Ten days to a decade.

If u have forgotten, decade to what, let me remind u.

Memory of how stupidly we have been duped, and continue to be duped regarding all that happened on September 11 ,2001.

There is no reason to agree that we are stupid, but that agreement can start a programme of questions and more questions to clear the title .

A great nation, and its citizens duped with no questions, just a TV and all show.

Disaster repeatedly transmitted to shoot the emotions, and suddenly a cause and a person shown with no investigations, as the culprit, and all the area cleared with nothing left to investigate.

Now they gang up with the same culprits to bring humanitarian aid to a sovereign nation , Libya.

U can team up with your government, but i sense RAT.

We all remember a lady waving to us from atop the North tower on that disastrous day, Edna Cintron, she continues to wave to us , with the words, " Can u see me waving , the heat here is bearable , this heat cannot bring this building down".

BBC, the first folks to any news any where, were actually too good, they reported the fall of the wtc 7, 20 odd minutes before it could even come down, well don't question them now, they have lost the tapes and the file.

Did u not know that wtc 7 came down, and that too with out any knock from them airplanes, office fires brought them down, shame of the architects to select such misfit steel .

How much the citizens of the world trust the government, and their tentacles,courageous few get lost, or find themselves committing suicides.

None of the folks, who died in the towers knew me, but i know them all with my heart, and so these words.

Sweet curvaceous tamarind (konai puliyanga)

There were times when i was at home for the winter vacations of 3 months,when i ganged up and was a quiet one, until when it came to dehooking the tamarinds and sweet tamarinds from trees lining the roads.

A long stick with a hook attached at one end , the sweet tamarinds came down with ease.

Not so with the sour tamarinds, they were brought down with perfect aim with stones,

I was reminded of those raids, when i went to the market this morning and saw a bunch of those sweet curvaceous tamarinds on sale, my wife adores them, and i have told her that too much appreciation of them gives one a deafness.

The sweet fair fruit with a black seed is a relish.

May be some one could offer an original name for this species.

My grand-dad had a walrus moustache

Both my grand dads had 8 to 9 kids each, one was clean shaven, and the other had a walrus moustache.

My uncles had around 6 kids each and my dad 2, i have one son and wonder how the next generation will be!

The dwindling number has many reasons, main one being nuclear family and economical factor.

My school was 6 rs per day , boarding and lodging and education, now it is 600 Rs per day.

India is one of the most populated countries, yet we are seeing so many fertility clinics mushrooming.

Not that the other sex is not attractive, more creativity seen and fashions on the arise and cosmetics and businesses making the other gender admirable .

Something seems to be downing the fertility.

The bis phenol -A in the drinking water plastic bottles , they say has a negative effect on the fertility, the other being poly-sorbate in medicines.

Are we all guinea-pigs in some ones project for the depopulation of the world?

I die,u die,we all die for a vadai

Come 11 o clock in the morning and there is a bee line for a famous tea stall on the main road of our village.

The tea walla and his wife, with the help of an old lady who sits at the manual stone grinder , run the shop which makes the crisp vadais.

They make a variety of them all pulses and onions and chillie, deep fried in oil.

My dad wished for them this morning, leaping for this rare request, i went away, and seeing me the pair made some out of the way preparations to fill my old mans orders.

My man was just getting into the curd rice , and seeing me come late, knew i had got his requests, he had two of them, seeing them hot and crisp, he gave his reward of a warm smile.

I am a Libyan ,but not of its soil

I have not seen the sand dunes, nor felt the oppressed heat of the Sahara, but i do feel the anger of the Libyan heart, in their land being raped and its citizens being killed in the name of humanitarian aid.

Colonel Qaddafi is not my dad, but he would make his children proud , for his intentions,as he mentions to Mr president, Obama in a letter "To our son, his excellency, Mr Barack Hussein Obama. I have said to you before, that even if Libya and the United States of America enter into a war, god forbid, you will always remain a son. Your picture will not be changed."

