Corporate training using NLP is my cup of tea - Ramasubramanian

Corporate training using NLP is my cup of tea - Ramasubramanian

NLP training for employees is a must for corporate houses. It transforms their life at home too.

Do musicians make any money?

I don't know if I am imagining it but I think interest in music is dipping alarmingly. Is it because it is so freely available and therefore losing value or is it that the quality itself is dipping. My son keeps on telling me that there is nothing wrong with the quality of music. According to him it is going up but for an older person like me I do feel the quality of compositions of today do not measure up to the music of yesteryear. This could be a typical generation gap opinion but most people would agree with me I think that musicians will not be able to sustain themselves on music alone in the years to come because the delivery systems are all out of control. Anybody can play music anytime anywhere for any number of listeners with nobody having to pay any money. At least in the old days if a song was heard it was mostly on radio and radio used to pay some royalties but now people have songs on their mobile phones. I remember hearing Venkata Suprabhatam sung by MS Subbulakshmi on a mobile phone. I know that it was not playing from a radio station but saved on on the phone's memory. How does that help the singer or the composer? I would like to see information. I have a very good reason to ask for this information as my daughter is a singer who wishes to become a professional singer. I am terrified of what her future will be.

Kareem, Pune

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Book publishing is not easy

The arrival of the digital age has signalled the end of a lot of different trades.  Publishing used to be a tightly control business with just a few publishing houses controlling the output of a hundred or even a thousand authors. Each publishing company used to have a stable of authors who were all beholden to them for the little royalties they pay as an advance. Once you sign on to a publishing house you can practically kiss your book goodbye unless by good fortune it becomes a huge bestseller. If it is a best seller you will have no problems with money and you will have your Agent call you up every now and then and say nice things to you. But  God forbid your book is not a success as then you will not hear from them ever again.  Books need  promotions on mass media and that costs a lot of money. Authors are so desperate to have their book released that they will cheerfully write off all profits just to see their books on the shelf. However the arrival of digital printers has changed all that and now authors can get a releas even if the main publishing houses reject your script.

Neha Chawla, New Delhi

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Shortage of Chartered Accountants

My nephew has been attempting to pass his CA exams for the past eight years. I used to think that he was a stupid fellow. No exam will take you eight years to pass but now I think my nephew has been the victim of some unscrupulous and fraudulent practices. I think the chartered accountants business is a tightly controlled one and is even a manipulated trade. It is almost as if the chartered accountants have got together to blackmail industry and companies. With every good intentions Government has made it necessary for chartered accountants to sign the accounts and they in turn have made sure that very few Chartered Accountants are ever available.  That means CAs can now put up their price and charge whatever the market can bear. The governing body makes it appear as if the are regulating the quality of the accountants but I suspect that it is all done to only to create an artificial shortage.

Muhammed Salim, Mumbai

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How Modi did it

When the present government took control it was felt that maybe some of the new ideas brought in were actually not so good. For example the abolition of the Planning Commission was criticised by almost every economist and policy maker. It was described as petty revenge against the Congress by deliberately running down a respected establishment. But now it is pretty clear that the Planning  Commision had outlived its usefulness a long time ago. I am glad that our present Prime Minister came along in time to stop the rot. State governments can now decide on their future in consultation with the centre. To me it is a better way of running the government.  In the old system policy making was always top down. Policies were implemented without consulting by the states. Now the economy is facing many challenges particularly with the slow down in China. Hopefully this will be the time for India to take its rightful place in the world.

Sridhar Raj, Baroda

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Cause of early death

I read in the newspapers that humans across the world are nowadays experiencing shorter and shorter life spans. The reasons are many but the most striking one offered  was the simple explanation that since we are eating food grains which have been forced to grow to maturity in a short period our life span is also reduced.  That is to say that if in the old days it took 4 months for grain to grow from being planted as a seed until harvest this same grain through modern technology is now being made to mature and ripen within 2 months. I wasn't convinced about this being the reason but maybe there is some other reason for our life span getting reduced. Could it be because of the chemical fertilisers that are being used.

Panchapakesan, Coimbatore

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Cure breast cancer

So many doctors are nowadays advertising themselves in papers and on television claiming to have TV TV cures for all kinds of diseases. I always thought that they were not allowed to promote themselves just like lawyers are not allowed to promote themselves but it looks like I was wrong. Recently I came across a Doctor who claimed to be able to cure breast cancer. That was quite shocking to hear because doctors all over the world and researchers in Big pharmaceutical companies are still trying to find a cure but here was this man claiming that he had already done it. A drowning man would clutch at a straw so he will be willing to try anything. Nobody has found the complete cure to every disease. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Medicines used on these patients vary from Complex chemical compounds to simple garden ingredients. India had a fine tradition of medicine but it was ignored or suppressed by our colonial rulers. Of course it was always in our subconscious mind but we stopped using all these types of traditional  medicines. Big international drug companies have instead started pushing their medicines in India. Even today if you go to the villages very rarely will you will see a man or a woman being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. If you get hurt or if you were to fall ill 9 times out of 10 the village elders would come and give some advice which would mostly consist of feeding him some different foods and a concoction of crushed or ground leaves.  Those are all very effective treatments but I am afraid those are all going to vanish unless somebody documents it and keeps them for the future. The other problem is of intellectual property. Everybody in the world is trying to take our ancient knowledge and that of the Chinese and the Arabs and then trying to pass it off as if they are new discoveries of pharmaceutical companies. Unless we learn how to make Ayurvedic medicines scientifically I am afraid it would be a losing battle.

Anupama Ganesh, Bangalore

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Neeya Naana - behind the scenes

To me television talk shows are the best sort of programming. I am tired of listening to interviews with film actors and actresses. They only talk about their movies which have all come and gone. There is nothing to interest you unless you like to watch people dressed in good clothes and nothing else. I have been a keen follower of English talk shows but there are very few intelligent ones on our television. Generally if they are not talking about politics then our shows talk about crime. After a while both these topics get very boring. I saw a program called Neeya Naana on Vijay TV and frankly it was very good viewing.  The anchor was good as he was able to support both sides in what appeared to be a debate between two angry mobs. The few episodes that I watched were all thought provoking and the conversation was lively. Now I have come to know that it is somewhat manipulated but even then it was good to watch. I always wondered how the anchors in talk shows are so well informed and it's only now that I realise that there is a whole battery of people to support those who are in front of the camera. Research work is done well before the show and in some cases even the participants are coached on what to say. Still I am thankful for the program and I hope I see more interesting episodes.

Ramachandran, Chennai

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Solar energy is for every home

A friend of mine had recently built a house in Yercaud and when I went visiting it was on a really cold, overcast and windy day. When I reached his house he was sitting watching TV though on the way to his house I noticed that many of the house were in darkness. I was quite surprised to see my friend welcoming me with bright lighting in his house. He saw me looking at the lights and said that he had solar energy powering a few lights and some appliances. it was nice to see that Indians are not totally ignorant about Solar Energy. My friend told me that he was the only one on his Street to invest in a Solar Plant and that the cost was negligible. He felt that being independent of the State Electricity Board grid itself paid for itself.  He said that just by getting out from under the grip of the electricity board you can live life on your own terms. Costs have also come down dramatically so I see no reason why we should not make it statutory to install solar panels in all government offices, Railway Stations, Police stations and on public roads where darkness is the reason for a lot of crime. Women can  safely walk around in the city once solar lights are installed.

Robin Joseph, Thrissur

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Curing cancer the natural way

It is scary to see the number of people falling prey to cancer. It is all the more mysterious when we see that the majority of Cancer cases are women when they  are not known to have bad living habits. In fact they have a far better life style than men but still they are attacked by breast cancer. Oncology has made great strides according to the magazines but if you listen to people who are being treated by oncologist you will not believe that is the case. Radiation and then chemotherapy makes life so miserable for the cancer patients that they prefer to kill themselves saying it's better to die than go through the treatment. In the case of breast cancer the hormone suppression therapy makes women suffer all day due to the damage it causes. I am so glad to see this interview of Luke where he claims that people can get some relief from this dreaded disease just by reverting to old Indian kitchen recipes using turmeric. It has been known to have certain qualities but nobody knew that it could take care of cancer too. In South India women use it on their face more as a Cosmetic tool than anything else. Maybe it leaches through the skin and helps them which is why they use it. Thank you Luke.

Vidhubala Krishnan, Hyderabad

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Kudos Modi!

I have often been listening to our Prime Minister speak about his desire to place India among the leading nations of the world. He has not able to convince the negativity filled opposition that his plans will actually work but eventually they will. I have no doubt personally that he is sincere and that India is blessed to have an astute leader like him. He has no personal desires or axe to grind which is a huge relief when compared to the average politician in India. He is also very tech savvy for  his age. He has more good ideas in his head than anyone else even from among the opposition. I am  not a diehard BJP supporter but I support our Prime Minister. I don't think politics and party politics should enter or influence every action in ones daily life. Banking is one sector that I feel had been ignored since that one step that Mrs Gandhi took many years ago of nationalising them. That was a good move because it attempted to bring all Indians in to the banking system. But the promises were never kept and the banks soon went back to their old rotten ways. I mean giving away loans to people who didn't deserve them or who are already exploiting the banks to the fullest.

When Narendra Modi brought in Jan Dhan Yojana it made such a huge change in India that it will be remembered as his greatest contribution to the country. Of course his Skill India and Start up India will be talked about in the times to come but getting every Indian to open a bank account has changed  everything. The poor and deserving can now get the subsidy that has been given to him through various schemes directly into his account. For example if you look at the subsidy on gas cylinders, today the man who pays the full amount for the  cylinder doesn't have to wonder whether he will ever see his money again.  No, because the money will be credited to his account as soon as the process is completed. Also Indian banks had to step up their operation levels. They had to bring in increased efficiency speed and total transparency in their operation.  Suddenly a hundred and ten crore people became the banks customers as opposed to just 10 or 15 crore people earlier. It is a great tribute to their skill that they completed this awesome task in such a short time. I hope the banking system will also become the route through which the average Indian can contribute any surplus money that he has to the nation painlessly.

KC Karupannan, Coimbatore

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Disciplining builders and promoters

The collapse of a tall apartment block in Mumbai and also in Chennai it only confirmed my worst fears about building safety. I've always wondered if there was any single agency that looked into the construction. There seem to be too many agencies involved in checking the different aspects of construction but there is no one who finally takes responsibility. I suppose that is why when buildings collapse it is almost impossible to pin the blame on any one person or party. From the quality of the bricks to the kind of sand used, the kind of steel rods used in the pillars so many  factors can cause a building to collapse. There are building standards across the world and I am sure in India also we have them but the problem seems to be in enforcing them. Sub standard material is always pointed out to be the main culprit but is not always that. In most cases it is negligence and the promoters care a damn attitude towards safety.  Very few builders are actually engineers. They are mostly businessman who use their wealth to start a construction company and then they go about their merry way with nobody to challenge them. If you look at advertisements for buildings you will find most of them  hide the truth or will not tell the entire truth. It is only when everything is over and you read the fine print that you realise that you been cheated. This needs to change right from the top to the bottom. From where  permissions are granted to where  inspection carried out.

Priya Rajamani, Chennai

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American education is definitely better

It never  ceases to amaze me when I see young children from America speak so confidently to their parent and strangers.  Everytime I see an American TV program I am stunned to see the ease with which they talk in contrast to our children. Ours are invariably shy.  They mumble and they look away and generally sound stupid.  I am not taking about conversing in English.  They lack a decent vocabulary even in their mother tongue. I always wonder why that is so.  Is is because they get a superior education in the US or is it that we do not talk to our children sensibly. Most American children even from India are very  articulate.  In India even when the child speaks in English at home they still sound childish.  Even 10 year olds cannot string a single sentence with clarity.  Our teachers are  equally bad.  Have you ever observed the way a man on the street talks say to a TV reporter. They are incapable of saying anything sensible.

Vijaya Kannan, Bangalore

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Why a politician is corrupt

Social activism or fighting for Civic issues has been going on for a long time around the world. We in India woke up slightly late but now we are fully geared to fight for our rights. We are facing problems in India because the rulers and the ruled have always been cast in  adversarial roles. In this fight politicians are all in one corner and the public in the other. Politicians are actually public servants but we never see them like that. People expect politicians to work for free.  They ask for a salary as nobody works for free.  Nobody can maintain their families without an income so taking money to do a job is acceptable.  The problem starts when they take the money and do not do their job. We in India have always fought under the leadership of politicians so we never see anyone from Civil Society step up and take charge. We need people like that to come forward. We need selfless public spirited people who will spend their time to correct the wrongs  in society. Where he will emerge from is hard to say but somebody will come in times of trouble.

Sridhar Rajan, Namakkal

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Indian Navy is a powerful force

We have all been witness to the never ending arguments and counter arguments about procuring weapons. After the Bofors scandal all weapon purchases have ground to a halt.  We were only buying Russian planes and guns. Suddenly we decided to try French planes and now we have decided to build our own with the result that we have not been acquiring any weapons at all. Having the ability to make your own weapons is always the best option.  So making weapons in India is of primary importance and therefore why I am an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is time we developed skills in our country. So much stuff is coming in from China that India will go to sleep if we cannot get Chinese imports. They all started off by being very cheap but as time went by they rose in price and are now almost out of reach. They are equal to anyone in the world in terms of quality and quantity. We now need to increase our production skills and capabilities so that we can keep our armed forces supplied with the required weapons to fire at the enemy. This has become a serious problem for us because we had ignored RND for so long.  We are now facing huge gaps in our production capabilities. Fortunately the nation is finally embarked on skilling up and scaling up and I hope we do finally make our own top quality ships,  aircrafts and missiles so that India stays safe.

S. Rangabashyam, Dubai

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Pakistan and China are India's enemies

Indias enemies are today just Pakistan and China. Where our future enemies will come from is not very clear so we need to be wary.  We have been well warned about the nature of these two enemy countries so we have  taken steps to protect ourselves but that is no guarantee that  there will not be any other threats.  It could come from much further afield. In the future some African Nation my set out across the sea to try and take a bite out of India. It sounds like fiction but truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. The need for a Navy is that we also occasionally need to show the flag which means once in a while the presence of India and the power of India must be projected in foreign countries. Just for that one reason we need to maintain ships. You may wonder why we need  huge Aircraft carriers and submarines but that is because we need to show our strength.  You never know when someone will plan an  adventure like General Musharraf. While on a visit to China he hatched a plan to take over some peaks in Kargil area.  Having a navy is also useful because you can strike the enemy in their home land and not just repulse them in your own country. A large navy will also help India gain engineering knowledge. It will help establish an engineering capability and industry which can service Indian industry. Only when you have a large Defence Force can a nation maintain huge workshops and develop engineering  skills. It has advantages even in times of peace.

SB Bedi, Amritsar

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Alcohol and women

Most countries in the west have bars almost everywhere and they don't seem to have problems.  Alcoholism is there to an extent but they have strict laws to control it's sale.  Control is exercised through their prices which are high but they do not deny anybody the use of it. I believe prohibition will only make it more and more lucrative for criminals and end up further impoverishing  families. It is better to provide safe alcohol to the poor than ban it entirely. In Western countries too it is a huge source of revenue.  Through clever marketing they export it to all parts of the world. The problem is that in our country we do not have a history of dealing with alcohol and therefore we do not know how to teach our children to handle a drink safely. Women are generally against alcohol but these days there is an alarming increase in the number of young women taking to drink too.

Preethi Nadkarni, Mumbai

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Drinking must be banned

Alcohol has destroyed many a family so it is not a good thing to allow youngsters below the age of 18 to even take a single sip. I believe that it could lead to alcoholism. I was allowed to have an occasional drink when I was young but maybe I was fortunate that I did not become an addict. Detoxification centres are both rare and  expensive. Poor people are unable to treat members of their family at such centres. The government does run a few Detox centres but most of them are  like lunatic asylums.  When the patient comes out he becomes more a criminal than a  drinker. Social drinking is something that has been accepted but I think the time has come when we must introduce total prohibition in the country. By raising the cost you will not stop the desperate drinker because they will become thieves and steal it from their friends and family. The wife would not know how to deal with a violent man. Its a curse on our country and we need to prohibit it.

Alexander, New Delhi

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Composting - back to roots

I grew up in a small town which you could these days call a largish village in Kerala. Long before it became fashionable to talk about composting and utilising garbage to make manure it was a common practice in the countryside. People would dig a compost pit and throw all the leaves and kitchen waste into it. Compared to today there was very little household waste those days but we had the seeds and the skin of vegetables and fruits so they were always available for throwing into the compost pit.  Later this would be covered up with soil and a fresh pit would be dug.  Sometime the compost pit would be forgotten and it will only be later that we would stumble upon it full of rich soil.  Neighbouring farm workers would come into our house and cart away as much as they could carry.  My grandfather used to allow them to take it away as long as they didn't leave anything strewn around or in the compound. That used to drive my grandmother crazy and you would end up with a lot of yelling and screaming.  Composting was part of life In the villages and we should continue practicing it in at least a small manner even in the cities.

Madhavan Nair, Thrissur

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The kitchen garden realization

The  problem that we face in India is that we do not pursue things to the very end.  While we have garbage collection services in the City the service is never efficient. The garbage is not fully collected and they leave a lot of it strewn on the roads. Sometimes they don't turn up for days until all the garbage bins are overflowing. I think we need to pay more attention to the garbage collectors also. We need to ensure that they have some pride in their work though it is difficult to be proud of collecting garbage. Maybe we need to give good uniforms, gloves jackets with reflective coating, face masks, hand sanitizers and so much more. All of these a city can afford to give their workers. In my lane for example the garbage collectors do not collect everyday but only on alternate days which then becomes once a week or sometimes twice a week. I have just initiated a kitchen garden on our apartment terrace and I must tell you that it has been one of the most rewarding experience. It's almost like having a pet at home I literally rush back at the end of every working day to make sure that the days garbage has been put into the compost bin and that the plants are given a dose off the manure made through this method. We have been able to grow tomatoes and brinjals and it has actually made a difference to my monthly budget plus I know that I am eating vegetables which are not pumped full of fertilizers and Chemicals pesticides. Everybody in India should do this in their house regardless of whether you live in an apartment or a bungalow. This is one way of feeding our people.

Narayanaswamy, Chennai

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Mobile phones are an issue

I think mindless use of mobile phones is also leading to a lot of problems. Even my friends prefer to Whatsapp each other than talk.  Even during a movie girls are texting one another.  My daughter came home one day and pleaded for a new phone which all her friends have though I had just bought her a new one a couple of months ago.  I am unable to get through to her and we end up not talking to one another for days.  My husband of course tells me that I am being overly critical. I wish my daughter would also become more mature.  Maybe I'm being overly worried and my daughter is going through something that is normal. I talk to fellow mothers who tell me to count my blessings and not be so fussy.

Priya Kandasamy, Chennai

The above referenced video:

Age of counselor does matter

So much of what Ipsita said it's true. I had a neighbour who was restrained by her family from even going out to shop because she was so depressed.  Of course she eventually got out of it but it almost broke her parents marriage as the father was so angry with his daughter for putting the family through all the trauma while the mother was more understanding. I have seen people going to therapy but I was never convinced that it would really help. Maybe people younger in age or closer in age to the patient would have a better insight rather than mature councelors who may not have had experiences similar to what girls of today are going through. My principal  actually called parents for a meeting and discussed boyfriend problems openly. It was so shocking to see our parents listening carefully to the principal and when we got home my parents asked me if I had any problem. Actually this little session with the principal sorted out a lot of my problems.

Vandana Krish, Bangalore

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The MNREGA truth

The papers do not let us know that MNREGA is a government policy that has had mixed results. While it has led to poverty alleviation in some parts of the country it is also denied farmers workers to work in the field when necessary. His experience in locating water on his farm was totally bizarre. I had no idea that water diviners are used even today. That means there are still areas which still rely on old traditions and where modern day Technology has made no inroads. I was wondering why we do not give our farmers more information from our remote satellites. We should allow them to use the powers of the satellites to detect and inform wherever there is groundwater so that farmers can actually grow two and three crops in the year.

Shailesh, Bhubaneswar

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More professionals into farming will transform Indian economy

It is great to hear from Babu Rajan about his experience while working on his farm. Of course I realise that he is an IT professional and that the salary drawn from the IT industry is what helped him get his farm going. For a real farmer in India I don't think he has such a luxury and is for the most part living hand mouth. Friends of mine who are in government service tell me that most often it is ignorance of farmers rather than the lack of resources that prevent them from being successful meaning village officers and other authorities exploit poor farmers due to their lack of education. Like Rajiv Gandhi said many years ago only 15% of the good schemes initiated by the government actually reached its beneficiaries. I think the government should insist on bringing every one of these farmers into compulsory education to tell them about modern developments in farming technology. I am encouraged by Babu Rajan to consider giving up my job in Vijayawada and move just 150 kilometres out and try my luck at farming. I am more interested in vegetable farming than grains but my friends tell me it is very high risk and I should enter into it with caution. Anyway it made good listening. Thank you.

Sridhar Rajan, Baroda

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Nutriceuticals. Interesting ...

I have heard from many cancer patients that the pain of the treatment or rather the pain caused by the treatment is almost as much as the disease itself. So one really does not know if treatment in its present form is the answer to treating cancer. Nutriceuticals is a new field but I am encouraged to hear that more and more Indian companies are utilising them. I know that in the United States and many other Western Nations such medicines are discouraged because they cannot be accurately made in a laboratory but its like saying that churches and temples should be shut down because there is no guarantee that it will lead you to God or grant you salvation. At the end of the day it is just something that one resorts to when everything else fails. Thank you Luke and keep up the good work.

SK Das, Shillong

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Sure-shot cure for cancer!!

My wife works in an ICU at a Pune Hospital and it is always depressing to hear from her about the condition of patients suffering from various ailments. Apart from the trauma of the patient himself it is often the families who suffer even greater. It is so encouraging to hear that there is hope for even terminal patients suffering from dreaded diseases like cancer through the use of Indian Medicine. We've always known about ayurveda but we are so conditioned to visit the local allopathy doctor that these kinds of treatment are almost always ignored in favour of an operation or capsules filled with chemicals. Luke is very clear in this explanation and I wish more such interviews could be seen where we are able to demystify medical treatment.    It was amazing to realise that most patients don't die of Cancer but of the side effects of Cancer. I am not entirely sure what he meant by that but to the extent that cancer causes organs to fail and then it is the failure of the organ is what causes death is known to all of us. Also the use of curcumin in nutriceuticals is an eye opener. My family  uses turmeric in traditional cooking but I don't know if helps. Maybe even Pizza chains should start using such ingredients to enhance the nutritional value of their products.

KP Chhabria, Pune

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Memory development - so easy

Great to listen to unique teachers like her.  I had once attended a lecture by Ms Shakuntala Devi and I remember coming away totally zapped by what I saw. I have read how people develop such skills but always thought that it would be beyond the ability of ordinary people. I must try and attend one of Ms Saraswathys demonstrations if she ever comes to my hometown.  Children will benefit hugely if they are exposed to such people. As a  matter of fact I would have gained a lot if I met a trainer like her. I work in a logistics company and memory enhancement would have made my job  a lot easier.

Vanitha, Kollam

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The police - shocking information

I always knew that the police force in our country is more criminal than the law breakers themselves. Now I understand why they have so much love for their political bosses and why they rush to follow even illegal instructions given to them by the people who are in political power.  It is no wonder that even senior police officers suck up to Minsters. It is shocking to hear about constables and other officers of the police force turning Criminal by becoming burglars when they are supposed to be on patrol duty.  it is the Nexus between them and the politicians who are in power which is responsible for the state of affairs in cities. I like the clear opinions of this man on what needs to be done to get rid of such criminal police forces.

Shivakumar, Tirunelveli

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