Meena Mangalathil:

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory disease which can affect the skin, joints and nails. The causes of psoriasis are not fully understood and are the subject of ongoing research. In psoriasis, the immune system is mistakenly activated, which leads to overproduction of skin cells. Skin cells build up too rapidly on the surface of the skin, forming raised, red, scaly patches (called plaques). These plaques are often itchy and sometimes painful. Psoriasis lesions commonly appear on the scalp, limbs and lower back, but they can occur anywhere on the body. Some people are not very affected by their psoriasis symptoms, but for others, psoriasis is a disabling and embarrassing condition that affects their lifestyle and their interactions with others. There are many available treatments that may help to relieve symptoms and improve daily life. IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT PSORIASIS 1. Psoriasis is not contagious. 2. Sufferers develop psoriasis between the ages of 15-20 years or later between 5

What is Cancer? Cancer is not a single disease. It is a group of diseases, all of which display the common feature of cells showing uncontrolled growth. Cancer may affect people at all ages, children and adults but the risk increases with age. The cells of all animal bodies follow a predictable pattern, where old cells become defunct, and eventually die, with new cells taking their place. The essential difference is the time it takes for cells to wear out and die, and this varies between cell types. Almost every cell dies and is replaced, except certain specialized cells like brain cells. When this process goes out of the normal synchrony, cells multiply out of control with a resultant malignant process. The end result is a mass of cells, called a tumor. The Causes of Cancer Cancer rates for various types of cancer are on the rise, and environmental/lifestyle factors are increasingly being pinpointed as the culprits, such as: • Pesticide- and other chemical exposures • Pha

Land pollution is the pollution of the Earth's natural land surface by industrial commercial, domestic and agricultural activities. 1. Increase in urbanization :- Construction uses up forestland. This leads to the exploitation and destruction of forests causing imbalance to climate. There is more demand for water, hence reservoirs are built causing the loss of land. 2. Increase in agricultural land :- As the human population grew there was a greater demand for food, thus more land allocated to agriculture. 3. Overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers :- Chemical herbicides and pesticides kill bees and other pollinators. Chemical fertilizers do not put minerals into the soil. Consequently, the crops grown have very few minerals and causes non-biodegradable chemicals to enter and accumulate in the food chain. Vegetation alone has the unique ability to convert inorganic minerals absorbed from the soil and water into organic forms that animals and humans can use. Beca

Today, there was a christening, you know, the christians give their initiation to christianity through christening. The child is unaware of any such process, just the discomfort of having to be petted "Oh!!! Jooji Booji", Oh!!!! Nnnnnnuuu Nnnnnuuu", etc..etc.. by the whole lot of friends and relatives. But for the parents, it doesn't matter, because its a tradition passed on from generation. And the people who started, our forefathers, they knew one thing. If they hadn't take the initiative, then we would not be, what we are. People think and criticize, regarding initiating babies into a religion. They should be given the freedom to choose, what religion to take and all the reasons of not to initiate. I do not know, what would be your mentality. But I am on my ancestors side. Initiate immediately after birth. Can I ask a question? Why do our parents save money? Why do they build houses? Why do they give education, from when we are toddlers? Why do we tak

Today I saw the most surprising sight, which really awed me and made me think too. A fishmonger was taking his fish in a cycle. The container was open and the man was cycling fast. But a crow came flying silently and took a fish and flew off and the man was not even aware of it. If he goes on cycling like that for a kilometer, he would become poorer by a kilo. Because crows are far smarter than men. We are like the fish monger. We have loads of talents, we have loads of goodness in us. But we don't even bother to keep it intact by not acknowledging it and cherishing it and in the end, it won't stay with us. It goes off. I have a friend, who has only one aim in life, to become rich. So he doesn't spend on himself or for his family what he earns. He feels, that if he saves that much money, he could be richer by the day. But alas, money is for daily use. If it is not utilized wisely, it goes off unused to others hands. And that is what happens to talents or goodness too.

A Parent Should Never Make this Mistake Don't judge your children, according to what others say. It happened once to me, when I was small, not so small, exactly during my adoloscence. At that period, my boarding mistress was my sworn enemy. She didn't have any complaints against me. So when my parents arrived, she told them, I received a love letter (Love affairs are taboo in boarding schools and Indian culture), which was a fib. My mother had her vapours, then and there. Seeing my mom's anger, the boarding mistress was glowing with pride, she was able to even a score against me. But my father, didn't utter a word. He waited for the storm to abate and then he spoke slowly, in front of me. "Sr. I am glad to hear, that my daughter received a love letter, or else, I would feel, she is not a normal girl. So where is the love letter? Can I see it?" That gave her the sweat. She replied, "Oh!! I was not expecting you. So I burnt it." opening up the

The second thing, that really touched me in the Kungfu Panda movie was, the teacher being beaten by his pet student like a dog. I really felt like smashing the student to extinction. The teacher gave his everything, his knowledge, his love to his pet student and he repays it by harming the teacher. The reason? The teacher denied the scroll, that gives the power to become the student, the dragon warrior. The student was none other than a tiger, a very strong and smart tiger, whom, the teacher brought up from obscurity taught him all the techniques of Kungfu and made him capable of killing or handling thousands of opponents in one stroke, if we are in his position, naturally, we too would have a feeling of who is there to defeat us. Have you heard about the saying, 'Pride goes before a fall'? That is apt in this student's case. He had a feeling, that no one can defeat him and that pride made him lose his senses, his way of behaviour and that is what happens, to all pr

