Monday 4 December 2017

Tux Paint Art

Tux paint is an artful way not only to engage children with positive side of technology but also to let them dive into their imagination.




Tux Paint arts by,
Hafsa Khurram













Thursday 2 November 2017

Women ask: Can I exercise at this particular age or I am aging or I am afraid if I get injuries or I have aches and pains? Such Q’s answered here…

Aging & activeness
Aging brings with it, its symptoms. Largely found symptoms are being lethargic & in-active, having pains & aches, and weakening muscles & bones. While being in a state of physical & mental well-being is not easy at any stage of life, it is most challenging as a person ages. That’s because naturally the person feels low at the energy levels thus gets less motivated to exercise or to do any physically challenging activity. Breathing in a mindful fashion is the foremost exercise the person should do as it helps to be relaxed and feels to get pumped. An aging person needs more self-determination to be able to exercise. Exercising at such age is crucial to stay generally healthy, to avoid injuries, to endure shocks & jerks, to be less-stressed, to retain memory & enhance brain functioning, to reduce risk of diseases, and to recover quickly if falls sick.      


Exercising is anti-aging!


Pain & stress management
Many out of many complain these days about body pains, headaches, muscular cramps, joint pains, dizziness, sleeplessness, stress, and various other related symptoms. The first thing we need to do is to stay largely active to lead a healthy lifestyle with well-being. Having fresh & clean diet is basically vital for a well-body & active brain. Food should be packed with macro & micro nutrients. Doing low to moderate exercises and yoga stretches also help in managing pains and stress. Exercising helps the body to endure sudden falls and every day fatigues that cause most pains. At least slow paced walking and proper breathing should be done to manage pains and stress.      
Exercising is refreshing!

Avoiding Injuries
Warming up before starting exercise is crucial. Warming up helps the body getting ready for tougher exercises and relaxes muscles. If one starts a rough exercise all of a sudden, then there may be chances of injuries. Always start slow with your exercises. To learn the proper shapes and forms first, you need to do it slowly. Then gradually, repetitions of a particular exercise can be increased per minute. Do not try & do 100 sets of an exercise as you enter the gym. If your body is not used to rigorous exercises, then you need to take care and make your body learn progressively. With your body, your mind gets activated and gets used to your workout plans. Go easy on you, on your mind, and on your body. Impulsive and jerky movements without understanding a particular exercise can result in injuries, cramps, bruises, or pains. Do not train too often, too hard, and too long. These can cause sore joints and muscular pains. If your body is telling you to stop then do so to avoid fatigue, dizziness, aches, and injuries. As you should not start suddenly, similarly do not stop at once after a heavy exercise. Lessen your repetition and rest gradually. A light walk and limbs gentle shaking followed by stretches are appropriates ways to finish a workout.          

Exercising is enduring!


Exercising explained by,













Saturday 7 October 2017

Detox water: What are most common mistakes while preparing and consuming detox water? How to effectively prepare and consume?

First mistake while preparing detox water
Extra stuffing

People craze and religiously follow everything they think can give them benefit. As in the case of detox water, people start with the emotions of hope and haste. People put all kinds of fruits / veggies / seeds / spices etc. in one bottle and fill it up. People also start putting lots of lemon in the detox water plus extra lemon juice within 24 hours that causes harm.

Instead: Do not stuff up your bottle
Put just 2-3 types of fruits / veggies in one bottle. For example if you are adding cucumber, fruits and spices, then slice half cucumber, any other fruits like half apple and just one spice like cinnamon. Do not add many other spices or slices of full fruits. If you are adding lemon in the water, add but 1 lemon or juice of 1 lemon. If you wish to drink lemon juice separately then do not bother adding lemon to the detox water. Just consume 1 lemon per 24 hours.   

   
Second mistake
Soaking for long hours
People prepare detox water at night, leaving it overnight in the refrigerator. Then next day either be at home or taking it to work, the water is out of the refrigerator, which is when it starts getting harmful. Firstly, the fruits / veggies are already in the water for like 7 – 10 hours and on the top of it not consuming the water soon. For the next whole day, the fruits / veggies rot in the water, be that in the refrigerator or not, the water becomes harmful.  

