Forgot to put my zip!

I forgot to zip my pant

How many times have we forgotten to zip our pant. Alas, Umpteen times. Today I did forget. There are times when I felt handsome/smart in early wee hours as people stared at me, only to realize later that I forgot to zip my pant. 

As I analyze to what could be the most common activity in our day to day life, I was surprised to find that one item among them is listed in the top 100 inventions till date.

Any Guesses? Have I read your mind rightly? You must be thinking about an item related to eating, sleeping, working etc. But hey, you might have missed one thing? Did you zip your pant? Please check again before you start reading this article else someone might stare at you like they did for me. Yes, i am talking about the zipper.

Well today, as i was browsing through Top 100 inventions of the world, the one I found one truly interesting is the invention of "ZIP" or "ZIPPER". I dedicate this article to Royal Mechanical engineers being one among them.

Invention of ZIP/ZIPPER today is considered to be one of the greatest invention. Why? Probably because of its simplicity, usage and its impact in our daily lives. 

Now let me question myself - "How many times do I deal with zip daily?". Astonishingly around 23 times. Much more than the no of times i eat or drink tea. yet I do not remember or appreciate it.

How 23!

                Time: 7.00 AM: To the Loo : Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 8.45 AM: To Office-> Wear Trousers: Zip Usage->1 (Zip)

                Time: 8.50 AM: To Office-> Laptop pack: Zip Usage->1 (Zip)

                Time: 9.00 AM: Reach Office-> Laptop unpack: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 9.05 AM: In Office-> To the Loo: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 11.0 AM: In Office-> To the Loo: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 1.00 PM: In Office-> To the Loo: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 4.00 PM: In Office-> To the Loo: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 7.00 AM: Leave Office-> Laptop pack: Zip Usage->2 (Unzip and Zip)

                Time: 8.05 AM: Reach Home-> Remove Trousers: Zip Usage->1 (Unzip)

                Time: 8.10 AM: Reach Home-> Laptop Unpack: Zip Usage->1 (Unzip)

                Let us add some buffer: 5

Is it the same for you too....{do comment if there is some additions or deletions in the count}

                 

Surprisingly, all have atleast one item with them all through the day that has a zip. Great isn't it!

History

Now that we have realized the importance of it, let us go back to history and salute the men who did the invention.

Mr Whitcomb Judson (who also invented 'Pneumatic Street Railway') is know as the inventor of zipper. Zipper was invented in 1893 and was originally called as 'Clasp Locker'. The Chicago inventor's 'Clasp Locker' was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little commercial success.

Swedish-born (who later immigrated to Canada), Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer, was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. Good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' Unfortunately, Sundback's wife died in 1911. The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. The patent for the 'Separable Fastener' was issued in 1917. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The 'S-L' or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.

The popular 'zipper' name came from the B. F. Goodrich Company, when they decided to use Gideon's fastener on a new type of rubber boots or galoshes and renamed the device the zipper, the name that lasted. Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper during its early years. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments.

View the original 1917 Sundback patent for the "Separable Fastener"

The zipper beat the button in the 1937 in the "Battle of the Fly," when French fashion designers raved over zippers in men's trousers. Esquire magazine declared the zipper the "Newest Tailoring Idea for Men" and among the zippered fly's many virtues was that it would exclude "The Possibility of Unintentional and Embarrassing Disarray." Obviously, the new zippered trouser owners had not yet discovered the experience of forgetting to zip-up.

The next big boost for the zipper came when zippers could open on both ends, as on jackets. Today the zipper is everywhere, in clothing, luggage and leather goods and countless other objects. Thousands of zipper miles produced daily, meet the needs of consumers, thanks to the early efforts of the many famous zipper inventors.

Production
Any bet on which country tops zipper production: China and Japan tops the chart along with Bangladesh, India and Pakistan

Links

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/264489/xyz_the_history_of_the_zipper_from.html?cat=46

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

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

http://www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/zipper

Why do married women wear sindoor

 

     

    I  A M  S I N G LE         I  A M  M A R R I E D

Sindoor is a red powder (Vermilion) used by married Hindu women. Single women wear the dot in different colors ("bindi" in Hindi) but do not apply sindoor. 

During the marriage ceremony (Sindoor-Dana), the groom applies sindoor to the parting-line of his bride's hair (also called mang) to show that she is now a married woman. Subsequent sindoor is applied by the wife as part of her dressing routine. Once widowed, a woman is not supposed to wear sindoor. 

In Hindu culture, the tradition of wearing Sindoor is said to have been prevailing through more than 5,000 years. According to the scholars, red is the color of power and vermilion represents the female energy of Sati and Parvati. Sati is considered an ideal Hindu wife because she gave her life for her husband's honor. Hindus believe that Goddess Parvati grants "Akhand Soubhagya" (lifelong good fortune) to all the females who wear sindoor in their hair parting.