For me, I am glad I am a human being. Not because, I can do several antiques, but we hold more power than any living beings. You might be wondering what antiques. Simple, the best way to watch people, have a cup of coffee near a hectic road, with lots of shops, traffic, etc..etc... Then you will get to see the antiques of human beings. While I walk to work, I used to wonder, the topics of thoughts, I cover in a span of twenty minutes. When we meet our foes, friends, so different are my thoughts. When I see food, another set of thoughts. But the funny part is, we don't openly air our thoughts for all to hear, do we. But, without our knowledge, thoughts have taken control of us, are you aware of that? No. But now, its time to take note, its very important that you control your body and mind with your soul, which shows the right direction. How do you know, that soul has upper hand of your body? You would not be angry. No hatred for others would touch you. You would alway

O. K. Today one of my friends was saying about making her boss get a new computer. She said, it is next to impossible. But I said, its far easier if you don't ask her. It will come to you. But would it be possible? For me, I would say yes, but what about you guys? Well, do you know what I do? Put the exact picture of the computer in my mind and pass that to my boss through my thoughts and make him feel to want the exact item and voila, he gets the image printed in his heart and feels to buy it and the product would be at your disposal within no time. But you will have to practice it. The best way to do it is to start making small small things to happen. See you tomorrow. Until then take care, Bye. Meena

O.K. So you might be womdering what miracles happened in my life. Well, don't get too surprised, you can call me a miracle child, oops.. sorry, woman. Do you know that I didn't have a voice to sing. Even now, the voice is same, if I have to sing an octave, I'll have to unseat myself to get that stage, you know, raise from myself up with my sound. No, its no joke. But the sad part is, I love music. I love to sing, anyway I can praise myself, that I do perform well, when in bathroom, that's a commendable achievement, right? Hmmmm. But I didn't want to stop myself there. But where do I start? As far as my resources goes, it starts in the boarding and end in the boarding. So if ever I want to learn a song, who has no talent, then forget the thought. But that is when miracle happened. You know in boardings, everyone are made to sing, whether you liked it or not. Since, I loved it, I gave my best shot. I was selected to sing for the church choir, its shocking, righ

O. K. So now we are truthful. What next? Hmm,. That's the problem. Its really a tangle of things, which we have to untangle. Well, we will take one at a time. What do you say about cravings? I don't know whether you would believe it, but I am crazy with sweets. I love so much sweets that I could eat a quarter kilo of sweets within fifteen minutes. Even after I grew big, I had this craving. And every one used to scold me for eating so much sweets in a go. This made me think, why should I hear all these scoldings, so I quit eating sweets. When anyone offered sweets, I declined, but you know people, 'Meena don't act smart, we know you love sweets. why do you make so much scene?, etc..etc.. that is the contradiction of life. Don't get too screwed up on this. But you have a bigger goal, for that we surely have to stop this craving. You know, its very easy, the only thing is just be strong enough to have the will power to say no, when the craving raises its head. T

Hiiii I know, I have gone a bit weird, when I told that there is a way to reach God. But its true. We have it, the religion of christianity shows it, through Jesus. No I'm not joking, Jesus is the way, truth and light. You might want to know, how, When you read the Bible, there are so many meanings, which is too complicating. But I'm not going into that part. We just need to know the way to God. Its through Jesus. That doesn't mean you will have to die on the cross. No, but you will have to go through the hardships like that of Jesus.I will give an Example Naina is a software engineer, she has family, good job, name, fame, whatever one can dream is all there. She was happy and contented. But one day, one of her software she created to one of the famous companies crashed the whole system, all their entry got lost. She couldn't rectify the problem. She lost her job. Her family ridiculed her. There was no one for her to share her sorrows. She was totally alone.

I know, its not easy to explain God. If I ask you explain nature, would you be able to do it? You might, but you would not be able to do justice to the real nature, that much multifaceted is our nature, then just imagine, how would we be able to explain its creator. In india, though we have all religions, Hinduism, is the major religion followed. The specialty of this religion is they have more than three hundred million Gods. Shocked, right? You might be thinking, how can that be possible. Well, believe it, its there and I would not negate it too because what they say is true. I'm not joking, eh. The saints and hermits, who follow Hinduism, was in fact, pointing out the different facets of one God. They have Sri Ram, who is a just King, Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, Lord Ganesh, who clears all obstacles, etc...which means, they simplified God for the simple hearted people, but, we on our small thought, misunderstood. So imagine God with more than 303