Instead: Do not soak for long hours
If you have to take it to work, then prepare water in the morning, no need to soak fruits / veggies overnight. Take the bottle to work and start consuming water from lunch time. This way fruits will get a good soak from morning till afternoon. Then consume it soon. Drink plain water until afternoon. If you want early morning detox water then just put few slices of two types of fruits / veggies in a glass, put in the refrigerator at night and consume it in the morning. Do not leave that for the evening until you come back.
If you are at home, then you can prepare at night but fruits / veggies should not be soaked for more than 7 hours. That bottle should be in the refrigerator. Start consuming as soon as you wake up directly from the refrigerator, and finish it within 2-3 hours. Rest of the day, drink plain water.


Third mistake
Consuming continuously for weeks
When people start consuming detox water then they make it a habit rather than a lifestyle. People consume it continuously for weeks & months. Drinking detox water only and in large quantities, while not drinking plain water at all can affect the body in a negative manner.

Instead: Do not have detox water hastily and continuously every day for weeks
As you start taking care of your health and body, you want to get smart as soon as possible. But that is not how it works! You need not to be hasty, be patient instead. Just have detox water 3 – 4 times a week. Keep this routine for a month, and then have break of 1 – 2 months from detox water. Moderation is the key to achieve your smartness goals! 



Detox water mistakes by,








Tuesday 26 September 2017

Women ask: Can I exercise post pregnancy or I have postnatal depression or I am busy mum or during menstrual cycle? Such Q’s answered here…

Postnatal depression
One in few new mothers suffers from postnatal depression. If not catered properly, it can become stroppy. While getting all the help one can get from family & peers, exercising can aid lowering the depression symptoms. Exercise not only has physical benefits of going back to pre-pregnancy shape but also controls bad mood swings. Those who are habitual of exercising as a part of lifestyle and know exact shapes, forms, sets, & repetitions of workouts, they can exercise themselves after birth. But those who never came anywhere near to be physically stable or body conscious unless they are fat enough after the baby, they should always seek expert advice before starting any exercise regimen for their over-weighed body. For amateurs, walking is the best for a kick-start.     
Exercising is anti-depressant!



Mums & exercise
For mums, the best tip is to go out for a jogging style walk. Be it early in the morning before your child is awaken or be it later in the day or evening with your little one’s pram. Walking is full body exercise that keeps you active and helps reduce those baby fats. Especially if you have any issues post-pregnancy, then opting for a medium paced walk for 15-30 minutes for 3-4 days a week works. In this era of self-broadcasting, you must have seen videos of mums exercising with their kids. Yes, you can do it as well. Make it a play time for little ones instead of stressed out targeted workout. That won’t work! Remember that your basic target is to stay healthy while you burn calories, which can easily be accomplished as you let the little one playing around. Plus, it will inculcate the importance of exercise in the children.   

Exercising is fat-fighting!

Menstrual cycle
It’s the most common question that I am in my those days, can I exercise? Well, the answer varies from person to person. If you are generally healthy and do not get any cramps, pains, or headaches then yes you can keep up with your exercise routine. You may not want to exercise for first couple of your days. That is ok! Who’s gonna exercise every single day of the year any ways? But when you start getting stronger as those days are over within a week or so, it is high time to check in for sprinting and strength training. So as soon as your days are over go for the toughest exercises as much as you can bear. For up to two weeks you can feel active and stay motivated. After that phase for a week or so, even if you are high at stamina, you might want to slow down a bit if you are getting too tired too early. That’s ok! Go easy on yourself. Now that if you get premenstrual symptoms like dizziness, you must not opt for high-intensity sort of exercises. But again it varies from person to person. Some ladies can even weight train during this phase of cycle. If you are getting low on energy, walk in the fresh air and do breathing exercises along with some stretches. Then you start all over again from day one. Exercising improves your stamina throughout the month thus reduce menstrual cramps.  

Exercising is cramps reducing!    





Exercising answered by,
Engr. Ayesha Alam Khurram







Monday 28 August 2017

Most Respectable Engineering Jobs in Pakistan

When it comes to engineering, you need to keep in mind that not all branches of engineering are the same. It so happens that a lot of students who decide to pursue engineering have not heard of many branches until they are filling their university applications.

In NED University of Engineering and Technology, there are 20 different engineering departments. National University of Science and Technology has 16, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Tech has 7, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute and PIEAS have 6, while FAST-NUCES offers 3.

Amongst students, preferred choices are Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, and Computer engineering. The question is why? It is because that the employment rate is much higher of graduates who have degrees in the following departments of engineering.

Right now if we talk about the world, the highest paid engineering jobs are as follows:

1. Petroleum Engineering.
2. Electrical Engineering.
3. Computer Engineering.
4. Aerospace Engineering.
5. Chemical Engineering.
6. Materials Engineering.

You can choose your field according to this if you are sure that you can work and live abroad. In Pakistan the scope is very different. Petroleum jobs are only provided by a single big company, the hiring rate is 2 fresh graduates per batch.

We will talk about the engineering jobs that are respectable and have scope here in Pakistan.

1. Information Tech/Software Engineering/Computer Sciences and Engineering
Software houses are being set up all over Pakistan. This includes both international and Pakistani startups. Call for software engineers have increased immensely in the last few years. The demand of this field nationally and internationally has made it top priority amongst students.
Below is the picture of P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES) Technology Incubator, The NEST I/O.

Picture from: http://thenestio.com/

2. Telecom Engineering
Pakistan’s Telecom sector is growing fast, and with that the demand of telecom engineers. With the recent advancement in 3G and 4G bands it has started generating huge sums of money. It one of the highest paying jobs right now in Pakistan.

3. Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is one of most demanded discipline. In different Pakistani universities this department mostly has students with top merit. The reason could be that it is one of the most common engineering fields, especially amongst male students.
It is seen that mostly in Pakistan there is no application of mechanical engineering. The machines are mostly imported but these engineers are needed to operate them and fix them. Even then it is considered a respectable job amongst engineers and is also paid for very highly.

4. Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is not specifically a high paying job but it is one of the toughest engineering disciplines. In the last decade the number of female students in Pakistan choosing this field has also increased. The employment rate of electrical engineers is much higher than many other fields and is definitely one of the most respectable engineering jobs.

5. Civil Engineering 
Civil engineering deals with the planning and execution of building roads, bridges, canals, houses etc. Pakistan is a developing country, and right now the demand for good, competent civil engineers has risen. Civil engineers are mostly seen going abroad because the job employment rate was very low in Pakistan. But in recent years that has changed. Employment rate is much better and they pay get hired on is also comparatively better than other jobs.

6. Biomedical Engineering
One of the fields that have emerged in the recent years is Biomedical engineering. The name gives away the fact that this is a field that combines two major parent fields, medical and engineering. It basically applies engineering concepts to make healthcare systems better. Number of Pakistani universities have added this as a discipline. The problem is as of yet it is not that common since majority of the students do not have detailed knowledge about this field. Pakistan is an emerging country in sciences and technology; we need to make sure that all the departments are taken care of. Biomedical engineers are required and since there are not many in the market the ones right now at very respectable positions.

7. Food Engineering
This field is a combination of microbiology, chemistry, and engineering for food and related industry. Food engineering statistics are similar to field mentioned above. Pakistani food companies are hiring food engineers in high ratio. The demand has increased but the number of engineers is low, which is the few land reputable jobs.

8. IT Managers/Airport Engineers 
As much engineering jobs matter, after establishing they need to be maintained. Maintenance is one of the major steps in engineering development.

IT Managers make sure they prioritize resources of the firm accordingly. IT managers are recruited in private schools, universities and corporate houses. They earn respectable jobs in schools and universities.

Airport engineers take the work of aeronautical engineers further. After the aeronautical engineers are done, airport engineers need to keep a check of the maintenance, designing, planning of the airport and the landing/taking off. Since the aircraft in Pakistan is imported, the work of maintaining them falls upon airport engineers. They manage to land (pun intended) respectable jobs in Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan.

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Introduce Probiotics to Gut Ecology to Stay Healthy

The world ecology today is threatened with deteriorating environmental conditions. The world needs healthy flora, fauna, and better environmental conditions to cope with its ecology’s downfall. Similarly, our gut ecology is compromised as well and offering us a bad physical and emotional health.

Humans need healthy gut flora to survive and an improved internal environment to tackle the declining gut ecology.

Like there are too many environmental pollutants, there are too many pollutants that human consume on daily basis that are affecting the gut ecology.

Health Benefits of Probiotics
Due to crummy gut ecology; diseases, sickness, and allergies are inflicting our lives day by day and one of the answers to this problem is probiotics. Probiotics are good bacteria that are part of human gut ecology. Probiotics can prevent and treat sickness by allowing us to have a good digestion and improved immunity. Unfortunately, we destroy these probiotic microorganisms via our unhealthy lifestyle.
At the verge of our regressing health, it is high time we take measurements to restore our gut micro flora with probiotics. Probiotics or good bacteria are present in yogurt, fermented foods like sauerkraut & kadhi, fermented drinks like KVASS, kefir etc.


Consuming probiotics lowers the risk of cancer, obesity, sleeplessness, seasonal sickness, food allergies, mental illness, digestive disorders etc. Probiotics detoxify the body toxins, reduce inflammation by improving immunity, maintain cognitive health etc.

How to Nurture Your Gut Micro-flora?
Fermented cabbage or sauerkraut is one of the best probiotics food that offers good bacteria to our gut ecology. Once the probiotics enter the gut, they join hands with the beneficial micro flora that is already present there. As the probiotics flourish they start healing the body by fighting off the harmful bacteria and restore the gut ecology.



It is good to add a table spoon of fermented cabbage with meals!

Make Fermented Cabbage or Sauerkraut at Home
Preparing your own fermented cabbage is easy. Simply wash the cabbage, peel off its tops layer and throw it. Peel off the second layer and keep it aside as it is. Coarsely chop rest of the cabbage, add 1 table spoon of salt, and keep it in a plastic or glass container for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes; mix, squeeze and punch the cabbage, its juice will come out. Put the cabbage in a glass container, press it with non-steel spoon, its juice should cover the cabbage.



Take that cabbage peel that was kept aside and cover the cabbage with that. Immerse that top layer i.e. cabbage peel into the juice as well. Cover with a breathable cloth; just put the lid on the top. Keep it on a tray as liquid can leak from it. Store it in not too dark place and not in direct sunlight or near high heat. Store it at room temperature for 2 weeks. Each day you need to press the top layer under that juice as it comes up as the cabbage goes through its fermentation stages. Use non-steel spoon or fingers to press down the cabbage peel.


After 2 weeks, remove the cloth, close the glass container and put it into the refrigerator. Fermented cabbage or sauerkraut is now ready to consume.

Do not use iodized salt for making sauerkraut or fermented cabbage. 

Probiotics' Pro,
Engr. Ayesha Alam Khurram







Monday 3 July 2017

Difference between whole-wheat & standard flour (maida); Which is better?

Food is meant to provide the complete nutrition. Unfortunately we are in a habit of filling the stomach with what tastes savory to the tongue instead of what feels good to the gut. Gradually the body’s health gets deteriorated as the food just fills the stomach and is not capable of providing the required nutrition. We eat, eat, & eat without trying to find out that either the food is healthy or crappy. 


Benefits of whole-wheat flour:

Whole-wheat is composed of macro-nutrients i.e. protein, carbs, fat, & fiber and also contains micro-nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, & amino acids. These nutrients help in weight control, stomach feels better, cure stomach aches, lower the risk of diabetes, inflammation & diseases, promote hormonal balance, improve metabolism, fight against chronic illnesses, promote heart health & reduces asthma.


What can be made using whole-wheat flour or chakki ka aata at home?



Whole-wheat can be used to make every day rotiz or chappatiz to greasy parathaz & pooriz. It can also be used to make burger buns & pizza base. To the surprise perfect cakes & pancakes can be prepared using whole-wheat flour.  

Home-made whole-wheat cake

All that dining out!                             
At each and every dining outlet; breads, chappatiz, parathas, naanzpuriz, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, or anything you name it are made up of white flour or standard flour or maida in unhealthy fats & oils with an unhealthy fashion. It may feel flavorful to the tongue, but if we eat mindfully the case is contrary; i.e. it feels like vomiting it out. Standard flour or maida is just meant to satisfy the cravings and it defies us so that we feel full at belly & fulfilled in mind. But do we know what harm it is causing to our body?

Home-made whole-wheat roti / chappati

Standard flour or maida or white flour is like…
Maida is like you have a flower without fragrance & the flower itself is unpleasant. It may look nice but won’t give you the desired specification that you were looking for in your daily nutrition. Why standard flour is white? Because it is obviously short of some nutrients. Those nutrients include fiber from bran, germ, & others that are not present in standard flour which makes its cookeries aesthetically tempting but devoid of basic nutrition like vitamins & minerals.   

Home-made whole-wheat pizza

Store bought whole-wheat or bran bread?
The variety of breads available in stores also contain large amount of standard flour in those. They have whole-wheat flour & some whole grains but for texture & lightness maida is used. But when whole-wheat flour is used especially for baking at home, it is not too textured or fluffy as compared to store bought whole-wheat varieties.

Home-made whole-wheat paratha

Cook at home!
The best way to incorporate whole-wheat flour into your diet is to buy a good quality & authentic whole-wheat flour which is generally called chakki ka aata. Make bread, roti, chappatiparatha, poori, pizza base, burger buns, and pretty much anything with that. It will be homemade & consumption of small amount will keep you fuller while providing nutrients. On the contrary store bought standard flour or maida preparations are to be consumed a lot to satisfy your hunger & it is obviously without nutrition. 

Home-made whole-wheat burgers

Stick up for whole-wheat flour,

Thursday 29 June 2017

Saturday 10 June 2017

What can we do about global warming?

Here is the situation…
We humans via our activities in order to lead our lives with style, we have caused a great damage to the nature’s style i.e. the style of animal kingdom, the style of water cycle, & the style of plantation.
We have caused global warming that is threatening our lives!


Here is what we want…
We want urbanization, industrialization, technological revolution, automation, rise of artificial intelligence, & robots. We need more & more electricity to charge our charge-ables that can lead us to our wishful life with the life style adorned with smartness!
We want a classy lifestyle! That lifestyle has now become need more than a want. 
Yet! We have no style.


Here is what we DO NOT want…
We do not want harsh weather. We do not want extreme natural events like floods, high tides, storms, dangerous precipitation or acid rain, hurricanes, & over flowing water reservoirs. 
We do not want the effects of global warming on us.

Here is what we think…
We think that it is the industrialists or agriculturists responsibility to practice environmental friendly protocol while carrying out their activities. Meanwhile we will stay care free of the environment.
We are just taking care of our bodies’ environment or house environment. 


Here is what we DO NOT think…
Every activity every tiny amount of greenhouse gas increase is by us & for us. We cannot separate ourselves from climate disturbing activities for the very fact that we dwell in the same planet where these activities are being carried out for us & for our life styles.
The land on our planet is surrounded by waters. Imagine rise of sea levels & water levels.
Where will we go then?


Here is what we do…
We have our technology that has stuck to our brains more than our palm. We just worry about our digestive track and lustful daily routine. If we just worry about about gut flora but do not worry about global flora then really it doesn’t matter what we feed to our gut floras. 
If we pollute the global flora due to our stinky life style, that disturbed global flora is ultimately going to affect our gut flora!



Here is what we DO NOT do…
We do not think about making our lifestyle green & environment friendly.
We do not take care of the flowing water when doing tooth brush & taking shower.
We do not take care of the flowing water when washing dishes, dresses, fruits & veggies.
We do not turn off the electricity when we leave the room.
We do not turn off charger or switches.
We do not worry about doing litter on streets, parks, picnic spots, & on the way anywhere.
We do not dispose-off garbage properly.
We do not worry about planting a tree.
We do not worry about cutting a tree for our house’s aesthetics.
We do not conserve energy as a responsible green resident of the globe.

Once we start realizing our responsibilities as a green resident for a greener environment, then we will play our role to save the environment that will directly help in lowering the life-threatening conditions of the global warming.

Written by,