இந்த உலகம் முழுவதும் நம் மனதிலேயே அடங்கியிருக்கிறது

 

புனித லீமா ரோஸ், அமெரிக்காவின் முதல் புனிதர். இவர் பெருநாட்டின் தலைநகரான லீமா நகரில் 1586ம் ஆண்டு பிறந்தார். இவரது பெற்றோர்  ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள். இவரது ஞானஸ்நானப் பெயர் இசபெல்லா. இவரது முகம் ரோஜா மலரைப்போல் இருந்ததாலும் இவர்  குழந்தையாய் தொட்டிலில் கிடந்தபோது ஓர் அழகிய ரோஜா மலர் அந்தத் தொட்டிலில் விழுந்ததாலும் அவருக்கு ரோஸ் என்னும் பெயர் வந்தது  என்பார்கள்.

சிறுவயது முதல் தம் தந்தையின் தோட்டத்தில் ஒரு சிறு குடிசை அமைத்து அங்குபோய் ஜெபிப்பார். வாரத்தில் மூன்று நாள் வெறும் ரொட்டியும்  தண்ணீரும் மட்டும் உட்கொண்டு உபவாசம் இருப்பார். இடுப்பில் ஓர் இரும்புச் சங்கிலியும் தலையில் ஒரு முள்முடியும் அணிவார். தனது அழகு  மற்றவர்களுக்குச் சோதனையாக இருக்கக் கூடாது என்பதில் கண்டிப்பாகவும் எச்சரிக்கையாகவும் இருந்தார்.

‘எனது வேதனைகளையும் அதே நேரத்தில் உம்மீது எனக்குள்ள அன்பையும் அதிகமாக்கும்’ என்று இறைவனை வேண்டுவார். புனித சியன்னா  கத்தரீனம்மாளை மேல்வரிச்சட்டமாக வைத்து தவ வாழ்வு நடத்தினார். இளம் வயதிலேயே தன் கன்னிமையை கடவுளுக்கு அர்ப்பணம் செய்த இவர்  தொமினிக்கன் மூன்றாம் சபையில் சேர்ந்தார். இவர் பாவிகளின் பாவங்களுக்குப் பரிகாரமாகவும் உத்தரிக்கிற ஆன்மாக்களுக்கு ஆதரவாகவும் தனது  தவமுயற்சிகள் அனைத்தையும் ஒப்புக்கொடுத்தார்.

‘‘அன்பர்களே! நாங்கள் உங்களுக்குத் தரும் அறிவுரை இதுவே: சோம்பேறிகளுக்கு அறிவு புகட்டுங்கள்; மனத் தளர்ச்சியுற்றவர்களுக்கு  ஊக்கமுட்டுங்கள்; வலுவற்றோர்க்கு உதவுங்கள்; எல்லோரோடும் பொறுமையாய் இருங்கள்; எவரும் தீமைக்குப் பதில் தீமை செய்யாதவாறு  பார்த்துக்கொள்ளுங்கள்; உங்களுள் ஒருவருக்கொருவர் மட்டுமின்றி எல்லாருக்கும் எப்பொழுதும் நன்மை செய்யுங்கள். எப்பொழுதும் மகிழ்ச்சியாக  இருங்கள். இடைவிடாது இறைவனிடம் வேண்டுங்கள். எல்லாச் சூழ்நிலையிலும் நன்றி கூறுங்கள்; உங்களுக்காக கிறிஸ்து இயேசு வழியாய்க் கடவுள்  வெளிப்படுத்திய திருவுளம் இதுவே. தூய ஆவியின் செயல்பாட்டைத் தடுக்க வேண்டாம். இறைவாக்குகளைப் புறக்கணிக்க வேண்டாம்.

