In the news today

Karnataka Kabadi

There is so much to write about what is going on in Karnataka but due to a personal reason I am keeping quiet. The circus, however, goes on.

Cricket: ‘Colonel’ takes on the ‘army’?

‘Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar, Chairman of the BCCI selection committee has defied the Board’s ban on the selectors writing columns. He has also reportedly protested against the guidelines issued by the Board to the selectors and is trying to gather support for his stand from the other selectors.

In a way, this is understandable. The directive from the BCCI also proscribes the selectors talking to the media, traveling abroad to watch matches, appearing as experts on TV and spending time with the players in the dressing room. Which selector would like such restrictions?

A report by Sunit Kaul and Shamik Chakrabarty in tday’s Deccan Chronicle quotes a selector saying, “It is the prerogative of the BCCI to issue guidelines. But we are opposed to the manner in which things have been done.” Like the dumping of Rahul Dravid from the ODI team?

Inconvenient Judiciary

‘People’s Democracies’ do not need the kind of judiciary that the ordinary democracies like India have. It is an inconvenience and stand in the way of peace and progress because the judges do not understand the needs of the poor and the downtrodden. This is the gist of what the leaders of the Communist Marxist Party (CPM) in West Bengal and Kerala are saying.

Yesterday the Kerala High Court made scathing comments against the Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan. The background is a case relating to the import of palm oil which could adversely affect the prospects of the coconut farmers. What drew the ire of the High court was the Chief Minister’s public statement against the judge hearing the case. This could lead to contempt of court charge.

But who cares? In the great march towards the worker’s (meaning organized labor) paradise, these are minor irritants. And, for company the CPM has Gen. Musharraf who declared emergency to save Pakistan from the judges.

Nandigram in Parliament

The BJP had a point when it raised the shameful Nandigram issue in the Parliament. But the party overlooked one small matter. When there was a move to discuss the Gujarat riots in the House, it had vehemently argued that law and order was a State subject.

The Congress kept quite about Nandigram in Parliament. Well, 123 Agreement is still alive, so don’t rub the Left. The silence of the lambs!

Ends.

Also see:

Cricket: Rahul Dravid’s ‘colonel’ bogey

123 Nuclear Agreement – should the PM resign?

Kerala: Of monkeys and nuts

Contempt of Court - express your views

Waste disposal

This list of guidelines for three-way source segregation of waste was circulated by our residents’ association. I am posting it here because it could be useful to others as well.

Green Bin (Degradable)

• fruit and vegetable peelings
• spoiled/leftover food (strain liquid before disposal)
• eggs and nuts shells
• dried flowers and in-house plants
• house cleaning dust, hair
• tea bags and coffee filters
• meat, bones, fish, and fish parts
• coconut husk and shells
• tissue paper used in kitchen

Blue Bin (Recyclable)

• plastic wraps, chocolate wraps, plastic bags
• disposable food containers, aluminum foils
• artificial flowers/plants, leather, textiles
• cardboard cartons, packaging materials, PET bottles
• electronic gadgets, cables, wires, spare parts
• cigarette butts, tobacco, corks
• ear cleaners, cotton balls, make-up removal pads
• scraps of paper, wax paper
• wood, plastic brooms, mops
• rubber materials, tubes, brushes
• balloons, rubber gloves, shoes
• dishwashing pads, clothes
• newspaper, magazines, books

Red Bin (Non-degradable/ Hazardous)

• soiled and infected cotton, dressings
• drips, injection syringes and needles
• razors, blades, nails, screws
• diapers, sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms
• glass items, broken glass, tube lights, bulbs, batteries
• dental floss, baby wipes, tissue paper
• Aerosol cans, paint tins, glue
• Pesticides, chemicals
• Medicines, cosmetics
• Hair dyes.

Please note that I am only passing on what I consider to be useful information without taking any responsibility for the suggestions it contains.

Ends.

Also see:

Quick ways to make a difference

Blogday thoughts

Yesterday was Founding Day for Parayil A. Tharakan Blog. It was on November 17, 2006 that I registered the blog and made an initial entry. Active blogging was to start only in January this year. Later I added the prefix, Song of the waves to the title.

The inspiration for my entry into the blogosphere was my good friend from Bangalore college days, Jacob Matthan (Sushil). He now lives in Finland and successfully handles about half a dozen blogs, the flagship being Jacob's Blog. I don’t know how he manages to do that. One of the mistakes I made was to start three more blogs - Articles By Abraham Tharakan, EARTH SAVE – Abraham Tharakan's Blog, and Short Stories By Abraham Tharakan - only to find that I could not do full justice to each.

Even after a few months into the venture I knew nothing about blogging. Then I happened to contact Nancy Gandhi for permission to use, for my post Armenian Catholicos in India., a photograph by her. I was so impressed by Nancy’s blog, under the fire star, that I asked her for some advice. Though we have never met, she was kind enough to give me valuable tips by email. Subsequently, it was because of a subtle hint by her that I made the change in the title. (See Change in blog name - 'Song of the waves...') Thank you Nancy.

If the saying that a good picture is equal to a thousand words is true, the credit for 75% of the content in my blog should go to my son-in-law, KO Isaac (See picture on the left.). Most of the photos I have posted were taken by him. He is the Chairman & Managing Director of the fast developing Chennai based ABL Biotechnologies Ltd., and President of Madras Photographic Society. He has created a large number of excellent photos. One of them, a picture of his wife (my daughter Rosemary), is given below:

I thank the readers of my blog; their visits to the site have given me great encouragement. Acknowledgement is also due to my family, and siblings, particularly Mathew and Hormis, for all their support.

A reader, Ronni Bennetty, said in a comment on my post Senior Citizens, blogging is a passport to good health: “Real friendships form among bloggers, as strong over time as in-person friendships. And with blogging, one's new friends might be anywhere in the world.” I have found this to be true, much to my happiness.

The Search Engines too have been kind to me except when I consciously try to create Search Engine Optimized (SEO) posts.

In conclusion, I am quite satisfied with what I have achieved during the first year of blogging. This is said with the full realization that I am still a beginner and have much more to learn.

I hope that more people would take up blogging. It is so rewarding in many ways.

Ends.

Health, Gardening: Periwinkle, a wonder plant

Most of you would have seen the flowers shown on the left. It is periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus/ Vinca rosea), which belongs to the myrtle family. In Hindi the plant is called sadabahar, meaning ‘always in bloom’. The periwinkle flowers come in different colors. The plants grow wild in tropical areas. Now they are cultivated commercially because of their medicinal properties.

Interestingly, during the Middle Ages periwinkle was an essential ingredient in many magic potions. It was believed to have the power to dispel evil spirits. Consequently, the periwinkle plant with purple flowers was called by Europeans ‘sorcerer’s violet!

The pharmaceutical industry started discovering the value of periwinkle for treating several ailments only from the 1950s though it had been used in folk medicine in several countries for centuries. The reported medicinal qualities of periwinkle run into a long list. Here are some of them:

chemotherapy treatments for leukemia and Hodgkin's disease, managing blood pressure, diabetes, wasp stings, excessive bleeding, depression of central nervous system, circulatory disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, cold, cough, lung congestion and inflammation and sore throat, eye irritation and infections, digestive problems, muscle pain, wasp stings, eczema, and as tranquilizer and astringent. A warning: do not try any self medication with periwinkle.

Periwinkle is a good, easy to manage garden plant as well. It can be germinated from seeds, or cuttings can be planted. Sunlight or partial shade is required for proper growth. From our experience at Olavipe, the best planting distance is about two feet. It is drought resistant. The plant can grow up to three feet in height. Proper mixing of different colors, or clusters of single color, can have a stunning effect. Here are some photos of periwinkle from Olavipe :

Photos by me. Click on them for enlarged view.

Ends.

Also see:
Ixora coccinea (Rubiaceae) - flowers that gods and men love

Emu farming in India

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is here. Not the wine, but the real thing, the birds. It is the national bird of Australia. (Kookaburra is the National Bird of New South Wales.) Emu, a flightless bird, is also the largest bird in Australia and the second largest in the world after its distant cousin, the ostrich. It can reach up to 6 ft (2m) in height and 66-100 pounds (30-45 kilograms) in weight.

The United States, China and Peru established emu farms sometime back but India started only in 1998. To day emu farms can be found in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Recently, Kerala too has got into the act. In May this year my brother Jacob at Olavipe bought three pairs each of emu chicks and fairly grown up ones, twelve altogether, on a trial basis. Photo of a little one which KO Isaac took at that time is given on the left. The chicks have grown pretty well. Pictures that I took last month are shown below:

Emus may look a bit shaggy but are really cute. And very active. They seem to play to the gallery. Whenever someone goes near the pen, the birds run around, do a bit of dance, and then come and stand near the visitor as if to ask ‘how do you like it?’ There was worry as to how they would withstand the monsoon at Olavipe, which was particularly heavy this year, but the birds came through well.

These birds can adapt to different climatic conditions, from low temperatures to hot locations and can thrive on even lands that are not suited for cultivation. Emu farming is not labor intensive and is compatible with other livestock rearing. The birds are also said to be highly disease resistant. Being heavy eaters, emus consume a lot of plants, and insects like crickets, caterpillars and grasshoppers. The food is supplemented with grain. The life span of the birds is 10-20 years.

Emus are grown commercially mainly for meat, which is low fat and low cholesterol. Almost 95 % of the birds are used for different products. Even the egg shells from which carvings and jewelry are made. And the eggs are beautiful, dark green and about the size of 15 chicken eggs. See the photo by my nephew Antony (PJA Tharakan) reproduced here:

For information on emu farming, you can contact:

Central Poultry Development Organisation

Government of India

Ministry Of Agriculture, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying

Aarey Milk Colony, Mumbai - 400 065

Telefax : 91-22-26858515 Telephone:91-22-26858572.
E-Mail : cpbfmum@vsnl.net

Click on photos for enlarged view.

Ends.

Also see:

Medicinal Plants: Noni (Morinda citrifolia) planting for profit?

Un-ploughed lies my land

Photos: Deepam (Light)

Traditional lamp at the heritage home of Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans at Olavipe

Click on photos for enlarged view.
Copyright: TP, KO Isaac.
Also see:

Niraparayum Nilavilakkum

OLAVIPE: Heritage Home of Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans.

Divine Strokes

What amazes me about the art of Lakshmi Krishnamurthy (Lakki) is her versatility, the range not only in subjects, but also in technique, medium and style. The array includes Lepakshi, illustrated manuscript, miniatures, glass painting, Tanjore, Mysore, Bengal, murals (both fresco and tempera), Warli, Pata Chitra, and Pithora.

The creations of this Chennai based artist conform to the traditional iconographic codes with their mythological and historic implications. At the same time, she introduces new expressions and interpretations with great finesse. She uses natural colors from rocks, earth and vegetable sources, and brushes from kora grass to squirrel hair. She learned the skills of making brushes and gold and natural colors from the legendary master, Sri Deoki Nandan Sharma.

Lakshmi Krishnamurthy’s training in art started with a course at the College of Fine Arts at the Kalashektra, Chennai. She was fortunate to work under Sri Sreenivasalu in the restoration of old Tanjore paintings during her student days. Even today she finds the time to do restoration work. That is a great service because, without such dedicated effort, many of the beautiful old paintings would be lost.

After Kalashektra, it was a sojourn to Kerala to study the Cochin Murals, ad then to Rajasthan, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, for Jaipur frescoes and temperas. Her unabated yearning for knowledge continues. In that sense she is still a student. She is also a research scholar, a guru who teaches art to many talented disciples, a visiting professor at Kalashektra, an expert in restoration of paintings, and a very good artist. Perhaps the best of her is yet to come.

Lakshmi Krishnamurthy has conducted several workshops and seminars. She has been associated with some major art related projects. She has held a number of exhibitions of her paintings in India and abroad.

Some of her paintings are reproduced below with her permission.

'The God of Love' (Glass)

'Intelligence' (watercolor on silk) 'Abundance' (oil on silk)

'Cognizance' (Tanjore)

'Vakrathunta' (glass)

'Aditya Hridayam' (Tanjore, glass, sheet metal embossing)

'The Kandamdana Parvatham' (Tanjore narrative)

'Tranquil' (Tempera)

Click on the images for enlarged view.

All the paintings are works of Lakshmi Krishnamurthy. Copyright reserved.

Ends.

Also see:

Raja Ravi Varma: A movie on the Royal Painter