6 TIPS that simplify my life when I paint:

I love to paint .... just for the pure joy of trying to create something that has beauty. Canvasses, glass bottles, pots ..... whatever. If i feel the flow I paint

When i create, i like having everything at arm's distance so that I'm in the flow. And yet earlier, I used to find myself getting up ever so often to clean brushes, refill the water, clean my palette while changing from darker to lighter colours. Let's not forget the mess on the floor that mom would look at 

I find the effort of constant interruptions annoying.
what's more annoying is that the palettes & containers start looking shabbier with every session of painting and storing them is an issue.

Also, I'm a big fan of recycling so I prefer to reuse something before discarding it.

here's what really helps me whenever I sit down to paint:

1) Put lots of newspaper in and around you while working. Brushes have a habit of leaking, bottles like to overturn unexpectedly and canvasses simply fall over flat. If you don't want to be yelled at, the old newspaper will save you.

2) Use thermocol / plastic glasses (used for serving soft drinks) to hold water for cleaning brushes. If you can recycle a few after a party, you'd be helping the environment. Dispose them once you're done

Another really easy, disposable container is a soft-drink / mineral water bottle cut in half. If you're going to keep long brushes standing in the water while painting, this is a pretty cool help

3) Wash brushes before storing, with soap water. Whether you're working with oil colours or acrylics, the brushes harden if not washed properly. Turpentine is the right way, but not everyone likes the smell. Plus it's expensive these days. I have started cleaning my brushes with a little detergent powder & liquid soap. Works really well and the brushes retain their softness!

You can choose to keep a glass of soapy water at hand so that you don't have to get up between changes

4) Recycle Old bottle caps & tea-light containers. Use them to mix colours while creating shades and tones.

I have stopped investing in plastic r wooden palettes for years now. I don't have to keep cleaning the palette if the shade is not right. Also, I don't have to use the bottle cap of the existing paints to experiment!

I dispose them once I'm done. My helper sells off these used ones to the raddiwala, so everyone's happy

5) Old t-shirts as rag-cloths. This one's an "old as the hills" suggestion 
but, a reminder nonetheless. Clothes that you've worn enough should be given away to someone who could use them still.

But sometimes these clothes, especially t-shirts & p'jamas are too shabby to give away. Cut them into big squares and stock them as rag-clothes. Siblings should be requested to donate to this worthwhile cause !!

When you wind up, dump the disposables in some of the newspaper and trash it.

6) Once you wash your hands, do try and moisturise them with cream, vaseline or even coconut oil. The colours we generally use are not known to be toodamaging to the skin, but they are chemicals after all. They do tend to dry our hands, so it's good to be gentle to ourselves even as we create

I hope these suggestions will add some simplicity & ease while all you awesome artists continue to create

The Man Who Saved Pumpelsdrop, re-narrated by Suhana Bhatia

Here's a story I read at school and it has remained with me


Despite several google searches, though I found references, I couldn't find the actual story by J.M Turner - so I decided to rewrite it as I remembered it!


Having recently witnessed how the Recession could bring down an entire nation - I realised how important it is to spend - if an economy has to flourish, not just function


And I personally believe that women are the ones that keep our economies thriving. While men can spend on weapons & cars, a few basic pairs of jeans and shirts and manage quite well .... the women go out and spend on much more - clothes, perfumes, jewellery, perfumes, shoes and more


So let's spend some and save some - and keep our nations prosperous!!!!!


(and say your secret thanks when your women spend ;-) )


The Man who Saved Pumpelsdrop


- James Walter Turner


(re-narrated by Suhana Bhatia) 

The aftermath of the World War II was the Great Depression. All of Europe was in the throes of recession. Everyone feared when they would run out of what they had.... money, food, stocks.... so they kept what they had to themselves!!

People went out and bought supplies on credit - afraid they might never be able to repay it... and kept their last pennies saved for an even rainier day!

The town of Pumpelsdrop, somewhere in the heart of a once flourishing Europe, had seen great days! It was the connecting town between other tourist cities and travellers, stopped there, shopped there and spent there

Proof to it was the Rolls Royce showroom that stood, listless, with a dust-covered RR that had nowhere to go. The owner Paul had still held on to this last glorious memento of prosperity

Everyone in Pumpelsdrop was nervous, afraid and angry .. at themselves, at each other and at the war!

