Wednesday, January 1, 2014

It's paryaya time in Udupi and I am off to Udupi

                                   It's paryaya time in Udupi and I am off to Udupi

Udupi is gearing up for paryaya. Paryaya is a ceremony in which one seer will handover the responsibility of worshiping Shri Krishna and also looking after the welfare of tourists who arrive here to take darshan of the idol.
Saint Madhwacharya had nstalled the Krishna idol in Udupi and selected his 8 followers to worship Krishna.
These 8 followers belong to 8 mathas which are situated in various parts of state. When he has done this system , it was only for 2 months.
For every 2 months, the responsiblity was handed over to other person or seer. But saint Vadiraj had increased the time duration to 2 years.
The 8 mazthas are sharing the responsibility between themselves for every 2 years. The celebration indicating this, called " Paryaya ".
The 8 mathas are ----
1. Phalimaru matha                                                5. Sheerooru Matha
2. Adamaru Matha                                                6. Sode Matha
3. Krishnapura Matha                                            7. Kaaniyur Matha
4. Puttige Matha                                                     8. Pejawar Matha
Now , Sode mutt seer is handing over the responsibility to Kaniyur mutt seer. Hence after , Kaniyur seer is in charge of every spiritual activities taking place in Udupi.

How do we drink using a straw?

                                  How do we drink using a straw?

It depends on the principle of physics.
When we suck on a straw, we are removing air from inside of our mouth to create a partial vacuum. Now outside air pushes the liquid up the straw. The rate at which it flows is higher , if the viscosity of liquid is lower.
Water or a soft drink is easier to suck up the straw because it sticks less to itself and to the sides of the straw.

The place where the wealth is ....

                                       The place where the wealth is ....

Long ago, in a village there lived a man. He was very poor. One day he had a dream that he found a bag of gold coins in the street of the nearby city.
Happy as he was, he started his journey to the city. But he could not figure out which street he had seen in his dream. Each and every street looked same !
So, he was wandering in every street checking each and every column hoping to find the bag. This movement of his, triggered suspicion in the mind of a policeman who was watching him. He thought the man as a thief and arrested him.
In the police station, on investigation man said about his dream and his search for the bag of gold coins in the city. By listening to that, policeman said even he had same type of dream.But the location is different. In his dream, bag is in outskirts of the city.
As the man was curious, he asked for the details of place. By listening to the details, he was dumbfounded. Because , the place is where HIS OWN HOUSE IS.
Man understood the place where the wealth is within ourselves. 

Greedy man

                                  Greedy man

Long ago, there lived a man. He wanted to be rich somehow. That also, in a quick way ! He dont want to waste time working.
That time, a saint had visited his place. Man went near him asking how to be rich overnight ? Saint could not stand his torture and finally said him to chant some words infront of iron objects and they will turn into gold ! But he has to use the words before the sunset.
Man was very happy. He returned to his house and started accumulating iron things. He had collected some, but he wanted more. Because , they are going to be gold !
He searched whole village and collected some more iron objects. But he wanted more. To buy some more iron objects, he sold all his belongings inside the house. Finally , he sold his house too ! With that money, he went to city and purchased some more iron objects.
Atlast, he gathered all his iron objects at one side. He was thrilling by calculating the amount of gold he can achieve by converting them. !
Then he started chanting. But it was already sunset. Man didnt pay attention to this fact in his work of collecting iron objects.
He was left with only iron objects around him, because of his greediness.

How to be stronger?

                                              How to be stronger?

Long ago, in a village there lived a wrestler. He was very powerful and stronger. He was winning all the competitions of wrestling he participates.
He had won the competitions held in other places too. But still he was unhappy. He wants to be more powerful.
That time, a saint came to his village. Villagers were talking that saint was having special powers. Wrestler heard that. He wanted to meet the saint and tell him his ambition.
Wrestler met the saint and urged him to grant him the powers so that he can be the strongest man . Saint replied negatively that he dont have such powers.
But wrestler went on pressurizing the saint. Finally , saint said " I will teach you some words to chant. But make sure that when you are chanting , the picture of monkey must not come to your mind ". 
Wrestler agreed.
After learning the words, he returned to his house . Finding a quiet place , he started to chant the words in his mind.
Just in a minute, the picture of monkey came to his mind. He stopped chanting and again tried . This time too , same thing.
Frustrated , he tried many times. But his effort was fruitless. Unhappy that he can not chant the words, he again went near saint.
He explained his problem. Saint smilingly said " Physically , you are much stronger. But , psychologically you are weak. You kept in your mind about my saying  regarding monkey. Thats why you can not concentrate. To be stronger, you should be strong psychologically too ."

