| A new business was opening and one of the owner’s friends wanted to send him flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the new business site and the owner read the card, which said: “Rest in Peace.”
The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist replied: “Sir, I’m really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry, you should imagine this – somewhere, there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying: Source……www.ba-bamail.com Natarajan |
Interesting read
” You’re Never Too Old to Play Holi. This Ad Proves That Age is no Bar…” !!!
Screengrab taken from YouTube video uploaded by ParachuteAdvansed
It’s the festival of colour, eating gujiyas and creating mayhem with buckets of water but most of all Holi is about having fun with your loved ones – age no bar whatsoever.
This new ad, made by a popular hair product brand, is set in a senior citizens’ home and shows that you are never too old to play Holi. The video shows an excited resident waking up at the break of dawn to prep for the festival. He changes into an old kurta, waves away his morning tea and pockets gulal to smear on his friends at the old age home. No one notices his excitement except a female resident.
So he goes to the verandah ready to have some fun – only no one else seems interested in playing Holi the way he planned. Even the youngsters who come to visit the residents only sprinkle a dusting of colour as a festive greeting.
As the senior citizen Holi enthusiast sits by disappointed, both fists full of gulal, something awesome happens. We’ll let you watch the video to see how one person’s infectious excitement manages to bring colour to an entire home.
Source…..www.ndtv.com and http://www.you tube.com
Natarajan
Soon, Eat Meat Without Killing Animals for It, Thanks to This Indian-American Scientist & His Team !!!
Memphis Meats Inc., a San Francisco-based company founded by three scientists, has developed a new technique to produce meat from stem cells of animals. Uma S Valeti, an Indian-American cardiologist, is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Memphis Meats.
By bringing meat production into the lab, this team can soon make it possible for people to eat meat without actually killing animals.
Source: YouTube
According Uma Valeti, the meat is sustainable, healthier, safer, and cruelty free. It does not lead to any side effects like bacterial contamination or high saturated fat. Additionally, the technique produces 90 percent less greenhouse emissions and does not require antibiotics as used in traditional meat production.
For the production, the team identifies cells that are capable of renewing themselves, from a targeted animal. These cells are then provided with oxygen and nutrients like sugar, minerals, etc. while they develop inside bio-reactor tanks into skeletal muscle and can be harvested in nine to 21 days. The team is currently working on beef, chicken and pork cells, and have already conducted test runs on beef meat.
“Our goal is to be in restaurants in three years and retail in five years. In 2021, we want to be in retail or even earlier,” Uma Valeti told PTI.
The first manufacturing base will be set up in the US and he added that they are also exploring ideas about setting centres in India and China very soon.
Cardiologist Uma Valeti is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and president of the Twin Cities American Heart Association. Other members of the team include Nicholas Genovese, a stem cell biologist, and Will Clem, a biomedical engineer who owns a chain of barbeque restaurants in Memphis, Tennessee.
Currently, even though the source cells can be collected without killing the animals, the process starts with the help of fetal bovine serum that is drawn from the blood of unborn calves. Memphis Meats is working on replacing the serum with a plant-based alternative very soon, to completely end the practice of extracting it from animals.
“Our concept is simple. Instead of farming animals to obtain their meat, why not farm the meat directly? To that end, we’re combining decades of experience in both the culinary and scientific fields to farm real meat cells—without the animals—in a process that is healthier, safer, and more sustainable than conventional animal agriculture,” says their website.
Source…Tanaya Singh in http://www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
The Golden Temple’s Community Kitchen Goes Organic, Grows Its Own Vegetables without Pesticides…
Visitors of the Golden Temple in Amritsar are soon to be served healthy, freshly produced organic food at the community kitchen. The management committee has made a landmark decision to adopt organic farming to grow its own grains, fruits and vegetables, free of chemicals.
A new mission undertaken by The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), they also aim to inspire farmers to take up organic farming and cut down on the use of chemical products.
The SGPC now grows its own organic vegetables and fruits on 40 acres at Gurdwara Gurusar Satlani Sahib and Patiala.
The Golden Temple, Amritsar. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
In the first phase of its experimental model, carrots, cabbages, spinach, and fenugreek or methi seeds from this farm have been successfully grown. About 10 quintals of organic produce are sent to the gurudwara every one or two days, according to SGPC officials.
The Punjab Agro Industries Corportation Limited (PAIC) was instrumental in helping the SGPC to test its soil and suggest options for organic farming. The experts at PAIC also advise them on how to replace pesticides and the use of organic fertilisers. They’ve suggested the use of neem patta, lassi and cow urine, among others.
The langar, or community kitchen, at the Golden Temple is the world’s largest free kitchen. It is popular for serving food to everyone irrespective of caste, religion or background. The gurudwara’s community kitchen, Guru Ramdas Langar Hall, receives nearly 100,000 people. It serves 200,000 roti made of 7000 kilograms of wheat flour, 1200 kilograms of rice, and 1300 kilograms of daal. The kitchen is manned by 450 dedicated people and many volunteers.
The SGPC is the apex organisation of Sikhs that manages all the gurudwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. After its success at the Golden Temple, the move would be replicated to other gurudwaras in the country.
Source….Neeti Vijaykumar in http://www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
How One Man Is Making Indian Museums Fun, Interactive and Inclusive…..!!!
The dismal and decrepit state of most Indian museums is no secret. But architect and designer Abhishek Ray and his team are trying to change the experience of museum visits by creating spaces with appropriate exhibition displays, good lighting and graphics, and interactive audio visual systems that keep visitors engaged.
Antiques trafficking, damage from seepage and other maintenance issues, lack of qualified staff – Indian museums suffer from many woes. A 2011 UNESCO report on Indian museums was also scathing in pointing out a long list of deficiencies, among them poor lighting and maintenance, incorrect signage and lax security. In 2012, a parliamentary committee report said, “Our museums are in a bad shape. Only 10% of the acquisitions are put on display and those are not even rotated regularly. Museum stores and galleries are in poor condition.”
Meet the man who is trying to address at least some of these issues. Abhishek Ray, an architect and designer, wants to make Indian museums more fun, interactive and inclusive.
“I want to change the way museums are perceived today. Museums tell a story and it should be an interesting one,” he says.
Abhishek Ray
Abhishek is the principal architect at Matrika Design Collaborative. Over the last decade, Abhishek and his team have been working on museum development projects from their inception to their execution. With comprehensive services – ranging from historical and art research to creating spaces using appropriate exhibition displays, lighting and graphics accentuated with interactive audio visual systems to keep visitors engaged in learning about our cultural heritage of India – the team has been changing the experience of a museum visit.
The team works on providing better lighting and displays
“We noticed that museums have not changed at all since decades in India. I have no living memory of visiting museums in my childhood and today we need to engage children with our museums and cultural spaces at a very early age. We work with the government and non governmental organisations to redesign existing cultural spaces and to develop new ones in order to conserve our heritage,” he says.
Matrika Design Collaborative is now developing one of the first dedicated textile museums that showcases the history and conservation of embroidery from the western region of Kutch, Gujarat at Bhuj.
The museum is a part of the Living and Learning Design Centre for local embroiderers and craftspeople, where visitors will gain extensive understanding of the rich heritage of embroidery from the communities themselves.
Innovation, says Abhishek, comes through engaging the community in the development of the museum or cultural space.
“If we intend to showcase their culture and traditions it is imperative for us to involve them at various stages of inception. A classic example is how the LLDC museum in Kutch has been developing around documenting the lives of embroiderers by recording their oral histories, their art and lifestyles,” he says.
Abhishek and his team convert a museum from a static space to an interactive one.
They also recently commissioned a small exhibition for Godrej Industries, wherein they designed a humble exhibition focused on the pioneering work carried out by Shri Ardershir Godrej in developing India’s first safe, which, till today, is one of the mainstays of the products rolled out by the industrial giant. Coupled with a trivia based display on the events around the year 1914 (the year when the first safe was fabricated in India), they put together a host of rare documents that profiled the story of safe-making at Godrej.
Overall, by using presentations, online art guides, mobile apps, and making the places more comfortable for people with special needs, Abhishek and his team are making museums both physically and intellectually inclusive.
Their USP lies in museum design
They are currently developing a unique outreach programme, a Museum on Wheels for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai (formerly Prince of Wales Museum), where the self contained museum bus would travel to urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Maharashtra to spread education by means of an interactive mobile museum.
The bus is fitted with exhibition cases, audio video hardware, etc. It will cater to municipal schools, adult education camps and artists’ conclaves in rural districts of India.
From improving existing museums to coming up with new ones, the team has been preserving Indian heritage in amazing ways.
The development of the Shastra Museum (Museum on Arms and Armory of the Sikhs) in Amritsar, alongside the Toshakhana (Royal Treasury), is a project that Abhishek and his team are proud of. It holds some of the most exquisite weapons used by the Sikh armies under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The narrative here builds around the development of traditional weapons and their transition to mechanised weapons and modern artillery in the late 19th Century.
“We have designed unique solutions where children are given an understanding of the science behind weapons and fortification systems, categorically ruling out their association with violence and war,” says Abhishek.
Innovation has found a new meaning through inclusion of children and people with special needs at the New Shri Pratap Singh Musuem in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
The team has dedicated a complete gallery to children’s activities. The 100,000 square feet museum is also completely accessible to people with special needs.
Abhishek and his team are now working on more innovative ideas.
The challenge for the future, says Abhishek, lies in demystifying the realm of heritage and culture for people at large. Implementation of unique ideas and changing mindsets of people who sit at the helm of affairs is going to be a big challenge.
“We need to redefine the experience of the cultural space by reinventing the narrative and this can be achieved when policy makers, curators, archivists, designers, and users come together in a collaborative format to work out the best ways to tell the story of our culture and heritage through tangible and intangible ways,” he concludes.
To know more about the team’s work check out their website – www.matrika.in
Source…..Shreya Pareek in http://www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
Message for the Day….” Contemplate on Spiritual wisdom…”
Devote your time to the service of the world, with faith in the Lord, regardless of its fruits. Then you become blessed. Otherwise, though the body may be inactive, the mind will be very busy, committing acts on its own. People with such minds fall prey to karma in spite of their not doing anything! When a person has the mind fixed on contemplation of God and the pursuit of truth, though the body and senses do acts that are of service to the world, they won’t be affected by them; though they do actions (karma), they are still non-doers of action. This is the lesson from Bhagavad Gita. The heart of the person who doesn’t strive to cultivate the mind with holy thoughts is certain to be the paradise of evil and wickedness. Everyone who hopes to rise to greatness, seeks one-pointedness and aspires for salvation, must bear this in mind. Spiritual wisdom alone is the cause of liberation.
Image of the Day… Total solar eclipse of March 9 2016 …
View larger. | March 9, 2016, total solar eclipse from Palu, Indonesia. Photo by Justin Ng of Singapore, who wrote: “Sun’s corona extends millions of kilometers into space and it is visible to the unaided eye during a total solar eclipse. During totality, temperature at my location dropped by 10 to 15 degrees Celsius and I was able to see planet Venus and Mercury when the area became dark. I took 12 different exposures during totality to cover as much dynamic range as possible and stacked them in Photoshop to produce this image.”
Source…..www.earthsky.org
Natarajan
” Play ….It is Good for you …”!!!
Beneful takes play to new places with this inventive Dog Goldberg machine powered by dogs and their favorite toys.
Play. It’s good for you.
Source….www.youtube.com
Natarajan
இந்த வாரக் கவிதை ….” பாதச் சுவடுகள் ” !!!
பாதச் சுவடுகள்
…………..
பல்லாயிரம் காலடி படும் பாதையில் …வடுவாய் பாதச்சுவடாய்
நல்லோர் சிலர் காலடி மட்டும் உருவாக்கும் ஒரு தனி வழிப்பாதையை !
காலத்தால் அழியாத நல் வழி காட்டும் பாதை அது !
பாதச் சுவடு பதித்த நல்லோர் பலர் வழி நடக்க விழையும் நாம்
பதிக்க வேண்டும் நம் காலடியையும் ஒரு சுவடாக !
விதைக்க வேண்டும் நல் அறநெறி நம் பிள்ளைகள் மனதில் ..நம்
பாதச் சுவடு ஒன்றொன்றும் சொல்ல வேண்டும் ஒரு நல் வழிப்பாடம் !
அது காட்ட வேண்டும் ஒரு தனி வழி ஒளிமிகு புதிய பாரதம் மலர !
மாறட்டும் நம் காலடி ஒன்றொன்றும் ஒரு பாதச் சுவடாக இன்றுமுதல்
அது தொடரட்டும் என்றென்றும் வழி வழியாக ! காலத்தால்
அழியாத நல்ல வழிகாட்டியாக !
Natarajan
14 March 2016
The Health Benefits of Olive Oil…….!!!
| Olive oil is widely thought of as being good for our health. In fact, in terms of its health benefits, olive oil is unrivaled. New research continues to reveal more benefits almost every day. Nevertheless, we are only beginning to understand the countless ways olive oil can boost our health and quality of life. What is it that makes olive oil so beneficial to our health?
Nutrient composition of extra virgin olive oil Olive oil contains modest amounts of Vitamins E and K, as well as a wealth of beneficial fatty acids. To start, let’s take a look at the nutritional facts of extra virgin olive oil: 100g of olive oil contains:
*RDA: Recommended Daily Allowance However, one of olive oil’s well-known benefits is its antioxidant content, which helps the body fight serious diseases. Olive oil’s main antioxidants protect the body from oxidation (more on this below) and against LDL (bad) cholesterol. With these facts in mind, let’s look at how olive oil can benefit the body: 10 Health Benefits of Olive Oil 1. It reduces the risk of Type 2 Diabetes A low-fat diet is typically recommended to prevent diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. In fact, studies have shown that high fat diets may increase the risk of certain diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. With that being said, it’s worth pointing out that it’s the type of fat intake rather than the amount that affects health most severely. Consequently, it has been found that a diet rich in monounsaturated fats (such as those found in olive oil, nuts and seeds) actually offers protection from many chronic diseases. Furthermore, according to a study published in the scientific journal Diabetes Care, it was shown that a Mediterranean-style diet rich in olive oil reduced the risk of Type II diabetes by almost 50% when compared to a low-fat diet. Type II diabetes is the most common and preventable form of diabetes. 2. Olive oil may help prevent a stroke According to a study from France, published in the online issue of Neurology, older individuals who consume olive oil daily may be able to protect themselves from stroke. The study gathered information from medical records of 7,625 individuals over the age of 65 from three cities in France – Bordeaux, Dijon and Montpellier – none of whom had a history of stroke. The individuals were then categorized into three groups, based on their olive oil consumption. After five years, 148 strokes were reported. The results showed that individuals who frequently consumed olive oil had a 41% lower risk of stroke, compared to those that did not consume olive oil at all. 3. It keeps the heart young and healthy As we grow older, our heart goes through a normal aging process. Artery function tends to decline with age, leading to a number of health problems. In a recent study, Spanish researchers discovered that a diet rich in olive oil or other monounsaturated fats could improve arterial function in elderly individuals.
4. It helps fight osteoporosis A disease predominantly characterized by a decrease in bone mass, osteoporosis causes the architecture of bone tissue to become fragile, increasing the possibility of fractures, making even the slightest of bumps or falls potentially fatal. However, olive oil supplementation was found to positively affect the thickness of bones. While olive oil is not the only solution, scientists have concluded that it is very promising for the development of future treatments of the disease. 5. Olive oil helps fight depression While olive oil has been found to be beneficial for a number of physical ailments, what about emotional health benefits? Spanish researchers from the University of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, found that a diet rich in olive oil can protect from mental illness too. It was recently discovered that a higher intake of olive oil and polyunsaturated fats found in fatty fish and vegetable oils lowered the risk of depression. According to the findings, cardiovascular disease and depression share some common mechanisms related to diet. 6. Olive oil has been found to prevent skin cancer A recent study found that olive oil may contribute to the prevention of malignant melanoma (the most dangerous type of skin cancer). Nevertheless, the use of sunscreen remains the best way to prevent sunburn, however, consuming olive oil and other Mediterranean food could help counter the oxidizing effect of the sun. 7. It can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease Numerous studies have been conducted on olive oil and how it may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. One study published in the journal of Chemical Neuroscience showed that the oleocanthal (a type of natural phenolic compound found in extra-virgin olive oil) has the potential to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and the cognitive decline that comes with aging. Olive oil polyphenols are powerful antioxidants, which may help reverse oxidative damage that occurs due to the aging process.
8. It may potentially protect against breast cancer A diet rich in fats is directly related to a higher risk of cancer. However, the types of fats consumed can actually play a protective role against the development of tumors. Virgin olive oil is rich in oleic acid – a mono-unsaturated fatty acid, containing several bioactive compounds such as antioxidants. Research shows that a moderate and regular intake of olive oil reduces the risk of certain types of cancer, including breast cancer. 9. Olive oil has been found to reduce oxidative stress Studies suggest that olive oil can protect the liver from oxidative stress. To test this theory, scientists exposed rats to a moderately toxic herbicide known to deplete antioxidants and cause oxidative stress. The findings showed that rats fed a diet containing olive oil were partially protected from liver damage. 10. It contains anti-inflammatory substances Chronic inflammation is believed to be one of the leading causes of many diseases, including heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and arthritis. However, one of the benefits of olive oil lies in its ability to fight inflammation. The oil’s anti-inflammatory effects seem to be mediated by the antioxidants in olive oil. One such antioxidant is oleocanthal – which has been shown to work like ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug. In fact, it has been found that 50ml of extra virgin olive oil has an effect similar to 10% of the adult ibuprofen dosage for pain relief. Source……www.ba-bamail.com Natarajan
|
Take off with Natarajan 