S A T I 

L O R D P A R V A T I

        

Sindoor expresses a woman's desire for a long life for their husbands. The reason sindoor is red is because it comes from vermilion, and it is said to represent strength and love. The displaying of the sindoor is considered very important since the bride belongs to the groom. It also signifies that the wife is now under the protection of her husband and that anyone who harms her would find that their blood would be shed.

Traditional Sindoor is made with turmeric and alum or lime, or from other herbal ingredients

Adi Sankaracharya writes in Soundarya Lahari (Translated bY P. R. Ramachander) 
"Tanothu kshemam nas tava vadhana-saundarya lahari. Parivaha-sthrotah-saraniriva seemantha-saranih. Vahanti sinduram prabala-kabari-bhara-thimira-. Dvisham brindair bandi-krtham iva navin'arka kiranam"
Oh mother, let the line parting thine hairs, Which looks like a canal, Through which the rushing waves of your beauty ebbs, And which on both sides imprisons, Your Vermilion , which is like a rising sun, By using your hair which is dark like, The platoon of soldiers of the enemy, Protect us and give us peace.

Links:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindoor

Waste CEO

It is appraisal time for us now in India and how appropriate it is to write an article tagged as Waste CEO. So what is the fuss all about? Is this an article about my CEO? Curious! Cool..Now that you have landed here, let me take your precious time in making you read something interesting. First question, Do you think [my/your] CEO is BAD?. Now your mind would have made decisions as soon as you have read this question. Not yet! OK, then close your eyes and think again. Do remember the decision and let us come back to this at the end of this page.

 

The story begins here.......

Where does all these wastes get dumped? Wastes of a millions of houses. Something to think about. This is the point from where my mind started to think and hands started to key in search texts in Google for more information. Remember sometime back the TV channels were flashing news about a ship being caught in Indian Shores with wastes and India was used as a dumping yard. Yes, I do remember.

But why dump @ our shores? There is huge money @ stake people. It is a 300 billion euros worth industry by itself. Interesting!.  This is where my eagerness grew to be a Waste CEO and start a waste management unit :). Hence this article titled Waste CEO. Now that you are aware of what I intend to write let me share some more information that I found during the course of deciding whether to be or not be a waste CEO

In India, mostly this is undertaken by Govt. of India. This could be privatized in US or elsewhere. 

The study estimates that, at present, the world produces at least four billion metric tons (4000 billion KG) of waste a year - equivalent to world production of grain and steel combined. However, Professor Chalmin stressed that that figure excludes construction, mining, agricultural and forestry wastes - suggesting that the real figure is much larger.

Of this, only around one billion tonnes is thought to be recycled, composted or used to produce energy. Of this developed countries produce an average 1.4 kilogram (kg) of waste per capita per day, compared to 0.6kg in the Third World.

So why recycle ratio is less? 

 

Waste Pyramid

Industry Worthiness: 300 billion euros. a 56 billion US industry. Paper and paperboard, food scraps and plastics dominate this waste.

Production
Municipal waste is 1.9 billion tonnes, Manufacturing Waste is about 2 billion tonnes, non hazardous waste is 1.67 billion and hazardous waste is 490 million

Top 10 countries producing waste (2005/2006 statistics)

US( 236 million tons), Russia (208), Japan (53), Germany (49),  UK (35), Mexico (33), France (33), Italy (30), Spain (27), Turkey (26). [Not the latest statistics]

And the Winner is US. The U.S. manages to produce a quarter of the world's waste despite the fact that its population of 300 million is less than 5% of the world's population, according to 2005 estimates. India might soon be there with the population we have.

 

Types of waste

What is waste? Any substance or object which the holder discards, or intends or is required to discard. 

View of Economists:  Waste is a negative externality.: both consumption and manufacturing activities generate waste with a negative impact on the well being of populations (environmental pollution) outside any market context.

Heath Hazards

• If not managed properly, it can lead to various health issues. 
• The practice of discarding chemicals, which are highly toxic in nature, into rivers is highly hazardous to the environment. 
• It has a severe adverse impact on the quality of water. When disposed of improperly; it contaminates ground and surface water supplies. As a result, it contaminates drinking water which in turn affects public health as well as aquatic life.
• Breast cancer, prostate cancer and childhood brain disorders are increasing at an alarming rate and the increasing rates of contamination and pollution have only furthered these health problems. There is also a rise in certain maladies like autism and learning disabilities. 
• Improper disposal of hazardous waste have deadly effects on nearby plants, animals and people. 
• Birth defects, including cleft palates and heart problems
• And may be Global Warming too

Well now do I wish to be a Waste CEO? Certainly NOT and this is ILLEGAL TOO. But yes, being an Engineer surely would want to take an initiative in finding out ways to effectively manage wastes without dumping it.

A treaty was signed by many developing countries (Including India) and poor countries (Basel Convention by 115 countries) in 1992 which bans dumping wastes. 

Message: So next time when you dump, do think whether you can prevent it. Daily unknowingly you are contributing to the billion worth illegal industry and also throwing away money. Well some wastes though cannot be avoided :)
Finally for the readers who assumed that there would be some gossips on my CEO in this article, I would like to make some justice to them by telling "Well my CEO is cool, smart and good". We should always respect the people who enable us shelter and food. Shouldn't we?

Hope this was informative and do post comments if you like it or have more useful information!

You may also want to read

http://www.basel.int/

http://www.kleanindustries.com/s/PressReleases.asp?ReportID=389943

http://www1.american.edu/TED/oauwaste.htm

http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/23/waste-worlds-worst-cx_rm_0524waste.html

http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/themes/waste/

Images are downloaded via Google Images and accuracy of facts and figures is based on what I found in various articles.

Pack me

Time to travel? Happy Journey. Confused as to what Items to purchase? Checking out with friends/ colleagues/ HR for details? Missed few things to carry...hmmm. Relax, you are at the right place at the right time. This article should definitely help you.

Well, Years back when I travelled for the first time, I remember asking my friends, my managers, HR and people around me as to what to take. I did a search in google too. Getting information is a very tough and tiring task. It is very stressful too. Let me help de-stress yourself. 

Based on the experience and information gathered I have prepared a checklist and I believe it has helped me a lot, saved my time and mostly reduced the stress. Just take a print and start purchasing and packing. The checklist prepared has helped many colleagues and friends of mine too. 

You get most of these items in stores like Walmart. But sometimes it is all about saving some penny. We get into this mindset of multiplying $ * Rs whenever we buy things in US and then end up telling "Na, I don't want to buy" Don't we?

When you are on a short term (3 month term or on B1) travel, the trick is to carry more food items and get more gift items when you return.

First thing you need to do is buy a good bag (2 Samsonite). Most companies pay for these when you travel for the first time. When you buy the bag, make sure you buy a unique bag (by color or style) so that it is easily identifiable when you search them @ Baggage claim or else tie some satin ribbon around. Make sure you weigh the bag and is < baggage limit. Also do not lock the bag. Sometimes they break open for security reasons.

 

 

I have categorized and put across various items that you may want to carry.

Food Items:

Note: All need to be packed food item and no seeds. Glass items are risky. Use your food coupons here wisely

Visit you store http://www.spencersretail.com/; http://www.foodworld.net/main/index.html or Reliance Fresh outlets.

Personal Items

All these need to be carried in checked-in bag.

Get into http://www.spencersretail.com store to use your coupons

Clothing

Make sure to carry one pair of casual and formal wear in your cabin bag. Sometime arrival of baggage may get delayed.

Electronics

If possible declare all these items when you leave airport so that when you come back there are no custom issues.

Rush to http://www.nike.com; http://www.reebok.com; http://www.adidas.com; http://www.shoppersstop.com and many more outlets

Documents

Make sure that one copy of passport and itinerary is kept in each of the bags you carry.
Keep all your documents in the cabin bag. Make sure all the bags are tagged in airport.

Medicine
Take medicines that you think is very important for you. Would not list items here as it is personal to many and vary.

Hope this article is useful to the readers. Do provide your feedback to improvize the article.

Printable format can be downloaded @

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tmk2nKQGD0odX3xdKSixn-Q&output=html

Other interesting articles that you may also want to look at

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/list-of-items-to-pack-to-u-s-travel-exclusive-for-women/

http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/list-of-things-to-carry-to-us-students/

Eating with Banana Leaf

Let me write an interesting topic today that struck my mind while eating...."Eating Banana Leaf". Oops sorry...I have not gulped the word "WITH", let me call it "Eating with Banana Leaf". 

It is Very common in South India to have food with banana leaves. Banana Tree is called as the Kalpavriksha. Traditionally brahmins have their breakfast, lunch and dinner with banana leaves...most of us now have in ceremonies and in temples.

At times in ceremonies, my MOM asks me to help my relatives in serving the food. GRRRRRRRRR....would be my first reaction and would feel embarrassed as I do not know "In what order to serve and where to serve". So I decided to put some effort in gathering information around it by asking people around me. 

Finally was successful in coming up with an Image that looks interesting. The food item placeholders are mentioned with the name and ordering of serve is indicated by different colors. In the Image, I am there with my head facing you and an image to your left shows how people actually sit and eat. You can see them do a prayer too.

