News courtesy HPI

July 10, 2006

INDIAN MEN AND THEIR KURTAS news.moneycontrol.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 14, 2006: This humorous news piece about Indian men failing to wear traditional dress gives food for thought while entertaining the reader.

Author Jerry Pinto speaks out, "I wonder why all of us men of the East have no confidence in our own traditions as far as dress codes go. Japanese men won't wear kimonos to work and Indian men won't wear kurtas. As soon as a young man earns his MBA, he retires all his Indian clothes and gets himself a wardrobe of suits. Never mind that the suit is completely unsuitable for tropical climates." Then Pinto goes on to say that in youth these same men crawl into jeans which are hot in summer and completed unsuited to rainy weather because they never dry out when they get wet. He asks whether Indian men lack confidence or do they simply like to be hot and uncomfortable. Pinto concludes by saying, "The argument is that men in Indian clothes do not look businesslike. I don't understand this argument, and I don't buy it. If a woman in a salwar-kameez looks businesslike, then a man in a kurta should look businesslike. If a woman in a sari looks like she is ready to take on the

world, a man in a sherwani should look like he is ready to schmooze with foreign clients. This is one of those few instances, in which the world works better for women and where being a male works against men. A kurta would keep you cool in the sun; it would keep you warm in the office. And the cut of the outfit is far more flattering to Indian men than Western clothes. Put a pot-bellied old plutocrat into a well-cut kurta and a multitude of sins of commission (too many buffets, too much chaakna, too many expense account martinis) and sins of omission (days skipped at the gym, the golf course or wherever), will be flatteringly hidden." RESEARCHERS STUDY THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MONEY AND HAPPINESS inwww.rediff.com WASHINGTON, USA, June 30, 2006: The well-used adage 'Money can't buy happiness' has been objectified in a study completed by Princeton professors, economist Alan B. Krueger and psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, as well as colleagues from three other universities. The news release explains, "The researchers developed a tool to measure people's quality of daily life known as the Day Reconstruction Method

(DRM), which creates an 'enjoyment scale' by requiring people to record the previous day's activities in a short diary form and describe their feelings about the experiences. For the new study, the researchers examined data from a 2004 survey, which surveyed 909 employed women in Texas. The researchers found that role of income is less significant than predicted, and that people with higher incomes do not necessarily spend more time in more enjoyable ways. "The researchers reached the following conclusions, "The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory. People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities. Despite the weak relationship between income and global life satisfaction or experienced

happiness, many people are highly motivated to increase their income. In some cases, this focusing illusion may lead to a misallocation of time, from accepting lengthy commutes (which are among the worst moments of the day) to sacrificing time spent socializing (which are among the best moments of the day)." Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association 25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry, South India-605 013 Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91-413 -2241561 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/ananda

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