Expressive slogans between expansive shoulders

While going outside, there are many things that catch ones eyes, a bill board, a dress on a person or a handicraft through a window on display, what has been noticable these days , is a thought stimulating,or a beat skipping  line on a Tshirt.

I just got to see a few and had the guts to ask them for a snap, there were more , but these are for now., railway stations, buses and walk outs.

It is rare to see a double of the same words, i sometimes wonder if they are of the a la carte, type and printed to order.

Mushrooming banks with out the rains

Our village is not a village any more, with the spurting of so many banks,each one offering us, services beyond our means.

I have always wondered how could the bank officers get to get paid so much for our money transactions, and with such facilities and area.

It is our money,and we put and take away,how could they get so much benefit, there is something beyond the loans.

We have about 10 banks in our place now, the most recent is the State Bank of India.

The old adage " kadan vaangi maaadi veedu kataathey " i

s no longer applicable.

Loosing our lunacy to the full moon

They say that the word lunacy come from the lunar - moon, it has been blamed as one that brings on those effects in a person.

It is like the broom being  blamed as the cause of  the collection of dirt in a room.

May be that is one reason why our fore fathers decided to  get one to do exhaustive physical work on those days, so that the lunar effects could be channeled to a sweat and its mental effects not noticed, and still bring on an inner cleansing.

A walk around a hillock or a self proclaimed  project, on those days.

Strange but good reasoning,  better than being taken to a psychiatrist or for an exorcism  through an exorcist, or more things, of subjugation

May we get to use the loony days of full moon, for the beneficial effects of  liberating hidden resources within, by mystics who have worked on such channels.

Tied - to be free

It was a walk along the country side, and the scenes was picturesque, but one thing caught my lens and that was a kid tied to his waist with a rope to a window sill.

Something just seemed out of order, there was even a comment later, "the child is tied and the dog is let loose."

The families of old had a string of offspring , the elder child always  baby sitting the younger ones, may be this child is the first in the family and the next is on the way .

I have even heard of workers giving a dot of opium to the kids and sending them off to a blissful sleep while they worked, but this sure caught me .

Recalling i  have heard stories that i was an infant vagabond loafing the neighborhood

during my days, and my mom used to tie me up to that window bar too, limiting my area of spread to a radius of a few meters.

What ever, the children of now are so quick and hyper active that they cannot be contained in a play pen, or tied by a rope, may they be allowed to roam and bring on their creativity for the benefit of the world and the comfort of us all.

A dialogue with a crow

It was another of those days of wonder and travel, waiting at a station for the train,they all seem to be running to time these days.

There was this waddling child, careless and free, seeing things with multi - senses, and yet alert.

It seemed to be talking to itself and making faces, and then we noticed there perched on the iron rails on the top was a crow.

The crow seemed to carry on the flow, as it has found one who could reciprocate its feelings, without shooing it away , and  not imitating its own non- voco chordal

sounds.

This went on for some moments, and looked like they had settled to carry on  later as they had got some audience with disturbance.

I wonder where we had lost this rapport we had, on our way to knowledge and degrees of certificates.

May be there could be a way of getting it back, and yet retain the sciences.

A bow to the Native Indians - or of what is left of them

http://espressostalinist.wordpress.com/genocide/native-american-genocide/

A long time ago in standard 4( as it was called then) , our class of around 36 were divided into two and named as " Cow Boys" and " Red Indians".

The marks were for discipline, curricular and extra curricular activities, and some skills.

I was a cow boy and my second cousin was a red skin, they always seemed to do better, which was some how not acceptable , as the movies we got to see on Wednesdays , occasionally were the cow boy pictures  with the heroes like Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood and Gregory peck, the cow boys always won , and the natives were always shown to be the wrong doers.

I got to wear a pair of moccasin, some years back , and later realised ,that was what the natives wore in spite of all the other differences they had between the tribes.

I had a lucky  talk with a native indian on a wild chat in the open channels of irc ,and another who married one,  and i got to change that term after i was corrected at the kodaikanal meet, of a re union, calling them Red Indians.

 

I got a chance to read on some of their culture and civilizations, bless them and what they have saved of their culture for the future generations to come, of their wonderful past with such respect for the enviroment.

Those who respect Nature are my friends even though they are strangers, and far away .

Spicy cauliflower elampillian

There are many a traditional dish that could go with an oil less roti for  the occasion, but the cauliflower was decided.

Normally the coconut is shredded

, and along with the other spices blended to a paste and let to boil in the curry paste,we are avoiding the cooking of coconut

The ingredients were turmeric, small onions, garlic and ginger, curry powder and chili powder.

The small onions were first peeled and cut up, next on the board were the garlic peeled and crushed, cleaned and chopped  ginger root and blended, the paste keep ready .

The cauliflower was cleaned and chopped , put into the iron cooking pot after the initial oil and cereals roasting up , the spice paste was added and  left to cook.

The results are the pictures, we had it with rice in the after noon and with rasam,and in the evening the left overs went with oil less chappatis.

Try and relish the dish,and again when the heart asks for a re - do.

The different shades of Godliness

This is a season of weddings and  school holidays being on , the photographers are happy with this combination.

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A cradle in the bus

The entertainment on the road side is wonderful as usual, with the grayish clouds , just getting ready to drizzle, the pedestrians moving swiftly to reach home, the large 4 way road looking like a run way for the express bus on the highway.

The seat in the 3rd row of the front of the bus , gave a three way view of the scenery  moving on the Coimbatore - Salem

highway, i asked the conductor why we were going slow , was it the speed limit or some thing wrong, he looked into his calculator like  ticket puncher , and said the problem was the bus.

Well there was no other way but enjoy the views, each frame being drunk and  savored, when i suddenly turned and noticed a fellow passenger enjoying a lovely nap, blissfully unaware of the crowd or the lovely scenery flowing by on his window /exit passage.

Only to awaken at his stop.

Must have been a full day of hard work,and a good lunch.

Fruits - to consume or avoid in diabetes

The Stedmans dictionary says   FRUCTOSE sugar is independent of insulin in its digestion .

Ask any diabetic in our locality , what fruits do u use?    "fruits ? me?  and u know i am a diabetic , i have been told to avoid them like poison".

This subject has haunted me for quite some time and we did have it, a long time back at one rural doctors meet, where i talked on the "cause of  diabetes in the modern world".

This was triggered again this fortnight , when a colleague shared a pamphlet , advising the use of green apple better than the ripe apples , and reasoning that it has less fructose sugar.

I brought this up at the last meet, with many a diabetologists, finally there was a doctor who said we should promote taking fruits by the diabetics, and that he has a large patient following, and he is also a diabetic for the past 25 years and is on fruits in a normal diet with caution.

May sound stupid, but a cousin  dropped in who was recently diagnosed with diabetes, he says i normally consume a banana at  night to avoid my constipation , now that i have been diagnosed with this i have been told to avoid the banana, what do i do?

I know , but how does one break the hypnotic game even though the logic and reasoning is there to prove.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/4/895.full

Snack-fun time

It all started with a simple  request of  a  neighborhood child who had come along to get a xerox copy of a document," get me a chocolate or a lays chips"

I told him the usual no  no nos  and then the whole gang had somehow got together and we trooped in to the  chips store and returned with carry backs.

The long  holidays are nearly over for the street neighborhood kids and they are bored with the rotting  time of no classes.

Some of the children are shifting school , and they are thrilled and enthusiastic , others are glad to go back to see their teachers and friends.

All in all every one is glad to have the school re - open  including the parents who have found it difficult to manage the hyper active kids of these days.

Paper plates were distributed and  murukkus ,mixtures and other savories moved around , and  the feelings are there in the pictures.

Sharing times are wonderful with children, and if they are orderly , it adds to the wonder.

There is no God - but Man

I have never been caught in an argument if there is a God or multiple Gods, or other terminologies for THE Spirit.

But now with the destruction  of things that are happening across the world i know for sure there cannot be a God to bring them on.

God would not have had the heart to do all this, so there are two options  either God is not there or the other,   Man is.

A stage on a railway platform

Sitting at the window seat i was waiting for the passenger train to start, and there i saw this small family have their break

fast on the platform, gotten from the cafeteria.

One parent was feeding the girl and the other the boy, each one having a mouth full in between the feeds, so homely on the Salem platform indifferent to the surrounding freeness on the Sunday morning .

Then i noticed one of the subjects had seen me ,and then the pictures could never be natural from then on i knew.

I walked up to the man and said i am writing an article " a man can be a caring parental mom"   he smiled and i clicked away another shot , before his wife could come back from an errand.

 I went back to the waiting train to start and move away, to witness another act in another place. 

An eye on the pyramid

It was an invitation for a family function of the street mates, being on a Sunday and at the times of the school holidays, it was filled with kids and laughter and a back ground of light music not to disturb the gossiping of the get together.

The chairs were draped with a sash and curtains  for the windows,it was some thing new for the village atmosphere, we were pointed to an artist and a painter , who decorated the kids and the women s fore-arm with designs and the artist with pencil sketches , all large eyed like me .

The lunch was all a difference too , with bombastic terms of the menu of the neighboring states.

We let our steps lead us on and found ourselves at a stall with a magician, mumbling the famous abracadabra  mantra to a kid and showing out a feather turned pencil.

The magician said he is more of a puzzler , and that he has resigned his engineering job for his love of the puzzles and its teasers.

He shared with us his trade, and my  lady s attention caught the magic balls to form the pyramid.

Many a participant like her tried and she with her calculation decided she would try,she moved this, that and then, voila there was the pyramid.

We suddenly realised we had a puzzling puzzler , with her eye set on the pyramid.

We wished the magical man the best of times and left , with a take away presents of two jasmine plants from the function hosts, and our hearts blessing them.

Sitting silently, doing nothing but watching

The evening breeze brought a few cousins to our home , with my lady inviting them.

I don't know what words my lady used to get them , but it seemed to have worked for the half a dozen of them who came.

Explaining the watching of the breath,and the gaps in between

  she took the participants into the experience , and  the half an hour seemed to go away so soon with no disturbance.

The participants shared their intimate half an hour  for themselves, and quietly left with requests to be invited again when such a programme was to be conducted.

Cubic smiles

The Rubic

 cube was bought and played and kept away , unsolved.

The next generation rarely looks up things of old , but when kept away unsolved may be it triggers a feeling of solving, and that is what happened .

There lies the cube now solved and steps being taught for the older generation.

Little Star - Leaders

It was once more a time for the children of Elampillai , India ,to get to welcome Swami  Atma for a programme titled "Little Stars".

The summer vacation and a Sunday was fixed, and even then many a child who could have taken part was whisked away to a grand parents home, or a vacation to a hill resort .

The school was on the western outskirts of Ellampillai , and the kids arrived on schedule at 9.30 am.

They drew greeting cards and whiled away the starting time on the cloth carpet, finding friends among the participants.

With the arrival of Swami, the kids shared their creations in greetings, and the programme started with a an anthem for mankind as a prayer.

The children between 7 and  14 years were enthusiastic in the group activity of exercises and specific musical meditations.

Swami was explaining the reasons for this programme and what are the benefits, and it always seems new to the volunteers who listen and a class for them too .

A 20 point charter was made with each charter being pointed by the kids themselves with what they expect to be in future , and what they lacked now.

The traffic walk, the tide watching, pranav, giggle,phoenix language, each a music filled activity, were fun filled and scientific master pieces with explanations.

 One  'o' clock was lunch, and the kids shared the break sitting among themselves and sharing their lunches , and accepting treats of cucumber and salted unripe mangoes.

Post lunch was filled with games of, Stop,wolf and sheep,lock and key ,rap a tap tap i am the leader, and hugging a number, they were all thrillers with active participation of all the children.

With the parents coming to collect the children at 5pm, Swami talked to them about the importance of this programme and how it could benefit the participants.

With the parents sharing and opening them selves up, the one day little star programme came to an end, with leader ship qualities being tapped from within them.


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Sugar, the poison

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/04/sweet-suicide-sugar-deadlier-than-drugs.html

I have been told  white sugar can be dangerous, and a cause to alter our system with in and with out, but i never knew it could be so well put as in this small article and video.

I have  heard and been asked , if sugar is bad  why does so many sugar factories come up and how could it be available with so much advertising.

The only answer is our unawareness and the lobbying of the sugar companies  that the secrets are hidden .

Let us let the secret out.

A simple breath - as intended

Many a master is remembered, who has acted as a path and guide to a realisation.

This is about Swami Shajananda, who was at Atheetha Ashram , on the banks of Ubbannur lake , near Hosur in Tamil nadu .

He was so close to nature, he shared with us observations and lessons from doing things naturally.

Many a Christmas ago, during one of the days at the health camp, He talked to us on the simple act of breathing.

Watching the breath of a child during activity or sleep, and the breath of an adult during sleep , we find so much similarity, and much to be studied, how we have moved away.

Ever since our first visit to a doctor , who asked us to take a deep breathe, and our days at the defense academy training at  NCC,where we learnt the " chest out stomach in," our breathing  methods have altered.

How stupid it may look to wonder why should one talk on the simple act of breathing.

Let us make a small try , may we slide back to normal breathing.

Take a relaxed inhalation, watch the abdomen grow, now let it an equally relaxed exhalation and watch the tummy get small.

Now let it happen naturally --  happy breathing.

Careless Calories

There has been a shift in nutrition classes (which do not exist in the curriculum)   from discussing healthy food to discussing calories.

I had a chance to notice this when i was attending a health camp at an ashram , where many had come with illness and some like me to know what is health, i had been reading too much on diseases that i did not know health.

Many had been told to cut their food , to so much of calories per day, at earlier places.

I had since wondered how one could be on a fixed calories /day when the seasons changed, the work shifted and the mind was different every day.

The same folks had no idea if the calories came from junk food or organic food, but calories was their yard line, or guard line.

If one is on natural food, u cannot eat more than u need, the body mechanism will tell u .

If u have a way of listening to it and respecting it , i guess the calorie theory would be a sham, and we would not add up carbonated drinks so many calories, chips so many calories and well they are within the limit of my calorie requirements--- stupid.

Easy is right ,you are hungry , eat ,choose  your food according to the availability,and its closeness to nature, and cook with your expertise in not destroying it, no self respecting person will stuff  like a pig,( may be they are force fed)and then worry about calories.

(kannaku potu  sapidu vatha , illai  kannaka  sapiduvatha.)

Are u going to eat after calculation, or are u going to eat calculatively.