Well that’s what the Chinese think!!! We were all born in the Chinese Year of the Pig in 1947. The Year of the Pig repeats itself after every 12 years. But 2007 is going to be an extremely lucky year for the Pigs.
“A rolling barrage of fireworks greeted the Year of the Pig in Beijing as residents chased away any lingering bad spirits and celebrated the new moon in boisterous fashion.
“Fortune tellers say this is a ‘golden pig’ year, which comes around once every 60 years, so the Chinese welcomed it in particularly exuberant style, rattling the windows of downtown apartments and courtyard homes with the bangs and whistles of millions of fireworks, writes Clifford Coonan in The Independent.
“Astrologers say that people born during the Year of the Pig are lucky, as a pig is a symbol of plenty, as well as of fertility, and many get married during the Year of the Pig to guarantee healthy, wealthy offspring. The labour wards of Chinese hospitals are usually crowded around ‘pig’ years – though with 1.3 billion people and a system already over-stretched, the maternity wards are always pretty full anyway.
“Famous pigs include Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Woody Allen, David Letterman, Sir Elton John and Hillary Clinton. (I wonder why I have not yet become a celebrity).
“For the next few weeks, no one will cut their hair or do anything which might threaten the impending good luck from the new year. And if the South Korean fortune tellers who predict this could be the luckiest pig year in 600 years are right, it may be just the right time to keep your hair on.”
My wife has been telling me for the past few days to visit the barber as my hair is almost becoming unruly. But in anticipation of good fortune I might just risk a strong rebuke and simply defy her!!!
And as for Ms Hillary Clinton, she has reasons to smile, but better stay away from her barber for at least one week to reap additional bonanza!!!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.