Thursday 27 December 2012

[www.keralites.net] True Friends

 
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[www.keralites.net] Happpy New Year!!!

 

Before I finally say goodbye to 2012,
I would like to say
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to each and everyone of you.
For the impact you had in my life
Specially for those who sent me email,
You have enriched my year!!
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I wish you all a magical
Festive Season filled with
Loving Wishes and beautiful thoughts.
May your coming year mark the beginning
of Love,
Happiness and Bright Future.
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To those who need someone special,
may you find that true love.
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To those who need money,
may your finances overflow.
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To those who need caring,
May you find a good heart to care for you.
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To those who need friends,
May you meet someone who will also
enrich your life.
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To those who need life,
May you find God.


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Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
Prince

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[www.keralites.net] Exercise tips for the workplace

 

 
Wouldn't it be nice to lie down on grass and stare at the clouds on a nice, breezy day? But life doesn't work that way. Instead, for the greater part of the week, we find ourselves crouched on a chair staring all day at a computer screen on the desk. And no one needs to be told that this is tiring. Add to that the chaotic traffic encountered on the way to and from office, most of us find ourselves waiting for work to end by the time we are halfway through the shift. The next day is no better. How does a routinely tiring work shift in singular locations affect us in the long run? For one, it creates ergonomical problems because most of us do not sit correctly, it causes irritation to the eyes, leads to body aches, mood swings and places us at a significantly high risk of diseases not to mention adding on to stress.
We don't have to face these problems. In fact, a few simple exercises done while stealing a few minutes at work, right in the office can cut down on stress and keep ergonomical problems at bay. Here are some office health and exercise tips suggested by experts from all over that can cut down on a lot of the harmful effects of daily life.
 
The hare and the tortoise story
Sure, the elevator takes you higher faster. But then, there's no race. We have been told time and again to take the stairs but we tend to overlook the benefits of that. Just walking from your parking lot to your office gives you quite a bit of exercise and reduces your health risk. Slow and steady wins the race, we've heard, and the race here is against obesity, increased risk of diabetes and a host of other diseases and conditions. Climb, it's that simple.

And if you are at your desk, keep all your body parts active with short periodic breaks where you can exercise them right where you sit.
 
Eyes
Our eyes are seriously overworked. If you find yourself staring at the computer screen for too long, and you invariably will, try this very simple relaxing method. Cup your palms over your eyes and take them off after 30 seconds. Do this at least every hour or less. If you were to do it rightaway, you'd feel the soothing effect immediately.
 
Neck
Rotate your head around your neck ten times in a clockwise direction. And then rotate it ten times in the opposite direction. Also tilt your head in each direction and keep it stretched for about ten seconds. Some of us have the habit of twisting our necks to get a popping sound. It soothes, but is a pretty dangerous habit.
 
Arms and wrists
You'll have to stand up to exercise your hands. It's not difficult, however. Rotate your hand around your shoulder joint in a spinning motion (similar to a bowling action) about ten times and repeat, reversing the direction. Repeat the exercise with the other hand. And then rotate both the hands together, first towards the front and then backwards.
Close your fingers to form a fist and then rotate your hands around the wrist one by one, ten times in a clockwise direction and another ten times in the reverse direction. While rotating one hand, use the other hand to hold it hear the wrist.
 
Legs, feet and toes
Our legs often "go to sleep" if we are sitting in the same place for a long time. To avoid this, stand frequently and walk around the desk. Get cordless headphones if you are constantly on calls. They will allow you to stand up once in a while.
To exercise your legs and knees, try out this simple series of exercise. Raise your legs one at a time while sitting while bending them at the knee. With your hands underneath the knee, pull your leg up as high as you can and keep it that way for about ten seconds before letting go. Repeat the exercise with the other leg. For the feet, place your heels firmly on the ground and pull your toes up as high as they will go. Hold them there for a few seconds and let go. Repeat the exercise around ten times. Next, keeping your toes firmly on the ground, raise you heels as high as they will go and hold them there for a few seconds. The stretching action provides a lot of relief and helps the blood circulating in those parts.

As for the toes, keep moving your toes inside your shoes every time you can think of it. It is crucial for proper blood circulation and keeps your legs from dozing off while sitting in one place for too long. In fact, people who have to stand in the same place for a very long time, too, are advised to keep moving their toes to facilitate blood circulation.
 
Back and Hips
A desk job creates maximum risk for a person's back. Watch your posture and ensure you are sitting properly. Adjust the height of your chair properly and do not keep the back of the chair stiff. At the same time, do not recline back too far. Make sure your monitor is at an eye-level and the keyboard at a level just above your waist.
Keep getting up from time to time, at least once every hour. With your hands on your hips, stretch your body backwards. Get up straight and then bend the body again, first to the left and then to the right.
Bend forward to touch your toes. Hold it in there for some time. If you can touch your toes without any discomfort, it's good news. If you have problems touching your toes, it could mean your body's not athletic enough or there's some fat piling up around the abdomen. It'll take some time before you will be able to touch them easily. If, like the Kung-Fu Panda, you cannot see your toes, then that is a serious problem.
 
Lungs
"You can exercise lungs?" Oh sure, and if you aren't doing it, you should start immediately. Give yourself a deep-breathing session every hour or so. Relax, keep your back straight, lean back a bit and then fill in as much air as you can into your lungs, hold your breath for about 3 seconds and then breathe out slowly, emptying your lungs. Repeat this ten times. Remember, your stomach goes in and your chest outward while breathing in, and in the opposite direction while breathing out.

