Add Petai to our Daily Diet

Now that I get the solution for my puzzled question on why villagers in Malaysia likes to eat Petai fruit raw when it is not even eaten by cow or goat in our village. Here you is your chance to know the medicinal benefit of petai.

ADVICE FROM A UKM MEDICAL DOCTOR on PETAI

Little did you know …… after reading THIS, you’ll NEVER look at petai in the same way again!Petai contains three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose. Combined with fibre, petai gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two servings of petai provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder petai is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way petai can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating petai. This is because petai contains tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS(premenstrual syndrome): Forget the pills - eat petai! The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, petai can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the petai industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power : 200 students at a Twickenham (Middle) school [di mana kan tu?] were helped through their exams this year by eating petai at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fibre, including petai in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a petai milkshake, sweetened with honey. The petai calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Petai has a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating petai for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness:Snacking on petai between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of the petai skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Petai is high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight:

Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: Petai is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control:Many other cultures see petai as a “cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Holland, for example, pregnant women eat petai [banarkah nie? Ada org putih pandai makan patai kan?] to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) : Petai can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking: Petai can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium petai snack.

Strokes: According to research in “The New England Journal of Medicine, “eating petai as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%”.

Warts:

Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of petai and place it on the wart. Carefully hold the petai in place with a plaster or surgical tape!


So, as you can see, petai really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, “A Petai a day keeps the doctor away”.

A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure

This was the question asked to Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam:

India Knowledge@Wharton: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

Potato Facts

How I came about writing facts about Potato? This was very famous for cooking in France during my stay over there. It was also used as fashion accessory, which I noticed in one of the painting in the Château de Versailles. Potatoes available there were much fresh and so clean with no sand on it. I can hear somebody saying OK, Stop It. So, Let us head straight to the facts now.

• This nutritious, tasty tuber - now eaten all over the world and the main ingredient in over 406,000 recipes on the Internet - was first cultivated in the South American Andes mountains over 4,000 years ago.


• The potato consists of about 80percent water and 20percent starch.


• One medium-size potato (about 150g) contains 100 calories if you boil it or bake it without fat.


• Website www.thehotpotato.com lists these nutrients in a medium-size potato: 3g protein; 0g fat; 22g carbohydrates.


• Apart from being fat and cholesterol-free, the potato is also high in vitamin C, potassium and a good source of vitamin B6 and dietary fibre.


• The sweet potato belongs in the same family as morning glories while the white potato belongs to the same group as tomatoes, tobacco, chilli pepper, eggplant and the petunia.


• Despite the popular notion, the majority of nutrients are not found in the skin, but in the potato itself. Nonetheless, leaving the skin on the potatoes retains all the nutrients and the fibre in the skin. It also makes potatoes easier to prepare.


• This is the United Nations' International Year Of The Potato which will focus on the importance of the potato in providing food security and alleviating poverty.


• The potato as a fashion accessory? Don't laugh. France's Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette , liked to wear potato blossoms. He in his buttonhole, she in her hair.

Cherish Our Parents

This was narrated by an IAF pilot to IIT students during a Seminar on Human Relations:

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father, his maiden flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.

The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for a window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him. When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life.

As a child, how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket bats, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us?

Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young. It is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments.

Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same attention and same care needs to be given to our parents and elders.

Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes. Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.

We shall now decide (if you haven't really done this before) how we will be taking care of our Parents.

THEY BROUGHT US INTO THIS WORLD, GAVE US ALL THEY HAD AND MADE US WHAT WE ARE. THEY ARE PRECIOUS

The Making of Tower Eiffel

This is a must and obvious place to visit in Paris. When you are standing right below the Tower and look up to the height of the tower, Oh Man... Just can't imagine the feel you get. If you go up to the top you can get the view of the big city. This is how the world (wonder) famous Eiffel Tower was constructed.

Dropped your Mobile Phone in Water?

