There can be various reasons for a person to suffer from depression. It could be because of a personal loss, the death of a loved one, loss of job, end of love relationship, divorce, mental problems or other stressful events. And it could end in anything, sadness, hopelessness, lack of interest, trouble concentrating, guilt, mental agitation and even suicidal thoughts.

Overcoming depression can be very easy only if one is strong willed and dedicated. There are certain things that one must remember.

LIFE DOESN’T END:

Lao Tsu said, “What we call the end of caterpillar is the beginning of a butterfly.” What you feel or call the end of a chapter is also beginning of a new chapter. Life doesn’t end there. It begins all anew. Sadness is temporary. the bad phase will pass.

TURN NEGATIVE THOUGHTS INTO POSITIVE:

The utmost important point is to to give up negative thoughts like wish I could do that, what if that wouldn’t have happened etc. Whatever happens happens for the best. God must have made bigger plans for us. It was you trail. Make it your strength. It is only in your hands to do that. All that you went through should make you stronger and wiser. Only if you let that happen, it will broaden your understanding. Thus, you know what to do in future when you come across a situation like this. You will be able to keep a positive attitude.

KEEP YOURSELF BUSY:

When a mind is free, all sorts of unwanted negative thoughts arrive which kills everything positive that is within a person. That is why a depressed person lacks interest in doing anything. Because he is too busy in self-pity. Hence, keep yourself busy by doing something that you like. Do any activity that makes you happy, that contributes to your self-esteem and keeps your mind off negative thoughts.

BE WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE:

The people whom are with, whom you work with or live with, your friends circle are also very important. Happiness is contagious. When one is happy, he passes on good vibes on another person and so on the cycle continues. When you are surrounded by negative people, you will only see the negative side of life because that is what is talked about with you. Hence, share your time with those people, be with those friends or family members whom you enjoy being with, feel happy and feel lively when you are with them.

DON’T BE TOO HARD ON YOURSELF:

Don’t blame yourself for everything that went wrong. Not everyone can be perfect. Perfection is only God. Not everything is in your hands. Do your best but if things went wrong, it could not be necessarily because of you. Learn to accept the situation.

CHANGE YOURSELF:

Sometimes changing oneself, few habits that makes them depressed solves the whole problem. Don’t blame circumstances or other people for your depression. Don’t let helplessness go to you. Think, “You made yourself depressed over that.”Change the way your react to things and you will notice a huge difference.

Understand yourself better. You could write a diary or letters to yourself. Read them and figure out what is really bothering you. Try to keep a balance between pleasure and work. Don’t be too serious with life. Life is too short. Enjoy it to the fullest!

In our busy life, if we aren’t able to do certain things on time. We put the blame on time. For example, we didn’t have, the given time wasn’t enough etc. What we actually lack is proper time management.

From my personal experience, I have learnt few techniques which I stick to most of the time.

SETTING GOALS:

First of all, setting proper goals is very important. Proper planning should be done about what steps are we going to take to achieve our goals, identifying what is required to achieve them and what will be our approach. Further goals must be categorised as short term and long term. Even making To-do list on daily basis helps but only if you follow them strictly.

PROPER ORGANISATION:

For maximum efficiency, better organisation of yourself and you workspace is must. This will sound very lame but it is actually very important. Proper organisation saves a lot of time.The goal is to look for ways a person can save and invest time.
PRIORITAZATION OF TASKS:

When the work load is categorised and arranged according to its importance, a great amount of time is saved, hence, work can be submitted way ahead of deadlines.

For example, work should be divided or organised as that are perceived to being urgent and important which needs to done first. Next come tasks which are important but not urgent and next are those tasks that are neither important nor urgent. This will help is prioritizing your work thus saving an ample amount of time.

AVOID OR POSTPONE UNNECASSARY ACTIVITIES:

All other things other than work your can be put off until your work if finished which means that do no waste time on something that is not as important as work. Anything else can be a distraction which you will surely enjoy because at that it may be very appealing but this is what will result you in wastage of time. This is the most difficult challenge of time management.

DO NOT WASTE EVEN FREE TIME:

So much time is lost while just simply walking, riding bus etc. Find out in what way are you wasting your time. Thus, try utilising that time to read a chapter if you wanted to or to review your work. Hence, this way you are utilising your free time also in the best possible way.

SET DEADLINES:

Although your work will have its own deadline, set your own deadline before the original one so that you don’t lose a track of time and you know if you are too slow and if you need to be fast. This way you could finish before the original deadline itself.