Firstly the leaf is laid with the broader side to my right. Then the drinking water is served.  Before being served, you need to clean the leaf with the water served or water is sprinkled on the leaf for cleaning. Traditionally we eat sitting on the ground and now it is served in dining table as well. 

Round 1 of serving now starts. In Round 1, the squares or circles marked in WHITE are served. Serving starts from top left corner item (Salt) to the top right corner item(Masala Palya). Then the bottom right corner (Payasa, Thove) and left bottom corner (Chitranna, Kadubu, Papad, Prasadam/Fruits) is served. Finally the rice is served. That ends Round 1. Now what? Start eating...not Yet...Priests signal people to start eating by telling Govinda. Now start eating.

Then after 5 min, Round 2 starts (Light Blue). Sihi bajji, Tambli, Mosary bajji followed by Rasam completes the Round 2. All the items from Round 1 are served twice. If one does not not want the item, then one need to put his left hand across the leaf (parallel to leaf) indicating "No Thank you. Please do not serve". The person serving keeps telling the name of the food item being serving. 

Then Round 3 starts (Sky Blue). Here Rice, Dhodda Huli, Menaskayi and Bolu Huli is served. 

Now it is the time for Round 4 (Red and Green Color) that is awaited eagerly. 

WHY?. Because it's sweet and spicy (kaara) item time!! The sweet items are called as baksha. There would be around 3, 5 or 7 baksha (I guess all odd numbered) depending on how much money one wants to spend. Based on the number of baksha generally the food is appreciated  and is one of the Richness Indicators. To neutralize the sweet there would be around 2-3 spicy items.

Then comes an interesting Money round. The person organizing the event generally gives Rs 5/10/20/50/100 rupees to brahmins/priests). It is termed as Dakshina. The brahmins are supposed to remove their shirt and have the food. Mostly these days we do not have this round as we have "Presents in Blessing only". So no give and takes. Close relatives and friends have no exceptions though :). Meanwhile the event organizer visit everyone eating and conveys his "Thanks for coming" feeling.

Then starts the final round Round 5 (Dark blue). Here the Rice, Curd and Neeru Majige is served. Salt and pickle is used along with curd rice. Between all rounds people keep  asking if one requires any cold or hot water to drink.

This completes the lunch or dinner! Do not dare to see the size of your stomach now!!! The tough part is to get up and wash your hand after eating so much. The cleaners then come and clean the place. You are supposed to leave the leaf there itself.

Do we eat so much? oh yes....when I retire, now I know for sure what to do...just attend ceremonies and eat. Need to make sure that my health is good without any diabetes or blood pressure.

Some open ended questions still are why eat with Banana Leaf? Some obvious reasons which I could think of without reading any books, without asking people or without a Google are: 

• One time use and then throw the leaves. No washing plates. SAVE WATER
• May be some health benefits are there.
• Those days plates were not there and our ancestors followed cause their ancestors followed and there was no logic..

Why do we sit down and eat?. There were no tables in earlier days or may be it helps better digestion....the readers can add some logic here....

Hope I can help serving now...ha ha...and not just eat, come home and sleep.

www.vinuthan.blogspot.com 

Tiger Dance (Huli Vesha)

Image taken http://themanipaljournal.com/index.php?news=343; Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulivesha

Scouting

Today, as I was cleaning my house and documents, found a certificate/award that I got more than a decade ago...hmmmm.....in my 10th grade...."The Rastrapathi Scout" award.

I have many interesting moments to share which I consider as one of the best moments of my childhood. well why did I join scouts?  Now my wife would hit if I reveal the truth...let me take some courage..."because of Guides :)"...Our school had so many good looking girls in guides..I guess it was a trend then...hence i too joined...well those days these were the means of social networking....but good news to my wife is that I was not much successful in doing any social networking then....ha ha

Well this was a picture that was published in Udayavani paper in 1993 when we got the Rastrapathi Scout award representing our school MJC Manipal. 

Any guesses on my photo among the scouties and dudes of my batch. Couple of them studied with me right from 1st Std. I am still in touch with couple of them (names marked in bold). Let me try to remember the names now..

1)Ashish 2)Deepak 3)Ganesh 4)Gary 5)Jason 6)Keneth 7)Krishna 8)Santhosh Palan9) Santhosh Shetty10)Shridhar11)Sudarshan12)Newton13)14)15)16) Don't know.. sad that i ain't  know any girls :)

Awesome to still remember many names. It was fun participating in the National Jamborate held in Kolar. I still remember names of some pretty girls who came from mangalore and manipal...Seema, Kushnuma, Kshama, Reena..Jahnavi....ha ha...i am sure some names will refresh memories of people reading this...

Anyways, on some serious note...let me tell few things about scout..The tutor who guided us in our school was PG Pandit..he was an awesome person. I still remember his cute little face.

The Boy Scout Movement  took  a start  in the  United Kingdom when   Lord  Baden   Powell    organised a  Scout  Camp  at   Brown sea  Island on 1907 and the 'Scouting for Boys' was published in 1908. Scouting was officially founded in British India in 1909, first starting at the Bishop Cotton's Boys School in Bangalore.

The mission of the scout movement was 

"The mission of Scouting is to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Law to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society"

I feel great that at an young age I did play a role in contributing to the society (In some small ways). We did some gardening, planting trees, cycling, cooking, trekking, camping, helping people and many more..

I still can remember the scout promise and can tell it without any guide..
                    On my honour I promise that I will do my best

                    To do my duty to God and the my Country

                    To help other people at all times and

                    To obey the Scout Law

The promise by holding the hand upwards like this

I still remember the scout salute..

and Flag song

  

“Bharat Scout Guide Ka Jhanda Uncha Sada Rahega

Uncha Sada Rahega Jhanda Uncha Sada Rahega

Neela Rang Gagan Ka Visrit Bhratru Bhav Phailata

Tridal Kamal Nit Teen Pratignaon Ki Yaad Dilata

Aur Chakra Kehta Hai Pratpal Age Kadam Badega

Uncha Sada Rahega Jhanda Uncha Sada Rahega”

and the various knots we had to tie with the special rope..

• a) Reef Knot
• b) Sheet Bend
• c) Clove hitch
• d) Sheep Shank
• e) Bowline
• f) Fisherman Bend

and Republic day parade    It was fun practicing drills and doing march past on the R day @ 7.30 AM. Last year, I went to my school after about 14 years for a flashback. I was happy that my tutors still remember me. Even today we have a republic day parade done @ 7.30 AM. We used always get the Best Parade award. Many others groups who participate in march past are guides, NCC cadets, bank employees, HM guys, Medical students, Engineering students and many others. Post march past we got sweets to eat (chocolates and ladoos) and coke to drink. We then used have a football or cricket match between colonies like AnanthNagar versus MIt etc as we used have holiday for rest of the day

Camping and certification experience too were awesome. We had to cook ourselves with the woods in the forest. We had to call few guests and would get a grade based on how best we cooked..luckily we had a scout who knew to cook well in 8th grade itself, his name is Deepak Rao and is a good friend of mine.

I am feeling really nice to write this experience...I can go on for pages...It was such a nice experience. I wish all kids get an opportunity to have such a wonderful experience. Thanks to my parents...

www.vinuthan.blogspot.com 

Why I think I should be a Rich Poor

It is February and we are moving from winter to summer and parliament is busy with budget...Today after a long time I was watching the Doordashan channel for the budget 2010...It is so pathetic to see our politicians discuss matters of high concern in front of millions in such a manner (the way they fight)...anyways...as long the people are silent, it is going to remain the same...and we are going to remain silent for some more decades to come.

Anyways....as I watched the budget session, I could not understand many jargons. The only thing that was interesting was their fights. As i was listening to the conversion, I told to myself "ENOUGH...Let me not listen to what i do not understand". Common things spoken were the price rice in common commodities. Now i thought, why the price was so high when the production was good enough in many (if not all)  and thus started doing a Digg.

Let us now take the price of petrol. The average price of petrol in India is around Rs 48.24 per Ltr. Many people in Bangalore would now feel that the information is wrong as that is not what I/You pay...In Bangalore avg price is around rs 52/lt (at peak it was around Rs 58)...That is Rs 4 more...The Highest petrol price is in Hyderabad However. In US, the petrol price is around rs 16.62/lt...OOPS...i.e. 62 % more than India..

Why do we pay so much.........

One of the primary reason I though was interesting was because of "The percentage of people paying tax"...well I was wondering...why the hell is this a reason.....come on....I am paying tax....all people around me are paying tax...my dad was paying tax...people around him payed tax....this data must be wrong....but the facts are as follows

Out of India's population of a billion people only 20 million pay tax, that is just 2%.

Income earned from farms in India, for example, is exempt from income tax. A large number of rich farmers who earn much more than salaried employees in cities, get away with paying no tax at all.

On top of it, the tax is not paid faithfully from the high income sections of society - doctors, lawyers, designers - and other independent, self-employed professionals whose tax is not deducted at source.

The matter is further complicated by the fact that the government offers various rebates to taxpayers who invest in a range of insurance and savings schemes, housing loans and equity and mutual funds.

The amount India collects in income tax has risen to more than one trillion rupees ($22bn) today. 
Income tax rates in India have come down over the years - from a peak of 60% 25 years ago.
But rates remain among the most irrational and highest in the world, critics say...

