Education

Mumbai Teen Lights up Lives in Assam villages…

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Dhruvraj Bhartia along-with Jyotirmoy Chatterji, co-founder of Project Chirag, singlehandedly set up 165 solar lamp units in the four villages

Dhruvraj Bhartia, a 17-year-old teenager from Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai, chose to use his summer vacation differently and decided to reach out to people of remote villages in Assam by providing solar lights where there was no electricity so far.

His dream is finally turning to reality as Nezone Biscuits, Tezpur agreed to sponsor the solar units in four villages — Kamarpathar, Sirajuli, Bordubi and Habigaon near Dhekiajuli — where there was no electricity.

Project Chirag

Since 2010, Dhruvraj has been a senior youth ambassador with Project Chirag, an initiative of Chirag Rural Development Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO.

Project Chirag, started by a group of college students, is involved in providing solar lighting to villages deprived of electricity and in the last five years has helped more than 45,000 villagers in six states of India.

For the last two days, Dhruvraj along-with Jyotirmoy Chatterji, Co-Founder of Project Chirag, single handedly set up 165 solar lamp units in the four villages.

“Renewable energy is the way forward in rural India, 25 per cent of India is seeped in poverty, if each one of us able citizen could contribute towards benefitting one family, we truly could develop an inclusive economy,” Dhruvraj said at a meeting at one of the villages today.

Dhruvraj and Jyotirmoy also explained to the villagers how to use the lights and maintain it over a period of time.

The team looks forward to scaling up the initiative further and lighting up more villages in remote parts of Assam with support from corporates, individuals and in partnership with educational institutes, he said.

Image: Courtesy, Project Chirag

Source….www.rediff.com

Natarajan

” The Chaos “…A Classic English Poem Illustrating How English Language Became such a Mess!!!

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The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

This is a classic English poem containing about 800 of the worst irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation.Will Snellen wrote a PDF version using the phonetic alphabet. You can hear some of it pronounced mostly correctly by “JimmyJams” in the video The Chaos Of English Pronunciation by Gerard Nolst Trenité on YouTube.

Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
   I will teach you in my verse
   Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
   Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear;
   Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
   Just compare heart, hear and heard,
   Dies and diet, lord and word.

Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter how it’s written).
   Made has not the sound of bade,
   Say–said, pay–paid, laid but plaid.

Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,
   But be careful how you speak,
   Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak ,

Previous, precious, fuchsia, via
Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;
   Woven, oven, how and low,
   Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.

Say, expecting fraud and trickery:
Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
   Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,
   Missiles, similes, reviles.

Wholly, holly, signal, signing,
Same, examining, but mining,
   Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
   Solar, mica, war and far.

From “desire”: desirable–admirable from “admire”,
Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,
   Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
   Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,

One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.
   Gertrude, German, wind and wind,
   Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind,

Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,
Reading, Reading, heathen, heather.
   This phonetic labyrinth
   Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.

Have you ever yet endeavoured
To pronounce revered and severed,
   Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul,
   Peter, petrol and patrol?

Billet does not end like ballet;
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
   Blood and flood are not like food,
   Nor is mould like should and would.

Banquet is not nearly parquet,
Which exactly rhymes with khaki.
   Discount, viscount, load and broad,
   Toward, to forward, to reward,

Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?
Right! Your pronunciation’s OK.
   Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
   Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Is your r correct in higher?
Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia.
   Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot,
   Buoyant, minute, but minute.

Say abscission with precision,
Now: position and transition;
   Would it tally with my rhyme
   If I mentioned paradigm?

Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,
But cease, crease, grease and greasy?
   Cornice, nice, valise, revise,
   Rabies, but lullabies.

Of such puzzling words as nauseous,
Rhyming well with cautious, tortious,
   You’ll envelop lists, I hope,
   In a linen envelope.

Would you like some more? You’ll have it!
Affidavit, David, davit.
   To abjure, to perjure. Sheik
   Does not sound like Czech but ache.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven.
   We say hallowed, but allowed,
   People, leopard, towed but vowed.

Mark the difference, moreover,
Between mover, plover, Dover.
   Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
   Chalice, but police and lice,

Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
   Petal, penal, and canal,
   Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,

Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit
Rhyme with “shirk it” and “beyond it”,
   But it is not hard to tell
   Why it’s pall, mall, but Pall Mall.

Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,
Timber, climber, bullion, lion,
   Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
   Senator, spectator, mayor,

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
Has the a of drachm and hammer.
   Pussy, hussy and possess,
   Desert, but desert, address.

Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants
Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants.
   Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb,
   Cow, but Cowper, some and home.

“Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker“,
Quoth he, “than liqueur or liquor“,
   Making, it is sad but true,
   In bravado, much ado.

Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
   Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt,
   Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.

Arsenic, specific, scenic,
Relic, rhetoric, hygienic.
   Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close,
   Paradise, rise, rose, and dose.

Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,
Make the latter rhyme with eagle.
   Mind! Meandering but mean,
   Valentine and magazine.

And I bet you, dear, a penny,
You say mani-(fold) like many,
   Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier,
   Tier (one who ties), but tier.

Arch, archangel; pray, does erring
Rhyme with herring or with stirring?
   Prison, bison, treasure trove,
   Treason, hover, cover, cove,

Perseverance, severance. Ribald
Rhymes (but piebald doesn’t) with nibbled.
   Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw,
   Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.

Don’t be down, my own, but rough it,
And distinguish buffet, buffet;
   Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon,
   Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.

Say in sounds correct and sterling
Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling.
   Evil, devil, mezzotint,
   Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)

Now you need not pay attention
To such sounds as I don’t mention,
   Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws,
   Rhyming with the pronoun yours;

Nor are proper names included,
Though I often heard, as you did,
   Funny rhymes to unicorn,
   Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.

No, my maiden, coy and comely,
I don’t want to speak of Cholmondeley.
   No. Yet Froude compared with proud
   Is no better than McLeod.

But mind trivial and vial,
Tripod, menial, denial,
   Troll and trolley, realm and ream,
   Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme.

Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely
May be made to rhyme with Raleigh,
   But you’re not supposed to say
   Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.

Had this invalid invalid
Worthless documents? How pallid,
   How uncouth he, couchant, looked,
   When for Portsmouth I had booked!

Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,
Paramour, enamoured, flighty,
   Episodes, antipodes,
   Acquiesce, and obsequies.

Please don’t monkey with the geyser,
Don’t peel ‘taters with my razor,
   Rather say in accents pure:
   Nature, stature and mature.

Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,
Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly,
   Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan,
   Wan, sedan and artisan.

The th will surely trouble you
More than r, ch or w.
   Say then these phonetic gems:
   Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.

Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,
There are more but I forget ’em–
   Wait! I’ve got it: Anthony,
   Lighten your anxiety.

The archaic word albeit
Does not rhyme with eight-you see it;
   With and forthwith, one has voice,
   One has not, you make your choice.

Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger;
Then say: singer, ginger, linger.
   Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge,
   Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,

Hero, heron, query, very,
Parry, tarry fury, bury,
   Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth,
   Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.

Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,
Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners
   Holm you know, but noes, canoes,
   Puisne, truism, use, to use?

Though the difference seems little,
We say actual, but victual,
   Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height,
   Put, nut, granite, and unite.

Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
   Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,
   Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.

Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific;
   Tour, but our, dour, succour, four,
   Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,
Next omit, which differs from it
   Bona fide, alibi
   Gyrate, dowry and awry.

Sea, idea, guinea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
   Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,
   Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion with battalion,
   Rally with ally; yea, ye,
   Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!

Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, receiver.
   Never guess-it is not safe,
   We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.

Starry, granary, canary,
Crevice, but device, and eyrie,
   Face, but preface, then grimace,
   Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging;
   Ear, but earn; and ere and tear
   Do not rhyme with here but heir.

Mind the o of off and often
Which may be pronounced as orphan,
   With the sound of saw and sauce;
   Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.

Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?
Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting.
   Respite, spite, consent, resent.
   Liable, but Parliament.

Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen,
   Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk,
   Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.

A of valour, vapid vapour,
S of news (compare newspaper),
   G of gibbet, gibbon, gist,
   I of antichrist and grist,

Differ like diverse and divers,
Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers.
   Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll,
   Polish, Polish, poll and poll.

Pronunciation-think of Psyche!-
Is a paling, stout and spiky.
   Won’t it make you lose your wits
   Writing groats and saying “grits”?

It’s a dark abyss or tunnel
Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale,
   Islington, and Isle of Wight,
   Housewife, verdict and indict.

Don’t you think so, reader, rather,
Saying lather, bather, father?
   Finally, which rhymes with enough,
   Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??

Hiccough has the sound of sup…
My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

Notes on The Chaos

“The Chaos” is a poem which demonstrates the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation, written by Gerard Nolst Trenité (1870-1946), also known under the pseudonym Charivarius. It first appeared in an appendix to the author’s 1920 textbook Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche uitspraakoefeningen. (From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chaos

Source….www.bbc.com  and  http://ncf.idallen.com/

Natarajan

” அர்த்தம் உள்ள தமிழ் பழமொழிகள் …” !!!

