Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Hair Care












This article is in line with my diurnal practice of keeping my hair oil-free

Dandruff: Why you should NOT apply hair oil
http://healthmeup.com/news-healthy-living/dandruff-why-you-should-not-apply-hair-oil/26334

Over 2 decades ago when I was in my teens, a lady had advised me not to put oil on my hair as the hair soaks up the body's natural oils and that is enough for it to remain oily.

Hence, you'll notice that even if you don't apply hair oil for a week or two, your hair will naturally turn greasy, oily and sticky, compelling you to shampoo it ASAP so that it starts looking glossy.

I use Head & Shoulders Hair Endurance anti-dandruff shampoo which has Hydra Zinc technology, an innovative dandruff defying ingredient, clinically proven to fight dandruff and reduce stress on the scalp thus reducing the threat of hair loss due to breakage, and protecting it from further damage.

I shampoo my hair once or twice a week and also make sure that after shampooing I use a clean comb.

So whenever my hair goes for a wash, my comb goes too :-)

After washing, you should let your hair dry naturally instead of using hot blowers / dryers that may damage the texture of your hair and cause split-ends and you should also minimise the use of hair products like styling gels, sprays, mousses, etc. The more naturally you let your hair grow, giving it ample breathing space, rather than clogging up the pores, the more healthy it will be.

If want to have a nice, relaxing head massage for an hour or two, make sure you shampoo after the oil massage, don't let the oil remain in your hair.

Also, it is imperative to have a clean pillow cover, so please make sure that you keep changing your pillow covers as often as you can, so as to give your head a good, clean resting place :-)

That's all I had to share for now. Hope you find these tips useful to care for your hair :-)

Have a lovely Christmas.

Best Wishes,
: APARNA :



Image Sourced from Rozana Job dot Com

Monday, 25 November 2013

With Me

Yesterday
You were
With me

Today
You are
Not with me

My daughter
I miss you
When I jog

Wish you were
Always with me


(dedicated to my daughter, my jogging partner; she accompanies me on the weekends, on the weekdays she is in school, so I miss her)

Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013

Monday, 4 November 2013

Miracle

I woke up
With a
Miracle
One day

Seeing
Spanish
Weather
In the UK
;-)

The clouds
And rain had
All fleeted
Away

Leaving me
With plenty
Of sunshine
To soak in
Every day :-)

(Hope this does not remain mere wishful thinking and becomes a reality so that I don't have to go to Spain in search of some better weather because Winter is knocking and I feel like flying away again to Spain. I've been there twice this year and want to go there every year to get some respite from the harsh British weather.)






Tired

Tired souls
Trying to
Make it
Work

Returning
Home
Going
Back to
Work

(pertaining to the daily commuting that millions of people do for earning a living)





Struggling

He's
Struggling

I'm
Struggling

She's
Struggling

We all are
Struggling
To make
Struggles
End

Though
We don't
Know
If while
Living
They'll
Ever
End

As
Life is
All about
Struggling
Till Death
Puts an End

(Theme: Struggles)





Slow

You slow down
Life slows you down

And then you wonder
Why were you running
So fast

To eventually get
Slowed down..??

(Theme: Pace)





Stopped

In those
Houses,
Time has
Stopped.

Only the
Heartbeats
Are waiting
To see
When
They'll be
Stopped...

By Death.

(pertaining to old age homes)





NHS

If you drink,
If you smoke
It will make the
NHS choke,
And if NHS chokes
You'll surely choke!


NHS - National Health Service of UK which is already pressurized and plagued by many health issues and hence, its quality of care has also gone down over the past years. GPs and Nurses are having to cope with a lot of diurnal pressure. Lots of cases come to NHS relating to cancers and other severe diseases caused by chronic smoking and drinking. If people give up alcohol and cigs, it will not only benefit them, it will ease the amount of pressure on NHS. Our health is in our hands if we take care of it, rather than spoiling it by our everyday bad habits of nicotine and tobacco, binge drinking, etc. What's the use of spending so much on drinks and cigs and then spending a lot more time, money and effort in getting the right treatment for our maladies which could have been prevented by leading a healthy lifestyle..??






Want

What I want
From you,
You'll not
Give it to
Me

What you
Want from
Me, I'll not
Give it to
You

So let's not
Want anything
From each other
As there's no
Giving from
Me and you






Recall

I always
Wondered
Why they
Never
Talked
About
Their
Childhood

They
Didn't have
Much to talk about

Who wants to
Recall -
A painful
Childhood?





