Deep Mehta

Although you may not realize it, simple table salt has a great number of uses other than simply seasoning your food. The following list will give you sixty uses of salt, many of which you probably didn't realize: Soak stained hankies in salt water before washing. Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away. Soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier. Put a few grains of rice in your salt shaker for easier pouring. Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting. Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink; bad ones float. Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way. A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier. Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up. Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won't stick. Soak toothbrushes in salt water before you first use them; they will last longer. Use salt to clean...

The Hand . . . Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful. Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her student's art. And they were. But Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher's true child of misery, frail and unhappy. As other children played at recess, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes. Yes, his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an empty hand. His abstract image captured the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of ...

A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure . . . (Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia , March 22,2008 ) Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure? Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India 's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal. By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the comput...

The Gujarati Story of Valentine's Day. In spite of what you have been told by everyone, the truth is that Valentine's Day originated hundreds of years ago, in India, and to top it all, in Gujarat!! It is a well known fact that Gujarati men, specially the Patels, continually mistreat and disrespect their wives (Patelianis). One fine day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Pateliani, having had enough "torture" by her husband, finally chose to rebel by beating him up with a Velan (rolling pin). Yes....the same Velan which she used daily, to make chapattis for him....only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was flattened. This was a momentous occasion for all Gujarati women and a revolt soon spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their husbands with the Velan. There was an outburst of moaning "chapatti-ed" husbands all over Anand and Amdavad. The Patel men-folk quickly learnt their lesson and start...