Women are born with somewhere between one million and two million eggs, 75% of which are depleted by puberty. Eggs die daily—which may sound bleak—but those that endure contain an original genetic component that was created at the very start of a woman’s life.

Sperm, by contrast, are more fly-by-night. After each ejaculation, a man regenerates millions of new sperm cells, and with each cellular replication, the chances rise of an error in genetic coding. These “new” sperm might still be able to fertilize an egg, but they can contain dangerous mutations.

“As men get older, maybe there is some sperm available, but a lot of that DNA may be abnormal,” says Harry Fisch, author of the pioneering 2004 book The Male Biological Clock. “After you make so many copies, the print may not be so useful. Nobody likes to think that they’re aging. Certainly men. They were on the throne, they were the kings: ‘We don’t age, we stay fertile longer than women, we can have babies into our 90s….’ Men live in denial.”

Source:  WSJ: What’s That Ticking Sound? The Male Biological Clock

(Brazil and France are known for ’less work, more leisure’ attitude very unlike China and Japan. Unconvinced? Compare France to its neighbor Germany, a country known for its work culture. aaram haraam hai…? )

Women are from where?

One factor that held true across countries was the gender ratio of depression. No matter the nationality, women were twice as likely as men to have experienced depression.

Marriage to the rescue?

Marital status was linked to depression in both low- and high-income countries, with people in high-income countries more likely to be depressed if they were separated or never married, and people in low-income countries more likely to be depressed if they were divorced or widowed.

Source: Live Science: US and France More Depressed Than Poor Countries

(How could they not study sunshine intensity as a factor? We all tend to be gloomy on cloudy days).

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And now this: Men are Happier at Work Than Women, Survey Finds

In tune with this new-found demand, schools are emerging across most cities and towns in the country to teach Sanskrit. Samskrita Bharathi, started in 1981 at Bangalore, now has a branch in Hyderabad.

Akarsh Simha, currently studying in the University of Texas, says, “I think learning Sanskrit made it easy for me to understand a whole host of Indian languages and even some foreign languages (I learned German after learning Sanskrit, and could draw so many parallels), since many words and grammatical structures are common.

Sanskrit is probably one of the most structured languages, and that makes learning many present-day languages so much easier.” “I think there is still unexplored literature in Sanskrit,” he adds.

Even if Sanskrit is still not considered as hep or stylish as French or German, the trend is definitely catching on.

Source: The Hindu – Sanskrit is ‘cool’  by Vishnupriya Bhandaram

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Plant a New Language in Your Mind - A Web app tailors language learning to your ability, and turns the experience into a game.

Comparision of nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels 21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent. There have likely been declines in other nutrients such as magnesium, zinc and vitamins B-6 and E, but they were not studied in 1950.

“New varieties of crops that provide greater yield, pest resistance and climate adaptability have allowed crops to grow bigger and more rapidly but their ability to manufacture or up↑take nutrients has not kept pace with their rapid growth,” explains Professor Donald Davis of University of Texas at Austin. Also, modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows.

What can be done? Foregoing pesticides and fertilizers in favor of organic growing methods is good for the soil, the produce and its consumers. Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should buy regularly from local organic farmers.

Source: Scientific American, Earth Talk – Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious?  

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If you have 90 minutes, watch this: Sugar -The Bitter Truth by Robert H. Lustig, MD at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. This was recently covered in NYTimes: Is Sugar Toxic?, a must read.

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Children of Immortality!

Remember that you are created
In my image and likeness.
Perfect!

Live up to this image, in every way, in all planes.
Live like Masters!
 
Walk this earth with your heads held high,
Your spirits soaring…
Your hearts open to Love…
And believe in yourself and God within you.
Then all will go well.
 
Earth is but a manifestation of My Being.
Made out of My Life!

Wherever you look, I am there.
Wherever you walk, I am there.
Whomsoever you contact, I am that person.
I am in each, in all My Splendour.
 
See Me everywhere,
Talk to Me and love Me,
Who am in each.

Then from each, I will respond
And bring you into Glory.
 You cannot see Me in one place and not in another,
For I fill all space.

You cannot escape Me
Or do anything in secret,
For there are no secrets with Me.
 
Live… Live… Live… in perfect accordance
With My laws, and wonders will ensue.

Think now. Does error clog the free flowing
Essence of My Being through you?
Ask Me this moment to reveal to you your errors
In the silence of your meditation.
 
Let old memories well up in you,
From My subconscious in you…
Old patterns…
Old forgotten feelings and thoughts.

Now plunge them into the Ocean of Light,
Burn them from the consciousness
So that you may be true emblems of My Being.
 
Right now,
Visualize My burning flame
Rising higher and higher
As it burns through you.

It is a flame that is cooling,
Cleansing and healing,
That soothes the hidden sorrow…
And leaves you calmed and quiet.
 
Rest in my Love.
Let all that you have been through
In your many lives up to this day,
Melt away in My redeeming Light.
 
Children of My Being!
Dissolve your sorrows and fears in Me.
Let me efface
All your karma.

Come back into My Consciousness, which is
Your own true Consciousness.
Let your petty human self fade away, right now,
As you come to Me, who am your Inner Self.
 
You are now My radiant glorious Self…
No longer separate from Me.
Melt with Me… Merge with Me…!
Become Me!

Sathya Sai Baba

From: Prema Dhaara: Letters Written by Bhagavan to His Students; Sathya Sai Books & Publications Trust, Prashanti Nilayam

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Chita Chora Murali Bala  .. (these Croatians, they sing so well)

Bhajamana Govinda Gopala .. (same bunch, more joy!)

Maa .. (beautiful song, you will love it)

Kalathithaya Siddhi Rupaya .. (broke down totally while watching this, which prompted this post)

aum yaschandasAm rishabho viSvaroopah
chandobhyo dhyamrtAt sambabhoova
samendro medhayA sprNotu
amrtasya devadhArano bhooyAsam
Sareeram me vicharshanam
jihvA me madhumattamA
karnAbhyAm bhoori visruvam
bhramhaNa: kosho si medhayA pihita:
srtam me gopAya
om Santi Santi Santih

Aum is the best sound of all vedas.
It arose from the nectarine essence of the vedas.
May I hold the immortal teaching in my mind.
May my body be strong
May my speech be sweet
May I hear a lot of wisdom
O Aum, you are the receptacle of the Supreme Truth
Remove the wordly intelligence that is obstructing my knowledge of you

(from Stōtra mālā By Central Chinmaya Mission Trust):

aum medha devi jushhamaa Naa na aagaad vishvaachi bhadraa sumanasya maanaa
tvayaa jushTaa nuDamaanaa duruktaan brahad vadema vidathe suviiraaha

May the all penetrating goddess of intellect who is beneficial, favorably disposed to, delighting in us, visit us. O goddess, may we, who were delighting in futile speech before thy visit, now as a result of thy delight in us, become enlightened and also capable of expressing the supreme truth along with our heroic sons and disciples.

tvayaa jushTa rishhir bhavati devi tvayaa brahmaa aagatshrii Ruta tvayaa
tvayaa jushTa schitram vindate vasu saano jushhasva draviNo na medhe

O goddess of intellect, favored by thee, one becomes seer; one becomes a brahmana or knower of Brahman. Favored by thee one obtains manifold wealth. Being such, O goddess of intellect, delight in us.

medhAm ma indro dadAtu medhAm devi sarasvati
medhAm me ashvinaa vu bhaavaadhattAm pushhka rasrajA

May Indra grant me intelligence, May goddess Saraswati grant me intelligence. May the two Asvins wearing garlands of lotus flowers, awaken the intelligence in me. and confer on wealth.

apsara suchayA medhA gandhar veshhu cha yanmanaha
devim medhA sarasvati sAmAm medhaa surabhir jushhaTAm svaahaa

Hail the intelligence!  May that intelligence favor me that which is possessed by Apsaras, that which is mental power in Gandarvas, that intelligence expressed as the divine vedic lore and that intelligence which spreads like fragrance.

Aamaam medhaa surabhirr vishvaruupaa hiranya varnaa jagatii jagamyaam
Uurja svatii paya sA pinva mAnA sAmAm medhA suprateekaa jushhantaam

May that goddess of intelligence, come to me with a joyful face and favor me – That goddess of intelligence who is pervasive like fragrance, who is capable of examining all objects, who possesses golden letters in the shape of the syllables of Vedas, who is continuously present, who is fit to be resorted to by the seekers of the values of life again and again, who possesses flavour and strength and who nourishes me with milk and other wealth.

mayi medhAm mayi prajAm mayi agnis tejo dadhAtu
mayi medhAm mayi prajAm mayi indra indri yam dadhAtu
mayi medhAm mayi prajAm mayi sooryo bhrAjo dadhAtu

May agni render in me intelligence, continuity of progeny , and splendour born of vedic study. May Indra render in me intelligence, continuity of progeny and virility. May surya render in me intelligence, continuity of progeny and prowess the strikes fear in the hearts of enemies.