அனைத்தையும் சீர்தூக்கிப் பாருங்கள். நல்லதைப் பற்றிக் கொள்ளுங்கள். தீமைகளையும் விட்டு விலகுங்கள். அமைதி அருளும் கடவுள் உங்களை  முற்றிலும் தூய்மையாகக்குவாராக. அவரே நம் ஆண்டவர் இயேசு கிறிஸ்து வரும்போது உங்களுடைய உள்ளம், ஆன்மா, உடல் அனைத்தையும்  குற்றமின்றி முழுமையாகக் காப்பாராக! உங்களை அழைக்கும் அவர் நம்பிக்கைக்குரியவர். தூய முத்தம் கொடுத்து ஒருவரையொருவர் வாழ்த்துங்கள்.  நம் ஆண்டவர் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவின் அருள் உங்களோடு இருப்பதாக.’’(1 தெசலோனிக்கர் 5: 14-28) இவனை நம்பு அவனை நம்பு என்று மற்றவர்கள் சொல்கிறார்கள். முதலில் நம்மிடத்திலேயே நாம் நம்பிக்கை வைப்போம்.

எல்லா ஆற்றல்களும் நமக்குள்ளே இருக்கின்றன. அதை உணர்ந்து அந்த ஆற்றலை வெளிப்படுத்துவோம். எந்த ஒரு சக்தியையும் புதிதாக உண்டாக்க முடியாது. ஏற்கனவே உள்ள மாபெரும் ஆற்றல்களை அடக்கி ஆள நாம் கற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். அவற்றை மனதின் வலிமை கொண்டு வெறும் சக்தியாக இருப்பதற்குப் பதிலாக ஆன்மிக சக்தியாக இருக்கச் செய்வோம். அடக்கப்படாமல் சரியான வழியில் செலுத்தப்படாத மனம் நம்மை மேலும் மேலும் என்றென்றைக்குமாக கீழே இழுத்துச் சென்று விடும். நம்மைப் பிளந்துவிடும்; அழித்து விடும். ஆனால் அடக்கப்பட்டு சரியான வழியில் செலுத்தப்பட்ட மனமோ நம்மைக் காத்து ரட்சிக்கும். நம்மை விடுதலை பெறச் செய்யும்.

நல்ல எண்ணம், தீய எண்ணம் இரண்டுமே தனித்தனியே வலிமை மிக்க ஆற்றலைப் பெற்றிருக்கிறது. நாம், நல்ல மற்றும் தீய எண்ணங்களின்  உரிமையாளர்களாக இருக்கிறோம். நாம் நம்மைத் தூய்மைப்படுத்தி நல்ல எண்ணங்களின் கருவியாக்கிக் கொண்டால் அவை நம்முள் நுழைகின்றன.  நல்ல ஆன்மா, தீய எண்ணங்களை எளிதில் ஏற்பதில்லை. நம்மிடம் கொடுப்பதற்கு ஏதாவது இருக்கிறதா? அப்படி இருந்தால் அதை மற்றவர்களுக்குக் கொடுத்துவிடுவோம். நாம் எதைச் செய்தாலும்  அதன்பொருட்டு நமது மனம், இதயம், ஆன்மா முழுவதையும் அதற்கு அர்ப்பணித்து விடுவோம். இப்போது நாம் வாழும் வாழ்க்கையில் தூய்மையை எப்படி பெறுவது? மனம் கட்டுப்பட்டு அடங்காவிட்டால் எந்தப் பயனும் கிடைக்காது.

ஏனென்றால் இதே மனம் எல்லா தொந்தரவுகளையும் கொண்டுவந்து சேர்த்துவிடும். எல்லாப் பேய்களும் நமது மனதிலேயே இருக்கின்றன. கட்டுப்பட்டு மனம் அடங்கியிருந்தால் நாம் எந்த இடத்தில் இருந்தாலும் அந்த இடம் அமைதியாக ஆகிவிடும். நமது சொந்த மனப்பான்மைதான் நமக்கு ஏற்றாற்போல் உலகத்தைத் தோன்றும்படி செய்கிறது. நமது எண்ணங்களே பொருள்களுக்கு அழகு சேர்க்கின்றன. நமது எண்ணங்களே பொருள்களை அவலட்சணமாக்குகின்றன. இந்த உலகம் முழுவதும் நமது சொந்த மனதிலேயே அடங்கியிருக்கிறது. நல்ல மனதில் விரியும் இரு மலர்கள்தான் அமைதியும் மகிழ்ச்சியும். நல்ல மனம் விரைவில் தளராது. சோதனைகள் நம்மை இறைவனோடு நல்லுறவு கொள்ளச் செய்யும்.

