Friday, May 9, 2014

Life After 60.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai.

JUST A REMINDER; PLEASE READ TO THE END IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO 
 
An interesting article from The Hindu.

Life can begin at 60, it is all in your hands! Many people feel unhappy, health-wise and security-wise, after 60 years of age, owing to the diminishing importance given to them and their opinions. But, it need not be so, if only we understand the basic principles of life and follow them scrupulously. Here are ten mantras to age gracefully and make life after retirement pleasant.

1. Never say I am aged' :
There are three ages, chronological, biological, and psychological. The first is calculated based on our date of birth; the second is determined by the health conditions; the third is how old we feel we are. While we don't have control over the first, we can take care of our health with good diet, exercise and a cheerful attitude. A positive attitude and optimistic thinking can reverse the third age.


2. Health is wealth:
If you really love your kit and kin, taking care of your health should be your priority. Thus, you will not be a burden to them. Have an annual health check-up and take the prescribed medicines regularly. Do take health insurance coverage.


3. Money is important:
Money is essential for meeting the basic necessities of life, keeping good health and earning family respect and security. Don't spend beyond your means even for your children. You have lived for them all through and it is time you enjoyed a harmonious life with your spouse. If your children are grateful and they take care of you, you are blessed. But, never take it for granted.


4. Relaxation and recreation:
The most relaxing and recreating forces are a healthy religious attitude, good sleep, music and laughter. Have faith in God, learn to sleep well, love good music and see the funny side of life.


5. Time is precious:
It is almost like holding a horses' reins. When they are in your hands, you can control them. Imagine that everyday you are born again. Yesterday is a cancelled cheque. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is ready cash - use it profitably. Live this moment; live it fully, now, in the present time.


6. Change is the only permanent thing: We should accept change - it is inevitable. The only way to make sense out of change is to join in the dance. Change has brought about many pleasant things. We should be happy that our children are blessed.

7. Enlightened selfishness:
All of us are basically selfish. Whatever we do, we expect something in return. We should definitely be grateful to those who stood by us. But, our focus should be on the internal satisfaction and the happiness we derive by doing good for others, without expecting anything in return. Perform a random act of kindness daily.


8. Forget and forgive:
Don't be bothered too much about others' mistakes. We are not spiritual enough to show our other cheek when we are slapped in one. But for the sake of our own health and happiness, let us forgive and forget them. Otherwise, we will be only increasing our blood pressure.


9. Everything has a purpose:
Take life as it comes. Accept yourself as you are and also accept others for what they are. Everybody is unique and is right in his own way.


10. Overcome the fear of death:
We all know that one day we have to leave this world. Still we are afraid of death. We think that our spouse and children will be unable to withstand our loss. But the truth is no one is going to die for you; they may be depressed for some time. Time heals everything and they will go on. 
Viewpoint expressed in "The Hindu."
  
 
Secrets of Old Age...  
If you have time for one very special email today this is it.
Take the time and accept the secrets of old age.

Obituary, Dr. T. Arulanandam, 1960 batch entrant, Colombo, Ceylon.


Dr. Arulanandam retired as Director of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Services, in the Department of Health, Sri Lanka about a decade ago. Ever with a smile and gentle in his ways we will miss him.

'Oh for the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of a voice that is stilled'

Philip G V

Thursday, May 8, 2014

MY TRIP TO SRI LANKA BY YASMIN



 email from
Gallege De Silva
14:54 (14 hours ago)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif


A Sri Lankan, visiting the land of her birth after 45 long years. shares her observations in the form of a 'Letter to Mother Lanka", which she considered to be the ideal format in which to put together her thoughts and feelings.

A poignant and beautiful literary composition of praise and adoration to our beloved Motherland, so eloquently expressed, with such perceptible sincerity.

A Sri Lankan, who, similarly, emigrated to Australia many years ago, commented,
 "Whoever Yasmin is, she has put my thoughts in words; we are blessed children of our Motherland. May we live long enough to see our wishes and dreams for Sri Lanka come true. May I be blessed to be re-born as a Sri Lankan again." I cannot but endorse these sentiments, as I am certain many others privileged to have been born in this resplendent island would.


What a wonderful country this would be, 
if not for its politicians!



“Dear Mother Lanka

There was a sort of unexplainable “sacredness” that walked with me, and permeated and surrounded my being, as I journeyed to rediscover you and reconnect with you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, after almost 45 years.

After 20 days on this Fairest Isle, the joy of rediscovering you could only match my thrill of reconnecting with you:  the land of my birth, the land of my father and my mother, the land of my ancestors before them, the land that bore me, nurtured me, moulded me into the type of person I am today....

Resplendent Isle, graced with unsurpassed natural beauty of hillside and plain, ocean and river, warm winds and rain....

Just to walk on your soft golden sands, feel the warmth of your wind in my hair, your soft rain upon my face.... to hear your mighty ocean roar, watch the luminous power of lightning spread its tendrils across your darkened sky; the familiar rumble of thunder overhead and the crash when it peaked far above in your clouds beyond your hills; to witness again your heavy tropical showers, to hear the pelting rain upon the roof as it fell to the earth again, to water your land and transform your hills; to wash your leaves, and polish your flowers until they shone with a brilliance rarely seen....

To meet with your people, the salt of your earth...gentle souls that overflow with love, hope and the warmest of welcomes....their generous hospitality that overflows in abundance in city, town,suburb, and village, never changing......their smiles that greet you, and their smiles that bid you goodbye...

To visit with them in their homes and to share with them their longings and strivings, hope and dreams, successes and failures, smiles and tears....and to partake of their hospitality in terms of food and drink, warm hugs and genuine concern for the weary traveller within you...

To see you in your diversity....of animal and bird, of foliage and food....to see exactly how nature intended that they march or fly, two by two, or sometimes as a herd, or a swarm, or a flock, to travel across natural forest tracks at sundown, after a hot, humid day, to drink long and peacefully from the same waterhole....

And then to watch the sun go down on this Paradise Isle...brilliant sunsets of red and yellow, pink and orange, dark purple and magenta.... as your tall, slender, palm trees cast their silhouette against a deepening sky.

Mother Lanka, ravaged by civil war, wrecked by monsoons and tsunamis, burnt by unrelenting sun that beats down from cloudless skies, day after day....

Your riches lie on your fertile earth where green tea bushes dot the landscape, and where trees of clove and cinnamon, teak and rubber, sandalwood and pine, and plants and flowers of every hue, flourish and grow over your undulated hills and stretch further out into your flat, green plains: and deeper still into this same earth, where rare gems and precious stones lie, unequalled in beauty, sparkle, texture and value.

But most of all, your riches lie deep in the hearts of your gentle people.  A hardworking people who ask for no more than what is due to them....a just wage for a day’s work, hope for the future, freedom of speech, and peaceful, safe surrounds in which to raise their families....

They do not ask for, nor do they deserve, inequality, exploitation, poverty and suppression, unrest and despair.

With proper, fair, honest and transparent financial management, proper channelling of resources into your roads, public transport, infrastructure, schools and hospitals, and a totally new and revamped fair system of education without discrimination and with equal opportunity....perhaps less millions spent on unnecessary gigantic billboards displaying smiling images of egoistical politicians at almost every street corner and hillside, and more spent on the very necessary, important and urgent things that really matter....will see you, once again, regain the top spot in SE Asia, and excel as the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’.

Mother Lanka, it was my great honour and privilege to meet your acquaintance once again after all these years, and I know I will come back again to you some day.”

Yasmin. 
March 2014
In the morning, fill us with your love.
We shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our afflictions

for the years we knew misfortune.

Saying 'Grace' before meals!

email from  "J. K. S. Weerasekera" 


2 minutes of a doggie meal.
jksw
 








Saying 'Grace' before meals!
You don’t have to know Chinese to understand this.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

If you are clever- This is for you


email from :-
Sena & Sarojini
00:11 (6 hours ago)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

To all our batch mates

From Kalu Nana


If you are clever, you can solve this easily.  Please try


Farmer’s last will to his 3 sons


A farmer died leaving his 17 horses to his three sons.
When his sons opened up the Will it read:

My eldest son should get 1/2 (half) of total horses;
My middle son should be given 1/3rd (one-third) of the total horses;
My youngest son should be given 1/9th (one-ninth) of the total horses.

For those of you paying attention...... ½ of 17 = 8.5 horses, 1/3 of 17 = 5.66 horses, 1/9 of 17 = 1.88 horses = for a grand total of 16.04 horses

As it’s impossible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, the three sons started to fight with each other.
So, they decided to go to a farmer friend who they considered quite smart, to see if he could work it out for them.


The farmer friend read the Will patiently, after giving due thought, he brought one of his own horses over and added it to the 17.

That increased the total to 18 horses.

Now, he divided the horses according to their fathers Will.

1/2     of 18 = 9. So he gave the eldest son 9 horses.
1/3rd of 18 = 6. So he gave the middle son 6 horses.
1/9th of 18 = 2. So he gave the youngest son 2 horses.

Now add up how many horses they have:

Eldest son...9     which is more than the 8.50 that the father intended

Middle son...6    which is more than the 5.66 that the father intended

Youngest…2      which is more than the 1.88 that the father intended

TOTAL IS...17

Now this leaves one horse over, so the farmer friend takes his horse back to his farm.

Problem Solved!


Moral:
The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th horse i.e. the common ground.
Once a person is able to find the 18th horse the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times.
However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution.
If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any!

That’s clever Mathematics.
Kalu Nana

C.S.Nanayakkara

ABBA by Andre Rieu.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Piyusha Atapattu

To all my music loving friends-Wonderful performance. Enjoy. There are lots of references given on the side which you can watch too.




ENJOY



Remember ABBA..?. Here are super orchestrations of their music...


Some more performances by Andre Rieu:-

Nearer my God to Thee

Amazing grace


Philip GV


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Doctors who refuse common treatment methods.

From the psychiatrist who'd never take anti-depressants, to the heart doctor who steers clear of statins, we reveal the medical treatments the experts refuse to have themselves

Here, leading doctors and researchers reveal what they would personally avoid, many of which go against the established view.

Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2620866/From-psychiatrist-whod-never-anti-depressants-heart-doctor-steers-clear-statins-reveal-medical-treatments-experts-refuse-themselves.html