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For the love of art: Meet the Vizag man who makes beautiful sculptures using paper…

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The word sculptor usually brings to mind a man busy chiselling away on metal or plaster, but Moka Satish Kumar, a Visakhapatnam-based artist, plans to change that perception.

Completely self-taught, Satish began with small subjects like birds and insects before gradually moving on to exotic sculptures.

A paper sculptor, Satish is gaining recognition for intricate sculptures carved by him using nothing but paper.

Born, raised and educated in Visakhapatnam, Satish has been sculpting these three-dimensional sculptures for close to 12 years now.

“I come from a commerce background and have no formal training in the arts field. It all started when I began observing paper collages. I was drawn to the subtle way in which light and dark colour paper are assembled to create an image,” says Satish, who used to work in the private sector.

“However, with sculptures, it’s far more realistic as the effect of a shadow is created by the subject itself,” he adds.

Since Satish is completely self-taught, he began with small subjects like birds and insects before gradually moving on to some exotic sculptures. Here are a few examples.

 

 

 

 

 

The outline of the art is first drawn on the paper before Satish cuts them out and gets to work. The sculptures are made using a combination of cutting, folding and embossing techniques.

“Embossing is nothing but adding an extra layer on top of a paper to give it a certain finish and 3D effect. For example, the finish you find on wedding cards is from preset designs, which are pressed onto the card,” Satish explains.

“However, I do it manually to ensure that the final product is smooth. The paper should also be handled with care as it is generally a delicate thing,” he adds.

Meticulous effort

Making a sculpture is not easy work, as even a basic 2×2 feet portrait can take up to 250 hours, says Satish.

“The sculptures are also expensive for the same reason. Only those who put in the hard work will understand. No corrections can be made to the art work… even a minor mistake means that the sculptor has to start over again,” Satish says.

While paper sculpting is relatively more common in western countries, very few Indians indulge in the art form. Therefore, Satish has also opened an institute and is presently teaching three students in his workshop.

“I also need labour. I can’t mass produce these sculptures, so I’m working on teaching it to more people. I also plan to approach the Andhra Pradesh government with my work,” he says.

Source…Nitin.B. in http://www.the news  minute.com

Natarajan

 

Weight Loss Strategies to Avoid…

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Fighting off the bulge can range from following a sensible and healthy diet to making ill-guided efforts that can have serious consequences for your health. Below you’ll find seven dangerous strategies that you should avoid at all costs when trying to lose weight:

1. Starvation, Fasting, or Very Low-Calorie Diets

This may lead to weight loss, but the lost weight includes precious muscle and lowers metabolism. Drastic calorie restriction also causes a shift towards a higher percentage of body fat, which increases the risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Unless medically supervised, don’t consume fewer than 1,200 calories per day. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to get enough nutrients to fuel your daily activities and satisfy your hunger. Keep in mind that when you lose weight quickly, you might be at risk of packing it back on – with more fat and less muscle – especially if you’re older than 50.

2. Taking Supplements That Make Grand Promises

If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Unlike makers of prescription drugs, companies that make supplements don’t have to prove that their products are safe or effective before selling them on the market. Even products that claim to be natural aren’t necessarily safe or good for you.

Therefore, if you’re thinking about taking any weight loss products, ask a doctor first. It’s better to focus on what’s proven to work for weight loss, including your diet.

3. Using Cleansing or Detox Plans

At best, cleanses cause weight loss from water and stool weight, but they can be dangerous. They carry the risk of electrolyte imbalance and dehydration. Your body is fine-tuned to detoxify and excrete toxins, so cleanses aren’t necessary and can lead to serious complications by messing with your body’s system.

Therefore, instead of detoxifying, be more mindful of what you’re eating. If you want to cleanse or detoxify your body, drink plenty ofwater and eat high-fiber foods.

4. All Forms of Purging

Purging includes making yourself vomit, chewing food and spitting it out, and abusing laxatives. These habits pose serious health issues, and are the first step towards the development of eating disorders.