That freezing winter evening, Paul decided to shut his automobile showroom and go home an hour earlier. No one was expected anyway!

As he locked the grills, he was requested by a gentleman waiting behind to show him in. Well- dressed and refined, he explained that he was from a neighbouring town and now that he was travelling, he needed to have his own car. ANd it had to be a Rolls-Royce! Being from an illustrious family, he was not going be seen in a hired automobile!

He gave Paul his card and a check for 200 pounds - as down payment - with a request that the car be ready when he passed Pumpelsdrop next weekend!

Paul, unable to believe his stroke of luck, rubbed his tears in joy and relief! He rushed home and shared the blessed news with his wife. Still in tears, overwhelmed, he went in to his bedroom and opened his cupboard. He took out 75 pounds and called his wife  Ursula. He wanted her to go buy herself a new winter coat that she had been putting off - in order to scrimp and save for the other expenses of the household. She had sacrificed all these months and she deserved to be well-dressed now!! After all she was Paul's wife and good times were round the corner

He realised that if people from other cities had started spending spending, the Great Depression must be over! So, besides getting the Rolls' refurbished it was probably time to order other cars!

His wife,, Ursula, rushed to the coat shop and instantly picked a lavish coat for herself and a thick new jacket for Paul - the good man really was a sweetheart - how could she not pick something for him? A prudent spender, with a few pounds left over she paid off some of the credit on her grocery bill as well, If good times were here, and the remaining money on the car would be coming any day, she could afford to be doing this!

Within hours, the coat maker ran to the wine-store, paid off his bills and bought school supplies for all his 6 kids - their education was not going to suffer anymore! His drinking had caused enough suffering.

The wine-store owner went to Paul to check on a good car to buy - he wanted to start living the good life too

Word spread around town that tourists would be on their way soon, and it was time to spruce things up - some spit & polish and brand new paint!

Cash stored in the boxes came out - spending attracted more spending! Money attracted money!

A fortnight later Pumpelsdrop was ready for tourists and with Christmas on its way - the little inns in and around had guests booked in advance

A month went by, but there was no news of the scion of the illustrious family. Other cars were bought and sold - but the ROlls ROyce stood - polished and ready

Paul fished out the visiting card he'd been given and asked about Mr. So & So and the booking of the car. The person on the other side told him that Mr. So & So was indeed the son of the family - but having been declared a lunatic at an early age, had been living in an asylum for 2 years. He had run away recently and was going around giving signed cheques to stores that caught his fancy

With the recession gone, the worries of money over and the great business that was coming in - Paul smiled and kept the phone!

The man had saved Pumpelsdrop from further decline and probably the ripple effect had continued all around Europe!

This Christmas was going to be a good one after all..... the bells were ringing and ushering in joy

Rules of Relative-ity… how bonds of blood must be

This one comes from the deep angst of having “overly concerned”, well… yeah… relatives  when i wrote it – i felt it was very India-specific, but as i shared it with friends, I realised that some “ailments” are universal. With a few adjustments, here and there! 

dear “relatives” – assorted unclejis & auntijis who generally don’t seem to have much to do in their own personal lives

This letter comes to you in response to your generous curiosity and nosiness in our lives and I hope that you will sincerely appreciate my little “kind suggestions”…… with the same gratitude that I accept your mindful meddling.

When you become a relative to someone – you must know that each of us came with a “life’s little instruction book” in our genetic packaging. I guess you have misplaced yours, so here are the excerpts to the rules.

RULE 1) Always – the ground rule for any situation that isn’t yours is – MYOB – Mind Your Own Business. You will be very loved & welcomed wherever you go, if you follow this one.

RULE 2) Please call before you come visiting – you forget that we occasionally like to step out …. just once in a while of course….

RULE 3) Often families have feuds. Before you get overly concerned over “what really happened” or you want to share some juicy gossip of your neighbour’s daughter – Bite your tongue. Then swallow it slowly. Your silence will be your gift to all mankind.

RULE 4) Please do not tell parents what they should be doing for their children’s marriages and careers and pregnancies and education plans ….. because they don’t advice you on yours! This rule can only be broken under dire circumstances of revenge – when you want to get back at someone who’s harassed you for years!

RULE 5) Please stop asking when someone’s son / daughter is going to get married and why they haven’t yet found someone! When their sons and daughters want to get married, they WILL. – i promise you – your permission will not be required.

RULE 5 – cont’d) While on the topic of marriage – for Heaven’s sake do NOT make any attempts at “matchmaking”!! For further clarity – read rule 1.

Which also means that in the middle of conversations you do NOT casually try to find out the daughter’s age, education, hobbies and cooking abilities. You are being labelled in the girl’s checklist as “annoying” for the rest of your life.

NEVER, EVER, even if you are overflowing with the milk of human kindness advice a single youngster that “thoda compromise to karna padta hai beta” (one has to compromise a bit, you know)

 Let them decide their own rules for love & marriage.

RULE 6) When you meet a childless couple, married for 14 years – do one of two things: i) smile and get going or ii) smile and buzz off. Asking them “good news kab de rahe ho?” or suggesting Babajis and rituals not only reveals your complete lack of humanity – it evidently shows that you read but did not understand Rule number 1.

RULE 7) When you finally go these much awaited weddings and birth ceremonies – enjoy their happiness, take double helpings of what you liked, but don’t crib over that one dish that wasn’t cooked to your standards of perfection even if there genuinely wasn’t enough ghee in the rice or salt in the raita. The hosts have taken tremendous effort and spent a lot of money. You’re there to bless the couple / baby. Oh!! you forgot??

Like they say, in the “Karma Cafe of Life” there’s no fixed menu – you only get what you deserve. Just desserts.

- Suhana

Life of Pi … what i brought back home

Movies can be magical !! they can also be unexpected Masters – that pass on little nuggets as they go…..

After several reminders and sharp taunts from my cinema-obsessed friend, I finally got together with a bunch of friends on New Year’s evening so that we could all stay submerged beneath the ocean for 3 hours and start the next 365 days on a very wet note!!

Seeing LIFE OF PI in 3D was visually spectacular…. the depths of the ocean, the light, the fish, the night skies, the music – the scale of the entire story was overwhelming.

Yes, there were shortcomings in the story-telling… but i’d leave that to the critics. Because i came home thinking of what it left me with…….

Like author Dean Sluyter (Zen Commandments) reminds us – our films, our fairy tales, even our nursery rhymes have something to teach us, that is  beyond the obvious, beneath the surface and only discovered when you begin to scratch the upper layers

Life of Pi had some precious lessons tucked away and here’s what i gleaned:-

- that sometimes life tosses you into the middle of an adventure you never expected, imagined or wished for….. but once you’re in, you might as well make the “ride” worth it! 

- that the only ally you might have on your adventure, is probably your worst enemy – out to finish you! But he’s really the most deserving of your gratitude – his threat keeps you alive, his fierceness keeps you alert and his claws keep you fighting for dear life. Just like the tiger did to Pi.  

- that (like we’ve read in multiple email forwards), people come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime….. we can neither prevent their coming, nor delay their leaving. When the tiger fulfilled its purpose, he left.

- that sometimes your adventure will be so unbelievably colossal  & fantastic,  everyone else will have a hard time trusting your sanity….. but its yours and yours alone. Your life has been changed forever. 

- that when someone really matters to us – one must always say what we need to – NOW!                

Pi wished he could have thanked his ally, but the tiger never turned back to look. It is like that with Life…. all the unsaid “i love you-s”, the “i am so sorry baby!”, the “oh you’re awesome – what would i have done without you??” need to be said & need to be said now!

 You don’t know much the other person’s been waiting to hear it and you don’t know how late it already is…….

Say it! …. it will be worth it – i promise 

Being a book-lover & why a nasal allergy can be super useful ! :-)

Call me book-lover, book-worm,  book-fiend or “librocubicularist” (someone who reads in bed)…. I love books… even when a whole fortnight goes by without having devoured something new to feed my mind & soul!   ….. and we all know that a  fortnight without a book is a verrrrrrrry longgggg time!

There are many of my creed, …. kindred souls i haven’t yet met, but can tell from a glance…. We sit in coffee shops, waiting for a friend and a book comes out of our knapsack and we are lost. You will catch us smiling, worried , lost & completely zoned-out of our surroundings, as we turn pages, and we wouldn’t bat an eyelid if there was a fire on the next table!

We read EVERYTHING!!

