tips to keep you Cool this Kathiri/summer

CHENNAI: Searing heat probably isn’t a strange bedfellow for the average Chennaiite. However, even the most heat-hardened city veterans will not look forward to the time when the Kathiri Veyil (which will turn up the heat from next week) bears down on them. As temperatures begin to inch north of the 35 degree Celsius mark and break into the 40s, here are a few things that may end up saving you your sanity, your skin and an unnecessary trip to the hospital.

Tank Up on Fluid

Carrying a water bottle may seem uncool for the average working professional, but it can end up making the difference between you ending up dehydrated and parched or staying normal. “On an average people are asked to drink about two litres of water a day, but for the heat that we experience during summer it is essential to increase the quantity. It’s also about drinking it at regular intervals, besides every time the tongue feels parched, because that is a sure fire sign of dehydration,” said Dr R Sundararaman, Senior Consultant Physician and Diabetologist at SRM Institutes of Medical Sciences.

 Be a Juicy Floozy

If you’re sick of drinking water every time you return from the heat, try alternating it with cold water of fresh juices. Not only will this be cooling for the body, it will also help you with your digestive process during the night. “There is a mild risk with drinking cold water fast when you return from extreme heat outside, but if you are within the age group of 6-65 years, then it should be all right. Children and elderly people should watch out with extreme cold water because it can cause trouble,” says Dr R Eashwaran, General Physician and Paediatrician. Though natural tender coconut water and watermelon juice are the top picks for kathiri, canned juice and bottled elaneer are still better than aerated colas, he added.

 Eat Easy, Sit Pretty

Carbs aren’t cool. Especially during summer, the kind of carbs that you end up consuming eventually turn out to be with sugar, extreme spice and by rote, all things nice. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned tend to crank up your body’s heat levels so much that it can lead to digestive distress. “What happens is that people who continue to eat heavy food will find that they sweat more and have acid reflux and issues like that, when the heat is higher. In case it gets extremely bad, then there is a possibility that it could end up affecting their other systems if they also have diabetes and hypertension,” says Dr K Baraneedharan, consultant physician and diabetologist at Global Health City.

 Go Fab in the Indian Summer

Even if you’re headed for a metal concert, avoid black clothes like the plague. If you absolutely insist, try out linen or cotton variants like clima-lite shirts or combed cotton that absorb sweat better. “Wearing thin cotton shirts not only stops the body from sweating hard and losing fluids faster, it can really keep you comfortable till you’re able to get to a place where the heat can be controlled,” explains Dr Baraneedharan, who also suggests avoiding form-fitting clothes to breathe easy.

 Embrace the AC zone

Doctors may despise air-conditioned spaces when there’s a particularly viral flu going around, but when the heat is as bad as it is, it’s up there on their charts. Whether you’re travelling, sleeping or at work try to keep your environment air-conditioned so that your body doesn’t get dehydrated even while indoors, “In places like Chennai, the humidity can be extremely harsh and that is why using air-conditioned spaces to your advantage is absolutely necessary. This can make the difference for a lot of people especially if they’re acclimatised to it,” says Dr Sundararaman.

 Get Handheld Cover over Sunblock

Umbrellas may be Dickensian for today’s youngster, but they’re still a whole lot safer than sunscreen and sunblock. Dermatologist Navaneeth H explains how using sunblock every day often causes rashes and even exacerbated prickly heat in a lot of his patients.

“The other problem is that it blocks the synthesis of Vitamin D which can be risky if done for months on end. The easier way is to wear protective clothing or use pH free products that will allow some essential rays to get through. Bathing twice, where there’s water available, is also advisable because it will help your complexion bounce back,” he says.

பிரெஞ்சு நகரில் கோடைச் சுற்றுலா

பாரதி பூங்கா

கடற்கரைக்கு அருகே உள்ளது அழகான பாரதி பூங்கா. அங்கே குழந்தைகள் விளையாட வசதியுண்டு. குடும்பத்துடன் வந்து இங்கே பொழுதைக் கழிக்கலாம். பாரதி பூங்காவையொட்டி புதுச்சேரி சட்டப்பேரவை, ஆளுநர் இல்லமான ராஜ்நிவாஸ், மணக்குள விநாயகர் கோயில், அரவிந்தர் ஆசிரமம் ஆகியவையும் உள்ளன. அருகருகே இருப்பதால் காலாற நடந்தபடியே இவற்றைப் பார்க்கலாம்.

அருங்காட்சியகம்

குழந்தைகளின் கலை ஆர்வத்துக்கு விருந்தளிக்கிறது இங்குள்ள அருங்காட்சியகம். இது புதுச்சேரி பாரதி பூங்கா அருகேயே உள்ளது. இங்கு ஏராளமான கலை பொக்கிஷங்கள் குவிந்துள்ளன. அதேபோல் ஆனந்தரங்கம்பிள்ளை அருங்காட்சியகம், பாரதியார், பாரதிதாசன் வாழ்ந்த வீடுகள் ஆகியவற்றையும் மறக்காமல் பார்க்கலாம்.

பாரதியார் வீட்டில் சீரமைப்புப் பணிகள் நடந்துவருவதால் வெளியிலிருந்துதான் பார்க்க முடியும். பாரதிதாசன் வீடு அருங்காட்சியகமாக உள்ளது. அங்கு அவர் பயன்படுத்திய பொருட்களையும், நூல்களையும் பார்த்துப் பரவசமடையலாம்.

பழைய பேருந்து நிலையம் அருகே தாவரவியல் பூங்கா உள்ளது. தற்போது கட்டுமானப் பணிகள் நடந்து வருகின்றன. எனினும், குழந்தைகளைக் கவரும் முக்கியப் பூங்கா இது. குட்டி ரயில், பழங்கால மரங்கள், அழகான புல்தரைகள் காண்போரைக் கவரும்.