Coming to the Petrol Rates, the prices are high because we pay approximately 52 % tax on petrol. (duties, taxes like customs, excise, sales tax, VAT, dealer commission) and 31 per cent on diesel. It is too high comparing income that we get against the one in developed countries.

I am not sure, what these politicians are discussing. I feel a lot of economics in India must be revisited...A simple math tells that the government should expand and widen the tax net. It should also formulate some mechanism where the big fish too pay taxes promptly instead of squeezing the medium fish (I am not considering the small fish)...For this all the parties should sit and come at a common decision rather thinking on vote bank and blame games...

In the current context, however i would rather be a rich poor rather than a software engineer who works for more than 16 hrs and end up paying more than X percent in tax. The same analogy can be further applied on other commodities too. 


Some more interesting information
1 barrel = 42 US gallons = 158.99 litres. Assuming we buy at 74 $ / Barrel. i.e. Basic Price is 21.87. Then the break up is as following-

A Total of Rs 51.84. So for a Rs 22 liter petrol at pumps we people pay Rs 30 tax extra. Now I know, why the middle class people are like a JAM between BREAD. Happy reading..


Disclaimer: The Information is based on information shared in various articles that I found searching @ google. Only the thought process is mine.

Yakshagaana

Today, I have written many articles for my blog. I was not glued to the TV today....let me write one last for the day....hmmmm....what to write. Well let me share some info on one of our cultural dance/drama forms. Any guesses? Well India is so rich in culture that it would be tough to guess...well let me take one of the art forms of Karnataka...Karnataka itself has many art forms...Baratnatyam / Huli Vesha (Tiger Dance) / Kola / Yakshagana...and many more..

Yes, it is Yakshagana, one of best art forms from South Canara, Karnataka. Let me write some articles on others forms in next few days and share my experiences there as well. I am keen in writing this first as I played a small role in one of the acts. In-fact even my sister and mother were in the act. My mom did a lot of act when she was working. She was part of the Syndicate bank Yakshagana club. Surprisingly, the troop consisted women's only. All were bank employees and kids of these employees too participated in some small part. It was just their interest that motivated them to do post work. Let me share a picture now...I played the role of a monkey in this called "Lanka Dahana". An story taken from Ramayana. 

Can you recognize me....the one in the right side...to your left is my sister and Jambav is my dear mom. The only thing we had to do was jump around, eat all the fruits in Ashoka Vana (fruit garden) and destroy the Vana (garden). The garden was created in the stage (Rangasthala) and all sorts of fruits were kept in the artificial trees. What a role to play..to display our true behavior....ha ha...My mom mostly did the comedian part......she made the crowd laugh aloud and go crazy...In few cases would have her own dialogs created instantly. It was a treat to watch.

Well let me take you into some history....(collated by doing some googling)

Yakshagana also called as Aataa in Tulu and Kannada, is a dance drama popular in coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yaksha-gana literally means the song (gana) of a Yaksha. Yakshas were an exotic tribe mentioned in the Sanskrit literature of ancient India. It has drawn comparisons to the Western tradition of opera.   

Actors wear costumes and enact various roles. The costumes worn by them are classy that it takes you back to the krishna and rama yuga.

Yakshagana consists of a Himmela (background musicians) and a Mummela (dance and dialog group) which together perform a Yakshaga Prasanga. Himmela consisting of Bhagawata who is also the facilitator (singer), Maddale, Harmonium for drone (Pungi was used earlier) and Chande (loud drums).

                                 

The music is based on pre-Karnataka Sangeetha Ragas characterised by melodic patterns called Mattu and Yakshagana Tala. Yakshagana Talas are believed to be based on the groves which later have evolved into Karnataka Sangeetha Talas. Both Yakshagana Raga and Yakshagana Tala have some folk influence. 

The actors wear resplendent costumes, head-dresses, and face paints which they paint themselves. A performance usually depicts a story from the Hindu epics and puranas. It consists of a narrator (Baghawatha) who either narrates the story by singing or sings precomposed dialogs of a character, backed by musicians playing on traditional musical instruments as the actors dance to the music, with actions that portray the story as it is being narrated. 

According to noted theater artist and writer B.V Karanth, classical dance forms like Barathanatya originated from Yakshagana. Yakshagana, like many other forms, defies neat classification into categories like folk, classical, rural. 

Experts have placed the origin of Yakshagana from the 11th century to the 16th century. Earliest limit is fixed by a finding by Vidwan Bannanje Govindacharya who says a legend goes to show that Sage Narahari Thirtha (c, 1300) started a Dasavathara Ata performance and a troupe in Udupi and later this spread to other places and grew into what we call Yakshagana today

Variations

Badagutittu

The Badagutittu style, as its name indicates, is prevalent in Northern parts of South Canara.

Tenkutittu

The second variation, the Tenkutittu style, is prevalent in Southern areas of South Canara

Some common Prasanga's are 

• Gadhayuddha
• Krishna sandhana
• Basmasura Mohini
• Ratnavati Kalyana
• Bhishma Vijaya
• Chandrahasa Charitre
• Abhimanyu Kalaya
• Sudhanva Kalaga
• Sugreeva Vijayam
• Devi Mahatme (This generally is done all through the night...It is believed that god comes in the body of person who enacts it)

Generally these plays are played for an hour to entire night. In summer vacation, when I was a kid we (cousins) used to go the fields and watch the Aataa at grandpa's village . A huge crowd gathered and watched sitting on the field. We used to buy groundnuts when watching the play. I used to feel damn afraid when the Rakshasas (the villain or demons) used to come in the play and would get relieved when only when the Gods killed them.

I really miss those previous moments..recently there was an aataa organized at my cousins reception in Bangalore. the idea was to promote our culture..it was nice....

Wish i get another opportunity to play the monkey role and eat some nice fruits.

Bread Masala (Upkari)

I have never eaten a bread upkari prepared by anyone other than my MOM. Not sure how she found to do this....But i like it very much..and even i too know to prepare this.....this is one thing that my wife is not aware of :)

Ingredients

• Milk Bread : 1 (for 2 people)
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup (Optional)
• Sugar - 4-5 tbsp
• Chili Powder - 2 tpsp
• Ghee
• Salt
• Turmeric

      

      For Tadka

• Coconut oil
• Curry Leaves 3-4
• Mustard Seed : 1-2
• Urad dal
• Red Chillies roasted - 1
  
• Onion - 2 onions
• Coriander leaves for garnishing
  

How do I do?

• Tear the bread into bite size pieces (If required remove the crust from the bread). The pieces can be uneven, sprinkle salt, sugar toss well and keep aside.
• Tadka: Put coconut oil (3-4 teaspoon) in a Pan and heat the oil. 
• Add mustard seed, Red Chili, chopped Curry leaves, chopped Coriander leaves and Urad daal and fry till it crackles. Add onion and fry till it changes to brown color. Add turmeric too.
• Then add the bread pieces into the pan and stir. Then add ghee, chilli powder, coconut, salt and sugar. Continue stir for another 15 min till the bread turns brown.
• The bread upkari is done

Enjoy the breakfast with Tea.

Turnaround Time : 15 min

In combination with

It is a nice breakfast. A hot tea along with it is a must.

Health Info

Just need to eat it and enjoy

Thimare Chutney

This is one chutney I like the most among the many dishes my mom used to cook. My dad and mom knows so many kind of chutney's. Not sure whether all are aware about it or are forgetting. Well I thought to pen down some good traditional cookeries that we have...I have not personally done this...i asked my wife and mom in writing this up....but have eaten this from my childhood...hence i guess i am so brainy :)...well these are the green leaves which can be grown in the pots too.
This is also commonly know as Brahmi in English, Timare in Tulu & Ondelaga in Kannada. I have not seen this chutney being prepared in any other part of India. It is very common in Mangalore and Udupi District of Karnataka. India.

Ingredients

• Thimare Leaves along with root- 2 cups
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Ginger
• Little Tamarind (soaked in water)  / Lemon - 1 lemon
• Salt 
• Curd - 1/2 tbsp
• hing

      

      For Tadka

• Coconut oil
• Curry Leaves 3-4
• Mustard Seed : 1-2
• Urad dal
• Red Chillies roasted - 1
  

How do I do?

• Wash Thimare leaves. If the roots are added, it would add more flavor.
• Put coconut oil (3-4 teaspoon) in Kadai and fry the Thimare Leaves for about 10 min
• Transfer the fried leaves into a mixie, add grated cocunut, tamarind, hing, salt, curd, ginger and make a paste. Add some water if required
• Tadka: Put coconut oil (3-4 teaspoon) in kadai again and heat the oil, now add Mustard seed and once it starts to crackle, add chopped red chili, Urad dal, chopped curry leaves and fry
• Add the tadka to the paste prepared earlier.

I was searching for these leaves in Bangalore market and couldn't't find one. But we do get the Powder in any Mangalore or Udupi stores.

Now you have a wonderful yummy chutney....

Turnaround Time : 15 min

In combination with

It is very tasty with hot rice and should be the first item combination that you eat the rice with. One can additionally have papad with it.