 ‘‘உன் துன்ப துயரத்தின் ஆடைகளைக் களைந்து விடு; கடவுள் உனக்கு அருளும் மாட்சியின் பேரழகை என்றென்றும் அணிந்துகொள்’’ என்கிறார் ஆண்டவர். மனிதர் மகிழ்ச்சியோடு வாழ வேண்டும் என்பதுதான் இறைவனின் எண்ணம். ஆனால் உலகில் வாழும்போது சில துன்பங்களும் துயரங்களும் சோதனைகளும் கவலைகளும் தோன்றுவது இயற்கையே. அவ்வேளையில் ஆண்டவரிடம் நம்பிக்கை விசுவாசம் வேண்டும். ‘‘சோர்ந்த உள்ளங்களுக்கு நான் புத்துயிர் அளிப்பேன்; வாடிய நெஞ்சங்களுக்கு நான் நிறைவளிப்பேன்’’ என்ற ஆண்டவர் எப்போதும் நம்மோடு இருக்கிறார்.
நாம் நம் குழந்தைகளை எவ்வளவு நேசிக்கிறோம்!

அவர்களிடம் எந்த அளவுக்கு பாசம் வைத்துள்ளோம்! நம்மேல் அன்பு வைத்திருக்கும் கடவுள் அவர் குழந்தைகளாகிய நம்மைக் கைவிடுவாரா? ‘‘தாய் தன் பிள்ளையைத் தேற்றுவதுபோல் நான் உங்களைத் தேற்றுவேன்’’ என்று சொன்ன ஆண்டவர் நம்மை அரவணைக்காமல் விடுவாரா? சாதகமோ பாதகமோ எச்சூழ்நிலையிலும் நாம் இறைத்திட்டத்தை அறிந்துகொள்ள ஆர்வம் கொள்ள வேண்டும். ஏனென்றால் ஆண்டவர் பின்வருமாறு கூறுகிறார்: ‘‘என் எண்ணங்கள் உங்கள் எண்ணங்கள் அல்ல; உங்கள் வழிமுறைகள் என் வழிமுறைகள் அல்ல; மண்ணுலகத்திலிருந்து விண்ணுலகம் மிக உயர்ந்து இருப்பதுபோல உங்கள் வழிமுறைகளைவிட என் எண்ணங்களும் மிக உயர்ந்து இருக்கின்றன’’ (ஏசாயா 55: 8-9) கடவுளுக்கு நம்மைக் குறித்து எண்ணமுண்டு. நாம் நம் பிள்ளைகளின் எதிர்காலத்தைக் குறித்து சிந்திப்பதுபோல கடவுளும் தம் பிள்ளைகளான நம்மைக் குறித்துச் சிந்திக்கிறார்.

‘‘உங்களுக்காக நான் வகுத்திருக்கும் திட்டங்கள் எனக்குத் தெரியும் அன்றோ! மேலும் அவை வளமான எதிர்காலத்தையும் நம்பிக்கையையும்  உங்களுக்கு அளிப்பதற்கான நல்வாழ்வின் திட்டங்களே அன்றி, கேடு விளைவிப்பதற்கான திட்டங்கள் அல்ல’’ என்றும் கூறுகிறார். விழிப்பாய் இருந்து  நம் இதயத்தைக் காவல் செய்வோம். ஏனெனில் அதனின்று பிறப்பவை நம் வாழ்க்கையின் போக்கை உறுதி செய்யும். நல்ல மனதுடையோர்  அமைதியையும் மகிழ்ச்சியையும் உரிமைப் பேறாகப் பெற்றுகொள்வர்.

