Monica's Archives

The deaths of actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor are shocking, but then death is the ultimate leveler. It is the thought of death and misery that has forced people to leave everything and begin the search for truth. All things have to reduce to dust. Lord Krishna in The Bhagwad Geeta talks of the worldly nature of material things around us. Nothing is yours and when you leave the world it is the ‘Atma’, i.e., consciousness that stays. I am reminded of these thoughts amid the coronavirus crisis that is taking its toll all over the world and the deaths of two fine actors in Indian cinema – Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor – from cancer of different kinds one after the other. As a soul, in every life, we get new roles, relationships, material possessions, and success on the basis of what we have earned by the actions performed in our previous births. So every birth offers us an opportunity to do better actions and create more happiness for the self and others. It’s not possible to...

Today, everyone knows that to be healthy we should lead a healthy lifestyle. But at times, we get confused about what is healthy lifestyle. The way we are living is our lifestyle. Now, how can we make it healthy? People in our society can be categorized like bachelors/single women, married men, married working women, homemakers etc. who may need to think to bring some changes in their lifestyle. Working bachelors can be either staying at home with their family( parents and siblings) or have to shift to other city and are staying with friends or in hostel/ PG. Healthy lifestyle broadly can be classified in four steps: 1) Eat healthy 2) Exercise regularly 3) Reduce stress 4) Drink plenty of water The key is to be consistent. Whatever changes you bring to your lifestyle should be exercised regularly. It may seem difficult at first, but please make a start. Like first you may be able to do it twice or thrice in a week. Let it be. We cannot expect to change our lives in a day. ...

Financial Planning involves channelisation of our funds towards the fulfillment of our goals. All of us have some desires and needs, like that of buying a car in a couple of years, buying my own house before I turn 40, want my children to go in a good university for higher studies, planning for retirement etc. When it comes to realizing these goals we have no definite plans. We just leave it all on mercy of God and expect everything to fall in place. Eventually, in most of the cases, we do not achieve our   intended goals in a manner we wish to and our dreams end up being just that – dreams. Mostly our daily life is focused on arranging finances for our immediate needs, like our child’s school fee, arranging funds for next month’s EMI, buying clothing for coming festival and likewise. It’s not as if we don’t think about securing our future and achieving long term goals, but day-to-day routine activities leave us with little time to give our future a serious thought. Among ...

Life insurance is an essential part of financial planning. The main purpose of purchasing a life insurance policy is to ensure that the dependents are financially protected in the event of the death of the life insured. It is important for the person to be sure that the coverage he purchases fits his needs. Deciding the coverage amount There are two theories for deciding the coverage amount – human life value concept and need-based approach. Human Life Value The human life value concept uses four factors to determine how much life insurance will be needed by an individual to protect his family and assets. These factors are: 1)       Annual income 2)       Annual expenses 3)       Years left until retirement 4)       Expected value of the current rupee at the end of this period due to inflation. Need-Based Approach It focuses on the financial needs of surviving fami...

In the present situation, it has been important to maintain social distancing. This is the only solution to fight Coronavirus. Stay safe by staying at home. Do not interact with anyone as far as possible. Maximum people are working from home. As this is an emergency like situation and we all are forced to stay indoors. The main concern becomes what to do all day at home. People are not in the habit of staying home for so long. Everyone needs some activity to keep them busy. Today, I would like to share some activities which can help you to pass your time productively. ·          Enjoy staying home with your family which you must have been longing to do so. Play with your kids, know them, and guide them through different activities. Sit with your parents and talk to them. They love to revive their memories. ·          Try some new or favorite recipes. ·        ...

Immunity is the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection by the action of specific antibodies. It is the body’s resistance power against disease-causing organisms or harmful substances. It provides defense against pathogens like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. The immune system is the body’s defense against infections. The immune system attacks germs and helps keep us healthy. Our immune system is essential for our survival. Without an immune system, our bodies would be open to attack from viruses, bacteria, parasites, and more. The immune system is spread throughout the body and involves many types of cells, organs, proteins, and tissues. The immune system keeps a record of every microbe it has ever defeated, in white blood cells. This means it can recognize and destroy the microbe quickly if it enters the body again before it can multiply and make you feel sick. Some infections, like flu and the common cold, have to be fought many times because so many d...

The first meal of the day is commonly known as breakfast. If you divide this compound word into two parts, you will see it is made up of ‘break’ and ‘fast’. To fast means to go without food. So “breakfast” means to break the fast you have been observing since you went to sleep the night before. The body’s energy source is glucose, which is broken down and absorbed from the food you eat. Most of the energy is stored as fat in the body but is also stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles. During times of fasting, like, overnight, the liver breaks down the glycogen and releases it into your bloodstream as glucose to keep your blood sugar levels stable. This is also important for the brain, which relies on glucose for energy. In the morning, after you have gone without food for as long as 8-12 hours, your glycogen levels are low. Eating breakfast boosts your energy levels and restores your glycogen levels ready to keep your metabolism up for...

Aging is not a favorite subject to think about. Till I was in my forties, aging was just a word for me. But as I am heading towards fifty, retirement and old-age like topics have started coming in my mind. Like for me and my husband, “old-age” plans have started to feature regularly in our conversations. Not in a defined structure, but as a wish list for what we hope will be as independent, active, and a healthy phase as possible. In the traditional model of care for senior citizens, it was the joint family structure along with the support of helpers that the elderly used to be cared for. However, with the breakdown of joint family structure and corporate jobs for most couples, the elderly in the nuclear family has only the support of helpers. Most elderly people live with their children in a gated community with very little social interaction. About 15 years ago, India was not culturally ready for children to have their senior parents live separately. But now the circumstances are...