જતે માડુ સવા લખ…
Parth just completed one semester at Little Gym. (A private gym facility for babies, toddlers and more) On the last day, each child received an award of excellence. I wanted to share some photos with everyone of his activities at little gym.
Njoy…
Click on the picture to view the album.
2 comments January 29th, 2008
We are sorry for not being an active medavo doers. When ever we do go on Internet we do remember medavo. We had wonderful trip to India. All the credit goes to Vasu ben and Jagdish Bhai for helping us tremendously. It was nice to be able to see the family and friends. Every one in Goregaon remembers the whole Maru family. The sound system was done by Sandesh ( sends special hi to ashish), the photographer (already forgetting the name) was Mahendra’s dear friend and off course every one remembered bai and asked for her.
Thanks to all for wishing me Happy Birthday. It is the day reminds us the urgency of time. I hope to understand myself and the journey of my soul. Hans, Jayantibhai, Jaya, Harakh, and Nina are doing medavo in person in Kutch and I am sure they are enjoying every minute of it.
Keep doing medavo. Happy 2008 and love you all,
Ushans
2 comments January 14th, 2008
In case you were ever curious about the Train trip from Mumbai to Bhuj…I’ve mapped it out for you (each marker even has the time the Train stops there). I’ll be taking this train on Wednesday!
The green marker towards the end is Bhachau where I will be getting off. Mapping is fun isn’t it? 
2 comments January 14th, 2008
Hi all,
Sorry we’ve been delinquent about posting, but we do follow along and love the stories and insights!
Here’s pics from our party in mumbai. It felt like another wedding!
http://picasaweb.google.com/drshashikantshah/SHEELADUNCAN
With the twins on the way, here’s a great video about how to raise safe, creative kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-VacaaN75o
Love,
Sheela and Duncan
P.S. Where Sheela worked for a month:
http://www.jamkhed.org
Some stories and pics from Duncan’s Nepal work:
http://nyayahealth.wordpress.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/nyayahealth
3 comments January 13th, 2008
For those of you writing papers in school (or elsewhere)…read this:
http://fadtastic.net/2006/03/12/the-secret-lives-of-fonts/
Short Summary:
The writer analyzed the papers he had written throughout college. Turns out the papers that he had written in a “serif” font (such as Times New Roman or Georgia) got much higher grades than the ones he had written in sans-serif fonts (such as Trebuchet MS or Arial). The data is pretty decent as he had written over 15 papers in each of his tested fonts.
The reason behind the result may be that “serif” fonts give your paper the appearance of being more professional/academic and thus result in a higher grade on average!
3 comments January 10th, 2008
BBC News / January 8, 2008
Healthy living ‘can add 14 years’
Flats on an estate
All social classes are at risk from an unhealthy lifestyle
Taking exercise, not drinking too much alcohol, eating enough fruit and vegetables and not smoking can add up to 14 years to your life, a study says.
Research involving 20,000 people over a decade found those who failed on all criteria were four times more likely to have died than those who succeeded.
The findings held true regardless of how overweight or poor they were.
The Public Library of Science Medicine study suggests many could increase their lifespan through simple changes.
The research was carried out by the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council in the English county of Norfolk between 1993 and 2006.
Participants were aged between 45 and 79. They were socially mixed although overwhelmingly white, and as far as they were aware at the time, did not have cancer or any heart problems.
Taking off the years
A point was awarded for each of the following: not currently smoking, consuming between one and 14 units of alcohol per week (the equivalent of between half a glass and seven glasses of wine), eating five servings of fruit and vegetables each day and not being inactive.
It means a large proportion of the population really could feel health benefits through moderate changes
Professor Kay-Tee Khaw
University of Cambridge
This last category was defined as either having a sedentary occupation and taking half an hour of exercise a day, or simply having a non-sedentary job like a nurse or plumber.
Not only did the team find that those with four points were significantly less likely to have died over the period than those with none, they also found that a 60-year-old person with a score of zero had the same risk of dying as a 74-year-old with the full four points.
“We’ve known that individually, measures such as not smoking and exercising can have an impact upon longevity, but this is the first time we have looked at them altogether,” said Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, who led the research.
“And we also found that social class and BMI - body mass index - really did not have a role to play.
“It means a large proportion of the population really could feel health benefits through moderate changes.”
BEHAVIOUR AND LIFESPAN
Impact of behaviour on health
The chart above shows survival rates during the follow-up study
Cumulative survival was about 75% for those who did none of the four health behaviours
People who undertook all four behaviours reached 95%
It was in the reduction of deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease where the findings were most pronounced, with those scoring zero five times more likely to succumb than those scoring four.
But there was also a relationship between score and cancer deaths.
While the main analysis excluded people with known disease, the researchers found that those with serious conditions fared better the higher they scored than those who scored lower.
Health campaigners welcomed the study.
“This is good news and shows that by living a healthy life, people can reduce their risk of dying from heart and circulatory disease,” said Judy O’Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation.
“By not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, taking regular physical activity and eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, people can improve their chances of living longer.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Everyone has responsibility for their own health, which was highlighted last year when we kickstarted the Small Change, Big Difference initiative to show people that there are simple changes they can make in their lives that will have a direct impact on their health.”
1 comment January 9th, 2008
Wanted to wish you a very special Happy Birthday and first on medavo in the year and you are first.
Wish you have many more to come.
Enjoy Your Day in a wonderful Way
Mahendra and Nalini
5 comments January 9th, 2008
Happy Anniversary Suresh Bhai and Jyoti
Wish you many many more years of togetherness and love.
Best Wishes,
Vasu, Jagdish, Bai
9 comments January 5th, 2008
To dearest Priti and Dhiren,
We wish you a very very Happy Wedding Anniversary
Wishing you the special moments
this golden day can bring,
and through the years ahead of you,
the best of everything!!
Lots of Luv and Hugs on this special day
Neev, Nilam, Ashish, Mummy and Papa
8 comments January 4th, 2008
An orange, liquid soap and a music concert…what do these three have in common? All three have taught me some lessons in life.
The Orange
I was sitting on our sofa in Owensboro eating fruit with the family. Watching my dad peel orange after orange, one fact became repeatedly clear: these oranges had a lot of seeds. Each slice that I popped into my mouth (sometimes 2 or 3 slices at a time), yielded a few seeds that were spit out in the seed bowl. Slice after slice, and orange after orange, we enjoyed the fruit and enjoyed the medavo. So where is the lesson?
Sometimes when evaluating new endeavors (for example big career moves), nothing seems to be without challenges. This shouldn’t stop us from making those bold choices anyway. We don’t not-eat the orange, just because we have to work to filter out the seeds.
The Liquid Soap
Shortly after I moved to California, I was out shopping to furnish my new apartment. I was in the soap aisle, and the question on my mind at the time was, “which liquid soap to buy?” There was the SoftSoap, Dial, etc etc. My friend who was shopping along with me, advised me to buy two instead of one because I will surely need another one soon anyway.
While pondering this choice (one or two), I noticed the “half-gallon” liquid soap refill containers. They were 3x the cost of one liquid soap container…but had much more than 3x the soap. I was contemplating buying the refill container…but my friend was advising me to just buy the normal two small containers, “How much soap are you going to use anyway?” I made the call and bought one normal size SoftSoap, and one refill container. It was an investment…and it cost a lot more than just buying one SoftSoap.
Last week, I refilled my SoftSoap container for the 4th time since that day. Every time I look at my SoftSoap in the bathroom now, it reminds me of a lesson: invest for profit in the long-term.
The Music Concert
A few weeks back, I went to a concert. I was with a friend. We were almost late, and had just arrived, rushing to get inside. It was too crowded outside to walk side by side–we were dodging people left and right to walk. He was leading and I was behind. I noticed that I was having a hard time keeping up with him, and was falling behind easily. He would make some maneuver which was the right move for where he was, but when I would try to follow the same thing, there may be someone in my way or the situation would be slightly different, and as a result I was lagging behind.
I decided to adopt a different strategy. Instead of following right behind him, I shifted a few feet to the right and started making my own way through the people. This turned out to be much more effective, and I was able advance through the crowd at the same pace as him! I just had to make all the maneuvers myself (essentially find my own way through).
So the lesson learned? No one person or role model can teach you “the” right way to live life nor is there a set “forumla” for success. It is important to find your own calling. We must be individuals first, and only then can a partnership work well.
I hope the lessons I shared from an orange, liquid soap and a concert proved somewhat insightful for you too
4 comments January 4th, 2008
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