Women Lines

I never thought that I will feel so happy sometime in life while watching few (not all) serials on our Indian Channels!

Yes , its true! I am staying in Singapore for last 3 years and at times I feel so much disconnected with my country, specially around festivals, marriage parties and other gatherings. When I watch such serials, specially like Sasural Genda Phool and Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hai, I just miss that warmth of relations which is shown  between various characters. Whether it is between two sister-in-laws or cousins or any relationship.  In India we still value relations and at time of need everybody is there around you. There are so many occasions to celebrate and you can share your happiness with so many people around. Love filled communication with relatives and teasing between youngsters fill the home environment with uncomparable joy.

Just like others, in foreign countries we also get used to routine schedule rushing after some dream, trying to reach desired destination. In the ,meantime we forget that life is just not for destinations. It is for bonding between people. Friendship bond, bonding between relatives, brothers, sisters,  and so many other relationships which just happen by chance. May be with your old neighbour. In fact that bonding can happen with your maid too. I was just mesmerized when my MIL’s old maid desperately called her sometimes back to share news about her marriage. I mean she literally called her in Singapore and requested her to attend her party. She has worked for many years at my MIL’s house. Special bonding and love between her and my MIL was the reason behind it!

 When I watch these serials it reminds me who am I and where I belong to. To be honest, then suddenly I realize that I am missing so many things and start searching my Indian identity within myself. I am also  not able to show my kid the importance of relationships. Somehow I feel good if my kid watches those serials as he comes to know different aspects of relationships which we are not following  here. I want to congratulate directors of both the serials who have come up with such brilliant topic and who have stressed on the importance of relations in everybody’s life.

Happy viewing!

Optimistic Life Adventurer, Nutritionist, Mompreneur, passionate about Speaking & Writing on Weight Loss, positive Parenting & Business–meet Suria Mohd, a woman of substance!         

Suria Mohd is founder of Anggun International which is into Support Group Weight Management Program and learning discoveries, a centre to enhance child’s learning abilities. Womenlines wants to share her amazingly motivating journey to reach her goals, with its readers.

Let me share about Suria’s Bio data first!

Suria is a Singaporean and is a married woman with 2 kids. She received her Nutrition degree from Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia and completed an exchange program with Illinois State University, USA. After returning to

Singapore in 1997, Suria attained a Postgraduate degree in the teaching of Food Science and Nutrition Studies from NTU/NIE Singapore and began her teaching career as a Nutrition Educator in secondary schools. Since 2003 Suria has been actively involved with the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB). She is a regular speaker and public educator at HPB’s community based health forums and weight management programs. Suria has been featured on the cover of magazines, in local newspapers and has appeared on radio and television programs.She is also the author of “9 Greatest Weight Loss Secrets” and co-authors Best Selling Series “Living in Abundance” with Anthony Robbins & Dr Wayne.

Suria conducts Nutrition and Weight Management seminars, workshops and programs for schools, organizations and business corporations. She established the Anggun Nutrition Academy in 2003 to provide introductory, diploma courses in Nutrition & Weight Management.

The interesting part of her journey is to know how she started from scratch again after failure of her venture wellness training school. She closed down her shop and was in $80,000 debts. “It was an expensive “MBA” lesson for me from the University of Hard Knocks called Life…” she laments!

Suria shares “One of the lessons I learnt was the reason for my failure. I failed for one reason; I did not have any education in business at all. If I were to re-start again I would have at least attended some sort of business training to equip myself with the nuts and bolts of business. That was exactly what I did after that. I soaked up business knowledge like a sponge and started learning (self study) by getting online and purchasing books, and participating in online courses on business and marketing. Meanwhile to pay off my debts, I took on free lance jobs as a public speaker on Nutrition with the Health Promotion board.”

She restarted her business again and the 2^nd time, it turned around a 7 figure sale in 2 years. She attracted 2000 clients each paying about $700 - $2000 each.

However she got distracted, and started investing her profits in all other sorts of businesses which was the reason for her 2^nd downfall. In her 2^nd business mistake, she lost close to half a million dollars.

She shares ‘I missed out on the 2^nd part – How to Keep and grow the money, i.e. what I missed out was the knowledge and education on Investing money wisely. So right now, what I am targeting for this year is to learn how to keep and grow my money wisely via proper investments vehicles. Given all my ups and downs in my business I have also started teaching other aspiring entrepreneurs how to start and grow their business profitably so they don’t have to make the same kind of mistakes that I did.’

Suria says that “My life long learning never ends, and I am at peace for living my life to the fullest, contributing my purpose to the world and touching people’s lives as I continue this journey to live my higher goals in life…”

While Suria is best known for her expertise in Weight Loss & Nutrition her students testify that her biggest impact in their lives comes from her philosophy of “Beauty, peace and Ultimate Happiness manifests itself from within” –

Suria also owns and co-owns other businesses in Education & Fashion. She has expanded her Education business regionally to Malaysia and also to Latin America

Hardcore fan of Bollywood movies and Shahrukh Khan, Suria’s passion is reading books. Books motivate her to do better things in life.

Womenlines wishes her all the best for the journey towards excellence and abundance in life.
Follow her on

http://www.facebook.com/suriafan?v=info&ref=ts

Anggun International: http://www.angguninternational.com

Friends are for always and that goes for women too!

We need friends to laugh with, to dance with, with whom we can get that support which we cannot get from our families. Friendship is very important for our emotional health and particularly friendship with our female friends. We need girl friends for our coffee breaks, for night out, morning walks or even when we take our children to park.

Whole day passes out and we are acting like mothers, wifes, employees, daughter-in-law, only friends are there who care about our opinions and feelings. They also enhance how we feel about ourselves.

Sometimes we are so caught up in daily chores that our girlfriends  are the only person who reach down to us and let us slow down. They can share our experience, listen to our stories, tell us jokes, .

It does not minimizes our other relations but we need different relations for different reasons.

Our female friends are those with whom we find our precious moments to reprieve with. . We can let down our hair. We can let down our guard. We can be selfish. We can crack jokes. We can be ourselves and relax.

Friends are really precious to us so always take care of your friends!

 The act of preparing food is known as cooking and every female is related to this activity throughout her life!

Cooking can happen with choice or without choice. Some ladies have passion for cooking and they love trying out new recipes, doing experiments with different types of cuisines, and creating out new recipes with various experiments.

I don’t want to expand about food and cooking habits, and healthy food or cooking but I want to share about the sacred aspect of food which we are forgetting in this rush of life.  In today’s hectic pace of life food has become just source of strength and intake has become a rush in activity as we all are always in crunch of time. We never realize activity which should be given required time and should be taken as the most important activity of the day is the most ignored one!

Recently I met Mr. Suresh Krishnan, manager for Annalakshmi restaurant in Singapore and had an enlightening discussion with him about the sacred nature of food which we always take for granted. Annalakshmi ,as most of us know, is an expression of India’s   great cultural heritage which brings together the knowledge of taste, flavors, nutrition and health in the wholesome manner for the benefit of diners. Uniqueness of the restaurant lies in the way it works. Almost all Annalakshmi outlets world over runs on this concept of “Eat as you want, Give as you Feel”.  Have your meal first, and pay whatever comes to your mind . 

 Mr Suresh Krishna shared that “Any food or drink prepared lovingly, selflessly is delicious and nourishing, not because of its recipe and rich ingredients, but because a self-less heart was at work. There was an absence of ego-principle acting and expecting something in return. Perhaps, that is why we sometime compliment our hosts for a “homely meal”, just like mother’s cooking.”

When there is harmony, selflessness, joy and cheer in the kitchen devoid of anger, hatred and worries, the food thus prepared and served has the power of reaching the very depths and nourishing the entire being, rather than superficial satiation of body hunger. Such food makes our body—light, mind-calm and intelligence—dynamic.

Eating is a sacred ritual, everyday in everybody’s life as the prayer goes — “thank you for today’s bread”. Human intelligence is helpless the moment food is pushed down into the gullet. Some other higher intelligence takes over the digestive and other processes nourishing the trillions of cells in our body. In fact, after the primary cooking in external fire, a secondary level cooking takes place inside our stomach with “digestive fire—Jataragni” of acids and enzymes.  

 It was really thought provoking discussion as I realized how sacred is the whole process of food prepration and food intake. If we really follow our ancient philosophies and way of living then there will be less prevelance of diseases around us.So friends lets pledge to give importance to food in our life, lets follow the right way of preparation, right time of food intake, and right type of food intake as our body allows. After all  health is wealth!

A very happy women’s day to all my reader!

Let’s celebrate womanhood with pride and joy and pledge for excellence and abundance in whatever field we are- be it family, job, business or anything they  are passionately pursuing.

Ninety-nine years ago, International women’s day was founded to honor the accomplishments of women and to press for equality between men and women. All these years later, there is still so much to do. But things are changing.

Whole world celebrates women’s day in their own style, but I will like to share how women in Rwanda are going to celebrate. Women in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo face incredibly high rates of rape and other violent assault.  

On March 8, hundreds of Congolese and Rwandan women will unite on a bridge to demand an end to the violence that has caused 5.4 million deaths and hundreds of thousands of rapes. They will tie together banners of fabric on which they’ve painted their visions for a peaceful future.

To honor and support their resilience, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign – Join me on the Bridge – which will replicate that meeting at bridges in different cities all around the world in a show of global solidarity. Already supporting the Congolese and Rwandan women in their call for war’s end will be thousands of women from Bosnia, Kosovo, Sudan, the UK and the US.

NEW YORK

In New York City, they are rallying people to the Brooklyn Bridge at noon on Monday, March 8. Sponsors such as Kate spade New York, Marie Claire and the ONE campaign are also joining them. Project Runway’s Tim Gunn will be in attendance. Self-organized bridge events will also be taking place in other cities, towns and schools nationwide. They will walk as a large but united group across the bridge and then gather so that you can add your own messages of peace to our peace banner. Along with other bridge events happening around the world on the same day, this event will be filmed and featured in a viral video to be produced and widely released following the campaign.

INDIA

 Habitat for Humanity in India is celebrating the strength of women worldwide. Women who are part of the micro lending group facilitated by BIRDS, (Brothers Integrated Rural Development Society), will be meeting with over 100 volunteers from different countries to kick off International Women’s Day. The volunteers will help build homes for the families of these women through Habitat for Humanity International’s Women Build programe.

AUSTRALIA

On this International Women’s Day, thousands of women (and men!) worldwide will gather on bridges from San Francisco to Congo to call for an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges of peace and hope. 

They hope many will join them at Swinging Bridge on March 8th at 7PM as they participate in this global campaign led by Women for Women International.

This shows unity in diversity! After all we are women who can get united for the same cause at any time. Let’s be part of this campaign in some way and contribute our wishes to make it a successful campaign!

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