DO NOT BE CARELESS:

Do not let go yourself so easily when you don’t finish your work on time. Find out your mistakes. And make you sure you don’t repeat them

But also understand that no matter how organized we are, a 48 hour time work can’t be done within 24 hours. Be kind to yourself. But remember only you can be manage yourself and what you do with time.

The speed at which we travel to reach our goals is so great that during our travel, we forget ourselves.

First of all, what is a goal?

A goal is an aim, an end, an achievement toward which all our efforts are directed. It is a target set by ourselves; it is our objectives, and a finish line to our intentions.

But on our ways to achieve our goals, we have made a rat race for ourselves. And we run on them all our lives. And on this path, we forget everything else other than the finish line which is never going to be the finish line as man’s needs never end and so does his goals. If one goal ends, another one comes up and on and one. It is a circle of life.

Hence, during this rat race and the speed at which we run, we become too hard on ourselves. We forget to take good care of ourselves. We run like machines. And we forget that even machines need little oiling, care and once in a while, even they have to be switched off so that they don’t get over heated. And well, we are mere human beings. When we run like machines, we end up being stressed, depressed, suffering from anxiety and in severe cases patients with heart problems.

Do not set huge goals. Don’t create a larger than life goal which you know in your heart is difficult to achieve. Break your goals down into smaller and smaller targets which are attainable. Set your goals on a number of different levels. This will be easier for you to focus, to work on them and achieve them. For example, don’t set your a goal that say in ten years time I want to be the CEO of a company, instead, try a month plan, six month plan, a year plan. And be precise so that you can measure your own goals.

Don’t Over load. Overloading is the cause of stress and tensions because you are burdening yourself with too much of work. Remember you are a human being. Even machines get spoilt when over load. It is obvious that you will burn out too.

Forgive yourself. When you didn’t meet up to yours or other’s expectations, forgive yourself. When you meet with failure, be kind to yourself. We are so obsessed with our goals that we forget that we are human beings having certain limitations too. Perfection is only God.

Time Management. This is another point. Without time management, nothing can be achieved even if you have the best of goals planned out smoothly for you. Respect time. Create a list of things of things that you should do today to work towards your goals. At an early stage these goals may be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your goals. This will help you in the long run reducing stress.

Take out some My-time. Once a day, extract at least ten minutes time for yourself. It could be before you go to bed, after you get up or anytime that suits you the best. And relax yourself. Do what you love. Day dream, sing or read a poem. But dedicate this time to yourself.

Tensions are caused by YOU. Because you let them affect you. And no amount of spending on superficial things is going to give a peace of mind. As you yourself built it, hence, you only can heal yourself.

What is education? Education is a road, which is cultivated and paved ahead through the means of knowledge to a meaningfully better and defined way of life.

But in spite of knowing that, there are many people in the world who believe that when a child can earn at a younger age without an education, why is there a need to study? And mind you, this is not just what the poor and illiterate think; the ‘educated society’ also thinks that. The difference is that the ‘educated society’ doesn’t say openly. That is why you will still find child labour in their house. You will find children as young as their kids or even younger than them cleaning their utensils, sweeping their floor. Well, this is the answer to all such people.

First of all, why is education important? Why do we teach our children?

Education liberalises everyone. It gives a child various ways to breathe a complete new life, to open their eyes to see a different new world and opens the child’s doors to that world which is waiting for them. It makes him creative. From day one when he starts choosing his blocks to build his block building, a child is taught decision making and independence.

Education improves a person’s understanding, accepted wisdom and outlook. It teaches them the accepted wisdom of living in a better way. It is a fresh attitude towards humanity; a common denominator of life that binds human beings regardless of differences in cast, creed, country and religion. To eradicate these differences education is important.
Education not only improves the child’s perceptive of the world but also helps them understand and accept other cultures and respect them. Their lifestyle, attitudes and opinion individualize. They will know what they want. Why and how to get it. And on the basis of their knowledge, they grow up to make their lifestyle and our society better.

Here we are teaching our kids that forget cast, creed, country and religion but also here we are repeating the same mistakes thinking that our children needs to know such stuff but not the one who is cleaning our utensils. Every child needs to know this. Because every child is a part of society and his share to the society is equally important as any other child’s.

The more a child acquires an education, the more they become aware of the fact that there is still more to discover and their understanding is still very minute compared to the vast sea of knowledge. Hence, imparting knowledge and teaching style is very necessary so that their intellectual attitudes may not be limited within the restricted confines of a few sects.

