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Source: http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

  1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229</id><updated>2024-10-06T21:47:51.301-07:00</updated><category term="Health"/><category term="Festivals"/><category term="My Grandma&#39;&#39;s Kitchen"/><title type='text'>How The Banana Goes To Heaven</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>20</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-4540618622942676115</id><published>2015-01-22T04:32:00.004-08:00</published><updated>2015-01-22T04:46:21.941-08:00</updated><title type='text'>When in doubt, gojju!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;
  2. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  3. We Kannadigas are ardent &quot;gojju&quot; experts.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
  4. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  5. &quot;Gojju&quot; is a difficult word to translate because it&#39;s actually an entire universe where hundreds of recipes have lived and flourished for centuries and the only thing in common between them is a spicy, usually sour thick gravy. (Some linguistics suggest that this word existed over 2 milleniums ago and then it meant a &quot;mess of boiled fruit&quot;. Well, in Karnataka, we make a delicious mess...er, I mean gojju of even &lt;a href=&quot;http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.in/2015/01/forbidden-fruit.html&quot;&gt;pineapple&lt;/a&gt;!)&lt;/div&gt;
  6. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  7. &lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Of all the gojjus that regularly appear in the Rajaiah dining table, this sweet and sour one made with karela (bitter gourd in English, haggalkai in Kannada) is an all time favourite.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;Roasting the karela before making it into the gojju gives it a very subtle but very delicious smokiness.&lt;/div&gt;
  8. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  9. Karela - along with many other healthy-but-yucky vegetables like lauki, tinda etc - is much reviled. But cooked right, it can be unusually delicious.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
  10. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  11. Did anyone ask - how healthy? Well, t&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;he bitter gourd is bitter for a very good
  12. reason – it is signal of the presence of phytochemicals, a very important group
  13. of disease-fighting plant chemicals currently hailed by an ecstatic
  14. nutrition-medical community in the West as the supernovas of healthy eating
  15. because of the immense arsenal that they pack to both prevent and fight against
  16. an awesome gamut of diseases – diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several common
  17. cancers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  18. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  19. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  20. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  21. &lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif; font-size: 12pt;&quot;&gt;It is also used by many ancient systems of medicine - including Ayurveda - to help treat diabetes. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  22. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  23. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  24. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  25. So, onwards karela gojju! Enjoy!&lt;/div&gt;
  26. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  27. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  28. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  29. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PFkgsyexQR6w6i3gUBsya5OLLuHYoCLU2Ijdi_SbLDrLvBLjTfpOR28cI4FI3_FwUDENiUogW6Re1_Jo5S4BLGVy6e0oedZw7msNP-IkHrtea8TM3hlnDAtJXO3IpR9XZALQiw/s1600/IMG_4144_1.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PFkgsyexQR6w6i3gUBsya5OLLuHYoCLU2Ijdi_SbLDrLvBLjTfpOR28cI4FI3_FwUDENiUogW6Re1_Jo5S4BLGVy6e0oedZw7msNP-IkHrtea8TM3hlnDAtJXO3IpR9XZALQiw/s1600/IMG_4144_1.JPG&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; width=&quot;640&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  30. &lt;br /&gt;
  31. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  32. ¼ kg karela (remove centre of seeds etc thoroughly and diced
  33. into small pieces)&lt;/div&gt;
  34. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  35. Tamarind, the size of a small lemon (soak in hot water for
  36. about 10 mins n extract thick juice)&lt;/div&gt;
  37. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  38. ½ cup jaggery (adjust to taste)&lt;/div&gt;
  39. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  40. 2-3 spoonfuls of sambar powder&lt;/div&gt;
  41. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  42. Salt to taste&lt;/div&gt;
  43. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  44. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  45. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  46. &lt;/div&gt;
  47. &lt;br /&gt;
  48. &lt;br /&gt;
  49. &lt;br /&gt;
  50. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  51. The quantities of tamarind and the jaggery given above are approximations because it all depends on how bitter the karela, how sour the tamarind and how sweet or sour you like your gojju . So, as they say on MasterChef - taste, taste, taste and adjust!)&lt;/div&gt;
  52. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  53. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrc1O1FAKCmnCffthr2gGmGiDRP1V_f3ADsbSUl-78I6hDIg8kelpHujuTL_VgTrFRJgog-tuCPa9XAcwxc0YcBk9N5KLUkCiFyxlqhSRZ__ndASG1qApCYBUGY5EVpRvys3ECQ/s1600/20150121_090851.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrc1O1FAKCmnCffthr2gGmGiDRP1V_f3ADsbSUl-78I6hDIg8kelpHujuTL_VgTrFRJgog-tuCPa9XAcwxc0YcBk9N5KLUkCiFyxlqhSRZ__ndASG1qApCYBUGY5EVpRvys3ECQ/s1600/20150121_090851.jpg&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  54. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  55. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  56. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  57. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil&lt;/div&gt;
  58. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  59. 1 dried red chili broken&lt;/div&gt;
  60. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  61. ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds&lt;/div&gt;
  62. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  63. Few pinches of asafetida &lt;/div&gt;
  64. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  65. 7-10 curry leaves&lt;/div&gt;
  66. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  67. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  68. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  69. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgZzMMtDjDw6GvC-d9pOW9zWPF8b51m659BQAja9_geZ0q7DFbbSEVqXXHYyV7aTZvrFievaJahMUmXJwPazF8fQJkvIdeUfiWuzlHQlKBA6Ogkez5V-kELF_b43L-51eB-whcw/s1600/20150121_074923.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgZzMMtDjDw6GvC-d9pOW9zWPF8b51m659BQAja9_geZ0q7DFbbSEVqXXHYyV7aTZvrFievaJahMUmXJwPazF8fQJkvIdeUfiWuzlHQlKBA6Ogkez5V-kELF_b43L-51eB-whcw/s1600/20150121_074923.jpg&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  70. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  71. Roast the karela pieces in a heavy-bottomed pan over a slow
  72. fire till the pieces r soft n have a roasted char at the edges. In a separate
  73. pan, heat the oil, add mustard seeds n red chili. When the seeds start
  74. spluttering, add the asafetida, curry leaves. Now add the karela pieces and
  75. sauté for a few minutes. Then add about ½ a cup of water, bring to boil n then
  76. simmer till the karela is almost cooked. Now add salt, ¾ of the tamarind
  77. extract and the jaggery. &amp;nbsp;Simmer till the jaggery has completely melted,
  78. then taste and adjust for salt sweet and sour. Now simmer some more till the
  79. gravy gets a thick, glossy texture (You can add more water if you like.) The
  80. longer you simmer, the better the taste. Now taste again and adjust.&lt;/div&gt;
  81. &lt;br /&gt;
  82. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  83. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  84. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  85. Remove from heat and serve with rice/chapatti, even bread. I often use it as a sauce, adding it to puffed rice, chiwda or just to a bowl of curd and using that as a dip with poppadoms or chips!&lt;/div&gt;
  86. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  87. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYENOzsoYyAux10jliNQHTHmVR_s5tb0PoAznCWiVMx6ZAlnt2H6oer6jhFqgFqllo4hRC-zx6pjJbgMtBed_Tee7AvZtj0mwvs6zl8Q3fkjIM2PuEKVXOkOPML9JbjW3_MvOi-Q/s1600/IMG_4145.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYENOzsoYyAux10jliNQHTHmVR_s5tb0PoAznCWiVMx6ZAlnt2H6oer6jhFqgFqllo4hRC-zx6pjJbgMtBed_Tee7AvZtj0mwvs6zl8Q3fkjIM2PuEKVXOkOPML9JbjW3_MvOi-Q/s1600/IMG_4145.JPG&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; width=&quot;640&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  88. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  89. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  90. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  91. This gojju keeps in the fridge for about 5-6 days if you store it in a clean jar after it is thoroughly cooled.&lt;/div&gt;
  92. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  93. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  94. &lt;/div&gt;
  95. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/4540618622942676115/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=4540618622942676115' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4540618622942676115'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4540618622942676115'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2015/01/when-in-doubt-gojju.html' title='When in doubt, gojju!'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PFkgsyexQR6w6i3gUBsya5OLLuHYoCLU2Ijdi_SbLDrLvBLjTfpOR28cI4FI3_FwUDENiUogW6Re1_Jo5S4BLGVy6e0oedZw7msNP-IkHrtea8TM3hlnDAtJXO3IpR9XZALQiw/s72-c/IMG_4144_1.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-1013287585373805724</id><published>2015-01-22T04:31:00.002-08:00</published><updated>2015-01-22T04:45:44.618-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Forbidden fruit.....</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;
  96. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  97. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  98. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  99. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  100. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  101. One of my clearest childhood memories was travelling by bus to my maternal grandmother&#39;s home in Karkala in Dakshin Karnataka. As we negotiated the Western ghats and neared &quot;home&quot;, at every halt, the hawkers would be buzzing all over the windows like flies. Selling all kinds of forbidden - and now almost extinct - things like goli soda, but especially golden-yellow, juicy slabs of a fruit in grubby glass jars&lt;/div&gt;
  102. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  103. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  104. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  105. &quot;Ananas! Ananas!&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
  106. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  107. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  108. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  109. More familiarly known as pineapple.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
  110. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  111. Like I said, &amp;nbsp;this was forbidden territory for my hyper-hygiene conscious father and so I never got to eat those sticky-delicious-dripping slabs of fruit, but my Doddamma&#39;s (Mom&#39;s elder sister) backyard had them growing all over the place.&lt;/div&gt;
  112. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  113. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  114. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  115. In other words, the pineapple is a popular fruit in Karnataka.&lt;/div&gt;
  116. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  117. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  118. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  119. &lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVqJvrDO2PIkm1gi98AnUceIp9AICIV5WRCbaklRMiPHskOr1xkBe4IwwgZM6ul73gUnWVint-eE0h_6gztA2Oi0OboN4vaypMmZNcbgRZuGHZd3-XOQblv5VNeI6Md4NOgJ5bg/s1600/100_3407.JPG&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  120. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  121. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  122. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  123. &lt;span style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;(pic from&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bangalore-city.blogspot.in/2007_08_01_archive.html&quot;&gt;http://bangalore-city.blogspot.in/2007_08_01_archive.html&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/div&gt;
  124. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  125. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  126. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  127. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  128. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  129. But the curious thing is that the word &quot;Ananas&quot; (which up until now I thought was a Tulu or Kannada word!) is also part of the botanical name for the fruit -&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Ananas comosus&lt;/i&gt;. And it comes from the word&amp;nbsp;&lt;i&gt;nananas, which&lt;/i&gt;&amp;nbsp;Tupi, a set of over 70 South American languages, means &quot;excellent fruit&quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  130. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  131. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  132. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  133. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;So, you guessed right. The pineapple originated in South America, somewhere between Brazil and Peru.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525; font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;And how did it get to India, so far back in time that its name has been&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;integrated&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525; font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;into the Tulu language?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  134. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  135. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525; font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;Well,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;apparently Columbus encountered it in the&amp;nbsp;Caribbean, then brought it to Europe and ultimately,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;Portuguese brought it&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  136. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  137. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  138. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  139. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;Voila. A much travelled fruit, that.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  140. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  141. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;And naturally, like most fruit, a great source of nutrients, especially vitamin C and some minerals like manganese.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  142. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  143. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  144. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  145. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;But, here in Karnataka, we eat this fruit in a very unique (some would say strange) way.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  146. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  147. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;We make a gojju out of it. (When in doubt, gojju, is what we Kannadigas say)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  148. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  149. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  150. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  151. &lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #252525;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: inherit;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;line-height: 22.3999996185303px;&quot;&gt;Now, now, now. Don&#39;t turn your nose up at that as you disdainfully sip your pina colada.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  152. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  153. This is actually - and strangely, i\I will have to admit - delicious. Especially when eaten with that other staple Dakshin Karnataka staple - red rice kanji!!&lt;/div&gt;
  154. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  155. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  156. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  157. So, here. Try it&lt;/div&gt;
  158. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  159. &amp;nbsp;Enjoy&lt;/div&gt;
  160. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  161. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  162. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  163. &lt;/div&gt;
  164. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  165. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQztXQOrk84KkvR9kFGhcfr8C0Z7YB-pA_dUqEbBIsOvT8cPrMh1E7MfdStsunPH_MloulO2EjIPHJUk3Z1KlNmCXdpfSZzTl2yO_uafgE0nKX1wjh7mWFNYUFTf2JN1l_d7dtg/s1600/2014-12-15+10.46.26.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQztXQOrk84KkvR9kFGhcfr8C0Z7YB-pA_dUqEbBIsOvT8cPrMh1E7MfdStsunPH_MloulO2EjIPHJUk3Z1KlNmCXdpfSZzTl2yO_uafgE0nKX1wjh7mWFNYUFTf2JN1l_d7dtg/s1600/2014-12-15+10.46.26.jpg&quot; height=&quot;640&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  166. &lt;br /&gt;
  167. &lt;br /&gt;
  168. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  169. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMwynnX616beZzm67ZqF54b0Dq_Ej1uuJkNdq5UAO-7zHqgXsoKmtl-jZv6Ozllw3-A3Vc20d3TOQlCnrowvg27nz772mdX3GP-uYp_BXgiLkfFFsrzYO7wBF6g2RCJ8MiwRCZA/s1600/20141215_093318.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMwynnX616beZzm67ZqF54b0Dq_Ej1uuJkNdq5UAO-7zHqgXsoKmtl-jZv6Ozllw3-A3Vc20d3TOQlCnrowvg27nz772mdX3GP-uYp_BXgiLkfFFsrzYO7wBF6g2RCJ8MiwRCZA/s1600/20141215_093318.jpg&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  170. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  171. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  172. &lt;br /&gt;
  173. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
  174. 1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, cleaned of all the ‘eyes’
  175. and diced into ½ in pieces&lt;/div&gt;
  176. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  177. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  178. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  179. Marble-sized ball of tamarind, soaked and then juice
  180. extracted&lt;/div&gt;
  181. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  182. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  183. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  184. About 3/4 cup of fresh coconut pieces&lt;/div&gt;
  185. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  186. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  187. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  188. ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder&lt;/div&gt;
  189. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  190. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  191. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  192. 2 tablespoons grated jaggery (the quantity of jaggery is completely dependent on
  193. how sweet you want your gojju, how sweet the pineapple is etc., etc. So I suggest you add about 75% first, taste,
  194. then add the rest if necessary, even increase if you like…)&lt;/div&gt;
  195. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  196. 1 tablespoon roasted gram (this is basically for thickening so you could add besan flour if you don’t have the gram)&lt;/div&gt;
  197. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  198. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  199. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  200. Salt to taste&lt;/div&gt;
  201. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  202. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  203. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  204. &lt;i&gt;For the gravy:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  205. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  206. Roast - &amp;nbsp;I find it best to roast each of these ingredients separately as each requires different roasting time n heat.&lt;/div&gt;
  207. &lt;div&gt;
  208. 1 tablespoon each of &amp;nbsp;coriander seeds, urad dal, channa dal
  209. (roast till light &amp;nbsp;brown and you get a roasted aroma)&lt;/div&gt;
  210. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  211. 1 teaspoon each of jeera, sesame, methi seeds (roast till
  212. light &amp;nbsp;brown and you get the roasted aroma)&lt;/div&gt;
  213. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
  214. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3S8mM3IWIgiRbkUDAI0fptan_-eyM62K9bi42nRgo9JnGq7roTcJhG9bUfH4Ki2L_b2ZyISUi9d5lCzO5hjInRyBmOt1aQkVRRiiDWzWRjjsLSlulXUj61pLuIcsz_Q-OJDc5g/s1600/20150106_182639.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3S8mM3IWIgiRbkUDAI0fptan_-eyM62K9bi42nRgo9JnGq7roTcJhG9bUfH4Ki2L_b2ZyISUi9d5lCzO5hjInRyBmOt1aQkVRRiiDWzWRjjsLSlulXUj61pLuIcsz_Q-OJDc5g/s1600/20150106_182639.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  215. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  216. 3-4 dried red chilies - roast till the chilies begin to char black and you get a roasted aroma. (This results in a fairly mild taste, so you can increase the number if you like a &#39;hotter&quot; taste)&lt;/div&gt;
  217. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  218. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  219. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  220. &lt;i&gt;For tempering:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  221. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  222. 1 -1 ½ tablespoons oil&lt;/div&gt;
  223. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  224. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds&lt;/div&gt;
  225. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  226. 7-10 curry leaves&lt;/div&gt;
  227. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  228. 1 dried red chili, broken into pieces&lt;/div&gt;
  229. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  230. Few pinches of asafetida&lt;/div&gt;
  231. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  232. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  233. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  234. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  235. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  236. &amp;nbsp;Grind together these roasted ingredients along the coconut,
  237. roasted gram n turmeric powder to a chutney-like consistency&lt;/div&gt;
  238. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  239. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  240. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  241. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  242. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  243. Heat oil, add red chili pieces, mustard seeds and asafetida. When
  244. the seeds begin to splutter, add the curry leaves. When they begin to crisp up
  245. n brown at the edges, add the pineapple pieces. Saute for about a minute, then