பாரடைஸ் பீச்

புதுவையில் இருந்து கடலூர் செல்லும் சாலையில் ஏழு கி.மீ தூரத்தில் இயற்கை எழில் கொஞ்சும் வகையில் சுண்ணாம்பாறு படகுத்துறை உள்ளது. வங்கக் கடலை ஒட்டி சுண்ணாம்பாறு கடலில் கலக்கும் பகுதியில் இப்படகுத் துறை உள்ளது. இங்குள்ள படகில் ஏறினால் சுண்ணாம்பாற்றில் பயணம் செய்வது கடலில் செல்வது போன்ற உணர்வைத் தரும். பயண முடிவில் பாரடைஸ் பீச்சை அடையலாம்.

அழகான தீவு போலவே இருக்கும். சுண்ணாம்பாறு தண்ணீரும் கடலில் இருந்து வரும் பேக் வாட்டர் ஒரு பகுதியிலும் எதிரே கடலும் நடுவே தீவு போன்ற கடற்கரைப் பகுதி மணல்வெளியும் அழகாய் நம்மைக் கட்டிப்போடும். இக்கடற்கரை வெளிநாட்டிலிருப்பது போல் தோற்றம் தரும். அத்துடன் பாரடைஸ் பீச் பகுதியில் நீர் விளையாட்டுகளும் உள்ளன. படகுப் பயணம், நீர் விளையாட்டுகள் குழந்தைகளைக் கவரும்.

ஆரோவில்

புதுச்சேரி அருகேயுள்ள விழுப்புரம் பகுதியில் ஆரோவில் சர்வதேச நகரம் உள்ளது. அன்னையின் கனவு நகரமான ஆரோவில் கடந்த 1968-ம் ஆண்டு பிப்ரவரி 28-ல் தொடங்கப்பட்டது. இங்கு உலகெங்கும் 121 நாடுகள் மற்றும் இந்தியாவிலுள்ள அனைத்து மாநிலங்களில் இருந்தும் மண் எடுத்து வரப்பட்டு, தாமரை மொட்டு வடிவமைப்பு உள்ள இடத்தில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதன் அருகே மாத்ரி மந்திர் என்ற தியான மண்டபமும் உள்ளது. மாத்ரி மந்திரைச் சுற்றி 12 பூங்காங்கள் உள்ளன.

ஆரோவில்லின் நுழைவுப் பகுதியிலேயே பார்வையாளர்கள் மையமும் உள்ளது. அங்கு ஆரோவில் பற்றிய கண்காட்சி, மற்றும் படக்காட்சி ஆகியவற்றைக் காணலாம். உணவு விடுதி, ஆரோவில்லில் உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படும் கைவினைப் பொருட்களை, விற்பனை செய்யும் அங்காடிகள் உள்ளன. அதனைப் பார்க்க அன்பர்களுக்குத் தோட்டத்துக்குச் சென்று மாத்ரி மந்திரைத் தொலைவிலிருந்து பார்வையிட நுழைவுச்சீட்டு இலவசமாகத் தரப்படும். அதைப் பெற்றுக்கொண்டு, ஆம்பித் தியேட்டர் வரை சென்று தோட்டங்களைப் பார்வையிடலாம்.

பொதுவாக, ஞாயிறுக்கிழமையில் காலை 9.30 மணிமுதல் 12.30 வரையில் அனுமதி உண்டு. மற்ற நாட்களில் காலை 9.30 மணிமுதல் மாலை 4.00 மணிவரைக்கும் உண்டு. முன் அனுமதி பெற்றவர்கள் மட்டுமே குறிப்பிட்ட எண்ணிக்கையில் மாத்ரி மந்திரினுள் செல்ல அனுமதிக்கப்படுவார்கள். எனவே முன்கூட்டியே பதிவுசெய்து கொள்வது நல்லது.

நடந்தும் ரசிக்கலாம்

புதுச்சேரியில் பாரம்பரிய கட்டிடங்களைக் காண ‘ஹெரிட்டேஜ் வாக்’ அழைத்துச் செல்லப்படுகிறது. அத்துடன் சைக்கிள் ரிக் ஷா மூலம் நகரை வலம் வரும் பயணமும் புகழ் பெற்றது. சைக்கிள்களும் வாடகைக்குக் கிடைக்கும். அழகான கட்டிடங்கள், அமைதியான பூங்கா, எழில்மிகுந்த கடற்கரை என இயற்கையோடு இணைந்து விளையாட குட்டீஸ் களுக்கு அருமையான இடம் புதுச்சேரி. http://tamil.thehindu.com/society/kids/article7129739.ece

77-year-old Ratan Tata gets into a start-up game

What does it mean to retire at the age of 75? For Ratan Tata, who spent more than two decades at the helm of the iconic Tata group before hanging up his boots in 2012, it means the beginning of a very active phase as an investor.

Within a short period, Mr. Tata has invested in nine new-age companies that have huge growth ambitions.

 On Sunday Mr. Tata, 77, made his latest investment, an undisclosed amount, in Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (to be pronounced as ‘show-mee’), which he acknowledged in a statement as ‘one of the fastest-growing companies in the world.’

The Chinese company has emerged as the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturer in five years with a valuation of $45 billion.  

It now wants to crack the Indian market, and believes roping in Mr. Tata, the first Indian to invest in the company, could help grow its brand.

Xiaomi’s founder and CEO Lei Jun said, “Mr. Tata is one of the most well respected business leaders in the world. An investment by him is an affirmation of the strategies we have undertaken in India so far.”

Shivani Nagpaul, Partner, BMR Advisors, pointed to a new trend. She said, “Investing in India business with global plans or global businesses which have significant India plans are two sides of the same coin.

“It demonstrates (the) coming of age of the Indian investor to bet on India market albeit through global ventures.”