Education teaches that humanity is the basic ground on which we should always approach our fellow human beings and nurture friendly attitudes towards the building of this world. It is the key factor. But are we actually doing this? Let us join our hands together and see that every child in our neighbourhood is getting at least a decent education because our society’s, country’s as well as humanity’s future is on their shoulders.

I remember when my husband and I called up to reserve a room in one of Shimla’s finest hotels, we got two different offers. We were supposed to reach Shimla on 12th March. Hence, my husband called on 7th to book a room for us. When he called, he was quoted a rate of $102. After discount, he got the reservation done for $92. Minutes later, I called them up not mentioning that my husband had already booked a room and was quoted $92 and after discounts, the deal was made for $82. Half an hour later or so, my husband called up and cancelled the reservation he made as we got a better deal.

What we didn’t know is that if we would have called up the next morning, we would have been offered 72$ for the same room on the same night. So from our trips, we have learnt a great deal about hotel deals.

Because hotels have developed smart systems for predicting demand, they no longer need to negotiate with you. What they want is ‘Occupied rooms during weak periods.’ This means to travel before and after peak season. That’s the best way to get all the benefits of great weather and activities at significantly reduced prices. And because we travelled before the peak season, we were offered lesser price each day for the same room.

Another important fact is that sometimes, calling up or checking the website of Tourism Department for the state or country which you are travelling to will not only give you the best hotel deal but also gives you amazing ideas to plan out you tour in the best possible way.

Another strategy is to try the toll free number first. Reservationists at the hotel’s toll free or 800 number tend to be most aware of promotional deals, which provide the most significant savings. This is especially true for international travel. For example, A non-promotional rate quoted by a hotel were $104; for the same date, an 800 reservationist found us the promotion which got us our room for $60.

Next is to call hotel too. Sometimes, the hotels itself gives you the best deal.

Another strategy is to always ask for a lower rate or discounts. As hotels always hope that when they offer their first price, the person will say ‘okay’. By asking for discount, you’re encouraging the reservationist to give you the best rate.

Also note that cheaper rooms sell out first. That’s why sometimes we are offered different prices on multiple calls. As when these rooms sell out, the prices go up even though the prices haven’t actually been raised. Cancellations, currency conversions (for international travel) and the type of room or view requested may also account for different rates.

Another lesson that myself and my husband learned is that we are better on our own than asking a travel agent with whom we haven’t worked before. It is because a lot of them guaranteed us their rates to be the lowest which weren’t in fact. Although these rates are no lower than what you could get yourself, an agent whom you know and trust, will often both secure the best rate and save you time.

Another important fact is that by taking a minute or two to establish a good rapport with the reservationist can be the easiest way to get a better deal.

Before being the Editor – in – Chief of this site, I worked as a reporter for a weekly magazine. Hence, the previous as well as present experiences lead me to a conclusion that half of all errors that creep into print are owing to ignorance. Very rarely, it could also be because of deadline pressure. The rest? Carelessness and nothing but pure carelessness. It could be wrong spelling, wrong date, and wrong fact! It could also involve punctuation mistakes, grammatical mistakes, terminology/jargon mistakes etc.

Apart from the above reasons, many errors are also caused by words being sound-alikes.

For example: “At about one O’ clock, on Tuesday afternoon, before the Boeing crashed, a passenger had called his family informing them that something was wrong with their plain’s engine. Plain’s engine? Or perhaps plane’s engine!

Another example? Here it is: In August 2005, CNN.com provided an obituary on commentator Pete Jennings: Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather in a sense could have come out of the same shoot, but there was only one Petter Jennings.” A shoot? A shoot is a pastime for vice presidents; it is also a euphemistic expletive, dating from 1876, expressing frustration or disappointment. The correction? It is supposed to be, ‘the same chute.

Well, they are some trickers such as plane/plain, shoot/chute, and similarly cymbal/symbol, cornet/coronet, chanty/shanty and reign/ rein/ rain. They are technically known as ‘homophones’: two or more words that 1. Have different meanings, 2. Are spelled differently, and 3. Sound more or less alike. They are a bane, an utter nuisance to a copy editor’s life.