First Indian queen to fight against British

                      First Indian queen to fight against British

It was the time when India was ruled by kings of small states . India was divided into several states under various kings.
That time, British East India Company had entered India on business purpose. They slowly took the advantage of jealousy between the ruling kings.
They started to gain control over the states. Indian kings and queens resisted this and fought for their control back.
Among Indian queens, Kittur Rani Chennamma was the first one to lead an armed rebellion against East India Company in 1824.
However, the resistance ended with her arrest. But she was succeeded in defeating British army. 

Nichrome , in iron box

                                          Nichrome , in iron box

Nichrome is a non- magnetic alloy of nickel , chromium and iron . It is used as a resistance wire. It is silvery grey in colour .
Due to its high electrical resistivity and resistance to oxidation at high temperature , it is widely used in electric heating elements . It is wound in coils to a certain electrical resistance and current is passed through it to produce heat.
The iron box we use in our homes to iron our clothes also has nichrome coils to produce heat.

Why do we get hiccups?

                              Why do we get hiccups?

When we hiccup , our diaphragm involuntarily contracts.

What is diaphragm ?

It is the dome shaped muscle that separates the chest cavity from abdomen. It plays an imporatant role in breathing.

The contraction of diaphragm causes the immediate closure of vocal chords, which produces the characteristic sound of hiccup.
However, there is no obvious reason for hiccups. But it is also associated with eating or drinking too fast , being nervous or excited , having irritations in stomach or throat.

American English Vs British English

                           American English Vs British English

There is a slight difference between the 2 English forms used in USA and Britain.
For ಕೊತ್ತಂಬರಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು , we call it as " coriander " . For both seeds and plant we use the same name. Even British.
But in America, they call it as " cilantro ".  When Americans speak of coriander , they are talking about the fruit of cilantro plant which is used as spice ( ಧನಿಯ ) .
But when they say , cilantro , it is the leafy part of  the plant.
I have listed out some other differences.

            American English                                        British English
       
           Sulfur                                                              Sulphur
           Center                                                             Centre
           Flat tyre                                                           Puncture tyre
           Color                                                               Colour
           Air plane                                                          Aero plane
           Apologize                                                         Apologise
           Behavior                                                           Behaviour
           Favorite                                                            Favourite
           Humor                                                               Humour
           Meter                                                                Metre
         
When writing blog, I often encountered with these differences. May be there are many. 

What is mucus?

                            What is mucus?

Mucus is the thin , slippery material that is found inside our nose. Many people call it as a snot. Snot is produced by mucus membranes of nose.
When we inhale air through our nose, it contains lots of tiny particles, like dust , dirt , pollen etc. If these particles are not filtered, they can reach lungs and can damage it.
Snot works by trapping these particles inside the nose. When it comes out , we can throw it away if we want !
They are the sign to say our nose is working properly.

Live and let live others

                           Live and let live others

Rahul has returned from school. To his surprise,  his father had returned early from work. and was in house. Rahul was happy.
He started repeatedly saying to his father to go out. Finally , father agreed and both of them went to beach. By seeing the sea, Rahul was uncontrollable.
He was running to and fro on the sand of beach. There , he observed a tortoise moving. All these days , Rahul didnt see a tortoise.
He caught the tortoise and wanted to look it closely on his palm. But as soon as he captured it, tortoise retrieved itself into its shell.
Rahul shook the shell in order to bring out the animal. But it was in vain. Tortoise didnt come out of its shell. Rahul went near his father holding the shell.
He complained to his dad that animal is not coming out of the shell. Father asked Rahul to keep the shell on the ground and to stand in a little far away place.
Rahul did the same. After some time, tortoise just peeped outside the shell. By seeing no one there, it has come out of its shell and started walking.
Father forbidden Rahul from touching it. He said tortoise thinks that there is danger outside and it will again go back into its shell.
Father said " We must not destroy the living right of others. We must live and let others to live "  

How does a battery produce electricity?