Acid in the stomach is extremely strong, and it’s meant to stay in the stomach, not be regurgitated into the throat and mouth. Extremely acidic vomit can cause erosion in the esophagus, mouth and tooth enamel. This can increase the risk of certain cancers and tooth decay.

Regular purging by vomiting or abusing laxatives can cause excess fluid loss that can cause serious dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

Purging in all its forms is no way to decrease your waistline. Eating and drinking healthfully is a much safer option.

5. Extreme Exercising

This can cause serious problems such as severe wear and tear,dehydration, increased injury risk, and electrolyte imbalance.

The American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association recommend getting at least 30 minutes of moderately intense cardio exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes of intense cardio exercise three days a week, and strength-training exercises that work all the major muscle groups 2-3 times a week.

Some people think that more is better and go beyond what is healthy. This kind of obsessive approach can take control of their lives in an unhealthy way. If you take a moderate approach to exercise, you’ll be able to stick with it for the long haul.

6. Legal or Illegal Drugs

Using drugs other than prescription weight loss drugs intended for weight loss is a mistake that can come with dangerous consequences.

The risks associated with abusing drugs such as cocaine, speed, and medication intended for attention deficit disorder or diabetes to lose weight far outweigh any health benefits you may get from the weight loss. The risks include anxiety, severe headaches, addiction, financial and relationship problems, strokes, and heart, lung, and kidney issues.

Using illegal drugs for any purpose is strongly discouraged, and using legal ones for their unintended purpose without medical supervision is dangerous.

7. Smoking

We are all aware that smoking has countless health risks. Yet, some people, especially young adults, use smoking as a diet strategy.

Nicotine has been shown to be an appetite suppressant, but the risks of smoking vastly outweigh any benefits. Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body; causes cancer as well as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Beyond the numerous health risks, weight gain is often a side effect when smokers try to kick the addictive habit.

Best Weight Loss Practices

Choose a diet that works well for your lifestyle. The best diet is one that you can stick to long-term. Use common sense, listen to your body, be mindful of what you eat, and ignore expensive, risky, and worthless weight loss strategies or products that are unproven.

Seek advice from your doctor or a registered dietitian if you are concerned that your weight loss methods may border on extreme or unhealthy.

Source….www.ba-ba mail.com

Natarajan

98 வயதில் பத்மஸ்ரீ விருது!- நானம்மாள் பாட்டியின் அர்ப்பணிப்புக்கு கிடைத்த அங்கீகாரம்.

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Coimbatore: 

98 வயதிலும் ஓய்ந்துவிடாமல் யோகா கற்பித்துவரும் கோவையைச் சேர்ந்த நானம்மாள் பாட்டிக்கு மத்திய அரசு இந்த ஆண்டின் பத்மஸ்ரீ விருது அறிவித்துள்ளது கோவை மக்களிடையே மகிழ்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

கோவை கணபதியைச் சேர்ந்தவர் நானம்மாள். எட்டு வயதாக இருக்கும் போது தன்னுடைய தந்தையிடமிருந்து யோகா கற்றுக்கொண்ட நானம்மாள் அன்றிலிருந்து இன்றுவரை 90 வருடங்களாக தன் யோகா பயணத்தைத் தொடர்ந்து வருகிறார். இதுவரைக்கும் சுமார் பத்து லட்சம் பேருக்கு யோகாசனம் கற்றுக்கொடுத்துள்ளவர், 600-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட யோகா ஆசிரியர்களை உருவாக்கியுள்ளார். இதில் 36 பேர் அவருடைய குடும்பத்தைச் சார்ந்தவர்களே என்பது சுவாரஸ்யத் தகவல். அவர்கள் அனைவரும் இப்போது உலகின் பல்வேறு நாடுகளில் யோகா கற்பித்து வருகிறார்கள்.

யோகா பயில ஆரம்பித்ததிலிருந்து இப்போது வரை நாள் தவறாமல் யோகாசனம்  செய்துவரும்  நானம்மாள் ஒருநாள்கூட உடல்நிலை சரி இல்லையென்று முடங்கியது கிடையாது. மருத்துவமனை பக்கமே சென்றது கிடையாது. அந்த அளவுக்கு வலுவான உடலையும், மனதையும் யோகாவால் பெற்றிருப்பதாகச் சொல்கிறார் நானாம்மாள்.