This works wonders for stress. This is why we all take a deep breath when we are really tensed. Of course, fresh air is better than that in an air conditioned office, but if you can't step out into a garden every hour, do this sitting right at your desk.
Also, stretch your body frequently while sitting. You'll find it very relieving. Yawning helps stretch the face muscles and a forced yawn once in a while actually works good. If you find yourself yawning unintentionally, then it's probably time to do the other exercises mentioned here.
If you have a lifestyle that doesn't permit you to dedicate a few hours every day to exercising or playing, then these simple exercises are a must. They are easy to perform and most are unnoticeable. If you are worried about being noticed while rotating your arms or bending your back, try to overlook it. After all, what you are doing is beneficial and might actually catch on. Combine these desk exercises with ample walking, proper sleep and a good diet and chances are high that you will lower the risks of a lot of diseases and conditions. All of us deserve to stay fit and if it is this easy, then why not?

Best Regards
Prakash Nair

www.keralites.net

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[www.keralites.net] Seven Steps to Plan Your Child’s Education

 

 
As parents, it is natural to want the very best for your child - the best schooling, the best peer group and the best opportunities in life. As Indians, it is strongly ingrained in us that education is everything, and we want our kids to go to the top schools for their chosen fields. But top schools charge top dollar, and if you want to make this dream a reality, there are some things you need to do:

1. Are You Planning Local or Global Education?

Knowing the answer to this question can be a little tricky.

India has excellent schools for certain disciplines, but often it is harder to get into these schools than it is to get into a top school in the US / UK. So there are some things you need to keep in mind:

One of the things to ask yourself is do you want your child to have global exposure and education, or do you prefer to have your child remain closer to home?

This is to be considered alongside the question - are there good schools in India / abroad for the discipline your child is likely to choose?

Thirdly, do you want your child to do the undergraduate and post-graduate courses abroad, or just the post graduate?

Finally, what is the likely overall cash outflow in both cases?

2. Historical and Current School Fees - An Estimate for Future Inflation

If you have a young child, then finding out what the school costs today is easy but deciding what rate of inflation to assume to see what its going to cost in the future can be hard.

Often schools don't inflate their fees much on an annual basis, but will suddenly implement a jump in the fee, every few years. This comes to a higher average rate of inflation.

You might find that tution fees increase anywhere between 8% and 12% on an average annual basis. It's easy to say - take the conservative assumption for your planning, but the difference can be huge.

Suppose a school charges Rs. 25 lakhs (assuming INR) today and your child will likely attend in 5 years. With 8% annual inflation, fees in 5 years will be Rs. 36.73 lakhs.

With 12% annual inflation fees in 5 years will be Rs. 44.05 lakhs.

That's quite the difference, and planning to build a corpus of Rs. 44 lakhs may not be easy for everyone.

Consider assuming a conservative rate of inflation, and allow yourself a buffer. You can assume 10% annual inflation on education and create a plan for your child's education accordingly

3. Always Expect the Unexpected

When your child finally does apply for school and get admission, you will probably find that there are a number of additional costs that your might have missed

Right from flight tickets to food and accommodation, to pocket money, things will add up. But this is manageable. If possible, speak to parents of alumni, or alumni themselves and find out what the total cash outflow was for the duration of the course.

4. Invest Smartly to Build the Corpus

There's a broad timeline you can follow when investing for this goal:

If you have less than 3 years left for the goal, avoid equity and gold, and invest only in debt and fixed income products.

If you have more than 3 years and less than up to 10 years left for this goal, invest between 40% and 60% into equity, 10% to 20% into gold to hedge the equity exposure and the balance into debt / fixed income.
If you have more than 10 years left for the goal, then you can invest up to 75% in equity, 10% to 20% in gold and the remaining small component into debt.

Keep in mind: don't dip into these investments for low priority expenses. If you want to renovate your home but have channelised all your cash flows towards your child's education, you need to plan your finances better, preferably with the help of an expert planner. Always have enough of a buffer to take care of other expenses along the way.

That being said, don't dip into your retirement corpus to fund your child's education. Your retirement should be one of your top priorities.

5. Remember to Insure Yourself Adequately

One of the biggest potential setbacks to a child's education is the demise of the breadwinner in the family and the lack of insurance.

Ensure that you have enough life insurance by way of a simple term plan to cover atleast the tution fees of the school your child will possibly attend. If insurance is invested correctly and grown safely, your family life goals can still be achieved. But that can only happen if you have the right amount of insurance for your family's goals and regular expenses to still be met.

6. Avoid Pre-Packaged Child Plans from Insurance Companies

Simply put a child plan is designed to provide financial security to the child in case of the insured parent's demise. Also these plans are commonly used to provide for various objectives ranging from education to marriage.

But while they may be easier, are they a good idea? I believe in keeping insurance and investments separate. Insurance products such as child plans often come with higher charges (and much higher commissions to the agent who sells you the plan) than investing in a straightforward mutual fund. If you invest in the right basket of mutual funds and build a strong mutual fund portfolio for your goals, and supplement it with the right amount of term insurance, you will save on charges and commissions.

7. Get Started Right Away

The sure-fire killer to your goal is delay.

Regardless of how old your child is and how much time you have left for the goal, start investing for it today itself. The earlier you start, the less you'll need to invest each month to achieve the same amount of money at the end of the goal.
Best Regards
Prakash Nair

www.keralites.net

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