Copy editors work in a wide variety of fields–anywhere there is text. In academia, they may work for journals, universities, or independent academic clients. In publishing, they may work for newspapers, magazines, journals, book publishers, websites, online publishers, or individual writers. In the business and non – profit worlds, they can work as independent contractors freelancing for a variety of clients, at the clients’ offices or working from their own, or serve as partners or employees in specialized copywriting agencies that serve general business or non profit clients, or clients in specific industries such as technology, medicine, engineering, or the arts. Anywhere they work for that matter, the nightmare is same. Carelessness by the reporter! The copy editor is expected to ensure that the text flows, that it is sensible, fair, and accurate, and that it will provoke no legal problems for the publisher. Someone not trained in this area may pass by one or perhaps numerous of the mistakes mentioned above without noticing them.

But well, if you are a writer and there’s no one to be your copy editor, then simply follow this. Make the copy (i) clear, (ii) correct, (iii) concise, (iv) comprehensible, and (v) consistent; that is: make it say what it means, and mean what it says. The only advice I can offer all you writers is to develop a copy editor’s sixth sense: if a word looks wrong, believe me, it very probably is.

This article is specially written for the new writers among us. For those who want to master the writing techniques.

James J. Kilpatrick, a renowned columnist, states in his article that one among many techniques that a writer should master is the proper placement of ‘only.’ And this is true. Let us use ‘only’ in sentence because until then, we won’t be able to understand its proper placement.

For example: Only Steve hit Dan in the nose. Steve hit only Dan in the nose. Steve hit Dan only in the nose. Each sentence carries a different meaning. This means that the trick is to slip the ‘only’ (or any other defining adverb) close to the word you intend to modify.

Another example is: The Editor read my article, varying the placement of ONLY results in different quite different meaning. The Editor only read my article means that Editor did nothing else. The Editor read only my article means that he/she didn’t read anyone else’s. The placement of ONLY is confusing but it is a crucial one.

The truth is that many experienced writers also fail in the ‘only’ test. The Washington Post has a stable of first-rate sportswriters and all of them stumble over their only’s. One among the many writers is Sally Jenkins. She covers golf. For example, years ago in her scolding to Tiger Woods for sulking at Oak Hill, she wrote that, “He hung his head, flapped his arms, and tossed his clubs as he hit only four of 14 fairways.” The point was not that Woods ‘only hit’. The remarkable thing was that he hit only four.

And it’s not ONLY Washington Post but also numerous others including The Wall Street Journal. It reports that certain rules laid down by Attorney General John Ashcroft “only apply to terrorist investigation.” What they really meant to say is the rules apply only to terrorist investigation.

The New York Times is also notorious for messing up on ‘only’. A play based in Ireland “could only take place in a culture of shame.” Whereas it should have been in written, ‘A play based in Ireland could take place only in a culture of shame.’ Some companies that only own newspapers are concerned that television stations are too expensive to buy.” But what did they really mean to say? They meant, “Only own newspapers.”
The National Law Journal reported that in a recent case “the jury only deliberated for 90 minutes”. Well, the real sentence – “deliberated for only.”

The Stuart (Fla.) News quoted the head of an advertising agency: “Our philosophy is that we only have one client – the one we’re with at the time.” Tut, Tut! Oh my god! Did they really mean that they have only one client?

In short, ‘only’ should be placed with lot of care. Variation of ‘only’ can change the meaning of the sentence. Al though, many strict grammarians have a certain rule with the use of ‘Only’but if the context is sufficiently clear, there is no chance of being misunderstood.

But for those who think loneliness is really depressing, it’s not correct. Even five minutes of loneliness will make your soul feel great! Surprised? No? Well, then why people all over the world fret over it? The way you can be happy even in the worst sotuations by making your positive points your strength likewise you could also find loneliness as a great strength too. No – I am not joking.

If you are among those who are suffering from loneless, then just think: Why can’t you picture yourself alone? Why are you so worried about being lonely? Is it that you are scared to face yourself? Or is it because you can’t make few confessions to yourself? Are you scared to accept the truth?

For those who can’t face themselves; just think will that solve your problem? Does ignoring a problem, erase it? Face yourself, face your weaknesses and know yourself better. And that can be done while you are alone. Bpred of drawing, writing or playing guitar? There is more to it then just that much! Meditate. Talk to yourself when you are alone. Talking to your soul means knowing and understand yourself better. You could keep a diary in which you could write down your dreams, your feelings, your ideas and your views.

Writing not only helps you emotionally, it will help you nurture your skill. And perhaps one day you might realize you can be a writer.

As we all know that we all are different from each other and so are our abilities. SO our thinking and views are also different from others’. Instead of wasting your weird thinking, think about how well you can make use of it. Because loneliness helps you think.