I have put my Nokia phone inside washing machine and got washed along with cloths few years back. I ran to Nokia Service Centre, they told me that any contact with liquid doesn’t come under warranty and we cannot recover the life of your phone even we after tried in our service lab, so they gave it back.

I didn't really get to know about much technique on drying it out to make it work. A week later my friend mailed me saying similar incident happened with his O2 Phone and he managed to recover it by completely disassembling it and drying it out with Hair Dryer. He was lucky until today he has no problem. I tried but it didn’t work may be mine was dead long time back and cannot be revived.

The real technique involves with drying your wet phone and removing all the moisture quickly with right amount of heating. Remember after all the phone internal main board is made up of using IC Chips and other semiconductors devices like transistor and resisters, hence they are all sensitive to too much of heat. If you have studied Electronics subjects you will know this for sure.

Today I just received an email saying a bowl of rice also can do this job and I did a quick search to see if this is for real or hoax and seems like it was discussed in Yahoo Answers and one guy mentioned about the same few months back. Somebody Else also posted an extensive article on this topic of how to save a wet mobile phone and it seems it did solve the problem. The Conetent of the mail I received is available here.

With all this I am sure if your iPod or phone happens to accidentally goes under I am sure you have the solution handy now.

Bread Pitt

We have a bakery shop named this at Maxwell Food Centre? It will not be a surprise if someone set up another bakery and name it Angelina Loti :)

TN State Board E-Books

This is a good piece of work by TN Government Either this is going to benefit you or your friends or your neighbours or your colleagues, whose children are studying in the State boards. Now the TN State board books are online in PDF and downloadable for all standards of schools that is from Std 1 to Std 12 and All subjects. It is available at Text Books Online

If you think this news will benefit your friends or your neighbours or your colleagues, please feel free to forward this.

With this do you feel education society is moving bit hi-tech? Share your views

Rama Navami

Sri Ramavathar is one of the greatest Avathaar (incarnation) taken by Sriman Narayanan. This Rama Avathaar explains lots and lots of guidelines that need to be followed by each and every person in this world. During this Avathaar, Sriman Narayanan incarnates as the son for great king, Dasarathan. But in spite of being born to a great king, throughout this Avathaar, he led his life as an ordinary person. And, during this Avathaar, irrespective of the caste/creed, he helped all the persons who seeked his help and extended his divine hands to all of his devotees.

Navami and Sri Rama:
Generally, we will not perform (or) start any new issues (or) work during Ashtami (the day Sri Krishnar is born) nor in Navami. And during this Navami thithi only, Sri Rama was born.

There is a small and beautiful story behind this. Each and every thithi has karthaas (Head or Chief). Once, these two thithis - Ashtami and Navami went towards Thriuppaarkadal and questioned that these two thithis are not being accepted by any of the person in the Bhoolokam and thinks that these two were not used for any of the new business not new things being started during these days. But, on hearing this, Sriman Narayanan answered them that to explain the greatness of these thithis, he will be born in the earth, during these thithis. And as a result of this only, Sri Rama was born in Navami and Sri Krishna in Ashtami and the entire world is celebrating these two days as a great festival.

இனிய சர்வதாரி தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

உங்களுக்கும் உங்கள் குடும்பத்தினருக்கும்
எனது உளமார்ந்த இனிய
சர்வதாரி தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு
நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

எவ்வாறு தமிழ் புத்தாண்டை எனது சிறு வயதில் கொண்டாடினேன் என இங்கே படித்தறியவும்.