He is a tribesman at heart and his actions are that, down to earth and honest and not cunning, and not devious.

He is stern in keeping the rebels out.

He has the woman of his land, in his thoughts, and has treated them with respect not found in other Arab nations.

U could notice that trust , from the woman body guards he had, they are not show pieces for the photographers.

He has used the wealth of the land from oil, for the use of its citizens, with free housing and health and in the betterment of their nation .

No one hears of the eighth wonder of the world , and the Libyans water ways across the land with under ground pipes.

I have heard he had a hand in the Lokerbie bombing, how easy the witness have been bought with western money, why should the tribesman want to do that ? while he is bringing up banks in his land with interest free loans, and getting the countries of dark continent to unify to a state of united states of Africa.

How gullible is one just accepting the words of the media in denouncing a person, but not willing to nod a good word of a tribesman, or think and search if it could all be true?

"Libya is not yours, Libya is for the Libyans." u think these words are of a dictator? Patriot yes, but dictator!

Yesteryears it was Iraq, today Libya,a few others in between, Tomorrow.........

Lighting a lamp with words

A lamp is a dispeller of darkness, and a lamp that is lit during the day is a symbolic representation of dispelling ignorance, through an action for an occasion.

For many of us the words that we find here and share are such, but the only difference is the striking of the match with the use of words.

May we learn and pass them on, and bring enlightenment in many ways, on many issues.

Let food be thy medicine

Prophetic words from the father of modern medicine , Hippocrates.

Nothing could be further from the truth, with the modern scientific methods , spelling the realities and the goodness of natural food and their medicinal values,with their studies, the latest being that coriander oil is as good as an antibiotic and kills superbugs and MRSA.

It has always been the dictum in the villages that one must find food that would help at times of a disease, and to keep the family members and the rest of the society safe.

The second part of the prophetic words of Hippocrates, reads, "medicine be thy food." modern medicines seems to accept this, if we study the prescriptions , and their long lists, they could make a menu if only they had palatable names.

I am sure if Hippocrates came back he would erase that part, to be understood better, and remove a state where he is recommending lots of medicines as good as a dinner of them.

Arai keerai - a slapping dish of greens

The village market caters to the needs of the green herb lovers.

There is one lady who trades only this ,today she shepherded me into buying this greens called as arai, meaning a slap or half, in the vernacular.

My grand mom has left a legacy in its preparation that i would like to share.

The greens are first washed and allowed to drain, the wetness does not bring out the best of the flavour.

The oil used is just enough to fry the mustard seeds, blush the gram and pink the onions.

The dry greens are added to the vessel, and the cue pin of the paniyaram special is used to preen the leaves and continued to keep them separate, till they are ready to serve, the best vessel is the iron , which gives itself off for the anemic family.

The dish goes well with plain rice.

If u happen to use it as a side dish with rasam,(pepper water) then there is that conflict, of which is better of the best.

I scream

I scream, you scream we all scream for an ice cream.

This was a one liner from a convent girl, of the long lost days.

There were times when we did see the Dasaprakash, ice cream bucket; it brought out the best of ice creams, with no crystals, like what happens with those from the refrigerators.

Aavin ice cream of the mount road , with their cones were so thick and creamy , that if u sat in the parlor u sure will have another, i would sit ,if i had another rupee to spare for the cream.

I indulged in the cassata balls of Arun, and the cake ice creams of Chennys gateway.

Then came the Saravana Bhavan where my kid licked his chemicalised colored mixes, to the horror of me and my wife, sitting opposite refusing to dig into the cream.

This evolution was all within a span of a few decades. Where have all the fresh ice creams gone?

May be my reading has gone too much and is seeing negatives.

" HEADS AND TAILS" by Maneka Gandhi was an eye opener.

FLAVOUR - CHEMICAL

banana flavour- amyl acetate

straw berry flavour- benzyl acetate

vanilla- peporanal

instead of eggs- diethyl glycol

cherry- acetaldehyde c 17

pineapple flavour- ethyl acetate

nut flavour - butaraldehyde

And I always thought that they added bananas for banana flavor…

The same with medicines for the kids ,to cheat them to take the combinations.

So basically you treat your kid and yourself with glue, anti freeze, oil paint and nitrate solvent, lice killer and air,( well this is what is in the ice cream) for a celebration.

Now I scream, u scream, we all scream at ice creams.

The herpes vaccine controversy will never die,it only kills

Texas Governor Mr Rick Perry had made the vaccine mandatory for children above 11,( Feb 2007) he could not take any hearing, as he had been convinced of its benefits.

Now he is preparing to take the leadership of United States and he suddenly feels he has been wrongly advised regarding Gardasil, he has changed his mind in the speeches.

Did he read the ingredients or was any other cause for him to back down?

Well no one reads ingredients ...not even the ones who make them, or the ones who get them, nor the middle who study them.

I hope i am proved wrong, from now on.

http://www.rense.com/general78/hpv.htm

Wheat Dosai

I was watching a singing competition on the tube, and there were many adverts, and one was noodles, and how soon it can be prepared.

Kids are cute, that does not mean u can offer them what ever they like, when they are tempted by the adverts.

Let us break advert gimmicks for the health of the family.

I am here to promote a dosai which takes all the time and care for the welfare of the family, to prepare.

We buy whole wheat and dry them in the sun, we get them milled at the local grinders, and do not sieve them , u can stress DO NOT.

We keep the flour safe from the ants and others who have a sense for Best of nature.

We do not add any corn, soy ( cautious of GMO)no softeners.

If the menu has been decided as dosais for dinner, the flour is mixed with enough water, and onions are cut to size, salt to taste , and the dough is ready for dosais.

Minimum oil, preferably gingely, the dosais come out thin and crisp on an iron pan,best with dal and pickle, left over veggies if any goes great, especially ladies finger.

Switch off the tube, or there is no count of the dosais that u consume.

Vaalai poo (Banana flower)

There are many vegetables that are cooked with lots of care being taken, and many helping hands, this is one of that kind and called as banana flower.

This is a dish that can be prepared only for a small family and food relishing guests.

There is no difficulty in getting this in the village market,the flower is literrally peeled with every layer and the small flowers are selectively seperated of its bitter stamen and one tonguish petal,the rest go to make the dish its speciality.

The preferance for the cutlet sort of a dish is our vadai,but i prefer the boiled coconut grated dish which goes great with rice and chappatis.

(it is best to get the family involved in the cleaning process, it bonds and binds on its way to the table)

Mob Kids who robbed

Why does a silent quiet kid, turn into a rogue when he joins a mob?

I had heard earlier that the kids, in many countries cannot be scolded at home, and if they are, they are to report at school, and the social security would come to take away the parents .

So now that the London streets are being looted by kids who are still in teens and even younger,i wonder if any parent would feel guilty, that they had been quiet ,when they need to have instilled strictness at home, and not to indulge in looting,and given moral grounding.

How come, a simple thing of a kid at home, not be admonished by their own parent, why should the government come into the welfare of a home?some thing we Indians cannot understand ?

Who is responsible for the mobish acts of the kids on the street ?Will the parents be allowed to wack/talk their kids and bring sense into them at least now, or will the kids be treated with medicines, as one with mental diseases, by the medical authorities?

O BIT TU (Phonetically meaning - a little round piece for you)

The kid was coming home for the weekend , and we, not used to this sort of home coming , we were at a loss,my lady came out with a sweet wave, and dished up a pan cake , a name i don't know other than Obitu.

ingredients , dal

jaggery, brown

white flour

cold pressed gingelly oil

The dal is first cooked and then made into a softness in a blender and the brown sugar stoned and the two are mixed well, and made into balls.

white flour is made into a paste with water, and to a state of easy handling to make it a cover for the sweet balls.

Rolling pin is used to make the floured ball into a small pan cake, they are oil patted on a dosai pan with clothed grill iron.

Like the advert says , "one is never enough".

Parrot cards to tarot cards

South India is the home to parrot card fortune telling, u can find such a reader at the temple festivals, or a weekly market.

A typical reader , has a box with a caged parrot or two, cards with a book and a roller resin mat, he can put up shop any where and give a reading for a few rupees.

It can be a simple ease time for one who is troubled with a complex worry at home or business, or for others a pass time.

A long time ago when we had white as a Sunday uniform, and had gone for walks with our friends at our school, we had met one of these parrot fortune tellers.

We had joked and asked a reading for friends, and one of us said why do not we ask a reading for our dorm warden who was one of the priest, who has taken up a vow of celibacy, and Sebastian was his name.

The teller read out the usual call " namba Sebastian ikku oru seeetu edu, nall parthu edu"the card that the parrot took was one of a handsome deity with his consort at his side.

we knew what ever the reading was it was all bull.

I am one who is against the use of animals and birds for entertainment ,and have got into many a scuffle with the animal trainers here.

I found the tarot cards a chance to make readings , and a way for calming a troubled mind.

I some times pick it up myself,or for my lady or friends.

Oh and Sebastian, the last i heard about him was he got married to a travel guide, and is living like the rest of us, wooing his lady and caring for his family.

Fluoride awareness week

This is one week of the 52 weeks to create an awareness about fluoride, so that we may be healthy right through out the remaining weeks.

Our village water has been disapproved of drinking , reason being fluoride content is high.

We hear of water being fluoridated , tooth pastes having fluoride, (with prints in small words, if children swallow more than a pea sized amount , to call the emergency.)

There was a line from a friend, "how can people accept in a mass to a speech of a leader," when it is detrimental to their well being, this could be a main reason for yielding to commands.

For the raisin lovers, earlier we used to get raisins of the dark shade, naturally sun dried, we have forgotten them these days, as the yellow coloured sulfuryl fluoride fumigated ones are more in the market, as they are less prone to fungal destruction, with least concern for the humans who consume them.

(this practice has been banned recently, wonder when the banning will bring on an effect .)

We have heard of dental flurosis, skeletal damage with flurosis, yet we accept them when it is added to water and paste!!!

Do u really think this addition would safe guard our teeth, while the whole world eats junk and drinks tins and bottles of sodas, with no restrictions, and no one seems to blame them as the cause of dental diseases.

Very cunning of the aluminium industry to get their waste, fluoride into drinking water , how devious.

Looters and Arsonist

Way back , following the assasination of Ragiv Ghandhi, our small place had seen the likes of never before, looting,arson and rampage of the kind that is happening in London now.

No cops were seen, youngsters with sickle and sticks were on the go , folks were nervous, shops were looted and homes were struck down, a car was even pulled out of a garage and set up on fire, cinema houses were entered and set fire too.

We can be sure such things, can be a cause of many a disturbance to a wealthy family or an industry.

Following this episode, many elites in the place have got steel and iron grills to homes, and some have even licence for a fire arm.

What ever the cause and what ever the solution, nothing changes, as the gap between the haves and have not s have widened, and the temptation is too much for those who have less , more laws will get passed and freedom is less.

It is heart breaking to see violence being shamelessly allowed, encouraged, and destruction to hard earned civilised living quarters, and shops.

May be the parents , teachers and the government will be more strict to prevent such happenings.

Creepers are not creeps

The most nutritious of the vegetables are the creepers, who have not been recognised for their taste and benefits.

I have heard that nothing can be more sinful than to cut a creeper, and drop it into water, to make it ooze its minerals,discard the water, and then consume the left over as a richness, but that is what it seems we all do.

So we will not allow that with the dish of the day, the snake gourd .

The snake gourd seemed to beckon me with its looks and freshness, at the market,3 rupees can fetch one the length of a wide palm span, enough for a small family.

The trick in vegetables is never soak vegetables after they are cut,( or save that soaked water for cooking) u can wash thoroughly before cutting.

