My Photo Album-33: "Suri at Verinag"

Suri (on the left) with a fellow tourist at Verinag

This photo is more than 30 years old. I distinctly remember the month, if not the year - it was April. I was on an All-India tour by bus. We left Srinagar early morning and reached Verinag after a few hours. The river Jhelum starts as a spring there and then flows to Srinagar and then to Punjab via Pakistan. From Punjab, it flows again to Pakistan and finally joins the Chenab river. Though April, it was chilly for me and hence the sweater. Bell-bottom pants were fashionable those days. The unkempt hair may be due to non-application of oil or due to wind or both. The photo was taken by another fellow tourist using an Agfa Click III camera. Those days it was the cheapest, easiest and the best. I think from Verinag, we went to Jammu and then to Delhi. The entire trip was by bus. Unfortunately, I did not maintain a journal and rue it now. So I have to rely completely on memory.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "Jhelum River":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Letters-61: "Irresponsible"

Cutting across caste and religious lines, the people of India are hoping that terrorism will be eliminated. During such a moment of crisis, politicians should not divide societies along communal lines. It is highly condemnable. The arrested terrorist, Ajmal Amir, has admitted that he and his accomplice killed Karkare and two other police officers. What is the need for a separate probe? - B.Nagesh Kumar, Mangalore.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, December 20, 2008 ("Letters to the Editor")

Grateful thanks to Mr.B.Nagesh Kumar and The Hindu.

Facts & Figures-61: "2,38,000 killed in 2008!"

The New Indian Express, Tiruchy, reports quoting Agence France-Presse, Geneva, that catastrophes killed more than 238,000 people this year. The cost to society due to these catastrophes was 225 billion dollars. While 2008 is the second worst year of catastrophes, 2005 is the worst year of natural and man-made catastrophes with 374,042 people killed and 107 billion dollars in insured losses.

Grateful thanks to Agence France-Presse, Geneva and The New Indian Express.

Eyecatchers-134: "Edible Christmas Cards!"

A British ecological design firm has produced an edible X'mas card made from potato starch paper and featuring a picture of Brussels sprouts.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Tiruchy, December 19, 2008.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu.

Eyecatchers-133: "What is Layogenic?"

Layogenic is Filipino for someone good-looking from afar but ugly up close.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express, Tiruchy ("Vignettes: Worth Words"), December 19, 2008.

Grateful thanks to The New Indian Express.

Letters-60: "Tribute to Martyrs"

It seems our politicians have lost their basic courtesy. Out of the approximately 700 MPs, only 11 paid tribute to the martyrs of the Parliament attack. It is a disgrace and we sould feel ashamed that they represent us. In a few years, the heroes, who laid their lives in the Mumbai terror attack on November 26 will be forgotten. - Lt Col Ranjit Sinha (Retd), Kochi.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express, Tiruchy, December 19, 2008 ("Letters to the Editor")

Facts & Figures-60: "Railways earn Rs.3,909 cr from e-ticketing!"

Indian Railways has added nearly Rs.4,000 crores in its coffers through e-ticketing till November 2008, which is nearly double the amount it made during last fiscal.

Excerpt from "Rlys earn Rs.3,909 cr from e-ticketing", News Digest, The Times of India, Mumbai, December 17, 2008.

Grateful thanks to The Times of India.

Eyecatchers-133: Newsweek's "50 Most Powerful People"

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan have been among the 50 most powerful people in the world by the U.S.-based magazine, Newsweek.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, December 22, 2008("Snapshots").

Newsweek's Cover story, "The Global Elite: The Story of Power" lists the 50 most powerful people in the world today.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/176300

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and The Newsweek.

Eyecatchers-132: "Oprah Winfrey Honoured!"

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has been chosen People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals person of the year for highlighting cases of animal cruelty.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, December 22, 2008.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "OPRAH WINFREY":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eyecatchers-131: "Taiwanese vote for 'chaos' "

"Chaos" has been picked up by the Taiwanese as the character for 2008 after a turbulent year marred by high-profile corruption scandals implicating the former President Chen Shui-bian and top officials.

Among 61,600 people who took part in a telephone poll, nearly 8,000 voted for the Chinese character "luan"(chaos), followed by "pian"(lie) and "tsang"(miserable), said the United Daily News, a co-organiser of the survey.

Also on the list of the top 10 characters were "corrupt", "depressed" and "love" - the only positive word of the year.

"Those grey words were chosen as the year was marked by a shift in political powers, the global financial crisis... and soap opera-like scandals implicating the former first family," the paper said. - AFP.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, December 18, 2008.

Grateful thanks to AFP and The Hindu.

S&T Watch-37: "Tarantula Nebula"

Enormous stars in 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, are producing intense radiation and searing winds of multimillion-degree gas that carve out gigantic bubbles in the surrounding cooler gas and dust.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, December 18, 2008.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "TARANTULA NEBULA":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_Nebula

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Health News-10: "150 people can catch cold from one sneeze!"

Researchers in London who undertook a study to learn how cold spreads so easily have come out with some interesting figures. For example, somebody sneezing in a crowded bus or train may result in 150 persons catching cold in the next five minutes! So they have advised people to cover their mouth when they sneeze.

Courtesy: 'Dinakaran', Tamil daily, (Madurai edition), Dec.8, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Dinakaran.

Eyecatchers-130: "R.C.Book for Elephants!"

Just as Registration Certificate (R.C.)books are issued to motor vehicles, the Kerala Govt has decided to issue R.C. to elephants also! The Guruvayur temple alone has more than 50 elephants. It has also decided to issue identity cards to the elephant-keepers. There will also be insurance coverage for people who get killed by elephants to the extent of Rs.2.5 lakhs.

Courtesy: 'Dinakaran', Tamil daily, (Madurai edition), December 8, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Dinakaran.

Facts & Figures-59: "Daily 92 crore people go without food"

A report in the Tamil daily, Dinamalar (Madurai edition) says that daily 92 crore people go to bed without food. World Food Day is observed world over on October 16 from the year 1979. Self-help groups from various countries are demanding that this day be observed as 'World Foodless Day' rather than 'World Food Day'.

Courtesy: 'Dinamalar', Tamil daily (Madurai edition), October 9, 2008.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "World Food Day":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Day

Grateful thanks to Dinamalar and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Letters-59: Terrorist Strikes in India

1. Apropos "Surviving the siege" and other related articles (The Hindu Weekly Magazine, Dec.7, 2008), the government, the police, the intelligence agencies have failed in preventing the terrorist strikes in India. But we do not need knee-jerk responses to deal with the menace of terrorism. Rather, a visionary leadership and corruption-free administration to strengthen our security, revamp the police, bolster intelligence and coordinate the efforts of various agencies to herald a counter-terrorism operation with strong political willpower and imagination to save the ordinary citizens of India. The electronic media too must show restraint by not sensationalising the news and should be careful in their coverage. They need training in this regard. - Akhil Kumar, Delhi.

2. It is not enough to merely condemn 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai. Terrorists are bent on destroying the rhythm of people's lives. Their aim is to instill fear in people's minds and disturb communal harmony. From the death and suffering of innocent people, and the fire-fighters and police who went to help them, the world needs to learn the lesson that terrorism solves no problems, and that it needs concerted effort by all nations to stamp it out.

It is also time to think whether the underlying reason for the increase in terrorism is economic and cultural, triggered by changes in international economic functioning to which some sections of society are unable or unwilling to adapt. Whether at an individual level or a national level, no amount of physical protection or technical sophistication can be a protection against terrorist attacks. India must revamp its policy and approach to terrorists. Far too long, despite the killing of several people in the terror attacks in major cities, we have not formulated a pro-active policy. We must stand united in this hour of crisis. The government, on its part, should enact tougher laws instead of dealing with terrorism in a reactionary manner. - Dr.T.Marx, Dept of English, Pondicherry University, Puducherry.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Weekly Magazine, Dec.14, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Akhil Kumar, Dr.T.Marx and The Hindu.

Eyecatchers-129: "Energy Home"

I am a Life Subscriber of 'IYARKAI MARUTHTHUVAM' i.e. 'NATUROPATHY' in Tamil, a Tamil monthly published by the 'Tamil Nadu Iyarkai Maruththuva Sangam' (Tamil Nadu Naturopathy Association), Gandhi Museum, Madurai-625020, Tamil Nadu. The life subscription is only Rs.100/- and you get the 4-page newsletter every month all your life. It contains highly useful and interesting Health News. The editor of the newsletter, Mr.Devadas Gandhi is a true Gandhian. He has chosen the path of celibacy and leads a simple and service-oriented life and resides in the Gandhi Museum complex itself. I find meeting and talking to him a wonderful experience. So whenever I get a chance I go to the Gandhi Museum and meet Mr.Gandhi there.

In the current issue of the newsletter, there was a brief article about 'Energy Home'. I found it very interesting and inspiring and thought I would share it with visitors of this blog. ENERGY HOME is a Natural Health Food Restaurant in Chetty Street of Pondicherry. It serves its customary natural food, not just a few items. About 150 varieties of Vegetable and Fruit Juice! In the mornings, you have 60 types of 'idli', 10 types of 'pongal', 'uppuma', 'kichadi', 'vada' and 'dosa' and 20 types of Herbal Tea! In the afternoon, 100 types of meals! At night you have many types of 'dosa', noodles, 'vada', cutlet and varieties of vegetable salads. All uncooked food!

Further, they totally avoid oil, tamarind, chilly powder, milk, curd and sugar in their preparations. How I wish we have some such Natural Food Establishment at my place, Karaikudi!

You can also get free health tips for your ailments. They say the less acidic food and more alkaline food you take, the more healthy you will be.

I am plain curious to know how they prepare all the above dishes without cooking and without oil and other ingredients. So when I visit Pondicherry next, I intend to go there, meet these interesting people and enjoy the healthy food they offer. If you are also inclined, you can also do the same.

They have their own website, which you visit and see the details for yourself:

http://www.energyhome.in/

My hearty congratulations to Dr S S Manickam and Dr.M Gopinath, Naturopaths, who run 'Energy Home', the Natural Health restaurant and propagate Naturopathy.

Grateful thanks to 'Iyarkai Maruththuvam' , Tamil Naturopathy monthly newsletter and 'Energy Home'.

Eyecatchers-128: "Obamabilia"

Merchandise celebrating Obama is being sold by companies and consumers have already spent perhaps as much as $200 million (Rs.1,002 crore) on Obamabilia, two months before his inauguration as the 44th President of the USA.

Excerpt from "Obamabilia" from The Hindu, December 9, 2008.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu.

Facts & Figures-58: "Long Live the Mouse!"

Mouse, the pointing device, we use with our computer, is 40 years old today. This tool has been developed by Dr.Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute, USA. It has gone through many advancements, making our life easy. So Happy Birthday, Mouse! and grateful thanks to Anand Parthasarathy for his nice article, "Happy birthday, mighty mouse!" in the Information Technology page of The Hindu, December 7, 2008, but for which I would have missed the news.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "MOUSE":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)

Grateful thanks to Mr Anand Parthasarathy, The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eyecatchers-127: "Online Dictionary of North-East Languages" by Sushanta Talukdar

Are you curious to know what the right word is for 'mother' in some of the major languages spoken in north-east India? If yes, key in the word 'mother' in the search box at http://www.xobdo.net/ and choose the language or dialect you want and you will get the equivalent word.

To help users learn more words in NE languages, the publisher of the first northeast regional languages-English online dictionary, XOBDO (means 'sound' or 'word' in Assamese), is on the lookout for more volunteers in these languages to add to the dictionary's database.

Started as an online Assamese-English dictionary in 2006, XOBDO is the brainchild of Bikram M.Baruah, an engineer of Assam now based in Abu Dhabi.

It is currently run by a team of volunteers.

In 2007, xobdo.net added multiple interfaces to include 16 more languges spoken in the north-east: Khasi, Dimasa, Bodo, Karbi, Nagamese, Garo, Ao, Mizo, Mishing, Tanii(Apatani), Monpa, Meiteilon, Binshnupriya, Chakma, Kok-Borok and Kuki.

Compared to the 19,388 Assamese words, the database of other NE languages is still very small.

Excerpt from The Hindu, Madurai, Dec.7, 2008.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "XOBDO.org": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xobdo

Grateful thanks to Sushanta Talukdar and The Hindu.

My Photo Album-31:

Suri (extreme left) with kin

I came across this photograph while I was decluttering my room. This must be about 37 to 38 years old. This was taken in a professional photo studio, Kalpana Studio, Tirunelveli Town, if I remember correct. This was probably a few days after my first sister's marriage. I was in my twenties. Tirunelveli is the place where I did my high-schooling i.e. about 6 years. Now my contact with the place has diminished. Though many of my people are there, I rarely go there. I have lost touch my class-mates. Generally, I avoid all functions. When it becomes unavoidable, I make very brief visits. My visits to Tirunelveli fall under this unavoidable category. My memories of Tirunelveli have not been pleasant, unfortunately. My days there are better forgotten. However, this photograph kindled my memory of the place and people. As I look at this photo, I cannot but feel and realize the fact that time has ravaged my face and my hairs have turned grey. Anyway, this photo may be of interest to my children and hence I am posting it here.