Hi - this is Srinivasan Sampathkumar from Triplicane. I have a passion for Marine Insurance, Cricket and Temples especially - Sri Parthasarathi swami thirukKoyil, Thiruvallikkeni. From Sept 2009, I am posting my thoughts in this blog; From July 2010, my postings on Temples & Tamil are on my other blog titled "Kairavini Karayinile " (www.tamil.sampspeak.in)
Nothing gives the author more happiness than comments & feedbacks on posts ~ look forward to hearing your views !
For those in sales, how do you select your customer ! – what will
be your reaction when interacting with a beautiful person !
In Baasha, Rajnikant plays Manickam, a pious auto rickshaw
driver. One day, Nagma walks towards the
auto stand making every automan long for her to get into their vehicle. While Janakaraj imagines her sitting in his auto, she would choose (who
else) !!!
Sivagami, a widow, brings up her only son Maran, in the worship
of Karunagaran, as his father had died in tragic circumstances. She hides from
him for a long time, the real version of the facts. .. .. plot of “Deiva Thai (Divine
Mother), released in 1964, produced and
co-written by RM Veerappan, directed by
P. Madhavan - starring MG Ramachandran.
In the film there was a song written by Vaali to the tune of
Vishwanathan Ramamurthy – sung by P Susheela and TM Soundararajan - where MGR asks this Q in the song !!
இந்தப்
புன்னகை என்ன விலை ?? என் இதயம் சொன்ன விலை !!
அழகிய
பெண்களின் பழக்கம் உண்டோ ? பாட்டுக்கள் பாடும் வழக்கம் உண்டோ ??
A trip to Chennai would never be complete without an encounter
with them……… the ubiquitous three-wheelers painted yellow and called
‘auto-rickshaws’. Chennai is well
connected by road, rail, sea and air. In
the ever bustling metropolis, you have the State Transport Corporation buses,
Metro rail, EMUs, MRTS, vans, call-taxies and more………. and then there is this
‘auto-rickshaw’ - a drive [the peculiar
sitting posture of the driver, the cuts and turn-arounds of the vehicle – its
capacity to turn at right angles and wade through milling crowds], the language
of its drivers, the missing meters and the bargain – can all force mortal fear
in you no ends.
This auto (though driver is not around) has found an interesting
customer, a beautiful calf getting into it.
On this day, 95
years ago, the great Physicist Sir CV Raman discovered what is now known as Raman
scattering, for which he later became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in
Physics. .. .. honestly, I understand
nothing of this pic and have not heard of this great personality earlier (not CV
Raman !!)
Sir
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS (7.11.1988 to 21.11.1970) was a physicist known for his work in the field of
light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered
that when light traverses a transparent material, the deflected light changes
its wavelength and frequency. This phenomenon, a
hitherto unknown type of scattering of light, which they called "modified
scattering" was subsequently termed the Raman effect or Raman scattering. Sir Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in
Physics for the discovery and was the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in
any branch of science.
Raman
scattering or the Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of photons by
matter, meaning that there is both an exchange of energy and a change in the
light's direction. Typically this effect involves vibrational energy being
gained by a molecule as incident photons from a visible laser are shifted to
lower energy. This is called normal Stokes Raman scattering. The effect is
exploited by chemists and physicists to gain information about materials for a
variety of purposes by performing various forms of Raman spectroscopy.
Light
has a certain probability of being scattered by a material. When photons are
scattered, most of them are elastically scattered, such that the scattered
photons have the same energy (frequency, wavelength and color) as the incident
photons but different direction.
The Raman effect is named
after the great Indian scientist C. V.
Raman, who discovered it in 1928 with assistance from his student K. S.
Krishnan. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery
of Raman scattering. The effect had been predicted theoretically by Adolf
Smekal in 1923.
For sure we read about Sir CV Raman in school text books but did
we about Sir Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan who too was born in a Vaishnavaite
family in Watrap, Tamil nadu.
KS
Krishnan (4.12.1898 – 14.6.1961) was a great Physicis who was co-discoverer of Raman scattering, for which
his mentor C. V. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics. His father
was a farmer-scholar deeply versed in Tamil literature. He had his early
education in Hindu Higher Secondary school, in Watrap, after which he attended
the American College in Madurai and the Madras Christian College. After gaining
his degree in Physics he became a demonstrator in chemistry.
In
1920, Krishnan went to work with C.V. Raman at the Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science, Calcutta. There he engaged himself in experimental
study of the scattering of light in a large number of liquids and its
theoretical interpretations. He played a significant role in the discovery of
the Raman scattering. In 1928 he moved to the Dacca University (now in
Bangladesh) as the Reader in the physics department where he studied magnetic
properties of crystals in relation to their structure. Krishnan, along with
other rising scientists such as Santilal Banerjee, B.C. Guha, and Asutosh
Mukherjee developed an elegant and precise experimental technique to measure
the magnetic anisotropy of diamagnetic and paramagnetic crystals. Their
findings were published by the Royal Society of London in 1933 under the title,
Investigations on Magne-Crystallic Action.
In
1933 he returned to Kolkata to take up the post of Mahendralal Sircar Professor
of Physics in the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science where he
continued to collaborate fruitfully with Banerjee to elaborate on the magnetic
properties of crystals in relation to their structure. Krishnan was elected as Fellow of the Royal
Society (FRS) in 1940.
His
Royal Society candidature certificate in 1935 read: "Distinguished for his
investigations in molecular optics and in magne-crystalline action:collaborated
with Sir C.V. Raman in extensive theoretical and experimental studies on light
scattering, molecular optics and in the discovery of the Raman Effect (1928).
More recently has been publishing many valuable investigations (Phil Trans
Royal Society and elsewhere) on the significance of magnetic anisotropy in
relation to crystal architecture and thermo-magnetic behaviour at the lowest
temperatures. Has published important work on pleochroism in crystals and its
relation to photo-dissociation. Leader of an active school of research in
Calcutta.
In
1942, he moved to Allahabad University as Professor and Head of the Department
of Physics where he took up the physics of solids, in particular of metals. He was knighted in the 1946 Birthday Honours List and awarded
the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1954. He was the first
recipient of the prestigious Bhatnagar Award in 1958. On 4 January 1947 K. S.
Krishnan was appointed first director of National Physical Laboratory India.
This was one of the earliest national laboratories set up under the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research.
Inspirational ! - should
we not be reading the life history of such great people instead of Babar,
Aurangazeb, slave dynasty, Robert Clive Clement Atlee .. .. .. and you know who
!!
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist,
and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming
organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name
is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as
Carolus a Linné.
The Gir or Gyr is one of the principal Zebu breeds originating in India. It has been used
locally in the improvement of other breeds including the Red Sindhi and the
Sahiwal. It was also one of the breeds used in the development of the Brahman
breed in North America. In Brazil and other South American countries the Gir is
used frequently because, as a Bos indicus breed,
it is resistant to hot temperatures and tropical diseases. It is well known for
its milk producing qualities and is often bred with Friesian cows to make the
Girolando breed.
The zebu - indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species
or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu
are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, a large dewlap, and
sometimes drooping ears. They are well adapted
to withstanding high temperatures, and are farmed throughout the tropical
countries, both as pure zebu and as hybrids with taurine cattle, the other main
type of domestic cattle. Zebu are used
as draught and riding animals, dairy cattle, as well
as for byproducts such as hides and dung for fuel and manure. Some small breeds
such as the miniature zebu are also kept as pets. In 1999, researchers at Texas
A&M University successfully cloned a zebu.
The scientific name
Bos indicus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for humped cattle in China
Seen here is a
beautiful Gir bull with drooping ears, pictured not in Gujarat or elsewhere but
in Triplicane
Snapdeal, Flipkart, Amazon – all
have become household names as we tend to browse regularly, ending up making up
more ‘Online’ purchases. Sometime back
telemarketing was very popular on TV channels – just as ‘giving missed calls’
to …. …. Is now !! A mousse ~ pronounced “muːs”
is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and
airy texture. It can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick, depending
on preparation techniques. A mousse may
be sweet or savory. Dessert mousses are
typically made with whipped egg whites or whipped cream, and generally
flavoured with chocolate or puréed fruit.
Recently read that
a newsitem that there are over 87,000 different drink combinations at
Starbucks, according to the retailer’s website… but you see hardly any of them
on the menu. Sites such as StarbucksSecretMenu.net and HackTheMenu.com have
collected dozens of DIY drinks -- from flu remedies to Harry Potter-inspired
beverages. Often people are bemused and
spoilt by choice. The first thing to
know is that there are many different
sizes differently named by such sellers.
Tesco PLC is a
British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in
Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. It has
stores in 12 countries across Asia and Europe.
Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls. The
Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from
T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his
surname. Tesco is listed on the London
Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
BBC states that Tesco
has pulled Schweppes from its supermarket shelves after falling out with
Coca-Cola over the price to charge consumers for its drinks. Britain’s biggest retailer has pulled 25
lines of the soft drink from its shelves after clashing with Coca-Cola
Enterprises, which produces Schweppes, the tonic water and ginger ale brand. Tesco
is looking to renegotiate deals with suppliers and cut the price it pays for
products. The company has told suppliers that falling commodity prices mean it
should be able to offer lower prices to consumers. However, Tesco and Coca-Cola
have clashed over price, with the retailer unwilling to meet the American
company’s request to increase prices, according to industry magazine The
Grocer.
Schweppes drinks
are the most popular branded mixers in the UK. They are used with alcohol or
fruit juice. Schweppes used to be owned by Cadbury, but Coca-Cola bought the
brand in Britain in 1999. As well as tonic water, Schweppes produces ginger
ale, orange juice, tomato juice, and grapefruit juice.
~ this is a post
about what an Online shopper received telling
‘mousse’. MailOnline reports that an online
shopper got the fright of his life when a live mouse leapt out of his grocery
bags and ran around his kitchen. Nick
Bain was unpacking his Tesco shopping at his home in Clacton, Essex, when he
noticed something stirring in one of the bags.
The 41-year-old was
shocked to then see a mouse dart out from one of the plastic bags and scurry
across the floor. After he phoned Tesco to complain, the supermarket sent a
team of pest control experts whose trap later caught the creature. It is further reported that the Company has refunded
and replaced the shopping and sent Mr Bain's wife a large bouquet of flowers to
apologise as she is petrified of mice.
It was one of the
first times Mr Bain and his wife, Hayley, 28, had used Tesco's online delivery
service. The car salesman said: 'I was going through the bag and I didn't
realise it was there but when I put my hand in I saw something move. 'I told my
wife there was a mouse in the bag and she jumped off the floor. It was just so
fast. It's the last thing you expect with a delivery.' Mr Bain managed to film
the mouse on his mobile phone shortly after it emerged from the rubbish.
The couple were
worried about their two Staffordshire bull terriers, Max and Bruno, eating the
mouse in case it was diseased. The mouse was later caught in a trap after 'scratching
for two nights solid'. The animal ran around the couple's kitchen and
disappeared into a hole before being caught by pest control. Mr Bain said the incident left him wondering
what might have happened to other people's shopping which was also on the
delivery van.
He added: 'It
disgusted my wife and it makes you think if it was in the van, whose other bags
had it been in and whose other food had it urinated on. 'To be fair to Tesco,
they gave us some flowers and some treats for the dogs and sent Rentokil
around, they've been pretty good.'
The
oft heard statement from people visiting any place after a long time, say 10
years is – ‘lot has changed – so many new buildings have come up !’.
All of us know that
houses do not come up in a week or a few days ! and buying an existing home is
some compromise. For middle class
people, house has always been a dream ~ [in recent decades independent house
has vanished with apartments themselves becoming costlier]. Chokkalinga Bagavathar did a commendable
performance in Balu Mahendra’s ‘Veedu’ depicting the travails of a middle class
family man bent upon building own house.
When you plan to
build a house on a vacant plot of land, there are so many variables. The plan / blueprint is just the start –
there will be so many plans and procedures.
Again, one can leave everything to a Contractor or get involved in
everything. If it is an old house,
demolition too can be cumbersome. Experts
estimate that building a new house can take anywhere from five months to over a
year depending on the many factors. One can get overawed at the pre-construction
period itself, thinking of various
permissions and the cost escalation.
Laying of foundation heralds the beginning of the project – clearing
out, levelling, foundation laying all can take some time. Then framing,
construction of walls, pillars, roofs and the like can take more
months. Once the physical structure gets
ready [there will be some overlapping] – wiring, plumbing, interiors and
finishing – all will take more months towards completion.
At the construction stage, curing plays an important role on strength
development and durability of concrete. Curing takes place immediately after
concrete placing and finishing, and involves maintenance of desired moisture
and temperature conditions, both at depth and near the surface, for extended
periods of time. Properly cured concrete has an adequate amount of moisture for
continued hydration and development of strength, volume stability, resistance
to freezing and thawing, and abrasion and scaling resistance.
. According
to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1973 it took, on average, six
months to build a single-family home. In 1980, that number was up to 6.9 months, and
in 2009 it was up to 7.9. In 2013, the latest data available, it was back down
to six months. Another source of UK
- (2012) of Survey of Construction (SOC)
from the Census Bureau shows that on average it takes about 7 months from
obtaining a building permit to completing a new single-family home.
There
are areas of Chennai which bursts with construction activity with tall
buildings coming up so regularly ~ can you ever imagine building a skyscraper
of 57 storeys coming up mere ’19 days’ at an astonishing ‘3 floors – a day’.
How
to build a skyscraper in NINETEEN DAYS: Time-lapse shows how Chinese firm
builds 57-storey block at a rate of three floors a day.
MailOnline
has this interesting report of a developer in China building an entire 57-storey building in just 19 days. The time-lapse video shows, the Mini Sky City
building was put up brick by brick at a rate of three full storeys a day in
Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province in south-central China. The building
has 800 apartments and enough office space for 4,000 people. It was originally
planned to be built up to a height of 220 storeys, but it was cut down because
of concern it was too close to a nearby airport.
The
prefab construction, which has 19 atriums which are each 10 metres tall, is
also environmentally friendly, claims the developer, as large sections were put
together at another location and taken to the building site to be stacked on
top of each other. That significantly
reduced the number of trips needed to transport the raw materials, they said. In all, 15,000 fewer truck journeys were made,
greatly reducing dust and fuel pollution.
The company behind the construction, Broad
Sustainable Building, previously accomplished constructing a 30-story building
in Changsha in just 15 days.
The
building was also constructed with China's pollution problem in mind, using
quadruple-thick glass and tight '99.9 per cent sealed' construction. Broad
claims that its technology is 'the most profound innovation in human history'. While the rapid construction is eco-conscious,
some online users have raised concern over safety.
What an array
of goods !! – mesmerizing – if only we were a child, a couple of items would
immensely please us and keep us happy !!.
In Commerce (or was it
Economics) read about - Hawkers and
Pedlers. Some definition read : a
hawker moves about in residential localities. He carries his goods in a
hand cart or bicycle ! (are they still
in vogue). He deals in low-priced goods of daily use. For example combs toys
soaps mirrors bangles vegetables fruits ice-cream etc. A peddler also moves from
house to house and sells articles of daily use. But he carries his wares on his
head – that way Pedler is poor cousin who carries the commodities as head load
or hand load and makes a living by selling.
Modern day
children (mostly) would not understand that sellers like the one pictured spend
hours in pain and difficulty to earn their daily bread – what is more not
understood is the fact that in our childhood (say half a century or so ago !) –
these things were luxuries for most of us.
Man is a
social animal, now living in social media !
- how often are you alone ? - can
you remain without seeing your phone for say at least one or two hours ?? (when awake !)
நீங்கள்
எப்போதும் கூட்டத்தில் இருப்பீர்களா! - அல்லது
தனிமை விரும்பியோ ! - தனிமை வரமா ! சாபமா
??
கும்பல்
கூட தனிமையை போக்காது !! சுற்றி நிறைய பேர்
இருந்தாலும், பேசுவதற்கு நண்பர்கள் இருந்தாலும் தனிமையில் இருப்பது போல சிலருக்குத்
தோன்றும். இது மனோ வியாதியா? சிலருக்கு தம்
தோற்றமானது, மற்றவர்களின் தோற்றத்துடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது வேறுபட்டால், ' நான் மற்றவர்
கள் போல் இல்லை, என்னிடம் இந்த குறையிருக்கிறது' என்ற உணர்வும், எதிர்மறையான எண்ணங்களுமே
அவரை தனிமைக்குள் தள்ளிவிடும். மற்றவர்களோடு இயல்பாக பழக விடாது.
இன்றைய
நாகரிக உலகத்தில், உலகம் ஒரு பெரிய கிராமமாக கருதப்படும் போதினிலும் தனிமை. பாரபட்சம்
இன்றி, அனைவரையும் கதிகலங்க வைக்கும் ஒரு உணர்வு. தனிமையிலிருந்து தங்களை தற்காத்து
கொள்ளவே உலக மக்கள் அனைவரும் சமூக வலைத்தளங்களை அதிகம் பயன்படுத்துவதாக பல ஆராய்ச்சிகள்
சொல்கின்றன. மக்கள் சில பத்து வருஷங்கள் முன்னர்
தொலைக்காட்சிகளுக்கு அதிக நேரம் செலவழித்தார்கள். "தனிமை நம்மை அரைப் பைத்தியமாக்குகிறது.
அதிலிருந்து தப்பிக்க சமூக வலைத்தளத்தில் இறங்குகிறாம்
.. .. அதுவோ நம்மை முழு பைத்தியமாக ஆக்கிவிடுகிறது.
Loneliness
is intrinsic to the human experience, whether we experience it in small doses
or regularly feel its soul-crushing weight. It could relate to our innate desire for love in its varying forms –
romantic, platonic, and familial. We wish to feel understood, appreciated and
supported in a world that, as individuals, we enter alone, often resorting to
cinema to witness characters experiencing similar emotions.
Think
back to when you last gave yourself some mental space. Perhaps you were
engaging in positive solitude, a phenomenon in which a person enjoys being by
themselves to recharge or be creative.
Spending time with yourself is
something we all do when we’re in the absence of other people. But that
lack of other people is only one element to well-spent time alone. The other
element is what you do with that time.
Solitude
is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects
can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term
solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without
disturbance. It may be desired for the sake of privacy. Undesirable long-term
solitude may stem from soured relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate
choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders such as
circadian rhythm sleep disorder, or circumstances of employment or situation. A
distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. Symptoms from complete isolation, called
sensory deprivation, may include anxiety, sensory illusions, or distortions of
time and perception.
Solitude
is not reliant on physical aloneness; reading a book on a busy train or a park
run with music both count as solitude. Each person may have their own way of
being in positive solitude: it’s a state of mind that doesn’t rely on physical
circumstances.
Taxi
Driver releaed in 1976 was a neo-noir psychological drama thriller
film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert
De Niro. Set in a decaying and morally bankrupt New York City following the
Vietnam War, the film follows Travis Bickle (De Niro), a veteran working as a
taxi driver, and his deteriorating mental state as he works nights in the city.
“Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars,
sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape,” says Travis Bickle, the
isolated protagonist of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. As a lonely war
veteran-turned-taxi-driver suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,
Travis drives the seedy streets of New York at night, feeling completely
separated from society. Bernard Herrmann’s evocatively moody score soundtracks
Travis’ loneliness, as Scorsese introduces us to a man with no close friends,
pining after a woman from afar, wholly detached from reality.
Be
surrounded by people with good ideas and positive thinking !!
முதுமை,
மனஅழுத்தம், நெருக்கமானவர்களின் பிரிவு என்று தனிமைக்கான காரணங்கள் நிறைய இருக்கலாம்.
ஆனால், தனிமையும் ஓர் உயிர்க்கொல்லிதான் !!
Do you read daily ? – Q might sound strange but has more than a tinge of
truth behind ! .. .. a couple of decades ago, for sure, we would read the Newspaper early in the morning. An year ago, in a meeting with the HM of a
renowned school in Triplicane, was aghast to hear that school children have
forgotten to read Text books coming back to school after Corona !!
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information
about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray
background. Miles away in UK – The
Morning Post was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772
to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph. The paper was founded by John Bell. According
to historian Robert Darnton, The Morning Post scandal sheet consisted of
paragraph-long news snippets, much of it false. Its original editor, the Reverend Sir Henry
Bate Dudley, earned himself nicknames such as "Reverend Bruiser" or
"The Fighting Parson", and was soon replaced by an even more
vitriolic editor, Reverend William Jackson, also known as "Dr.
Viper". You can draw comparisons locally !!!
To most South Indians, day starts early with a steaming hot
filter coffee and newspaper – Indian Express was there; the Mail; in recent times came Deccan
Chronicle, Times of India – but the one that appealed most was ‘The Hindu’ –
and as it became more and more anti-Hindu always ridiculing Hindutva and
culture, slowly even the die-hard chose to stay away.
In the arterial Mount Road, nearer The Hindu Office, opposite to the new
Govt. Multi-speciality hospital, adjacent to P.Orr & Sons, stands the
building where once another English evening newspaper, the first of its kind
from Madras was published. Old Timers would recall ‘The Mail, known as The
Madras Mail earlier’.
The Madras Mail was started by two journalists Charles Lawson and
Henry Cornish in Dec 1868. Lawson and Cornish had earlier served as editors in
The Madras Times before resigning from editorship. In 1921, the newspaper
was purchased by European businessman John Oakshott Robinson and later in
1945, by the Madras business tycoon – Sri Anantharamakrishnan of Simpsons
[Amalgamations Group].
The newspaper referred as ‘Mount Road Maha Vishnu’ was so authentic that
people used to say that even if an accident occurs in front of their office –
they would not post without verification.
In my younger days, I was so fascinated by the language and style – and
would always start the paper from the penultimate page, reading Sports (to us
Sports is always Cricket) – the Saturday Sports Special was much liked
page. On the day of Pongal Test against
visiting Clive Lloyd, the Hindu had a series pic of Madanlal bowling action,
the paper cutting of which was a prized possession of mine for decades.
