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Find the perfect love nest for Valentine's Day | Travel

2012-02-12T15:28:00.002+05:30

Find the perfect love nest for Valentine's Day | Travel

Hard to resist: reignite the passion at the Sheraton Salobre in Gran Canaria

Find the perfect love nest for Valentine's Day

Sarah Marshall
7 Feb 2012

Pack your overnight bag and escape to a glamorous destination for the weekend, says Sarah Marshall...

Rome Cavalieri, Italy

Most suitors seek a key to their loved one's heart, but couples in Rome take the opposite approach. As a declaration of eternal love, they attach a padlock to a railing on the Ponte Milvio in Rome, tossing the key into the River Tiber below.

For Valentine's Day, five-star hotel Rome Cavalieri is offering guests an opportunity to take part in the ritual, which was originally inspired by author Federico Moccia in his 2006 bestseller Ho Voglia di Te (I Want You). Couples will be taken on a champagne drive to the bridge, where they'll get to attach their own bespoke padlock to one of the many steel columns. But the romance doesn't end there.

The hotel, which sits atop one of Rome's famous hills and is surrounded by pine trees, offers some of the best views in the city. Of course, simply meandering through the backstreets of Trastevere or climbing the Spanish Steps is a romantic experience. And while it's impossible to explore Rome in a day, unlike the padlocks on Ponte Milvio, its treasures are much easier to unlock.

The Ponte Milvio package costs €680 (£564) per couple and includes one night DBB, spa package with cocktails, and engraved padlock. Valid February 1-19. Visit romecavalieri.com or call 00 39 063 5091. EasyJet operates up to five flights a day to Rome from £59 return.

Sheraton Salobre Golf Resort & Spa, Gran Canaria

Whisk your partner off for some winter sun and surprise them with the specially designed sensual package at the Sheraton Salobre. Coup,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand | Travel

2012-02-12T15:25:00.002+05:30

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand | Travel

Thai smiles: flying to Bangkok in the school holidays needn't cost a fortune

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand

Simon Calder
6 Feb 2012

We're getting married in Thailand on Easter Monday. A couple of our guests haven't booked their flights yet. Would it be best to buy now or hold out for a last-minute sale? - Sam Nanda, Heston

What a splendid prospect - with luck you'll be there and back before the May rains arrive.

However, I'm concerned about flights to Thailand during the first two weeks of April.

As you probably know, the school Easter holidays mean fares are high even to that most competitive of destinations, Bangkok. Non-stops from Heathrow start at around £750 on Thai Airways in the first week of April. Connecting flights via airlines' hub cities are cheaper but there is little for under £700 return. It is unlikely that there will be any significantly lower fares emerging in the next couple of months.

Given that your guests will presumably need accommodation, booking a flight as part of a package with a hotel is likely to prove little more expensive than the flight alone; companies such as Trailfinders and Travelbag can provide quotes, which you can compare with online websites such as Opodo and Expedia.

If your guests can depart a few days before the end of March, they wi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand | Travel

2012-02-12T15:25:00.000+05:30

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand | Travel

Thai smiles: flying to Bangkok in the school holidays needn't cost a fortune

Stop over for the best value route to Thailand
Simon Calder
6 Feb 2012

We're getting married in Thailand on Easter Monday. A couple of our guests haven't booked their flights yet. Would it be best to buy now or hold out for a last-minute sale? - Sam Nanda, Heston

What a splendid prospect - with luck you'll be there and back before the May rains arrive.

However, I'm concerned about flights to Thailand during the first two weeks of April.

If your guests can depart a few days before the end of March, they wi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Seeking out splendid isolation in North Cyprus | Travel

2012-02-12T15:20:00.001+05:30

Seeking out splendid isolation in North Cyprus | Travel

Hidden charms: the old harbour at Kyrenia

Seeking out splendid isolation in North Cyprus

Jonathan Gregson
10 Feb 2012

If your image of Cyprus is one of densely-packed resorts in the south of the island, you'll be glad to hear there's an alternative side.

North Cyprus is tranquil, largely unspoilt, and in many respects quaintly old-fashioned. So much so that on my first day there I felt that I'd entered a remake of the movie Back to the Future set in the eastern Mediterranean.

It is not just that traffic drives on the left or that they still use square-pin electric plugs. The government offices in Kyrenia, the main harbour and resort in North Cyprus known as Girne in Turkish, lurk behind colonial, neo-classical façades, and even the cast-iron letterboxes are unmistakably British.

The same retro-style is replicated in some of Kyrenia's newer upmarket hotels, such as the Colony, whose porticoed entrance and cool, spacious rooms hark back to another era. The breakfasts, however, offer a very Cypriot array of cheeses and olives, fresh fruits and vegetables, while the rooftop bar and pool are perfectly contemporary. But from the street it looks very much like a remnant of British rule.

All of which reminded me of childhood holidays in the Sixties to former Mediterranean outposts of empire such as Malta. But whereas the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus has moved on, developing tourism and financial services on the back of being part of the EU and the eurozone, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has not been recognised internationally. So there are no direct flights, and former export crops such as oranges are embargoed.

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Hot spots - the world's sexiest hotels | ES Magazine

2012-02-12T15:15:00.001+05:30

Hot spots - the world's sexiest hotels | ES Magazine

Faena Hotel, Buenos Aires

Hot spots - the world's sexiest hotels

Lucy Hunter Johnston
10 Feb 2012

SOUKS AND THE CITY
Marrakech

Wander through Marrakech's labyrinthine souk, the largest in Morocco, or lose yourselves in Djemaa el Fna, the busiest square in Africa. By day the square throbs with acrobats, snake charmers and musicians, and by night it transforms into a vast open-air restaurant, with stalls serving Moroccan delicacies. If your lover requires something more sedate, whisk them back to a suite at La Mamounia, the grande dame of Moroccan hotels. It was a favourite with Churchill and Roosevelt and has recently had a $111 million refurbishment: think soaring lobbies, marble floors and carved mashrabiya wood screens. The gardens are surrounded by medieval ramparts and their eight acres encompass shady mosaic courtyards and fountains, not to mention a world-class traditional hammam spa.(mamounia.com/uk)

Scandily Clad
Stockholm

Home to fiction's fiercest anti-hero Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoohas seen Stockholm's sexy kudos soar. But it's not just the Swedish capital's famous thrillers that make it so exciting. Stockholm is made up of 14 small islands, each with a very different feel; strolling across the little bridges that connect the capital, stopping for fika (coffee and cake) and perusing the boutiques, is a wonderful way to spend a city break. After dark its hyper-cool bars and restaurants pulse with tall, blond and beautiful people. Stay at the Berns hotel, a Stockholm landmark since 1863 with a magnificent ballroom that often plays host to pop concerts. The rooms are dripping in Scandi chic and the glamorous Asian restaurant is worth dressing up for. The hotel sells boudoir accessories brand Pom Pom Parlour so, if your sexy weekend is hotting up, you can stock up on erotic books, blindfolds and whips from the lobby shop. (berns.se)

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Mind the gaps | Health & Beauty

2012-02-12T15:13:00.001+05:30

Mind the gaps | Health & Beauty

Mind the gaps

Jasmine Gardner
8 Feb 2012

It was once the first cosmetic procedure on the list for all with new-found fame. Hot foot to the dentist, get all your teeth filed down to stumps, and have some pearly white perfect veneers clamped over the top.

But thanks to the imperfect smiles of stars such as True Blood's Anna Paquin and models Georgia May Jagger and Lara Stone, the "Hollywood" smile is no longer desirable and British teeth are back.

"The fad for filing teeth down for full veneers has gone," says Dr Simon Darfoor, who runs a Harley Street dental practice. "People are looking for a halfway point. They want a more attractive smile but with a less destructive procedure."

Dr Tim Bradstock-Smith of The London Smile Clinic agrees. "Gone are the days when patients ask me for a Hollywood Smile. The number one thing I get asked for is a natural-looking smile," he says.

"Natural teeth have highly complex surface anatomy, texture, colour variation, translucency and all sorts of imperfections. We won't mimic the unsightly flaws but we like to keep some 'perfect imperfections' in there."

When Lady Gaga wore a set of diamond gap teeth in a video for Mugler's spring/summer 2012 catwalk show, it confirmed that for this season British teeth - gaps and all - are back. Cheryl Cole must be kicking herself.

"Many patients with gaps have left them, or if they have a very large gap they are happy for us to close it only halfway," says Dr Mervyn Druian of The London Centre for Cosmetic Dentistry.

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The invisible haircut that's turning heads | Health & Beauty

2012-02-12T15:11:00.001+05:30

The invisible haircut that's turning heads | Health & Beauty

Tonsorial trickery: models at the Giles SS12 show worked natural non-haircuts - which actually involves lots of careful cutting

The invisible haircut that's turning heads

Kara Dolman
8 Feb 2012

She has been cropped, bobbed, undercut and extended, styled into gravity-defying updos and waist-skimming waves - not to mention coloured every shade from inky black to pillar-box red.

However, when hair chameleon Rihanna recently stepped out with yet another new look - a questionable, bleached blonde mullet reminiscent of vintage Rod Stewart - it seems the girl who never misses a trend missed a trick: the invisible haircut.

For, as the spring/summer catwalks attest, the backlash against the over-styled and over-exposed has begun. The top look this season is not just natural but barely visible.

"I think the days are long gone when we all want a trendy haircut. Invisible anti-haircuts are relevant right now," explains session stylist Luke Hersheson, creative director of the eponymous salons. "What we have been seeing in recent seasons is a return to the more effortless style of the 1990s. Céline's latest collection was especially minimal - and the models' hair matched up to that."

They were not alone. Models at the Giles, PPQ and Mulberry shows also walked with understated "undone" hair which was full, shiny and softly textured. But, contrary to appearances, these styles are not as simple as they look. Hidden layers, camouflaged colour and clever scissor work are the secret to achieving the non-haircut.

"We call it the invisible haircut because you don't see where it has actually been cut - just movement," explains Rossano Ferretti, who has tended the heads of supermodels including Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista. "Whether the length is long or short, you won't see obvious layers, only the hair falling into its best,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, natural shape. The cut is tailored to each person and suits all hair types."

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Got the love: the most romantic London landmarks | ES Magazine

2012-02-12T15:10:00.001+05:30

Got the love: the most romantic London landmarks | ES Magazine

Photographs by Amelia Troubridge. Styled by Orsolya Szabo. Tamara Ecclestone at Blakes Hotel

Got the love: the most romantic London landmarks

Hannah Nathanson
10 Feb 2012

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London is the new capital of romance. An actor, philosopher, writer, heiress, editor and drummer reveal their most romantic London landmarks.

Tamara Ecclestone, 27, Blakes Hotel

I'm such a romantic. I believe in love and marriage and happily-ever-afters. I'm the girl who grew up dreaming of the big white wedding. My parents [now separated] have always said that relationships are hard work. But that's not what I want to hear.

I like chivalrous gentlemen, like my dad, who will open the door and pull out a chair. Good manners are important. I don't find it sexy any more when a guy drives a fast car: I've been around it my whole life. I'm more interested in shoes - my poor dad!

I met my boyfriend Omar [Khyami], a stockbroker, through my sister Petra and her husband James [Stunt]. They invited me to dinner at Cipriani and I was put next to Omar. They maintain that they weren't matchmaking but I think they secretly were. We've been together for nearly two years and have barely spent a day apart. I'm leaving Valentine's Day entirely up to him; he'd better not disappoint me.

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Porsche unleashes its Turbo machine | Life & Style

2012-02-12T15:07:00.001+05:30

Porsche unleashes its Turbo machine | Life & Style

Porsche unleashes its Turbo machine

David Williams, Motoring Correspondent
10 Feb 2012

Road test
Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Top speed: 173mph; 0-62 mph:
4.7 secs; Combined fuel consumption: 24.6mpg; Emissions: 270 g/km;
Price: from £81,589

Ever wonder why anyone drives something as large as the Porsche Cayenne in London? A revisit to the range-topping model, the Turbo, recently served as a reminder.

Yes, it feels big and yes, it looks rather bling, but it's also an impressive way to travel, with plenty of space, pace and flexibility.

When it was re-launched in 2010, it grew by around four cms, making the interior roomier. It also got faster, its twin-turbo 4.8-litre V8 producing a whopping 500bhp and 516lb/ft torque. The engineers made it lighter by making the doors, bonnet and boot out of aluminium, losing some 185kgs.

The result? Its power-to-weight ratio improved by about 20bhp per tonne, lowering the 0-62mph time to 4.7 seconds and giving a top speed of 172mph. What the figures can't tell you is the way this tall Porsche handles, thanks in part to ingeniously engineered air suspension which makes it feel much like a sports car.

It makes for fast, roll-free cornering, backed by accurate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Barclays cuts bonuses by a third to £1.5 billion | News

2012-02-12T15:05:00.002+05:30

Barclays cuts bonuses by a third to £1.5 billion | News

Bob Diamond: His bonus will be disclosed when the bank publishes its annual report next month

Barclays cuts bonuses by a third to £1.5 billion

Jonathan Prynn and Nicholas Cecil
10 Feb 2012

Commentary: City still hasn't grasped the nettle

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Barclays has bowed to public pressure and slashed the bonuses paid to its City investment bankers by a third, to a total of £1.5 billion.

But the banking group, which today announced profits of almost £6 billion, still faced criticism for "anti-austerity largesse" as chief executive Bob Diamond refused to give the size of his top-up, or whether he would accept it.

Lib-Dem Lord Oakeshott said: "Top people at Barclays Capital are still collecting enormous bonuses on the back of a UK taxpayer guarantee. Now when they gamble, it's heads Bob Diamond wins, tails the taxpayer loses."

He called for the bank's investment arm, Barclays Capital, "the BarCap casino", to be separated from the high-street banking operation
Last month Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, rejected a £963,000 bonus.

Lloyds boss António Horta-Osório also waived his payout. However, unlike RBS and Lloyds, Barclays did not receive a direct bailout from the Government during the 2008 financial crisis.

The average bonus for Barclays Capital staff fell 30 per cent to £64,000, as the investment arm's profits slumped 32 per cent to £2.96 billion. No banker got more than £65,000 of their bonus in cash, with any excess in the form of shares.

Group pre-tax profits of £5.9 billion were three,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Get fit in Paris - theparisnews.com: Lifestyles

2012-02-12T13:35:00.000+05:30

Get fit in Paris - theparisnews.com: Lifestyles: It's a new year, and the fitness challenge is on.

Wedding Photography: The next big thing - Hindustan Times

2012-02-12T11:17:00.001+05:30

Wedding Photography: The next big thing - Hindustan TimesWedding Photography: The next big thing

Veenu Singh, Hindustan Times
January 21, 2012

Email to Author

First Published: 11:55 IST(21/1/2012)
Last Updated: 10:33 IST(23/1/2012)

As kids, we all had those moments. Bored, we’d wander to our parents’ cupboards, root about the shelves, and emerge triumphantly with big, fat, ornately decorated photo albums – the pictorial proof of our parents’ and relatives’ wedding days.

Going through the albums was a blast. We’d

chortle over those outdated fashions, exercise our wits over the sizes and shapes of the wedding guests, make rude remarks about mandap decorations, but most of all, comment on one particular thing – the poses and compositions those old-time wedding photographers insisted on. Every photo looked the same as every other photo. Only the faces and outfits changed.

You wouldn’t see wedding photos like those often these days. In fact, if young couples had their way, you’d never see photographs like that again. What’s cool now is candid shots. Wedding pictures are now keeping it real.

“There is no denying the fact that weddings are a kind of family reunion,” says corporate communications executive Aroma, who recently got married. “But at the same time, I wanted my wedding pictures to tell a story about my husband and I as a couple. I wasn’t keen on pictures of who came for my wedding and who wore what. It was my special day and I wanted to capture those memories forever.”

Parents, at this time, are not too thrilled about this new photo trend. But well-travelled couples love it. “Candid photography or a documentary style of wedding pictures has been trendy internationally for a few years,” says Andrew Adams, a wedding photographer from Toronto now shooting in India. “A lot of NRIs who are used to seeing this want a similar experience for their own weddings. It’s a more contemporary approach and young people prefer it.”

Here’s a look at some new wedding photography.

Andrew Adams
Moved from Toronto to India to capture Indian weddings as “they are so colourful and emotionally rich.” Doesn’t offer fixed packages as each wedding is unique.

Raised in a non-religious Canadian household, Andrew Adams was not exposed much to world culture until he moved away from home to study photography. “After my schooling I wanted to travel and explore the world. I have always been fascinated with South Asian culture, so naturally I became very interested in photographing Indian weddings,” says Andrew.

Why weddings? Because, according to Andrew, they allow him full creative freedom, something not often found in other types of commercial photography.
Candid photography is Andrew’s forte, something that he feels very strongly about. “My style is unobtrusive and my goal is to tell the true story of your day, as seen through the lens of a sensitive, documentary photographer. And candid shots are real,” he says.

This means that planning isn’t possible. Shooting a wedding documentary style, Andrew must just go with the flow. “I capture what happens as it happens, naturally,” he explains. “For posed photos, yes, I do instruct the bride and groom and family when it’s appropriate to do so, but NEVER during a ceremony! I would never interfere with the religious portion of the wedding.”

Since some parents are not 100 per cent certain of the results of candid photography, Andrew always suggests that they hire another photographer to do the posed pictures, so everyone is happy. Meanwhile, he himself is happy shooting at all kinds of weddings in all kinds of places. He prefers shooting in colour, since Indian weddings tend to be bright, but when it comes to emotional moments, he’d rather do black and white.

Having shot Indian weddings for 12 years, Andrew naturally has a lot of memories. “My most favourite moments are often during the vidai ceremony, when it’s all about raw emotions,” he says. “These are the best moments to capture. By this time the family is used to me and my camera and often let their guard down, so I am able to capture the real, heartfelt moments. These will be family treasures to keep for generations to come.”

He also focuses on the larger family, especially the grandparents. “It may be the last photograph ever taken of the whole family together and these photographs will become cherished family heirlooms,” he says.

Sharik Verma
Left his job with Wipro to focus on photography. Loves wedding photography because it captures different cultures. Is a fanatic about travelling, both in India and abroad.

Some people would seriously envy 24-year-old Sharik Verma, once an engineer with Wipro, now a photographer of weddings – and more. “During my tenure at Wipro, I bought a camera and went about clicking for fun. Then, I decided to take a trip to Zanskar and came back with lots of photos, including some of the Dalai Lama,” says Sharik. “Two of my best pictures of the Dalai Lama were sold for charity by an NGO, which made me think about photography seriously. And then I realised that I could combine that with travel. Two of my favourite things at one shot. I was decided.”

But even a travelling photographer can’t survive without money, and Sharik desperately needed a portfolio. “So I decided to try shooting products and did some fashion assignments as well. But I missed the creative satisfaction I was looking for.”

Then a chance meeting with Atul Pratap Chauhan, who not only did commercial photography but had made a mark in the field of wedding photography, showed Sharik the way. “Atul looked at my work and inspired me to take up wedding photography which would not just give me a chance to showcase my creative side, but also let me travel,” says Sharik.

But Sharik doesn’t like being called a wedding photographer. He prefers to be referred to as a photojournalist. “I don’t just click pictures, I get involved with the family in every moment of the celebration and then try to capture their moods and emotions from an insider’s point of view,” he explains.

“I interact with every important person of the family, understand their personalities and remain with them during the preparations as well as the final celebrations. I dance with them, eat with them and feel as sad as everyone else when the wedding is over.”

A large number of his clients are NRIs who are used to seeing this kind of involvement among photographers abroad and want the same style to be adopted here. Sharik is a big fan of minimalism and that’s how he shoots wedding photos too.

“The best thing about Indian weddings is the fact that there is a riot of colours everywhere and I prefer to capture those real colours with as little use of photoshop as possible,” says Sharik.

So are there any favourite weddings moments that he’ll remember forever? “I really feel that destination weddings are much more fun as the gathering is small, the location is usually fantastic and you are able to capture the emotional moments in a much better way,” he says.

“Besides this, intercultural or inter-religious weddings are also favourites as you get to see all kinds of different ceremonies and rituals.”

One great memory is of a wedding in Udaipur between two UK-born Indians. “It was a very close family affair that gave me the chance to capture some great moments, and I developed a great rapport with the families,” says Sharik. And once the wedding season comes to an end, he’ll take his earnings on a road trip through Europe – taking pictures all the way.

Priyanka Sachar
A project manager in the IT industry and an enthusiastic photographer, Priyanka ‘marries fine art with photography’. She’s one of the very few female wedding photographers in India.

She works as a manager in the IT industry, but Priyanka has always been passionate about photography. “Being a ‘memories’ person, photography started as a requirement to document my travels, but that soon became a form of metaphorical expression and symbolism through images,” she says. Her work, which “marries fine art with photography,” has won her much recognition, but in October 2010, Priyanka decided to take on commercial wedding photography.

“Marrying (no pun intended) ‘Fine Art’ with wedding photography was only natural,” she says. “It involves clicking the same situation artistically and without turning the subjects into bunnies caught in the glare of headlights. It is probably one of the most challenging forms of photography ever.”

That’s because there’s a lot going on at every given moment. “So one needs to be alert for what ‘may’ come next in terms of emotions and candid moments,” explains Priyanka. “Unlike traditional studio photographers, I prefer using ambient or naturally available light to create my pictures. I avoid harsh lights and flashes directly popping into the faces of the subjects.”

The keys to getting that perfect candid shot, she says, lie in spotting moments as they unfold and being almost invisible so that people are not conscious of being clicked. Priyanka loves what she does, particularly weddings that have some sort of twist to them. “I can’t wait for gay weddings to be legalised in India so I can do something different,” she grins.

As one of the very few female wedding photographers in India, Priyanka is much in demand with brides, who are more comfortable with a woman taking photographs while they are dressing for the ceremony. “Moreover, I am a person from their generation, with a similar kind of background, so that puts them at their ease instantly, because it’s starkly different from a ‘studio’ photographer bhaiya-ji experience,” says Priyanka with a chuckle.

Atul Pratap Chauhan
Left a job in the hospitality industry to pursue his passion for photography. Does commercial photography but wedding photography lets him be at his creative best.

Atul Pratap Chauhan, a commercial photographer, stumbled into wedding photography by sheer chance. “I came to Delhi in 2009 and was assisting Sephi Bergersen, a well-known name in wedding photography. He was shooting a Pakistani wedding and I was helping him with some interior shots,” he remembers of that fateful day. “While doing that, I took some candid shots of the wedding ceremonies that Sephi saw later and liked. He advised me to follow it up seriously and I decided to give it a shot.”

For a commercial photographer constrained by working to a client’s specifications, wedding photography often means complete creative freedom. While destination weddings are what Atul prefers the most, he is open to covering weddings anywhere in India. And his favourite weddings are the intercultural ones, which offer a wide range of emotions, colour, drama and action.

“Although, I’m usually hired by the bride, meeting the bride and groom together is essential to understand the level of comfort between the two,” he says. “This is important while doing pre or post wedding shoots with them. “In fact, for couple shots like these, I usually prefer to take them to locations like Corbett National Park, where the two of them get comfortable with one other.”

Since Indian weddings are colourful, Atul naturally prefers to shoot in colour. But emotional moments, such as the vidai, almost demand black and white, he says, because that kind of photograph enhances the emotion. “And in fact, it’s the vidai moments that are my favourites at all the weddings I shoot,” Atul adds. “The range of emotions you see is so wide.” That he loves what he does is obvious – the 30-year-old’s plans for the immediate future include an exhibition on village weddings.

From HT Brunch, January 22

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Tech fuel - Hindustan Times

2012-02-12T10:24:00.002+05:30

Tech fuel - Hindustan TimesTech fuel

Rajiv Makhni, Hindustan Times
February 10, 2012

First Published: 19:01 IST(10/2/2012)
Last Updated: 19:22 IST(11/2/2012)

The band tracks your activity levels and signals back to you using LED lights.

Thwack! That was the sweet sound of the middle of the baseball bat making contact with the pure leather of the ball. It was my first home run ever and I was being coached by the New York Yankees coach himself at that time – but that wasn’t THE most amazing thing to happen to me in New

York.

It’s huge – built on 24 acres. It’s expensive – it cost 1.5 billion US dollars to build – which makes it the third most expensive sports stadium in the world. It’s at the iconic Yankee Stadium – home of baseball team the New York Yankees, where I hit my home run. Yet, it STILL isn’t the most amazing thing in my NY adventures.

I spent about an hour with a man who is pure legend. He’s won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times despite being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. Yes, Lance Armstrong and I ‘chatted and hung’ for a while. And while that’s difficult to beat in emotional terms – there was still MORE amazement in store for me.

What was truly amazing was that while I did my whole baseball routine, pranced around the gigantic Yankee stadium and spent time in the company of a legend – I was also able to to accumulate and track ‘fuel’. More than 2,000 fuel points – and THAT is amazing!

Yes, fuel points were literally my life blood in New York. That's because I had strapped on a Nike+ Fuelband that was tracking my life at every stage. My activity level – was I sitting for too long, whether I took the stairs or the elevator, how much did I walk, was my run fast enough? It was pretty much a Big Brother on my wrist. And I was in competition with about 50 others.

Nike+ Fuelband is a flexible band made of thermoplastic rubber and polypropelene. It has a flexible LED screen on it, it’s water resistant, you can shower with it, it weighs just 32 grams and it comes in three sizes. This is a device that turns your life, your actions, your fitness and activity into fuel. This is a personal accelerometer that measures your activity in three dimensions – so whatever you’re doing will be tracked and signalled back to you with an array of LED lights turning from red to green as goals are met.

On top of those coloured LEDs is a screen that displays steps, calories and fuel. An app pairs with an iPhone (Android and others coming soon) for monitoring your progress on the go. And if you’re one of those people who has this insatiable need to share everything including your every activity – then your Fuelband data can be shared on Facebook or Twitter. It also connects to a personal account on the Web where you can see your performance graphed out with visuals.

It’s nice, it does quite a bit and it’s a good gauge of your daily level of activity but there are other devices that do similar things (see sidebar), maybe a bit less – but pretty similar. So why am I calling this amazing? Because it has taken the strengths of most of the others, overcomes the weaknesses – and added one critical feature.

Let me explain. The very idea of an all-day personal fitness tracker is that it must be ‘on you’ all day. And that’s the crux of the problem. Almost every other device needs a lot of extra effort from your side to give you results. Some need to strapped to your chest, some have an elastic band that must make hard contact with your skin, others need to be clipped onto your clothes and some need to be hung from a clasp. Not very efficient, you need to remember to put it on and you have to be very careful not to lose it (I’ve used a Fitbit for the last six months and gave up when I lost two of them) while you go about living your life.

With the Fuelband – you strap it onto your wrist, set a goal and forget about it. And as it monitors your life and gives you real time feedback, you truly do understand just how sedentary certain phases of your day are.

This isn’t the holy grail, it’s expensive at $149, some will dismiss it as a slickly packaged and marketed pedometer – but that’s where the comparisons stop. By packing in a lot of technology in a flexible screen band that literally becomes an unobtrusive part of your body – the Fuelband automatically starts playing the role of a coach, mentor, tracker and motivator. It charges you to move, to take the stairs, to go for a run, to not skip the gym – and may just end up making you fitter, leaner and stronger. And boy, how we all need that!

The FuelBand’s Competition

The Striiv is almost idiot proof and just works: It counts steps, your run and other activities, plus gives you challenges all day to keep you motivated. A slightly clunky interface and it needs to be clasped on – these are the main problems.

The FitBit is huge: Not in size (it’s super small) but in terms of the number of people that use it. It tracks it all – your calories, steps, even sleep. It needs to be clipped on to your waist and that’s where it gets lost very easily.

The BodyMedia FIT: FIT is where it all started. Used on the show Biggest Loser, this armband has a sensor that must touch your skin at all times. It’s very accurate and tracks a lot, such as temperature, how much you sweat, etc, but is impossible to keep on all day. It is also very expensive.

Jawbone UP: UP was a great idea but dies within a week of use. Never a good thing in a device.

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3.

Why too much of health food is bad - Hindustan Times

2012-02-12T10:21:00.001+05:30

Why too much of health food is bad - Hindustan TimesWhy too much of health food is bad

Kavita Devgan, Hindustan Times
February 04, 2012

First Published: 13:27 IST(4/2/2012)
Last Updated: 10:13 IST(7/2/2012)

more... What happens when Mr Z decides that fruit is the healthiest food on earth and chooses to eat fruit all the time? Or when Ms Z believes that proteins were created just to keep her thin and banishes all other food groups from her diet?

“This is when good food turns bad,” says Dr Rommel

Tickoo, consultant, internal medicine, Max Hospital, Delhi. “When we have too much of even a good thing, it ceases to be good, and can in fact cause harm.”
In this age of health obsession, we’ve been conditioned to think about foods as good or bad. If X is good and Y is bad, we reason, then for good health we should eat X and ditch Y. And once we’ve divided foods into good and bad, we begin to think that if a little of something is good for us, then a lot of it must be great. But that is a false argument, says Dr Tickoo.

“Amounts matter,” he says. “Even when it comes to foods that are universally accepted as super good. Too much of anything is bad.” Here’s a checklist of good foods that become bad when you eat too much of them, so you can keep an informed eye on what you’re eating.

Fibre
There is absolutely no doubt that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and all things good, and that they also contain fibre, which prevents constipation and other gastric problems. But too much fibre (for instance, when you eat platefuls of raw green leafy vegetables or salads like radishes day in and out) can mess things up – big time.

Excess fibre often causes bloating, abdominal cramps and gas right away. In the long term, it can interfere with the absorption of minerals like iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, causing some serious deficiencies.

“Plus, each individual food you overdose on has its own set of problems,” says Dr Manjinder Sandhu, head of cardiology at Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon. “For example, eating large amounts of carrots or papaya will not necessarily result in greater benefits for you. Though the body converts the beta-carotene into vitamin A, it absorbs only the amount it needs, leaving the rest to stay in the system. Over time, this turns the palms of your hands and soles of your feet a yellow or yellowish-orange, a condition called carotenemia.”

Carotenemia can also occur when you drink too much carrot juice or over-eat other foods high in beta-carotene, such as sweet potatoes, squash, spinach and broccoli. The condition, fortunately, is harmless and can be sorted out simply by staying away from vitamin A-rich foods for a while.

“Papaya also has a digestive enzyme called papain which has beneficial effects in moderation, but over-consumption can cause stomach discomfort, coughs, colds and wheezing,” says Dr Arpit Jain, senior consultant, department of internal medicine, Artemis Health Institute. “Papaya, orange and kiwi are rich sources of vitamin C, very high consumption of which can cause headaches, vomiting, bladder irritation and occasionally, kidney stones too.”

Finally, too many apples may cause gas, bloating and diarrhoea because of high fibre and sorbitol, and oranges and tomatoes can cause stomach irritation due to their high acidic content, Dr Jain adds.

Who’s at risk?
Vegans or vegetarians, raw food enthusiasts, and those who eat excessive amounts of fruit while taking fibre supplements.

Healthy Limit: We need about 25 to 35g of fibre daily, or about five cups of fruits and/or vegetables a day. Try to vary the fruit and veggies every day.

Protein
The body needs protein to repair and build muscle, but eating excessive amounts won’t do the job better. In fact, in a diet where the protein intake goes beyond 30 per cent of the daily caloric intake, a build up of toxic ketones in the body may occur, causing the kidneys to go into overdrive in an attempt to flush them out. This may lead to a significant loss of water and calcium from the body, causing dehydration and bone loss. Symptoms include a feeling of weakness and dizziness, dry skin, loss of hair, low appetite, nausea and bad breath. In the long term, this may strain the kidneys, stretch out the liver and put stress on your heart too.

“Weightloss efforts go bust too, as excess protein is converted into fat,” says Dr Tickoo. “Another problem is that while making protein into carbs or fat, the body converts the protein’s nitrogen into urea or uric acid. In large amounts, this can mess up your kidneys, lead to gout (a condition that causes your joints to become inflamed, tender and painful to move) and cause gallstones and kidney stones.”

Be super careful with protein shakes and bars. The body can process only about four to five grams of protein per hour, so the 50 grams you got from that protein bar or shake will take about 10 hours to digest and absorb. Also, when you replace your meals with protein shakes, you run the risk of missing the vitamins and nutrients you get from real food.

Red meat is hard on the digestive system because it can take up to 16 hours to digest, a situation that can create a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria too. In the long run, too much protein may increase the risk of getting haemorrhoids, polyps and colon cancer.

Who’s at risk?
Strict ‘only non vegetarians’, those who follow high-protein weightloss fad diets repeatedly, and those who try to build muscles in a hurry by resorting to unregulated use of protein shakes, meals and bars.

Healthy Limit: Most people need about 50 to 70g of protein a day. Here are some measures: approximately 200g of chicken or fish or 150g of mutton provides 40g of protein, 1 egg provides 5g of protein and 250–500ml of milk provides 9 to 18g of protein. More than this means you’re in excess for the day.

Water
Water is without doubt the most essential dietary ingredient. But too much water can increase the total blood volume and place an unnecessary burden on the heart and blood vessels. It can also lead to a fortunately rare but potentially fatal condition called hyponatraemia, in which the body’s salt levels drop and the brain swells.

Symptoms of water intoxication include headaches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination and mental disorientation.

Who’s at risk?
Marathon runners and athletes have problems when they drink a lot of water quickly or drink water without sufficient electrolytes. People following fad diets are at risk. People with impaired kidney functions should be careful too.

Healthy Limit: We are unlikely to suffer from water intoxication even if we drink a lot of water, as long as we drink it over time rather than downing an enormous volume at one time. As a general guideline, most adults need approximately 8-10 glasses every day. But it’s best to let thirst be your guide. If it’s a hot day, drink a little more, but don’t force down gallons of water because you think you must. “Drink enough water so that your urine is colourless or light yellow,” suggests Dr Tickoo. While exercising, balance what you’re drinking with what you’re losing in sweat – and that includes sports drinks.

Tea
Tea keeps our hearts healthy, it’s soothing and stress relieving. But it’s addictive. So there is a possibility that four cups a day will become 10. Radio jockey Radhika Sharma, 36, found that out when she counted the number of cups of tea she drank one day and found it totalled 17.

Tea contains around 40mg caffeine per cup. “Caffeine is thought to inhibit the absorption of iron and some vitamins and is also linked to headaches, jitteriness, digestive disruption, irritability, confusion, headaches, tremors, irregular heartbeats and insomnia,” says Dr Tickoo. “People who are sensitive to caffeine may also suffer from acidity as it leads to production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.”

The tea in teabags is more finely cut and releases caffeine more quickly. And the longer you brew the tea, the more caffeine will be extracted. Drink too much tea and you could also take too much fluoride into your system and develop a state of fluorosis, which can cause a bone disease called osteosclerosis (brittle poor quality bones).

Who’s at risk?
Those who are predisposed to heartburn and stomach ulcers. Diabetics and people with high blood pressure need to be careful too. In any case, addiction is bad for anyone.

Healthy Limit: If you drink more than five cups a day, consider decaffeinated tea. Look at the size of your cup too. Two cups of tea a day from the neighbourhood café is more like six cups a day.

Fish
Though fish contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids that help fight heart disease, and maybe even Alzheimer’s, it also contains heavy metal toxins such as mercury (found especially in tuna, swordfish and shark). When eaten regularly, these can remain in your system and can lead to serious health and cognitive problems, including heart disease and reduced memory and concentration.

“Be careful with fish oil supplements too,” warns Dr Sandhu. “High doses might reduce the immune system’s activity which would reduce the body’s ability to fight infection. They could also lead to an increase in the body’s LDL (bad) cholesterol.”

Who’s at risk?
Pregnant women and very young children are especially susceptible to mercury, but everyone needs to watch their intake. Those taking blood pressure medications need to be careful of fish oil supplements as they may cause the blood pressure to drop too sharply.

Healthy Limit: Choose cold-water fish known to contain less mercury, such as shrimp, salmon, catfish, carp, trout, squid, canned light tuna, herring and sardines, or stick to farm bred fish. Have about 20-25g per day or limit yourself to two meals of fish a week. “Fish oil supplements are safe between 3 and 5g a day,” says Dr Jain.

Soya
The Japanese eat soya and stay healthy and live longer. It is high in protein and has zero cholesterol. So what could be wrong with that?

That’s true, but what is also true is that most Japanese eat only about 8 to 10g of soy protein a day, and even soya causes problems when eaten in excess. “If overeaten, it may promote cancer, dementia, reproductive abnormalities, osteoporosis and thyroid disorders,” says Dr Jain. “Increased consumption could also increase a woman’s total estrogen level, which is a risk factor for breast cancer.” For men, excessive soya can raise the risk of infertility, physical changes and hormonal havoc.

That’s what happened to 36-year-old Gurgaon-based engineer Ramanujan Murthy. He switched to soy milk when he turned lactose intolerant and drank lots of it because he loved the taste. A few years later, he had emotional issues and his body was going through physical changes – all tracked to excess estrogen in his body, due to his excessive consumption of soya.

Who’s at risk?
Everyone needs to be careful, particularly infants (so don’t wean them on soya formulas).

Healthy Limit: “About two servings (about 25-30g) per day of soya foods is safe,” says Dr Sandhu. And eat more fermented soya products such as tempeh, soya sauce and miso soups, than non-fermented products like soy milk, tofu and so on. This is because these are high in phytic acid which causes most of the problems. Avoid soy supplements, energy bars and powders.

— The author is a Delhi-based nutritionist and writer

Go easy on these too

Supplements
Marketing executive Neeraj was popping 15 pills in the morning and 13 pills in the evening (vitamins and other supplements) because he thought this would guarantee good health. Soon he had cardiac issues, diabetes and hyperuricaemia.

“You can overdose even on vitamins if you take them long enough and in high doses. Vitamins A, D, E and K, when stored in the body in greater-than-needed amounts, can reach toxic levels,” says Dr Rommel Tickoo, consultant, internal medicine, Max Hospital, Delhi. “If you’re eating well and not suffering from any ailment, you don’t require multivitamins. Take them only if they have been prescribed.”

Exercise
Journalist Ramaya had a densitometry test after a major fracture and found she was osteoporotic. At age 24! Even her doctor was shocked. Why did this happen? Because the exercise hours she was diligently putting in were eroding her bone mass.

Symptoms of over exercising are usually fatigue, weightloss, trouble sleeping, decreased bone density, absent or infrequent menstruation, dehydration, bingeing, injury, and pain after exercise.

“Thirty to sixty minutes of exercise five times a week is considered optimum,” says Nisha Verma, Reebok Master Trainer (North India).

The health food disorder
Orthorexia Nervosa is the term used for an obsessive addiction to health food. People with the disorder are obsessed with eating to improve their health. This behaviour is similar to that of people with anorexia or bulimia, except that anorexics and bulimics are obsessed by food quantity whereas orthorexics are obsessed by food quality.

Studies show the disorder is slightly more prevalent in women than men, becomes more severe after age 30, and is more likely to appear in upper-class people with higher education. Patients need to work with a dietician to include a larger variety of foods in their menus, and talk to a psychologist if necessary.

Why do we get sucked in?
There is just too much information floating about on food. Eat this, don’t eat that... You hear this all the time and read it everywhere. You even have Sakshi Tanwar, TV’s favourite bahu, telling everyone in the serial Bade Achhe Lagte Hain how healthy almonds are and how she cannot stop once she begins to eat them. And there are too many movie stars vouching for protein shakes to mention here.

This avalanche of information (much of it from dubious sources) makes us believe that we know enough on the subject to know what to eat.

But really, it isn’t as simple as that. As a nutritionist, when I ask my clients why they stick only to foods that they consider ‘good’, I’m told, “I feel safe with this.”

And because they feel safe with these, they decide to eat only those foods – forgetting completely the need for moderation and the fact that good health is based on a varied diet.

Unfortunately this is not how it works! Foods are not ‘good’ and ‘bad’. That’s a much too simplistic way to describe how foods work. Some seemingly bad foods – for instance, fats – are essential for the proper functioning of the body, albeit in small amounts. And some super healthy foods – such as turnips – can be lethal if eaten too much as they contain psoralens, which are potent carcinogens. Even water in excess can be damaging – and the same goes for broccoli!

There’s an old saying: you can’t get too much of a good thing. Reality begs to differ. In trying to eat the healthiest food, we sometimes go too far. And make no mistake: gormandising good eats is gluttony – and it’s damaging!

So what’s the solution?
It’s important not to choke on ‘facts’ because these are facts only till the next study rubbishes them. Remember what happened to fats: first there was a blanket ban on them and now some (like omega-3) are supposedly ‘essential’. So don’t blindly follow all food alerts. Stay in the know, but eat by instinct.

Also, nothing is completely bad. Foods are only bad when eaten in excess. Quantity really matters. As I tell my clients, there is only one sacred rule for diets – eat in moderation and you’ll never go wrong. This way whatever research reveals or buries, you’ll be in the pink of health!

What we can learn from Cupcakes - Hindustan Times

2012-02-12T10:18:00.001+05:30

What we can learn from Cupcakes - Hindustan TimesWhat we can learn from Cupcakes

Andrea Adleman
February 11, 2012

First Published: 21:11 IST(11/2/2012)
Last Updated: 21:14 IST(11/2/2012)

, As the Modern Cupcake Moment swirls into its second decade, America just might have to admit that what we’re dealing with — 669.4 million sold from a year from October 2010, according to the market research firm NPD — is not a fad. It’s an enduring love affair.

“Cupcake

culture has been iconic in the US for 100 years,” says Steve Abrams, co-owner of New York’s Magnolia Bakery. American recipes for cake baked in small cups and the term “cup cake” cropped up earlier, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. “There is no cupcake craze.”

He ought to know. Cupcakes represent half of his company’s $20 million in annual sales, which surged following the bakery’s 2000 cameo appearance in HBO’s Sex and the City.

One food trendspotter attributes cupcakes’ retail ascent to a convergence of factors. “If you look back at the modern arrival of the cupcake, it happened to coincide with and was the motivator for the niche, specialty bakery that evidently was ripe to come,” says Kara Nielsen of the Center for Culinary Development in San Francisco.

At the same time cupcake-only bakeries started to multiply in the mid to late 2000s. As household budgets tightened during the down economy of the past four years, cupcakes became an affordable luxury, a means to relieve the angst of repressing big-ticket desires. “With a cupcake, recession-weary consumers can treat themselves,” says economic analyst Domenick Celentano, who writes about the food business on About.com.

Chris Carbone who studies consumer trends for the market research firm Innovaro, says cupcakes appeal to post-modernists who value creativity, authenticity, aesthetic design and personalisation.

Cupcakes r us

It’s the day before Thanksgiving 2011, and the faithful are congregating at the original Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, Calif., the cupcake boutique that has grown from this one shop in 2005 to nine stores nationwide.

Tourists take pictures to pass the time while standing in a line that’s 20 deep. Two women who aren’t in line peer in the window just to see what it looks like inside.

“Everyone has come here for a hug,” says Los Angeles psychiatrist Carole Lieberman. “People are lining up not just because the cupcakes taste good. A lot of things taste good. They’re looking for that same feeling inside.”

Cupcake bashers are just as passionate. Baltimore celebrity baker Duff Goldman shot at cupcakes with a rifle on his Food Network show, Ace of Cakes. In 2009, the Guardian newspaper cast them as the “favourite greedy treat of the me-generation.”

“Cupcakes are indicative of where this country is with our desire to self-soothe through food,” says Brad Lamm, author and registered interventionist who appears on The Dr Oz Show. “Our desire for more and for self-soothing is out of control,” Lamm says.

“I was so intrigued by the cupcake food truck that all summer I’d hang around and wait for it," Chicago psychoanalyst Mark Smaller says, likening it to memories stirred by ice cream-truck bells. “The experience of walking over to a truck might evoke, consciously or unconsciously, a very positive experience of feeling connected to one’s parents and feeling special in one’s parents’ eyes,” he adds.

Psychotherapist Paul Hokemeyer, another Dr. Oz-sanctioned expert, takes a different view of the cupcake-centric human connection.

“The popularity of cupcakes directly tracks the rise in cultural narcissism that has resulted from the Internet’s impact on our psyche,” he says. “Through our over-reliance on the Internet, we’ve become a culture of emotionally disconnected individuals who live in socially isolated cyber-fantasy worlds. The fantasy worlds we create for ourselves on the Internet are an equivalent of the modern myth of Narcissus where we spend hours in an isolated aggrandisement of self.”

“Through cupcakes, seemingly innocent little ‘treats,’ we can project fantasies of who and what we desire to be. Instead of connecting us to others, however, cupcakes keep us separate and add to our sense of isolation.

Cupcake in the mirror

San Francisco psychotherapist Brooke Miller says cupcakes represent a perfectly proportioned sense of self.

“With so much stimulation and expectation — material wealth, keeping up with the Joneses, Hollywood and our own parents’ expectations — many people turn to food to manage the emotion that comes up with living a life they assume is under par.

“They keep us ‘boundaried’ and feeling contained, like we don’t need to do, eat or prove anything more than what is unwrapped in this little wrapper of joy.” Self-realisation through cupcakes can take many forms. In the event of an identity crisis, one can consult Cupcakes for Every Personality, a guide created for the Georgetown Cupcake sisters’ 2010 appearance on Oprah.

Serious souls are vanilla. The adventurous are peanut butter fudge. Spunky are lemon berry. Practical folk are carrot. You creatives are pumpkin spice. Nonsense? More than one commentator has quipped, “Sometimes a cupcake is just a cupcake.”

It has a nice ring to it. Then again, so does the cash register.

Consumers are seduced. As Georgetown Cupcake’s Katherine Kallinis says, “This is what love looks like in a baked good.”

In exclusive partnership with The Washington Post.

Actor and HT's Guest Editor, Ranbir Kapoor | Talking pics: Mumbai First | Photos India | - hindustantimes.com

2012-02-12T10:00:00.000+05:30

Actor and HT's Guest Editor, Ranbir Kapoor | Talking pics: Mumbai First | Photos India | - hindustantimes.comTalking pics: Mumbai First

26-Mar

Actor and HT's Guest Editor, Ranbir Kapoor, takes his picks -- Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor.

Sunny Leone | Sunny Leone: From porn to Bollywood | Photos Entertainment | - hindustantimes.com

2012-02-12T09:58:00.000+05:30

Sunny Leone | Sunny Leone: From porn to Bollywood | Photos Entertainment | - hindustantimes.comSunny Leone: From porn to Bollywood

09-Feb

She was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and was a contract star for Vivid Entertainment.

LOL | Hollywood Release: LOL | Photos Entertainment | - hindustantimes.com

2012-02-12T09:56:00.000+05:30

LOL | Hollywood Release: LOL | Photos Entertainment | - hindustantimes.comHollywood Release: LOL

10-Feb

Miley Cyrus, in a coming-of-age film LOL, sheds all her inhibitions. The teen sensation will be seen making out with Douglas Booth and indulging in a lesbian moment with Ashley Hinshaw.

Uruguayan carnival | Dance to beat | Photos World | - hindustantimes.com

2012-02-12T09:54:00.000+05:30

Uruguayan carnival | Dance to beat | Photos World | - hindustantimes.comDance to beat

10-Feb

Members of a comparsa, an Uruguayan carnival band, play the drums to perform candombe music and dance during the first night of the Llamadas parade in Montevideo. The Llamadas, which is Spanish for "Call", originated during the colonial times when slaves played drums to keep in touch with relatives and friends. REUTERS/Andres Stapff

Patricia Bailey | Mastering the carnival | Photos World | - hindustantimes.com

2012-02-12T09:50:00.000+05:30

Patricia Bailey | Mastering the carnival | Photos World | - hindustantimes.comMastering the carnival

11-Feb

Patricia Bailey presents a creation titled Exotic Sunset on the Horizon, on the stage at Queen's Park Savannah during the preliminaries of the King and Queen of Carnival competition in Port-of-Spain. Twenty semi-finalists were chosen from the 74 competitors from each of the king and queen categories, to go on to the next round. REUTERS/Andrea De Silva

How to blow off the blues - Hindustan Times

2012-02-11T18:14:00.001+05:30

How to blow off the blues - Hindustan TimesHow to blow off the blues

Dr Shikha Sharma, Hindustan Times
February 04, 2012

Email to Author

First Published: 18:39 IST(4/2/2012)
Last Updated: 19:10 IST(4/2/2012)

Feeling low is fast becoming a rising issue among people in cities today. Many people experience mild depression for months, sometimes years, but seem unable to do anything about it. These are the signs:

Lack of enthusiasm
A feeling that everything is dull and

monotonous
You stop taking care of yourself
You’d rather be alone than with anyone else
You eat mindlessly and without enjoyment
You sleep excessively
You smoke and drink more than usual
Life seems to lack joy
To cope, many people watch TV or surf the Internet endlessly and mindlessly.

There are numerous reasons for feeling low, but the result is always the same – a feeling of listlessness and lack of joy. Men and women respond differently to this situation. Men become irritable and incline towards addictions to cope with boredom, anxiety and depression. Women withdraw into a shell.

Solutions for women
Phone a friend who is a positive person, and listen to him or her with an open heart instead of doing the talking yourself.
Play your favourite music while you do your daily chores.

Write down seven things that you have and that you’re grateful for. Gratitude is a major mood lifter, unlike comparisons. Studies have shown that when people compare themselves to richer and more accomplished people, they make themselves feel small and unhappy.

Take up an activity that gives you happiness, such as singing, painting, dance or exercise classes or gardening.

Spend on small self-indulgences like a body massage – especially if you have never done this before. (Small actions like this often build up a feeling of being wanted and worthy.)

Go to a temple, satsang, church or any spiritual place, or join a class that teaches self-healing methods. You’ll meet positive like-minded people at those places and group therapy is much stronger than individual therapy

Light aroma incense sticks in the evening and put on soothing music.
Get a book if you enjoy reading.

Meet an old friend for lunch and laugh over old times.

Take up yoga or dance aerobics. These activities are a sure-shot way to change yourself.

Get a healthy cooking recipe book and start changing your eating patterns. (Unhealthy foods lead to unhealthy emotions. A vitamin

B12 deficiency is also a major nutritional reason for feeling low.)

Become a volunteer in any social organisation if you feel up to it. Women tend to be nurturing by nature and volunteer work synergises with that basic need to help others. Volunteer work also helps you increase your sense of self-worth, thanks to your belief that you are contributing to a worthy cause.

Next week: Solutions for men.

From HT Brunch, February 5

How much do you lie in a day? - Hindustan Times

2012-02-11T18:13:00.002+05:30

How much do you lie in a day? - Hindustan TimesHow much do you lie in a day?

Seema Goswami, Hindustan Times
February 04, 2012

Email to Author

First Published: 17:59 IST(4/2/2012)
Last Updated: 19:12 IST(4/2/2012)

So, how many lies do you get through on an average day? Less than ten? More than 20? Around a 100? Well, if you’re hitting the three-figure mark, then it may be time to check in for some therapy. But if your individual score is less than 30, don’t worry: you come well within the normal

range.

Because, truth be told, it is impossible to get through the day without lying to someone or the other about something or the other. No matter what you do, whom you meet, you will always come up against situations in which truth-telling is both cruel and needlessly hurtful. There will always be some situations in which honesty is demonstratively not the best policy.

And that’s when you will realise that lying is the lubricant that keeps our social contract in good working order.

Never mind all those moral science lessons that were drummed into you in school. Never mind what your religious texts tell you about how lying is a Very Bad Thing. Never mind the scolding you got whenever you lied to your parents as a kid. Now that you’re a grown-up you have to assess when telling the truth works; and when it is simply out of the question.

While each one of us will have to make our own individual assessments as we go along, I think we can agree that there are some areas where lying is always better than sticking to inconvenient truths.

First up is children. Other people’s children, that is. No matter how close you are to the parents, it is never a good idea to tell them the truth about how you feel about their kids (unless, of course, you adore them – in which case, go right ahead). But otherwise, discretion is always the better part of frankness.

Going to see a friend’s new-born baby? Remember to coo and sigh and say “How cute” and “How absolutely adorable” at appropriate intervals even if she/he resembles nothing more than a shrivelled-up prune which comes with its own surround sound.

Having dinner with friends with young children? Smile encouragingly when they are coaxed out of their bedrooms to regale you with the rhymes and songs they have learned at play school. Clap loudly when the ordeal ends even if you are bored to death. And nod along enthusiastically when the proud parents tell you how marvellously talented they are.

Nobody wants to know what you really think. Nobody wants the truth. They just want someone to validate their pride in their children. So be a pet and play along.

In fact, the only way to negotiate the social minefield is to spread a few lies around strategically so that can you step on them and avoid being blown up by a hidden landmine.

You may well think that your cousin’s new home is a monstrosity, a landmark to bad taste and too much money. But what’s the point in saying that (unless you want to pay him back for the time he locked you into a toilet for an entire day)? Admire his new sound system, exclaim over the Italian furniture, go into ecstasies over the Jacuzzi in the bathroom. There, it wasn’t that difficult, was it?

Your boss’s wife’s home-cooked dinner may be completely inedible but if you want a raise – and an invitation back next year – then act as if you’re enjoying every morsel. The sweater your grandmother knitted for you may be in execrable taste, but if you don’t want to break her heart you better wear it when you go to visit her (and tell her how much you love it while you’re at it). Your father-in-law may be driving you up the wall by regaling you with the same stories over and over again. But don’t tell him that if you want your wife to be speaking to you at the end of the day.

A friend sends you his new novel and asks for your ‘honest’ opinion. Should you confess that you fell asleep over the first chapter? Of course not. He has an editor to tell him unpalatable truths. As his friend, you need to be supportive, even if that means offering up a few white lies at the altar of truth.

Your wife is getting ready to go out with the girls on their weekly night out. She pulls on her skinny jeans, pulls a face and turns to you with that old chestnut: “Does my bum look big in this?”

No, wait, what on earth are you doing? You are not supposed to actually look at the bum in question. That would imply that there was something to consider; a judgement to be made. No, trust me, you don’t want to go down that road. Just look at her straight in the eye and say: “No.”

If it makes you feel any better, rest assured she’s not going to wear that pair of jeans anyway. The reason she asked is because she’s already made up her mind that yes, her bum looks big in that. But it really isn’t for you to say.

Yes, sometimes people ask questions not because they want to know the truth. Sometimes they just ask them to find out if you care enough about them to lie. And sometimes a lie can tell the truth about a relationship much better than searing honesty.

Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

From HT Brunch, February 5