  246. add about a cup of water, bring to boil, then simmer. Since it is fruit, you
  247. can cook it to how soft you want it. (I like to keep it slightly crunchy). Then
  248. add the tamarind juice, salt and jiggery. Simmer for another minute r so.&lt;/div&gt;
  249. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  250. Now add the ground masala paste. Be sure to stir all the
  251. time and keep the heat low otherwise, the bottom of the curry will ‘catch” and
  252. burn. Cook, for about another 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly. Taste and
  253. adjust.&lt;/div&gt;
  254. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  255. Serve with hot rice or chapatti&lt;/div&gt;
  256. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;
  257. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  258. &lt;/div&gt;
  259. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/1013287585373805724/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=1013287585373805724' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/1013287585373805724'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/1013287585373805724'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2015/01/forbidden-fruit.html' title='Forbidden fruit.....'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVqJvrDO2PIkm1gi98AnUceIp9AICIV5WRCbaklRMiPHskOr1xkBe4IwwgZM6ul73gUnWVint-eE0h_6gztA2Oi0OboN4vaypMmZNcbgRZuGHZd3-XOQblv5VNeI6Md4NOgJ5bg/s72-c/100_3407.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-4464167134081660200</id><published>2010-12-26T07:17:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-12-26T07:17:13.611-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Pulse of Health!</title><content type='html'>There are two varieties of Bengal gram. The one developed in the Indian subcontinent is smaller in size with wrinkled black skin. The other, larger with pale brown skin, is developed in the Mediterranean and known as chickpea or garbanzo bean. In India, this variety is popularly called kabuli channa.&lt;br /&gt;
  260. &lt;br /&gt;
  261. The name &quot;Bengal gram&quot; was given  by the British because they first made its acquaintance in Bengal. But this pulse is of far greater antiquity. It has been found in several archaeological sites, two of the oldest being Çayonu, a Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey which existed from 7200 to 6600 BC, and Hacilar in south-western Turkey, dating back to 7040 BC.  In India, it has been found in excavations at the Harappan site of Kalibangan in Rajasthan (3500 BC). &lt;br /&gt;
  262. &lt;br /&gt;
  263. Like the rest of the family of pulses to which it belongs, the Bengal gram is an excellent source of both carbohydrate and protein, which are respectively the fuel and building blocks of the human body. But it is also packed with so many other healthful goodies that it can almost be a complete meal by itself. Moreover, the Bengal gram is the highest source of dietary fibre amongst all the commonly eaten foods in India, including cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables, with one cup of boiled Bengal gram providing as much as 60 per cent of the daily requirement. &lt;br /&gt;
  264. &lt;br /&gt;
  265. (Read more about this nutritious pulse in my book &quot;How the Banana Went to Heaven)&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1_2hHIbqCCukUymv0-Ole4SnXat1yt1X9Hc6PCjOhbw8SIkhAKs5DDynQUMMgsKIZ-ERzEIBfZGRBkos6LR-a93cteJok2VH785vtffHd65rIO04C-_AEvauVldMTWBI6IekSg/s1600/Chickpea+curry.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1_2hHIbqCCukUymv0-Ole4SnXat1yt1X9Hc6PCjOhbw8SIkhAKs5DDynQUMMgsKIZ-ERzEIBfZGRBkos6LR-a93cteJok2VH785vtffHd65rIO04C-_AEvauVldMTWBI6IekSg/s320/Chickpea+curry.JPG&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  266. &lt;br /&gt;
  267. &lt;br /&gt;
  268. My mum makes a very simple but very delicious dish with this channa (the firangis call it chickpeas or garbanzo peas)&lt;br /&gt;
  269. Recipe -&lt;br /&gt;
  270. 1. Soak 2 cups kabuli channa overnight in water&lt;br /&gt;
  271. 2. Boil till cooked to a beautiful buttery softness.&lt;br /&gt;
  272. 3. Add juice from marble-sized ball of tamarind soaked in warm water for about 10-15 minutes&lt;br /&gt;
  273. 3. Add about a cup of water (adjust depending on how much &quot;soup&quot; you want, salt, 2-3 chopped, green chilies, 4-5 cloves of garlic&lt;br /&gt;
  274. 4. Simmer for about 2-3 mintues&lt;br /&gt;
  275. 5. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil, add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1/2 broken red chili. When mustard starts to splutter, add pinch of hing (asefoetida) and 5-7 curry leaves.&lt;br /&gt;
  276. 6. After a few seconds, remove from heat and add to the kabuli channa soup. Add a tablespoon or so finely chopped fresh coriander, simmer for another few seconds&lt;br /&gt;
  277. &lt;br /&gt;
  278. Serve piping hot with plain steamed rice or chappati or hot buttered toast</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/4464167134081660200/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=4464167134081660200' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4464167134081660200'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4464167134081660200'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2010/12/pulse-of-health.html' title='The Pulse of Health!'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1_2hHIbqCCukUymv0-Ole4SnXat1yt1X9Hc6PCjOhbw8SIkhAKs5DDynQUMMgsKIZ-ERzEIBfZGRBkos6LR-a93cteJok2VH785vtffHd65rIO04C-_AEvauVldMTWBI6IekSg/s72-c/Chickpea+curry.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-8236321943732668198</id><published>2010-12-19T05:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-12-19T05:19:08.263-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Goddess Gourd</title><content type='html'>You wouldn’t think that a food that is more than 96 per cent water (another one of the white pumpkin’s Sanskrit names is kumbhaphala, meaning ‘waterpot fruit’!) would be able to pack in much in the way of nutrition.  But like many other members of the gourd family (cucumber, watermelon, bottle gourd, etcetera) to which it belongs, the white pumpkin is loaded with nutrients. It is an excellent source of thiamine (vitamin B1) and a good source of niacin (B3) and Vitamin C. It also has good amounts of many minerals like calcium and potassium. And the fact that it has almost no calories makes it both the nutritionist’s and the dietician’s dream.&lt;br /&gt;
  279. &lt;br /&gt;
  280. (For more detials, see my book &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westlandbooks.in/book_details.php?cat_id=3&amp;book_id=222&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;
  281. &lt;br /&gt;
  282. This is simple, delicious curry that goes well both with plain steamed rice, roti or even bread.&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEsNk3_GBS_7EURzGiwH8B1wF5_h80ZKvSZEwhxq3hUsUWRvIGdbg1KUqn-MMPC_yHnqRIb8dkeUG5RJr6UJwYCI26m5_gNtTa-WS0WPwu_qpAk0AKpF3CkQ-z7KsGo6D2HqVYg/s1600/white+pumpkin.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; width=&quot;256&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEsNk3_GBS_7EURzGiwH8B1wF5_h80ZKvSZEwhxq3hUsUWRvIGdbg1KUqn-MMPC_yHnqRIb8dkeUG5RJr6UJwYCI26m5_gNtTa-WS0WPwu_qpAk0AKpF3CkQ-z7KsGo6D2HqVYg/s320/white+pumpkin.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  283. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWECLRQJgx2Nr0Se1mreaa1r30rezX68XO28Ere3QcU8syZZ-RQce-e1StfzewR7CjpaJxq8LpdVQdyJBl6SB019auFM62GO6GOXW_wZ3wYqvCEABX9-yEvEhM0dtt40vbXmAKw/s1600/white+pumpkin+curry.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWECLRQJgx2Nr0Se1mreaa1r30rezX68XO28Ere3QcU8syZZ-RQce-e1StfzewR7CjpaJxq8LpdVQdyJBl6SB019auFM62GO6GOXW_wZ3wYqvCEABX9-yEvEhM0dtt40vbXmAKw/s320/white+pumpkin+curry.JPG&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  284. &lt;br /&gt;
  285. White Pumpkin Curry&lt;br /&gt;
  286. &lt;br /&gt;
  287. 1/2 kg white pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes&lt;br /&gt;
  288. &lt;br /&gt;
  289. For the masala&lt;br /&gt;
  290. &lt;br /&gt;
  291. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds&lt;br /&gt;
  292. &lt;br /&gt;
  293. 1 tablespoon urad dal (black gram)&lt;br /&gt;
  294. &lt;br /&gt;
  295. 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera)&lt;br /&gt;
  296. &lt;br /&gt;
  297. 3 dried red chilies&lt;br /&gt;
  298. &lt;br /&gt;
  299. 3/4 cup fresh coconut&lt;br /&gt;
  300. &lt;br /&gt;
  301. 1/2 inch piece of tamarind&lt;br /&gt;
  302. &lt;br /&gt;
  303. 1/2 tablespoon of grated jaggery (adjust to taste or skip altogether)&lt;br /&gt;
  304. &lt;br /&gt;
  305. salt to taste&lt;br /&gt;
  306. &lt;br /&gt;
  307. For seasoning&lt;br /&gt;
  308. &lt;br /&gt;
  309. 1 tablespoon oil&lt;br /&gt;
  310. &lt;br /&gt;
  311. 3/4 teaspoon mustard seeds&lt;br /&gt;
  312. &lt;br /&gt;
  313. 1/2 dried red chilli, broken into pieces&lt;br /&gt;
  314. &lt;br /&gt;
  315. Pinch of asafoetida&lt;br /&gt;
  316. &lt;br /&gt;
  317. 7-8 curry leaves&lt;br /&gt;
  318. &lt;br /&gt;
  319. Method&lt;br /&gt;
  320. &lt;br /&gt;
  321. Boil the pumpkin pieces in about half a cup of water till cooked. Roast the coriander seeds, urad dal, cumin and red chillies till you get a roasted smell and the coriander seeds and urad dal darken in colour. Grind into chutney consistency with the coconut and tamarind.&lt;br /&gt;
  322. &lt;br /&gt;
  323. Add to the cooked pumpkin pieces along with salt, grated jaggery and a little water to make a curry and simmer over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Heat the oil, add the red chilli pieces and mustard. When the seeds start to splutter, add the asafoetida. When the stop spluttering, add the curry leaves. Remove from heat after a few seconds and add to the curry.&lt;br /&gt;
  324. &lt;br /&gt;
  325. Remove from heat and serve with plain steamed rice</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/8236321943732668198/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=8236321943732668198' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8236321943732668198'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8236321943732668198'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2010/12/goddess-gourd.html' title='Goddess Gourd'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEsNk3_GBS_7EURzGiwH8B1wF5_h80ZKvSZEwhxq3hUsUWRvIGdbg1KUqn-MMPC_yHnqRIb8dkeUG5RJr6UJwYCI26m5_gNtTa-WS0WPwu_qpAk0AKpF3CkQ-z7KsGo6D2HqVYg/s72-c/white+pumpkin.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-7006508644319317601</id><published>2010-11-12T09:14:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2010-11-12T09:14:48.656-08:00</updated><title type='text'>What’s in your child’s tiffin box?</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The inspiration to write this piece came from a recent chat with my friendly neighbourhood grocer. I was asking him about the rapid proliferation of piles of ‘bakery items’ on his shop counter. Bread, buns, biscuits etc., - the sweeter, the better. He explained that he was only catering to market forces because increasingly the standard fare inside kids’ school tiffin boxes went something like this. White bread slathered with butter and a ghastly, maroon-coloured gooey substance that is euphemistically marketed as mixed fruit jam. (Hah!) And in case the whole thing isn’t sweet enough for your little darling, sugar is also sprinkled liberally inside!&amp;#160; The World Health Organization politely describes such hideous concoctions as ‘energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, (which) combined with reduced physical activity have led to obesity rates that have risen three-fold or more since 1980’. My less polite definition is “junk food”. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Or even more appropriately “poison”. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Childhood obesity is no longer something that we can look at fat American kids and sneer about. It’s a monster that is making itself very, very comfortable on the drawing sofa right next to your kids as they sit glued watching Cartoon Network or even worse, a saas-bahu serial. And in case you aren’t worried as yet, this should do the trick.    &lt;br /&gt;One in every 10 children in urban India is overweight. Recent studies at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have confirmed that childhood obesity leads to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, liver and gall bladder diseases and reproductive disorders, only to name a few. And as much as we’d like to blame it on all those “kurkure” ads needling our kids as to whether they’re “hungry, kya?” or peer pressure (“if Arjun’s mom can put chips in his tiffin box, why can’t you?”), the fault, my dear mummies and daddies lies squarely with us. For example, many times have you taken the easy way out and filled your kid’s school tiffin box&amp;#160; that jam sandwich or other such 2-minute nutritional horrors ? How much time do you spend getting your kids to eat healthy compared to what you spend on their&amp;#160; homework? Okay, don’t answer the question but&amp;#160; consider these facts.     &lt;br /&gt;1. A fat kid is a fat adult and an unhealthy adult.     &lt;br /&gt;What your kids eat today will determine what they will eat as adults because dietary habits and food preferences - which naturally determine nutrition - are generally developed in early childhood and particularly during adolescence.&amp;#160; 80% of fat kids end up as adult fatties.     &lt;br /&gt;2. Kids have small stomachs…..     &lt;br /&gt;Look at your kid’s stomach. Just to remind yourself that they need to eat more often than you do. So snacks and school tiffin boxes are very important sources of nutrition     &lt;br /&gt;3. …..but big nutritional needs     &lt;br /&gt;It’s common sense, really. Growth needs extra nourishment. So children need extra of all nutrients but especially extra helpings of energy, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins A, B, C and folate.&amp;#160; &lt;br /&gt;4. Malnutritioned children aren’t necessarily poor and thin.     &lt;br /&gt;A study found that approximately 50% middle-income school children suffer from multiple micronutrient deficiency. So more important than how much your kids eat is what they eat.     &lt;br /&gt;Starting August 1st is World Breastfeeding Week - to impress upon us that this very first act of a mother is so important for the child that a recent New York Times article (‘Breast Feed or else… ‘)quoted a US Health department spokesperson as saying that just like it&#39;s risky to smoke during pregnancy, it&#39;s risky not to breast-feed afterwards! Because children who are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their life grow up to be smarter, happier, healthier adults, protected not only from heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and some cancers but also obesity.     &lt;br /&gt;But what does breastfeeding have to do with my our kids’ tiffin boxes? Well, for one thing, the words&amp;#160; ‘nutritious’, ‘nutrition’ etc., all have the same etymological mother which is the Latin word &lt;em&gt;nutrire&lt;/em&gt; which means ‘to suckle’ or breast feed.&amp;#160; So, nourishment is the very first gift that we give our children. And what Nature begins so beautifully in breast milk, we must continue. Into each mealtime. And into every lunch and tiffin box. Because what we feed our children will determine their future as much as what kind of education we give them. And it is really quite simple. Nature has already done most of the work for us by providing us a limitless cornucopia of wonderfully nutritious and delicious foods. We just need to stir in a few teaspoons of imagination, simmer gently in a few cups of love and garnish with a few pinches of cunning to make good health go down.     &lt;br /&gt;So today, I present 2 simple recipes for kids’ tiffin boxes. They are simple, delicious and keep in mind that school day mornings are always a crazy rush, that it often ain’t easy making palak and milk go down…     &lt;br /&gt;Bon Appetit !     &lt;br /&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; *******    &lt;br /&gt;RECIPES     &lt;br /&gt;Scrambled Paneer Rolls     &lt;br /&gt;Calcium is a very important nutrient for children, especially for teenagers and girls because it builds healthy teeth and bones. Did you know that about 45% of the adult skeleton is formed during adolescence? Green leafy vegetables, potaoes, lentils like mung and channa dal and sesame seeds are excellent sources….and of course milk. Now, many kids hate milk, so milk products are good alternatives. Like paneer. Nutritious, delicious and very versatile – works as stuffing inside anything from parathas to sandwiches, as bhaji or curry or if you make the paneer at home from skimmed cow’s milk, just by itself, dipped in sauce or chutney. The bonus? Kids love it!     &lt;br /&gt;To make 4 rolls     &lt;br /&gt;4 thin rotis (you can use leftover ones)     &lt;br /&gt;1 cup of fresh paneer (aboiout 200gms) crumbled coarsely     &lt;br /&gt;1 small onion diced finely     &lt;br /&gt;Pinch of turmeric     &lt;br /&gt;Pinch of aesfotida     &lt;br /&gt;1 green chili (optional), finely chopped     &lt;br /&gt;1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander     &lt;br /&gt;¼ piece of ginger finely diced     &lt;br /&gt;1 tablespoon oil     &lt;br /&gt;Salt to taste     &lt;br /&gt;Heat the oil and fry onions, ginger, chili, turmeric, salt till onions are just transparent and crunchy. Add panner and fry for another 30 seconds or so till the paneer turns slightly soft. Add corainder, stir and take off heat. Allow to cool. Warm the rotis slightly, apply a little butter. Place about a tablespoon of the scrambled paneer in the centre. Carefully make into rolls, tucking in both ends well so that the filling doesn’t fall out. Serve with tomato sauce or pudina chutney.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Popeye Dosas    &lt;br /&gt;Green leafy vegetables. Perhaps the only things as nutritious as fruits and excellent sources of antioxidants and micronutrients – especialy iron. Which kids need for healthy blood and muscle development and did you know that almost two-thirds of Indian children suffer from iron deficiency ? the way to get kids to eat them is to combine with other foods – add to dals, chapati dough, other vegetables like carrot, potato etc. Or then as these lickety-split quick and delicious dosas     &lt;br /&gt;To make 6-8 dosas     &lt;br /&gt;½ cup each of rice, wheat, chickpea and ragi flour     &lt;br /&gt;1 small bunch palak, wsahed cleaned and finely chopped     &lt;br /&gt;1 green chili finely chopped (optional)     &lt;br /&gt;Pinch of aesfotida     &lt;br /&gt;1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander     &lt;br /&gt;¼ piece of ginger finely diced     &lt;br /&gt;Salt to taste     &lt;br /&gt;Mix all the ingredients with water to make dosa batter. Make dosas. Delicious with just butter or tomato sauce or coconut chutney&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;Top 5 snacking habits to develop in your kids&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;1. Fruit – if you can get your kids to love fruit, more than half your battle is won. They are perhaps the most nutritious foods on earth. And it doesn’t have to be apples to keep the doctor away – mango, banana, papaya, pomegranates all do equally well.    &lt;br /&gt;2. Nuts – raw or just lightly roasted (peanuts)and without salt. Great sources of protein, the B vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.     &lt;br /&gt;3. Curds – a great home snack. One of the best sources of calcium, potassium and phosphorus, many of the vitamins B. But most of all, curd is a probiotic food which means lots of good, friendly bacteria to keep your little darlings’ digestive system happy and healthy! Jazz it up with mashed banana, boiled potato or even cornflakes or puffed rice and a dash of chat masala or pudina chutney. Or then, just serve plain…     &lt;br /&gt;4. Idlis, dhoklas and other such fermented and steamed snacks. Also probiotic food, but the cereal and lentil content make them excellent sources of protein, carbohydrates and micronutrients like the B vitamins, folate, calcium copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous and zinc etc     &lt;br /&gt;5. Buttermilk – fruit juices are great but cumbersome to make and often expensive. Buttermilk on the other hand is cheap,easy to whip up and like curd, fabulously nutritious.&lt;/p&gt;  </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/7006508644319317601/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=7006508644319317601' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/7006508644319317601'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/7006508644319317601'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2010/11/whats-in-your-childs-tiffin-box.html' title='What’s in your child’s tiffin box?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-5924289925948422920</id><published>2008-12-17T21:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-17T21:21:37.818-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Health"/><title type='text'>The Magical Oil Bath!</title><content type='html'>You’d think that the prerequisite for an “oil bath” would be…well, oil, right? Well, that too, but the way it was in my maternal grandfather’s house, oil (lots of it, naturally) was only one of the ingredients. Indispensable were also at least one able-bodied minion with strong, sure hands and lots of stamina, gallons and gallons of hot water bubbling away in a copper cauldron a little smaller than an average Mumbai flat and chickpea flour (besan ka atta). More about the chickpea flour later. First the oil bath…&lt;br /&gt;There were so many members in the joint family that lived in our ancestral home (my mother says at least about 30-35) of which my grandfather was yajamana (head) that the weekly oil bath had to happen in batches. Naturally, the women were in a separate batch and the men and the chilte-pilte (Kannada slang for bunch of kids) were in the privileged lot. Which meant that other than taking their clothes off (the men retained just a skimpy cotton langoti), everything else was done by the minions. Naturally, as the yajamana, my grandfather went first. My mother says that he made an impressive sight. He was a short, bald man and but stripped down to his almost-altogether, what hit the eye was the gold – in his ears, around his neck, circling his wrists and on his fingers and even around his rather substantial belly.&lt;br /&gt;But even the gold had to step aside for the oil….&lt;br /&gt;It was a magnum opus that lasted at least an hour. First, his entire body was vigorously massaged with warm oil. Of course the only thing that my grandfather did was to occasionally proffer a limb or make a body part more accessible. The actual massaging was done by the minion. Who, I’ll have you know, was often a woman called Monti! Yeah, I gasped too when my mother told me this but at the time, nobody thought that it was the slightest bit “odd”, just the most natural thing. Anyway, once the oil massage was done to everyone’s satisfaction (my grandfather’s and the minion’s), it was time for that chickpea flour. Yup, no new fangled stuff like soap to take the oil off. It had to be lashings of chickpea flour, which was rubbed – naturally by the minion – into the skin almost as vigorously and lavishly as the oil. Remember, these were days when probably the word “face scrub” and “exfoliate” hadn’t even entered the average Western beautician’s dictionary but in my grandfather’s house, they knew a thing or two about skincare. Because when the whole enchilada was finally washed off with the almost boiling hot water from the copper cauldron, the skin emerged beautifully soft, moist and tender as a baby’s bottom, glowing and ever so slightly flushed and tingling, wearing the faintest, gentlest patina of oil that lingered the whole day like a sweet memory. Which was, you could say, also roughly the state of the mind. &lt;br /&gt;So what’s the big deal about these “oil baths” and why do the Southies get so glassy-eyed with ecstasy about it? Well, technically the term is a misnomer and only a dye-in-blood South Indian will understand what it means. Namely that we don’t bath in oil, as the term might suggest to the uninitiated (and how sorry I feel for them!). But that we first anoint, slather, soak and massage every known body part accessible within the bounds of decency with warm oil, mostly in full public view in a sort of Sunday morning family event. When we can lug ourselves out of the euphoric, dreamy haze that it induces, we wash it all off with oceans of hot water and then often totter off to a hot lunch, finished off by cool buttermilk only slightly less in quantity than the hot water that we bathed in. Finally, to a crescendo of gutsy, blissful sighs, we finally sink into a Kumbhakarna siesta from which we awake ready to face anything. World War 3 or a Rakhi Sawant video. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But please don’t be misled by my jocular tone because an oil bath is actually some very serious business of therapy and healing. You see, it all goes back to the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. And Ayurveda, like yoga, is not just a system of medicine but a way of life. So, it prescribes not only for the sick to heal, but also for the healthy to stay healthy. In Ayurveda, health is a state where the body is in harmony not only with its own nature but also with the nature outside. And since everything including life itself is constantly changing, this is considered as a dynamic state of being, a balancing act where you have to constantly adjust and fine tune your body not just by its doshas, not just by the season but even on a daily basis. So dinacharya is the daily morning ritual that Ayurveda prescribes that readies you both in body and spirit to face the day. And an “oil bath” or rather massaging yourself with oil before your bath is the integral part of it. So, once upon a time, an “oil bath” was a daily event. With time, it became a weekly thing and now, it’s almost a forgotten thing, remembered perhaps once a year on Diwali day, when a little oil is ritualistically applied on the head.&lt;br /&gt;So why is this “oil bath” so important and what does it do, therapeutically speaking? Naturally it all begins with the skin, the body’s largest organ and the main organ of our sense of touch. Touch has been used since time immemorial as an important method of healing, especially in the world’s two most ancient systems of medicine, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine and massage or abhyanaga is one of them. When the body is massaged, the very first thing that happens is almost instant and complete relaxation.  because the human skin is loaded with nerve endings, the receptors that receive and transmit all sensation to the brain. There are roughly 350 such nerve endings in each square millimeter of human skin, the hands being supersensitive with each fingertip having more than 3,000 touch receptors. &lt;br /&gt;So, in an oil massage, skin first meets skin, introduced by warm, silky oil. It has been said that the effects of an oil massage are similar to being intensely loved. And love it has to be because in Ayurveda, oil is called sneha, which also means love. So skin begins to love skin, one surrendering and allowing the fingertips to caress and press, rub and probe gently, even gently pinch; the palms to knead and press and smooth. According to Ayurveda, for the sneha – and we could well be referring both oil and love! - to reach the deepest layers, it must be massaged for 800 matras or roughly 5 minutes. Naturally because as we all know, you can’t hurry love. And thus loved and pampered, the blissed out skin begins to send a flood of messages to the brain to relax, wind down, let go. Now these messages get stored forever in the memory of the skin so that with every repetition of a massage, the skin remembers and the relaxation is quicker and easier. Massaging also generates body heat, which stimulates the millions of blood vessels located just below the surface of the skin. The act of rubbing the skin’s surface with oil also knocks off the build of layers of dead skin cells, leaving your skin soft and glowing. Incidentally, did you know that the skin sheds 500 million dead cells every day?!.&lt;br /&gt;Okay, so that’s the obvious stuff. But what if I tell you that the daily oil massage also stimulates almost every critical body part or system - the muscles, the nervous system, even the respiratory system because as the body relaxes, your breathing slows and calms down, improving the oxygenation of the cells. It kick starts vital organs and gets the prana energy flowing, all of which results in a general feeling of being rejuvenated and energized. It’s like waking up the inside of you just the way you do every morning!&lt;br /&gt;And we’ve only just begun. &lt;br /&gt;Because the oil massage is also a great way to detoxify. Toxins accumulate in the body for a lot of reasons – stress, food, environmental pollution, lack of exercise, the effect of seasons and according Ayurveda, the imbalance of our own doshas, etc., etc. Their accumulation is the cause of much that ails us; in fact Ayurveda considers this the root of all disease – from arthritis to diabetes to urinary disorders. So, the act of massaging activates the body to start getting rid of its waste and toxins in different ways. By making you sweat gently. By getting that circulation up and running and most importantly, by waking up sluggish intestines and bowels!&lt;br /&gt;Last but most importantly, an oil massage is a bit like your TV remote control. There is a sloka in Ayurveda which says, &lt;br /&gt;“Shirah shravana padeshu&lt;br /&gt;Tam visheshena sheelayet.“  &lt;br /&gt;Roughly translated it means that 3 areas of the body must be massaged are the head, the ears and the feet. Because you see, with these 3 areas, we can access the deepest interiors of our body to almost every organ and gland to retune and reset them. You’re thinking, the head makes sense because that’s where the brain as well important endocrine glands like the pituitary and the pineal glands are located. But the feet? And even curiouser, the ears? Ah, according to Ayurveda, these two areas (along with others like the hands) are considered vital junction boxes connected to the entire body. For example, points all over the outer ear or the visible portion of the ear are considered connected to almost all the major organs and glands in the body including heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, liver, pancreas, gall bladder reproductive organs, the thyroid, prostrate and pituitary glands. The ear lobes are connected to the eyes and teeth. &lt;br /&gt;The feet are no less important. The big toe gives us access the brain and helps vision. The index toe releases energy into the lungs. The third toe gets us access to the intestines, the fourth to the kidney and the little toe to …..believe it or not, the heart. And on the sole of each foot are 4 of the 107 marma points, vital points of the body, so vital that hitting them can grievously injure, even kill - as is done in Kerala’s ancient art of Kalaripayyat.&lt;br /&gt;And these are only some of the physical benefits of an “oil bath”. Did I mention that it also helps improve vitality, strength, stamina, concentration, flexibility, youthfulness, makes you sleep like a baby, feel good about yourself …..oh, what the heck, let me just quote the wise sage Charaka himself,&lt;br /&gt;&quot;The body of one who uses oil massage regularly is  affected much even if subjected to injury or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age.&quot; Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V: 88-89&lt;br /&gt;Isn’t it breathtaking how exquisitely simple it all is? How far just a few cupfuls of warm, sweet sneha and a pair of sure, loving hands can take you down the happy road to health and well being? I have this sneaking suspicion that my passionate and life long affair with music began because as a baby, every morning before a bath, my ayah would give me an oil massage so thorough and so delightful that like my grandfather’s elder sister-in-law, I’d fall into a deep, ecstatic exhausted slumber afterwards. While massaging me, she’d sing a song. It was concieved when Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker went to Calcutta and one morning watched a local maalish-wala show off his talents.  Guru Dutt asked Johnny Walker to remember the scene. He did and it appeared as this song in the classic 1957 film Pyaasa and became so famous that a song with Johnny Walker became mandatory in the formula Hindi film box office hit. The lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi puts it a little differently but is as eloquent as the sage Charaka on the benefits of an oil massage…..&lt;br /&gt;Sar jo tera chakraaye, ya dil dooba jaaye&lt;br /&gt;Aaja pyaare paas hamaare, kaahe ghabraaye.. kaahe ghabraaye&lt;br /&gt;Sun sun sun, are beta sun, is champi mein bade bade gun &lt;br /&gt;Laakh dukhon ki ek dava hai kyoon na aazmaaye&lt;br /&gt;Kaahe ghabraaye, kaahe ghabraaye&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(In consultation with Dr. C. S. Anil Kumar – B.A.M.S., M.D., (Ay) D.N.Y., Physician Consultant in Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy and Professor at JSS Ayurvedic Medical College, Mysore.)</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/5924289925948422920/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=5924289925948422920' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/5924289925948422920'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/5924289925948422920'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2008/12/magical-oil-bath.html' title='The Magical Oil Bath!'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-3410308856832419800</id><published>2007-08-08T01:43:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-14T17:38:07.038-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Health"/><title type='text'>A Mother&#39;s Blessing For Life</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXN4WW447NkSUgcxUJ5iggunmHUDl-V1eYpfzh_xWOXoQVfviSxDKxKRSzI_dfbr28MD_e2CMQIzLa6pZ-bRAT-dku1byoR4iMtvo08suv0d6X1wZltvlSK5AM56f5lVsCLO9oWQ/s1600-h/bfeeding.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXN4WW447NkSUgcxUJ5iggunmHUDl-V1eYpfzh_xWOXoQVfviSxDKxKRSzI_dfbr28MD_e2CMQIzLa6pZ-bRAT-dku1byoR4iMtvo08suv0d6X1wZltvlSK5AM56f5lVsCLO9oWQ/s320/bfeeding.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096247944392152242&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Mother’s Blessing for Life&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We were &quot;celebrating&quot; Breast Feeding week from August 1 till yesterday....and India&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three.&quot; - Dr. Grantly Dick-Read&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The word mammal is from the Latin “mammālis”, meaning “of the breast” and so a mammal – which includes us humans - is characterized by milk-producing mammary glands in the female for nourishing its young. You’re thinking – is this really the place for a piece on breastfeeding? I’m saying – in a country a baby is born almost every 2 seconds, everybody is either having a baby or knows someone who is about to. So, getting your breastfeeding primer updated is going to come handy, one way or another.&lt;br /&gt;Now we all have a vague idea that breastfeeding is somehow good for the baby. But UNICEF is a tad more specific about it. “ If every baby were exclusively breastfed from birth for 6 months, an estimated 1.5 million lives would be saved each year. Not just saved but enhanced, because breast milk is the perfect food for a baby&quot;s first 6 months of life - no manufactured product can equal it.”&lt;br /&gt;Really? Nothing but breast milk for the first six months of a baby’s life?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mummy knows best…&lt;br /&gt;This is how all other mammals rear their young and so why should we humans be any different. And to underscore that point, the experts recommend that breastfeeding should start within the first hour of the baby being born, preferably in the first 30 minutes. Mainly because in the first 2-3 days after birth, the mother’s breast produces colostrum, Nature’s most wonderful gift to the life that’s just begun. Colostrum is the perfect first food for the newborn, low in fat, and high in carbohydrates, protein and easy to digest. Besides, it has a laxative effect, helping the baby to pass early stools and excrete excess bilirubin which can cause jaundice. Colostrum is also the baby&quot;s first immunization because it is loaded with leukocytes, disease fighting protective white cells and IgA, a major antibody. Finally, it protects the baby’s extremely fragile and vulnerable digestive tract, “painting” it with a barrier that seals it against infections.&lt;br /&gt;No wonder then that doctors insist that nothing should be given before that all-important first breastfeed.&lt;br /&gt;And till the baby is 6 months old, breast milk is the perfect and only food that the baby needs. For many reasons.&lt;br /&gt;Nutritionally, breast milk is the perfect formula - the right kind of proteins, fats, lactose, vitamins, minerals, water and all other nutrients in the right mix.&lt;br /&gt;Breast milk is Nature’s ready-to-eat food – available whenever the baby wants it. And you don’t even have to “heat and serve because the temperature is perfect for the baby’s delicate mouth. The IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network) poster promoting breastfeeding in Canada shows a pair of beautiful breasts with the slogan “Fast food outlets”!&lt;br /&gt;Breast milk is not just free; it’s also free from any kind of contamination.&lt;br /&gt;Breastfeeding protects the child against several childhood infections, many of them life-threatening. In the first 2 months of life, an infant who is not exclusively breastfed is up to 25 times more likely to die from diarrhoea and 4 times more likely to die from pneumonia than a breastfed baby.&lt;br /&gt;Breastfeeding ensures a better immune system, making the baby respond better to vaccination&lt;br /&gt;Most of all, breast milk is more than just baby food. It is also that other immeasurably wonderful nutrient – mother’s love. There is nothing more tender and loving than the act of a mother gently cuddling her baby to her warm, soft body. And the baby cannot but respond. So, a breastfed baby is not only a healthy baby but a blissfully happy one too!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“But what if Mummy doesn’t have enough?”&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Breastfeeding is an unsentimental metaphor for how love works, in a way. You don&quot;t decide how much and how deeply to love--you respond to the beloved, and give with joy exactly as much as they want.&quot; - Marni Jackson, columnist and author of The Mother Zone&lt;br /&gt;This the most prevalent and unfortunate myth about breast feeding and the constant worry is that maybe the baby is not getting enough milk when it is breast fed. And even more unfortunately, one of the single biggest stumbling block to the adequate production of breast milk is the mother’s own anxiety that she is not producing enough milk for her baby. And that is the ultimate irony. Because, breast feeding itself promotes the production of breast milk. It is the sucking action of the baby’s mouth that causes the production of the hormone prolactin which in turn produces the milk. So, the more a baby suckles, the more milk is produced. Which is the other reason why experts insist that the baby should be breast fed within 30-60 minutes of being born. This is when the baby&quot;s suckling reflex is strongest, and the baby is more alert.&lt;br /&gt;Now about “enough”. Barring conditions like severe maternal malnutrition and anemia, too many pregnancies, almost every mother can exclusively breast feed.  And there are 2 very simple and easy indicators to show that your baby is well fed. First, if it urinates at least 7-10 in 24 hrs. And second, if it is putting on weight - at the rate of an average of ½ kg per month in the first 6-7 months.&lt;br /&gt;Oh, there is no other thing that inhibits the production of breast milk – the use of pacifiers or bottles. The sucking action required for these is very different from suckling at the breast.  So, the baby gets confused, doesn’t suckle the breast properly causing the mother to produce less breastmilk.&lt;br /&gt; If that hasn’t already answered that often asked question of why not combine breast feeding with bottle feeding, let me elaborate…..&lt;br /&gt;Hitting the bottle&lt;br /&gt;We humans are a strange bunch. We throw away what is natural and free and healthy and pay money for unhealthy substitutes. The global annual sales baby food amounts to 16.5 billion dollars. (Coke and associated brands sell 15 billion dollars annually) The negative effects of bottle feeding and/or feeding a baby anything other than breast milk (including malnutrition and exposure to life-threatening infections) for the first 6 months of its life are so many and so serious that the World Health Assembly passed the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981. The attempt was to stop the damage to breastfeeding through the promotion of substitute products. The Indian government passed the Infant Milk Substitute Act in 1992 and further amended it in 2003 so that it prohibits the marketing of all kinds of foods for babies younger than 2 years of age.&lt;br /&gt;Now you know why I said, “hitting the bottle…”&lt;br /&gt;Blessed for life&lt;br /&gt;The blessings that we always seek and crave for is that of our mother’s – unconditional, pure, complete and lifelong. Like breast milk. Because its effects are life long. Research now shows that children who have been breastfed grow up to be adults that:&lt;br /&gt;Are Smarter – The longer you breast feed, the more it increases your child’s IQ, reading comprehension, mathematical ability, and scholastic ability – a result of the special “fatty acids&quot; in breast milk. Remember, by age 6, which is when children generally start school, most of the brain&quot;s neural connections are already made&lt;br /&gt;Can see better – again, it’s those special “fatty acids&quot; that make the eyes bright, the eyesight sharp.&lt;br /&gt;Are healthier - Children who are breastfed for 1 year or longer have 50% less risk of being diabetic compared to children fed less than one year. Breast fed children also have significantly lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers in adult life&lt;br /&gt;Are thinner Breastfeeding reduces the incidence of adult obesity.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are politely called a “developing” country. Put in harsher language, many of us are poor, some barely managing two proper meals in a day and never you mind what they are saying about our GDP being the 3rd  largest in the world. With poverty comes disease and deprivation. And the most cruelly affected are little children - 50% of Indian children under the age of 3 are malnourished and of the 27 million children born every year, 16 % will die before they are 5. But, as long as a mother can breast feed, developing country or not, she can never be poor, capable of showering her feed her child the wealth of love and health that will last a lifetime. (Valued at the cost of fresh animal milk (Rs. 15 per liter), annual market value of realistic production of breastmilk in India would be about Rs 5916 crores or roughly the 2005-2006 budget allocation for Agriculture!)&lt;br /&gt;But sadly, today, 54.2% of Indian mothers exclusively breast feed their babies till the age of 3 months and that figure drops to 19.4 % for babies aged 4-6 months.&lt;br /&gt;Breastfeeding is an ancient tradition in our land. It’s time we went back to it. To protect our greatest, most precious and yet most vulnerable national treasure – our children.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Grateful thanks to Dr. Shobha Banapurmath who not only sugge0sted the idea for this article and provided support and material. She is a pediatrician, representing BPNI or the Breast Promotion Network of India, “a national network of organizations and individuals dedicated to promote mother and child health through protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            *************&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Breast feeding primer&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;    * Till your baby is 6 months old, ONLY breast feed. No other food or drink, not even water, is usually needed during this period&lt;br /&gt;    * Breastfeed immediately after birth preferably within 30-60 of birth to give your baby the all-important colostrum. Nothing should be given before the first breastfeed&lt;br /&gt;    * Breastfeed unrestrictedly and on demand. &lt;br /&gt;    * There is no substitute to breast milk  &lt;br /&gt;    * Bottle-feeding is unnecessary and even harmful, being the leading cause of loose stools in babies&lt;br /&gt;    * Pacifiers and bottle confuse the baby’s sucking action and reduce the production of breastmilk. &lt;br /&gt;    * Continue breastfeeding for two years or beyond, introducing solid foods only after 6 months of age. &lt;br /&gt;    * Homemade, family food is the best solid food for your baby.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And Mummy is happier and healthier too….&lt;br /&gt;If breastfeeding makes healthy, happy babies, it isn’t too bad for the mummies either. It&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;    * Reduces post-delivery bleeding and chances of maternal anemia.&lt;br /&gt;    * Obesity is less common among breastfeeding mothers. &lt;br /&gt;    * Has a contraceptive effect. &lt;br /&gt;    * Lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. &lt;br /&gt;    * Builds bone strength and protects against osteoporosis&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did you know?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;    * That malnutrition amongst children happens in the first two years of life and is virtually IRREVERSIBLE after that?&lt;br /&gt;    * That a baby’s crying can make breast milk flow? A hormone called oxytocin causes the &quot;let-down&quot; reflex – when the mother hears the baby cry, milk is “let down” or ejected. &lt;br /&gt;    * That anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler estimates that if culture did not tell us to do otherwise, we would breast feed our children somewhere till between 2.5 and 7 years of age</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/3410308856832419800/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=3410308856832419800' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/3410308856832419800'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/3410308856832419800'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/08/mothers-blessing-for-life.html' title='A Mother&#39;s Blessing For Life'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXN4WW447NkSUgcxUJ5iggunmHUDl-V1eYpfzh_xWOXoQVfviSxDKxKRSzI_dfbr28MD_e2CMQIzLa6pZ-bRAT-dku1byoR4iMtvo08suv0d6X1wZltvlSK5AM56f5lVsCLO9oWQ/s72-c/bfeeding.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-4510949723748759437</id><published>2007-05-25T01:46:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-14T17:38:07.298-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Ode to a Well</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5IO1QYksOQsS7B2pSUT8-IjSGqVWOhgV-N0KWke_K6flGNPGyDtZ53CyzKq3DaMTs2WbdSbSwl_w4iFUbU9kwDbyAhIlC0mQYHpc2_QX1t2tkhZqb8_KCjMQkNCrhe0MQIvuVw/s1600-h/hdr_guj_ranikivav.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5IO1QYksOQsS7B2pSUT8-IjSGqVWOhgV-N0KWke_K6flGNPGyDtZ53CyzKq3DaMTs2WbdSbSwl_w4iFUbU9kwDbyAhIlC0mQYHpc2_QX1t2tkhZqb8_KCjMQkNCrhe0MQIvuVw/s320/hdr_guj_ranikivav.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068417200810009778&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can&#39;t help it but i have water on my mind these days..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ode to a Well&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Imagine trying to break open an orange with a sledgehammer. &lt;br /&gt;Ridiculous idea? &lt;br /&gt;Of course it is. But that is how we treat Nature. We battle with it, savage and plunder it for things that it will yield so readily and generously – if we ask the right way. &lt;br /&gt;Look at water, for example. There is so much talk about scarcity of water when in actual fact there is all the water that we need and more but we have forgotten how to catch, store and manage it. And that’s because we don’t understand Nature anymore. For example, did you know 75% of the earth’s freshwater lies frozen in polar regions? Of the rest, only 10% is surface water in rivers, lakes etc. The balance 90% lies underground in innumerable caches called aquifers. And not so very long ago, if you dug the right spot, water would gush out to become the thing whose cool, sweet waters sustained the life of every Indian. A well. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ancient wells of wisdom&lt;br /&gt;Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals. Emperor Ashoka’s rock inscription at Girnar&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You mean those holes in the ground from which people once laboriously lugged up water? What good are those in this age of hydrogeology and taps? Ah, but we underestimate these wells, which is quite in contrast to our ancestors. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mohenjodaro alone had 700 wells and one of  the most remarkable thing about the Harappan civilization was its water management. You see, our ancients understood that managing water was key not just to the future of civilization but to survival itself. And so water was sacred, precious. Our rivers were goddesses that they didn’t just pray to, but also revered by not using them as garbage dumps and sewers. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They also figured that rain is something you save not for but on a rainy day! So, rainwater harvesting may be today’s latest buzzword, but water harvesting systems figure in Kautilya’s Arthasatra, written in 3rd century B.C. And Koopa Shastram (koopa is well in Sanskrit) is the ancient science of constructing wells.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kuans, kuis, baavis, surangams, baolis, baoris, vavs, virdas. All over the country, our ancestors dug wells – as varied as India’s people, the most innovative and the greatest variety found in the most water starved areas like Thar desert!&lt;br /&gt;Little wells just 15-20 feet deep. &lt;br /&gt;Massive wells, the vision of wise rulers, plunging a 100 feet into the ground; where entire communities not just drew water but also chatted, rested and generally cooled off. &lt;br /&gt;12 centuries ago, the kings of Rajasthan and Gujarat began the tradition of the famed, fabulous step-wells of which the most spectacular is Rani ki Vav or Queen’s Step Well in Patan, Gujarat. Five storeys into the ground and 90 feet wide, decorated with over 800 stone sculptures in the Khujarao style, built by Udayamati, consort of the 11th century Chalukiya king, Bhimadeva.  &lt;br /&gt;And since water was sacred, our temples had wells too. The famous Rameswaram temple complex has 22 wells, each with different tasting water, each dedicated to a different deity. Bathing in the waters of these wells is supposed to have such beneficial effects that they are called theerthams (holy waters)!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wells of sweetness&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, why were these wells so important? First of all, for centuries, (in India they go back 9000 years or more) they have been a perennial source of the sweetest, coolest, freshest water. You see, as rainwater slowly seeps through the earth, the porous layers of rock, limestone, sand etc., act as filters, filtering out the impurities and cooling the water. In fact, well water was once considered pure enough not only to drink but also the only water used for puja. &lt;br /&gt;Alas, today, in many parts of India, it’s a different story and the fault is entirely ours. Well water is getting contaminated and unfit for drinking because we are what conservationists call “fouling the nest”; a bit like using our kitchens as toilets. So our waste waters go where they shouldn’t, the soil is dumped full of chemicals and pesticides…it’s a familiar, sorry tale.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But even in such conditions, these wells survive. In Bangladesh, where arsenic poisoning of wells became a worrying trend, studies showed that while the water from tube wells had high amounts of arsenic, nearby traditional open wells had very low levels. One theory suggests that the open wells allowed the air to oxidize the arsenic into harmless compounds and rainwater to regularly flush out the arsenic. Which is exactly how they are rescuing contaminated wells in Kerala – by feeding in harvested rainwater. &lt;br /&gt;But, even when the water isn’t potable, wells are powerful tools of social empowerment, making communities, especially women self-sufficient and independent. How? Very simple. A well in the backyard, provides all water you need, all year round - totally free! For the average Indian who spends much of his/her day, even nights, shackled to mulishly dry taps and never-ending, irate water queques, this is the ultimate freedom. Provided of course, there is water in the well…..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recharging India’s batteries…..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which is only possible if there is enough groundwater to feed it. &lt;br /&gt;Today, India’s water woes are largely because its groundwater lies most grievously plundered. According to Fred Pearce in the New Scientist magazine, 50 years ago in northern Gujarat, you could get water from open wells just 10 metres deep. Today tube wells run dry even 400 metres down. It’s the same story everywhere. Water tables under Punjab and Haryana fall by a metre every year and half the hand-dug wells in western India, two-thirds in Tamil Nadu have run dry. &lt;br /&gt;But the amazing thing is that these very same wells, dried up and abandoned,  are now becoming one of the most important methods of rainwater harvesting, of recharging our plundered groundwater. It’s a people’s movement spreading slowly but surely all over the country, especially in the most parched regions of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. And even in those water guzzlers, the metropolises,. Bangalore already has 300 recharge wells. In Delhi, there is a call to marshal its 26 ancient baolis, some dating to Iltutmish and Timur Lane, to recharge Delhi’s groundwater, which provides 30-40% of the city’s water!  &lt;br /&gt;That so serious a problem could have so simple a solution is staggering.  Just channeling rainwater back into a single well has seen to cause the waters to rise in neighbouring wells and turn undrinkable saline or brackish water into fresh water. And so, the old-fashioned well has become one of the most effective weapons in the armoury of the countless “Jal Yodhas” who are crusading to give us back our birthright of water.  It’s like making a patchwork quilt. You start with one tiny scrap of cloth. Or one little well. Then you add another, then another till finally, all over India, millions of open wells like millions of brave little batteries will recharge our country’s most precious resource – water&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A fish called Madanji&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which makes it time for me to tell you about a fish called Madanji. Not really his (her?) name but the local Tulu name of this particular species of fish in coastal South Karnataka. When my maternal grandfather built his house there more than 80 years ago, naturally he also built a well. And he put in Madanji into it. Because according to local wisdom, these fish are specialists in keeping the water clean by feeding on all organic matter that would otherwise pollute it, especially mosquito larvae! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Apparently Madanji did a great job because the water from that well was the sweetest, freshest water that I have ever tasted and all my grandmother did was to strain it through a clean cloth. And Madanji-watching was a favourite pastime of the kids. Sometimes, he’d lie low, meditating in the well’s dark, cool depths. Other times, he’d swim up in slightly frantic but always elegant circles, snapping up the morsels that we dropped.  &lt;br /&gt;And as far as my mother can remember, even as a little child, there was always madandji in her father’s well…...&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;And there will always be wells in India. Open, generous and filled with sweetness. To remind us that our relationship with Nature should be like recurring deposit schemes. Feed only off the interest and every now and then, add back to the capital. Otherwise the deposit will lapse. And that wells are like knowledge. They remain fresh and of value only when we constantly use them.&lt;br /&gt;So, if you know of an abandoned well, adopt it. Or better still, even dig a new one…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grateful thanks to Mr. Sree Padre, Mr. S. Vishwanath of www.rainwaterclub.org and Dr.  V Sankaran Nair, Kampan Foundation For Oriental Studies, Trivandrum&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Palakkad and wells&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How did water diviners of yore know the presence of water? In Karnataka and Kerala, they’d look for a plant called Pala. And Palakkad (Palghat) in Kerala gets its name from “pala” “kaddu” meaning a forest of pala trees. No wonder then that Kerala has the highest density of wells in the world – 250 open wells per square km or one well for every 3 persons!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/4510949723748759437/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=4510949723748759437' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4510949723748759437'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/4510949723748759437'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/05/ode-to-well.html' title='Ode to a Well'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5IO1QYksOQsS7B2pSUT8-IjSGqVWOhgV-N0KWke_K6flGNPGyDtZ53CyzKq3DaMTs2WbdSbSwl_w4iFUbU9kwDbyAhIlC0mQYHpc2_QX1t2tkhZqb8_KCjMQkNCrhe0MQIvuVw/s72-c/hdr_guj_ranikivav.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-6589233260863034141</id><published>2007-05-08T01:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-05-08T01:49:14.855-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Lessons in A Graden</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/3179/2905244150040447345S500x500Q85.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;&quot; src=&quot;http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/3179/2905244150040447345S500x500Q85.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Healing gardens&lt;br /&gt;By Ratna Rajaiah&lt;br /&gt;Let me first tell you what they are calling it in all those high-falutin’ places where doctors and researchers and scientists with degrees as long as your herbaceous border huddle together to give serious sounding names to these things. They are calling it therapeutic horticulture. You and I know it as gardening. Therapeutic, did I say? When, for many of us, gardening is a thing that gets you all hot and sweaty and dirty and something that maalis do for a living? I mean, as long as you can just pop into a shop and buy that bunch of dewy fresh roses or crunchy green spinach, why would you want to muck about knee deep in worms and compost?&lt;br /&gt;Good question because that’s where I start explaining the “therapeutic horticulture”. Because gardening apart making things grow and bloom, also helps you grow and bloom. How so? Well, first of all, it’s one of the nicest ways to get fresh air, sunlight and exercise. Think about it – if you had a choice of getting your daily dose of exercise by walking 10 boring circles around that park or by spending half an hour helping your brinjals to fatten or coaxing that particularly stubborn button rose to break into bud, what would it be? &lt;br /&gt;10 boring circles, did you say? Really? &lt;br /&gt;Okay, fine. Then consider this.&lt;br /&gt;Nature’s potted pick-me-up.&lt;br /&gt;Gardening is long been considered one of the more pleasurable not to mention effective ways to de-stress, unwind and relax. There is something about pottering around in a garden or even just around the pots in your apartment verandah which is known to soothe and loosen up all those tense knotted muscles and thoughts. And that’s not all - gardening is the ultimate rejuvenator because there’s something in it to tickle and please each one of your senses – a lush symphony of sights and sounds, textures and smells, even tastes, all coming together to draw you gently to nestle into Mother Nature’s ample, comforting, forgiving bosom. So, the next time you’re at the end – or beginning - of one of those days specially designed to turn you into a gibbering nervous wreck, take a slow walk around that garden. &lt;br /&gt;A garden teaches you that some of the most exhilarating things in life come not packaged in a bottle or a pill but as a that patch of marigolds arguing with the sun about whose orange is brighter.&lt;br /&gt;Patience is watching a little yellow flower turn into a tomato.&lt;br /&gt;Slow down, they’re all telling us, as we shrink everything to become sleeker, slimmer and faster, even the seconds on our digital timers. Slow down or you’ll have a blowout, they say. But I don’t know how to, you wail, as you pop another antacid and frantically punch the buttons which should have delivered instant success, instant fame and instant coffee but is 3 whole seconds late. Ah, but here’s a place you can learn ….to slow down. Get a tomato plant. And when it decks itself up in little yellow flowers, remember that they are a bunch of promises that it’s making to you that soon there will be your own plump juicy, homegrown tomatoes.  But notice that it’s just saying soon - no date, no ETA.  Because those tomatoes are going to ripen at their own pace, no turbo-charged ripener to speed up the process. And there’s nothing you can do about it but wait, taking long, deep breaths, listening to the music of those tomatoes ripening in the sun… &lt;br /&gt;A garden teaches you that in life, things happen at their own pace which often may not match yours. All you can do is wait and in the meantime, enjoy the scenery …&lt;br /&gt;Hope is a papaya seed &lt;br /&gt;Ever thought that a seed can teach you how to hope? You pop into your friendly neighbourhood nursery and buy a little flowerpot and some papaya seeds. You plant some, following the instructions carefully. And then you wait, because there’s nothing more to do. But as you do, you also hope – that maybe, just maybe when you wake up one morning, and blearily peer at that unrelenting patch of mud, there will be a little, frail green shoot struggling out of it. And that maybe, just maybe the shoot will become a little sapling. And then a tree in your backyard and then one day, you’ll look up and see it festooned with fat green papayas. And one morning, there on your breakfast plate will be a bowl full of juicy, glistening, pinky-orange chunks of ….papaya!&lt;br /&gt;Gardening teaches you that even if today’s been a write-off, there’s always tomorrow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Humility and a fat green pea&lt;br /&gt;Think about this. Let’s say for a moment that you are a rocket scientist, part of the crack team that’s designing of that whatisit that’s going to get us to Mars. (And we better hurry, because at the rate that we are polluting and depleting our water sources, we may soon need to tap into those traces of moisture that they’ve found there!). Or then maybe you’re the chappie who with a flicker of his eyelid can make the Sensex soar or plummet. What I mean to say is  - you are the cat’s meow and you know it. Now consider this. It’s just a silly little pea plant, is it not? A few leaves on a puny little vine that came out of a pile of dirt, right? Then how does it know when it is winter and time to fill those pods bursting with fat, juicy green peas? And how does that night queen know that the sun has set and it’s time to burst into riotous blossom? Then think how every cell of every plant and every flower knows when exactly to thrive and when to die? Consider the hugely sophisti&lt;br /&gt;cated and complex systems of programming implanted in every living cell which we have only dimly begun to comprehend. And then look at who you really are…&lt;br /&gt;A garden teaches you that no matter who you are and what you have achieved, you are but a miniscule speck in the macrocosm of Life. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The bare necessities of life&lt;br /&gt;In the garden you learn that the recipe to make another being happy, be that a snapdragon or a human being, is actually the world’s simplest thing. Food, water, a patch of sunlight and love. Mix well and serve. And watch your spouse or that chrysanthemum shake off that chronic droop. The garden is also a great place to learn about love. You see, plants are like children. They do not care if you are young or old, fat or thin, black or white, rich or poor, good looking or ugly. If you love them and care for them, they will love you right back by happily growing and blooming and loading their branches with all kinds of goodies just for your pleasure!&lt;br /&gt;The garden teaches you that it takes very little to be happy.&lt;br /&gt;I think we’ve covered the basic stuff.  The rest will come as you dig and water or just walk around your plants. Wait a minute, you say. This is all goody-goody fluffy stuff for aspiring Pollyannas. Give us the hardware, facts and figures, things that have been put into a test tube and researched.  Okay. So here goes. The reason why they have begun to call gardening “therapeutic horticulture” is because that is exactly what it is increasingly being used for. As a therapeutic aid in the treatment of a whole host of things from dementia and Alzheimer&#39;s Disease to addiction, the rehabilitation of the mentally and physically disabled, geriatric care and even in helping rehabilitate convicts to get back into mainstream life. The introduction of a garden of a park in the otherwise stark and ugly inner city areas where people can participate in tending it has known to have a significant impact on things like teenage crime. It has been seen that gardening gives people in these circu&lt;br /&gt;mstances a sense of purpose, a feeling of hope and when they see their effort literally blossom and take fruit, a sense of being useful instead of useless. &lt;br /&gt;One more thing. Therapeutic horticulture is a broad term that encompasses anything from actual cultivation of plants to just standing around and enjoying the experience of being surrounded by a beautiful garden or landscape. Research now shows that just a view of trees may reduce the recovery time in the hospital after surgery by almost an entire day!&lt;br /&gt;So get acquainted with a garden and you may be surprised to find that what grows in that cabbage patch is much more than just cabbages!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/6589233260863034141/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=6589233260863034141' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/6589233260863034141'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/6589233260863034141'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/05/lessons-in-graden.html' title='Lessons in A Graden'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-7013210889755642857</id><published>2007-04-04T08:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-04-04T08:54:45.582-07:00</updated><title type='text'>How to ride a tiger</title><content type='html'>How to ride a tiger&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;A city is both a territory and an attitude.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let me get the heretical part of this piece out of the way. Between you and me, I’m rather glad that the Fab City project didn’t come Karnataka&#39;s way. Going by the past history of many other such “fab” projects (I’m assuming “fab” is an abbreviation for fabulous because $2 billion investment and 1,50,000 jobs is just that, isn’t it), the “fab” part remains with the promoters of the project, everything else goes speedily down the drain. I also shudder every time somebody talks about Mysore being the next IT destination of Karnataka. Look what they did to Bangalore, ma. And since I’m pouring my heretical heart out to you, I am also glad that the connectivity between Mysore and Bangalore continues to suck. If it’s a toss up between spending a bone-crushingly exhausting 4 and a half hour bus journey from Mysore to Bangalore and Mysore becoming what Bangalore has, give me the ride to hell and back any day. And if you’re still reading this and haven’t rushed off to write an outraged letter to the editor, I also find it very difficult to stomach how what happens to us every time a project of this nature is in the offing. Just “dollar” does the trick, but 2 billion of them. And 1,50,000 jobs! It is huge, but it still does not warrant the frantic tizzy that we whip ourselves into, first to net it, then afterwards if we don’t, the end of the world would be a less traumatic event. The only time we behave worse is when the existing gods of similar “fab” projects threaten to pull out and go elsewhere with their fab millions. We managed before IT, didn’t we, so did progress and development.&lt;br /&gt;You are thinking - it’s easy for her to talk. She’s neither a young person desperately seeking a job nor a parent of one. I mean, there are no free lunches in life. so choking on a few extra gallons of smog, fighting our way through a few more hours of traffic jam is a small price for a job that pays 30,000 instead of 3000, isn’t it? Actually, though it may not seem so, I’m all for development and these fab projects. It saddens me, for example, to see Mysore become a city of the very old and the very young. (More than it saddens me to see what has happened to Bangalore.) House after house tells the same story of an empty nest in which lonely old people rattle around like dry old bones because their children have left to become NRIs. Dollars in the bank but nobody at home. It saddens me to see fresh engineering graduates wanting to work in Mysore are often forced to accept jobs that pay less than what a peon makes. &lt;br /&gt;But, that still doesn’t mean that the solution to is to become a chota Bangalore.&lt;br /&gt;Or worse still, like the dhobi’s donkey, to fall between two stools. Which, right now, Mysore is in real danger of, as we wait, all dressed up in our “we-have-what-it-takes-to-be-a-Fab-city” best. We have more glittering two-wheeler showrooms than Nanjagud bananas and a hip young population of two-wheeler riders who have one ear instead of two – the other has mutated into a cell phone. (I’m told that the next generation of cutting edge technology is a hands-free two-wheeler.) Beautiful old bungalows have given way to ghastly shopping arcades. And the real estate prices - an obscene joke if they weren’t true – continue to rise dizzily like an item bomb’s miniskirt in readiness for …. what else, a Fab City project. &lt;br /&gt;But, our young folks are still leaving town to look for jobs. Something doesn’t quite add up, does it? &lt;br /&gt;It will, it will, you cry. All we need is a Fab city or two and two plus and we will be in heaven, if not become heaven itself. (And we certainly don’t need a spoilsport Cassandra like you wailing doom!) &lt;br /&gt;So, pardon my ignorance, but why isn’t Bangalore one already? Paradise, I mean.