It's Time

It's time
To stop
Talking
To
Everyone

Why?

'Cause
I need to
Save some
Energy
For
Talking
To the
Only
Invisible
One,
The
Invincible
One,
That
Silent
One
Who
Doesn't
Talk much
But makes
Us do
All the
Talking

Pray,
Who is it?

DEATH



All Poems - Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013

Click to read my poems



Thursday, 31 October 2013

Did I Do It?


Did I do it?

Yes, I did it.

So why didn't it
Register in my
Mind that I've
Done it?

Why did I again
Have to go and
Redo it?

I never did have
Such a muddled-up
Mind.

This hotchpotch
Surely, Dementia
Must have done it.



(This poem is very close to my heart as it has come to my mind after having read 2 superb books in the recent past. I recommend these books to anyone who would like to know more about Dementia and how uphill the struggle is for those afflicted with this debilitating condition and how hard their carers work to retain some normality in their fragile, fragmenting lives. Before reading these books, I used to think that Dementia always strikes old people which is true in most cases but I ended up reading some case studies of people in their early Forties.)

The Books are

1) Dementia Essentials - How to Guide a Loved One through Alzheimer's or Dementia and provide the Best Care - written by Jan Hall, published by Vermilion

2) And Still The Music Plays - Stories of People with Dementia - written by Graham Stokes, published by HPL

I bought both these books from Amazon - UK. These are also available on Amazon dot Com

_____________________________

Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013



Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Caged Bird

















A bird's
Flight
To
Freedom

A soul's
Flight to
Freedom

A bird
Flies in
The sky

A soul
Flies
When
We die

The soul
Is like a
Caged bird
Waiting to
Fly, after we
Die









Void

I held on
To that
Feeling
For a
Long time,
But couldn't
Write anything

Now that I
Want to write
Something,
I cannot feel
Anything










Life

Life narrates
A story...
Thru every
You and Me

We live it
In our own
Way

Have different
Roles to play
Every night
And day...

Seeking
Pleasures
Keeping
Pain at bay


Making
People
Come
Near
Or
Stay
Away


Till Death
Has its
Final Say 











Don't Share

Don't share
The bad news
With anyone

Always
Share the
Good news
With everyone

So that
People
Always
Look up
To you

They
Never
Look
Down
Upon
You

(based on the observation that people generally boast about their successes but are reticent to talk about their failures, lest they are viewed in a negative light)










Know

Know
Your
Mind
And
Body

How
Do
You
Expect
Others
To
Know
You
When
You
Keep
Grappling
With the
Real You..?


(Theme: Awareness)









Importance

All the
Self-importance
You give yourself
Fizzles out when
Death overtakes
You with its
Undying
Importance


(Theme: Zilch)










Wish

Wish
Every
Man
Could
Think
Of this
Song
When
Thinking
Of every
Woman

The Women
Could then
Feel protected
By their Men



Dekh Sakta Hoon Main

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XsOU1E1f94












Bad

Somehow
The goodness
In you
Failed to reach
The goodness
In me

Maybe,
We both
Exhibited
Our
Badness

So our
Relationship
Turned Bad.
 

(Theme: Relationship) 











Nothing

Nothing
New
Is
Coming
Out of
Me

Think
Poetry
Is getting
Older
In me

Time to
Take out
A retirement
Policy

LOL :D




All Poems - Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013

Image of Caged Bird sourced from BlogHer


Click to read my poems

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

View

They view us,
We view them

Don't know
What they
Think of us

Do they
Know...
What we
Think of them?

Sometimes
I think they
Are ‘Gods’
Watching us

(dedicated to birds)




















Beautiful

Some
Very
Beautiful
Faces
Are
Blessed
With
So much
Beauty
That
Long
After
We've
Seen
Them
It's
Hard
To forget
Them
They
Keep
Haunting
Us with
Their
Ethereal
Beauty ~

(dedicated to some very beautiful male and female faces I've come across in my Life while travelling and meeting people)










Who's He?

In the morning
He’s the rising
Sun of my house

In the evening,
He’s the shining
Star of my house

At night
He’s the
Glowing
Moon
Of my
House

Who’s He?

My hubby
Who always
Lights up :-)
My house










Amalgamation

I'm very
Diligent

He's very
Tolerant

This
Amalgamation
Of
Diligence
And
Tolerance
Makes our
Relationship
So very
Succulent

(dedicated to us - Me and Ratan - on our 15 years of togetherness)










More

The more I
Think of him
The more I
Love him...

He's changed
A lot to make
Me love him...





Wish

I don't
Like you
Going to
Your
Office

Wish
Our
Home
Was
Your
Office

(dedicated to my Ratan as I miss him when he's in his office)










One Word

One word
Makes you
Feel as if
Her whole
World -
Resides
In you...
When she
Lovingly
Calls you
'Ma'

(Thinking of my Kochi)










Sole

You make
My heart
Miss its
Beats ;)
Though
You are
The sole
Reason
My heart
Beats ;-)

(Theme: Paradox)










Only

Only
A poet
Can
Understand
A poet

So you
Can
Never
Understand
Me

My
Suggestion
To you is:
Why don't
You take up
Poetry..?! ;-)











Nod

Sometimes
We just nod
Our heads
In unison,
Understanding
Nothing
Just to
Make the
Other person
Think, We
Understand
Everything ;)

(Theme: Facade)






Forwards

So many
Forwards
Come to me
I think of
Forwarding
But time
Forwards
Itself so
Fast that
I end up
Discarding

(Pertaining to Emailing)








Photos


You look at your
Photos and think
You are a different
Person.

Your photos
Look back
At you,
Wondering
If you are the
Same person

(Theme: Identity)







Seduce Me

As you
Seduce me
With your
Thoughts
Words
And
Fantasies
I wonder
What is there
In my body
That makes you
Seduce me

(Theme: Seduction)










Resonate

My words
Resonate
In your
Ears
I know
Cause
There's
A world
Hidden
In your
Eyes
I show


(Theme: Revelation)









Do You?

You don't
Have
Sparkling
Eyes,
Do you?
Then why
Would he
Come to you?

You don't
Have
Beauteous
Smiles,
Do you?
Then why
Would he
Come to you?

You don't
Have a
Fair visage
Do you?
Then why
Would he
Come to you?

You don't
Have an
Hourglass
Figure,
Do you?
Then why
would he
Come to you?

You don't
Have
Ravishing
Hair,
Do you?
Then why
Would he
Come to you?

Despite
All what the
World says
About
Inner
Beauty
If you
Don’t have
Outer beauty
Nobody will
Come to you

(Theme: Beauty)











Smells

The smells
Of clothes
Are so comforting
Especially when
The persons
Wearing them
Have departed,
But their memories
Are not departing...

(Themes could be Bereavement / Nostalgia)











Life

Life
Is a
Great
Teacher

Makes us
Feel like
Mere
Preachers


(Theme: Experience)

























Yes

Yes,
You kept
Knocking
At my door
All day

But
I was too
Busy to
Let you in

Now that
I'm feeling
Tired and
Sleepy,
You can
Quietly
Sneak in

(Addressed to Poesy)

Usually throughout the day, I keep thinking that I should write :-) But I'm so busy with all and sundry that I don't get much time to write; so at the end of the day, in the dead of the night, my poems come to me and if I have the energy, I do write :-)







All Poems - Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013

Image for 'Beautiful' Poem sourced from Dr. Stu's Blog

My Photo clicked by my Daughter

Door Photo for 'Yes' Poem clicked by Me :-)


Click to read my poems

Monday, 30 September 2013

PHOTOS

All photos and pictures on this Blog have been used for the purpose of educational and non-profit activities.

Most of them have been sourced from Google, Yahoo and MSN.

The images in some sections of this Blog are from various websites which are duly acknowledged.

Wherever applicable, we have accredited the images to their photographers / painters to the best of our knowledge and information.

If there is any copyright infringement, kindly inform us and we will make the requisite changes either by deleting the image or by crediting its source.


Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Funeral


A funeral
Passed by
Our house
Today

A life that
Began
Many
Years
Ago
Ended
Today

(On seeing the hearse of one of our elderly neighbours who had been suffering for a very long time)










Today

Today
For the
Funeral
Director
One Job
Well done

Tomorrow
With the
Rising Sun
Another Job
To be done

For the
Bereaved
One
The
Grieving
Process
Never gets
Done


(Theme: Cremation)

[we never get over the loss of our loved ones....they remain in our memories and we miss them until our very last breath]










Go

The wife
Sees her
Husband
Go
And
Thinks
One day
She'll also
Go

To what
Place
To what
Land
She doesn't
Know
Like it or not
She has to go


(Theme: Widow)


All Poems - Copyright © Aparna Chatterjee 2013

Image of Funeral sourced from Diocese of London