TONGUE

This article on "Tongue" is inspired by a speech, which I heard recently, made by a politician.  Tongue is a very important part of our body.  It helps us in several ways.  We are all fond of eating and the taste of the food is extremely important for us.  Tongue helps us to know the taste of what we eat or drink.  We are able to talk because of our Tongue, whether it is nice words spoken to the near & dear or harsh words spoken to others.  Whenever we want to sing we are able to do it with the help of this amazing part of our body.  Tongue helps us to move the food around in the mouth and helps us in the process of chewing the food properly by pushing the food towards the teeth.

The Tongue is existing in a very intricate location fully surrounded by 32 sharp teeth.  Whenever we accidentally bite our tongue it is so painful and unbearable.  The Tongue has to be extremely careful and cautious throughout its life not get bitten or torn to pieces by those 32 sharp teeth which are surrounding it all the time.  It should continue to perform its duties without gettting hurt in any way though the dangers are perilously close to it all the time.

Survival under toughest conditions and adversities is what all of us have to learn and there cannot be a better example than Tongue to learn this.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
30th April 2012

TAP AWAY THE TRAUMA

Thought Field Therapy is a powerful tool.  You tap various parts of your body while concentrating on the event that is troubling you, you eliminate the effect of those memories.  The practice was created more than 40 years ago by psychology professor Dr.Roger Callahan.  He used tapping to treat everything from needle phobias to grief and anxiety.  He discovered he could collapse negative emotions by tapping his patient's meridian points.  Tapping has no side effects.  It not about eradicating the memories, it's about eradicating the effect of those memories.

Access the thought you want to eliminate.  Make a picture in your mind of the event or what you fear might happen.  Remember any sounds connected with it.  Or focus on the feeling you get in your body when you think about the problem.  You must hold this thought the whoe time you tap.  If you have a dog phobia and are thinking about what you are cooking for dinner, you wont eliminate the anxiety.  Assess the level of emotion before and after the treatment to gauge your progress.  Use a scale from one to ten - with ten being the strongest.

Holding the thought, tap the following points with your first two fingers for eight to ten seconds (it's fine if you tap for too long):
(1) Side of the hand (2) Under the nose (3) eyebrow (4) under eye (5) under arm (6) collarbone

Tap the gamut spot - between the small knuckle and the ring finger knuckle on the back of your hand continually and do a slow blink.  Keeping your head still, look down to the right and then to the left, then make a circle with the eyes.  Then circle the eyes the other way around.  Now hum a few notes out loud.  This isoloates the right, visual, side of the brain.  Count out loud to five.  Hum again.  Repeat all the tapping points above.  Using the scale one to ten, assess your emotion.  It will probably have gone down.  If so repeat the process.  If you find the thought or emotion has changed, hold the new thought.

Based on the TFT, Gary Craig developed the EFT in the mid nineties.  EFT is Emotional Freedom Techniques.I recently saw a nice video on EFT Tap Away overwhelm and stress.   It was very simple and very nice.  Watch it!




If you want to know more about the TFT and EFT you can read the detailed comparison written by Peter Graham:

http://www.integrative-clearing.com.au/eft/eft_and_tft.html

Whether we use TFT or EFT there is a technique to tap away the trauma as we get really troubled by the stress and problems in life.  Tapping is at our fingertips and we can do it whenever we want to get relieved of stress and problems.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
25th April 2012

KADRI GOPALNATH CONCERT IN DUBAI

Padmashree Kadri Gopalnath performed in Dubai on Saturday, 21st April 2012.  He was accompanied by highly experienced senior musicians on Violin, Mrudangam, Gatam, Kanjira and Tabla.  The Saxaphone Concert accompanied by the other instruments was a real treat for 3 hours.

The concert was held in the Auditorium of the Indian High Commission in Dubai and I was really very fortunate to have been there for the three hours non-stop musical treat by this great musician.  Saxaphone is considered to be a very tough instrument and requires a lot of breath control.  To play carnatic music on the Saxaphone must be really very difficult.  Padmashree Kadri Gopalnath plays with ease and it is very difficult to see when he is taking breath.  It is truly a blissful treat to listen to this legend.

He started with "Vathapi Ganapathim" and immediately after that he enthralled the audience with "Endaro Mahanubava". He went on to play some excellent songs and one of the Rasikaas has nicely captured "Enna thavam" on video and posted in Youtube.



One of the Rasikas has nicely captured on video the famous "Krishna Nee begane baro" rendered by the Maestro Kadri Gopalnath:



It was a wholesome treat as the other instrumentalists on Violin, Mrudangam, Gatam, Kanjira and Tabla played very well and ably supported Kadri Gopalnath.  As a group they did a fantastic job and the auditorium filled with audience did not move even an inch from their seats for the entire duration of three hours.  I could not believe that the concert was for three hours as the time just flew past quickly.   

I enjoyed attending some concerts in Chennai last December during Music Festival and I am longing to go back to Chennai this December again.  In the meanwhile this concert right near my house here in Dubai came as a surprise treat.

The Concert was very well organised by the Indian Fine Arts Dubai in association with the Indian Community Welfare Committee with the sponsorship of Kanoo Group.  I congratulate the organisers and thank them profusely for arranging this wonderful concert in Dubai.  Please do several more such programmes in the future.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
22nd April 2012 

RUSSIA'S YOUNGEST INVENTOR

A 10 year old Moscow girl has become Russia's youngest inventor after she patented her own print making method.  Anastasia Rodimina is the youngest Russian Inventor now.  She patented her own method of mono-typing - a print making technique when a smooth surface is covered by paint and a piece of paper then pressed to it to make a single print.  She has named it "energoinformation monotyping".  Under this method a mono-type is covered by a paper application and put in direct sunlight to let the unprotected ink fade.

Anastasia Rodimina made the invention accidentally when she forgot one of her monotypes, partially covered by a piece of paper, on a windowsill.  She eventually discovered that though ink on most of the picture had faded, colours remained unaffected under the piece of paper, creating a unique pattern.  The neurology hospital has expressed interest in the invention, which it plans to use as a part of art therapy.  An advertising Agency has also shown interest in Rodimina's monotyping technology.

Rodimina is now planning to use her invention to create a game which will help children to develop their imagination.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E
21st April 2012

TOWN SOLD FOR USD900,000

Buford is the smallest town in the United States of America. It is in Wyoming State which is the least populous 2nd least densely populated state in USA.

Buford town is at an elevation of 8000 feet above Sea Level and its population is One. Yes this town is occupied by a single person who has recently sold the town for USD 900,000. The owner of the town for the last 20 years, Don Sammons, has sold the town in an auction to a business man from Vietnam.

The new owner of Buford town will get a Petrol Station and convenience store, a school-house built in 1905, a cabin, a garage, four hectares of land and a three bedroom home at an altitude of 2,400 metres overlooking the busy Interstate 80 (the main cross country route between New York and San Francisco). It also has a unique zip code.



The auction on 5th April 2012 attracted world wide attention with people coming from all over the world including online bidders from 46 countries. The auction was also covered by CNN and other TV Channels. The auction started at USD 100,000 and 11 minutes later got concluded at USD 900,000 which was the highest and successful bid. The successful bidder: Pham Dinh Nguyen, a businessman who runs a trade and distribution company in southern Ho Chi Minh City, had flown to this country for the first time just to bid on Buford, and had kept going until he snagged the prize. "To be honest, I do not have a specific plan for the town," he told a state-controlled media outlet in Vietnam. "But I think we Vietnamese should not feel inferior. Nothing is impossible!".

I wonder how a single person can live in a town all by himself. Don has lived for 20 years and now it is the turn of Pham Dinh Nguyen.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
19th April 2012

DON'T

Don't is a word that is very frequently used by us in our daily life. We use this word to caution the other person on what we do not want. But the reality is we end up getting what we do not want. Why does this happen to us every time in life. The human brain cannot process the word "Don't". If I say "Don't think of a white elephant". You will immediately think of a White Elephant. When we tell our child "Don't run" the child will immediately start running.

I used to say that "I don't want to live in an apartment" and I have lived in an apartment for over 20 years. This is called "Law of Attraction". The more we think about something the more chances of it coming true. It is then better to think of positive actions and positive results rather than think of negative actions and negative results.

Instead of using the word "Don't" which anyway the human brain does not process, it would be better to use positive phrases in what we speak. It is very easily said but to practice this consciously it would take a lot of effort and focus. Instead of telling the child "Don't Run" we can tell the child "I want you to stay with me and hold my hands while we are walking".

Positive thinking and positive actions will lead to positive energy. Positive Energy within and around us will bring overall prosperity, peace and happiness.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
18th April 2012

TP's KITCHEN - PAVAKKAI PITLAI

Pavakkai (bittergourd) is a vegetable which I hated the most during my young days. For the first 20 years of my existence in this world I completely avoided this vegetable. I developed a taste for it after I grew up and now I love this vegetable. It is one of my favourite vegetables. It has become a regular feature in my kitchen now, so much that I cook bittergourd once atleast every week.

I make both Pavakkai Pitlai as well as Pavakkai fry. I want to share the recipe of Pavakkai Pitlai in this blog.

Cut the Pavakkai (bittergourd) into small pieces as shown in the picture above. While cutting the vegetable you have to carefully remove the seeds and the white matter around the seeds - scrap it off nicely with a small spoon.

Take tamarind - the size of two lemons - and put the tamarind in hot water and leave it soaking for atleast 10 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and use half measure of the tamarind water for boiling the bittergourd. Keep the other half measure of tamarind water aside as we need it later for making the pitlai. Boil the half measure of tamarind water with Paavakkai (bittergourd). Before boiling the tamarind water and vegetable, add little bit of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Allow it to boil well and then drain the water and keep the vegetable aside.

Take equal measure of Thoor Dhal (thuvaram paruppu) and Channa Dhal (kadala paruppu) - preferably two handful measures and boil it well. I normally add double the measure of water and keep it along with rice in the cooker. Rice and the dhal will get ready in about 10 minutes.

Pour two table spoons of oil (I use Corn Oil or Olive Oil) in fry pan and allow it to boil. Add two teaspoon measure of Urudh Dhal (muzhu ulutham paruppu), one teaspoon measure of Channa Dhal (Kadala paruppu), two teaspoon measure of Dhaniya, 5 red chillies and fry it well. Once this is fried well put the same into the mixie and add two handful measures of grated coconut and grind it well with little water. Add two teaspoons of salt. Your masala for the Pavakkai Pitlai is ready.

Take the tamarind water and boil it well for 5 minutes. Add the Masala which is mixed and kept ready in the mixie. Allow it to boil well for about 5 minutes and then add the boiled vegetable. Once it boils well now add the Dhal (thoor dhal plus channa dhal). You can add the dhal as it is along with the water it contains and there is no need to mash the dhal. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes.

Pour little oild in fry pan and put mustard seeds, jeera and asafoetida (LG perungayam powder) and once the mustard seeds start jumping around switch off the gas. Add this thadka on top of the Pavakkai Pitlai.

Pavakkai Pitlai is now ready and can be stored in the fridge comfortably for 2 - 3 days. You can have it with plain rice; as side dish for rasam rice; as side dish for Dosa, Chapathi, Paratha & Parotta. I tried Pavakkai Pitlai as side dish with Adai yesterday night and it was very tasty and very satisfying.

Pavakkai (bittergourd) is very good for health as it has lot of medicinal values and properties.

Enjoy!.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
17th April 2012