Do you know – what is the second most consumed
drink across the globe surpassed only by water !! – another surprising fact is
all of them – Black, Green, Oolong, White and Pu'erh come from the same plant
called Camellia sinensis, a sub-tropical, evergreen plant native to Asia but is
now grown around the world.
Morning
as one gets up – it is usual to have a cup of hot drink ie., Coffee for most
South Indians – some have tea too !A
cup of piping hot water with a few tea leaves in it, some sugar and a few drops
of milk – doesn’t it sound refreshing like anything else in the world? And now
if you replace a cup of piping hot water with a cup of iced water and remove
milk (which makes the perfect recipe for iced tea), it sounds equally refreshing,
right?.. .. ..
do see this pipingly hot tea !! – an interesting process !! :https://youtu.be/C9pyRN_Y-hw
Tea
is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or
fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia. After plain water, tea is the most widely
consumed drink in the world. There are
many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and
astringent flavour, while others have
vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes.
Tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content. The term herbal tea refers to drinks not made
from Camellia sinensis. They are the infusions of fruit, leaves, or other plant
parts, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, and many other plant leaves,
flowers, roots and the like.
For
many of us, thequintessential office
tea round represented a social element in the workplace, boostingcamaraderie as well as healthy and wellbeing.
.. .. and when the whole Globe worked from home, away from their Office
premises, the meetings were conducted by Zoom type virtual meetings where people
logged in with cuppa in hand!
BBC strives to be at the heart of controversies and Great Britain
often is exposed for its wrongful deeds – and imagine what they would have done
when they controlled colonies, people, media and more. For sure, they were not the kind rulers, they
were portrayed to be in our school text books.Kenya's
parliament has ordered an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse on tea
plantations revealed in a BBC report. The BBC found more than 70 women had been
abused by their managers at plantations operated, for years, by two British
companies, Unilever and James Finlay.The
companies say they are shocked by the allegations. Four managers have been
suspended.
The
Fairtrade Foundation described the allegations as "appalling", and
said the investigation - by BBC Africa Eye and BBC Panaroma - were
"nothing less than a #MeToo moment for tea". Ms Kemei, who serves as
woman representative for a tea-growing area in Kericho county, said the report
highlighted the "entrenched" sexual harassment at "tea
multinationals operating in our country". MP Beatrice Elachi said it was
unfortunate that such incidents were still taking place. "Today is a very
difficult day for me as a woman, leader and citizen of Kenya. Today I've been
reminded that slavery still exists in this nation; I cannot explain how a man
has violated women in tea plantations for 30 years and nothing has been
done," she was quoted by local media as saying.
Deputy
Speaker Gladys Shollei ordered a committee of MPs to complete an investigation
into the allegations within two weeks. In the BBC investigation, one woman said
she had been infected with HIV by her supervisor, after being pressured into
having sex with him. Another woman said a divisional manager stopped her job
until she agreed to have sex with him. "It is just torture; he wants to
sleep with you, then you get a job," she said.
A BBC
undercover reporter, who posed as a jobseeker, was invited to a job interview
by a recruiter for James Finlay & Co. It turned out to be in a hotel room,
where she was pinned against a window and asked to undress by the recruiter,
who has worked on Finlay's plantations for more than 30 years, and had already
been flagged as a "predator" by a number of women who spoke to the
BBC. Unilever faced similar allegations more than 10 years ago and launched a
"zero tolerance" approach to sexual harassment as well as a reporting
system and other measures, but the BBC found evidence that allegations of
sexual harassment were not being acted on. The BBC's Tom Odula spoke to women
who worked on tea farms run by both companies. A number told him that because
work is so scarce, they are left with no choice but to give in to the sexual
demands of their bosses or face having no income.
In History
books, we read about – ‘Boston Sea Party’.It was an American political and
mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December
16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of
May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from
China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the
Townshend Acts. The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend
Act as a violation of their rights. Protesters, some disguised as Indigenous
Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.
The
demonstrators boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston
Harbor. The British government considered the protest an act of treason and
responded harshly. The episode escalated
into the American Revolution, becoming an iconic event of American history. The Tea Party was the culmination of a
resistance movement throughout British America against the Tea Act, a tax
passed by the British Parliament in 1773. The Boston Tea Party was a significant event
in the growth of the American Revolution. Parliament responded in 1774 with the
Intolerable Acts, or Coercive Acts, which, among other provisions, ended local
self-government in Massachusetts and closed Boston's commerce.