-‘‘மணவைப்பிரியன்’’ஜெயதாஸ் பெர்னாண்டோ

10 Most Amazing & Exotic Restaurants

Waterfall Restaurant (Philippines)

Located in the Quezon province of the Philippines, Villa Escudero is a nice hacienda-style resort with cozy rooms and an exotic atmosphere. However, what brought its international fame is the waterfall restaurant that allows tourists to enjoy a nice meal right at the foot of a small waterfall.

In most cases, getting too close to a waterfall can prove deadly, but not at this particular restaurant at Villa Escudero. Here, people are actually encouraged to take off their shoes and get as close to the falls as possible. Set right at the foot of Labasin Falls, this special place invites customers to taste popular Filipino dishes while fresh spring water from the falls flows under and over their feet, making this an unforgettable experience. As you can imagine, it's nowhere near as impressive as Niagara, but visitors who don't mind getting their clothes wet can sit right under the rushing waterfall and get their pictures taken.

(Link)

Floating Restaurant (Sweden)

The Salt & Sill is a minimalist 23-room barge that also serves as a top-notch seafood restaurant specializing in herring and fresh local produce. All 23 rooms have their own outdoor seating areas, but the hotel's sole suite has an extra-enticing benefit: a private roof-top jacuzzi. The hotel's location on the lake, by the way, is not a gimmick: the adjacent land simply didn't have any room. (Link | Via)

Mineshaft Restaurant (Finland)

"Pop-down is such a unique idea that I just had to do it," chef Timo Linnamaki said, before his first clients descended to the bottom of the mine shaft in the town of Lohja, Finland. "It's great working down here because you are totally cut off from the world, so nothing distracts from the cooking." The idea of preparing food so far below ground was all part of being close to the earth, but the talented cook admits this is by far the weirdest place he has ever prepared his dishes and that it would be very difficult to find something on par. The 115-year-old mine chosen as the location for this unique pop-down restaurant goes down to a depth of 1246 ft., where limestone is still mined for the chemical industry. But that didn't seem to scare off customers, as the 64-seat restaurant was already fully booked when the crazy underground cooking experiment began. (Link)

Airplane Restaurant (England)

Airline food served on little plastic trays is always sure to divide opinion - but one unique restaurant is redefining what you'd expect to eat onboard a plane. This unusual eatery, which is the first of its kind in the UK, is set inside a Douglas DC6 aircraft and run by 35-year-old chef Tony Caunce at Coventry Airport.

With a fully-functioning bar onboard, visitors can enjoy draught beers and wines with food from under a tenner up to just £15 for a fillet steak...meaning the owners can brag that the prices aren't too sky high.

The 40-seater restaurant opened two weeks ago with an aviation-themed menu including an 8 oz. Rapide, Vampire gammon steak, Bomber T-bone steak and a Meteor marinade fillet. Punters can also have a look at the original cockpit to see what the plane was like when it was flying. Waiters can be called to tables using the original call buttons, just as you would use them on a flight to call a stewardess. (Link)

Bank Vault Restaurant (Colorado, US)

Located in the old Denver National Bank building, this Old World steakhouse offers dining in private cherry wood booths once used by bank customers to view their safety deposit boxes. You can actually experience some of Denver's most romantic private dining inside the 100 year old bank vault. Tour the wine cellar, located 35 feet below ground in the original cash vault. (Link)

Cave Restaurant (Africa)

What do you think of dining in a cave, with stalactites looking down on you, surrounded by walls embedded with fossil shells? Sounds exciting, right? Then Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant in Diani Beach, South of Mombasa, is the place.

These caves were formed in coral limestone over half a million years ago and have been gradually modified by tidal action since then, together with the assistance of George Barbour, the owner of the land where the caves sit.

The entrance to the cave complex is a bar area, covered with a makuti –palm tree branche roof, which is supported by a gum tree. From this point, two lower dining caves are revealed. These open up to a starry African night sky.
(Link)

World's Smallest Restaurant (Italy)

SOLO PER DUE - or "Just for Two" - is the smallest restaurant in the world: it has only one table and it takes just two people at a time. Only two guests per night are treated to an opulent Italian feast, during which they are waited on hand and foot. The waitstaff doesn't linger, though: you'll need to summon them with a bell. They'll even take care of special requests, like a private fireworks show or chauffeur service. At the end of the meal guests can even spend the night. The price for a meal, needless to say, is astronomical — starting at €250 ($325) per person. (Link)

Cardboard Restaurant (Taiwan)

Unless you've actually been to Taichung, I'm sure you haven't seen anything like the Carton King Restaurant before. Except for the food, the waiters, and some cutlery, everything inside this place is made from cardboard and paper. It seems almost impossible, but you actually sit on cardboard chairs, sip drinks from cardboard cans, and eat your food out of cardboard bowls at a cardboard table. The food is pretty average, a bit on the pricey side, but that's to be expected considering the amazing venue where it's served. What's great about this place is the recycling potential. In case anything breaks or becomes damaged, it's simply recycled. That was actually the point of the whole Carton King Creativity Park, to show the real power of paper and cardboard and convince people it can be used for a lot more than generic packaging. (Link | Via)

MuvBox Shipping Container Restaurant (Canada)

Tucked in a corner of the Old Port in Montreal is Müvbox, a portable restaurant powered with solar panels that unfold from a sleek rectangular shape into a beautiful modern cafe with outdoor tables and a canopy. Owner Daniel Noiseux of Montreal's Pizzalolle restaurants fitted a kitchen and seating for 28 guests into a standard 28-foot shipping container with a floor made from recycled tires. It serves fresh, local and gourmet foods including local specialties like Madeleine lobster and Brome Lake duck. (Link)

Monkey Restaurant (Japan)

The Kayabukiya Tavern is a traditional-style Japanese "sake-house" restaurant (izakaya) located in the city of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, Japan. The location attracted international attention in 2008 when the Western media reported on the tavern and its news movies were uploaded to YouTube.

The tavern's owner, Kaoru Otsuka, owns two pet macaque monkeys who are currently employed at the location. The first monkey, twelve-year-old "Yat-chan," is dressed in a shirt and shorts while he takes customers' drink orders and delivers them to the diners' tables. The restaurant's owner, Otsuka, reported that he never initially taught the monkeys; Yat-chan first learned from watching him work. Otsuka said, "It all started one day when I gave him a hot towel out of curiosity and he brought the towel to the customer." The younger macaque, named Fuku-chan, is currently four years old and has the main duty of bringing the attendees hot towels to clean their hands before ordering drinks. Fuku-chan has only two years of experience, while Yat-chan has reportedly been performing the job for a longer time.

Both monkeys receive boiled soya beans from customers as tips for their service. (Link)

10 Cocaine and other Drug Products of the Past

Cocaine, morphine, and even heroin were seen as miracle cures when they were first discovered. Substances prohibited today were legally available in the past, so until the late 1800, manufacturers proudly proclaimed that their products contained such drugs. Today we present you ten of this incredible old ads.


Cocaine toothache drops (c. 1885) were popular for children.
Not only would the medicine numb the pain, but it could also put the user in a "better" mood.



Bayer heroin bottle. From 1898 to 1910 heroin was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children!



Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a large number of cocaine-containing wines available on the market.
All claimed medicinal effects, although they were undoubtedly consumed for their "recreational" value as well.



Vin Mariani (c. 1865) was the leading Coca Wine of its time.
Pope Leo XIII purportedly carried a hipflask of Vin Mariani with him, and awarded a Vatican gold medal to its creator, Angelo Mariani.



This coca wine was made by the Maltine Manufacturing Company (New York). The dosage indicated on the back of the bottle reads: "A wine glass full with, or immediately after, meals. Children in proportion."





Cocaine-containing throat lozenges (c. 1900) were "indispensable for singers, teachers, and orators." In addition to quieting a sore throat, these lozenges undoubtedly provided the "pick-me-up" to keep these professionals performing at their peak.



Paperweight advertisement for C.F. Boehringer & Soehne (Mannheim, Germany), "largest makers in the world of quinine and cocaine." This chemical manufacturer was proud of its leading position in the world's cocaine market.



This bottle of Stickney and Poor's paregoric (mixture of opium and alcohol) was distributed much like the spices for which the company is better known. Doses for infants, children, and adults are given on the bottle. At 46% alcohol, this product is 92 proof which is pretty potent in itself.



This ad is for Glyco-Heroin manufactured by Martin H. Smith Company (New York). Heroin was widely used not only as an analgesic but also as a remedy for asthma, coughs, and pneumonia. Mixing heroin with glycerin (and often adding sugar or spices) made the bitter-tasting opiate more palatable for oral consumption.



This National Vaporizer Vapor-OL (opium) Treatment no. 6 for asthma may have provided a unique method of essentially "smoking" opium. The volatile liquid was placed in a pan that was heated by a small kerosene lamp (see below). Other substances were also used in these early (c. 1890) vaporizers, but this mixture probably ensured plenty of visitors for the spasmodically affected.

7 Worst Killer Plagues in history

Smallpox (430 BC? - 1979):
Killed more than 300 million people worldwide in the 20th century alone, and most of the native inhabitants of the Americas

Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a contagious disease unique to humans. Smallpox is caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. The deadlier form, V. major, has a mortality rate of 30–35%, while V. minor causes a milder form of disease called alastrim and kills ~1% of its victims. Long-term side-effects for survivors include the characteristic skin scars. Occasional side effects include blindness due to corneal ulcerations and infertility in male survivors.

Smallpox killed an estimated 60 million Europeans, including five reigning European monarchs, in the 18th century alone. Up to 30% of those infected, including 80% of the children under 5 years of age, died from the disease, and one third of the survivors became blind.

As for the Americas, after the first contacts with Europeans and Africans, some believe that the death of 90 to 95 percent of the native population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases. It is suspected that smallpox was the chief culprit and responsible for killing nearly all of the native inhabitants of the Americas. In Mexico, when the Aztecs rose up in rebellion against Cortés, outnumbered, the Spanish were forced to flee. In the fighting, a Spanish soldier carrying smallpox died. After the battle, the Aztecs contracted the virus from the invaders' bodies. When Cortes returned to the capital, smallpox had devastated the Aztec population. It killed most of the Aztec army, the emperor, and 25% of the overall population. Cortés then easily defeated the Aztecs and entered Tenochtitlán, where he found that smallpox had killed more Aztecs than had the cannons.

Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths in the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year. After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated from nature.

Spanish Flu (1918 - 1919):
Killed 50 to 100 million people worldwide in less than 2 years

In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish Flu pandemic killed more people than Hitler, nuclear weapons and all the terrorists of history combined. (A pandemic is an epidemic that breaks out on a global scale.) Spanish influenza was a more severe version of your typical flu, with the usual sore throat, headaches and fever. However, in many patients, the disease quickly progressed to something much worse than the sniffles. Extreme chills and fatigue were often accompanied by fluid in the lungs. One doctor treating the infected described a grim scene: "The faces wear a bluish cast; a cough brings up the blood-stained sputum. In the morning, the dead bodies are stacked about the morgue like cordwood."

If the flu passed the stage of being a minor inconvenience, the patient was usually doomed. There is no cure for the influenza virus, even today. All doctors could do was try to make the patients comfortable, which was a good trick since their lungs filled with fluid and they were wracked with unbearable coughing. The "bluish cast" of victims' faces eventually turned brown or purple and their feet turned black. The lucky ones simply drowned in their own lungs. The unlucky ones developed bacterial pneumonia as an agonizing secondary infection. Since antibiotics hadn't been invented yet, this too was essentially untreatable. The pandemic came and went like a flash. Between the speed of the outbreak and military censorship of the news during World War I, hardly anyone in the United States knew that a quarter of the nation's population -- and a billion people worldwide -- had been infected with the deadly disease. More than half a million died in the U.S. alone; worldwide, more than 50 million.