Newspapers, ads on billboards and buses, Enid Blytons (recently purchased because they need to be RESCUED from being forgotten) , copies of the Readers’ Digest from 1988 at the dentist’s, even discount coupons that come with the newspaper

We buy books more by instinct, less be recommendation – because they draw us into picking them up and we never regret emptying our pockets just so that we can hold them and taken them home

So one can imagine my dismay when i discovered a few years ago that i was allergic to precisely what i loved – printer’s ink!!!  The morning newspaper on the table meant a series of unstoppable sneezes and day long sniffles that needed to be stifled with anti-allergies that made me drowsy, irritable & unfit for work ( and worse – READING!!!!!!!!)

Then came a series of shocked friends gasping – “how can you become allergic to newspapers??, weird!!, really?? newspapers?? “

 Followed by a round of visits to the specialist – 123 needle scratches on both arms to check what substances you might be allergic to – things which you regularly consume and they don’t even bother you! Tablets & nasal sprays to keep the allergy at bay, come into your life and newspapers go. Then comes a day when you catch the doctor using a nasal spray himself – because he’s allergic to substances as well 

By the way, after the 123 pricks they tell you that there’s no tester for printer’s ink but you can be put on a weekly drop-vaccine for the other substances, which never bothered you as it is!!

A worried mom gets you started on alternative therapy – homeopathy, Reiki, affirmations, and breathing exercises – which you never bother to be regular with! 

Eventually it happens. 

You stop knowing what’s happening in the vicinity, in the country & in the world. “Oh I’m allergic to newspapers, so i don’t read them!” is your excuse wherever you go. Online papers carry the exact information but “there’s nothing like turning the pages of a real one!” comes the answer, pat!

You stop reading of crimes on every page, in every feature… you have no clue of what serial killers have done, you wouldn’t know which politician is involved in which scam         ( they all are so what’s the huge deal??” ) and when you talk of tennis you insist that there’s no like Sampras, Agassi or Goran Ivanesevic in the game, any longer

Eventually, you stop being as cynical as the rest of the people around you – because in your “la-la-land” there are enough friends, do-gooders, artists, writers, healers and books to keep you optimistic about Life.  You generate a ‘positive vibe’ that allows others to reach out to you when they need a friend

Now that you have “turned off” the bad news rom your life, even gory new on television makes you squirm and switch the channel! you have decided to only allow GOOD to come in

If you wonder why books don’t have the same effect, despite using similar printers’ ink – well, it probably has to do with how we mentally programme our bodies. Mine knows that books are safe, newspapers are not! I could have programmed my system to stop being allergic, but then i would not have a valid excuse to stay away from bad news in this world!

Each time i have discussed current news or politics with a friends, i have said a silent prayer of thanks for this absolute delight of an allergy. Thank God I am not supposed to be going near the damn newspaper. Some article i randomly read even mentioned how having allergies can actually prevent certain kinds of cancer. 

talk about blessings in disguise!!

So I go about my day, oblivious to the rest of the world and live in sheer gratitude of having used some crazy ‘law of attraction” to create an allergy i could not have thought up despite being daily soap writer on television!

- Suhana

P.S: having an allergy means you have an over-sensitive immune system and is an exact representation of your real-life persona! 

Sigh…… us daily soap writers!

Why I suspect I'm not from this Planet

The doubts started creeping in, while i was rather young but these days they’re getting to a point of almost certainty …

i think i was scheduled to land on another plant but some crash landing or temptation (was it trees?? or rivers?? or my earth-mum’s face??) that made me start an entire lifetime here on Earth

School was super…. but i somehow just did not “get” the inside jokes. So while i was listening to my teacher with rapt, undivided attention – my eyes were forever staring outta the window. What was i looking for?

I could never understand why we were made to run races to see who the fastest was? why? and why make the other kids feel bad that they’re not as good? we were kids for God’s sake! you’re supposed to let us be happy!

I have no clue why HISTORY was always about WAR? battles? kings? betrayal? death? wasn’t anything happening in the last 500 years that did not require blood & gore? so how do you explain Michaelangelo? Van Gogh? Renoir? Da Vinci? Beethoven? Mozart? P G Wodehouse? Enid Blyton?  Why wasn’t someone teaching me about them and telling me to rejoice in “CREATING” rather than “DESTROYING” ?

Funny thing is, … the more we were taught of war – the more bloodshed has happened over the years. Imagine what this planet could have been if we were teaching music, art & dance?          D-uhhhhh??!!!!

What is it about people wanting to mow down forests, build housing and not want more trees around them again? you lose the view, you lose the point and you lose the planet duffers!!!!!!