Now loneliness also helps you be physically fit. And that is through Yoga. As a matter of fact, most of the Asanas (exercises) in yoga are those in which you need to sit in quiet place and meditate. Henceforth my friends, if you find yourself lonely, don’t get involved in self-pity, you know now just what to do. Make loneliness your strength rather than your weakness!

From the moment of our birth into this world, we become the learners of each minute particle of life and our lives are completely shaped by each single thing so forth on how every new thing influenced us and in what way.

All of us are sent by almighty for a certain reason.. Each soul is precious and priceless with its own treasure because of the story it writes. We are unique, in our own ways. Each individual has his own way to think, to express, to work etc. We all have our roles to play. We all contribute knowingly or accidentally, intentionally or unintentionally to others’ lives. Our actions are really important not only for us in our lives but for others in their lives as well. Somehow, some way or the other someone does get affected by us and our actions. Didn’t we learn in science, every action has it’s own reaction?

The importance of life is not understood by everyone. That is why in India alone, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi reports that in 1986, 7545 youngsters under 18 committed suicide. But by 1994, the figure had risen to 9975 (please note that in 1995, the NCRB changed under which it collects suicide statistics.The category of children under 18 was dropped. The NCRB now has two categories for youngsters – those under 14 and those between 15 and 29). Hence, out of loneliness (due to the growing numbers of nuclear families where both the parents work), examination blues, love problems etc. People end their lives not understanding the importance of life and the way to live. They lack the knowledge of how to live a life balancing every aspect of it.

Life is not about earning higher than others, owning more than others, dressing better than others. It is about doing what is important to us, for what we really want to be doing, for spending time with loved ones, for doing things we’re passionate about, for making others happy, for making a difference in peoples’ lives, for bringing about changes in society and so on, depending upon our understanding of life and goals.

One must not think of all to come, let the winds of life blow as they do and every new step will ununfold itself and reveal the fuller picture where one stands. It is in the sunshine to show the world and the nature to blossom the buds into new flowers for summer springs. Let’s try in our own ways to understand the importance of our lives and benefit others in our own ways with that understanding. Let’s make our lives beautiful and other’s too because life really, truly is very beautiful. We just need a change in our perspective.

-Maazia Mani

Fashion hasn’t just influenced the older generation. It has seeped into the younger one’s lives too. And if you are spoilt by fashion at a very young age, then you are not the only one, there are with you many boys and girls, both pre-teens and teens.

From sunglasses to clothes, from make-up to accessories, everything has been fashionable to make choice difficult in order to look picture perfect. From latest modern cell phones to beautiful bags, sensous scents to fabulous shoes, you name it fashion freaks know it and own it. Most significantly, the delicacy behind choice of clothes is much increased when it has been branded in the current world of teens.

From fashion in winter to fashion in autumn, fashion in spring to fashion in summer, the word ‘fashion’ never goes out of date but fashion each season gets changed. In the month of winter, fashion freaks can’t breath the freshness of air: appreciate the cool breeze until and unless their wardrobe is out of hiberantion to stay updated with irresistible designs. Welcome to the world of fashion!

Now, from the warm winter to summer cool. You couldn’t miss an eye without sunglasses in summer. Specs speak more of you than you yourself could speak of. Sunglasses can make or break a look and choosing the wrong pair can destroy a style. With the sun’s UV rays, it’s not only important to don sunglasses to protect our eyes, but sunglasses also add the finishing touch to any stylish outfit.

It’s not just in the case of sunglasses or purses but also the hairdos and what not. Now everywhere you turn (except towards my kind of people who prefer simplicity) you except to see most fashionable people decked in lates styles. And if you aren’t fashionable even by an inch then prepare to close your ears. Trust me; it is a “must do it now” tip to avoid cynical comments.

“The more the sophistication, the more fashionable you look” is the voice you hear often but Fashion isnt the matter of merely sophistication; it also holds its name among the simple people too.

It’s harder to buy gifts now. You must tell your aunt or husband or buy the latest fashion magazine first and then buy the latest style of T-shirt, jeans or even purse in the latest color.

Either you decide fashion statement or fashion decides your personality, in both ways you are under the influence of fashion. From sophistication to simplicity, fashion has everything in its collection but the question arises, does dressing in latest fashion trend define the individual we are?

Are we letting fashion rule us? And if yes, then why? Is it due to low self-confidence or is that fashion boosts our self-confidence? It is up to you to decide what you think and want at the end of the day.

Think about this and do let us know your views.

-Maazia Mani