Off late, I've found myself with plenty of time on hand and not much work to do. Not being used to sitting idle, I indulged myself in a host of activities to ensure that I keep myself busy. So, here is a list of 10 things to do during your free time in case you too end up idle like me:
1) Think of ways to earn money - more & more money:
Ha ha, this is the best way to put your skills to test and use - in case you are a blogger, you can try and enhance your blog with additional features that help you retain visitors and get regular readers. Some of these features can also help you improve your site's visibility - check here or do a google search for features/articles that inform you on ways to increase your reader base.
An alternative case could be for you to think of ways to spend money: one such thing could be going bungee jumping or maybe parasailing!
2) Read a book:
This is one of my favourite past times - when faced with the option of no work, I simply head over to Crosswords, pick up a book whose title / cover catches my fancy, grab a comfy seat and simply lsoe myself into the book. The latest book that I've picked off the shelves is Karen Rose's Scream for Me.
Alternatively, you can buy a book and head home, make yourself cozy and then proceed to immerse yourself in the book. You may also go bargain-hunting in the second hand bookshops. A couple of places in Kolkata like the Free School Street or the book stalls under the Gariahat flyover are great places to get an awesome bargain!
3) Head for the gym:
Most of the times, we have plenty of excuses lined up for not workng out and staying fit - hence, this will be one of the best ways to ensure that all you workout-phobiacs put your idle time to some fat-burning use!
4) Pamper yourself:
Idle times have a bad way of coinciding with times when we are at our wits's ends or are feleing a bit under the weather. Your greatest asset (or atleast the second best one) is YOU - so why not throw a treat in your honour? Who needs another reason to celebrate life - say cheers to life for who you are! Go shopping else go binging on ice creams or cakes!
5) Hunt for a job:
There is nothing more depressing than going on a job hunt and not finding a single job that suits your profile! This will in turn make you go back to the rest of the activities to occupy your time.
6) Make all those phone calls that you had been avoiding - catch up with long-forgotten acquiatances, old friends, relatives and all those aunties, uncles and cousins.
7) Grab a bunch of friends and go partying:
Well, I rather prefer to sit down with friends and recount tales of our times spend together, indulge into arguments, trade knowledge of the latest happenings in town or in someone else's life - all while sitting around a few hot cups of coffee and some soothing music in the background.
8) Do something special for your family, loved near and dear ones:
Give someone special a surprise, take your family out for dinner or a movie or simply express your gratitude for their support, love, care - Do not hesitate to tell those who matter to you that THEY MATTER! Some things are better left said than assumed - oops, sorry if I didn't get the phrase right but I know that you get my drift.
9) Switch off your phone, draw curtains across your windows and lock yourself up in your bedroom and doze off to glory:
So many of us are running low on sleep, so simply take a day off and recharge those old batteries.
10) Go & enroll yourself in a langage/computer/martial arts course - Dude, do somthing to kick some butt man!
Basically, don't just sit twiddlign your thumbs and wonder what you should do - do what you want to, what you haven't had time to off late (like practicing your guitar); more than anything else, do something close your heart, something therapeutic like playing with kids (word of caution: some kids can send your blood pressure soaring - avoid such kids at all costs!)!
Well, there must be a lot more activities that I may have missed in my short post here (e.g. watching movies) - so why don't you go ahead and update me with the activities that you do in your idle time. Looking forward to your valuable suggestions...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Cheers to Beers!
Today at the gym, I was privy to an interesting conversation between 2 middle-aged guys, where 1 guy, Mr. JG, was explaining the good effects of having beer to the other guy, Mr. X. Now, after a lot of heavy weight discussion on what is good for the body and what is not, JG explained to X that having beer is better for one's body than having any other type of hard/alcoholic drink. This is so because beer is fat free AND cholesterol free.JG went on to explain the process with which beer is made and all and the final conclusion was that having beer is good for one's health.
Now I am not going against this argument: I simply corrected JG later that while having beer in moderation is actually beneficial for one's health, too much of beer can cause serious damage to one's body. Beer, in moderation, has similar effects on our body as wine in small quantities. Beer actually has a relaxing and a de-stressing effect on the body. In fact, beer reduces one's chances of strokes, heart and vascular diseases. As published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Nov. '99), those who drank one beer a week compared to those who drank one beer a day experienced no variance in reducing stroke risks. It is said that light to moderate drinkers will decrease their chances of suffering a stroke by 20%. A researcher at the Texas Southwestern Medical Center (May 1999) reported that those who consume moderate amounts of beer (one to two a day at the most) have a 30-40% lower rate of coronary heart disease compared to those who don’t drink. Beer contains a similar amount of ‘polyphenols’ (antioxidants) as red wine and 4-5 times as many polyphenols as white wine. Having beer in moderation helps one sleep better and yes, JG was right - beer is indeed fat free AND cholesterol. So then, why do docs advise against having too much of this sin-less brew?