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know – it’s all “their” fault – the city planners, authorities, politicians, anyone but we the people. But, may I suggest that progress is a tiger, a beast that if ridden right, will make it a great ride to the top (not to mention the bank!). If not, it will gobble us up. The question is, are we willing to learn to ride it? &lt;br /&gt;Before we answer that question, may I remind everybody that we Kannadigas are no strangers to tigers. Or to riding them, our great maharajahs being our most illustrious “riding instructors”! Mysore became the model state (Mahatma Gandhi called it Rama Rajya in Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s reign!) because there was unstinting royal patronage of technology, science and modernization. True, no IT, but even without it, we didn’t do too badly. Building India’s very first irrigation dam was achievement enough, but a decade before the KRS dam went up in 1912, we already had a hydro-electric power plant at in Shivanasamudra (Asia’s very first and oldest) and Bangalore was the first city in India to become electrified in 1905. The common vision of Krishnaraja Wodeyar and Jamshedji Tata resulted in the Indian Institute of Science in 1909. By the time India achieved independence and his nephew, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar was not maharajah anymore but the Governor of the State of Mysore, we had a steel plant, one of India’s oldest and most reputed medical colleges, an aircraft manufacturing factory (HAL), all 9 nine districts connected by rail, telecommunications, polytechnic and engineering colleges. We were the first Indian state to have a Representative Assembly, we had a public health policy, hospitals, good roads and education till middle school was free. And the farmers didn’t have to commit suicide to get taken care of. Even the toymakers of Channapatna got wood at subsidized rates. &lt;br /&gt;If that’s impressive, equally impressive is the fact the maharajahs never lost sight of other things which we now have either completely forgotten about or think is the domain of airy-fairy-activist NGO’s. Wildlife was considered important, Sanskrit warranted Mysore to have one of India’s oldest and best Sanskrit colleges in India. (President S Radhakrishnan studied philosophy here.) And the 3 yoga masters – BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and TVK Desikachar – who have made Mysore an international yoga destination were disciples of Krishnamacharya for whom Krishnaraja Wodeyar opened a yogashala inside the palace premises! The maharajahs knew that music, art, literature and dance contribute as much towards nurturing great minds as formal education. There is a lovely story told by the late Dr. Raja Ramanna who said that Krishnaraja Wodeyar would invite him to play the piano and was so pleased by his playing that he paid him 200 rupees every time – a princely sum, both literally and figuratively speaking! They knew that gardens and parks (and zoos!) and fresh air and beautiful architecture were as important for the health of a state as jobs and factories and modernization. We have not one but two “Garden Cities” as proof of that.&lt;br /&gt;Now, a tale of 2 other cities that rode that tiger…. &lt;br /&gt;Tirupur, 50 kilometres away from Coimbatore. Population 7 lakhs. In 1985, the export turnover of knitwear from this little back-of-beyond town was 15 crores. Last year, it was over Rs. 5,000 crores. It is one of the largest foreign exchange earning towns in India, the textile industry employing workers equal to almost 50% of its population. In other words, a Fab City, right? (Or &quot;Dollar City”, as it is also known!) Maybe. Let me complete the picture. Tirupur has almost no good roads to speak of, equally bad sewage systems, rising incidence of chronic health problems, especially respiratory diseases among children. Water is so scarce that even for the dyeing units of the garment industry that brought in all this prosperity and development, it is fetched in tankers from as far as 20 kilometres. Naturally, everyone, including the textile barons are now screaming a familiar cry, “Infrastructure! Infrastucture!” &lt;br /&gt;The second city is Curitiba. Curi-who? Curitiba in Brazil. Population 17 lakhs. Almost 40 years ago, the mayor, worried about his fast-growing city, invited proposals for urban design. An architect called Jaime Lerner presented a plan which was soon implemented. First, the public transport system of buses was made so good and so intensive that 85% of Curitiba&#39;s population travelled exclusively by it. (There wasn’t much space for the cars anyway because the city centres were made pedestrian exclusive zones and several key highways were bus-only areas!) Then, apart from the mandatory trees and artificial ponds, Lerner’s solution to the garbage problem was really unique - he roped in the city’s poor to recycle the garbage, offering groceries and bus pases in exchange for every 2 bags of rubbish brought in! Curitiba has 54 square meters of green space per citizen - the WHO’s minimum requirement is 10. Today, Curitiba is considered not just the world’s greenest city but also one of the best examples of urban planning. &lt;br /&gt;Cities all over the world are taking matter into their own hands to make posible both development and quality of life. Toronto has “walking school buses”, where children are organised to walk to school, Sacramento demands that all parking lots have 50% tree shade, London charges a “congestion” fee to all vehicles entering the ity centre, thereby reducing traffic and pollution. Berlin’s new parliament building keeps itself warm and cuts carbon emissions by 94% by running its boilers on vegetable oil. And closer home, Sheila Dixit got Delhi’s huge fleet of private buses and auto rickshaws to run on CNG and Mumbai recently successfully phased out its  its taxis and commercial vehicles that were more than 15 years old. &lt;br /&gt;So, Fab Cities are made up of people who ride the tiger, not the other way around. Because true development and progress is not just about jobs. It’s also about a better quality of life and that means better air to breathe, water to drink, parks to play and walk in etc., etc. It also means that the common man has as right to it as somebody who brings in 2 million dollars of investment. Apparently, Karnataka lost the Fab City project because SemIndia wasn’t confident of our ability to provide facilities like land, water, electricity and other “infrastructure”! The irony is that in many parts of Karnataka - including Mysore - the common man does not these very same facilities. Just think – if that is so without the Fab Cities of the world, what will happen when we get them and divert huge portions of our already poorly distributed resources to them? &lt;br /&gt;Another thing. Development is a two way street. Which means that it is a joint effort, where each one of us has a sense of ownership of the society we live in as much as we do of our cars, houses, even spouses! Which means that we have to live a little less selfishly. We have to obey laws, pay taxes and empower public offices to do their job. We have to be willing to say “no” to things that will serve a favoured few and harm the majority, do stuff that might make life uncomfortable in the short term but improve it in the long haul. Curitiba was possible only because the citizens wanted their town to be what it is today…&lt;br /&gt;Recently, at the weekly meditation session in my yogashala, despite repeated requests, somebody decided to keep his cell phone on in the vibratory mode. And he was obviously a popular guy, because his phone rang…er, vibrated every 5 minutes or so. In the silence of a mediation session, that was like a bomb going off every 5 minutes. Afterwards, I waited eagerly for our yogacharya’s expected ticking off. But none came. Instead, without singling out the offender, he said just this. It is natural for all of us to seek pleasure, fulfill desires and therefore acquire the necessary things to do that. But, every time you use your object of desire, just pause to think if your pleasure has been funded by another’s discomfort or pain. If you keep that in mind constantly, the appropriateness of anything will become automatically and crystal clear.&lt;br /&gt;I think it’s a lovely rule. So simple and applies to anything – cell phones in public places and Fab Cities!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/7013210889755642857/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=7013210889755642857' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/7013210889755642857'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/7013210889755642857'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-ride-tiger.html' title='How to ride a tiger'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-8305139912132547671</id><published>2007-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-29T07:25:07.615-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="My Grandma&#39;&#39;s Kitchen"/><title type='text'>Buttermilk Rhapsody</title><content type='html'>Nobody who visited my grandmother would ever think of drinking anything other than her famous buttermilk. Which flowed literally like water and was always on tap no matter what time of the day it was. My grandmother’s kitchen was one of wood fires and clay cooking pots. No gas stove, no fridge. So, every day, she’d put a pot of milk to slowly simmer through the day on one of those fires. And in the evening, when the milk was beautifully reduced and thickened and infused with the most wonderful aroma of the wood smoke, she’d cool it and set it to become curd. The next morning, the curd would be whipped to give up all its glistening, fat globs of butter. And what was left became a never-emptying lake of thick, faintly smoky, cool buttermilk, just tart enough to perk you up and flavoured with nothing but its own deliciousness. Buttermilk that soothed and cooled and refreshed every part of you, like nothing else could have. That remained cool and placid in its pot, without refrigeration, no matter how hot a day it was or how late in it you quaffed it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, my love affair with buttermilk began very long ago and we are childhood sweethearts really, inextricably linked with my happiest memories – summer holidays in my grandmother’s house. And since this is also one of the most healthful ways to make your summer a holiday, let me play you today my buttermilk rhapsody… &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Buttermilk is…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let’s get this out of the way first. True buttermilk is not curd or yogurt churned or whipped with water. Buttermilk is…let me give you no other than the wise sage of Ayurveda, Sushrutha himself on this. Who has said that it is a concoction made of curd and water, churned so that the cream and butter is completely skimmed off. Leaving behind the ambrosia that is “Takara” or &quot;Takaoka&quot; in Sanskrit, &quot;chase&quot; or &quot;math&quot; in Hindi, &quot;moor&quot; in Tamale and &quot;majjige&quot; in Kannada and which has been eulogized as “what ambrosia is to the gods, buttermilk is to human beings”.  And so, naturally, in Ayurveda, buttermilk’s astringent, light, cooling and appetizing nature makes it somewhat of a star as both a healer and a food. And its most impressive arena of action is the digestive system, where it is used in a myriad of different ways. Firstly, many Ayurvedic medicines, even some not meant for digestive ailments, are administered with or in buttermilk. Secondly, by itself, buttermilk’s most well known use is in the treatment diarrhoea and dysentery, where Ayurveda believes that it “quenches the fire of diarrhoea”. So much so that even current day pediatricians recommend buttermilk as an excellent means of oral rehydration in children’s diarrhea. It is also used in the treatment of colitis, piles, jaundice, nausea and other liver dysfunction, especially sluggish digestions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Buttermilk is also used to treat skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Buttermilk is the main ingredient in two famous Ayurvedic treatments, both of which are named after it. Takradhara – where medicated buttermilk is released in a stream or dhara over the patient’s forehead to calm and treat conditions like insomnia, depression and other stress related problems. And Takrarishta – a classic Ayurvedic formulation used not only to treat diarrhoea and dysentery but even obesity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aaj ka buttermilk – probiotic extraordinaire!&lt;br /&gt;But Ayurveda apart, buttermilk is wonderfully nutritive even from the modern nutritionist point of view. Like curd, it’s one of the best sources of calcium, potassium and phosphorus. Like curd, it’s swimming in the vitamins B12 and riboflavin. But most of all, like curd, it is one of the best probiotic foods.  Just to refresh our memories, probiotic foods are foods that are residential quarters for good, friendly bacteria - foods like idli, dosa, appams, pickles, curds, paneer and of course – buttermilk! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now we call these bacteria “friendly” for many reasons. Firstly because they are kinda fussy about the company they keep. On the one hand, they protect the body’s own colonies of good intestinal bacteria that aid digestion and without which we become susceptible to ailments like diarraheoa. On the other hand, they secrete substances that kill bad, disease-causing microbes. A study published in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that Helicobater pylori, the bacterium responsible for most ulcers, can be shut down by yogurt. Naturally, if yogurt can do this, can buttermilk be far behind? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Secondly, the bacteria in probiotic foods are great digestive aids, crumbling down difficult-to-digest complex carbohydrates and proteins in cereals to the more easily digestible sugars and amino acids, making buttermilk a great digestive. Lastly, the probiotic bacteria heighten the nutritional value of the food by boosting the levels of vitamins in it - especially the critical vitamin B family - and by releasing locked up micronutrients like minerals into more soluble forms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And with all these impeccable healthy food credentials, buttermilk has one other big bonus point. Since it has all the butter skimmed out of it, it is also oh-so-low on calories. So – picker-upper, tonic, digestive, infection fighter, nutrition booster, weight watcher. And yummy to boot. Could you ask for anything more? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Beautiful buttermilk&lt;br /&gt;Buttermilk, like curd, is great for your skin. Rinsing your face daily with plain buttermilk is a wonderful skin care regimen because it contains lactic acid, which is one of the most popular ingredients in skin care products. For many reasons. Firstly, lactic acid acts as a mild exfoliant, removing dead-skin buildup and making your complexion glow.  Secondly, its acidic, astringent nature both lightens and tightens the skin which is why buttermilk is also a popular traditional remedy to lighten freckles, age spots and to treat sunburn. By the way, a good way to lighten suntan is to dip and cover your face, neck, arms etc., with a piece of muslin dipped in slightly sour buttermilk. Wait for about 15 minutes, then wash thoroughly with water.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You’re thinking – I suppose this is the part where she’s going to say that Cleopatra bathed in buttermilk, Well, some say she did and so also did Marie Antoinette – to keep away wrinkles!  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blessed buttermilk…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s only natural that one so delicious and healthful will be blessed by the gods. So, the buttermilk gets the nod as good, healthy food by many religions. The Chinese traveller I Ching who travelled extensively in India during the 7th century and visited Buddhists monasteries, noted that in the meals served there, all prepared according to the strict food habits of the Buddhists monks, buttermilk was a favoured beverage. Along with dates, honey, figs, olives and milk, the Koran recommends buttermilk, especially during the fasting month of Ramzan. (Perhaps the reason for this is buttermilk’s nurturing and soothing action on the digestive system, stretched at this time due to fasting!) Buttermilk is also often served at the Sikh gurudwaras and to mark the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, stalls of sweetened buttermilk called Chhabil are set up all over Punjab. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And apart from the many references to buttermilk in Vedic mantras, Lord Krishna’s most endearing and delightful avatar is as the little Maakhan Chor, the Divine Purloiner of Butter. So, the exquisite idol of the child Krishna in the famous Udipi Sri Krishna temple holds the buttermilk churn (manthan) in his right hand and the rope used to turn the churn in his left. It is said that churning butter from buttermilk symbolizes the Lord&#39;s role in helping the devotee churn his own soul through devotion to realize the Divine. And in South India, buttermilk is an integral part of Ram Navami celebrations, served as prasadam at temples along with kosambri, panaka and panchamrutham. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And so it is only befitting that I end my buttermilk rhapsody with one of Purandaradasa’s most famous and beautiful composition – “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma”. In which he begs for a visitation by the Goddess Lakhshmi. A composition ass simple, unpretentious, fresh and utterly satisfying as a glass of my grandmother’s buttermilk…..  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Sowbhayda Lakshmi baaramma&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Namamma Ni….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gejjekaalgala dhwaniya torutha&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hejje mele hejjeya nikkuta&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sajjana sadhu poojeya velege&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Majjige volagina benne yante&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bhagyalakshmi baramma” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“O Goddess of Good Fortune, come&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O Our Mother, come…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To the sound the anklets on Your feet &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As You walk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As the good people get ready to pray&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As butter emerges from buttermilk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O Lakhshmi of Good Fortune, O Mother&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Come….” &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                              ******* &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Manasollasa” (meaning Happy State of Mind in Sanskrit) written by King Sovadeva III, son of the Chalukyan emperor Vikramaditya, is a vast encyclopedia describing in great detail the society at the time.  It talks of royal feasts where buttermilk was sipped during meals and the last course consisted of rice and buttermilk with a little salt – just as it is eaten, centuries later till this very day all over South India. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                                    *******&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No-Cook Buttermilk Kadhi&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;½ litre buttermilk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;¼ fresh coconut&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2-3 dried chilies&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;½ piece of ginger&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Salt to taste &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For seasoning&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2 teaspoons oil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 teaspoon mustard seeds&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;½ a dried red chili&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5-7 curry leaves&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pinch of asafetida &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grind together all ingredients except the buttermilk to a smooth chutney-like paste, adding the ginger last. Add to the buttermilk along with the salt. Heat the oil; add mustard seeds and red chili. When the mustard stops spluttering, add the curry leaves and asafetida. Take off the fire and add to the kadhi. Stir well. Delicious with plain steamed rice and a salad. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                              *******</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/8305139912132547671/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=8305139912132547671' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8305139912132547671'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8305139912132547671'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/01/buttermilk-rhapsody.html' title='Buttermilk Rhapsody'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-8163164468205646288</id><published>2007-01-14T05:11:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-14T17:38:07.877-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Festivals"/><title type='text'>Sankranti</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidt81dBHYHQx9AoCevPUxQo1w4VbeBv6mcfHvhHT5nunIY87WozbXZrxUFLQeNUlcWzQ8091eVWeLGT531nwXGhPvaI4odAFQ8Xpn9KO7QrEJkYyf0yLIfPu5YxuwC4E119OflAg/s1600-h/sankrathi.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidt81dBHYHQx9AoCevPUxQo1w4VbeBv6mcfHvhHT5nunIY87WozbXZrxUFLQeNUlcWzQ8091eVWeLGT531nwXGhPvaI4odAFQ8Xpn9KO7QrEJkYyf0yLIfPu5YxuwC4E119OflAg/s320/sankrathi.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5019873420266861554&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamathasriv athsa/86770762/13.01.2003&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Somehow, I always thought the meaning of the word “sankranti” was something to do with sweetness. Perhaps because the sound of it tinkles and falls so sweetly on the ears. Like drops of water merrily bouncing off a steel vessel. Or if they could speak, like the sound of a million spangles of sunlight trembling ecstatically on the gently breathing skin of a river. Or maybe because the word for sugar in Kannada sounds so similar. “Sakkare”. But apparently the origin of the word “sankranti” is from the Sanskrit word “sankrama” which means journey or change. So the festival of “Sankranti” is thus named because it marks the auspicious moment when the sun moves into its northern sphere and so inaugurates a new solar year.&lt;br /&gt;And to mark this blessed journey, in my part of the world, we have a very special tradition called “yellu beerudu”. Which loosely translated means to “fill with til” or sesame seeds. What happens is that in the evening, after everyone is done with the poojas and the feasting, the women and children toodle off to visit friends and relatives. Where, after the niceties are done, you open your “yellu beerudu” bag and whip out the goodies which you proceed to place in a convenient tray or plate that your hostess has thoughtfully provided. First, you put the “yellu” (Kannada for sesame), which is actually a wonderful mixture of til, roasted gram, peanuts, candied til popcorn and tiny chopped bits of jaggery and desiccated coconut. (These days it’s fashionable to pack your “yellu” in trendy, just-like-Tupperware-but-40-times-cheaper, reusable plastic boxes.) You have now “filled with til” by which, I think, you’ve wished your hostess prosperity and other such nice things. Because til is an ancient symbol of goodness and purity, which is why it is til oil that is always used in pooja lamps and the Sanskrit word “taila” for oil comesfrom “til”. Then come a few sticks of sugar cane – I guess to sweeten things up a little more. And, finally, what for me as a kid was the highlight of the whole til-fill business. You open a box and carefully take out and place along side the til mixture and the sugarcane, a set of “sakkare acchus”. Literal translation – sugar moulds. Which doesn’t do justice to what they actually are. Tiny, perfect replicas of all kinds of things made by pouring hot sugar syrup into specially carved wooden moulds and left to harden.  