Monday, December 29, 2008

Top 15 Most Glamorous Indian Women

Bollywood Hot List 2008
Top 15 Most Glamorous Indian Women

Rekha
Glam quotient: Her timeless beauty and her art of make up

Dimple Kapadia
Glam quotient: Her hair, bold and sexy grandma

Hema Malini
Glam quotient: The eternal Dream girl. She just gets better with every passing day

Ekta Kapoor
Glam quotient: Powerful, successful in a single breath

Malaika Arora Khan
Glam quotient: Pin up girl for the lads and epitome of a yummy mummy

Deepika Padukone
Glam quotient: The new kid around the tinsel town who has the promise to be a sensation


Mehr Jessia
Glam quotient: Her understated chic

Bipasha Basu
Glam quotient: Dangerously beautiful, sexy and fearless

Kiran Rao
Glam quotient: No one carries off specs like she does


Parmeshwar Godrej
Glam quotient: Her chic style statement. She's truly a diva

Nina Manuel
Glam quotient: Her sexy legs

Aishwarya Rai Bacchan
Glam quotient: Her Beauty! That face is timeless



Priyanka Gandhi - Vadra
Glam quotient: Her lineage

Madhuri Dixit - Nene
Glam quotient: Her smile

Shilpa Shetty
Glam quotient: Her perfect waist

Friday, December 19, 2008

6 Six Ways To People Likes You

Principle 1: Become Genuinely Interested in Other People
A simple way to make a good impression. The expression one wears on one's face if far more important than the clothes one wears on one's back. Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, " I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you." You must have a good time meeting people i f you expect them to have a good time meeting you. You don't feel like smiling? Then what? Two things. First, force yourself to smile. If you are alone, force yourself to whistle or hum a tune or sing. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy. "Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not." -William James. Happiness doesn't depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions. It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it. "There is nothing either good or bad," said Shakespeare, "but thinking makes it so." Your smile is a messenger of your good will. Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it. To someone who has seen a dozen people frown, scowl or turn their faces away, your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds.

Principle 2: Smile
If you don't do this, you are headed for trouble The average person is more interested in his or her own name than all the other names on earth put together. Remember that name and call it easily, and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment. But forget it or misspell it-and you have plac e yourself at a sharp disadvantage. Whenever you meet a new acquaintance, find out his or her complete name and some facts about his or her family, business or political opinions. Fix all these facts well in mind as part of the picture, and the next time you meet that person, even if it was a year later, you will be able to shake hands, inquire after the family, and ask about the hollyhocks in the backyard. Sometimes it is difficult to remember a name, particularly if it is hard to pronounce. Rather than even try to learn it, many people ignore it or call the person by an easy nickname. Most people don't remember names, for the simple reason that they don't take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. If you don't hear the name distinctly say excuse me I didn't get your name clearly. Then, if it is an unusual name, ask how it is spelled. Use the person's name several times in the conversation; try to associate it in your mind with the person's featur es, expression and general appearance. Then, when you are alone write the name down on a piece of paper, look at it, and concentrate on it, fix it securely in your mind, in this way you will gain an eye impression of the name as well as an ear impression.

Principle 3: Remember That A Person's Name Is To That Person The Sweetest And Most Important Sound In Any Language
An easy way to become a good conversationalist Listen intently; listen because you are genuinely interested. That kind of listening is one of the highest compliments we can pay anyone. The chronic kicker, even the most violent critic, will frequently soften and be subdued in the presence of a patient, sympathetic listener-a listener who will be silent with the irate fault-finger dilates like a king cobra and spews the poison out of his system. Be more eager to hear what a person has to say then even they are to tell it. Many people prefer good list eners to good talkers, but the ability to listen seems rarer than almost any other good trait. All we want when we are in trouble is a friendly, sympathetic listener to unburden yourself. That is frequently all the irritated customer wants, and the dissat isfied employee or the hurt friend. If you want to know how to make people shun you and laugh at you behind your back and even despise you, here is the recipe: Never listen to anyone for long. Talk incessantly about yourself. If you have an idea while the other person is talking, don't wait for him or her to finish: bust right in and interrupt in the middle of a sentence. If you aspire to be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener. To be interesting, be interested. Ask questions that other persons will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments.

Principle 4: Be A Good Listener. Encourage Others To Talk About Themselves
How to interest people The royal road to a person's heart is to talk about the things he or she treasures most. Make an effort to find out what interests the person then get them talking about it. Talking in terms of the other person's interests pays off for both parties. When asked what reward he got from it, Mr. Herzig responded that he not only received a different reward from each person but that in general the reward had been an enlargement of his life each time he spoke to someone.

Principle 5: Talk In Terms Of The Other Person's Interests
How to make people like you instantly. Ask yourself " What is there about him or her that I can honestly admire?" That is sometimes a hard question to answer, especially with strangers. You want approval of those with whom you come in contact. You want recognition of your true worth. You want a feeling that your are important in our little world. You don't want to listen to cheap, insincere flattery, but you do crave sincere appreciation. So let's obey the Golden Rule, and give unto others what we would have others give unto us. How? When? Where? The answer is all the time, everywhere. Use little phrases such as "I'm sorry to trouble you, ___." "Would you please ___?" "Won't you please?" "Would you mind?" "Thank you." The unvarnished truth is that almost all the people you meet feel themselves superior to you in some way, and a sure way to their hearts is to let them realize in some subtle way that you recognize their importance, and recognize it sincerely. Talk to people about themselves and they will listen for hours.

Principle 6: Make The Other Person Feel Important And Do It Sincerely
In a Nutshell: Six ways to make people like you Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person's interests. Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Some Useful Tips

Almonds: To remove the skin of almonds easily, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
 Ants: Putting 3-4 cloves in the sugar container will keep the ants at bay.
 Biscuits: If you keep a piece of blotting paper at the bottom of the container, it will keep biscuits fresh for a longer time.
 Butter: Avoid the use of butter. If it is essential to use, use a butter containing low saturated fat or with plant stanols (which avoid absorption of cholesterol by our body) or similar substitutes.
 Apples: Apply some lemon juice on the cut surface of the apple to avoid browning. They will look fresh for a longer time.
 Banana: Apply mashed banana over a burn on your body to have a cooling effect.
 Bee and Scorpion Sting Relief: Apply a mixture of 1 pinch of chewing tobacco and 1 drop of water. Mix and apply directly and immediately to the sting; cover with band aid to hold in place. Pain will go away in just a few short minutes
 Bitter Gourd (Karela): Slit Karelas at the middle and apply a mixture of salt, wheat flour and curd all round. Keep aside for 1/2 an hour and then cook.Stuffed Karela
 Celery: To keep celery fresh for long time, wrap it in aluminium foil and place in the refrigerator.
 Burnt Food: Place some chopped onion in the vessel having burnt food, pour boiling water in it, keep for 5 minutes and then clean.
 Chilli Powder: Keeping a small piece of hing (asafoetida) in the same container will store chilli powder for long time.
 Chopping: Use a wooden board to chop. It will not blunt the knife. Don't use a plastic board, small plastic pieces may go with the vegetables.
 Coriander/Mint: You can use dried coriander and mint leaves in coarse powder form in vegetable curry or chutney, if fresh ones are not available.To keep them fresh for a longer time, wrap them in a muslin cloth and keep in a fridge.
 Cockroaches: Put some boric powder in kitchen in corners and other places. Cockroaches will leave your house.
 Coconut: Immerse coconut in water for 1/2 an hour to remove its hust.
 Dry Fruits: To chop dry fruits, place them in fridge for half an hour before cutting. Take the fruits out and cut them with a hot knife (dip it in hot water before cutting).
 Dough/Rolling pin: If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, place it in freezer for a few minutes.
 Egg Peeling Off: Make a small hole in the egg by piercing a pin before boiling it. You will be able to remove its skin very easily.
 Egg Fresh: Immerse the egg in a pan of cool salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; if it rises to the surface, it is certainly quite old.
 Garlic: Garlic skin comes off easily if the garlic cloves are slightly warmed before peeling.
 Ghee: Avoid the use of ghee. If it is necessary, substitute it with canola oil. Even for making halwa, you can partly substitute it with oil.
 Green Chillies: To keep the chillies fresh for a longer time, remove the stems before storing.
 Green Peas: To preserve green peas, keep them in a polythene bag in the freezer.
 Idlies: Place a betel (paan) leaf over the leftover idli and dosa batter to prevent them sour. Do not beat idli batter too much, the air which has been incorporated during fermentation will escape.If you add half a tsp of fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking, dosas will be more crisp.
 Fruits: To ripen fruits, wrap them in newspaper and put in a warm place for 2-3 days. The ethylene gas they emit will make them ripe.
 Frying: Avoid deep frying. Substitute deep frying with stir frying or oven bake. Don't pour the oil, but make a habit of spraying the oil in the utensil for cooking. Heat the utensil first, then add oil. This way oil spreads well. You will use less oil this way.
 Left Over: Don't throw away the foods left over. Store them in Fridge. Use them in making tasty dishes.
 Lemon/Lime: If the lemon or lime is hard, put it in warm water for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to squeeze.
 Lizards: Hang a peacock feather, lizards will leave your house.
 Milk: Moisten the base of the vessel with water to reduce the chances of milk to stick at the bottom. Keep a spoon in the vessel while boiling milk at medium heat. It will avoid sticking the milk at the bottom of the vessel.Adding half a tsp of sodium bicarbonate in the milk while boiling will not spoil the milk even if you don't put it in the fridge.
 Mixer/Grinder: Grind some common salt in your mixer/grinder fro some time every month. This will keep your mixer blades sharp.
 Mosquitoes: Put a few camphor tablets in a cup of water and keep it in the bed room near your bed, or in any place with mosquitoes.
 Noodles: When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated.
 Onions: To avoid crying, cut the onions into two parts and place them in water for 15 minutes before chopping them.Wrap the onions individually in a newspaper and store in a cool and dark place to keep them fresh for long time.
 Oven: Watch from the oven window to conserve energy because the oven temperature drops by 25 degrees every time its door is opened,To clean the oven, apply a paste of sodium bicarbonate and water on the walls and floor of the oven and keep the oven on low heat for about half an hour. Dried food can easily be removed.
 Paneer: To keep paneer fresh for several days, wrap it in a blotting paper while storing in the refrigerator.Do not fry paneer, immerse it in boiling water to make it soft and spongy.
 Papad: Bake in microwave oven.Wrap the papads in polythene sheet and place with dal or rice will prevent them from drying and breaking.
 Pickles: To prevent the growth of fungus in pickles, burn a small grain of asafoetida over a burning coal and invert the empty pickle jar for some time before putting pickles in the jar.
 Popcorn: Keep the maize/corn seeds in the freezer and pop while still frozen to get better pops.
 Potato: To bake potatoes quickly, place them in salt water for 15 minutes before baking.Use the skin of boiled potatoes to wipe mirrors to sparkling clean.Don't store potatoes and onions together. Potatoes will rot quickly if stored with onions.
 Refrigerator: To prevent formation of ice, rub table salt to the insides of your freeze.
 Rice: Add a few drops of lemon juice in the water before boiling the rice to make rice whiter.Add a tsp of canola oil in the water before boiling the rice to separate each grain after cooking.Don't throw away the rice water after cooking. Use it to make soup or add it in making dal (lentils).Add 5g of dried powdered mint leaves to 1kg of rice. It will keep insects at bay.Put a small paper packet of boric powder in the container of rice to keep insects at bay. Put a few leaves of mint in the container of rice to keep insects at bay.
 Samosa: Bake them instead of deep frying to make them fat free. Don't fry the filling potato masala. Preserve the samosas in freezer. For eating, take out of the freezer two hours in advance and bake them over low temp.
 Sugar: Put 2-3 cloves in the sugar to keep ants at bay.
 Tadka: Use sprouted mustard seeds (rayee) and fenugreek (methi) seeds for your tadkas. Both of them when sprouted have more nutritional values. Also this add flavour to the dish and can be more beneficial, besides giving decorative look to the dish. Submitted by MS Itisha Madhav
 Tomato: To remove the skin of tomatoes, place them in warm water for 5-10 minutes. The skin can then be easily peeled off.When tomatoes are not available or too costly, substitute with tomato puree or tomato ketchup/sauce.Place overripe tomatoes in cold water and add some salt. Overnight they will become firm and fresh.
 Tamarind: Tamarind is an excellent polish for brass and copper items. Rub a slab of wet tamarind with some salt sprinkled on it on the object to be polished.Gargles with tamarind water is recommended for a sore throat.
 Utensils: Use nonsticking utensils. Use thick bottom utensils, they get uniformly heated. For electric stoves, use flat bottom utensils.Add a little bit of common salt to the washing powder for better cleaning of utensils.
 Vegetables: Don't discard the water in which the vegetables are soaked or cooked. Use it in making soup or gravy. To keep the vegetables fresh for a longer time, wrap them in newspaper before putting them in freeze.Chop the vegetables only when you are ready to use them. Don't cut them in too advance. It would spoil their food value.
 Sink (Blocked): To clear the blocked drain pipe of your kitchen sink, mix 1/2 cup sodium bicarbonate in 1 cup vinegar and pour it into the sink, and pour about 1 cup water. In an hour the drain pipe will open.
 Soup Salty: Place a raw peeled potato in the bowl, it will absorb the extra salt.
 Yoghurt (Home Made): To set yogurt in winter, place the container in a warm place like oven or over the voltage stabliser.
 Yogurt: If the yogurt has become sour, put it in a muslin cloth and drain all the water. Then add milk to make it as good as fresh in taste. Use the drained water in making tasty gravy for vegetables or for basen curry.To keep the yogurt fresh for many days, fill the vessel containing yogurt with water to the brim and refrigerate. Change the water daily.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

