 2hrs. each on both the cases. We bagged the 1st. position in marketing and 3rd. position in finance case stuty.This achievement was not at all possible without the help of my group members.But since i am specialising in finance i really wanted to win the finance event,and as far as my feedback about both the events goes, i think i used my grey matter more in the fin. event, but unfortunately the judge being a marketing person was incompetent to understand the technical aspects my group has presented and awarded the others as winners.

What i hated is not losing but the fact that i lost the 1st position because the judge could not look beyond his own fixed ideas and accept something new which even the worlds best investor would acknowledge.

Anyways i was talking about this with a good friend of mine and he told me that one sould not always win,because until you dont lose once in a while you dont understand the value of winning.That really helped me to calm down and move on.

Not to mention that on friday I and 5 of my friends had gone out to celebrate the Rs.1400 and gift coupons we got as prize money for the 1st. position.We had a nice time outside,I had ordered Paneer Palow and Dal Makhani........and i swore never to eat paneer palow again as it was really bad as one of my friends had suggested earlier.

Anyways the fest is over and now there are more important things to do, like........

As a student I never had any interest in the subject Biology, so much so that till recently I had confusions about the positioning of the very vital organs in the human body.
But now with the change of time and circumstances I learnt and understand a few things. Had anyone asked me, did I know what a Thyroid was, I would have given a big NO for an answer,

But now I am aware of it and especially about a problem associated with it called HYPOTHYROIDSM.

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormone. Since the main purpose of thyroid hormone is to "run the body's metabolism", it is understandable that people with this condition have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism.

There are two fairly common causes of hypothyroidism.
The first is a result of previous (or currently ongoing) inflammation of the thyroid gland which leaves a large percentage of the cells of the thyroid damaged (or dead) and incapable of producing sufficient hormone.
The second major cause is the broad category of "medical treatments". The treatment of many thyroid conditions warrant surgical removal of a portion or all of the thyroid gland. If the total mass of thyroid producing cells left within the body is not enough to meet the needs of the body, the patient will develop hypothyroidism.

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
• Coarse, dry hair
• Dry, rough pale skin
• Hair loss
• Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)
• Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
• Constipation
• Depression
• Irritability
• Memory loss

Most patients have a combination of a number of these symptoms. Although treatment of hypothyroidism can be quite easy in some individuals, others will have a difficult time finding the right type and amount of replacement thyroid hormone.

Potential Dangers of Hypothyroidism
Because the body is expecting a certain amount of thyroid hormone the pituitary will make additional thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH) in an attempt to entice the thyroid to produce more hormone. This constant bombardment with high levels of TSH may cause the thyroid gland to become enlarged and form a goiter. Left untreated, the symptoms of hypothyroidism will usually progress. Rarely, complications can result in severe life-threatening depression, heart failure or coma.

But one must never worry, since:
· Hypothyroidism can often be diagnosed with a simple blood test.
· Hypothyroidism is completely treatable in many patients simply by taking a small pill once a day! Once again, however, it is a simplified statement and its not always so easy.

Lastly, LIFE IS A WAR AND ONE SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO FACE AND WIN OVER SUCH SMALL BATTLES AND MOVE ON. Because LIFE IS TOO BEAUTIFUL TO WASTE ON SUCH FUTILE ISSUES.

Last night I was taking a walk in front of the college with few of my friends and gradually was involved in an intense discussion with one of my very good friend about the different frontiers of life.
The discussion started with a mention of Charlie Chaplin and his first stage appearance when his mother an actress was unable to deliver some lines on stage because she was ill……so Chaplin went on stage (though he was really young then) and tried to cover up for her, but he too failed and when people started laughing at him he started crying out loud………how sad for those people, because they failed to realize that they were the fortunate few to witness the first stage performance of the Great Master.
Our discussion then moved on at the mention of the book “The Monk who sold his Ferrari”. For those who have read the book know what it is about…….the Indian saints mentioned have achieved the stage of divinity and have become one with the Supreme and how they live a simple life and share their knowledge with only those who deserve it.
Then came the mention of the monks of Thailand who reside in the high mountains, about which I had read recently in one of the leading dailies, and survive only on a diet of yogurt eaten only once in a day.
Our discussion was getting intense and penetrating Indian grounds and about the many saints we have now-a-days……..when suddenly this other person who was walking with us started charging me that I have fixed ideas and that I am not too open to ideas from others. Such comments were quite uninvited and ridiculous, for this person was not involved in our discussion, did not know what we were discussing about and he/she had no right to make such allegations on me……….especially when you are someone whom I just know because he/she is my batch-mate.
Anyways I was in no mood to respond to such stupid suggestions because I know who and what I am and I have not given the right to any third person to teach me things about myself.
But on the whole it was a good walk after you eat the really gooood mess food.