Parrots, horses, elephants, bananas bunches, gopurams, shankh-chakrams; many joyously lurid green and pink, some just left a creamy sugar-white, the sugar crystals winking softly at you every now and then. My favourite was the miniature traditional tulsi plant pot. &lt;br /&gt;The first task of an avid sakkare acchu aficionado is of course to try and amass as vast a variety of shapes as possible, passing on the boring, the damaged or the triplicates to whiny younger cousins or indiscriminating adults. Once the collection of sakkare acchus is sufficiently impressive in variety, size and dotted with rare shapes, you can now proceed to actually consume some, starting with what you consider to be the most dispensable. The boorish way of the sakkare acchu Philistine is to just scrunch off bits and gobble the whole thing up in a matter of seconds. But a true acchu connoisseur is more leisurely, unhurried, savouring sugary each moment…&lt;br /&gt;You start by gently licking at the acchu, making sure never to disturb the basic shape. Occasionally, and only if you are a brave and skillful practitioner many Sankrantis old, you may even shave off a layer now and then by gently grating the acchu against your lower canines. And thus you carry on till finally, when the acchu has shrunk enough to fit comfortably into you mouth, you gently pop it in. And sink into a sweet, sticky bliss as the acchu disintegrates and the grainy-sugary flood swills around in your mouth.&lt;br /&gt;So, Happy Sankranti dear reader, as I symbolically fill your tray with much prosperity, happiness and joy. But since it is a festival dedicated to the glorious sun without whom neither the til nor the sugarcane nor you or me would be, I also wish you this beautiful suryanamaskara to bless your days and life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Om Saptaashwarudham, nakshatra malam,&lt;br /&gt;Chaya lolam, chandra palam,&lt;br /&gt;Gagana sanchari&lt;br /&gt;Om Bhaskaraya namaha&lt;br /&gt;He who rides a chariot driven by seven horses, &lt;br /&gt;Garlanded by stars, beloved of Chaya (shadow)&lt;br /&gt;He who rules the moon and rides across the sky&lt;br /&gt;To This Sun, I bow.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/8163164468205646288/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=8163164468205646288' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8163164468205646288'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/8163164468205646288'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2007/01/sankranti.html' title='Sankranti'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidt81dBHYHQx9AoCevPUxQo1w4VbeBv6mcfHvhHT5nunIY87WozbXZrxUFLQeNUlcWzQ8091eVWeLGT531nwXGhPvaI4odAFQ8Xpn9KO7QrEJkYyf0yLIfPu5YxuwC4E119OflAg/s72-c/sankrathi.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-116533508055860940</id><published>2006-12-05T08:07:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-12-05T08:11:20.560-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The wonderous thing about growing flowers</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1817/3635/1600/476372/mandara.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1817/3635/320/714257/mandara.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” Claude Monet&lt;br /&gt;We all have had flowers around us at some time or the other. In gorgeous bouquets to greet us for this, that or the other occasion, reposing in a vase and brightening up the drabbest room, wearing it in our hair, even around our neck especially politicians and then at the feet of the deities. We use flowers all the time to speak for us when words fail us, to wriggle out of sticky situations, to woo and seduce, to pray, supplicate and propitiate (the gods, the boss or the wife!), to beautify and even to grieve and remember. We extract their essences and oils and use them to perfume our worlds, heal our bodies and minds and in the protective embrace of their fragrance, we offload our worries and stress and relax.&lt;br /&gt;But, we leave the growing of flowers to other people. That’s bit like asking someone else to bear and bring up our children and give back them to us when all the difficult bringing-them-up bits are over and they are now self-sufficient, healthy, successful adults. And in doing so, we miss the indescribable experience of watching a flower grow. I know, I should have said, “growing a flower”. But, as in the case of children, we think we “grow” them, but actually all that we do (and can do) is provide the right conditions – sun, food, water, love, protection - and they grow themselves to become whatever they become. A rose, a biochemist, a jasmine, a dancer, a hibiscus, a football player.&lt;br /&gt;So, what am I saying? Two things, actually&lt;br /&gt;First, grow some flowers.&lt;br /&gt;Second, it’s not easy.&lt;br /&gt;Let me tackle the second thing first. Naturally, the question being, if it is not easy, then why do it at all? I’ll answer that in many ways. First, because the best things in life are also the most difficult. A happy marriage, the round chappati, a perfect. All of them take perseverance, practice and patience. Last week, I watched the Olympian girl gymnasts perform what is called rhythmic gymnastics. Each routine lasted for all of a little over a couple of minutes. But as each wisp of a girl wafted and whirled and swirled as if they were spools of gossamer silk thread being woven by a hidden hand or then the daughters of fairies, only we couldn’t see their wings, I knew that in every instant of those incredibly difficult, breathtakingly beautiful few minutes was an entire lifetime of hard, grueling, dedicated work, perhaps to the exclusion of all else. Because, if you think about it, the more effortless a thing seems, the more tireless effort has gone into it.&lt;br /&gt;But, in our delusion that we’ve learnt to shrink time and the universe, we want the shortcut, the easy, the instant and as far as possible, the certain. We want guarantees, a result-oriented race for whom there must be an assured return output for whatever we put in - dahlia seeds or the down payment for those expensive computer animation classes. When in fact there are none. Nothing is certain, not that you will be alive the next minute or become a trillionaire next year. Or that you won’t. Bill Gates didn’t know it when he dropped out of college or the man who just died in a motorcycle accident.&lt;br /&gt;So, grow some flowers. Because you learn that the best things in life don’t come that easy. And because you learn that often the things that give you the greatest satisfaction is stuff that you do just for the heck of it. If anybody were to ask me, I’d add three things to every school curriculum. Music, gardening and a craft - anything that teaches you to make things with your hands, like carpentry or cooking or pottery. So that the children learn not just the power of science but also of art. But more on that later….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which brings me back an entire circle to point number one. Grow some flowers. Because when the flowers bloom – yup, if it is a labour of love and patience, they will - there might just be all kinds of nice things happening inside you. Even if it’s just one brave, bright marigold gently flaming its globed orangeness against a drab city skyline, the sight of it will be soul food. First, joyful disbelief (especially if you are a first time gardener) that you played a part in making something so utterly beautiful happen. Then, as the disbelief fades, your back will straighten up and your chest puff out just a little in the knowledge that somewhere inside you, maybe in the palms of your hands, tingeing the end of your fingertips is something of the Divine, the Magic that created everything and that created you.&lt;br /&gt;And when they’ve done their blooming, don’t pick the flowers as yet. Let them be, breathing gently on their mother plant and every now and then, in a spare moment, go and look at them and allow yourself to marvel, something that as life turns us into jaded cynics and skeptics, we lose the habit of. Because only when you marvel and wonder can there be joy. I’ll end by borrowing words from a man who loved to watch all kinds of things – snow, apples, spiders, birches - and it turned him into one of the greatest English poets of our time. Robert Frost. “Earth’s the right place for love, I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” he says in his poem, “Birches”. I couldn’t agree with him more but it’s the last line of that poem that kinda sticks in the head:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“One could do worse that be a swinger of birches.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One could do worse that be a grower of flowers.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/116533508055860940/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=116533508055860940' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116533508055860940'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116533508055860940'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/wonderous-thing-about-growing-flowers.html' title='The wonderous thing about growing flowers'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-116486515241733179</id><published>2006-11-29T21:35:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-11-29T21:39:12.423-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Belle of India</title><content type='html'>“&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;Out in the lonely woods the jasmine burns&lt;br /&gt;Its fragrant lamps, and turns&lt;br /&gt;Into a royal court with green festoons&lt;br /&gt;The banks of dark lagoons.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;HernyTimrod, American poet&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;That Nature is a never ending source of wonderment and joy is nothing new, but as marvelous as its creatures and creations is also the fact that it can be so thoughtful. As all mothers are and I guess that is why we say “Mother Nature”. Look, for example, how she takes care of us in the hot, exhausting months of summer. Stocking us with all kinds of fruits and vegetables swollen with water and bursting with nutrients to combat the heat. And as if that is not enough, a whole array of summer flowers, exquisitely scented to soothe and refresh our hot, distraught bodies and spirits. Today, we visit this enchanting summer garden to acquaint ourselves with what has been rightly dubbed the queen of flowers – the jasmine…..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;A jasmine by any other name…..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Mogra, motia, chameli, malli poo, jaati, mallige, juhi, mogra or moonlight in the grove….  Even I, being a native of the place where the famous Mysore mallige grows, did not know that there are an astonishing 300 varieties of jasmine. Mostly summer flowers that bloom in the evening or at night, scenting the air their delightful fragrance, to gently and sweetly lull the long, hot, exhausting day out of us. All tracing their ancestry to several centuries back to the Old World - China, Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan and all over the Far East. And it makes me proud to say that many varieties of jasmines are natives of our beloved land including the gorgeously fragrant Mysore mallige, also appropriately called “Belle of India”.&lt;br /&gt;Naturally, you can’t bottle up such a beautiful fragrance for long and the jasmine soon crossed the seas. From Asia to Europe, landing first along the Mediterranean Sea, conquering Greece and Turkey, reaching Western Europe through Spain, then France and Italy and finally landing in England in the latter part of the 17th century. (By the 18th century, jasmine scented gloves became popular in Britain!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today, much of modern day perfumery is unthinkable without the jasmine, which is one of the key scents in some of the most celebrated perfumes in the world. Chanel No. 5, created by the legendary Coco Chanel and the famous “Joy” perfume, created by the French designer Jean Patou.  A single ounce of Joy, still known as the &#39;costliest perfume in the world”, contains 10,600 jasmine flowers!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So delectable, so cool, so calm, so uplifting…&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is a reason for those 10,600 jasmines. As the story goes, “Joy” was created in 1930 to chase away the Depression blues that West was in the grip of.  So, jasmine was a natural selection because both in Ayurveda and aromatherapy, the jasmine and its essential oil have powerful mood uplifting and antidepressant properties. Aromatherapists prescribe jasmine as a calming agent, to soothe stress, pain, and anxiety. Naturally, for the disbelievers who pooh-pooh all this herbal mumbo-jumbo, there is some research data. Dr. Alan Hirsch, a researcher on the effects of smell and taste on physiology, published a research report in which he has stated that inhaling jasmine scent increases beta waves in the brain. Beta waves are associated with increased states of alertness.&lt;br /&gt;Now tell me, what more can you ask of a flower to do for your drooping self on a hard, hot, sweaty hot summer’s day?&lt;br /&gt;But, though its relaxing, soothing qualities make it something of a summer specialist, the jasmine is also a flower for other seasons, therapeutically speaking. In Ayurveda, the jasmine essential oil is an important one, used in nourishing, warming sadhanas for vatta types in autumn and winter and to calm the mind and the stomach of Pitta types in the rainy season. It is also used as an anti nausea treatment during purgation therapy and for respiratory problems and uterine disorders.  And its soothing, cooling, rejuvenating qualities make it the key ingredient in the famous “chameli ka tel” popular all over North India to both scent the hair and cool the brain…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;and oh so sexy&lt;/strong&gt;….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;&quot;Perfume is the unseen but unforgettable and ultimate fashion accessory. It heralds a woman&#39;s arrival and prolongs her departure.&quot; Coco Chanel&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Naturally, a flower with a scent so exhilarating cannot but also be…. yup, an aphrodisiac!  Its reputation as an intoxicant is ancient and formidable, and while researching it, I came across a whole clutch of stories ranging from the possible to the bizarre. Naturally, Cleopatra figured prominently in most of them and according to one story, she used jasmine in her hair when she wanted to distract Marc Antony during “business” meetings! But my favourite story features not the gorgeous Queen of the Nile but elephants. Apparently when elephants need some help to reproduce, it is said that the owners put jasmine oil on them to excite them. True or false – dunno. But on a more serious note, the jasmine used as an aphrodisiac by many ancient civilizations - the Chinese, Indians, the Arabians, the Egyptians (and possibly Cleopatra!). Even today, aroma therapists recommend it. And you can try it any which way – from dabbing your pillow with a drop or two of the oil to even wearing the flowers in your hair. So now, you know why Malli poo is so popular with us South Indian women!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color:#ff6666;&quot;&gt;Whither jasmine?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Like the rose, the essential oil of the jasmine is one of the most coveted and expensive in the world. Naturally, since it takes over 8 million jasmine flowers to produce 1 kilo or 2750 kgs to make about 12 drop of Jasmine oil! And you would think that the best jasmine oil in the world would come from the country where it originated and has grown for centuries - India. Sadly, the story of the Indian jasmine is the same as Indian saffron. The best jasmine oil comes not from India but from countries like France, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, China, Japan and Turkey. In France, growing jasmine and distilling its perfume is a billion-dollar industry and the town of Grasse in the French Rivera is so famous for jasmine flowers that the best jasmine is often referred to as “Grasse jasmine”.&lt;br /&gt;But, as I bemoan the current status of the Indian jasmine, I rejoice because in the course of writing this piece, I found something else. In my garden, there are 3 beautiful creepers planted by my father that trail their beautiful, delicate dark green feathery selves to the ground like girls drying their hair in the sun. Every year, for just 2 to 3 months, to coincide with the monsoons, they stud themselves with the most exquisitely scented star-shaped white flowers that start as blush-pink-dipped buds in the evening and bloom to pure white virginal stars the next morning. They are my mother’s favourite flower and their perfume is like no other, heady but with an intoxication that is delicate and utterly enchanting. I only knew it by the local Kannada name by which it is popular all over Karnataka. Jaji. Till I researched for this article and found its botanical name - Jasminum officinale grandiflorum. Which is the very same jasmine that grows in Grasse and finds its way to the most fabulous perfumes in the world! Its English name is Poet’s jasmine.&lt;br /&gt;And so, I end this article with Rabindranath Tagore’s paean to this exquisite denizen of India….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;AH, these jasmines, these white jasmines!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;I seem to remember the first day when I filled my hands&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;with these jasmines, these white jasmines.have loved the sunlight, the sky and the green earth;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;I have heard the liquid murmur of the riverthrough the darkness of midnight;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Autumn sunsets have come to me at the bend of the road&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;in the lonely waste, like a bride raising her veil&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;to accept her lover.Yet my memory is still sweet with the first white jasmines&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;that I held in my hands when I was a child…..&lt;/em&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/116486515241733179/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=116486515241733179' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116486515241733179'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116486515241733179'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/11/belle-of-india.html' title='The Belle of India'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-116486476824181897</id><published>2006-11-29T21:05:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-12-05T08:07:39.233-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Tel Maalaish!</title><content type='html'>You’d think that the prerequisite for an “oil bath” would be…well, oil, right? Well, that too, but the way it was in my maternal grandfather’s house, oil (lots of it, naturally) was only one of the ingredients. Indispensable were also at least one able-bodied minion with strong, sure hands and lots of stamina, gallons and gallons of hot water bubbling away in a copper cauldron a little smaller than an average Mumbai flat and chickpea flour (besan ka atta). More about the chickpea flour later. First the oil bath…&lt;br /&gt;There were so many members in the joint family that lived in our ancestral home (my mother says at least about 30-35) of which my grandfather was yajamana (head) that the weekly oil bath had to happen in batches. Naturally, the women were in a separate batch and the men and the chilte-pilte (Kannada slang for bunch of kids) were in the privileged lot. Which meant that other than taking their clothes off (the men retained just a skimpy cotton langoti), everything else was done by the minions. Naturally, as the yajamana, my grandfather went first. My mother says that he made an impressive sight. He was a short, bald man and but stripped down to his almost-altogether, what hit the eye was the gold – in his ears, around his neck, circling his wrists and on his fingers and even around his rather substantial belly.&lt;br /&gt;But even the gold had to step aside for the oil….&lt;br /&gt;It was a magnum opus that lasted at least an hour. First, his entire body was vigorously massaged with warm oil. Of course the only thing that my grandfather did was to occasionally proffer a limb or make a body part more accessible. The actual massaging was done by the minion. Who, I’ll have you know, was often a woman called Monti! Yeah, I gasped too when my mother told me this but at the time, nobody thought that it was the slightest bit “odd”, just the most natural thing. Anyway, once the oil massage was done to everyone’s satisfaction (my grandfather’s and the minion’s), it was time for that chickpea flour. Yup, no new fangled stuff like soap to take the oil off. It had to be lashings of chickpea flour, which was rubbed – naturally by the minion – into the skin almost as vigorously and lavishly as the oil. Remember, these were days when probably the word “face scrub” and “exfoliate” hadn’t even entered the average Western beautician’s dictionary but in my grandfather’s house, they knew a thing or two about skincare. Because when the whole enchilada was finally washed off with the almost boiling hot water from the copper cauldron, the skin emerged beautifully soft, moist and tender as a baby’s bottom, glowing and ever so slightly flushed and tingling, wearing the faintest, gentlest patina of oil that lingered the whole day like a sweet memory. Which was, you could say, also roughly the state of the mind.&lt;br /&gt;So what’s the big deal about these “oil baths” and why do the Southies get so glassy-eyed with ecstasy about it? Well, technically the term is a misnomer and only a dye-in-blood South Indian will understand what it means. Namely that we don’t bath in oil, as the term might suggest to the uninitiated (and how sorry I feel for them!). But that we first anoint, slather, soak and massage every known body part accessible within the bounds of decency with warm oil, mostly in full public view in a sort of Sunday morning family event. When we can lug ourselves out of the euphoric, dreamy haze that it induces, we wash it all off with oceans of hot water and then often totter off to a hot lunch, finished off by cool buttermilk only slightly less in quantity than the hot water that we bathed in. Finally, to a crescendo of gutsy, blissful sighs, we finally sink into a Kumbhakarna siesta from which we awake ready to face anything. World War 3 or a Rakhi Sawant video.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But please don’t be misled by my jocular tone because an oil bath is actually some very serious business of therapy and healing. You see, it all goes back to the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. And Ayurveda, like yoga, is not just a system of medicine but a way of life. So, it prescribes not only for the sick to heal, but also for the healthy to stay healthy. In Ayurveda, health is a state where the body is in harmony not only with its own nature but also with the nature outside. And since everything including life itself is constantly changing, this is considered as a dynamic state of being, a balancing act where you have to constantly adjust and fine tune your body not just by its doshas, not just by the season but even on a daily basis. So dinacharya is the daily morning ritual that Ayurveda prescribes that readies you both in body and spirit to face the day. And an “oil bath” or rather massaging yourself with oil before your bath is the integral part of it. So, once upon a time, an “oil bath” was a daily event. With time, it became a weekly thing and now, it’s almost a forgotten thing, remembered perhaps once a year on Diwali day, when a little oil is ritualistically applied on the head.&lt;br /&gt;So why is this “oil bath” so important and what does it do, therapeutically speaking? Naturally it all begins with the skin, the body’s largest organ and the main organ of our sense of touch. Touch has been used since time immemorial as an important method of healing, especially in the world’s two most ancient systems of medicine, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine and massage or abhyanaga is one of them. When the body is massaged, the very first thing that happens is almost instant and complete relaxation. because the human skin is loaded with nerve endings, the receptors that receive and transmit all sensation to the brain. There are roughly 350 such nerve endings in each square millimeter of human skin, the hands being supersensitive with each fingertip having more than 3,000 touch receptors.&lt;br /&gt;So, in an oil massage, skin first meets skin, introduced by warm, silky oil. It has been said that the effects of an oil massage are similar to being intensely loved. And love it has to be because in Ayurveda, oil is called sneha, which also means love. So skin begins to love skin, one surrendering and allowing the fingertips to caress and press, rub and probe gently, even gently pinch; the palms to knead and press and smooth. According to Ayurveda, for the sneha – and we could well be referring both oil and love! - to reach the deepest layers, it must be massaged for 800 matras or roughly 5 minutes. Naturally because as we all know, you can’t hurry love. And thus loved and pampered, the blissed out skin begins to send a flood of messages to the brain to relax, wind down, let go. Now these messages get stored forever in the memory of the skin so that with every repetition of a massage, the skin remembers and the relaxation is quicker and easier. Massaging also generates body heat, which stimulates the millions of blood vessels located just below the surface of the skin. The act of rubbing the skin’s surface with oil also knocks off the build of layers of dead skin cells, leaving your skin soft and glowing. Incidentally, did you know that the skin sheds 500 million dead cells every day?!.&lt;br /&gt;Okay, so that’s the obvious stuff. But what if I tell you that the daily oil massage also stimulates almost every critical body part or system - the muscles, the nervous system, even the respiratory system because as the body relaxes, your breathing slows and calms down, improving the oxygenation of the cells. It kick starts vital organs and gets the prana energy flowing, all of which results in a general feeling of being rejuvenated and energized. It’s like waking up the inside of you just the way you do every morning!&lt;br /&gt;And we’ve only just begun.&lt;br /&gt;Because the oil massage is also a great way to detoxify. Toxins accumulate in the body for a lot of reasons – stress, food, environmental pollution, lack of exercise, the effect of seasons and according Ayurveda, the imbalance of our own doshas, etc., etc. Their accumulation is the cause of much that ails us; in fact Ayurveda considers this the root of all disease – from arthritis to diabetes to urinary disorders. So, the act of massaging activates the body to start getting rid of its waste and toxins in different ways. By making you sweat gently. By getting that circulation up and running and most importantly, by waking up sluggish intestines and bowels!&lt;br /&gt;Last but most importantly, an oil massage is a bit like your TV remote control. There is a sloka in Ayurveda which says,&lt;br /&gt;“Shirah shravana padeshu&lt;br /&gt;Tam visheshena sheelayet.“&lt;br /&gt;Roughly translated it means that 3 areas of the body must be massaged are the head, the ears and the feet. Because you see, with these 3 areas, we can access the deepest interiors of our body to almost every organ and gland to retune and reset them. You’re thinking, the head makes sense because that’s where the brain as well important endocrine glands like the pituitary and the pineal glands are located. But the feet? And even curiouser, the ears? Ah, according to Ayurveda, these two areas (along with others like the hands) are considered vital junction boxes connected to the entire body. For example, points all over the outer ear or the visible portion of the ear are considered connected to almost all the major organs and glands in the body including heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, liver, pancreas, gall bladder reproductive organs, the thyroid, prostrate and pituitary glands. The ear lobes are connected to the eyes and teeth.&lt;br /&gt;The feet are no less important. The big toe gives us access the brain and helps vision. The index toe releases energy into the lungs. The third toe gets us access to the intestines, the fourth to the kidney and the little toe to …..believe it or not, the heart. And on the sole of each foot are 4 of the 107 marma points, vital points of the body, so vital that hitting them can grievously injure, even kill - as is done in Kerala’s ancient art of Kalaripayyat.&lt;br /&gt;And these are only some of the physical benefits of an “oil bath”. Did I mention that it also helps improve vitality, strength, stamina, concentration, flexibility, youthfulness, makes you sleep like a baby, feel good about yourself …..oh, what the heck, let me just quote the wise sage Charaka himself,&lt;br /&gt;&quot;The body of one who uses oil massage regularly is affected much even if subjected to injury or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age.&quot; Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V: 88-89&lt;br /&gt;Isn’t it breathtaking how exquisitely simple it all is? How far just a few cupfuls of warm, sweet sneha and a pair of sure, loving hands can take you down the happy road to health and well being? I have this sneaking suspicion that my passionate and life long affair with music began because as a baby, every morning before a bath, my ayah would give me an oil massage so thorough and so delightful that like my grandfather’s elder sister-in-law, I’d fall into a deep, ecstatic exhausted slumber afterwards. While massaging me, she’d sing a song. It was concieved when Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker went to Calcutta and one morning watched a local maalish-wala show off his talents. Guru Dutt asked Johnny Walker to remember the scene. He did and it appeared as this song in the classic 1957 film Pyaasa and became so famous that a song with Johnny Walker became mandatory in the formula Hindi film box office hit. The lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi puts it a little differently but is as eloquent as the sage Charaka on the benefits of an oil massage…..&lt;br /&gt;Sar jo tera chakraaye, ya dil dooba jaaye&lt;br /&gt;Aaja pyaare paas hamaare, kaahe ghabraaye.. kaahe ghabraaye&lt;br /&gt;Sun sun sun, are beta sun, is champi mein bade bade gun&lt;br /&gt;Laakh dukhon ki ek dava hai kyoon na aazmaaye&lt;br /&gt;Kaahe ghabraaye, kaahe ghabraaye&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In consultation with Dr. C. S. Anil Kumar – B.A.M.S., M.D., (Ay) D.N.Y., Physician Consultant in Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy and Professor at JSS Ayurvedic Medical College, Mysore.&lt;br /&gt;*******</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/116486476824181897/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=116486476824181897' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116486476824181897'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116486476824181897'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/11/tel-maalaish.html' title='Tel Maalaish!'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-116144126826613051</id><published>2006-10-21T07:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-10-21T07:37:08.396-07:00</updated><title type='text'>In Defence of Mud and Oil</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/1600/diya.0.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/320/diya.0.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Din soona suraj bina&lt;br /&gt;Aur chanda bin raina&lt;br /&gt;Ghar soona deepak bina&lt;br /&gt;Jyoti bi do nain…&lt;br /&gt;Diya jalao, jag-mag jag-mag…K.L Saigal in the film TANSEN (1943)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Well, we did it one more time. When along with the curtains in the drawing room and the silver in the puja room, we laundered and polished and aired out our goodwill and charitableness, tarnished and dusty for a year’s non-use. No, no, don’t worry, I am not going to be Uncle Scrooge and ruin the lovely Diwali that everyone has just had with my grouchy bah and humbug. Instead I write today of a beautiful but perhaps dying Diwali tradition – the humble clay Diwali diya or earthen lamp.&lt;br /&gt;Naturally, at the outset, let me say that I do not have any suitably weighty body of research that says that it will help cure this, that or the other ailment. So I realize that when I sing praises of what is after all a bit of mud, cotton and oil, I compete with that infinitely more snazzy, more convenient, no-mess, no-drip modern day marvel - electric decorative lights. Which not only come on at the mere flick of a switch (and go off as easily) and in so many chak-mak Diwali colours, but can also be made to “pulse” to the latest Jhankar beats. And no spoilsport breeze can ever blow them out. In comparison, my humble diyas are a messy, laborious rigmarole of cotton wicks and oil and the light is in just one boring colour that will tremble and shiver at the mercy of the faintest wisp of a breeze. So, defending the clay diya is like trying to defend the importance of art, dance, poetry and song in the school syllabus. At least in the case of song, there is enough research demonstrating what amazing things that a spot of music can do to your kids’ IQ. So, if not to introduce Munna to the joy of listening to the sweet, aching sound of Talat Mahmood pleading, “Jalte hain jiske liye, teri ankhon diye….”, then at least to boost up his mathematical skills, we will allow him a few music classes. But what “good” will a few silly, mud (oh, alright, clay, if you insist) diyas that we light once a year do for anyone?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like I said, the dice aren’t loaded in my favour but let me try anyway….&lt;br /&gt;&quot;The Hindu does not worship an idolMade of wood and clay.He sees consciousness Within the earthen-ness And loses himself in it.&quot; Swami Vivekananda&lt;br /&gt;Let me start with mud….er, I mean clay. The association of clay with creation and the circle of life is an ancient and universal one. As swiftly miraculously as it takes form, clay can be and is destroyed. Impermanence, change, regeneration – the cycle of life and its inexorable rhythm is embodied in clay and in the potter’s wheel. Even when it remains unformed in the soil, it is invaluable. It absorbs ammonia and other gases needed for plant growth and helps the soil to retain the fertilizing substances in manure. So, without clay, the womb of Mother Earth cannot hold on to its fertility. And out of a lump of clay can be born anything. A Pongal pot, a roof or floor tile, a Dussera gombe (doll), a kulhar, a Bankura horse. Or an Ayyanar deity, fiercely guarding the entrance of a village in Tamil Nadu. Or the 7500 strong terracotta army of life-size soldiers, horses and chariots that Emperor Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor had buried with him more than 2000 years ago. Or the 30,000 clay tablets that formed the library of King Sennacherib of Assyria (now partly in Iraq) who ruled from 704 to 681 B.C. Or the thousands of magnificent statues of Goddess Durga and Lord Ganesh that grace our lives for 10 days every year and then sink into oceans and rivers to become clay again.&lt;br /&gt;Or a little clay diya. Or then, mankind itself….&lt;br /&gt;It is said that Brahma fashioned man out of clay. Which makes him the first potter and so, ever since, potters in many parts of India and Nepal have “Prajapathi” as their family name. And the origin of the first earthen pot is equally sacred. During the sagar manthan or the churning the ocean, when the amrut or nectar finally came up, there was no vessel to collect it in. So Vishwakarma, architect of the gods (he designed Indralok, Dwarka, Lanka, Indraprastha to name only a few divine residences), divine sculptor and supreme craftsman, shaped some earth into a pot or kumbh. (So, the potter is called kumhar in Hindi and Kolkatta’s most famous potter’s colony, where the fabulous Durga statues are made every year for the Durga Puja celebrations is called Kumortoli.) Which is why many potters light a small diya as a mark of respect to the great Viswakarma before they start the day’s work.&lt;br /&gt;And it is more than likely that that diya is a clay one and the oil in it will most likely be….&lt;br /&gt;The Sanskrit generic word for oil is “taila” (Hindi – “tel”), said to have originated from the Sanskrit “tila” or sesame - an indication that sesame or gingelly oil’s status as the first among oils. Nurturer and healer, next only to ghee in its sattvic, calming nature, sesame oil carries in it all the wonderful qualities of its parent seed. It is said that the sesame seed formed when a drop of Vishnu’s sweat fell on the earth and in Ayurveda, it is considered one of the first foods of the earth. And so sesame oil, rated by the great sage Charaka as “shreshta” among oils, is indispensable in Ayurveda, used for everything from seasoning healing foods to treat orthopedic injuries and generally improve and rejuvenate the body’s vital systems. And it is this wonderful oil that is normally used in diyas. Why? Well, many say that the flame of a diya fuelled by ghee or sesame oil purifies the air around it. So, what else would we fill into the lamps that will light our way out of the darkness of all that is bad and sad and troubled into all that is good and happy and peaceful – both inside and outside us? How else would we welcome Goddess Laxmi into our homes but with the brave, beautiful, golden flame of a clay diyas?&lt;br /&gt;Which brings me finally to…..Anjali. A lovely name for a girl and means “offering”. But what does it have to do with the diya? Ah, it is a beautiful connection. Cup both your hands together as we do when we offer something in a puja or when we accept a boon or prasadam. Now look carefully at the shape that your hands have formed. It is exactly the shape of a diya. (In Ayurveda, “anjali” is also the volume that can be held by your two cupped hands.) So, every little clay diya, made from the coming together of fire, water, air, space and sacred earth, filled with the sweet, peaceful, healing goodness of sesame oil that gives itself up so willingly to burn so bright and pure, is an offering, a prayer. In gratitude for life, that we have completed one more circle and ready to embark on another. Invoking all that is good and peaceful and healing and that we may have the power to deal with whatever life has in store for us. Remembering that like the clay of the diya, that everything we are, have, own – the new designation, the freshly Asian-painted house, the newly wed daughter-or-son-in-law, even the brand new 26’ plasma TV bought with the Diwali bonus - is only lent to us for a while. So, enjoy it while it is there and when like the oil in the diya, its time is up, give it back without grief….&lt;br /&gt;So, my dear, dear readers, I hope that this Diwali, the humble little clay diya blessed each one of you and your homes with its simple, beautiful blessing.&lt;br /&gt;Happy Diwali</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/116144126826613051/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=116144126826613051' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116144126826613051'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/116144126826613051'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-defence-of-mud-and-oil.html' title='In Defence of Mud and Oil'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-115882751950049449</id><published>2006-09-21T01:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-09-21T01:31:59.506-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Namaskara</title><content type='html'>Karagre vasate Laksmih&lt;br /&gt;Karamule Sarasvati&lt;br /&gt;Karamadhye tu Govindah prabhate karadarsanam&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Lakshmi resides in the fingertips, Sarasvati in the base of the fingers and Vishnu the centre of the palm. Therefore look at your hand first thing in the morning.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It struck me recently that here in India, we greet God and each other pretty much the same way. With a namaste, a namaskara, namaskar, namashkar or namaskaram, depending on which part of the country we are from. This thought crossed my mind when I saw two Western celebrities doing namaste – Goldie Hawn in a chat show and poor, beleaguered Michael Jackson as he walked out of the courtroom.  In both cases, the gesture was awkward, stilted, the way a sari looks on Western women even when draped on one as gorgeous as Elizabeth Hurley. And so I wondered, what is the significance of a gesture that is almost second nature to most of us and is used elsewhere in the world only while praying?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I bow to you.”&lt;br /&gt;Actually, we don’t really have to look very far for the meaning because it’s all there in that one word. Namaste or Namaskara.  And it is the first part of the word that is the most important. “Nama” which is the same as “namah” as used in so many mantras including the panchakshara - “Om namahshivaya”.  The larger, broader meaning of nama or namah is taken to be “I bow down to”,  “I pay homage to” or “I venerate”. But this comes from the fact that “nama” is the coming together of two words - “Na”, which means “that which is not” and “ma” which means “mine” or “I”. So, the literal meaning of nama would be &#39;not I&#39; or “not mine”. So, by saying “nama”, the implication is that by negating myself, by that I am nothing, I am acknowledging you are of prime importance. And thus, I pay homage you, bow down to you, revere you. When we say it to God, it also means I worship you. (“te” in namaste means “you” (I bow down to you) and “kara” in namaskara means “doing”.)&lt;br /&gt;Can you think of a more beautiful way of greeting another human being? Firstly, it is the ultimate gesture of humility, the keeping aside of ego and arrogance that comes in the way of so many of our interaction. Then, it recognizes and honors the fact that in each one of us there is something good, something worthy of respect, even something divine. All said in one simple gesture and one word.&lt;br /&gt;So, now we know what the words namaste or namaskara mean. But why do we fold the hands together?&lt;br /&gt;Hand talk&lt;br /&gt;Before answering that question, a small voyage to reacquaint ourselves with our hands. Human civilization would not be what it is without them. In Ayurveda, the hands are classified as one of the 5 organs of action. And they are – stunning, complex organs with which not only do we build and create but also express ourselves with. (By the way, one of the main differences between us and apes and chimpanzees is that we do not use our hands for locomotion.) Our hands move and form into a million different gestures to show love and power and anger and despair and defiance and failure and triumph. We make love and war, cook and eat, mock and insult, applaud and bless, even kill with our hands. The New York stock exchange could not function without them. Music, art and literature would not have been possible without them. And the delicate, intricate swirls and whorls of lines on each of our fingertips make every single one of us unique and like no other human being on this planet. Think about it – right at this very minute, there are at least 6 billion sets of fingerprints, every one of them different from all the other 5, 999, 999, 999!&lt;br /&gt;But perhaps the most spectacular avatar of our hands is as an organ of touch. The human hand contains about 100,000 nerves, of at least 20 different kinds - 8 related to movement, carrying commands from the spine and 12 receive various touch sensations. Each our fingertips have about 3,000 nerve receptors, just under the surface of the skin. Our trunks have about the same as one fingertip! (Source : A Primer on Touch By Elise Hancock) Divided into specialist functions to tell us fire from ice, a baby’s cheek from sandpaper, granite from cotton wool, rain from dry sand. Collaborating with the brain to make our fingers so magically dexterous, so sensitive, so intelligent that they can weave fabric fine enough to pass through a ring, make the flute imitate the rippling of mountain stream, a drum talk the language of raindrops, reattach nerves finer than a human hair, transplant sunlight shimmering on water on to a canvas. And make a deaf person hear, a mute speak and a blind see….&lt;br /&gt;And so, it is only expected that our ancients designed an entire system of healing of the mind, body and spirit, using the hands, especially the fingers to form “mudras”….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The de-stress mudra&lt;br /&gt;The word “mudra” means “gesture”, but it also means “seal”, especially in yoga.&lt;br /&gt;Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga says, “The Kulavarna tantra traces the word mudra to the root “mudh” meaning to delight or pleasure and dravay which means to draw forth. Mudras, “by creating barriers within the body,” “redirect the energy which is normally dissipated outwards” inwards. And the anjali mudra is no different. It is also known as the namaskara mudra. Because that is exactly how the hands are placed – folded together in a namaskara and placed in the centre of the chest with both the thumbs gently pressing against the sternum. It is said that when we thus join our hands, we close or complete (seal) an energy circuit between the hands and the brain, creating a deeply meditative state. Which is why the anjali mudra is considered a relaxing mudra, reducing stress and anxiety and calming you down gently and beautifully.&lt;br /&gt;But don’t take my word for it. Try this. Sit in a comfortable position and relax completely, shutting your eyes and focusing on your breathing. Then, just slowly bring your hands together in a namaste, pressing them firmly but gently against each other, making sure the fingers are matched and there is no gap between them. You need not place your hands in the centre of your chest and this is not the actual mudra, but you will immediately feel a sense of calming down, of something releasing within you….&lt;br /&gt;Which leaves us with the unanswered question. Why do we fold our hands the way we do in a namaste? To tell you the truth, I didn’t find a really satisfactory answer in all the research that I did. So, I will offer you my own theory. In ancient Indian wisdom, each finger has a symbolic meaning. For example, in Ayurveda, each of the 5 fingers are conduits of the 5 elements – the angushta or thumb for space, the forefinger or tarjari for air, the middle finger or madhyama for fire, the ring finger or anamika for water and the little finger or kanishta for earth. In yoga, according to Swami Satyananda Saraswati, “the small, middle and ring finger respectively represent the 3 gunas – tamas (inertia), rajas (action and creativity) and sattwa (luminosity and harmony). In order for consciousness to pass from ignorance to knowledge, these 3 states must be transcended. The index finger represents the individual consciousness or jivatama, while the thumb symbolises the supreme consciousness.” Our hands are our lifeline - our means of survival, expression and the conduit through which we experience the world around us. Our hands also are our identity card – you can change your name, but your fingerprints are as indelible and unique as your DNA.&lt;br /&gt;So, you could say that in our hands is contained the universe, the sum and substance of what we are. Therefore, when we join our hands together in a “namaskara”, we not only say, “I bow down to you”, but that “along with my ego, I submit to you all that I am and have.”&lt;br /&gt;So, to you my dear readers, I say today, “Namaskara”.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/115882751950049449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=115882751950049449' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115882751950049449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115882751950049449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/09/namaskara.html' title='Namaskara'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-115882706411576117</id><published>2006-09-21T01:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-09-21T01:24:24.130-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Payasam - Food of the gods and the worlds oldest dessert...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/1600/kheer.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/400/kheer.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Milk - not just the earth’s first sattvic food, but also the most complete food, nutritionally speaking. And the source of other wonder foods like curd, buttermilk and ghee. Rice - one of the first foods of the earth, so much so that in Sanskrit, the word for food and cooked rice is the same – “anna”. So, when you combine the two with sugar or jaggery and ghee and slow cook for hours, what do you get? A result so heavenly that it is food fit for the gods! We mortals call it payasam. Kshirika in Sanskrit. Kheer in North India. Naturally, India’s association with it goes back to...well, at least to the Ramayana. When the childless King Dashratha was performing the putra yameshti yagya to plead for progeny, a divine purusha appeared holding a golden pot of payasam, which he gave to the king. On the advice of sage Vasistha, Dashratha distributed the payasam among his queens. According to one version, all three of them got a share, but before she could eat hers, an eagle swooped down and took away Sumitra’s share. So Kaushalya and Kaikeyi each gave her half theirs. Soon, the news that all the three queens were with child filled the kingdom of Ayodhya with joy! The scene of King Dashratha distributing the payasam to his queens is part of the fabulous sculptured panels of the fabulous Chola temples in Tamil Nadu.&lt;br /&gt;And so, payasam is a universal offering to the gods all over India. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari. In temple, mosque, church and gurudwara, sometimes a sacred ritual thousands of years old. And often so delicious that its fame makes the devotees flock as much for darshan of the deity as for a potion of this earthly ambrosia. Today, we take a slow boat down the river of this divine food…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kashmir&lt;br /&gt;“Payasannapriya” meaning She who loves payasam. That is how the Devi is described in the Lalithashasranama. And so it is only befitting that there should be a temple dedicated to her called Kheer Bhawani! Situated in the Tulla Mula village just 27 kms from Srinagar, surrounded by beautiful chinar trees, this temple is one of Kashmir’s most sacred Hindu shrines, its antiquity going back to the time when, as the story goes, Lord Rama prayed here during his vanvas. Twice a year, thousands of devotees gather here, once in June to celebrate the Kheer Bhawani festival and then during all 9 nights of Navarati, a tradition among the Kashmiri pundits. But how did the temple get its name? Because of the kheer and milk that devotees offer to the Goddess, pouring it into the serene sacred waters on which the temple complex is built. It is said that the waters change colour to warn of imminent disaster!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rajasthan&lt;br /&gt;One of Islam’s holiest spots is the dargah or tomb of the famous Sufi saint, Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chishti in Ajmer. Built over 3 centuries, the great shrine of marble, silver, gold was completed by Akbar’s father, Humayun. But the dargah became famous as Akbar’s favorite place of worship, who would often vow to make the 150 km journey from Agra to Ajmer on foot if a wish was fulfilled or a mission successfully completed. Like he did when he conquered Chittor in 1568. After reaching the dargah, he ordered the construction of a massive cauldron or “deg”. With a circumference of over 10 feet, it could hold 4,480 kgs of rice and was placed west of the main door or Buland Darwaza. 50 years later, his son, Jahangir, for whose birth he prayed at this very dargah, added a smaller one of half the capacity. Since then, every year, during the Urs festival marking the death anniversary of the saint, it is in these massive degs that the dargah’s famous kheer is made. Rice, ghee, milk, sugar and dry fruits are cooked together to become the dargah’s tabarruk or blessing and served to all pilgrims. Such is the rush that it is called the “looting of the kheer” because the degs are emptied within a matter of minutes, devotees even jumping into them to scrape whatever kheer remains at the bottom!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kerala&lt;br /&gt;What else would abound in God’s own country but God’s own food? Not only do mortals quaff it in prodigious quantities at every possible opportunity but some of Kerala’s most famous payasams are made in …of course in its temples, but also in many of the churches as well!&lt;br /&gt;Mulanthuruthy in Ernakulam district. Where the ancient Mar Thoman Syrian Orthodox Church stands, established in the early part of 12th century. Every year, payasam is an integral part of the annual celebrations of the church. A small portion is blessed, mixed with the rest and served to all the parishioners at the feast. Also in the Ernakulam district is St. Antony’s Church and the festival to mark St. Joseph’s Day is so famous that the church is known as St. Joseph’s Church. Thousands attend the festival, many to feast particularly on the delicious kadum payasam. Wealthy devotees “sponsor” and pay for the payasam, which incidentally ‘keeps’ for a year without spoiling – till the next feast!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which brings us to Kerala’s famous temple payasams. The payasams at the Guruvayur and Sabrimalai temples are famous enough, but the one made at Sri Krishna Temple in Ambalappuzha near Alleppey has a wonderful story attached to it. Lord Krishna once appeared as a sage to the king of the region and challenged him to a game of chess. The king accepted the challenge, agreeing to the sage’s condition that that the prize should be decided before the game. The rishi’s prize, in case he won, was what seemed to be just a few grains of rice. He asked that one grain of rice be placed in the first square of the chessboard and then each subsequent square would have double the number of grains of the previous one. Whatever number of rice grains would thus fit on the chessboard would be his.&lt;br /&gt;The king agreed – he had to because his opponent wanted nothing else. Naturally the rishi won. But when the king started adding the grains, he realized how he had underestimated his opponent. The number of rice grains multiplied in geometric progression and the “few grains of rice” finally beacme 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains, amounting to trillions of tons of rice! The king realised that even if he got all the rice in his kingdom and the adjacent ones, there was no way he could pay up. Seeing the king’s consternation, Lord Krishna revealed himself and put the king out of his misery by allowing the debt to be paid off over time – as free payasam to pilgrims. And so the famous paal payasam of the Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna temple is made and distributed as prasadam everyday to this very day! (Source : wikipedia.org)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Orissa &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;And finally, what is often called the world’s oldest payasam. If the Jagannatha Temple in Puri, Orissa is one of our most ancient, famous and sacred temples, the prasadam made there is equally so – so much so that it is called “mahaprasadam”. Every single day, hundreds of temple cooks and their assistants, working on 752 chulas in a kitchen that sprawls over 2500 sq. ft, cook an awesome 100 different dishes, enough to feed at least 10,000 people! Everything from steamed rice to dals and vegetables and a mind-boggling array of sweets including one named after Lord Jagannatha himself! And of course, payasam or bhat payasa . Kurma Dasa, celebrity gourmet chef and who is called &#39;Australia&#39;s Vegetarian Guru&#39;, found the original recipe for it, one that hasn’t changed in two thousand years. Here it is….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2 tablespoons ghee&lt;br /&gt;3/4 cup long grained rice, washed and dried1/2 bay leaf2 litres milk1/2 cup ground rock sugar, or raw sugar 1/4 cup currants1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom seedsone pin-head quantity of pure cooking camphor (optional)1 tablespoon toasted nuts for garnish&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Heat the ghee in a heavy pot over medium heat, and toast the rice for a minute.&lt;br /&gt;Add the bay leaf and milk. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to half its original volume.&lt;br /&gt;Add sugar, currants, and cardamom, and simmer the mixture until it reaches one fourth of its original volume, and is thick and creamy.&lt;br /&gt;Stir in the optional camphor, and cool to room temperature, or refrigerate until chilled.&lt;br /&gt;Serve garnished with the toasted nuts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grateful thanks to Mr. Kurma Dasa - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kurma.net/&quot;&gt;http://www.kurma.net/&lt;/a&gt;, Elizabeth Ninan&lt;br /&gt;Photos&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2006/03/22&quot;&gt;http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2006/03/22&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/115882706411576117/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=115882706411576117' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115882706411576117'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115882706411576117'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/09/payasam-food-of-gods-and-worlds-oldest.html' title='Payasam - Food of the gods and the worlds oldest dessert...'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-115666585795892320</id><published>2006-08-27T00:58:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-09-21T01:05:37.040-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Why Lord Shiva chose an elephant&#39;s head for Ganesha</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/1600/ganesha%20flickr.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/320/ganesha%20flickr.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Photo &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/arpana/sets/965242/&quot; target=&quot;_top&quot;&gt;www.flickr.com/photos/arpana/sets/965242/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today was Ganesha Chaturthi. In modern day terms, you could say, the birthday of one of the most belovedand well-known deities of the Hindu pantheon of Gods, without whose invocation and blessing no important work is ever begun, so much so that the Hindi idiom for inaugurating anything is “Sri Ganesha karna”!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We call him by many names, this Lord of All (Vinayaka), each one both a paen and a prayer. Lambhodara or he of a belly large enough to accommodate the entire universe, the Giver of Boons (Varadavinayaka) and Knowledge (Vidyavaridhi), the Destroyer of Obstacles (Vighnavinashanaya, Vigneshwara). We have grown up listening to and reading the wonderful stories about him. The devoted son (Eshanputra, Rudrapriya Shambhavi, Gaurisuta), who not just lost a tusk defending his father from the wrath of the mighty Parasurama and thus became known as Ekdanta, but who also defined the meaning of filial love for all time to come by circling his parents when asked by them to circle the universe. The divine chronicler who, not happy to just be Vyasa’s stenographer, stipulated that he would do the job only if the sage recited the Mahabharata in one uninterrupted stretch and who in turn fulfilled Vyasa’s counter condition that in that uninterrupted flow, he would not write down anything that he did not understand. (It was in these conditions that the Mahabharata was completed in 3 years!)&lt;br /&gt;And so naturally, this infinite repository of wisdom (Buddhinath, Buddhipriya, Buddhividhata) became the consort of not just Buddhi but also Siddhi, worshipped ever since as not just Vinayaka but Siddhivinayaka. But perhaps the most popular story is the one of how our Lord Ganesha got his elephant head (Gajanana, Gajakarna, Gajananeti). There are many versions and I must confess that my own favourite is the one about him standing guard for his mother Parvati. But as I searched for and read all the versions, I couldn’t help wondering. Why an elephant head and why not that of some other animal?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know that there will be many answers to this, most of them from reli</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/115666585795892320/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=115666585795892320' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115666585795892320'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115666585795892320'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-lord-shiva-chose-elephants-head.html' title='Why Lord Shiva chose an elephant&#39;s head for Ganesha'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33146229.post-115623665643584315</id><published>2006-08-22T01:19:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-09-21T01:11:19.850-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The point about butterflies</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/1600/butterfly.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1817/3635/320/butterfly.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Photo &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floridata.com/tracks/butterfly/queen.cfm&quot;&gt;http://www.floridata.com/tracks/butterfly/queen.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Just living is not enough,&quot; said the butterfly. &quot;One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.&quot;- Hans Christian Andersen&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To me it has to be one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Butterflies in the sun. Recently, early one morning, I was on the terrace of my house. Suddenly I could see wave after wave of butterflies swooping over my head and flying past, like a sort of Nature’s air show. It was as if little bits of the sky had floated down and then taken wing because the butterflies were the exact colour of the brilliant blue sky against which they flew. And as I watched, their blue wings caught the sunlight and turned into a rising cloud of undulating, iridescent azure. I stood transfixed - incredulous that something so utterly beautiful, so breathtakingly stunning could have come my way, just like that. Without any fanfare or pre-release publicity, without my asking. And totally free. It made my day and the sight of those butterflies is forever imprinted like a patch of brightness inside my head.&lt;br /&gt;And so, today, I’m going to talk about how to attract butterflies to your garden. Of course there is a serious-jelly, ecologically correct, healthy, New Age living for doing this – in fact there are many. But let me come to that in a bit and first tell you the other reason to do this. Because along with air and food and water and money and old age pension and nail clippers and love and , we need beauty in our lives. Things that take our breath away, that delight and entrance and fill us with wonder and joy. Things that make us glad that we are alive and make our day. And the sight of butterflies fluttering in the sun is just one of those things.&lt;br /&gt;That done, now to the serious-eco-healthy part. Butterflies, along with moths and birds, are Nature’s most important plant pollinators - second only to honey bees. And if there’s no pollination, no papaya for breakfast and no bhindi for lunch, maybe not even eucalyptus oil for your cold balm. Insects (like butterflies) pollinate 75% of crop plant species, which give us about one out of every four mouthfuls of food and drink that we consume. Besides, butterflies not only help produce our food, along with caterpillars, they are also food for many other animals. But there is one other very important reason to have butterflies around. They are indicators of the state of health of your ecosystems. If butterflies abound in your environment, it means that there’s plenty of vegetation around and all is tickety-boo with the ecosystem. When the butterflies vanish, the ecology is in serious trouble.&lt;br /&gt;And the good news is that it’s not that difficult to have these beautiful creatures around. All you need to do is to grow brightly flowering plants loaded with nectar in lots of piping hot, golden sunshine. Nothing exotic or hothouse-rare mind you, just your average hibiscus or tomato!&lt;br /&gt;So today, I will introduce you to just two easy-to-grow plants that you can grow even in a pot or a planter – one has some of the prettiest flowers in the world, the other you can eat.&lt;br /&gt;The icing on the cake being that both these plants are well-known medicinal plants…..&lt;br /&gt;Hibiscus&lt;br /&gt;Jasun, jaswand, joba, dasawala, sapattuppu, dasanam. Hibiscus rosa sinensis. But perhaps its beautiful name is a Sanskrit one – japakusuma or jabakusuma. “Japakusuma” meaning the prayer flower and aptly so. Because the hibiscus is the primary flower of worship for the Devi, Her most favourite, so much so that in some parts of India like Chattisgarh it is called Deviphool. In the invocation to Suryadeva, he is described in the first line as “Jabaakusuma sankasham” or “as radiant as the colour of the red hibiscus”. One of the most popular and well-known hair oils not so many years ago in India was a brand called “Jabakusum”. A name well chosen because the hibiscus has quite a reputation for making hair beautiful and healthy. Being a natural emollient which makes the hair soft and promotes hair growth, the hibiscus flowers when crushed yield a dark purplish dye that is said to also help darken the hair. The hibiscus is a key ingredient in one other famous hair oil, this time an Ayurvedic formulation – brahmi amla tel!&lt;br /&gt;But the hibiscus’ greatest importance and one that has serious long-term implications for women is this. In Ayurveda and traditional medicine, it has long been used both as a contraceptive and to treat gynacelogical problems like vaginal and uterine discharges, menstrual irregularities etc. But, modern medical research both in India and abroad indicate that hibiscus may indeed give us the first female oral herbal contraceptive. While the R&amp;amp;D work is still on, the indications are promising.&lt;br /&gt;That’s as far as we humans go. Now for the butterflies. They are attracted to the hibiscus’ many brilliant, glorious hues. The butterflies that favor the hibiscus include a species called blues - to which family the glorious blue butterflies I mentioned at the beginning of this article belong to, thus named because of their gorgeous colouring.&lt;br /&gt;And finally, the bonus - the hibiscus, as a tree, also attracts many small birds including song birds!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dill&lt;br /&gt;Anethum graveolens or Anethum Sowa. (Which is Indian variety.) Shatpushpa, madhura in Sanskrit. Suwa (Hindi), sapsige soppu (Kannada), sataguppai (Tamil),&lt;br /&gt;Relative of the cumin (jeera), bay leaf (tej pata) and the carrot.&lt;br /&gt;Or as known in the Western World – dill.&lt;br /&gt;Which makes it time to talk about gripe water. Once called &quot;the secret of British nannies&quot;, and what no mum will do without for her new born little darling. Well, the active ingredient in gripe water is dill, the remedy given to millions of babies the world over to relieve colic. Actually, the wonderful therapeutic benefits of the dill weed has been known for about 3000 years. The ancient Egyptians and Romans knew it and Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used dill in a recipe for cleaning the mouth. Charlemagne had it on his banquet tables as a digestive for his guests who indulged too much. And here in India, we used it in Ayurveda and traditional medicine for all kinds of healing and soothing – as digestive and anti-flatulent, mouth freshener, for colds and flu and to stimulate menstrual flow and breast milk.We now know that dill’s wonderfully gentle ability to soothe even a baby’s irate stomach is due to its anti-bacterial ability, which tackle many strains of bacteria including Escheria coli, responsible for gastrointestinal illness like infectious diarrhea.&lt;br /&gt;But this is not all that pretty little dill – a delicate, wispy, dark green plant – offers. Apart from soothing unsettled digestions, it is also very nutritious. Fresh dill – like all greens – is an excellent source of dietary fibre and both the both seeds and the leaves are very good sources of calcium, so essential for healthy teeth and bones, as well as iron and manganese.&lt;br /&gt;Now for the butterfly attracting qualities of dill. Its gorgeous yellow flowers that look like sunshine lace would attract any self respecting butterfly. But along other members of the carrot family, it is the only food plant for the caterpillars of the gorgeous black swallowtail butterfly - which is a common Indian species.&lt;br /&gt;So, grow some butterflies in your garden. Because….well, you know why now but also to remind yourself that the some of the best things in life are free. Finally, let me end with this joke told to me by a very dear friend. A scientist, one of those hot-shot genetic engineer, imperiously and rather impertinently declared, “Okay, God, this is it, You’re no longer the Master of Creation. I have finally cracked the mystery of creation.” God, used to the ways of his humans, quietly said, “Really? Then who is?”&lt;br /&gt;“Well, I am,” declared the scientist even more grandly, “And to prove it, give me a handful of dust and I will create anything You want out of it.”&lt;br /&gt;“That’s wonderful, my son,” said God even more quietly, “so why don’t you first create that handful of the dust?”&lt;br /&gt;So the point, my fellow gardeners, is this - we grow nothing, we create nothing, we invent still less. With a bit of luck, we just somehow create the right conditions for something to pop out of the universe and show its workings to us. Be that the wheel or a zinnia.&lt;br /&gt;Sources : the world’s healthiest foods website, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floridata.com/&quot;&gt;http://www.floridata.com/&lt;/a&gt; and other sources.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*********&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of the approximately 18,500 known species of butterflies probably account, India accounts for about 1500 species.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*******&lt;br /&gt;The ancient Greeks believed that the soul left the body after death in the form of a butterfly. Their symbol for the soul was a butterfly-winged girl named Psyche.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;******&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The word butterfly comes from the Old English word buterfleoge, meaning butter and flying creature. Butter probably referred to the butter-yellow colour of some European butterflies. Or then, as another story goes, because it was once believed that witches assumed the shape of butterflies when they stole butter and cream!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/feeds/115623665643584315/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33146229&amp;postID=115623665643584315' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115623665643584315'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/33146229/posts/default/115623665643584315'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://how-the-banana-goes-to-heaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/point-about-butterflies.html' title='The point about butterflies'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>

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