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தமிழர்களால் வழிவழியாகச் சொல்லப்பட்டுவரும் பழமொழிகளால், முந்தைய தமிழ் மக்களின் பண்பாட்டையும், பழக்க வழக்கங்களையும், சமுதாயப் பின்னணியையும் அறிந்து கொள்ள முடிகின்றது. இத்தகைய பழமொழிகளில் மருத்துவச் செய்திகளும், நோய் ஏற்படாமல் இருக்கக் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேண்டிய ஆரோக்கிய வழிமுறைகளும், மற்றும் உணவு மற்றும் மருந்துப் பொருட்களின் மருத்துவ தன்மைகளும், அதனால் குணமடையக்கூடிய நோய்கள் பற்றிய விபரங்களும் காணக்கிடைக்கின்றன. இத்தகைய மருத்துவப் பழமொழிகள் பெரும்பாலும், மக்களால் சாதாரணமாகப் பேசப்படுவதில்லை. நோய் உண்டான போதும், கேலியாகப் பேசும் போதும் மட்டுமே வெளிவருகின்றன. மக்களின் அனுபவங்களே பழமொழிகள். அரிய மருத்துவச் செய்திகள் அடங்கிய பழமொழிகள் சிலவற்றைக் காண்போம்..
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1. ”இளைத்தவனுக்கு எள்ளைக்கொடு;
கொளுத்தவனுக்குக் கொள்ளைக் கொடு”
எள், கொள்ளு என்பவை இரண்டும் உணவு வகைகள். எள் என்பது நல்ல சத்துள்ள உணவாகும். மிகவும் மெலிந்த தேகம் கொண்டவர்கள் எள்ளைத் தின்றால் நன்கு உடல் பெருக்கும் என்றும், பருமனான உடலைக் கொண்டவர்கள் கொள்ளைத் தின்றால், உடல் மெலிந்து போதுமான அளவோடு இருக்கும் என்றும் இப்பழமொழி கூறுகிறது.
2. ”ஆற்றுநீர் வாதம் போக்கும்; அருவி நீர் பித்தம் போக்கும்; சோற்று நீர் இரண்டையும் போக்கும்“
மனிதர்களுக்கு ஏற்படக் கூடிய அனைத்து நோய்களுக்கும் அடிப்படையாக விளங்குவது வாதம், பித்தம், கபம் என்ற மூன்றுமே ஆகும். இவற்றுள் வாதம், பித்தம் தொடர்பாக ஏற்படும் நோய்களைப் போக்கும் வழிமுறைகளை இப்பழமொழி விளக்குகின்றது. ஆற்று நீரிலும், அருவி நீரிலும் உயர்ந்த தாதுப் பொருட்களும், மூலிகைச் சத்துக்களும், நிறைந்து காணப்படும்.
ஏனெனில், ஆற்றுப் படுகையிலும், அருவிக்கு நீர் வரும் மலைப் பகுதியிலும் மூலிகைச் செடிகள் நிறைந்து காணப்படும். மூலிகைகளின் மீது பட்டு இந்நீர் வருவதால் இத்தகைய குணமுடையதாக உள்ளது. வாதநோய் தொடர்பாக நரம்புக்கோளாறுகளும், பித்தநோய் தொடர்பாக மூளைக் கோளாறும் ஏற்படுகின்றன. இவற்றைக் குணப்படுத்த ஆற்று நீரும், அருவி நீரும் பயன்படுகின்றன. வாதம், பித்தம் இரண்டையும் சோற்று நீர் குணமாக்குகின்றது. இத்தகைய மருத்துவகுணம் கருதியே நாட்டுப்புற மக்கள் காலையில் எழுந்ததும் பழைய சோற்று நீரை அருந்துகின்றனர்.
3.”வேலம் பட்டை பித்தத்தைப் போக்கும்; ஆலம்பட்டை மேகத்தைப் போக்கும்”
வேலம்பட்டையை இடித்து ஒரு குவளை நீர்விட்டுக் காய்ச்சி வடிகட்டி அரைக் குவளையாக்கித் தினமும் காலை வேளை மட்டும் குடித்துவர பித்த நோய்களான, வயிற்றுப்புண், பித்தமயக்கம், கைகால் குடைச்சல் குணமாகும். ஆலமரத்தின் பட்டையைக் குடிநீராக்கி குடித்து வர வாய்ப்புண், வாய்நாற்றம், சிரங்கு, கரப்பான்படை ஆகியன விலகும் என்கிறது பழமொழி.
4. ”மாதா ஊட்டாத அன்னத்தை மாங்காய் ஊட்டும்”
மாங்காய் என்பது மாங்காய் ஊறுகாயைக் குறிக்கும், மாங்காய் ஊறுகாய் பசியைத் தூண்டுகிறது. எனவே உணவில் மாங்காய் ஊறுகாயைச் சேர்த்துக் கொள்வதால் ஜீரண சக்தி அதிகரிக்கும் என்பதை இப்பழமொழி விளக்குகிறது.
5. ”ஒரு போது உண்பான் யோகி; இருபோது உண்பான் போகி; முப்போது உண்பான் ரோகி”
ஒரு வேளை உணவை உட்கொண்டு ஆழ்ந்த யோகப் பயிற்சி மேற்கொள்வதால், மூளையின் அடிப்பகுதியில் ஹைப்போதாலமஸ் என்னும் அமைப்பிற்குக் கீழே உள்ள சுரப்பியானது நரை திரை நோய்களை அணுக விடாது. இருவேளை உணவை உட்கொள்வதால் வாழ்வு நோயற்று இன்பமுடையதாக இருக்கும். மூன்றுவேளை உணவு கொள்பவர்கள் நோயாளிகளாகவே இருப்பர். அஜீரணம், மலச்சிக்கல், குடல்நோய் போன்றவற்றால் இவர்கள் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு, எந்நேரமும் நோயுடன் போராடி வாழும் நிலையை உண்டாக்கும்.
6. ”அழுத பிள்ளை சிரித்ததாம் கழுதைப் பாலைக் குடித்ததாம்”
சில குழந்தைகள் பிறக்கும்போதே நோய்களின் அறிகுறியுடன் பிறக்கின்றன. உள்ளங்கை, உள்ளங்கால் பகுதிகள் நீல நிறமாக இருப்பின் குழந்தை செவ்வாப்பு என்னும் நோயால் தாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக மருத்துவர்கள் கருதுகின்றனர். இதற்குரிய மருந்தாகக் கழுதைப் பால் புகட்டப்படுகிறது என்பதனை இப்பழமொழி குறிக்கிறது.