Health Info

Brahmi has gain world wide fame as a memory booster and mind alertness promoter. It is widely used as antioxidant and in improving the brain cell functions. It helps in relieving nervous congestion and strain from them, as it possesses ushan virya potency; thereby it reduces vata dosha, which is main culprit in causing such problems. Due to presence of tickt rasa, brahmi easily penetrates into the tissues thus giving soothing feel

Gotu Kola comprises a rich amount of vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin), and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). The principal bio-active chemical constituent of gotu kola is saponin. It is believed that this herb improves brain function and the mental ability as well as improves memory and learning performance. The herb heals chronic wounds, varicose vein, stomach ulcers, skin disorders i.e. eczema, psoriasis or leprosy, dreaded viral infections i.e. hepatitis and syphilis.

• It improves intelligence level and mind alertness.
• It helps in maintaining mental calmness and has an appetite for stress.
• It helps in improving mental performance and increasing learning capacity.
• It is helpful in increasing mental concentration level.
• It has good effects on patients suffering from insomnia.
• It helps in relieving them with all their stress and makes them feel good and relaxed.
• It is also very effective in depression related problems.
• It helps in rejuvenating there lost energies and makes them feel good and relaxed.
• It helps in maintaining lowering blood pressure to the normal level.
• It is very useful in maintaining normal body temperature thus relieving body from hyperthermia and fevers.
• It is also very effective in treating menstrual disorders and painful menses.
• Brahmi also finds its application in cough and cold related problem.
• It is used to attain long life while having energy just like a youth. Brahmi works as an antioxidant and retards aging thus keep the person young and youthful.

A few side effects can be induced by the brahmi, the herbal remedy can cause temporary hearing loss in women, especially those who are affected by problems of excess production of estrogen in the body or even those women under estrogen replacement therapy and those on regular courses of contraceptives. Temporary hearing loss in such women may result by an interaction between the hormone estrogen and the increased levels of GABA brought on by the brahmi supplement.

Also i guess this plant need to be grown in clean environment. The plant get's affected by the water in which it grows...

Pudina Chutney

Ingredients

• Pudina Leaves- 2 cups

• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Ginger
• Little Tamarind (soaked in water)  / Lemon - 1 lemon
• Salt 
• Curd - 1/2 tbsp
• hing
• Jaggery

      For Tadka

• Coconut oil
• Curry Leaves 3-4
• Mustard Seed : 1-2
• Urad dal
• Red Chillies roasted - 1

How do I do?

• Wash Pudina leaves. 
• Put coconut oil (3-4 teaspoon) in Kadai and fry the Pudina Leaves for about 10 min
• Transfer the fried leaves into a mixie, add grated cocunut, tamarind, hing, salt, curd, ginger, jaggery and make a paste. Add some water if required
• Tadka: Put coconut oil (3-4 teaspoon) in kadai again and heat the oil, now add Mustard seed and once it starts to crackle, add chopped red chili, Urad dal, chopped curry leaves and fry
• Add the tadka to the paste prepared earlier.

Now you have a wonderful yummy chutney....

Turnaround Time : 1/2 hr

In combination with

Both fresh and dried mint is used. Mint is used in a variety of dishes such as vegetable curries,mint recipe for chutney, fruit salads, vegetable salads, salad dressings, soups, desserts, juices, etc. Peppermint is used to flavour toothpaste, mouth fresheners and chewing gum. 

I like to eat it in combination with Plain rice, Idly, Dosa and Vada's

Health Info

Pudina also know as Mint, comes in many varieties such as spearmint, peppermint, pennyroyal, etc, each with distinct flavor. Mint is refreshing, stimulative, diaphoretic, stomachic, and antispasmodic. It helps in colds, flu, fever, poor digestion, motion sickness, food poisoning, rheumatism, hiccups, stings, ear aches, flatulence and for throat and sinus ailments.

Nutritional Values of Mint (Pudina)

Parameters	Value per 100g
Moisture   Protein   Fat   Minerals   Fibre   Carbohydrates   Energy   Calcium   Phosphorus   Iron	84.900 gm    4.800 gm    0.600 gm    1.900 gm    2.000 gm    5.800 gm    48.000 K cal 200.000 mg    62.000 mg    15.600 mg
Vitamins
Carotene   Thiamine   Riboflavin   Niacin   Folic Acid (Free)   Folic Acid (Total)   Vitamin C	1620.000 µg     0.050 mg    0.260 mg    1.000 mg    9.700 µg     114.000 µg     27.000 mg
Minerals & Trace Elements
Magnesium   Copper   Manganese   Zinc   Chromium   S   Cl   Oxalic Acid   Phytin Phosphorus	60.000 mg    0.180 mg    0.570 mg    0.440 mg    0.008 mg    84.000 mg    34.000 mg    33.000 mg    4.000 mg