காலையில் வேப்பங்குச்சியில் பல்துலக்கி பொழுதை ஆரம்பிக்கும் நானம்மாள், ராகி, கம்பு, மக்காச்சோளம், பாசிப்பயிறு, வரகு, தினை, கோதுமை, சிவப்பு அரிசி, தானியங்கள் என்று ஏதாவதொன்றை வறுத்து அரைத்த மாவில் காய்ச்சிய கூழில் மோர், உப்பு சேர்த்துக் குடிக்கிறார். மதியத்துக்கு சாதம், காய்கறிகள், கீரை, அவற்றோடு கொஞ்சம் மோர் சேர்த்துக்கொள்கிறார். இரவில் ஒரு டம்ளர் பால், ரெண்டு வாழைப்பழம்’ இதுதான் நானம்மாள் பாட்டியின் உணவுப்பட்டியல். காபி, டீயைத் தடைபோட்டிருக்கும் நானம்மாள், கருப்பட்டி கலந்த சுக்குக் காபியைத்தான் குடிக்கிறாராம்.

வீடுமுழுக்க விருதுகளை வாங்கிக் குவித்து வைத்திருக்கும் நானம்மாள் ஏற்கெனவே குடியரசுத் தலைவரிடம் பெண் சக்தி விருதை பெற்றிருக்கிறார். அவருக்கு இப்போது மத்திய அரசு பத்மஸ்ரீ விருதை அறிவித்து பெருமைப்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

Source…. M.Punniya Murthy  in http://www.vikatan.com

Natarajan

Tipu Sultan’s Mechanical Tiger…

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The sun is the hottest when the clock strikes one in the small town of Seringapatam, not far from the city of Mysore, in present day Karnataka, a state in India. Colonel Arthur Wellesley, who was leading two army units of the British East India Company, knew that the defenders of the fortress of Seringapatam would be taking a break for refreshment at this hour. That’s when he planned to strike.

The date was May 4, 1799—the final day of the final confrontation between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore led by the strong and assertive Tipu Sultan. At the scheduled hour, seventy-six men dashed across the four-feet-deep river Cauvery and in only sixteen minutes had scaled the ramparts and stormed into the fort. The defenders, taken by surprise, were quickly subdued and in two hours the fort had fallen completely. Later, in a choked tunnel-like passage in the interior of the fort, the

bullet riddled body of Tipu Sultan, “the Tiger of Mysore” was found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum

The victorious troops then proceeded to raid the royal treasury and over the next few weeks systematically emptied it, sharing the loot among the British army. Some time later, a curious object was discovered in the music room of the palace. It was a large wooden musical automata depicting a tiger mauling a man in European clothing. The man, which is nearly life-size, lies on his back while the tiger sinks its teeth into his neck. There is a crank protruding from the side of the tiger. When it’s turned, a hidden mechanism causes the man’s arm to go up and down, while a set of bellows inside causes the animal to growl and the man to emit distressing cries of agony. A flap on the tiger’s body can be opened to reveal a small organ and a keyboard capable of playing 18 notes.

Tipu Sultan’s mechanical tiger—known as Tipu’s Tiger— was a clear representation of his hostility towards the British—a feeling that he shared with his father, Hyder Ali, since his childhood. Hyder Ali regarded the British as their sworn enemy as they prevented Hyder from expanding his kingdom, and Tipu grew up with violently anti-British feelings. In 1792, when Tipu Sultan was forced to concede half of Mysore’s territories along with a large financial tribute to the British after the defeat at the Third Anglo-Mysore War, he had this machine built.

Tipu Sultan’s personal emblem was the tiger. The tiger motif was visible throughout his palace—on his throne, on his weapons and armor; the tiger stripe motif was painted on walls and used in uniforms; he even kept live tigers in his palace. Even his nickname that he adopted for himself was “the Tiger of Mysore”. Tipu’s Tiger, hence, was a symbolic representation of his desire to triumph over the British. It’s believed that the Sultan had frequently amused himself by playing with the instrument’s crank and hearing the distressing cries of the victim.