Mr. Tata, the Chairmen Emeritus of Tata Group and who heads the Tata Trusts, has made all the nine investments through his investment company RNT Associates. He is also involved as a mentor to young entrepreneurs who run these companies.

Some of the companies where Mr. Tata has invested in recent months include US-based high-altitude wind energy generator Altaeros Energies, e-commerce firm Snapdeal, online jewellery retailer BlueStone, online furniture retailer Urban Ladder, auto portal CarDekho.com, affordable health service provider Swasth India, financial advisory firm Grameen Capital India and mobile internet firm One97 Communications that owns mobile commerce platform Paytm.

 More than the financial investment and advice, it is Mr. Tata’s name and reputation that adds value to these start-ups. In February this year, he tied up with Kalaari Capital to guide its portfolio companies.

 “Mr. Tata is entering the brave new world of e-commerce and e-commerce enablers. One can only wish that a few of his investments fructify to full bloom as IPO candidates. In the meantime, his advice (to these companies) will be invaluable,” said Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, DH Consultants.

 Mr. Tata isn’t the only high-profile businessman in the country who has turned an avid investor in recent years.

There have been a few others, including most notably Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy, who set up Catamaran Ventures with a Rs.600 crore fund in 2010, and Wipro’s Azim Premji, whose PremjiInvest is said to have invested in over 40 companies since starting in 2006.

 A graduate in architecture and engineering, Mr. Tata takes keen interest in automobiles and is a frequent visitor to Coimbatore’s automobile development and design firm Jayem Automotives.  

 An avid flyer himself, he took active interest in the formation of two new airlines — AirAsia India and Vistara — where the Tatas are joint venture partners.

Besides, he is a member of the Global Ocean Commission, an organisation working toward reversing the degradation of the oceans.

Mr. Tata is entering the brave new world of e-commerce and e-commerce enablers. One can only wish that a few of his investments fructify to full bloom as IPO candidates. In the meantime, his advice (to these companies) will be invaluable,”-Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, DH Consultants.  More than the financial investment and advice, it is Mr.Tata’s name and reputation that adds value to these start-ups. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/77yearold-ratan-tata-gets-into-a-startup-game/article7148252.ece

Chair that exercises with you

The chair allows the user to hold and brace against different parts to exercise muscles.

Many people want to exercise, but are just unable to conjure up enough energy to hit the gym. The TAO Chair is exactly what they need. This chair has been designed to provide a dynamic workout for your primary target zones in the comfort of your living room.

TAO Welless is building a TAO Chair as a follow- up to its debut prototype, the TAO WellShell. This sleek, smartphone sized portable looks like a set top box, but is an exercise gizmo you can carry anywhere. Instead of tracking your exercises, as most devices do, the TAO Chair actually exercises with you – at home, work, and while on the move.

This chair continues TAO’s mission of combating sitting, calling it the “enemy of good health”, and makes exercising more accessible as women and men get increasingly busy. The heart of the chair’s design is the arms. They have been crafted from aluminium and look like metal ribbons that have been twisted, bent, and pinched for extreme ergonomics.

These arms actually provide various holds and supports for working the main male and female target areas – core, butt, thighs, and arms. You can hold and brace against different parts of the arms of the chair, or push and pull them until your muscles tense up, and then hold to get a simple, hassle – free workout while you watch TV, or do whatever you do to unwind at the end of the day.

The makers point out that this chair is not meant to be a replacement for the gym and neither is it meant to jack your muscles up.

What it does is give you a means of exercise that does not need the time and energy that a gym does, or running.

The chair will teach you through exercises on the accompanying mobile app and its in – built, battery – powered display that shows the calories you’ve burned in your current workout and the total number of calories you’ve burned since you set the chair up.

The TAO Chair is not the only exercise furniture about to hit the market. It has a long line of predecessors that includes the GymGym exercise chair, and the GEWOS armchair.

Deviating from most of the designs out there, this chair takes the seated workout out of the office and places it in a more relaxing space. It also looks like it is going to be a lot less conspicuous than other exercise chair designs with their mounted rowers and elastics.

The company also launched its production version of WellShell at Consumer Exhibition Show, 2015. They are calling the design WellShell 2.0. the tiny pocket gym works with a free app that prompts you to vary pressure on the device in different positions in order to tone your muscles with the same underlying principles of pilates and yoga.  http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/fitness/chair-that-exercises-with-you/article7151199.ece

Tips to Reduce Your Medical Expenses

“Most charitable organisations and bodies still have to buy drugs through distributors of pharma products and that is where the price tends to go up,” adds the doctor who used to head the APAC project with VHS and USAid. “The patients will also have certain expectations, which we need to manage,” he explains.

So when a newer, more expensive drug hits the market, the cheaper alternative begins arriving ‘late’ or is perennially unavailable or does not seem to be accessible within reasonable means. “These are some of the tactics that pharma companies use to ensure their drugs do well. We are also involved at some level but that’s the cost of doing business,” points out  an office bearer of a medical representatives trade union.

With no foreseeable option but to purchase and disburse the drug, hospitals often resort to various strategies to try not to pass them on to economically backward patients. Dr V Shanta, Chairperson of The Cancer Institute, Adyar says that patented drug prices have always been a major challenge to the institution from their early days. “Unacceptable high prices are a burden to everyone and though a few pharmaceutical companies come forward and give concessions and even a few drugs for free, its been always a major challenge,” she said.

Dr Shanta further observes that the institution has coped with the price increases of drugs by following certain norms. “Our institution does not prescribe unnecessary drugs to the patients. Careful use of drugs and also use of drugs at the right time is what we follow. When we are sure that the chemotherapy is not going to enhance the quality of life of the patient, we do recommend palliative care, rather than putting them on medicine. We also use generic medicine widely. We have been using generic medicine from the early days. From experience,  we have learned that generic medicine is as effective as patented drugs. Patented drugs are prescribed only for selective patients who insist on it. This is how we manage with the price spike, she added.