Sorry, I have been hogging you with this half man and half woman concept for past three four days, weaving lots of inner and outer meanings, but Yesterday, while I was praying, don't give too much meaning into it, but I'll pass a secret, I love this time because this is where I get my ideas and converse with conflicting thoughts. With whom? Naturally, with God, or who else? (smile) You might be thinking, I might be crazy, but believe me, I believe in the all powerful God. You have your choice. Now, let it be, we were discussing about the boring topic, I hope you would not chuck me out, because after all the meanings, I gave to you, I was wonderstruck by the new revelation. Sorry, I am not clairvoyant. But this meaning really bowled me completely. O. K. I know I'm dragging your patience. The new meaning is thus, we are born self sufficient, without any need or help from external sources. Now you know why is it that sages live in the mountains, with no need for p

Today, while I was passing the dock yard, my mimd flew to an old friend, who is no more. You know, he was a very kind man and very loving too and his specialty, he is a perfect mechanical engineer, who can spot a hair line complajnt, by the sound of the motor. O. K. I was not thinking about his qualities, but my thoughts went to the person, a very nice man and I do not know whether you would believe it, but many very nice people passed, leaving behind a fragrance and not there to see the world now. It was a melancholic moment. Now my houghts turned to the living including, how many more years or is it days or seconds? We do not know, that moment has already been set, for each one of us. Are we aware of it? I do not know, but, if we know that moment of ours or our loved ones, what will be our attitude? Same as now? If you think, you would behave differently, then I suggest, start it from this very moment, who knows, whether we would be there to see the light of day the next moment o

Today, I went to my past for a few minutes, not by choice, but by chance. I was passing my first job posting, it had many other people, whom I didn't recognize. But it was not a big deal, because I worked there when I was in college. So after that, many a waters passed that bridge. Don't you want to know, what made me think? At that time, there was a receptionist, who was very close to me, as we were of same age. We were in age, when we liked to have a love affair, which for me was a gone case. But I enjoyed hearing  other's conquests. So my friend and colleague too was in love. "Oh, sure, I was too happy to hear all the nuances of the affair. So the first question came out of me, Who's the guy? So naturally, the answer as expected, a shy smile and a dreamy look, after much cajoling, the answer came in a whisper, his name is Sasidharan, he is a very nice man and very loving. That's natural isn't it, o.k. the next question, is what takes the pie, d

A day comes and the day goes and again it comes and goes and we living in it, for how long? This thought comes when we grow big, as we step into the throes of oldage. But that thought doesn't even enter into a child, even for a single moment, why? Where did we gain, this attitude? Any idea, guys? Well, I too am not sure, but, as we go into the attitude, we know, that it is caused because of hopelessness of the situation being lived, what do you think, am I right? But what causes this hopelessness. You enjoyed life, when you were young and had more than your share of the best, bold and risky experience and then, you start becoming old and your mind reined you, saying, ' Hey mr or ms or mrs. Whatever, what do you think your age is and that restrained you from taking risks or living life. Hey guys I too am not young, but, that doesn't mean, that I have done something great, no nothing of much significance. I am basically a zero person, so I am a worthless person in al

When  I was a kid, I used to always think, that all children were my friends. Its not because, they always did good to me, believe, my childhood, was a time of things getting lost and firing from the boarding mistress, but still, I do not know, how I kept my heart intact against hatred or hurt or whatever. I had complete faith in everybody. But my cousins were just the opposite, they looked everyone with a jaundiced eye, it is very difficult to get their faith. It was during my boarding life, I had the opportunity to learn about the story of the 'Bishop's Candlesticks'. In that story, a thief steals, the most precious gift, which his mother had given him and his sister on her deathbed. The Bishop knew that the thief had stolen. Though he was sad, he forgave the thief, thinking the thief deserved it more than himself. So, when the police officer brings the thief for questioning, the Bishop answers, that the thief was his friend and he had gifted him the candlesticks, thus

There is one thing I do not understand, if you have any ideas, you are free to voice it. O. K. The question is, I have always had a problem with the amount of salt and green chilly. So I just put my heart in my hand and take the salt with a spoon and add it to the dish. But if I take a second serving, it will become more. Now about chilly, I take what I feel would be sufficient, wash it, dice it on a cutting board and add it to the dish, but while adding it to the dish, some of the diced chilly rolls off and falls on the counter top or on cooking stove top. If I take it and put it in the dish, it will become more spicy, but if I had let go of that chilly, it'd have been the right taste. So guys, do you know, what is the principle behind this phenomena? Well, if you know, then be kind enough to pass it. Now, for me, its a daily ritual. Since I am too much involved in cooking and with many years experience, this phenomenon is stuck with my life too. You might think, how. Usual

How do you feel, when a long pending work is completed? Relieved,  right. That is what I felt today, Relief. You know, Whatever the job you are in, this word has more importance than any other word. Don't you think? Its like releasing the air from the balloon and when the air goes, the dance of the balloon is what we feel to do. If we do not have that feeling in life, then what would be the life of us? A nightmare, isn't it. That would be bad for our health and also to our heart. Its like we cannot find an ending to any situation. But the funny part is, in real life, we are in this situation.  For example, our great grand fathers went to school, they tried to scoot class and olay pranks on teachers, etc,. Then our grand fathers did the same and then our fathers and then we did it which again was continued by our children, our grand children. You might ask, how come, I'm so sure of it. Well, with just one simple dialogue, passed on through our forefathers,