Understandably, the British were not amused. When they discovered the “contrived machine”, the Governor General of the East India Company wrote a memorandum calling it a “memorial of the arrogance and barbarous cruelty of Tipu Sultan” and “another proof of the deep hate, and extreme loathing” the Sultan had towards the English.

For a while, Tipu’s Tiger was displayed in the reading-room of the East India Company Museum and Library in London where it became very popular, especially since anybody could walk up to the machine and hand-crank it to hear the wailing and the grunting. The handle couldn’t take the abuse for long and it broke a few years later, to the great relief of the students using the reading-room in which the tiger was displayed.

In 1880, the tiger was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Since then, it has been one of the most popular exhibits in the museum and a “must-see”, although it’s too fragile now and cannot be operated. During the Second World War, the roof above the museum came crashing down and broke the tiger into several hundred pieces. After the war, the tiger was carefully pieced together, but it no longer works.

In recent times, Tipu’s Tiger has formed an essential part of museum exhibitions exploring the subject of Indian resistance to British rule, as well as British prejudice and imperial aggression. Tipu’s Tiger appears in various forms of memorabilia in the museum shops as postcards, model kits and stuffed toys.

Source ….Kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

World’s busiest air route is right here in India!…

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In 2017 only the Jeju-Seoul Gimpo route (with over 64,991 flights) and Melbourne-Sydney (54,519 departures and arrivals) were busier than Mumbai-Delhi.

It is the third-busiest air route in the world, with as many as 47,500 departures and landings last year.

Yet despite reaching this position, the Mumbai-Delhi route could face serious challenges in sustaining or improving it this year.

The reason? Hardly any additional capacity is now available at Mumbai airport to deploy more flights on this route.

But with the demand growing by 10-12 per cent annually, and with no possibility of adding more flights, flyers will soon face a hike in air fares this year.

According to OAG, an air travel intelligence firm based in the UK, the Mumbai-Delhi air route was the third-busiest in the world last year, with an average of 130 flights between the two cities every day.

In 2016, India was number six in the pecking order of the busiest routes, and this calculation was based on the capacity deployed on the route one way.

In 2017 only the Jeju-Seoul Gimpo route (with over 64,991 flights) and Melbourne-Sydney (54,519 departures and arrivals) were busier than Mumbai-Delhi.

Airlines say the route makes up about 10 per cent of their capacity and revenues, making it by far the biggest market.

And, at an average passenger load factor on this route of 80-90 per cent, this is a lucrative route, on which the demand is growing.

It also reflects the skew that these two markets have in the aviation business in the country as it constitutes more than 35 per cent of the domestic traffic.

Over 10,000 passengers depart every day from Mumbai for Delhi and vice versa and 70 per cent of them are corporate travellers, and this makes the situation even worse as they travel only during the peak hours (6am-8am and 5pm to 7pm).

That is why IndiGo and Jet Airways, each of which has 17 departures from Mumbai, top the list, followed by Air India (11), Vistara (10), GoAir (7), and SpiceJet (4). Yet the writing is on the wall. While most airlines are pushing for more capacity on the route, none is available.

Says a senior executive of a leading airline: “If slots are available, we can achieve a growth rate of 10-12 per cent on this route every year.

“But as slots are not available, the only possibility is to deploy bigger planes. But everyone does not have that flexibility, especially the LCCs. What you will see is fare increases”.

Last year, for instance, only Vistara and IndiGo were given additional slots on the route.

According to estimates of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the airport, which has a maximum capacity of 50-52 million per annum, is handling 46-50 departures an hour, which pretty close to the global best of around 55.

Currently the airport handles over 45 million passengers a year.

The agency says that the airport would reach its full capacity either by FY18 and surely by 2019, which makes the development of the new airport in Navi Mumbai so important.

Source…www.rediff.com

Natarajan