Aum hamsa hamsAya vidmahe paramahamsAya dheemahi tanno hamsa prachodyA

ओम यस्चन्दसाम रुशभो विश्वरूप:
चंदोभ्यो ध्यम्र्तात सम्बभूव
समेन्द्रो मेधया स्प्रुणोतु
अम्रुतस्य देवधारणो भूयासम
शरीरम मे विचर्षणं
जिह्वा मे मधुमत्तमा
कर्णाभ्याम भूरि विश्रुवम
ब्रम्हण: कोशो सि मेधया पिहित:
श्रुतम मे गोपाय
ओम शांति शांति शांति:

ऑम मेधा देवि जुषमाणान आगाद विश्वाचि भद्रा सुमनस्य माना
त्वया जुश्टा नुडमाना दुरुक्तान ब्रुहद वदेम विदते सुवीराह
त्वया जुश्ट रिषिर भवति देवि त्वया ब्रह्मा गतश्री ऱुत त्वया
त्वया जुश्ट स्चित्रम विन्दते वसु सानो जुषस्व द्रविणो न मेधे
मेधा म इन्द्रो ददातु मेधाम देवि सरस्वति
मेधा मे अश्विना वु भावाधत्ताम पुष्क रस्रजा
अप्सर सुचया मेधा गन्धर वेषु च यन्मनह
दैविम मेधा सरस्वति सामाम मेधा सुरभिर जुषटाम स्वाहा
आमाम मेधा सुरभिर्र विश्वरूपा हिरण्य वर्णा जगती जगम्याम
ऊउर्ज स्वती पय सा पिन्व माना सामाम मेधा सुप्रतेएका जुषन्ताम
मयि मेधाम मयि प्रजाम मयि अग्निस तेजो दधातु
मयि मेधाम मयि प्रजाम मयि इन्द्र इन्द्रि यम दधातु
मयि मेधाम मयि प्रजाम मयि सोओर्यो भ्राजो दधातु

ऑम हम्स हम्साय विद्महे परमहम्साय धेएमहि तन्नो हम्स प्रचोद्यात

Manji Khan taught him how to visualize the whole configuration of a raga and how to move in different tempi within the time cycle, so that raga, tala, laya became one and inseparable. A single raga was taught over days, but each day, each time, it assumed a new birth, a new form. The same raga, the same composition, the same set of notes, but there was no repetition, no staleness, no feeling of it being a stereotyped reproduction.

“Once I began learning from him, my personality underwent a change. I felt there was nothing other than music for me. Here was nectar for a thirsty man”, Pandit Mansur later recalls.

Pandit Mansur would often sing at the top of his voice at railway stations, bus stops, airports, betel shops – completely oblivious to his surroundings. Those who met him never failed to wonder at his combination of eminence and humility. He did not care to be the center of attraction.  He rarely referred to his triumphs.

There was always a special intensity to his singing, a special urgency and earnestness in his treatment of melody. Each time he sang with a new creative impulse, and in each rendering there were several surprises.

Pandit  Mansur  was honoured with three prestigious civilian awards – Padma Shri in 1970, Padma Bhushan in 1976 and Padma Vibhushan in 1992.

Raag Nat Bihag:

Yaman Kalyan

Shuddh Nat

Excellent videos on Pt Mansur by Shyam Benegal:

Unusual Concerts Episode- 1

Unusual Concerts Episode- 2

Article source : dharwad.com

How Breastfeeding Benefits Mothers’ Health:  Feeding infants with breast milk has been shown to improve baby health and even IQ, but the benefits of breastfeeding also appear to stay with mothers for years to come, lowering risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Nursing can start to break down some of the fat that accumulates in women’s bodies during pregnancy. In fact, not breastfeeding after giving birth seems to put women at higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other serious health conditions… Link

Purify your vision and the world will be purified. All those blaming India on a daily basis should read these words of Swami Vivekananda (after his return to India) :

We all hear so much about the degradation of India. There was a time when I also believed in it. But today standing on the vantage-ground of experience, with eyes cleared of obstructive predispositions and above all, of the highly-coloured pictures of other countries toned down to their proper shade and light by actual contact, I confess in all humility that I was wrong. Thou blessed land of the Aryas, thou wast never degraded. Sceptres have been broken and thrown away, the ball of power has passed from hand to hand, but in India, courts and kings always touched only a few; the vast mass of the people, from the highest to the lowest, has been left to pursue its own inevitable course, the current of national life flowing at times slow and half-conscious, at others, strong and awakened.

I stand in awe before the unbroken procession of scores of shining centuries, with here and there a dim link in the chain, only to flare up with added brilliance in the next, and there she is walking with her own majestic steps — my motherland — to fulfil her glorious destiny, which no power on earth or in heaven can check — the regeneration of man the brute into man the God.

Ay, a glorious destiny, my brethren, for as far back as the days of the Upanishads we have thrown the challenge to the world: न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः— “Not by progeny, not by wealth, but by renunciation alone immortality is reached.”

Link