                          How does a battery produce electricity?

A battery consists of battery cells which convert chemical energy into electrical energy. A portion of this chemical energy is transformed into heat and other to , electrical energy.
Every battery cell consists of electrodes . Cathode part is primarily zinc and the anode part is carbon. The electrodes are immersed in liquid electrolyte.
A chemical action sets the electrons free,  it triggers the cathode to slowly get dissolved in liquid electrolyte. A circuit provides the route for electrons to flow in the form of electric current.


Different meanings of word "sound"

                             Different meanings of word "sound"

The word " sound " is used in different meanings according to circumstances . We usually know sound as a character of physics.

Different meanings -----

1. Vibrations transmitted through solid , liquid and gas.
2. Free from defect.
3. Wide body of water

Why do most plants die after replanting it in another place?

Why do most plants die after replanting it in another place?

I have seen the situation. My mother used to replant plants in another place when it has started to give flowers.
But not all of them will survive. There goes the flower and also the plant !
Why does it happen? Mother used to pluck them with their roots , but also sometimes they dont survive. Plants cant makeout the place.
Eventhough , we are replanting it with their original roots; if the root hairs found around roots get damaged , then plant will not survive.
Root hairs are essential for a plant. They help to absorb water and minerals from soil.
If root hairs are spoiled, plant can not absorb water and minerals which are essential for their growth . Hence they die.

Tulu channels in our cable network

                  Tulu channels in our cable network

We get nearly 100 channels through our cable network. Out of them, 10 are tulu channels. It is not that they air only tulu programmes. There will be kannada programmes too. Sometimes, they air hindi, tamil , telugu , malayalam films too.
So, we can say our cable operator is doing justice to every language people speak in our state ! Most of the programmes will be in tulu.
Recently , I watched inter college dance competition. There , the host, contestants and also the judges speak in tulu.!
There will be programmes in which people call the TV channel and they request for perticular song. They also speak in tulu.!
Kambala game ( race of bulls in paddy field ), would be telecast ed live in the channel. Commentary will be in Tulu.
Since ours is a temple town, there will be one or the other programmes . Those will be telecasted live.
Finally , its ashtami celebrations and huli vesha. They arrange competitions between hulivesha paticipant teams.
There is no boredom in our place !

Tulu proverb

                                          Tulu proverb

tanna battald ekkale uppunaga bokkoryena battald pijin tojayileka

ತನ್ನ ಬಟ್ಟಲ್ದ್ ಎಕ್ಕಲೆ ಉಪ್ಪುನಗ ಬೊಕ್ಕೊರ್ಯೆನ ಬಟ್ಟಲ್ದ್ ಪಿಜಿನ್ ತೋಜಾಯಿಲೆಕ

Translation

This proverb clearly states the human nature. This states that a dead cockroach is in our plate. Being unaware or with intention we start looking into other's plate and we make fun of them that in their plate, ants are there. Fault is inside us. But we are always ready to tell other's mistakes.

ಗೆಣಸಿನ ಚಿಪ್ಸ್ ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಧಾನ

                                 ಗೆಣಸಿನ ಚಿಪ್ಸ್ ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಧಾನ 

ಗೆಣಸನ್ನು ವೃತ್ತಾಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳಂತೆ ಕತ್ತರಿಸಬೇಕು . ನಂತರ ಕಾದ ಎಣ್ಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಕರಿಯಬೇಕು . ಈ ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯೆ ೧೦ ನಿಮಿಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ಕಾಲ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ .
ನಂತರ ಕರಿದ ಬಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊರಕ್ಕೆ ತೆಗೆದು , ಅದು ಬಿಸಿಯಿರುವಾಗಲೇ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ರುಚಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕಷ್ಟು ಉಪ್ಪು ,ಖಾರದ ಪುಡಿ ಮತ್ತು ಗರಂ ಮಸಾಲಾ ಪೌಡರ್ ಹಾಕಿ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಕಲಸಬೇಕು . ಬಿಸಿಯಿರುವಾಗಲೇ ಇದನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಚಿಪ್ಸ್ ಅದನ್ನು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಎಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ .