To be shared with the younger generation.



Ranjan Das Passed Away on Wednesday, 21-October-2009
http://www.enterpri seirregulars. com/1628/ ranjan-das- passed-away



SAP India CEO Ranjan Das Dies After Gym Workout
http://www.indiatvn ews.com/main/ newsdetails. php?id=277&mod=1&smod=
Ranjan Das, CEO and MD of SAP Indian subcontinent
died after a massive cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday.
One of the youngest CEOs, he was 42

Carried : Wednesday, 11-November- 2009
What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/general-discussions/3198-lack-sleep-cardiac-problems.html

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India. However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner ( in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away ), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?

A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.

The Real Reason

However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out': Boss' Day Out: Ranjan Das of SAP India.

Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep ( and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled ).

The Evidence

Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

· Short sleep duration ( <5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills. · Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006. · Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999. · Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!! · Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin- 6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004. · Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006. Ideal Sleep For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times. The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type. For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I’ve been there, done that ). Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage. If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test below. Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don’t like to drive ( maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that line ).

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising ( marathoning! ), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him. If you are not getting enough sleep ( 7 hours ), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress. I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep. Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail/article to as many of your colleagues/friends as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this article, I would be the happiest person on earth.

My Sufi Master always informed his students that it’s more important that we increased the sembahyang rakaats as compared to jogging. He always advise his murid to increase the morning and evening sunat rakaats and mentioned that its not only physically but also spiritually rejuvenating. Jogging and sleeping only will weken you spiritually and physically. Although I have not follow his instruction lagi tapi mudah2an ada yg dapat ikuti. Solawat!

Malam Pertama...

Malam pertama ..........
Malam itu ialah MALAM PERTAMA DI ALAM KUBUR! Pernahkah engkau melihat kuburan? Pernahkah engkau melihat gelapnya kuburan? Pernahkah engkau melihat sempit dan dalamnya liang lahat? Pernahkah engkau membayangkan kengerian dan kedahsyatan alam kubur? Sedarkah engkau bahawa kuburan itu dipersiapkan untukmu dan untuk orang-orang selain darimu? Bukankah telah silih berganti engkau melihat teman-teman, orang-orang tercinta dan keluarga terdekatmu diusung dari dunia fana ini ke kuburan?

Apakah Malam Pertama Kita di Alam Kubur Nanti Asyik dan Nikmat atau Penuh Derita dan Sengsara?"Wahai anak Adam, apa yang telah engkau persiapkan saat malam pertamamu nanti di alam kubur? Tidakkah engkau tahu, bahawa ia adalah malam yang sangat mengerikan. Malam yang kerananya para ulama' serta orang-orang yang soleh menangis dan orang-orang bijak mengeluh. Apa tidaknya, kala itu kita sedang berada di dua persimpangan dan di dunia yang amat berbeza.
"Suatu hari pasti engkau akan tinggalkan tempat tidurmu (di dunia), dan ketenangan pun menghilang darimu. Bila engkau berada di kuburmu pada malam pertama, demi Allah, fikirkanlah untung nasibmu dan apa yang akan terjadi padamu di sana?"
Hari ini kita berada di dunia yang penuh keriangan dengan anak-anak, keluarga dan sahabat handai, dunia yang diterangi dengan lampu-lampu yang pelbagai warna dan sinaran, dunia yang dihidangkan dengan pelbagai makanan yang lazat-lazat serta minuman yang pelbagai, tetapi pada keesokannya kita berada di malam pertama di dalam dunia yang kelam gelap-gelita, lilin-lilin yang menerangi dunia adalah amalan-amalan yang kita lakukan, dunia sempit yang dikelilingi tanah dan bantalnya juga tanah.
Pada saat kita mula membuka mata di malam pertama kita di alam kubur, segala-galanya amat menyedihkan, tempik raung memenuhi ruang yang sempit tapi apakan daya semuanya telah berakhir. Itukah yang kita mahukan? Pastinya tidak bukan? Oleh itu beramallah dan ingatlah sentiasa betapa kita semua akan menempuhi MALAM PERTAMA DI ALAM KUBUR!
Di dalam usahanya mempersiapkan diri menghadapi malam pertama tersebut, adalah diceritakan bahawa Rabi' bin Khutsaim menggali liang kubur di rumahnya. Bila ia mendapati hatinya keras, maka ia masuk ke liang kubur tersebut. Ia menganggap dirinya telah mati, lalu menyesal dan ingin kembali ke dunia, seraya membaca ayat:
"Ya Rabbku, kembalikanlah aku semula (ke dunia), agar aku dapat berbuat amal soleh terhadap apa yang telah kutinggalkan (dahulu)." (Surah Al-Mu'minun, ayat 99-100)
Kemudian ia menjawab sendiri; "Kini engkau telah dikembalikan ke dunia wahai Rabi'.." Dan disebabkan hal tersebut, Rabi' bin Khutsaim didapati pada hari-hari sesudahnya sentiasa dalam keadaan beribadah dan bertaqwa kepada Allah!
Wahai saudaraku, tidakkah engkau menangis atas kematian dan sakaratul maut yang bakal menjemputmu? Wahai saudaraku, tidakkah engkau menangis atas kuburan dan kengerian yang ada di dalamnya? Wahai saudaraku, tidakkah engkau menangis kerana takut akan hausnya di hari penyesalan? Wahai saudaraku, tidakkah engkau menangis kerana takut kepada api Neraka di Hari Kiamat nanti?
Sesungguhnya kematian pasti menghancurkan kenikmatan para penikmatnya. Oleh itu, carilah (kenikmatan) hidup yang tidak ada kematian di dalamnya. "Ya Allah, tolonglah kami ketika sakaratul maut!" - solawat!

SINAR CAHAYA AYAT KURSI

Dlm sebuah hadis, ada menyebut perihal seekor syaitan yang duduk di atas
pintu rumah. Tugasnya ialah untuk menanam keraguan di hati suami
terhadap kesetiaan isteri di rumah dan keraguan di hati isteri terhadap
kejujuran suami di luar rumah. Sebab itulah Rasulullah tidak akan masuk rumah
sehingga Baginda mendengar jawaban salam dari isterinya. Di saat itu syaitan akan
lari bersama-sama dengan salam itu.

Hikmat Ayat Al-Kursi mengikut Hadis-hadis:

1) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi bila berbaring di tempat tidurnya,
Allah SWT mewakilkan dua orang Malaikat memeliharanya hingga subuh.

2) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi di akhir setiap sembahyang Fardhu,
dia akan berada dalam lindungan Allah SWT hingga sembahyang yang lain.

3) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi di akhir tiap sembahyang, dia
akan masuk syurga dan barang siapa membacanya ketika hendak tidur,
Allah SWT akan memelihara rumahnya dan rumah-rumah disekitarnya.

4) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi di akhir tiap-tiap shalat fardhu,
Allah SWT menganugerahkan dia setiap hati orang yang bersyukur,
setiap perbuatan orang yang benar, pahala nabi2, serta Allah melimpahkan
rahmat padanya.

5) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi sebelum keluar rumahnya, maka
Allah SWT mengutuskan 70,000 Malaikat kepadanya - mereka semua
memohon keampunan dan mendoakan baginya.

6) Barang siapa membaca ayat Al-Kursi di akhir sembahyang, Allah SWT
akan mengendalikan pengambilan rohnya dan dia adalah seperti orang
yang berperang bersama Nabi Allah sehingga mati syahid.

7) Barang siapa yang membaca ayat Al-Kursi ketika dalam kesempitan
niscaya Allah SWT berkenan memberi pertolongan kepadanya.

Dari Abdullah bin 'Amr r.a., Rasulullah S.A.W. bersabda,
'Sampaikanlah pesanku biarpun satu ayat...'

'Utamakan SELAMAT dan SEHAT untuk Dunia-mu, utamakan SHOLAT dan ZAKAT
untuk Akhirat-mu'

Subhanallah. .. Solawat!