More than
the read above, the video is ofcourse is very interesting !
Indian
Railways is mammoth – millions use it daily.
The first train in India (commercial) ran in 1953 from Boribunder to
Thane and developed rapidly. When the
Nation attained Independence, Railways experienced a strange phenomenon.
Mandra-Bhaun line went to Pakistan. In
2009 there were reports that the 75-kilometre-long railway track starting from
Mandra and culminating at Bahun in Chakwal, laid during the British era was
ordered to be demolished. Dawn reported
that the locals of the area used this rail link till 1989 when a passenger
train used to shuttle from Chakwal to Rawalpindi in the morning and came back
in the evening. Two big systems, Bengal
Assam Railway and North Western Railway were no longer in India. Some 2955 route-km of NWR became the East
Punjab Railway in India, leaving 8070km in the then West Pakistan. Part of the
Jodhpur Railway also went to West Pakistan.
Imp Pre-script : even to those who have a frequent flyer
tag - flight experience is exhilarating,
especially as it leaves the ground, you are able to see vehicles, roads,
buildings and in a trice – they become too small and you are unable to identify
with the aircraft crusing at some thousands of miles above !!
People
like me clamour for a window seat to view these – and sometimes one has to
purchase a window seat ! - pay for everything !
One may be
quite comfortably seated and able to see a lot with naked eyes ! but capturing them on a camera is an herculean
task .. .. once you see the output, you might be ashamed to call yourself a
photographer !! ( at least that is what I have been experiencing !)
To a new
visitor what is Chennai metropolis – small congested roads, with vehicles of
all hues, traffic jams, angry impatient residents, hot weather ..
The attractions
could be : Temples like Sri Parthasarathi swami Temple, Mylai Kapaleeswarar
temple, Central Railway Station (renamed as Puratchi Thalaivar MG Ramachandran
Central); Rippon building, Chepauk stadium,
L&T stadium, Govt Hospital opp to Central, Fort St George, the long
Marina beach, Chennai port – its ships, the winding coovum river – add some
more that comes to mind !! – and imagine, how
would heart of Chennai look from above !!
Chennai Central
(now Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station) (station
code: MAS), is the main railway terminus, busiest railway station in South India and
one of the most important hubs in the country with the distinction of having
the longest name among all stations on the Indian Railways replacing
Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta in 2019, when it was renamed. It is connected to
Moore Market Complex railway station, Chennai Central metro station, Chennai
Park railway station, Park Town railway station and is 2 km from Chennai Egmore
railway station. This station connects to Northern India, including Kolkata,
Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as to Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam,
Hyderabad, Coimbatore and parts of Kerala.
The
century-old building of the railway station was
designed by architect George Harding. The station was renamed twice, from
Madras Central to Chennai Central in 1996, to reflect the name change of the
city of Madras to Chennai, and then in 2019 named after the popular Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MGR.
This picture
was taken by me recently on an air travel and to my happiness and pleasant
surprise, am able to see so many places, more particularly Central Railway
station.
Yesterday I posted the
flight of a beautiful chocolate coloured Pigeon – that was real – today it is a
painted one !!
Ever heard of Dança do
Pombo (The Pigeon's Dance) ??
Richarlison
de Andrade [ Richarlison] is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a
forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Brazil national team. Likely you have heard this song from
Annamalai, the Rajanikanth, Kushbu starrer
ஒரு பெண் புறா; கண்ணீரில் தள்ளாட
என் உள்ளம்
திண்டாட, என்ன வாழ்க்கையோ
I fell in love with
this coloured pigeon and its beautiful flight !!
Richarlison
does 'the pigeon dance' celebration after scoring important goals. The Brazilian international, who joined
Everton from Watford in the summer of 2018, has been known to do the 'Pombo
(pigeon) Dance' after scoring some of his goals for both club and country. The
celebration gained plenty of attention after Neymar joined in with the dance as
Richarlison scored on his senior Brazil debut against El Salvador in September,
causing some to mistakenly believe it was the Paris Saint-Germain star who was
its creator.
The
pigeon dance came from a group from Rio de Janeiro who had a song in around
2012. A trend was started when I did the dance at home. Everyone started
copying me – Richarlison was to say on that.
Whether
we watch FIFA or not, one can watch this Pigeon fluttering !
At lunch at Kotla,India struggling at 88/4;KL Rahul adds one more failure, 100th
Test man Pujara fails to open account and Shreyas Iyer fails !
There are times when some
are appreciated before they could perform anything – this happens more for
Mumbai players – from the mouths of Gavaskars & Manjrekars.
Yday after toss when teams
were scrolled, the commentator said : Australia playing 4 spinners and 1 fast
bowlers !! – that must be a feast for someone like Shreyas Iyer – not that he
does not play pacers well, but he feasts on spinners ! (and today!)
How fond are you
of sweets & chocolates ? (no foodie post though!) - It certainly is not
a cherished feeling, when not able to !
or specifically prevented from eating them ~ one feels the whole World is merrily
eating; there are eateries everywhere around .. .. but, but, one could
not eat – because of health conditions – restricted intake, and total
abstinence of sweets .. .. most weak-hearted would succumb easily and would
steal some sweets and eat them clandestinely ! – that feeling ! .. .. even for
those who were not very fond of sweets in their childhood and for some good
branded chocolates were simply not within reach !
I like Pigeons too and
have been feeding birds for a couple of years now. One should not feed pigeons chocolate as it is
toxic to them and can kill them in extreme circumstances. Pigeons will happily
eat chocolate if they are given the opportunity as it is sweet, chewy and very
tasty however it is not worth the risk.
Parrots are green ! –
Pigeons are generally grey, rarely white !
- variable in color, but most pigeons are bluish gray with two black bands on the
wing and a black tip to the tail. Most birds have iridescent throat feathers.
Wing patterns may include two bars, dark spots, or can be plain.
அன்பே சங்கீதா
(Anbe Sangeetha) 1979 ஆம் ஆண்டு வெளிவந்த தமிழ்த் திரைப்படம். காரைக்குடி நாராயணன்
இயக்கத்தில் வெளிவந்த இத்திரைப்படத்தில் ஜெய்கணேஷ், சுமித்ரா மற்றும் பலரும் நடித்தனர்.
இளையராஜா இசை - பாடல்களை வாலி இயற்றி இருந்தார். அப்படத்தில் ஒரு சிறப்பான பாடல் : -
சின்ன புறா ஒன்று எண்ணக் கனாவினில்
வண்ணம் கெடாமல் வாழ்கின்றது..
நூறாண்டுகள் நீ வாழ்கவே.. நூறாண்டுகள் நீ வாழ்கவே...'
The domestic pigeon
(Columba livia domestica or Columba livia forma domestica) is a pigeon
subspecies that was derived from the rock dove (also called the rock pigeon).
The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Pigeons have made contributions of
considerable importance to humanity, especially in times of war. In war the
homing ability of pigeons has been put to use by making them messengers. However, city pigeons today are seen as pests,
mainly due to their droppings.
Among the many
pigeons that come to my terrace was this shy choco-pigeon – first few days, it sat some
distance away, carefully watching, perhaps after getting a feeling that the
place and person are safe – it has started coming down and eat the grains of wheat
and rice !
Miles away
in USA, an artificially pink pigeon,
nicknamed Flamingo, was in news – it was thought to be a victim of a gender reveal
stunt gone wrong. The New York City Police Department’s animal cruelty unit has
opened an inquiry.
A domestic
pigeon that was dyed pink and then released into the wild died this week,
possibly from inhaling toxins from the dye, a New York City wildlife rescue
service said. The king pigeon, nicknamed
Flamingo, was found last week at Madison Square Park and turned over to the
Wild Bird Fund. In a tweet Tuesday, the center announced that Flamingo had
died. The center said it believes hair
dye was most likely used to change the pigeon's color. Workers tried several
methods to remove the dye but none worked. The bird was malnourished when it
was found at the park. It appeared to be a fledgling and "had no survival
skills."
"Even
without the added complication of the toxic dye, he would not have survived in
a city park as a white, helpless bird," the center said in its tweet,
warning that releasing domestic birds is dangerous. Domestic birds released to
the wild will die of starvation or predation, according to the Wild Bird Fund. "'Dove
releases' sound romantic, but take away the decorations and Instagram photos,
and they are the equivalent of dumping your helpless pets on the side of the
road. This is no way to celebrate anything," the center said. "Rest
in peace, sweet bird." It's not clear why the bird
was dyed or who is responsible for doing it.
A diabetic eating
chocolate may raise eyebrows amongst some people but within reason, chocolate
needn’t be completely cut out of his
diet, some studies say. In most
cases, chocolate will cause blood sugar levels to rise and in light of this
it’s best to limit chocolate consumption to small amounts, if one could not
abstain eating when blood sugars are already higher than the recommended blood
glucose levels.
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