The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
- H. W. Longfellow (The Ladder of St. Augustine)
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
200 years ago ....
200 years ago on this day (Feb 27, 1807) was born one of the greatest American poets - certainly one of my all time favorites - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
In his memory, here is one of my favorites ...
A Psalm of Life
H.W. Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
-------------
There are other favorites too ofcourse - but this one is by far at the top of the list ...
In his memory, here is one of my favorites ...
A Psalm of Life
H.W. Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
-------------
There are other favorites too ofcourse - but this one is by far at the top of the list ...
Monday, February 26, 2007
New blog - apnafinance
Just started a new blog a couple of days ago called apnafinance. While its still a solo effort so far, I hope that it will be a collaborative effort with a few more friends actively participating.
I envision the blog to be a common way to share thoughts and experiences about personal finance, stock research, investing, economy, India, outsourcing, and other related issues. I often get into discussions with a few friends over one or more of these topics. So I figured it would be a good idea to consolidate some of these at one location. The name apnafinance may not universally fit everything that is added there, additional blogs may get created as needed.
I envision the blog to be a common way to share thoughts and experiences about personal finance, stock research, investing, economy, India, outsourcing, and other related issues. I often get into discussions with a few friends over one or more of these topics. So I figured it would be a good idea to consolidate some of these at one location. The name apnafinance may not universally fit everything that is added there, additional blogs may get created as needed.
Friday, February 23, 2007
hours v/s business hours
Yesterday, I was on the phone with a call center representative of my bank. I asked for a change to be made on my account, and she replied that she would be glad to take care of it for me. And once she put in the request, it would show up on my account in less than 72 business hours. So I politely inquired if she meant 9 business days? She 'corrected' me by saying that it turns out to be 3 business days. I decided not to push the topic further and let that be. Then I asked for another change - she made that change, and again added that it would get done in 72 business hours.
At that point, I couldn't help but smile at the situation and thanked her for the help and hung up. All I can hope for is that she realizes the difference soon, and that she is not based in India (she didn't sound like she was - I can tell when the call center is in India, because no non-desi can pronounce my name exactly the way it is supposed to be!).
At that point, I couldn't help but smile at the situation and thanked her for the help and hung up. All I can hope for is that she realizes the difference soon, and that she is not based in India (she didn't sound like she was - I can tell when the call center is in India, because no non-desi can pronounce my name exactly the way it is supposed to be!).
Friday, February 16, 2007
Cigarette smoking? no problem ... drink chai
A bunch of Bengalis hypothesized that the oxidative stress caused by cigarette smoke could be countered by the antioxidants from black tea. So in order to test this hypothesis, they exposed guinea pigs to cigarette smoke from five cigarettes (two puffs/cigarette) per guinea pig /day for seven days [Yes, in exactly that amount!] and then gave them water or black tea to drink. As a control, they had another bunch of guinea pigs exposed to air instead of cigarette smoke. They measured the lung damage caused by the exposure.
They observed that cigarette smoke exposure indeed caused lung damage (surprise surprise ...!!), and not only that - the damage was prevented when the guinea pigs exposed to cigarette smoke were given black tea to drink instead of water.
Conclusion - lung damage from cigarette smoke can be prevented by drinking chai ...
The results have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Inflammation.
Black tea prevents cigarette smoke-induced apoptosis and lung damage
Shuvojit Banerjee , Palas Maity , Subhendu Mukherjee , Alok K. Sil , Koustubh Panda , Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay and Indu B. Chatterjee
J. Inflammation 4(3) , 2007, doi:10.1186/1476-9255-4-3
Newsflash: Major tobacco companies just announced strategic partnerships with Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever to market cigarettes with genuine Darjeeling and Assam tea that will prevent lung damage.
They observed that cigarette smoke exposure indeed caused lung damage (surprise surprise ...!!), and not only that - the damage was prevented when the guinea pigs exposed to cigarette smoke were given black tea to drink instead of water.
Conclusion - lung damage from cigarette smoke can be prevented by drinking chai ...
The results have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Inflammation.
Black tea prevents cigarette smoke-induced apoptosis and lung damage
Shuvojit Banerjee , Palas Maity , Subhendu Mukherjee , Alok K. Sil , Koustubh Panda , Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay and Indu B. Chatterjee
J. Inflammation 4(3) , 2007, doi:10.1186/1476-9255-4-3
Newsflash: Major tobacco companies just announced strategic partnerships with Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever to market cigarettes with genuine Darjeeling and Assam tea that will prevent lung damage.
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