Some hospitals have deep purses, allowing them to absorb the drug cost, but that is obviously not a solution. Dr J V Peter, Head of pharmacy Services, Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore said, every time there is an increase of the price. It was they who bear the burden.

“We give 25 to 40 per cent discount to our patients. We don’t want to pass the burden on them as we are rending service to the poor and needy. Price increase affects all of us. Some companies come and offer discounts understanding our service to the poor. They give us subsidy. But still, not many do it. If it wasn’t for the philanthropists who help us, we wouldn’t be able to do anything,” he remarks.

This state of affairs exists despite the aggressive working of civil society in tandem with the Chemicals and Fertiliser Ministry, which sets the all-important Drug Prices Control Order, after the recommendations from the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA). “Pharma companies put a lot of pressure on these statutory bodies to ensure that their drugs don’t get pushed on to the essential commodities list, because then price caps will automatically come into place. If this happens, then they push for flooding the market with the product to make up for the margins lost,” says pharma activist and researcher J Surendran.

Is there a way out? Generic drugs have been screaming for attention ever since the centre announced the Jan Audhadhi programme in 2008 — to distribute generic drugs to institutions and hospitals at a subsidised rate, across the spectrum. With little manpower, resources or execution, the project has been meandering till it picked up steam last year.

“Things are gradually improving, which is one of the major reasons why we are looking at signing an MoU with them — such that they can provide quality, generic drugs to all our member hospitals that are involved in charitable work. If this happens, it will be a vast and welcome change,” says Dr Charles.

Join college, With Confidence

As you enter a new phase of life after school, focus on setting goals, building your resume, developing skills and finding a mentor.

The conversation among the teens was about stepping into college. Clothes were high on the list, as was transport. There were complaints about loss of freedom — restrictions on male-female student interactions, with one student ranting about an engineering college that mandates uniforms. Overall, there were positive sentiments about things that would change: more pocket money, a pair of motorised wheels, more freedom to mingle, free hours between classes, weekend travel, choice in study-subjects, practical work — a general sense of freedom.

Freedom means you have to manage your time and bear the consequences of bad decisions, I pointed out. You have to set priorities, choose activities you want to participate in, follow your own study schedules, face questions on ethics as you log on to the Internet to prepare lessons. You have to make new friends, approach professors for solving problems and graduate to adult behaviour. You will be tested on self-control and motivation. “We can manage,” was the chorus.

The discussion moved to “What if?” What if professors don't check assignments and don't remind you of incomplete work? What if you're unable to follow the content and language of the lectures? Some lecturers provide the background, give examples and expect you to fill details through reference work. Are you ready to do independent work, as opposed to studying prescribed textbooks? Can you make personal timetables and amplify points discussed in class? Are you ready for that ‘wake-up-call’ first college test?

New challenges

“One problem stands out in this transition,” said Aditya Ramamurthy, who has worked with high-school and final-year college students through SVASAS, a mentoring club. “They lack preparation for the world of work. While in school, the emphasis is largely on marks to get into a good college. Many students lose focus in college and find themselves faced with very few options when they graduate.”

Many students are baffled by the lecture mode and the way subjects are handled, said Geetha, who teaches English in a college. The subjects are also new. “It's transition at all levels,” she said. “In my government-grant-in-aid-scheme classes, nearly 70 per cent are first-generation/Tamil medium students. They are deeply inhibited and a bit shy to speak in English. Students do not take part in discussions, some do not speak at all! It takes a couple of months of cajoling and coaxing to get them to speak in class.”

There are problems of ragging and being a hostelite. One student said, “I was prepared for the worst. In the initial days, I made sure I was never alone. I moved with a bunch of friends and was lucky to have a sympathetic roommate.” Colleges have strict rules against ragging now, so it may be a good idea to find out what they are. At the first hint of trouble, complain to a college authority and talk to people at home. The scout motto “Be prepared” is the best way to tackle this, he said. As for the roommate, having a courteous, respectful, and somewhat professional relationship may be the ideal. See sharing space with a stranger as a life experience; you learn about your shortfalls, the limits of your patience, how to negotiate and compromise. If nothing else, you get to know about another family. “I managed by staying humble,” said an ex-hostelite. “I asked the guy to help me adapt to the new atmosphere. I did that man-to-man, without giving the impression I was trying to please.”

Maintaining balance

To offset loneliness, keep in touch with your high-school friends. You could meet at a public place during weekends, join your class Facebook page but be very careful about what you display in social networking sites. People remember “that stand-out kid” on Facebook. Employers view them as testimonials when they consider you for jobs. Pretend to be confident, even if you are not, said a third-year student. “I was a shy nerd in high school, but no one knew that! I remained cool, gathered a big group of friends and got invited to things. Eventually, I wasn't pretending any more.” Get to know the teachers; there's no gain, staying anonymous. Establish an identity with self-confidence, self-esteem and assertiveness. Feel secure and proceed to make the most out of your college years. Acknowledge that attending college is an incredible opportunity, a choice that will lead to self-fulfillment.

“The most successful college students started working on their resumes from the first year,” said Aditya. “They seek experiences to develop critical skills that are sought-after by both recruiting companies and admission committees of postgraduate programmes.” How do they do this? Practical exposure through projects and internships and interacting with people who have skills you want to develop, he said, rather than just hanging out with friends.

Make use of the networking opportunities and the freedom to choose. Do you want to develop communication skills? Join a debate club. Do you want to start your own company someday? Join the entrepreneurship club, pitch ideas and get feedback. While most colleges lack counsellors to guide you on all these questions, you can very easily find mentors among your seniors to help. So, set goals, start building your resume, develop skills and find mentors.                   http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/college-and-university/to-college-with-confidence/article7141179.ece

Remedy for diabetes in raw jackfruit

Last year on a placid Easter evening, Fr. Brahmanavelil, a parish priest from our village, came home and dropped a bombshell. A month ago, he had collapsed in his bedroom right after taking his normal insulin dose. He managed to survive by reaching for the sugar on his bedside table. An hour earlier, he had eaten the traditional raw jackfruit meal (prepared with the meaty flesh around the seed just before it turns ripe). Like raw mango, raw jackfruit is neither sweet nor does it have the aroma of the ripe version. This hypoglycaemic incident was repeated in two weeks, again when he had jackfruit meal for dinner. This got me worried, as I am running a campaign to replace potato and meat with raw jackfruit. For the last year I have been flying around the country with a red bag full of dried raw jackfruit, meeting scientists, diabetologists, cardiologists, nutritionists, Ayurveda doctors, testing labs and even Dr. Abdul Kalam.

According to Ayurveda doctors, raw jackfruit meal is a 3000-year-old tradition in Kerala, known aschakka puzhukku. It was the main carbohydrate replacement during summer months till the Portuguese brought the cassava plant from Brazil. Over the last few hundred years most Malayalis have ditched this native sticky, spiky but tasty and fibrous hippopotamus growing 30 ft above ground for the tapioca meal. They use the exact jackfruit meal recipe with the starchy root of cassava plant growing three inches below the ground. And in these few hundred years Kerala has become the diabetic capital of India and spends Rs.600 crores fighting the disease, and another Rs.600 crores of these little hippos drop down from its trees every year. The Portuguese, in return, popularised the name of our humble chakka to jaca, and it is now known as jackfruit around the world.

Meanwhile, my search continued and the first breakthrough came from Dr. Vivek Garg, who sent a report published by U.P.K. Hettiaratchi, S. Ekanayake and J. Welihinda in Ceylon Medical Journal. Sri Lanka is the only other place on earth where raw jackfruit meal is also used as a carbohydrate replacement. The study clearly showed a sharp decline in sugar level 30 minutes after meal consumption. The reasons cited are low sugar level in raw jackfruit combined with high dietary fibre. I got the nutritional values of raw jackfruit tested and verified; it only has 1/5th the sugar of the ripe version and 60 per cent of its dietary fibre is insoluble. Armed with this data, I went back to the experts and the language of their responses changed from impossible to plausible to provocative!

An Ayurveda doctor and a leading diabetologist tried raw jackfruit meal for dinner on their patients and got overnight reduction in sugar levels and, in some cases, significant reduction in insulin as well. Fr. Brahmanavelil is the happiest of all. Instead of one cup of rice meal for dinner and insulin, he now takes three cups of raw jackfruit meal and skips his insulin.

As cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon Dr. Sriram Nene told me, “Diabetes is on the order of an epidemic in India and the cure may lie in the humble jackfruit, which grows abundantly. While theCeylon Medical Journal study has small numbers, its results are fairly provocative and should definitely stimulate added investigation in the use of raw jackfruit as part of diabetic diet.”

I hope the diabetic research community conducts a full-blown study to validate these anecdotal incidents and, by next World Health Day, the children from this diabetic capital of the world start singing “When humble jackfruit went up the chart on diabetic research, insulin and sugar came tumbling down on our diet chart!”

James Joseph is founder of JackFruit365™, an initiative to create an organised market for jackfruits in India.  info@jackfruit365.com www.jackfruit365.com http://www.jackfruit365.com/order-online.html

http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/chakka-is-the-answer/article7137599.ece

தாவரங்களை காற்றிலும் நீரிலும் வளர்க்கக்கூடிய புதிய நுட்பம்

தாவரங்களை மண்ணில் வளர்க்காமல் காற்றிலும் நீரிலும் வளர்க்கக்கூடிய புதிய நுட்பம் வளர்ந்து வருகிறது. அதைப் பயன்படுத்தி கலிபோர்னியாவில் உள்ள ஹாலிவுட் உணவகத்தில் தாவரங்களை வளர்த்து வருகிறார்கள். உணவகத்தின் உள்ளே 24 தூண்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றன. ஒவ்வொரு தூணிலும் 44 செடிகள் வளர்க்கப்படுகின்றன. கீரைகள், காய்கறிகள், பழங்கள் எல்லாம் இந்தத் தாவரங்களில் இருந்து உணவு விடுதிக்குக் கிடைக்கின்றன.

வாரம் ஒரு முறை பறிக்கப்பட்டு, விதவிதமான சிறப்பு உணவுகளை வாடிக்கையாளர்களுக்கு வழங்கி வருகிறார்கள். வறட்சியாக, விளைவிக்க முடியாத பகுதிகளில் கூட காற்று மூலம் தாவரங்களை வளர்க்கலாம். சுற்றுச்சூழலுக்கும் உகந்தது. நீர் மூலம் வளர்க்கும் தாவரங்களுக்கும் நிலத்தில் வளர்க்கும் தாவரங்களுக்குத் தேவைப்படும் தண்ணீரில் 10 சதவீதம் இருந்தால் போதுமானது. அடடா! வீட்டுக்குத் தேவையான உணவுப் பொருட்களை நாமே உற்பத்தி செய்துகொள்ளலாம் போல! http://tamil.thehindu.com/world/8D/article7133570.ece

Hollywood Restaurant Grows the Food Right Next to Your Table

Lots of people are into growing their own food these days, and it looks like restaurants are trying to catch up too. Hollywood restaurant ‘Tender Greens’, for instance, is filled with vertical gardens, and everything they grow is served on the menu!

“We’ve always been interested in growing on-site,” said Erik Oberholtzer, co-founder of the California-based fast food chain. “But all of our restaurants are in high-density urban areas, so aside from a few planter boxes we thought there was nothing beyond decorative that we could ever do.”

But when Erik and the other founders started researching vertical gardens, they came across the concept of aeroponic towers from Green City Farms. These towers are basically plant-filled poles that can easily blend in, pretty much anywhere. So they decided to get some for their Hollywood location.

“They’re perfect for our patios because there’s not much energy need and the water usage is miniscule,” Erik explained. “We can grow 44 plants per tower. In Hollywood we have 24 towers, and they’re just popping with all kinds of fruits and vegetables.” The produce is harvested once a week, and used to prepare a daily special.

Understandably, the food grown in the towers cannot be used to prepare every single dish, given the high volume of diners. And the poles cannot be used indoors yet, because of the large amount of energy required for lighting. Which is why Tender Greens only has outdoor poles on the patio.

But the concept is a great example of companies shifting to more eco-friendly and efficient means of farming, especially as California’s drought worsens. Reports suggest that hydroponic farming needs as low as 10 percent of the water required to grow food in a traditional field.

Although they aren’t able to grow all the food they need, the restaurant’s founders hope to source as much 60 percent of their produce from aeroponic or hydroponic systems. In fact, Erik himself has installed a new aeroponic system at Scarborough Farms outside LA, which supplies most of the company’s vegetables. He also hopes to work with startups that use hydroponics indoors.

“We’re all in on controlled environment agriculture,” said Erik. “This sets the occasion for us to have a conversation with our guests around the future of farming and the role that we intend to play in that.”

http://www.odditycentral.com/foods/hollywood-restaurant-grows-the-food-right-next-to-your-table.html

எந்தத் திசை நோக்கி திருநீறு பூசலாம்?

நெற்றியில் பூசிக் கொள்ளும் திருநீறு, நிலையாமை என்னும் தத்துவத்தை உரக்கச் சொல்கிறது. பிறப்பில் பேதமின்றி அனைவரும் சாம்பலாகப் போவதை நினைவுபடுத்துவதன் மூலம் பிறப்பு, பொருளாதார ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகளைக் காரணம் காட்டி சகமனிதனை யாரும் வெறுக்கக் கூடாது. பிற உயிர்களை வதைக்கக் கூடாது என்பதையே விளக்குகிறது.

திருநீறைப் பூசிக் கொள்வதிலும் சில முறைகளை நமது பெரியோர்கள் நிர்ணயித்துள்ளனர். பொதுவாக சூரிய உதயத்தின் போது கிழக்கு திசையை நோக்கியபடி நின்றுகொண்டு நெற்றியில் திருநீறு பூசிக்கொள்வது நல்லது. உச்சிக் காலத்தைத் தாண்டும் மதிய நேரத்தில் வடக்கு திசை பார்த்து நின்றபடியும், சூரியன் அஸ்தமிக்கும் மாலை நேரத்தில் மேற்கு திசை நோக்கி நின்றபடி திருநூறைப் பூசிக் கொள்ள வேண்டும். சூரியனின் கதிர்களை கிரகிக்கும் தன்மைகொண்ட திருநீறால் நன்மை ஏற்படும்.             http://tamil.thehindu.com/society/spirituality/article7131014.ece?ref=archive

Individuals and centres offering language classes for free

l Samskrita Bharati,  Language: Sanskrit, Ph: 9840564704. 28272632

l Ranjani Language: Telugu, Samiyar Madam, Kodambakkam Ph: 99403 12650

l Kalyana Nagar Association Manadvelipakkam, Language: Sanskrit and Hindi Ph: 98401 62295 29, W Circular Rd, Mandavelipakkam, Mandaveli, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600004

Phone:044 2495 2997

l Sri Vaishnava Sabha, Language: Sanskrit, No: 2, Sarathi Nagar, Third Street, Velachery.

Ph: 044- 22432985 / 94447 82585

l Srivatsa Coaching Centre (Subsidised fee) Ram Nagar North,

Madipakkam Language: Sanskrit Ph: 9840378462

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/free-language-classes/article7141792.ece

Maya Pedal

Center of Bicycle Technology

Maya Pedal is a Guatemalan NGO based in San Andrés Itzapa. We accept bikes donated from the USA and Canada which we either recondition to sell, or we use the components to build a range of "Bicimaquinas", (pedal powered machines). Pedal power can be harnessed for countless applications which would otherwise require electricity (which may not be available) or hand power (which is far more effort). Bicimaquinas are easy and enjoyable to use. They can be built using locally available materials and can be easily adapted to suit the needs of local people. They free the user from rising energy costs, can be used anywhere, are easy to maintain, produce no pollution and provide healthy exercise. We make water pumps, grinders, threshers, tile makers, nut shellers, blenders (for making soaps and shampoos as well as food products), trikes, trailers and more.

In Guatemala

We have a busy workshop staffed by locals and by volunteers from around the World. As well as building Bicimaquinas, we offer a bike repair service and sell used bikes in the surrounding area. We also work with a number of local partners, NGO's, agricultural cooperatives and organic producers.

Internationally

We are supported by a number of international organizations and accept volunteers with a range of skills and interests. We are in the process of making our designs available globally, via downloadable fact sheets and step by step instructions. We aim to be a center of pedal power research and development and an information resource for NGO's promoting appropriate technology and small scale, sustainable agriculture.

History

We began in 1997, working with a group of Canadians from the organizationPEDAL. Following a vision for sustainable development in Guatemala, we became constituted under local control as Asociación Maya Pedal in 2001. http://www.mayapedal.org/machines.en

Rice home delivered at chennai

http://www.clickindia.com/detail.php?id=5746078

Offers Ponni Sona Raw and Boiled Rice (old) high quality rice at their shop in Chennai. Direct from self owned mill in 25 kg sealed bags with accurate weight @ wholesale price. Also they deliver to Star Hotels, Industrial Canteens, Modern Traders and House Hotels. For more details please contact. Sandhya Agencies  9003185265 posted this ad for Food Shops - Stores in Chennai on 12-Jun-2010 http://buy.vivastreet.co.in/food+chennai/rice-merchant/114866323 I am selling Rice at a lower cost and the rice bags are competitive and cheapest when comparing to the market. Rice quality will also be in a good manner. I am selling rice bags in low cost and in a installment basis. 90 030 43967

 http://aranirice.com/

 http://bigbasket.com/pc/grocery-staples/rice-rice-products/

 http://www.adhitz.in/3782-ricevery-low-and-whole-sale-price-free-home-delivery-anywhere-in-chennai-near/details.html

 http://qdeliver.com/deliverit_products.php?dsubid=27&cid=6&ssid=31

 http://www.millrice.in/index.php?cPath=24

 http://sharan-india.org/city-directories/chennai/ wheat cake, organic, etc 

 http://aidindia.org/main/content/view/722/355/

http://www.agricultureinformation.com/postings/adhithya-organic-urban-organic-farming/

http://www.organicdepot.in/cooking-oil.html

Weekly Organic Vegetables Farmers Market in Chennai

 Go Organic!

http://organicshandy.blogspot.in/2012/02/organic-vegetables-farmers-market.html

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that

do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. To put it in simple terms food grown using only natural non toxic materials.

"Organic Shandy" or "Sunday Shandy" is a farmers market, which started in the year 2002 as a weekly sunday market with the intention of promoting clean vegetables which are grown naturally. Here we obtain vegetables, fruits, & other non perishables from various farmers across Tamil Nadu and other states in India and sell the same. Periodic visits are mad e to the supplying farms to ensure they are really organic.

At a time when the sale of unhealthy adulterated products are on the rise, our intention is to have these healthy products available for all at reasonable prices. So, if you are looking for some healthy alternatives in chennai, drop by our little farmers market on fridays or saturdays. Orders can also be placed over phone

Market Timings: Friday: 1030am to 1pm; 4pm to 7pm Saturday: 830am to 4pm

177 (old no 77) Luz Church Road (Next to MCTM School), Mylapore, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Contact:

Murali PB or Padma Murali 044-24991203, 91-9380691203, pbm1950@gmail.com

What does Organic Shandy Sell?

Organic Vegetables

Banana (Raw), Banana (Stem), Banana (Flower), Beetroot, Bitter Gourd, Brinjal, Brocoli, Bush Beans, Beans Muruga, Cabbage, Capsicum, Carrot, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Knoll koll, Ladies Finger, Onion, Potato, Pumpkin White, Pumpkin Yellow, Radish, Ridge Gourd, Snake Gourd, Tomato

Organic Fruits

Banana - Hill, Banana - Kadhali, Oranges, Papaya, Gauva, Apple

Organic Cow's Milk

This is available from time to time.

Organic Non Perishables

Rice: Raw and Boiled Rice, Idly Rice, Hand Pound Rice, Thinai, Samai, Varahu

Dhall (Pulses): Channa Dhall, Moong Dhall, Thur Dhall, Urudh Dhall, Rajma, Rajma Himalayan

Millets: Kambu, Kezhvarghu, Kollu, Ragi, Ground nut, Atta Wheat, Atta Soya,

Spices: Dhania, Red Chilli, Turmeric Powder, Pepper, Jeera,

Coffee Powder

Jaggery, Mustard, Garic, Cashew Nut

Oils:Gingelly, Sunflower, Groundnut, Coconut

Honey

summer camp

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore is conducting a summer camp for children of ages 8 to 16 years in two batches from April 13 to 25 ans May 4 to 15, 2015. With Yoga as focus, the other activities of the camp are moral lessons & stories, slokas, songs, pranayamam, meditation. Sessions will be held by Yogacharya A.K. Srinivasan. Contact Bhavan’s office at 044-24643420, 9840233858

A pranic healing centre has been opened at Indira Nagar, Adyar. Indira Ramamoorthy, managing trustee, Pranic Healing Trust Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the centre. The centre conducts short-term courses on pranic healing. Venue: Gurukulam Academy, No. 32, Second Main Road, Indira Nagar, Adyar. Phone: 98844 23695 / 98846 23400. refer to adyar downtown of the hindu dt. 25-01-2015

 

Gurukulam Academy in Adyar is conducting its summer camp. The activities include handwriting,  storytelling, theatre, public speaking, creative writing, drawing, painting, Carnatic vocal, Bharatanatyam, keyboard and guitar. Also, Hindi and Tamil classes will be conducted. The centre conducts classes in meditation and pranic healing for adults. For details, call 98844 2369, 94447 43406 http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/summer-camp/article7165302.ece 03-05-2015

The Significance & Importance of Akshaya Tritiya (Akshaya Thrutheeyai)

Since it was Lord Siva who on this day bestowed Kubera as the Lord and Lakshmi as the Goddess of wealth, worshiping Lord Siva on this day and chanting the mantra, “Om Namah Sivaaya” will bring in abundance and prosperity in one’s life. Let the Srivaishnavite's differ on this, and chant "SrimathE nArAyaNa namah: ". Feeding the poor is the most important charitable act. Also donation of umbrellas and chapels (sandals) for poor children are recommended by some. Poojas and charity acts will yield good results on this special 3rd moon day, i.e.3rd day from new-moon day known as Tritiya, a day for charity. Buying of Gold and Jewellery items is certainly not listed in the Vedic scripts. These are all the ploy and gimmicks made by the vested interests to hard-sell their product to the gullible in the name of religious faith.  Sadly purity, piety & all good have been commercialized. Sure, the industry related advertisements are making the general public crazy for buying. The only auspicious day to buy gold ornaments stated to be of Guru-Pushya day i.e. when Pushya nakshatra falls on any Thursday in any month. And certainly not on Akshaya Thrutheeyai day. To do perform sort of Pooja and prayer and Brahmin feedings were the most important on this day than accumulating gold wealth, which is certainly not the agenda for this Akshaya Thrutheeyai. I list below the deeds and benefits as per the age old practice of doing charity on the Akshaya Thrutheeyai day: If you do charity, you will conquer the pain of death. If you help the poor and down-trodden, you will be blessed in your next birth. If you give clothes to poor people, you will get over diseases. If you give fruits, you will get higher position in life. If you give butter milk, buttermilk, etc, you will progress in studies. If you give grains, you will not die untimely. If you perform " Deva tharpaNam", you will get rid of poverty. If you give curd rice, you will get over your negative deeds and you will progress in life Nowadays, in all over India there are scores of advertisements declaring that buying of Gold on this day would make you rich. And there is a mad rush for buying Gold on this day, that I find everywhere. This is practically a meaningless act as persons have to spend from their own pocket to buy this gold. And this would surely make the shop owners richer than the buyers!! Instead, if they gift some valuables to the needy poor then it would be of immense value added to their life. By spending heavily on this day, on the contrary, this may weaken your purse and making the gold idle for no act of circulation, thus Goddess Lakshmi might even move out of your home. So act wisely, don't get bullied by the false advertisements that are surely contrary to the Vedic principles. Do care for the poor and needy, the result you will get in multiple ways of happiness. Akshaya, the ever lasting bowel may be with you for ever.                  https://www.trsiyengar.com/id135.shtml

With Akshaya Tritiya around the corner, the Consumers Association of India (CAI) has demanded stern action against jewellers who sell gold mixed with white metals. According to CAI, there have been instances of various white metals such as osmium, palladium, iridium and ruthenium being added to gold as they have different melting points and cannot be traced easily. “Iridium, when mixed with gold, can harm the skin due to its nuclear properties,” said Nirmala Desikan, managing trustee, CAI. The government must act against those who do not ensure exact weight and quality, and levy fine against those who mix metals, said R. Desikan, founder of CAI, at a meeting. CAI suggested X-ray fluorescence test to find the purity of gold.  http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/consumer-body-warns-against-malpractices/article7120539.ece

Meditate on the Good you will do Daily

So how can one go about doing good?”

“I’m simply saying that you should make it a priority to change your world view so that you stop seeing yourself purely as an individual and start seeing yourself as part of the collective.”

“So I should become kinder and gentler?”

“Realise that the most noble thing you can do is to give to others. The sages of the East call it the process of ‘shedding the shackles of self.’ It is all about losing your self-consciousness and starting to focus on a higher purpose. This might be in the form of giving more to those around you, whether this means your time or your energy: these truly are your two most valuable resources. It could be something as major as taking a one-year sabbatical to work with the poor or something as minor as letting a few cars pass in front of you in the middle of a crushing traffic jam. It might sound corny, but if there is one thing that I have learned it is that your life moves to a more magical dimension when you start striving to make the world a better place. Yogi Raman said that when we are born, we are crying while the world rejoices. He suggested that we should live our lives in such a way that when we die, the world cries while we are rejoicing.”

I knew Julian had a point. One of the things that was starting to bother me about practising law was that I didn’t really feel I was making the sort of contribution I knew I was capable of making. Sure I had the privilege of litigating a number of precedent-setting cases that had advanced a number of good causes. But law had become a business for me rather than a labour of love. I was an idealist in law school like so many of my contemporaries. Over cold coffee and stale pizza in our dorm rooms, we had planned to change the world. Almost 20 years have passed since then, and my burning desire to advocate change has given way to my burning desire to pay off my mortgage and build up my retirement fund. I realised, for the first time in a long while, that I had ensconced myself in a middle-class cocoon, one that sheltered me from society at large and one I had grown accustomed to.

“Let me share an old story with you that might really hit home.” Julian continued. “There was once a feeble old woman whose loving husband died. So she went to live with her son and his wife and daughter. Every day, the woman’s sight grew worse and her hearing grew worse. Some days her hands trembled so badly the peas on her plate rolled onto the floor and the soup ran from her cup. Her son and his wife couldn’t help but be annoyed at the mess she made and one day they said enough was enough. So they set up a little table for the old woman in a corner next to the broom closet and made her eat all of her meals there, alone. She would look at them at mealtimes with tear-filled eyes from across the room, but they hardly talked to her while they ate, except to scold her for dropping a spoon or a fork.

“One evening, just before dinner, the little girl was sitting on the floor playing with her building blocks. ‘What are you making?’ her father asked earnestly. ‘I’m building a little table for you and mother,’ she said, ‘so you can eat by yourselves in the corner someday when I get big.’ The father and mother were moved to silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then they started to weep. In that instant they became aware of the nature of their actions and the sadness they had caused. That night they led the old woman back to her rightful place at their big dinner table and from that day on she ate all her meals with them. And when a little morsel of food fell off the table or a fork strayed onto the floor, nobody seemed to mind anymore.

“In this story, the parents were not bad people,” Julian said. “They simply needed the spark of awareness to light their candle of compassion. Compassion and daily acts of kindness make life far richer. Take the time to meditate every morning on the good you will do for others during your day. The sincere words of praise to those who least expect it, the gestures of warmth offered to friends in need, the small tokens of affection to members of your family for no reason at all, all add up to a much more wonderful way to live. And speaking of friendships, make sure you keep them in constant repair. A person with three solid friends is very wealthy indeed.” 

I nodded.

“Friends add humor, fascination and beauty to life. There are few things more rejuvenating than sharing a belly-bursting laugh with an old friend.”

Julian quickly caught himself. “However, regret is not an activity for which I have any time.’”

I had always viewed Julian as a sort of super-human legal gladiator, crunching through the arguments of his opponents as a martial artist does through a stack of heavily reinforced boards. I could see that the man I had met many years ago had been transformed into one of a very different nature. The one in front of me was gentle, kind and peaceful. He seemed secure in who he was and in his role in the theatre of life. Like no other person I had ever met, he seemed to see the pain of his past as a wise, old teacher and yet at the same time, he served notice that his life was far more than the sum of events gone by. Robin Sharma