First dal is soaked which goes with the gourd dish, then blended for 5 seconds to help in cooking, the onions and mustard seeds are fried and then the gourd which has been cut into thin pieces are added with the dal, covered with enough water and allowed to boil in a pot of clay for best flavour, minimum salt and chilli is added to avoid the loss of original taste.onions and coriander leaves, turmeric, make the dish colorful and aromatic and help some in fishing for the onions a great game.

The dish goes great with rice or chapatis, take care to have extra of the gourd, and the chapatis for the second helping.

Bar-be-cued paniyarams

Please do not get cheated by this title, it is not possible to bar be cue paniyarms, but this is the way the paniyarams came from the kitchen slab to the dining floor.

I was instantly kindled to share this innovative method of transfer.

I had been thinking that this way of cooking was only for meat, just googled and found the veggies could also been bar and cued, hope my lady tries her innovations in this.

Recently there has been a take over of the non stick pans , with the PFOA,(perflourooctanoic acid) coating, the villages have not be spared, the oil factor has been targeted to promote this material, the chemical toxicity has not been discussed at all.

Our family had been offered one such pan which makes paniyarams, we have silently moved it to the corner where it is not noticed, our traditional stone pan is strong, and tasty dishes move out of it.

Rolling on the floor - sincerely

Many an email these days , share a joke which causes one to ROFL, but this one is different, with a cause and effect.

There is no one who has not had an aching back, to know how difficult it can be, and be the cause of a nagging day or a miserable night.

Not many are lucky to have a kneading hand to relax the back, or a child walk on the posterior with care,

this is for those.

How soothing it can be to have the back relax by it self, with a rolling over the floor with outstretched arms and unbent knees. (u can make some changes when u master the rolling.)

It can be seen in some temples, being done to have the energy of the place all over, well what ever the reason or what ever the cause, a rolling over one self can ease a difficult back, to get one back to shape.

Roll roll, now check and see what caused u that pain and get it altered .

Nuts for Nuts

The take away present after a wedding, in this part of the world, is the yellow colored bag with betel leaves,arecnut and coconut.

It is the wish of the marriage party to bless u with a stress free life and health, for being there to bless the couple.

Many a dish is prepared in the village with out heating the coconut kernel,

the chutneys, the milk for the appam, the seasonings for the sundal, the ladooos with jaggery, and ofcourse the coconut burfies.

Recently scientific studies say that the l arginine is found in this and peanuts, which help in keeping away vascular worries.

Ranging from the heart, down to the toes, with thoughts of the middle,

with cautious concern along with other dietary factors and life style management, nuts could be a great way to live for all of us.

Fruit salad with sugar toppings

Many a snack time can catch one with no snacks in the tuck box, but a simple fruit could change the sun set time to a smile, that could not only bring on the electric light, but a shine in the eyes of the salad maker.

The jaggery has a place of importance in our family, we need to keep it safely out of the sense of ants.

we get it from the weekly market, and store it, and use a bore well stone to pound it to the requirements of the dish.

The bananas when cut into rings some how get to a magical state of a temptation.

A bowl of banana rings sprinkled with country brown sugar, could make an evening sweet.

For Health ,Strength and Energy- Sprouted Malt

Many a home maker has turned to making ones own sprouted malt these days, as the ones in the market are not sprouted, nor are they aromatic and rich in nutrition.

This cottage industry has sprouted with the boost of the general practioners, who know that the powders that come in packaged colorful containers are anything but what they claim in the media.

I have a third cousin on my mothers side who has taken up this project work with zeal, but dampened with no encouragement.

She first selects wheat, rye, oats, green gram, mung dal,other pulses which have a tendency to sprout soon, soaks them separate and makes them sprout, she dries them in the shade and then gets them off to be grounded with the traditional stone grinders, and adding ginger,she enriches the malt with badam and pista.

There is many a way one could use this powder, we use it to make porridge with salt, seasoned at times with small onions, goes great by itself, home made lemon pickle would add credit to the dish.

For a healthy family, a malt made with love and care with no chemicals.