Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Variation of Mothi Thali


Here is a modification of this mothi thali described before.
I placed a mask of Durga Devi in the place of deepa and u can simply place this near ur pooja area with flowers and candles arranged around the plate.

The reflection of candles in the mirrors gives the pooja area a serene and sacred look.
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Harathi Thali with Pearls



Another harathi thali just for u... Its very simple yet very nice sparkling and reflecting the light of deepas in ur harathi.

Materials Required:
A steel plate
Mothi or white beads
Round mirrors
Red velvet paper
Fevicol (cone is better to apply)

Procedure:
Stick the velvet paper to the base and edges of the plate neatly.
In the centre, leave gap for keeping ur deepa and stick three four lines of mothi in a spiral.
Stick mothi and mirrors as shown in the picture.


Stick the velvet paper outside around the plate and also stick mirrors closely.
Stick a gold lace on the rim to give it a finish.
Thali is now ready for ur pooja!!!

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Harathi Thali with Kalash

This is a simple harathi thali with easily available material. U need to have these things to give a start -


 Materials Required:
A steel plate or any plate in which u give harathi
Red velvet paper (any color of ur choice)
Kundans (big sized, preferably of two colors)
A kalash or small pot
M-seal
Golden wire or binding wire
Fevicol
Gold color paint, Glitter, Gold lace and some decorative sequences.

Procedure:
Cut the velvet paper in a round of ur plate size. Paste the paper onto the plate.
Cut the wire in ten inch pieces and in each kundan, insert half the wire through both holes on the kundan from backside and bend the remaining half of the wire to twist both ends together tightly and close to kundan.
Now prepare eight to ten kundans like this and keep aside.
With M-seal make a small coconut that fits with the pot. Fix it on the kalash and let it dry.
Take a small dough of M-seal fix it to the base of kalash and insert each wired kundan around it like flower petals. After its dried, u can rise the kundans as in picture.
Fix this in the center of the plate. Paint the kalash in gold color.
U can arrange kundans and some sequence as per ur taste and availability. Sprinkle some glitter and finally stick on the lace to the edges of plate.
Ur Harathi plate is ready!!! U can keep deepas around the kalash in empty area.

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Friday, December 25, 2009

Tips for Good Table Manners



Table manners are vital to everyone from children to adults. It is never too early or too late to start improving the skills of etiquette.
Many basic table manners begin with simple common sense.We all remember the basics our mothers taught us about table manners–no elbows on the dinner table and don’t talk with your mouth full. But ever wonder which fork to use for your salad or how to signal a waiter at a fancy restaurant? Read on and learn the basic table manner tips that will be sure to impress whomever you dine with.

Table Setting Placement


In formal settings, all the silverware, glassware, cups, saucers and the like are placed on the table, so it’s often difficult to know which fork to use when or which water glass is yours. As a general rule to thumb, silverware is lined up in the order in which a person will use them, going from the outside, in. For instance, the fork and knife used for the salad are placed in the outermost of the setting, farthest from your plate (with the exception of the spoon). Dessert silverware, if not brought out with the dessert, are placed at the top of your entrĂ©e plate. Glassware, cup and saucer are placed to your right, while the napkin, bread plate and butter spreader to your left.

10 Table Manner Tips


Now that you know how the table setting is laid out and when to use each, here are 10 table manner tips for the duration of the meal:
  1. When dining with six or more, it’s polite to wait till roughly 50% of the table has their food before starting your meal. In smaller groups, wait until the entire table has their food, unless food temperature is at high risk in decreasing the enjoyment of the meal, and/or others at the table incessantly insist you begin.
  2. You can and should use your knife to cut large pieces of lettuce or other ingredients in your salad. Nothing is worse than trying to shove a large piece of lettuce in your mouth and having some of it stick out.
  3. The proper way to butter a piece of bread is to rip off a piece that’s about one or two bites in size, butter it, and eat it. Repeat. Never bite straight into a roll, and refrain from cutting it in half and buttering.
  4. While cutting meat, the correct way is to cut a piece and then switch your fork to your right hand to pick it up. This method is considered the “American” way. Not switching your fork and using your left is called the “Continental” way, and is done most often in European countries. Also, cut meat a piece at a time. Cutting the entire meat up into pieces or cutting more than one at a time is tacky.
  5. Wipe your mouth before taking a sip of your drink. It’s unsightly to see food particles or grease on the rim of your glass. Also, it’s considered rude to take a sip of your drink with your mouth full.
  6. When leaving the table during the course of your meal, put your napkin on your chair, not the table. No one wants to see your stained napkin. And at the completion of the meal, place it on the left of your plate, or if your plate has been cleared, in the center.
  7. When in a situation where you have to pass food or condiments to others at the table, pass it to your right, or counter clockwise. Never do a “boarding house reach” across the table.
  8. When you don’t want to swallow a piece of food in your mouth (e.g. a bone or a piece of fat), move the piece to the front of your mouth and use your fork (or spoon if that’s what you were using) to retrieve it from your mouth and into the side of your plate. The only time its okay to use your fingers is when it’s a fish bone.
  9. To get the waiter’s attention, the most polite way is to make eye contact. However chances are they are busy and/or are ignoring you. It’s acceptable to raise your hand to head level, just don’t go overboard by raising it way above your head and wave it about.
  10. When you’re done with your meal, the proper placement of the silverware is to lay them parallel to each other and across the plate with the handles facing the right. To clarify, the ends would be facing 10 o’clock and four. Note: Not all waiters will know this and they still may ask you if it’s okay to clear your plate. At least you appear classy.
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Laws against Domestic Violence and Abuse

What specific provisions of law deal with domestic violence?

In 1983, domestic violence was recognised as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or his family towards a married woman. Four types of cruelty are dealt with by this law:
  • conduct that is likely to drive a woman to suicide,
  • conduct which is likely to cause grave injury to the life, limb or health of the woman,
  • harassment with the purpose of forcing the woman or her relatives to give some property, or
  • harassment because the woman or her relatives is unable to yield to demands for more money or does not give some property.
The punishment is imprisonment for upto three years and a fine. The complaint against cruelty need not be lodged by the person herself. Any relative may also make the complaint on her behalf.

What are the forms of "cruelty" recognised by the Courts?

  • Persistent denial of food,
  • Insisting on perverse sexual conduct,
  • Constantly locking a woman out of the house,
  • Denying the woman access to children, thereby causing mental torture,
  • Physical violence,
  • Taunting, demoralising and putting down the woman with the intention of causing mental torture,
  • Confining the woman at home and not allowing her normal social intercourse,
  • Abusing children in their mother's presence with the intention of causing her mental torture,
  • Denying the paternity of the children with the intention of inflicing mental pain upon the mother, and
  • Threatening divorce unless dowry is given.

What is a "matrimonial home"? What rights do women have in their matrimonial home?

The matrimonial home is the household a woman shares with her husband; whether it is rented, officially provided, or owned by the husband or his relatives. A woman has the right to remain in the matrimonial home along with her husband as long as she is married, though there is no definite law regarding this right. If a woman is being pressurised to leave the matrimonial home, she can ask the Court for an injunction or "restraining order" protecting her from being thrown out. This can usually be obtained quite easily. It is generally advisable not to leave the matrimonial home; it is easier to get a court order preventing a woman being thrown out than to get an order enforcing her right to return to it once she has left or been thrown out.

What is an 'Injunction' and how does it apply to domestic violence cases?

An injunction is a court order directing a person to do or not to do something. A woman has a lot of flexibility regarding what she can request the Court to order. For instance, if she is being stalked by somebody (including her husband), she can obtain injunctions against the person coming near her home or place of work, or even telephoning her.

What can be done in the case of dowry-related harassment or dowry death?

Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code covers dowry-related harassment. As with other provisions of criminal law, a woman can use the threat of going to court to deter this kind of harassment. The Indian Penal Code also addresses dowry deaths in section 304-B. If a woman dies of "unnatural causes" within seven years of marriage and has been harassed for dowry before her death, the Courts will assume that it is a case of dowry death. The husband or in-laws will then have to prove that their harassment was not the cause of her death. A dowry death is punishable by imprisonment of at least seven years. When filing an FIR ( First Hand Report), in a case where a woman is suspected to have been murdered after a history of torture due to dowry demands, the complaint should be filed under section 304-B rather than under section 306, which deals with abetment to suicide. Section 306 should be invoked when a woman commits suicide because of dowry-related harassment.

Can you refuse to have sex with your husband? Is there a law on marital rape?

Since India does not have a law on marital rape, even if a woman's husband has sexual intercourse with her without her consent, he cannot be prosecuted for rape. However, excessive and unreasonable demands for sex, or demands for unnatural sex have been considered forms of cruelty and may entitle a woman to a divorce.

If a woman is judicially separated, her husband cannot have sexual intercourse with her without her consent. If he does, he can be prosecuted under section 376-A of the IPC. Note that consent under pressure (e.g. because of threats to injure or to stop paying maintenance) is not considered valid.


What can a woman do to prevent domestic violence?

One option is to get the woman's husband to execute a "bond to keep peace", or a "bond of good behaviour" through the Executive, Magistrate who can order the husband to put a stop to domestic violence. The husband can also be asked to deposit securities (i.e. money or property) that will be forfeited if he continues to act violently. 

Distinction between Civil and Criminal Law

The distinction between civil and criminal law is a basic part of the Indian legal system. Civil laws deal with the rights and obligations of people and what is needed to protect them, while criminal law deals with offences and their punishment. In a criminal offence, the State takes upon itself the responsibility to investigate and collect evidence (through the police), to fight the case in court (through a public prosecutor) and enforce the punishment. Robbery, murder and kidnapping are examples of criminal offences. Criminal offences are dealt with by the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The procedure by which a criminal trial is conducted is quite different from the processes involved in a civil trial. An important difference is that the "standard of proof" required in criminal cases is much higher than in civil cases. Since criminal law is centrally linked with issues of punishment, allegations and facts must be proved "beyond reasonable doubt", so that innocent people are not punished. In civil cases, the courts scrutinise the "balance of probabilities" before deciding in whose favour to make a judgement.

However, there are some situations in which both civil and criminal law apply. Inflicting physical violence on a wife or daughter-in-law as well as subjecting her to cruelty - physical, mental or emotional - in a marriage is not only a civil offence and provides ground for divorce (a "matrimonial offence"), but is also a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code, for which a person can be imprisoned. The laws dealing with marital abuse have been made very stringent through amendments in the Indian Penal Code and the Evidence Act

Source: http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue137/laws.htm
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Women Helplines in Hyd

Women protection cell - 040 -23240663


Women police station - 040-27853508

Child rights - 1800 425 2933

Roshini helpline - 040-66202000

Asmitha resource center for Women - 040-27733251

Shaheens women’s organization - 040-24386994

AP women’s network - 040-27014394

Child line - 1098, 040-23133550

State Human Rights Commission - 040-24601571, 24601572, 24601574

Human rights law network - 040-27661883

Crime stopper - 1090

Anti corruption wing - 040-24720196, 24720197

Satyam helpline for health - 1056, 104

Alchoholism rehabilitation center - 040-65969896, 9849940500

Divya disha - 9848186982

Prajwala (human trafficking) - 040-65704048

Sweekar upkar for disabled - 040-27814089

National Commission for Women - 011-13237166

Helpline for senior citizens - 1253

Anveshi - 040-27423690

Ankuram - 040-27017446

Sannihita Ms.Usha - 9346901441

ALEAP (self employment) - 040-23893644

Bread organization (For Educational support) - 040-65887177

BHUMIKA Women’s collective - 040-27660173

BHUMIKA HELPLINE FOR WOMEN IN DISTRESS - Toll free number – 1800 425 2908/ 040-2765316
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Inspirational Posters











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