True Meaning And Purpose Of JIHAD

Jihad is never a tool of waging war against the innocents; it's never a means of flexing muscles or bullying the weak and oppressed. Jihad in Islam is something unique, established to defend the divine message from being eliminated or hindered by its enemies. Shedding more light on the true concept of Jihad, here is the statement made by Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, president of the Fiqh Council of North America, states: Allah says, (And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the religion of your father Abraham.

It is He (Allah) Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation) ; that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and you be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector, the best to protect and the Best to help!) (Al-Hajj 22: 78) Jihad is one of the most misunderstood, and abused aspects of Islam. There are some Muslims who exploit and misuse this concept for their own political objectives. There are many non-Muslims who misunderstand it. There are some non-Muslims who misinterpret it to discredit Islam and Muslims. What is Jihad? The word Jihad does not mean "Holy War". It means "struggle" or "striving".

The word for war in the Qur'an is "Harb" or "Qital". Jihad means serious and sincere struggle on the personal as well as on the social level. It is a struggle to do good and to remove injustice, oppression and evil from the society. This struggle should be spiritual as well as social, economic and political. Jihad is to work hard to do right things. In the Qur'an this word is used in its different forms 33 times. It often comes with other Qur'anic concepts such as faith, repentance, righteous deeds and migration. Jihad is to protect one's faith and one's human rights. Jihad is not a war always although it can take the form of war. Islam is the religion of peace, but it does not mean that Islam accepts oppression.

Islam teaches that one should do one's utmost to eliminate tension and conflict. Islam promotes non-violent means to bring change and reform. Actually, Islam urges that one should eliminate evil through peaceful means without the use of force as much as possible. In Islamic history from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until now, Muslims most of the time resisted oppression and struggled for liberation in non-violent and peaceful manners. Islam teaches proper ethics in the situation of war also. The war is permissible in Islam, but only when other peaceful means such as dialogue, negotiations and treaties fail. It is a last resort and should be avoided as much as possible. Its purpose is not to convert people by force, or to colonize people or to acquire land or wealth or for self-glory. Its purpose is basically : defense of life, property, land, honor and freedom for oneself as well as defense of others from injustice and oppression.

The basic rules of war in Islam are:
1. Be strong so that your enemy fear you and should not attack you.
2. Do not begin the hostilities. Work for peace as much as possible.
3. Fight only those who fight, no collective punishment; non-combatants should not be harmed. Weapons of mass destruction should not be used.
4. Stop hostilities as soon as the other party is inclined to peace.
5. Observe the treaties and agreements as long as the enemy observes them.

Allah
says very clearly: (Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not do aggression, for Allah loves not the aggressors.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 190) (The prohibited month, for the prohibited month, and so for all things prohibited, there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 194).
Jihad is not terrorism: It is to be emphasized that terrorism against the innocent civilians, whether through aggression or suicidal means, is under no circumstances permissible in Islam.

Islam encourages the oppressed people to struggle for their liberation and it commands other Muslims to help those who are oppressed and suffering, but Islam does not allow, under any circumstance, terrorism against non-combatants and innocent people. Terrorism is not Jihad, it is Fasad (mischief). It is against the teachings of Islam. There are some people who use their twisted arguments to justify terrorism for their causes, but it has no justification: Allah says: (When it is said to them: 'Make not mischief on the earth,' they say: 'Why, we only want to correct things.' Indeed they are the mischief doers, but they realize (it) not.) (Al-Baqarah 2: 11-12)

Islam wants to establish a world order where all human beings - Muslims and non-Muslims - can live with justice in peace, harmony and good will. It gives its followers full guidelines to find peace in their personal and social lives, but it also tells them how to extend the good will on the basis of human relations towards others. Muslims worked under these principles for centuries. People of many faiths lived with them and among them. Islamic societies were known for their tolerance, generosity and humanity. In our modern society where we are living in a global village, where non-Muslims are living with Muslims in the Muslim countries and Muslims are living with non-Muslims in countries where non-Muslims constitute a majority, it is our duty to bring better understanding among ourselves, work for peace and justice for all people and cooperate with each other in matters of goodness and virtue in order to stop all terrorism, aggression and violence against the innocent people. This is our Jihad today!