In spite of health experts going blue in the face trying to get people to understand the importance of having breakfast, there are thousands who skip the first (and most crucial) meal of the day citing a motley of reasons.

Dietician Dr Sunita Dube says that having a hearty breakfast helps control excess hunger throughout the day. "Since we technically fast overnight while sleeping, forgoing breakfast adds to this fasting period and may disrupt blood sugar balance and insulin output.

Skipping breakfast also triggers bad eating habits during the day, as cravings ensue and quick-fix fast foods are often eaten. Having breakfast boosts metabolism and increases your energylevels throughout the day. When you miss it,
your energy is reduced and physical activity levels decline," reckons Dr Dube.

An ideal, healthy breakfast A healthy breakfast provides 25 per cent of the total energy andnutrients required by the body. "Ideally, your first meal of the day should comprise a perfect combination of carbohydrates, protein and fibre.
Make sure you include fruits, whole grains, berries and and good fats. Opt for light and soft idlis with sambhar, plain dosas with green chutney, milk with cornflakes or wheatflakes, vegetable poha or upma with a milkshake and sprouts.
Also, include high fibre fruits like apples, papayas, muskmelons, oranges or watermelons," says dietician and sports nutritionist, Deepshikha Agarwal.

What to avoid in the morning l Processed, deep fried or oily food, preserved meat, left over or junk food, cakes, pastries, and only juices are a no-no. l Avoid refined foods like white rice and white bread. Instead opt for whole wheat
bread and cereals. Stay away from deep fried pakodas, puris, samosas, doughnuts, cookies, potato chips, candy bars and sodas. l Food items like vada pav, bhajias, wafers, pizzas and French fries are loaded with fat, salt and calories
and have very little fibre - keep them at an arm's length.

Disadvantages of skipping breakfast Experts say that skipping breakfast may put you on the fast track to weight gain, heart disease, osteoporosis, irritability or mood swings, menstrual irregularity, low energy levels, low memory and hormonal stress. "A study shows that people who skipped breakfast developed higher bad LDL cholesterol levels, and were less sensitive to insulin than people who ate breakfast every day," says Dr Dube. And for those who skip breakfast in a bid to lose weight, you ought to read this. "People who miss breakfast tend to feel fatigued early on in the day and have low concentration levels, affecting their efficiency. Skipping breakfast also decreases metabolic rate making weight loss difficult. Research proves that people who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast. So, if you're looking forward to losing weight, have a nutritious breakfast to get a healthy start to the day," suggests Dr Agarwal.

Importance of a healthy breakfast in children and teens The amount of food that a child needs varies according to height, built, gender, and activity levels. "Most kids will usually eat the amount of food that's right for them, however, it is up to the parents to ensure that their children have the right foods available to choose from. Eating a meal should be both a healthy and an enjoyable occasion - a fact that many parents overlook when planning a meal for growing children. Good eating habits start from home so be a good role model.

Make sure that no one in the house skips breakfast. A glass of milk along with a boiled egg, idli, dosa, a grilled vegetable sandwich, porridge, fresh fruit or a paneer sandwich is good for tweens and teens, says Clinical
Nutritionist Dr Nupur Krishnan.

I sat there, nearly giddy as a young school girl, as the Admiral announced that nearly all of my wants for my division were about to be granted….funding, manpower, training.  At that moment when my ideas became reality, I knew
exactly how Dr. Frankenstein felt as he screamed, “IT’S ALIVE!!  ALIVE, I TELL YOU!!”


When you’ve put your heart and soul into an initiative, you can’t help but feel some personal gratification when it comes to fruition.  Even if you don’t get the credit.  NOT GETTING THE CREDIT!? What is that about? When something is for the good of the team and/or the organization, it doesn’t make a difference where the credit goes, as long as the initiative gets done.  What I’ve found in 25 years of working in (and leading) teams is that  ideas have to be set free and enabled to take on a life of their own. Especially if you need others to get the job done.  Bringing life to an idea is more about letting go than holding on.  Here are the strategies I use to make this happen: 
 
Give It Up
 
Much like a mother bird tosses her chick out of the nest when it’s ready, so must a good idea be tossed out to the team to be taken up, built on, and given wings.  I’ve had a lot of GREAT ideas in my life.  I’m not talking just good ideas … I am referring to fantastic ideas!  Many of which I’ve held onto way too long. I fed them too long, held them too long, and let them stay around too long.  So long, in fact, that (as the idea grew) it got too big for just one to manage but no one knew how to handle it but me (and it wasn’t nearly as cute as it was when it was younger)—resulting in its possible demise (due to it being too hard to handle or my hating it).   Holding on too long stifles the overall growth, development, and progression of an idea.  Giving an idea up gives it motion, momentum,
and creativity–enabling it to move forward.
 
Talk It Up
 
If I have thrown an idea out of the nest and allowed it to take flight, I can’t just abandon it.  It may sound a bit cliché or corny, but I must be the wind beneath its wings by talking it up at every opportunity.  Even though I am proud, I can’t run around saying, “Did you see my chick?  Isn’t she darling?  Don’t you just love her?”  Instead, I must support from
all sides by gently monitoring where it goes and whispering to all how it is doing, what support it needs, and how others can help the flight. This can be a difficult task. When pride runs too deep, egos run too high, and the wind that gets blown is too fierce, the idea will plummet to the earth and die.  A gentle breeze beneath the wings is all that is needed to keep it airborne.  Surround it with support.
 
Prop It Up
 
Barriers canget in the way of any idea’s new flight. It could be a strong gust from another direction or a huge tree right in the path of flight.  The question is, what can be done to remove those barriers?  Some may be removed through talking it up but some may take a little more savvy.   It might require a compromise or to ask something to get out of the way.  It might even require you take a chain saw and cut the tree out of the way. Think through the flight plan of this idea, prop it up, and  provide as clear of a path as possible.

In a team, the life and flight of an idea might start with you.  However, if you want to see it through, it’s important to remember to initiate, don’t lead.  Give it up, talk it up, and prop it up—give the idea the support needed for it to fly.  If it is a truly great idea, it will.  If not, and you take it upon yourself to raise, you might end up with an overweight, 30-year-old idea living with you that eats you out of house and home.  The choice is yours!  I think you’ll find that many hands make for lighter work and greater results.

Keep Leading, Laughing and Connecting

Worrying about the results  will not change them. I certainly recognize that a certain amount of worry is  just part of being human. People have concerns about many things. There are  legitimate concerns about money and financial security. There are legitimate  concerns about health issues, and there are concerns about our personal and professional relationships. People want all of these things to go well in their  lives, and a certain amount of worry and concern is normal. But there is  another kind of worry that is not only dangerous to your health; it is dangerous  to your success. The kind of worry I’m talking about is “imagined worry.”  Imagined worry is when you spend a lot of time thinking about the future and  what might happen in your life that could be terrible. My late friend Mary Crowley said, “Worry is a misuse of the imagination,” and she hit the nail on  the head with that remark.

 Now you might be wondering  why I’m so concerned about worrying and what it has to do with success and expecting  to win, so I’ll tell you. Worry is the most significant factor that relates to  the root of negative thinking. As a matter of fact, worry just might be the  engine that starts negative thinking, and if you are involved in negative thinking,  you will not expect to win. If you spend an excessive amount of time imagining  all the bad things that can happen in your life, you will become a person who  is problem-conscious, not solution-conscious. There is perhaps no greater  example of how this can be so dangerous than when it involves worrying about  health issues. I have known many people who receive bad medical reports, and  when they hear the news, they begin to worry so much about it their life may as  well have ended at that moment. We all know people who suffer this way and we suffer  with them. There doesn’t seem to be a single thing we can do or say to  encourage and lift them up.

 On the other hand, we all  know people who suffer in the worst way and never make mention of their  struggle. In fact, they seem embarrassed if we catch them grimacing in pain or  taking a bad step. They don’t want attention focused on what they can’t do or  how they hurt and suffer; they want to be “others” centered and get their mind  off of their disability. These individuals have accepted their issue as a part  of life and have decided to make the very best of their circumstances. They are  an encouragement and example to everyone blessed enough to know them! Yes, they  have bad days, but they choose to focus on the good days and what they can still  do. They live in the moment and know full well that tomorrow will be what it is  and they can deal with it when it arrives, not before.

Parents get tips on bringing up children
 
It is a common knowledge that, apart from school, parents play a crucial role  in the education and overall development a child. But not many can describe what that ‘crucial' role is. Is it encouraging a child to study? Inculcating discipline in them? Allowing them to pursue their chosen career?

Popular writer and novelist, Yandamoori Veerendranath says that parenting is much more than just encouraging a child. “During the early years of a child's life, parents spend more time and shower their attention when a child cries.
This develops a negative attitude in a child. To develop positive emotions, parents should spend more time when a child is happy and smiling,” he said. 

Mr. Veerendranath was addressing parents during an interactive session on ‘The Art of Parenting' organised by The Hindu Education Plus and JGI Jain Public School, Tadbund, on Sunday. 

Narrating his personal experience both as a child and a parent, Mr. Veerendranath said that developing a good personality takes more than few tips. “A parent should interact with their children more often. These interactions
should be engaging and should help the child to acquire more knowledge,” he said. 

“Children between 12 and 16 years of age need special attention as there will be a tremendous peer pressure on them. A good parent will always encourage a child and make him realise that he is different from other people. Once a child
realises that he is different and is comfortable with that thought, he will never suffer from inferiority complex and other associated problems,” he said. 
 
He also gave away numerous tips to both students and parents on various subjects ranging from the four stages of a child's development to the importance of expressing one's love. He also shared some practical tips that should be
followed by the children everyday. 

Quality time 

Drawing up on his rich experience Mr.Veerendranath teased, goaded and encouraged the parents to take more interest in their children than spending time before an ‘idiot' box. 

“Simple exercises such as spending just half an hour with your child during the evenings to discuss thought-provoking issues and encouraging the children to read for 10 minutes before they sleep will bring amazing results in your child's
performance,” he said. 

While Mr. Veerendranath was provocative at times, participants said that the session was more thought-provoking. “The points highlighted in the session were very informative. Personal anecdotes shared by Mr. Veerendranath were very valuable and will definitely help me in understanding and bringing up my child,” a parent said. The session sensitised me about various aspects of raising a child, he added.

It sounds and feels good

Feel like bursting into song? Go ahead and sing as often as you wish to because it is therapeutic, says Hema Vijay

 Do people feel good and break into song, or do they simply sing and start feeling good? Well, both the ideas may be true. Extensive research conducted around the world says singing aloud can help relieve stress, increase lung capacity, fine-tune speech, and enhance mood, energy and confidence levels.

 Perhaps this is why the trend of interactive song sessions, rather than passive listening-oriented concerts is catching on. For instance, M. O. Parthasarathy, who works to promote the understanding of classical music among the masses through shlokas and chants (incidentally, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer), conducts vocal concerts, where the audience is invited to sing along rather than listen in silence. “Concerts should help a listener gain something —
learn a new raga, or get a chance to sing and benefit from the experience,” says Parthasarathy, more famously known as MOP. In his concerts, he simplifies a classical song, breaking it up into phrases, so that even lay persons can pick
up the melody and sing it.

Can everyone sing?

 Scientists believe that since song is a form of sustained speech, almost anybody who is able to speak can sing, though, of course, achieving excellence takes time and practice. 

“Singing is a very developed aspect of human communication. It can help some people relax; in that sense, it is a therapy. Many other factors such as posture and breath control count too,” says Prof. Mohan Kameswaran, ENT consultant and head and neck surgeon, Madras ENT Research Foundation.

 “Music therapy need not necessarily be high-brow, passive, expensive or inaccessible. Even a chaiwala can understand and benefit from classical music, if concerts are made more interactive,” says MOP. He admits that as a boy, he used to run away from music, even while his father, a classical music guru, who taught not just gifted students, but also physically challenged children and those from the underprivileged sections. “The atmosphere always resonated with
the strains of music,” he says.

 Classical pianist Anil Srinivasan is one of those who beats stress by singing aloud. “It has the same effect as does a spot of jogging. I feel better,” he says, adding, “when you sing, toxicity and negativity are forced out of your system and energy is released.” Singing has been shown to release endorphins, the feel-good chemicals, into our bloodstream. Singing therapy works on the broader premise of understanding the activity that makes you feel good, and doing it. So, if trying to sing makes you feel more stressed and increases your blood pressure, choose some other activity that is relaxing. 

Active singing sessions as opposed to passive listening to recitals have many positive spinoffs for senior citizens (who form the bulk of the audience in a classical music concert) because, unlike listening, singing aloud involves perception and action, as well as the sensory, motor, limbic and other relevant regions of the brain. This keeps aging brains active and alert, which is crucial to stave off depression and dementia. And if you happen to sing in a group, the barrier of self-consciousness that prevents many from opening their mouth is overcome.

 Even for the general population, singing aloud creates stress-free moments. This is because worries and depression are forgotten when you focus on learning a tune. Says Anil, “Singing forces me to concentrate. Normally, the mind has
many thought streams. When you sing (to the best of your ability), your thoughts get focussed.”

 Singing aloud has a positive effect on kids too. For one thing, singing trains the voice, and builds a child's confidence to speak. This, in turn, makes the child self-assured and poised, and improves his public speaking ability, or
his ability to handle a group discussion with ease. Singing promotes good posture, which improves blood circulation and general health. Most important, “We learn to breathe properly when we sing. Usually, breathing in most people is
shallow,” points out MOP.

 So go ahead. Open your mouth wide and sing the tunes that run in your head. Sing like you talk — naturally. And if you're off-key, maybe you should spare a thought for its impact on your listeners' stress levels, and sing in solitude.

 REASONS TO SING

 * Singing aloud can help relieve stress, increase lung capacity, fine-tune speech, and enhance mood, energy and confidence levels.

 * Sing-along concerts involve perception and action. They help aging brains remain active, and stave off depression and dementia.

 * Singing sessions can help kids in voice training, build their confidence to articulate their thoughts in day-to-day conversation or improve their public speaking skills.

Can anyone really live on Rs. 26 a day, the income of the officially poor in rural India? Two youngsters try it out.

 Late last year, two young men decided to live a month of their lives on the income of an average poor Indian. One of them, Tushar, the son of a police officer in Haryana, studied at the University of Pennsylvania and worked for
three years as an investment banker in the US and Singapore. The other, Matt, migrated as a teenager to the States with his parents, and studied in MIT. Both decided at different points to return to India, joined the UID Project in
Bengaluru, came to share a flat, and became close friends. 

The idea suddenly struck them one day. Both had returned to India in the vague hope that they could be of use to their country. But they knew the people of this land so little. Tushar suggested one evening — “Let us try to understand
an ‘average Indian', by living on an ‘average income'.” His friend Matt was immediately captured by the idea. They began a journey which would change them forever.

 To begin with, what was the average income of an Indian? They calculated that India's Mean National Income was Rs. 4,500 a month, or Rs. 150 a day. Globally people spend about a third of their incomes on rent. Excluding rent, they
decided to spend Rs. 100 each a day. They realised that this did not make them poor, only average. Seventy-five per cent Indians live on less than this average.

 The young men moved into the tiny apartment of their domestic help, much to her bemusement. What changed for them was that they spent a large part of their day planning and organising their food. Eating out was out of the question; even dhabas were too expensive. Milk and yoghurt were expensive and therefore used sparingly, meat was out of bounds, as were processed food like bread. No ghee or butter, only a little refined oil. Both are passionate cooks with healthy appetites. They found soy nuggets a wonder food — affordable and high on proteins, and worked on many recipes. Parle G biscuits again were cheap: 25 paise for 27 calories! They innovated a dessert of fried banana on biscuits. It was their treat each day.

Restricted life

 Living on Rs.100 made the circle of their life much smaller. They found that they could not afford to travel by bus more than five km in a day. If they needed to go further, they could only walk. They could afford electricity only
five or six hours a day, therefore sparingly used lights and fans. They needed also to charge their mobiles and computers. One Lifebuoy soap cut into two. They passed by shops, gazing at things they could not buy. They could not afford the movies, and hoped they would not fall ill.

 However, the bigger challenge remained. Could they live on Rs. 32, the official poverty line, which had become controversial after India's Planning Commission informed the Supreme Court that this was the poverty line for cities
(for villages it was even lower, at Rs. 26 per person per day)?

Harrowing experience

For this, they decided to go to Matt's ancestral village Karucachal in Kerala, and live on Rs. 26. They ate parboiled rice, a tuber and banana and drank black tea: a balanced diet was impossible on the Rs. 18 a day which their briefly adopted ‘poverty' permitted. They found themselves thinking of food the whole day. They walked long distances, and saved money even on soap to wash their clothes. They could not afford communication, by mobile and internet. It
would have been a disaster if they fell ill. For the two 26-year-olds, the experience of ‘official poverty' was harrowing.

