Sunday, September 16, 2012


Laughter is the best medicine !!!!

Laugh ! Laugh ! and Laugh ! 

This is the best mantra to stay fit and live longer and that most of the doctors also would advise you to do every day. Laugh out loud or LOL, remember this phrase. You must have heard of it while chatting with your friends. They say that laughter is the best therapy that can relax your muscles and relieve your stress. In addition, laughter is also good work out for your abdominal muscles and your heart. It is set to be believed that there are 80 muscles that are used when you laugh, which increases the blood pressure and your heart start to beat faster. In a study by German gelotologist, Professor Gunther Sickl, it has been revealed that one-minute of laugh has the same health benefits as a 45-minute gym workout. When the laughter stops, the blood pressure returns to normal and stress hormones are reduced - actually strengthening the immune system. Says Deepak Chopra, “Laughter is definitely a healing experience, and we're not talking metaphorically, we're speaking absolutely literally. Laughter is one of the best medicines you can have”. Often, you laugh when you are happy but interestingly, laughter also makes you feel both happy and healthy. It also releases various stress hormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine, dopamine and growth hormone. Unfortunately, it is believed that as compared to children, adults laugh only a 15 times a day. 

So, the next time you need a workout, just relax and have a hearty laugh – it not only exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out your shoulders, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward.

Friday, August 10, 2012

I want happiness!

Just now, I saw a wonderful status on Facebook from one of the Facebook application that I have subscribed. It read, “How to get happiness? Stop wanting it, and you automatically get it :)”

Isn’t the thought really beautiful and provides a wonderful message. So many times, we say to ourselves that “I want happiness” or “I want to be happy” and in order to be happy, we do a lot of things like we enroll for a peace of mind workshop or go for yoga but still we do not find happiness. We feel that there is something missing in our lives, and we still say to ourselves, “I still want to be happy!” But, we tend to forget few little things that we can do in order to happy.

First and foremost, remove the “I” from the statement “I want happiness” because that is ego.

Then, remove the “want” as it is the “desires” that prevents us to be happy. Desires can’t stop as people can desire a lot of things. For example, your desire can be to buy a Mercedes Benz, or buy a Penthouse, or buy that expensive watch, which you saw on your friend’s wrist last night. I am not saying that you should not have any desires. Its good to have desires but there should be a limit to everything.

In order to be happy, just remove the ego and desires from your life and then your life will be much improved. You wouldn’t have to go for any peace of mind workshop in order to know how to remain happy.

The word “I” is very self-centered as it pertains to just the individual. Think about it for a while. Stand in front of a mirror and say the word “I” as loud as you can. Doesn’t it clearly depict a sense of aggression among you? And now, just say the word “We” as loud as you can and see the difference. The word “We” clearly depicts the calmness and it also makes you feel better. The more you think about people around you and think about the community, the more happiness will be filled in your lives and you will feel happy from inside, and the more happy you will feel happy you will feel from inside, the more happy you will be.

So, forget about the I and start saying We and you life will improve in a better way.

Have a great weekend ahead!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Upcoming STC Learning Session on July 28, 2012 @ NIIT Ltd. Okhla

The India chapter of Society for Technical Communication (STC) is pleased to announce a learning session in at NIIT Ltd., Okhla Phase - 1 on July 28, 2012 (Saturday)

Agenda
  • 9:00 am - 9:30 am: Creating Captivate Demonstrations – Manisha Khurana
  • 9:30 am - 11:30 am: Usability Workshop – Rajesh and Rajeev
  • 11:30 am - 11:45 am:  Networking Break
  • 11:45 am - 12:30 pm: Using Articulate for Creating Interactive Presentations - Anuj Kapoor
Session: Captivate Workshop
In this session, you will learn how to create effective demos.

Session: Usability Workshop
In this workshop, you will learn how to perform usability analysis.

Session: Using Articulate for Creating Interactive Presentations
This session will start with a brief introduction on a Web lecture, and will provide information on the benefits of online presentations. It will briefly introduce you to the suite of products of Articulate and then go on to explain about Articulate Presenter. Furthermore, at the end of this presentation, you will be able to use the vibrant features of Articulate Presenter and create interactive presentations. Finally, this session will provide some tips and guidelines that you must ensure to create an effective online presentation along with some links and references.

Speaker: Anuj Kapoor
He has over 11 years of experience in the IT industry and around 9+ years of experience working as an Instructional Designer. He is currently working with IBM India Pvt Ltd. as a Sr. Instructional Designer and has worked on couple of Technical Writing projects. His experience with Articulate is not much though - only around 2 years but he has gained lot of troubleshooting as well as administrative experience while working with the tool. He loves reading, blogging, and mentoring people in the related fields. He also loves photography. 

Speaker: Manisha Khurana
She has extensive experience in technical communication, usability analysis, and instructional designing. She is post graduate in management with specialization in information technology.

About the Sponsor
NIIT Ltd. is sponsoring the venue for the Delhi (NCR) STC Learning Session. 
For more than 30 years, NIIT’s Enterprise Learning Solutions are helping organizations around the globe to significantly impact their businesses. NIIT is one of the top five training companies in the world with more than $350 million in revenue. As a global managed training services company, NIIT provides a flexible and scalable set of services that enable their clients to focus more sharply on their business, reduce costs by up to 25%, and enhance the business impact of their investments in training. 
Visit http://www.niit.com for more details.

Venue
NIIT Limited
LSO, B-234, Okhla Phase -1
New Delhi - 110020
Tel  : 91 (11) 41407000
Fax  : 91 (11) 26817344
 
Registration Details:
Complete the following form to register for this session: 

Registration Fees: Free

Friday, July 13, 2012

Horrifying and yet a very shameful act!

It was utterly horrifying and and at the same time very shameful act that happened in Guwahati where a minor girl was molested by a mob (a group of 20 people or so..). And more so, it may have happened in full public view and no person came in front to save that girl. Each and every person just acted as an onlooker or a passersby, not trying to interfere in the matter. Instead, they were just interested in shooting the whole scene in their cell phones and then circulating it via MMS, and then enjoying the whole MMS. It seems like it has become a habit for all of us to just act as an onlooker because we live in a country whose father of nation is Mahatma Gandhi and who had once said, "bura mat dekho, bura mat suno, and bura mat bolo" and we have caught his words very seriously so much so that we are not ready to see, hear or speak any bad things. His purpose of saying these words was to fight against the British and their wrong doings but we have misinterpreted those words completely. Anyways, the question arises, isnt this act shameful? Yes, indeed, it is not only shameful and it is not at all acceptable. At one stage, we see the news of India Shining and India becoming a super power and on the other hand, when we hear such reports, it just makes us feel where we stand today. Another news report, I was looking at today was of a Village Panchayat banning love marriages in some district in UP and not only this, the panchayat also laid out several rules that were utterly shocking, like young women from using mobile phones, women under the age of 40 years banned from going out shopping and going out unescorted and boys barred from using headphones on roads and in bylanes.This is extremely shocking and especially in UP whose CM is a young and is supposed to be the role model for the whole state. Looking at all this, it makes me feel that is India really shining or are we still far behind from being a super power. At one stage, we pray to the Goddess and seek her blessings and on the other hand, we see such actions taking place where a minor girl is molested by a mob. If I would have the authority in hand to change one thing in the Indian Law system then I would bring a more strict as well as rude punishment to condemn such an act. It is very easy to condemn such an act while just siting at our homes, liking it on Facebook, and writing comments on the videos posted in the several websites but it takes guts to come out to change the whole law system of India. We need a law similar to what the Arabs do whenever such acts are caught in limelight. Only then, the women will be free to move anywhere around the country. In the current scenario, I sincerely do not feel that any woman should feel themselves safe and is free to move around. Sometime back, there were news reports of a girl being raped by a cab driver and this incident happened in Gurgaon, which is the heart of IT industry in Haryana where there are so many IT companies. And, to add to this, the Gurgaon Police issued a directive where the women were asked to leave their workplaces before 8 PM. Is this what we mean when we India is shining? I am hurt, shocked, and at the same time worried. I am sure that this is not just one incident that has happened because there were more horrifying incidents than this one that had happened earlier and it is not the last and these will continue to happen until and unless we take an extreme step, an offensive action instead of just defending ourselves and condemning the action.