. ”இருப்பவன் இரும்பைத் தின்பான், போறவன் பொன்னைத் தின்பான்“
உடல் இயங்குவதற்கு இரும்புச் சத்து இன்றியமையாதது. இதன் குறைவால் இரத்தச் சோகை என்னும் நோய் ஏற்படுகிறது. எனவே இரும்புச்சத்து அதிகமுள்ள காய் கறி உள்ளிட்ட உணவுப் பொருளை உட்கொள்ளுதல் வேண்டும். போக இச்சையை விரும்புபவர்கள் பொன்னைப் பஸ்பமாக்கி உண்பார்கள். இதனால் நரம்புக் கோளாறு, சிறுநீரகக் கோளாறு போன்றவை ஏற்படும். இதனைக் குறிக்க, போறவன் பொன்னைத் தின்பான் என்றார்கள்.
8. ”ஆயிரம் வேரைக் கொன்றவன் அரை வைத்தியன்”
இதனைக் கிராமப்புற மக்கள் ஆயிரம் பேரைக் கொன்றவன் அரை வைத்தியன் என்று வழங்குகின்றனர். ஆயிரம் வேரைக் கொன்றவன் அரை வைத்தியன் என்பதுவே இதன் பொருளாகும். நாட்டுப்புற மருந்துகளில் மூலிகைச் செடிகளும் அவற்றின் வேர்கள் மற்றும் பட்டைகளும் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. இவற்றுள் குறைந்தது ஆயிரம் வேர்களின் பயன்பாடு பற்றி ஒருவன் தெரிந்திருந்தால் மட்டுமே அவன் அரை வைத்தியன் என்ற நிலையைப் பெற இயலும் என்பதை இப்பழமொழி உணர்த்துகிறது.
9. ”அரசனை நம்பிப் புருஷனைக் கைவிட்டாளாம்”
அரச மரத்தைச் சுற்றிவந்தால் குழந்தைப் பாக்கியம் ஏற்படும் என்று யாரோ கூறக்கேட்ட ஒருத்தி, கணவனுடன் சேராமல், அரசமரத்தை மட்டுமே சுற்றி வந்தாளாம். அரசமரமும், வேம்பும் இணைந்த மரத்தினைச் சுற்றிவர காற்றானது கருப்பையில் உள்ள நச்சுக் கிருமிகளை அழிக்கும் தன்மை வாய்ந்தது என்பதை அறிந்தே நம் முன்னோர்கள் பிள்ளையார் சிலையை இந்த மரத்தின் கீழ் வைத்தனர். குழந்தைப் பாக்கியமற்ற பெண்கள் கும்பிடுவதற்கு இதுவே முக்கிய காரணம் ஆகும்.
10. ”ஆலும் வேலும் பல்லுக்குறுதி, நாலும் இரண்டும் சொல்லுக்குறுதி”
ஆலும் என்பது ஆலமரத்தின் விழுதினையும், வேலமரம் என்பது வேப்ப மரத்தின் குச்சியையும், நாலும் என்பது நாலடியாரையும் இரண்டு என்பது திருக்குறளையும் குறிக்கும். இது பொதுமக்கள் அனைவராலும் சாதாரணமாகப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் பழமொழியாகும். ஆலமரத்தின் விழுதினையும், கருவேல மரத்தின் மரக்குச்சிகளையும் நன்கு மென்று பல்விளக்க, பல் நன்கு பளபளப்புடனும், பல் ஈறுகள் நல்ல பலத்துடனும் காணப்படும் என்னும் செய்தி இப்பழமொழியில் விளக்கம் பெறுகிறது.
11. ”பத்து மிளகு இருந்தால் பகைவன் வீட்டிலும் உண்ணலாம்”
மருத்துவக் குணம் கொண்ட மிளகு நம் உணவில் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் பொருள்களுள் ஒன்றாகும். இந்த மிளகு நஞ்சு நீக்கும் தன்மையுடையது. பகைவர்களின் வீட்டில் உண்ணும் உணவில் விடம் கலந்திருந்தாலும், பாம்பின் விடம் தாக்கியவர்களுக்கு விடத்தின் தன்மையைக் கண்டறிவதற்கும் மிளகு பயன்படுகிறது. பாம்பால் கடியுண்டவருக்கு மிளகின் எரிப்புச் சுவை தெரியாவிட்டால் உடம்பில் விடம் தாக்கி விட்டதாகக் கூறுகின்றனர்.
12. ”விருந்தும் மருந்தும் மூன்று நாள்”
சொந்தக்காரர்கள் வீட்டிற்கு விருந்துக்குச் சென்றால் மூன்று நாள் மட்டுமே இருக்க வேண்டும். நீண்ட நாட்கள் இருப்பின் பகையுண்டாகும். மருத்துவரிடம் மருந்து உட்கொள்ளும்போது, ஒரு மருந்தின் ஆற்றல் மூன்று நாட்களுக்குள்ளாக தெரிந்துவிடும். இல்லையேல் மருந்தை மாற்ற வேண்டும் என்கிறது இப்பழமொழி.
13. ”ஆவாரைப் பூத்திருக்கச் சாவோரைக் கண்டதுண்டோ”
ஆவாரைப் பூ இதழ்களைச் சேகரித்து, நிழலில் உலர்த்திக் காய வைத்து, இடித்து வைத்துக் கொண்டு தேநீர், கோப்பித்தூள் இவைகளுக்குப் பதிலாக உபயோகித்து வர உடல் வறட்சி, உடல் நாற்றம், நீரிழிவு நோய், தோல் நோய் ஆகிய நோய்களைக் குணமாக்குவதால், ஆவாரைப் பூவின் மகத்துவத்தைக் குறிக்க வந்த பழமொழியாகும்.
இதுபோன்று ஏராளமான பழமொழிகள் மருத்துவக் குறிப்புகளை உணர்த்தும் நோக்கில் சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளன. உலகில் வேறெந்த இனத்தாரும் இப்படிச் சொன்னதில்லை என்பது தமிழர்களுக்கு பெருமையான விடயம்.
Courtesy:
Dr.G VAIDYANATHAN 