Black Death (1340 - 1771):
Killed 75 million people worldwide

The Black Death, or The Black Plague, was one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. It began in South-western or Central Asia and spread to Europe by the late 1340s. The total number of deaths worldwide from the pandemic is estimated at 75 million people; there were an estimated 20 million deaths in Europe alone. The Black Death is estimated to have killed between a third and two-thirds of Europe's population.

The three forms of plague brought an array of signs and symptoms to those infected. Bubonic plague refers to the painful lymph node swellings called buboes, mostly found around the base of the neck, and in the armpits and groin. The septicaemic plague is a form of blood poisoning, and pneumonic plague is an airborne plague that attacks the lungs before the rest of the body. The classic sign of bubonic plague was the appearance of buboes in the groin, the neck and armpits, which oozed pus and bled. Victims underwent damage to the skin and underlying tissue, until they were covered in dark blotches. Most victims died within four to seven days after infection. When the plague reached Europe, it first struck port cities and then followed the trade routes, both by sea and land. The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form during the Black Death, with a mortality rate of thirty to seventy-five percent and symptoms including fever of 38 - 41 °C (101-105 °F), headaches, painful aching joints, nausea and vomiting, and a general feeling of malaise. Of those who contracted the bubonic plague, 4 out of 5 died within eight days. Pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form during the Black Death, with a mortality rate of ninety to ninety-five percent.

The same disease is thought to have returned to Europe every generation with varying virulence and mortalities until the 1700s. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. On its return in 1603, the plague killed 38,000 Londoners. Other notable 17th century outbreaks were the Italian Plague of 1629-1631, the Great Plague of Seville (1647-1652), the Great Plague of London (1665–1666), the Great Plague of Vienna (1679). There is some controversy over the identity of the disease, but in its virulent form, after the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720–1722 and the 1771 plague in Moscow it seems to have disappeared from Europe in the 18th century. The fourteenth-century eruption of the Black Death had a drastic effect on Europe's population, irrevocably changing Europe's social structure. It was a serious blow to the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in widespread persecution of minorities such as Jews, foreigners, beggars and lepers. The uncertainty of daily survival created a general mood of morbidity influencing people to "live for the moment", as illustrated by Giovanni Boccaccio in The Decameron (1353).

Malaria (1600 - today):
Kills about 2 million people per year

Malaria causes about 400–900 million cases of fever and approximately one to three million deaths annually — this represents at least one death every 30 seconds. The vast majority of cases occur in children under the age of 5 years; pregnant women are also especially vulnerable. Despite efforts to reduce transmission and increase treatment, there has been little change in which areas are at risk of this disease since 1992. Indeed, if the prevalence of malaria stays on its present upwards course, the death rate could double in the next twenty years. Precise statistics are unknown because many cases occur in rural areas where people do not have access to hospitals or the means to afford health care. Consequently, the majority of cases are undocumented.

Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public-health problem. It's parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that include symptoms of anemia (light headedness, shortness of breath, tachycardia etc.), as well as other general symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, flu-like illness, and in severe cases, coma and death. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

AIDS (1981 - today):
Killed 25 million people worldwide

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has led to the deaths of more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed approximately 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005 (an average of 8,500 per day), of which 570,000 were children. UNAIDS and the WHO estimate that the total number of people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has reached its highest level. There are an estimated 40.3 million (estimated range between 36.7 and 45.3 million) people now living with HIV. Moreover, almost 5 million people have been estimated to have been infected with HIV in 2005 alone.

The pandemic is not homogeneous within regions with some countries more afflicted than others. Even at the country level there are wide variations in infection levels between different areas. The number of people living with HIV continues to rise in most parts of the world, despite strenuous prevention strategies. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region, with 23.8 million to 28.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2005, 1 million more than in 2003. Sixty-four percent of all people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are more than 77% of all women living with HIV. South & South East Asia are second most affected with 15%.

The key facts surrounding this origin of AIDS are currently unknown, particularly where and when the pandemic began, though it is said that it originated from the apes in Africa.

Cholera (1817 - today):
8 pandemics; hundreds of thousands killed worldwide

In the 19th century, Cholera became the world's first truly global disease in a series of epidemics that proved to be a watershed for the history of plumbing. Festering along the Ganges River in India for centuries, the disease broke out in Calcutta in 1817 with grand - scale results. When the festival was over, they carried cholera back to their homes in other parts of India. There is no reliable evidence of how many Indians perished during that epidemic, but the British army counted 10,000 fatalities among its imperial troops. Based on those numbers,, it's almost certain that at least hundreds of thousands of natives must have fallen victim across that vast land. Cholera sailed from port to port, the germ making headway in contaminated kegs of water or in the excrement of infected victims, and transmitted by travelers. The world was getting smaller thanks to steam-powered trains and ships, but living conditions were slow to improve. By 1827 cholera had become the most feared disease of the century.

The major cholera pandemics are generally listed as: First: 1817-1823, Second: 1829-1851, Third: 1852-1859, Fourth: 1863-1879, Fifth: 1881-1896, Sixth: 1899-1923: Seventh: 1961- 1970, and some would argue that we are in the Eighth: 1991 to the present. Each pandemic, save the last, was accompanied by many thousands of deaths. As recently as 1947, 20,500 of 30,000 people infected in Egypt died. Despite modern medicine, cholera remains an efficient killer.

Typhus (430 BC? - today):
Killed 3 million people between 1918 and 1922 alone, and most of Napoleon's soldiers on Russia

Typhus is any one of several similar diseases caused by louse-borne bacteria. The name comes from the Greek typhos, meaning smoky or lazy, describing the state of mind of those affected with typhus. Rickettsia is endemic in rodent hosts, including mice and rats, and spreads to humans through mites, fleas and body lice. The arthropod vector flourishes under conditions of poor hygiene, such as those found in prisons or refugee camps, amongst the homeless, or until the middle of the 20th century, in armies in the field.

The first description of typhus was probably given in 1083 at a convent near Salerno, Italy. Before a vaccine was developed in World War II, typhus was a devastating disease for humans and has been responsible for a number of epidemics throughout history. During the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC), the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece was hit by a devastating epidemic, known as the Plague of Athens, which killed, among others, Pericles and his two elder sons. The plague returned twice more, in 429 BC and in the winter of 427/6 BC. Epidemic typhus is one of the strongest candidates for the cause of this disease outbreak, supported by both medical and scholarly opinions. Epidemics occurred throughout Europe from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and occurred during the English Civil War, the Thirty Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars. During Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in 1812, more French soldiers died of typhus than were killed by the Russians. A major epidemic occurred in Ireland between 1816-19, and again in the late 1830s, and yet another major typhus epidemic occurred during the Great Irish Famine between 1846 and 1849.

In America, a typhus epidemic killed the son of Franklin Pierce in Concord, New Hampshire in 1843 and struck in Philadelphia in 1837. Several epidemics occurred in Baltimore, Memphis and Washington DC between 1865 and 1873. During World War I typhus caused three million deaths in Russia and more in Poland and Romania. De-lousing stations were established for troops on the Western front but the disease ravaged the armies of the Eastern front, with over 150,000 dying in Serbia alone. Fatalities were generally between 10 to 40 percent of those infected, and the disease was a major cause of death for those nursing the sick. Following the development of a vaccine during World War II epidemics occur only in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and parts of Africa.

QUOTES

Making a hundred friends is not a miracle.

The miracle is to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are against you.

Our Attitude Defines Life

Life is Best for those who want to Live it,
Life is Difficult for those who want to Analyze it,
Life is worst for those who want to Criticize it,
Our Attitude Defines Life...

 As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones.

Enjoy Your Life,
Laugh so Hard That even Sorrow Smiles at You,
Live Life so Well That even Death Loves to see you Alive,
Fight so Hard That even Fate accepts its Defeat...

 It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.

The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving 

someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.

  Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.

Life is similar to a Boxing match. 
Defeat is NOT declared when you fall down- 
It is declared when you refuse to ‘Get Up’! 

             

           Thanks

A. Joyce Mal