So why are rich kids playing football on PS3 and children in underprivileged countries “sewing” real footballs for grown ups to play?? Who thought of doing that?

Why is everyone rushing into the next moment? you’re just waking up in the morning and you have already decided the list of things you need to do until you catch the evening train home. so when do you intend to enjoy “NOW” ??

How come we’re so sure dolphins aren’t much smarter than us? I remember reading how all they do is swim all day, make love and make music…. while we’re slogging so that we can sit back one day when we’re old and look back at everything we have accumulated (for someone else – since we can’t take it anywhere beyond this)

What is it about slashing animals to death, marinating them with spices and eating them that is so desirable? Bernard Shaw refused to become a graveyard for dead animals…..  but that didn’t stop others.

I love the idea of money…. it simplifies exchange. it let’s everyone have something that they would like and be happier with…..  but why does the game get so complicated & vicious?

What part of LOVE do people not understand here?? the GIVING?? or the RECEIVING?? or simply SAYING IT??

may be the planet I really come from is simpler……. or may be i was supposed to land here with a Rule book that i lost along the way. But there are more and more things I cannot fathom or accept!

I wish i knew the way home….

Deserve before you Desire....

My little bro reminded me yesterday of what my grandpa used to tell him

“Deserve before you DESIRE”

It’s been ringing in my head all day!!

especially as i am witness to Partition second time in History. The lines are drawn not over religion, nor caste nor gender. It’s a battle for wealth. Everyone’s ready to seize whatever they can, as much as they can, as soon as they can…..

Have they earned what they’re taking??

the winner is the one who’s ready to walk away from the drama, the chaos & the greed … willing to LET GO!

BARGAIN BARTER BAZAAR!!!!!

BARGAIN BARTER BAZAAR!!!!!

Recently gave away a whole lot of annoying relatives in an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime “exchange” offer!!!!

Got a whole lot of PEACE OF MIND in return! 

Very very worth it!

DE-CLUTTERING and how!  ….. I’m so lovin’ it !!

"Swa" - learning at the unlikeliest of places.......

It could be a manic Monday morning, a traffic jam, a lazy afternoon with a book or a slightly longish wait at the doc. But messages come to at the oddest of places

The Universe sends us gentle reminders all the time, to keep us afloat on our journey,or just to tell us we’re doing okay wherever we are at this moment. 

2 weeks ago, I was back at my doc for the Homeopathy medicine that I’m trying to switch over to. The usual wait, meeting my doc, getting my packet of pills & powders before I head back home. That’s the routine. I paid for my visit and suddenly remembered that I had an unasked query, so I excused myself back into his cabin for a reply.

Dr. Patel’s reply done with, I turned back to the door and I spotted the square calligraphic painting on the back wall with the syllable “Swa” hand painted in Sanskrit along with a collaborating quote….. “what does this say?” I asked him

He smiled, read out the 2 line Sanskrit quote (a personal favourite of his), and then loosely translated the essence for me. A gift from one of his patients, this quote said “be your own true self (Swa)….. trying to be like others, won’t make you like them and you will never be who you are completely. You as you, are perfect…. If you are merely a garden flower, be content in being a garden-flower.  Don’t try being the rose. Roses are cut and sold in the market…. but the garden flower stays” 

I head back home trying to grasp some more, asking myself questions. There was so much more revealed in those words…..

“The Universe has created a place and purpose for you! “

“You are so awesome – just as you are!!”

"to thine own self be true" - Shakespeare

“When you do nothing, nothing is left undone” – Lao Tzu

My “AHA moment” of the week had arrived …. it had slowed me down and it had made me smile. 

That little verse had fitted on a fabric of 1 ft x 1 ft, but there are still more layers of meaning hidden in it. Beautiful ancient wisdom that mirrors teaching from Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Tao all at once, as you taste a drop of contentment in its words

For that one moment, my doctor also became my teacher…..

Well! Well! …. 

So?? what message has come to YOU lately?? 

Having an Engineer for a Dad means......

The LIGHT can sometimes strike you in an unexpected moment and everything makes sense from then on….

One morning, sometime between brushing my teeth and walking towards my cup of tea – it HIT me! The simplicity of it, the beauty of it and the futility of the rest….

The futility of dividing the human race into religions, castes, creeds, colours and what-not. After all, deep down inside we’re all skeletal structures – a bag of bones that moves with flesh around, aren’t we??! Okkkkkk… that sounds a bit gross, but then I had just discovered the TRUTH of life and i could finally fathom things

There was really & truly just ONE way to filter humanity into 2 categories – and i had discovered it! Eurekaaaaaaa!!!!!!

(Deep, profound breath)

There are just 2 kinds of people on this planet:

1) Children of Engineers

2) Children of Non-Engineers

There it is! Simple as it can be and profound as it can get….. 

When you have an engineer for a dad you grow up pretty much being the “good assistant” to daddy – handing over screwdrivers, pliers, nose-pliers, spanners while he goes about his task, repairing or fixing something in the house. You might just be a 5 year old, dragging a teddy bear in one hand, but you know the different tools and you know how to spot it in a drawer full of assorted tools.

You also respect the word “screw”….. because it is a very useful and dignified word in the household!

Nothing that is spoilt is discarded – because it CAN & WILL be RECYCLED….  nails, boxes, pieces of wire, hangers, keys – everything could be useful in the future

Your “growing up lessons” might be deprived of getting acquainted with “community helpers” – the plumber, the mechanic, the electrician and the gas serviceman…. because none of them have been allowed to enter your household – after all dad’s never going to pay them for something he can do himself, and will just take an hour to finish! Now, you have to know that “just an hour” can come today, a week later or may be 6 months down the line …. Engineer dads can be busy “fixing” other stuff in the meanwhile

The weeks go by, as you wait for the dvd-player, the tap, the door handle or the car to get fixed.

But, in stark contrast – kids who have bankers, brokers or professors as fathers live in perfectly functional homes. The tap-leak got fixed on the first weekend, the faulty wiring gets replaced the same evening and the car is whirring smoothly and safely from destination A to destination C

Sometimes an engineer’s family will plead with “daddy dearest” to please finally get a new refrigerator (now that it’s already 14 years old and warranties no longer can be provided by the company, because the company itself shut down 2 years ago!)….. but “man of the house” is confident that he can get it running in a day’s time.  So the freezer continues to store ice-cream in milkshake form and the veggies stink as they rot in a day. No one is counting the cost of this running expenditure though.

When everyone has resigned to fate and accepted that their destiny of living in the 1800′s, and storing food at the neighbour’s, –  things decide to finally change.  You come back home on a lazy Sunday afternoon from a game of volleyball, joined by your friends who want to watch a film with you…… and your drawing room is transformed!!!!!

There’s dad with the refrigerator door on the floor, all the contents of your last 3 days’ meals scattered around and 4 different sets of tool boxes that he owns – lying open – there is serious WORK happening here. Dad has decided to buy the new refrigerator after all – but only after he repairs this. It will have better “resale” value

When the aforesaid incident happens – you have 2 options -

A)  you finally confess to your friends that you’re actually the adopted kid of the family

or

B) you walk calmly to your room and enjoy watching the film with your friends as planned. Everything in your home is “normal” and you are fine. You know you can’t disown your family at this crucial hour when they really need you……

(and your Ipod dock’s been behaving a little funny and rather than burn a hole in the pocket – …. uhhh you know what??!!)

Kids from non-engineer household will never realise the ecstasy of being in a situation with friends when you’re the only person who knows that the “earthing wire” is green, the joy of pulling off a “do-it-yourself” Ikea project or fixing the plumbing of a friend by replacing the washer! 

They might never have growing-up memories of dad designing a futuristic, solar powered car which will someday be reality nor have words like “load-bearing capacity” or  ”fulcrum” in their normal vocabulary

They might never learn that EPS is Expanded Polystyrene – which is actually just “thermocol”

They will never that kerosene can have at least 5 uses – as fuel, as thinner, as cleaning agent, as first-aid for mosquito bite and insect repellant

They would never dare use their car’s brake-oil as emergency medicine to stop a bleeding cut because no one told them that it helps coagulate blood and speed up clotting!

Having an engineer for a dad means your sense of humour gets refined over the years and you start enjoying life’s little jokes, and when it throws lemons at you – you make lemonade and you recycle the lemon-peels as dish cleaners

Having an engineer for a dad also means that you look for solutions without wasting time cribbing. oh.. that's as good as saying what i did in the earlier para!! oops ;-)

Now why would you want to discriminate against people on the basis of their Gods, their colour, their countries or the language they speak???????

Suhana