 Yet, when their experiment ended with Deepavali, they wrote to their friends: “Wish we could tell you that we are happy to have our ‘normal' lives back. Wish we could say that our sumptuous celebratory feast two nights ago was as
satisfying as we had been hoping for throughout our experiment. It probably was one of the best meals we've ever had, packed with massive amounts of love from our hosts. However, each bite was a sad reminder of the harsh reality that there are 400 million people in our country for whom such a meal will remain a dream for quite some time. That we can move on to our comfortable life, but they remain in the battlefield of survival — a life of tough choices and tall
constraints. A life where freedom means little and hunger is plenty...

Plenty of questions

 It disturbs us to spend money on most of the things that we now consider excesses. Do we really need that hair product or that branded cologne? Is dining out at expensive restaurants necessary for a happy weekend? At a larger level, do we deserve all the riches we have around us? Is it just plain luck that we were born into circumstances that allowed us to build a life of comfort? What makes the other half any less deserving of many of these material possessions, (which many of us consider essential) or, more importantly, tools for self-development (education) or self-preservation (healthcare)?

We don't know the answers to these questions. But we do know the feeling of guilt that is with us now. Guilt that is compounded by the love and generosity we got from people who live on the other side, despite their tough lives. We may have treated them as strangers all our lives, but they surely didn't treat us as that way...”

So what did these two friends learn from their brief encounter with poverty? That hunger can make you angry. That a food law which guarantees adequate nutrition to all is essential. That poverty does not allow you to realise even
modest dreams. And above all — in Matt's words — that empathy is essential for democracy.

 
Enlightenment or evolution has got two steps. The first step is from becoming somebody to nobody. It is not getting stuck in something or somebody. You get stuck being somebody in two cases - either you are too special or you
are hopeless. People get stuck in the seat. If you don't give them a proper seat, that's it. That pushes their button. “What difference does it make if I sit on the sofa or on the carpet? I remain what I am.” Meditation is from being
somebody to becoming nobody. Dissolving of ego is from somebody to nobody.
 
 
The second step is from nobody to everybody. That is the state where you feel oneness with everybody, you feel that you are a part of everyone and everyone is a part of you. That is the reason why Jesus said, "If you have to go to my
Father, there is no other way, you have to go through me and me alone." Krishna said the same thing to Arjuna. He addresses him in three terms. First he says, "Surrender to Him who lives in everybody's heart". Then he says, "Just surrender to me." And then he says, "Surrender to that divinity that is deep in yourself and get out of this illusion of ‘me’ and ‘you’ and all the separation.”
 
The whole universe is one organism, one living Being. And each mind is just a part of that. This is the highest knowledge, the universal truth. You are in everybody. Only then the real service also begins. That service is really
authentic. You see someone suffering and you feel you are suffering too or you see somebody getting hurt, and you also feel the pain.
 
See, the body is decaying. Whatever you do, your body is perishable. The direction of body is towards perishing, is towards decay. And the direction of your soul should be towards the immortal, the non-changing, imperishable. As you
grow older, your mind should mature and look towards that eternal something that is undying, that doesn't age. That is deep in you: the spirit. 
 
There is so much suffering in the world and that's why we need to be very active in giving this knowledge to as many people as possible. You can. All those who have learned meditation, and all those who have not learned meditation
also, just get together, do some reading and satsang, meditate together, eat together; share lives together. Once in fifteen days, once in a month, have a sort of community get-together. And talk about knowledge. Instead of gossiping
or talking something just trivial, why not talk about knowledge, wisdom? Putting your mind into something that is eternal is worth doing.
 
We need to improve the quality of life. Just look at the children when they are in kindergarten, in nursery school; there is so much joy, there is so much happiness, celebration in their life. And, as they grow older, when they go to high school, see how they are? Do they grow in joy, in bliss, in celebration, or are they going towards violence, hatred, unfriendly behavior, stress, frustration, agitation and dullness? Is this what we are doing to the children? And we spend thousands of dollars to bring this suffering on to them. And this we call as education? Losing all the human qualities is called education! That's ridiculous, no? 

And this is not an instance here and there. This is widespread, nearly the same all over the globe. Maybe not so much in developing countries but especially in all the developed countries and metropolitan cities - there is absolutely no human quality at all being expressed. I wouldn't say they have died out. They are there but are never expressed. So there is such frustration, such pain, such suffering all over and we need to do something about it.