Quotes from Legends

If you start judging people,
you will be having no time to love them - Mother Teresa

If you win you need not explain But if you lose
you should not be there to explain - Adolf Hitler

Dont compare yourself with anyone in this world
If you do so, you are insulting yourself - Alan Strike

Believing everybody is dangerous
Believing nobody is very dangerous - Abraham Lincoln

If you need any changes from others,
You first show it in yours - Mahatma Gandhi

Success is the sum of small efforts,
repeated day in and day out - Robert Collier

To climb steep hills requires
A slow pace at first - Shakespeare

Do not worry about your problems with mathematics,
I assure you mine are far greater - Albert Einstein

It is common sense to take a method and try it.
If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.
But above all, try something - Franklin D. Roosevelt

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty
- Sir Winston Churchill

Snow Facts

Since I have enjoyed too much of Snow quite recently here I thought I will find more facts about it and share it with you all here. Before we get to know the facts here is just a brief intro on how the snow is formed and how it comes down to ground as snow flake in the form of snow fall.

Water inside clouds gets frozen and it turns into ice crystals. They are formed around tiny bits of dirt that have been carried up into the atmosphere by the wind. Finally these Ice crystals join together creating snow flakes. Once the flakes are heavy enough they fall to the ground as snow. Each snow flake is made up of from 2 to about 200 separate crystals. In addition to a normal snow fall, snow can drift to the ground lightly as flurries, fall heavily as a snowstorm, or pile up quickly by being blown by strong winds in a blizzard. Ok, now you can proceed to read more on the snow facts.

• Snow continues to challenge weather experts across the country. It is still very difficult to predict and is surprisingly hard to measure once it has fallen


• Based on National Weather Service records for 1961 through 1990, Rochester, New York averages 94 inches of snow annually and is the snowiest large city in the United States. Rochester has a population more than 200,000 and annual municipal snow-removal budget of $3.7 million (1995 figures)


• Buffalo, New York, is a close runner-up in terms of U.S. large cities with the most snow. A 39-inch snowfall in 24 hours in early December 1995 cost the city nearly $5 million for snow removal.


• Each year an average of 105 snow-producing storms affect the continental United States. A typical storm will have a snow-producing lifetime of two to five days and will bring snow to portions of several states.


• Fresh snow is an excellent insulator. Ten inches of fresh snow with a density of 0.07 inches, seven percent water, is approximately equal to a six-inch-layer of fiberglass insulation with an insulation R-value of R-18.


• Practically every location in the United States has seen snowfall. Even most portions of southern Florida have seen a few snow flurries.


• Snow kills hundreds of people in the United States each year. The primary snow-related deaths are from traffic accidents, overexertion, and exposure, but deaths from avalanches have been steadily increasing.


• The greatest snowfall officially reported at the Phoenix, Arizona National Weather Service Office was one inch. That occurred twice. The first time was January 20, 1933. It happened again four years later on the same date.


• In the western United States, mountain snow pack contributes up to 75 percent of all year-round surface water supplies.


• The commonly used ten-to-one ratio of snowfall to water content is a myth for much of the United States. This ration varies from as low as 100-to-one to as high as about three-to-one depending on the meteorological conditions associated with the snowfall.


• Nationwide, the average snowfall amount per day when snow falls is about two inches, but in some mountain areas of the West, an average of seven inches per snow day is observed.

Courtesy : NSIDC

One Day Visit to Chateau de Versailles

My plan during the weekend is to visit two major attractions in Paris, one is Chateau de Versailles and another one is to visit Musée du Louvre. As a first move I chose to visit Chateau de Versailles on Saturday and Musée du Louvre on Sunday.

Saturday Morning around 10 plus I managed to join the queue the ticket office at the Palace to get the ticket, As expected the queue for buying ticket was longer but luckily not so long compared to the situation an hour later. There was another queue again to get into the Palace with security checks and all. I collected the audio guide and started to explore the palace right from the assembly hall till King's private places.

King Louis XIV had real passion for art I would say, the collections of huge art paintings hanging on the wall and appearing at the every ceiling inside all around the palace. It seems like there were arts school to teach by the experts during those days. He was also an expert in ballet dance I heard. During his days he was treated like God by the people as there was waking up ceremony everyday morning by the priests and the bedroom was real beautifully decorated to the max. Nowadays we may not be expected to have that kind of luxurious life now matter how rich we are. Inside the Palaces to visit, Hall of Mirror, Bed Room for Queen and Discussion Room for making major decisions also public entertainment area, Room for Gods and lot more.

After that I returned my audio guide and took quick lunch and walked along the Garden that had so many water fountains under different names. Its architecture was simply fabulous. There were varieties of sculptures carved on Marble and various other materials as well. They make the fountain work only for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening so it’s nice to visit the garden only during that period.

After that I had to walk for about 15 mins to reach Grand Trianon on the way I saw a farm land where they breed sheep, cow and horses. Herd of sheep were spread all along those piece of big land and were busy doing there grass eating business. Tried to attract few of them closer to me with a green apple I heard and quite a lot came over near the fence and I clicked few snaps of them.

Grand Trianon was built mainly for a place where king and his close family could escape from the hectic life of court at the Château of Versailles. Petit Trianon was closed for renovation, but had access to the Marie-Antoinette’s estate and it was real big one, where the queen had her own theatre and Private house. I understand from the history that this entire estate was built and managed as per queen’s taste. Small houses along these regions were unique in design of its kind. There were farm land at the backyard of the houses and it was decorated with gardens through front and back. I shall add those pictures here tonight.

By the time I finished walking around the estate it was already 7PM, I thought I will better walk back home since I was really getting to the point of being totally exhausted. I must make a point here that if you are not physically strong to walk around everywhere in this huge area you must really prepare yourself with all possible support as it really demands a strong physique to explore. There are mini trams available to move between different locations alternatively you can hire a golf cart or bi-cycle too but to walk inside the palace or estate it’s definitely tiring for those who dislike walking. I didn’t know that the same goes for Musée du Louvre until I visited it next day.

You will have to plan at least one day to be there and explore the entire place if not in half a day you might have to skip some portion of the whole place. I would suggest to buy One Day Pass ticket as it will give you access to all places out there otherwise you will have to buy ticket for every entrance and is expensive than One Day Pass. I guess a pass will cost you 25 Euro. Another Idea could be to get a 2 days Museum pass that will cost you only 30 Euro and you can also visit all other museum in Paris along with Chateau de Versailles. For details on Museum passes please visit Official Web Site and get details on what kind of passes you like to buy and where to buy. They have passes valid for 2 / 4 / 6 days and it has no expiry date that gives you the freedom to use any day you want to use it. But the day count is consecutive from day one you start to use it.

I need to give special thanks and credit to my friend David, who lives in Paris and works for the same company as mine for providing excellent details and guidance on where to go and what to look for.

I will write another post on my experience during the visit to Musée du Louvre.

25 Tips For A Healthy Living

1. Eat more of gains, vegetables, beans, greens, fruits, fish, seeds & yogurt


2. Eat less of milk, cheese & nuts


3. Add Garlic to your recipes


4. Add Beta-carotene rich foods like carrots, cabbage, sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens to your food preparation


5. Reduce sodium intake to no more than 1 1/4 (one and quarter) teaspoons of salt per day


6. Eat regular meals at right break


7. Drink water throughout the day


8. Switch from coffee to tea, green tea even better


9. Exercise regularly, if not daily at least 2 to three days a week


10. Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator


11. Do Housework that gives you an extra chance for simple exercise


12. Healthy weight should be maintained


13. If you are a smoker try quiting of smoke for the shorter then longer period and completely for ever


14. Avoid Alcohol and subsidise it with something else


15. Sleep adequately


16. Monitor your Blood Pressure


17. Cholesterol level should also be monitored


18. Work Schedule should be regular that will help to avoid too much stress


19. Meditate daily its a good stress relieving technique


20. Share jokes with friends/colleagues as you know Laughter is a good medicine


21. Complete health check-Ups should be done regulary to monitor over all health


22. Watch your diet and Control Diabetes


23. Beware of our Family History of cardiovascular disease


24. Love - Give it & Receive it


25. If you are on a medication by physician follow the instructions as prescribed strictly. Courses must be completed fully though you are cured in advance