My Musings

Beat diseases with a better diet. (adapted from today's - 25th Jan 2011 - TOI newspaper) Diet to keep cardiac diseases at bay :: A diet low in fatty and sugary foods and rich in vegetables and fruits which are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fibre, and disease-fighting antioxidants. Unsaturated OILS help maintain blood cholestrol if consumed in recommended quantities. Eat 4 or 5 teaspoonful of COOKING OILS per day, that too a variety of refined oils. Use groundnut or Til or sunflower oil. Alternate these oils daily. Eat Poondu and vengayam. Fibre-Rich foods :: Eat whole cereals - like whole wheat flour, whole wheat bread, wheat bran, ragi, rajmah, etc Eat leafy vegetables like keerai, cabbage. Eat whole fruits. Good quality Proteins :: Egg Dairy Protein like skimmed milk and milk products like curds and paneer. Eat nuts like almonds (badam) and walnut which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Very beneficial to the heart. Limit to recommended quantities. AVOID aerat...

Chennai Sangamam, dubbed as the greatest "open-air" cultural festival in India (திருவிழா, நம்ம தெருவிழா)  started yesterday with the usual fanfare. The actual cultural programs started this (13th) evening, at eleven places around Chennai. Besantnagar beach is one of them, and we went there by 6-15PM to watch. The usual karagaattam, Kaavadi, folk dances, etc Gramiya kalai nigazchikal were there. The troupes and performers were brought from distant Nagerkoil, Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Dindukkal, Pattukkottai ... For the adyar/besantnagar/thiruvanmiyur kids who have not stepped out of the City, this would have come as a "thriller." Yes, there was a decent crowd. However, it turned slowly into the regular rut of "cinema paattu". Also by this time (8PM) the food stalls were ready with their aromatic food, and the crowd moved towards them. We left by 8-30PM. The organisers are to be applauded and their efforts appreciated. A good timepass for 2 hours, if yo...

New Year 2011 dawned on a bright note for us. This is the second "new-year-celeb" for us at Besantnagar. Savithri was with us on Dec 31st. There was a two-hour kutchery by Krithika at Swami's hall, RK Mutt Road, on 31st. All of us (Savithri) attended it. Ramamurthy athimber also came for the concert. Later in the night, we (except Savithri) went for a dinner outside. Eden was crowded, so we chose Ming's Masala, a Chinese restaurent. This is also nearby our house. We had Naan, stuffed kulcha, Aloo dum. We didn't go to the beach, like we did last year. We slept off at 11 PM. On 1st morning, we two and Savithri went to Varasiddhi Vallabh Vinayakar koil and worshipped the God. Then Savithri boarded 29C for Annanagar. Janani, Pradyun, Ram came to our house in the afternoon. We ordered food from Eden and Arvind and Ram brought the food here - all of us ate by 9 PM. Arvind, Krithika, Aditi, Janani & family left for airport to see Ranjani and co who are on t...