The reason is because, exces sconsumption of beer has been linked to the development of the beer bellies - excess consumption of beer can lead to deposition of fats around one's internal organs like the liver. Some fat from this fat deposit can then escape into the blood stream and subsequently raise one's cholestrol levels besides severely damaging one's internal organs.
So guys and gals, as per the medical recommendations, a beer a day (for women) and 2 beers a day (for men) are the limits that you should impose on yourself if you want to enjoy this lovely brew while still remaining healthy and fit. And oh, don't forget to hit the gyms or atleast go for regular jogs/walks in the park!
N.B.: JG recommended staying off beer for the 5 weekdays and then enjoying a 6-pack over the weekends - :-) I do not recommend or subscribe to any of his opinions!
Now I am not going against this argument: I simply corrected JG later that while having beer in moderation is actually beneficial for one's health, too much of beer can cause serious damage to one's body. Beer, in moderation, has similar effects on our body as wine in small quantities. Beer actually has a relaxing and a de-stressing effect on the body. In fact, beer reduces one's chances of strokes, heart and vascular diseases. As published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Nov. '99), those who drank one beer a week compared to those who drank one beer a day experienced no variance in reducing stroke risks. It is said that light to moderate drinkers will decrease their chances of suffering a stroke by 20%. A researcher at the Texas Southwestern Medical Center (May 1999) reported that those who consume moderate amounts of beer (one to two a day at the most) have a 30-40% lower rate of coronary heart disease compared to those who don’t drink. Beer contains a similar amount of ‘polyphenols’ (antioxidants) as red wine and 4-5 times as many polyphenols as white wine. Having beer in moderation helps one sleep better and yes, JG was right - beer is indeed fat free AND cholesterol. So then, why do docs advise against having too much of this sin-less brew?
The reason is because, exces sconsumption of beer has been linked to the development of the beer bellies - excess consumption of beer can lead to deposition of fats around one's internal organs like the liver. Some fat from this fat deposit can then escape into the blood stream and subsequently raise one's cholestrol levels besides severely damaging one's internal organs.
So guys and gals, as per the medical recommendations, a beer a day (for women) and 2 beers a day (for men) are the limits that you should impose on yourself if you want to enjoy this lovely brew while still remaining healthy and fit. And oh, don't forget to hit the gyms or atleast go for regular jogs/walks in the park!
N.B.: JG recommended staying off beer for the 5 weekdays and then enjoying a 6-pack over the weekends - :-) I do not recommend or subscribe to any of his opinions!
The weekend that was
Those of you (un)fortunate enough to be residing out of Calcutta must be wondering at the plethora of bandhs we have. It's almost comical the way the political parties vie with each other here to call a bandh in protest of literally anything! As yet another proof of this behaviour, we Calcuttans enjoyed 2 12-hour back-to-back bandhs on Thursday and Friday, giving a lot of people, like me, a 4-day weekend to laze over and recharge our batteries.
Unfortunately, my net connection remains as bad and untenable as ever - hence, my inability to write on loads of topics like a book review (of James Patterson's Black Market), an evening down at the Victoria Memorial and the new South City Mall, as well as a series of articles on the options markets.
Yes, you read it right - I've gone through a lot of books in the last 1 month for some work related to options and I was thinking of doing a 2-3 part article on this. Hell, who knows, this article may even get published in some online magazine if I'm able to do justice to it.
However, this all is dependent on the state of my net connection and the recovery of the stock market. Seeing DLF trade below its IPO price is making me see red and shed copious tons of tears - & no, I see no investment story in this stock at the moment simply because of the lack of funds with me at the moment! :-(
I hope to be back this week with some more entertaining and hopefully, educating material. 'Til then, keep tuning in to the SenseXXXational Ride for your daily dose of news, views and opinions. This is your host signing off --- Ta da li da da, Varun!
Unfortunately, my net connection remains as bad and untenable as ever - hence, my inability to write on loads of topics like a book review (of James Patterson's Black Market), an evening down at the Victoria Memorial and the new South City Mall, as well as a series of articles on the options markets.
Yes, you read it right - I've gone through a lot of books in the last 1 month for some work related to options and I was thinking of doing a 2-3 part article on this. Hell, who knows, this article may even get published in some online magazine if I'm able to do justice to it.
However, this all is dependent on the state of my net connection and the recovery of the stock market. Seeing DLF trade below its IPO price is making me see red and shed copious tons of tears - & no, I see no investment story in this stock at the moment simply because of the lack of funds with me at the moment! :-(
I hope to be back this week with some more entertaining and hopefully, educating material. 'Til then, keep tuning in to the SenseXXXational Ride for your daily dose of news, views and opinions. This is your host signing off --- Ta da li da da, Varun!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Taking stock of the IPL after-effects!
What lull! What happened? What is the time right now? 8:30 pm, right?? So why aren't the TV on? Where have all the screams and shoutings disappeared to? And and how come we got saas-bahu serials on TV again at this hour? What's wrong? No match today? An off day for the IPL?
These were some of the questions that I attempted to answer as I entered home - and then reality dawned on the ignorant me: The IPL extravaganza has come to a conclusion, the festivities, the celebrations had all reached a dramatic crescendo on Sunday, June 1, 2008. Life is expected to return to normal now that our daily dose of the 3-odd hr entertainment show is over. And it is unlikely to stage a comeback atleast till October 2008 and that too only if the Champions T20 cup takes off as planned.
The success of the IPL can be gauzed by how much the IPL had become a part of our daily life! Look at what the IPL has achieved - thank god for the instigation provided by the ICL else IPL may never have been conceptualized, despite whatever Lalit Modi may claim. The IPL has proven to be successful beyond any of our's wildest dreams! A hit with the masses, the stadium sales, the advertisers, the sponsors and the TRPs, all bear fruit to the unprecedented success that the IPL has enjoyed! Lalit Modi has even suggested holding the tournament twice a year from 2011 onwards - what option does ICC have but to make room for the IPL in the Future Tours programme! The game is attracting viewerships across all age groups and geographies and it's not only the organisers who are happy with the success - the players too are reaping benefits of performing in this niche tournament! With their salaries likely to go through the roof from next year onwards (when the cap of $5 million may be removed), the ICC better take proactive measures to ensure that players do not cut short their international careers to participate in the IPL.
The inaugural edition of the IPL has enjoyed unprecedented success and had become a daily ritual where we finished work in time and ensured that we were seated in front of the TV sets by 8 to cheer and egg our franchises on! The next day, at work, was obviously spent in lauding this format and analyzing the game, with expert views coming from both genders! The format and unpredictability of the game has stumped everyone - some have had a pleasant experience while others are fuming at the surprises coming their way! The least we have seen is an unearthing of the talent that abounds in India - if not for ODIs or Tests, we atleast got a healthy pool of youngsters to choose from for the international Twenty20 matches.
And oh, the IPL had also freed us of the daily overdoses of the saas-bahu serials, albeit it was a temporary respite! Now that the IPL is over, we need to return to the normal grind of life and ensure that we sleep-walk thorugh the days till the T20 games are back on TV. As a report in the Times of India website claims, the soaps are back at the top of the TRPs chart - yet another proof of how the IPL had an impact on our daily routines. Click here to read the full report.
The inaugural edition of the IPL has enjoyed unprecedented success and had become a daily ritual where we finished work in time and ensured that we were seated in front of the TV sets by 8 to cheer and egg our franchises on! The next day, at work, was obviously spent in lauding this format and analyzing the game, with expert views coming from both genders! The format and unpredictability of the game has stumped everyone - some have had a pleasant experience while others are fuming at the surprises coming their way! The least we have seen is an unearthing of the talent that abounds in India - if not for ODIs or Tests, we atleast got a healthy pool of youngsters to choose from for the international Twenty20 matches.
And oh, the IPL had also freed us of the daily overdoses of the saas-bahu serials, albeit it was a temporary respite! Now that the IPL is over, we need to return to the normal grind of life and ensure that we sleep-walk thorugh the days till the T20 games are back on TV. As a report in the Times of India website claims, the soaps are back at the top of the TRPs chart - yet another proof of how the IPL had an impact on our daily routines. Click here to read the full report.
P.S. A report in the Times of India website also stated the the cap on players' salaries is unliely to be lifted next year. This is likely to ensure that all franchises have equal purchasing power. Click here to read the entire report.
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