Visiting Professor, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, SRM University

Retired Director(Fast Reactor Tech Group) IGCAR, Kalpakkam             
and A.V.Ramanathan

Who Invented the Internet …?

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The Story of the Internet: Who REALLY Invented It?

Who was the genius who came up with all of that? The internet is such a crucial tool in our daily lives today that we hardly remember that it hasn’t been here forever. But yeah, it is actually not that old. We still have fuzzy memories about the time before the first thing in the morning was to check email and browse our favorite blogs and youtube channels. Well, let’s explore how the internet came into existence and why.

Forget the radio and the television. When it comes to completely changing the world as we know it, the internet, or the world wide web, must be the most significant invention of the 20th century. In a few short decades, it has seeped into every homE
,intoevery business, and has re-shaped the work force as we know it. But do you know who started it all? Who was the man behind this development? What really happened in the beginning of it all? These are stories worth knowing.

 

Source……..www.ba=bamail.com and http://www.you tube.com

Natarajan

 

Why this 20-yr-old set out on a 4,200 km journey on a cycle…?

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The planned 43-day-long campaign called ‘Raise your Voice Against Child Sexual Abuse’ will see Muhammed Shahid cover 11 states and 96 districts.

A 20-year-old university student embarked on Wednesday on a solo cycle trip that will take him from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to raise awareness about child sexual abuse.

Muhammed Shahid, a second year Geography student from Jamia Milia Islamia University hit upon the tour idea with the support of the university authorities and volunteers of various groups working for the rights of children.

The campaign that Shahid begins from the Swami Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari is expected to cover 11 states and 96 districts and is scheduled to culminate on July 12 at the University of Kashmir.

The planned 43-day-long campaign, which he calls “Raise your Voice Against Child Sexual Abuse” will see Shahid distributing pamphlets with information on the social issue.

Shahid also plans to interact with parents and students, and enact at places he stops, a street drama aimed at inspiring children to speak up and not keep silent if they face abuse.

“I got the idea of a cycling campaign when I went to a couple of juvenile homes in Delhi as a part of a program by a reputed city-based NGO. Most students I talked to had some experience to share of sexual abuse. It was then I decided to do this campaign,” he says.

