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And they say, gloomy London!

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London is the hub of economy, politics, education, global culture and high fashion.

London is one the world’s most important economic destinations. It is one of the top three fashion capitals of the world. It is one of the top tourist destinations. It is the first choice for studies for thousands of students around the globe. London is rich, fast, flashy, vibrant, colorful and beautiful. Yet, most people in London feel sad and depressed, they call this city gloomy. What triggers such negative feelings in a city so full of character and variety? Most people, who have lived here at some point in their lives, feel that it’s a murky city. It has the stench of old and decaying. When asked, they complain about several factors and the list seems never ending. For example:

No sunshine= less energy Geographically, it is situated in the light deprived region of the globe. It surely has long summer days but, they are mostly cloudy and during winters, the days are extremely short with hardly six hours of weak sunlight. Just like air, water and food, sunlight is equally important for our mental and physical health. Lack of sunlight can result in poor health, fatigue, restlessness, decreased sex drive, depression etc. Studies have shown that light and sunlight in particular plays a major role in human behaviour and psychology. Places with lots of sunshine have happier people.

Deadlines + Busy lifestyle + job insecurity + recession = Stress + Depression

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Another major reason behind people’s sadness can be financial crunch and not being able to have desired lifestyle. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and due to the recent economic slump; it’s become tough to afford a high lifestyle. Living in London, it automatically becomes important and desirable to have a lifestyle that matches the city. With soaring levels of unemployment and constantly increasing inflation, people cannot afford most of the things they could earlier and this triggers depression and other negative feelings.

To maintain the desirable lifestyle people push themselves into a hectic work life. London is fast and its people faster and busier. Targets, deadlines, expectations and the need to rise are definitely the ingredients to success but they also bring stress, anxiety and poor health. Experts claim, hectic work life can result in digestion disorders, weight gain, lack of energy, headaches and insomnia.

Binge drinking = Disease + Dementia

Britain is one of the top consumers of alcohol in the world and binge drinking has become a serious social issue. Drinking in Britain is a social norm and people fear that saying no to alcohol may create a hole in their social life. It undoubtedly relaxes the body and mind and gives a rush of energy as a result of its immediate effects but, excessive or uncontrolled drinking can also make your body sick and turn you into an embarrassing laughing stock.
Studies show, excessive alcohol consumption leads to serious physical and mental illnesses like damaged liver, cancer, weight gain, oedema, heart disease, psychotic symptoms, depression etc.

The Big Question, How To Stay HAPPY?

Well, its pretty easy. We can’t change everything that’s around us but, we can definitely change ourselves and take charge of our own lives. There are few tips from personal experience for a happier and healthier lifestyle which I want to share with my readers.

Control your day, have a routine

Have a closer look and you’ll find that everything around us has a cycle and routine which keeps the nature functioning and the world synchronised. Throughout childhood, our parents, teachers and institutions try to sync our lives in a routine. More than any other creature, human beings need atleast a basic routine to keep functioning. Little things like early to bed, early to rise, fixed meal times and fixed outdoor hours can make a big difference to our lives. Look at school children and you’ll realise that even under the tremendous pressure of exams, competition, heavy backpacks and parent’s expectations, they are much happy than most of us. They are bound to stick to a routine. No matter what, they have to wake up on time and continue the day of fixed events.

One may assume that such a life is monotonous and boring but no, you can always spice it up. You just need to fix your basics and it shall rid you of all the unnecessary and frivolous tensions.

Make it bright

Brighten your life with lots of sunshine and make it colourful. It’ll automatically lift your mood. Make sure your room gets enough natural light and is as bright as possible. Put mirrors and reflecting glasses if it doesn’t fall in the direction of the sun. You can paint your walls in bright blooming colours or create beautiful contrasts to liven your room. Try keeping flower pots instead of vaces. Watering it everyday and it’ll turn into your favourite pet. Play with light once the sun sets, light candles and colourful lamps and spice up your evenings. These little changes around you can make a big overall difference.

Play, Exercise, get moving

Run, gym, join a sport or do whatever pleases you but move those muscles. Make it a habit. Believe it or not, physical activity can not only make your body fit, it can also lighten your mood and refresh your mind.

Meditation and Yoga

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If you are not the gyming and running type, there is always a better option for you. Try yoga and meditation. Yoga is a discipline which involves mind body and spirit. Done regularly, it can give miraculous result. It works by first calming your nerves and relaxing your body and then regulating your thought, breathing and physical movements through several asanas. One can develop the power of control on oneself through yoga and meditation. The various yogic asanas make the body flexible and strong. Start your day with a thirty minute yoga session and you can feel the difference throughout the day. Yoga is addictive and you can realise its pleasure when you do it like game and not like an activity.

These are just a few ways to calm those nerves down and create that naturally beaming bright personality. There are many more things you can do to make your days brighter.

Eat healthy

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Indulge in the beautiful process of cooking, eating and sharing. Take time out to cook instead of depending on frozen food. Food loses all its nutrition if its not fresh. Don’t forget your 5 a day. Its very important to feed your body with the right portions of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. Experts say, increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables in your diet can reduce the risk of cancer and increase longevity.

Travel

Take weekly short trips, explore your city. There are many hidden beautiful corners around you which you have been overlooking. Make sure to go on a vacation atleast thrice a year. No matter how busy your schedule may be, take time out for yourself, your family and your friends. And don’t just stop at this; play music, go to that gig, make your own playlist, create your website, bring a pet or a plant, start writing in that dusty diary, finish that book on the tube, observe, click pictures of wherever you go, meet friends, socialise, pamper yourself, love yourself. Life is really beautiful. 

London Music Scene- Top 20 Club songs 2011

London has probably the best taste in music and the Djs playing in various London clubs are the best of the league. They play a variety of pop, hip hop, house and trance music.

Basically the top dance numbers from all genre. At any typical night club, the party starts after 11 with pop and hip hop with constantly increasing beats which is followed by house and ends with trance. I have made a list of popular club music which you may find playing in most of the night clubs this year.

Rihanna- S&M

  Rihanna We found love

 David Guetta- little bad girl

 David Guetta- where them girls at ft. Flo rida

Lady gaga- Alejandro remix

 Swedish house mafia- save the world extended mix

 Example- stay awake micky slim mix

Example- changed the way you kiss me

 David Guetta- Bassline

  Kesha blow cirkut remix

 Champagne showers ft. Natalia kills

LMFAO Party rock anthem

 David Guetta ft. Rihanna Who’s that chick

Calvin Harris, Feel so close (Benni benassi remix)

 Stefano Noferini – French Kiss Original Mix

   Lady Indiraa – I Get Off Soulshaker Club Mix

  Dirty Vegas – Little White Doves Marco Lys Remix

 Maroon 5 Misery club mix

 Enrique Iglesias feat. Ludacris & DJ Frank E – Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)

Enjoy the beats. Cheers!

Cheap and Nice places to hang out in Central London

Catching up with old friends is always a fresh feeling and if its combined with good food and drinks in a good location, it’s like icing on cake. 

So last night, we decided to meet in central London at some nice restaurant and later head to a good bar. The place is called Va Piano and it is located in the street behind the big Topshop showroom in front of Oxford circus station. Its pretty popular among European food lovers because of its wide range of fresh house made pizzas ans pastas and also a pleasant decor and spacious seating.

Every customer is given a chip card at the entrance which they use to order their food or drinks from the bar. No doubt they have innovative and hip casual dining as they claim but even after trying hard to be fast, their service is pretty slow and one has to wait in long queues to get the order prepared. May be its because of the place being over crowded all the time and the time consumed in preparing each dish according to the customer’s taste buds. Yes, they will actually prepare your dish your way. You can have your pasta, cheesy, spicy, extra hot or bland; it’s all made according to your instructions. 

What I didn’t like about the place is it’s over crowded and noisy. The chitter chatter of over 50 customers at any given time gets too loud and irritating. I don’t remember hearing any music or was there any? May be there was music which got lost in the noise of the crowd. They have a pretty decent bar which serves some good choices of wines and spirits.  

The fresh decor with dim lighting and tiny green herb plants all around gives away a not expensive but soothing feeling good. The chefs and staffs were friendly and tried to give the customers a trendy dining experience.

Once we were full, we headed for a more relaxed atmosphere for drinks and some place where we could hear each other without shouting. So we thought why not All Bar One since it's close and centrally located.

All bar one! One of my favourite cheap bars in London. But again, the sound problem. Like any normal bar this also had loud music and people were shouting to be heard. But, All Bar One always has outdoor seating which is more relaxing and less noisy. They have got decent range of beer and have got most of the popular brands of wines and liquors. But some of my personal favourites were missing from the list, for example, Duvel and Desparado. 

Interestingly, they serve a funny and cheap version of Sangria which i guess, had cranberry juice and some alcohol. The number of staff was too less, just two to serve when over 20 customers wanted their glasses to be filled. Poor them! I felt sad for the staffs. 

World Around Richa's photostream

World Around Richa's photostream on Flickr.

Pictures from different parts of India

THE DANCING MONKS

At the beginning of this documentary, I joined ISKCON or the Hare

Krishna movement as a member. I had seen them dancing and chanting on

streets of London and being an Indian I knew about this organization

and the works of charity they have been involved in. But, I met a lot

of people in London who had no clue about who the Hare Krishnas are

and also the people who were suspicious about them due to a tainted

past. So, I decided to explore the Hare krishnas to know about the problems in the past and their present situation.

Today ISKCON has active centres in more than 96 countries and has a

huge following of members from all over the world.

In the UK, it has centres in all the big cities. They run organic

farms, vegetarian restaurants and schools at most of the centres. 

The members of ISKCON are peace loving, non violent, spiritual and

religious.

Filming the documentary was a major challenge. I was told that the Hare Krishnas are out on the streets thrice every day in Central London, dancing with the crowd, distributing pamphlets and merrily chanting 'Hare Krishna.' Capturing them live was integral to the documentary. Since I had to move constantly with the devotees while they danced on the streets, I was fearful about the quality of the footage and had to capture the shots on several occasions to perfect them.

During the process, I also captured footage of the famous Rath Yatra festival, a carnival organized by ISKCON. Because the Rath Yatra took place on the streets in Central London, I had to take special permission from the London Metropolitan Police, allowing me to shoot in these places. Besides, filming at the 'Bhakti Vedanta Manor', the main temple of ISKCON in London also required permission from the Media Office of ISKCON.

In the end I would say this documentary has been a personal experience of finding peace of mind through spirituality among odds of all kinds.

Hare Krishna!!!

World Around Richa's photostream

World Around Richa's photostream on Flickr.