“As a child I had encountered abuse so I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” says the cycling enthusiast who thanks his parents for their full support.

The itinerary chalked up by Shahid, who hails from Kozhikode in Kerala, attempts to cover a total of around 4,200 kilometres at a daily cycling of an average of 95 kilometres to 105 kilometres.

For the past six months Shahid says he prepared by rigorously practicing for the proposed trip.

“I use to cycle almost 50 kilometres a day from 7 pm to 1 am. During weekends I used to increase the distance to 100 kilometres,” says the cyclist.

To reduce the load on the road trip the cyclist has packed only the bare essentials in a back pack that also contains a camera.

The student says he has received support from social activists, friends and other non governmental organisations.

Relief and Charitable Foundation of India, RCFI, a Kozhikode-based charity has assisted Shahid financially and the Jamia Milia University has sponsored his bicycle.

Source…www.rediff.com

Natarajan

” How about a Piece of Advice From a 20 Year old …” ?

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Words of advice from Oscar award-winning actors are all very fine. How about some from a 20-year-old?

Mass media student Chhaya Ranka has a few things to say.

1. Not everything happens according to us

Photographs: Kerri Lee Smith/Creative Commons

Your boss won’t work according to you.

Your cousin won’t change the date of her marriage.

Your boyfriend will breakup with you if he has to.

It’s called life. Deal with it.

2. People come and go. Life goes on forever

Remember that time when you were crying because you had a fight with your best friend.

Who cares now? S/he doesn’t.

And probably you don’t too.

3. Chocolate is heavenly but it makes us fat

Chocolate is sweet. Chocolate is yummy.

Who wants food when you can have chocolate?

But who wants to grow fat when you can be healthy?

4. You can’t always live with your parents

You are daddy’s little girl and mummy’s spoilt brat.

You are always going to stay that way.

Stop living your life under their shadow and start doing things on your own.

Learn something new. Study some course.

Get a job and earn money.

The satisfaction of earning your own money is worth it.

But don’t indulge into illegal activities.

5. The only person who matters the most is you

It isn’t wrong to take care of yourself.

It isn’t wrong to make yourself the most important person in your life.

Do yourself a favour and love yourself so much that it will be difficult for people to hurt you.

6. Our siblings are our first best friends

They know how weird we are.

But they never give up on us.

Even after some huge fights and arguments they always have our backs.

7. Money can only buy materialistic things

Feelings and emotions can never be forced upon.

But as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl says “Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop”.

That is a totally different case then 🙂

8. Smile a lot. People are watching you always

Yes. Smile.

As much as you can.

You never know who falls for that beautiful smile of yours.

PS: Avoid roadside creeps though.

9. Respect your elders

Listen to what they have to say.

Best lessons can come to you from them.

It isn’t always required that you do whatever they say.

Just listen to them and respect them.

10. No one can and no one will ever love you much as your family loves you

The last time I cried over a breakup was years ago but I remember how my brother was ready to team up with his friends and bash the ex-boyfriend.

Even though it was my mistake, my mother cursed the ex.

Even after all the wrong things you do, your family accepts you.

11. Movies are fictional

Apart from historical movies, Bollywood lies all the time.

Not all stories have a happily ever after.

In fact, all romantic comedies and action films and superhero films are lie.

A spider bit me two years ago; I didn’t turn into Spiderwoman.

Drive a car at the speed of 200kmph and in a matter of time you will be fighting for your life.

12. A perfect figure isn’t everything

Being healthy and taking care of your weight is a very good thing.

Some people love your inner beauty more.

In fact most people do.

 

Life is much more beyond a perfect figure.

What is the point of having a perfect figure when you know it won’t last forever?

Even if you are too thin or too fat, what matters most is your personality and how you make others around you feel.

13. Career is important

Build your career.

Learn new things.

Meet new people.

Make new connections.

A few years from now you will look back and realise there are a lot of things you wanted to do but didn’t or couldn’t.

Leave no regrets.

14. Life is full of priorities and choices

Family and career should always come first.

Then if you have time, get into relationships.

Now who wants to be a housewife or jobless?

15. General knowledge is an asset

 

A little bit of GK about the world does no harm.

The added benefit is you get to talk to anyone and everyone.

16. Everything happens for a reason

Bad things happen so that we understand what the good things are.

Good things happen to prepare us for the best things.

17. Fall in love. Date the wrong people

After every bad date you will realise who you really wish to be with.

It will also help you in becoming the kind of person you have always wanted to be.

18. Make mistakes

Make as many mistakes as you can. Learn from them.

But don’t repeat them.

Source….Chhaya Ranka in http://www.rediff.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” One should use Sweet, Pleasant, and Soft words …”

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Inclinations (vasanas) won’t disappear as long as one’s heart is full of the illusion of egotism, even if one is immersed in many heart-purifying spiritual disciplines. Such people, if they want to get rid of the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, must worship the Lord. One whose heart is ruled by the group of six passions can have only ego as counselor! Those who have such a counselor are worse than foolish, however great they claim to be as pundits, aspirants, or renunciants. People experience joy and misery through the ear. Therefore avoiding the cruel arrows of hard words, one should use sweet, pleasant and soft ones — and with that softness, add the sweetness of truth. Making the word soft by adding falsehood only clears the way for more misery. A person who has become a spiritual aspirant should use very soft, sweet, true, and pleasant words. Such a person can be recognised by their good qualities.  

Sathya Sai Baba

 

eRumour Circulating Now…. ” A Massive asteroid Will hit Earth in September 2015″

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Reports have gone viral that the government is preparing for a large asteroid to hit Earth in September 2015.

The Truth:

The claim that a massive asteroid will hit the earth in September 2015 is a Hoax.

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) operates the Near-Earth Object Program to identify asteroids that come within millions of miles of earth. The JPL has taken to Twitter to dismiss claims that a massive asteroid will strike earth in September 2015:

“ The September asteroid scare is just another hoax.”

“The claims an asteroid scheduled to hit earth in September are a hoax.”

“There is no such object posing a threat to Earth. There are several hoaxes, akin to the doomsday 2012 hoax, circulating the web.”

These claims appear to have started with the Rev. Efrain Rodriguez, a Pentecostal Evangelical minister from Puerto Rico. Rodriguez claimed that god told him an asteroid would strike off the coast of Puerto Rico and cause 40 million deaths. Aside from Rodriguez’s personal account, there’s no proof that an asteroid is on course to strike earth in September 2015.

These claims were echoed by a number of blog sites and went viral with a YouTube video that had more than 430,000 views. But the video appears to be nothing more than an advertisement for a book about the rapture and doesn’t include any details about the so-called asteroid bound for Earth.

Because there is no scientific proof that an asteroid will hit the Earth in September 2015, and because NASA has directly denied those claims, we’re classifying this one as fiction.

A copy of the email submitted to Truthorfiction.com:

Collected on: 05/29/2015

Source….. http://www.truthorfiction.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

” If You Want Change , You Must get Your Hands Dirty…” Says Young Achiever Srikar Gullapalli

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“We already have engineers and medical graduates, but we need more IAS and civil service professionals, we need lawyers and political experts to spearhead this cause.

“We need more people to write open letters to the President and Prime Minister.

“The RTI Act is your weapon. Use it to get facts and information you want.

Former Watson Fellow and social entrepreneur Srikar Gullapalli talks about the issues affecting India’s growth and tells us why he wants more people to actively participate in building a bright future and put India on the global map.

Srikar Gullapalli

When his peers were keen on studying engineering and medicine, Srikar Gullapalli was bitten by the ‘social upliftment’ bug.

The 23-year-old has stayed committed to the cause.

His life took a U-turn when he got the opportunity to travel to seven countries, between 2013 and 2014, to study citizen-state relationship as part of the Watson scholarship (instituted in the memory of Thomas J Watson, the founder of IBM).

Through the assignment, he interviewed key political figures and compiled crucial data that would help him understand how to deal with issues like tribal rehabilitation, militant movements and marginalised communities back home.

Having graduated in mathematical economics and political science from Colgate University, in the US, the young achiever is now readying to pursue a post-graduation degree in Public Administration at Princeton University.

In March 2015, he received admission offers from six international universities: Princeton, Harvard, Maxwell Institute, Duke University, Georgetown University and Carnegie Mellon University.

He picked Princeton because he felt it was best when it came to his subject of interest — public administration.

His comparative study on ‘Politics of Performance: A Comparative Study of Delivery of Good Governance by different Political Parties in India’ under the guidance of Vinay Sahasrabudde, director, Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), New Delhi was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this year. (external link)

Since December 2014, he has been working with the ministries of health, drinking water and sanitation, in Delhi, researching the institutional gaps that exist in the current policies and how citizens can avail of better facilities.

We caught up with the young achiever who will be travelling to Princeton in September 2015, to find out how he plans to build a better India.

What are the problems coming in the way of India’s development?

We have a lot of policies, but the problem lies in execution.

Take, for example, the Land Acquisition Bill.

No one seems to understand the cause and effect of this Bill.

One needs to understand why the displacement is taking place and what are we doing about it.

Most of them (the displaced) do not have land of their own.

Besides, 50 per cent of the people in villages, including youngsters, want an urban job so they relocate to the cities and most of them never go back.

There is migration happening across villages in India.

Add to this the number of projects that are lying unattended.

At least 40 per cent of land development projects in India are currently behind schedule.

I feel we must have a system where unless we execute the existing projects, we don’t start or approve new ones.

Then there is the cultural divide, population expansion, and political debates that further delay projects.

Our collective aim must be to try and address these institutional gaps and bring in more clarity and transparency in execution.

We need to find out where the money goes and bring in more accountability in the whole process – perhaps a website where all this data can be uploaded and tracked.

Also, some of the policies and colonial laws haven’t been reformed since the time they were made. We need to reform our laws and policies to meet the present day requirements.

Why did you choose to go to college abroad and not in India?

At the age of 17, I wasn’t sure about my career.

I was looking for a flexible course that allowed me to study civics, advanced English and political science. Indian universities did not offer me that flexibility.

I did not want to be pigeon-holed and take up a course for the sake of completing my graduation.

At the same time, I wanted to study how things are managed internationally. So I picked Colgate University.

But whenever I had the chance, I preferred to work in India.

When I was chosen for a National Geographic project, I could have picked any country.

I chose to work on the Ganga rejuvenation and spent months interacting with seers and political leaders, trying to understand how we can bring positive change.

Tell us more about Shuddhify and what you achieved through it.

In 2011, I started Shuddhify as a social blog, funded by The World Bank Institute and British Council.

I would collect strategic data on corrupt practices in and around Bangalore.

For two years, I conducted a survey across nine government agencies and found large gaps in the system.

I compiled a report on this and submitted it to the Karnataka government.

When I was compiling this data, I received a lot of threatening calls from police officers.

I did not stop or heed them and went ahead with the report. In these times of corruption, civic activism is very risky, but someone has to start and lead the change.

Shuddhify’s findings on development policies were published in the Times of India‘s Bangalore edition, in August 2012.

The research findings were picked by the state government as one of the best policy papers which is part of the recommendations of the Sakala scheme of the Karnataka government (the scheme provides guarantee of service to citizens). This was an achievement in itself.

Srikar interviewing the next Shankaracharya as part of a NatGeo project in Allahabad, India

Srikar Gullapalli (right) interviews the next Shankaracharya as part of a NatGeo project in Allahabad, India.

What did you learn from your international assignments?

When I was picked for the Watson scholarship there were 40 other students from the US.

More than 1000 had applied for it.

Through the scholarship, I got to travel to diverse countries such as New Zealand, Thailand, Turkey, Syria and Spain.

I picked these countries because I felt they all had something in common with India.

The issues are more or less the same the world over — poverty, separatist movements, health and sanitation etc.

But each country has a different way to solve it.

We need to learn from the positives from other countries and work out a way to implement them in our country.

In your opinion, how can we bring about change?

We need more youngsters to take part in policy making.

We already have engineers and medical graduates, but we need more IAS and civil service professionals, we need lawyers and political experts to spearhead this cause.

People need to understand that the constitutional law is for real and it is there for everyone to touch and feel.

In Bangalore, there is incredible amount of civic engagement happening with the involvement of local bodies.

We need more people to write open letters to the President and Prime Minister, write more editorials in newspapers and start meaningful political debates that will educate and inspire people to join the campaign.

The RTI Act is your weapon. Use it to get facts and information you want.

In India, we see all the hype and energy from youngsters only pre and during the elections.

The period between elections has little or no engagement from the citizens. This needs to change.

What would be your advice to young readers?

As I mentioned, we need more young leaders in Parliament.

Between 1952 and ’57, about 33 per cent of representation in the Lok Sabha was from those under the age of 40.

Today, the average age of members is 50-plus and only 13 per cent are under the age of 40.

A person who is 75 years old is too old to be making decisions for a country where more than 50 per cent of the population is below the age of 30.

There has to be a healthy mix of ideas and experience — a mix of smart young people with ideas, and experts with experience.

Much as people disregard it as corrupt and apathetic, politics affects each one of us.

If you want change, you must get your hands dirty.

It’s not a choice but a responsibility we all share for the country we belong to.

There is a famous line in the Bhagwad Gita: ‘It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.’

Your advice to students who are looking to study abroad?

• Be prepared to negotiate for a lot of things that you were comfortable with in your home country — the luxury of food, relaxation from daily chores etc. You are mostly on your own and will have to learn to do things independently.

• Develop organic ways to solve your problems.

• Explore your academic freedom — make the most of the flexibility your international programme offers.

• Look for work opportunities and see if you can get people to fund projects and ideas in your home country.

• Do not restrict yourself to Indian friends and communities. Network with people beyond nationalities and cultures; be tolerant and humble.

Photographs: Kind courtesy Srikar Gullapalli/Facebook

Divya Nair / Rediff.com

Source…..www.rediff.com

Natarajan

 

“Kids are Capable of Doing More than We Expect From Them…Watch this video clip…!!!

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A compilation of incredible talented and fearless kids, demonstrating their skills at everything from skateboarding and weightlifting to surfing and basketball trick shots!

Source….www.ba-bamail.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan