Poster of the month

Recipe of the month - Deviled Spinach Eggs

Egg devil:

Meenakshi Kapur has shared her entry of Deviled Spinach Eggs for the 'Megher Khata' Friends.

Ingredients

2 eggs hard boiled
2 tablespoon Oil
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 bunch blanched Spinach finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon cumin
1 green chili finely chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
1 lemon juice
1 carrot cut lengthwise for garnishing
4 coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
Wash spinach properly and finely chop it and then blanch it and keep it aside and strain out the excess water.
Hard boil the eggs for about 15-20 minutes.
Peel the shell and cut the hard boiled eggs into half lengthways.
Take out the yolks and keep it aside.
Take a frying pan and add oil and add cumin and when it starts to crackle, then add onions and fry the onions till golden.
Now, add the ginger-garlic paste and mix it well and cook it for other 2 minutes.
Then add blanched spinach, salt, red chili powder, coriander leaves and lemon juice and fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Then crumble and add yellow egg yolks in spinach and keep it on stiring well.
Turn off the flame and keep it aside.
For plating, take the eggs cut in half and fill the spinach mixture into the yolk cavity (hole from where yolk is separated) of each egg half.
Garnish it with coriander leaves and place lengthwise cut carrot and serve.

Poem of the month - What we share is History my friend by Victor Ghoshe

What we share is History my friend
by Victor Ghoshe

Where did Wednesday get it's name from? Victor Ghoshe

Why is Wednesday called Wednesday?

From Saturn comes Saturday. From the sun comes Sunday. From the moon comes Monday. But what is the origin of Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday? Friday? The answer takes us to the mythology – known variously as Teutonic, Norse, Viking and Germanic – that dominated North Europe for centuries before the arrival of Christianity. The Germanic tribes who subscribed to this mythology were the barbarians who constantly threatened the northern frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Vikings of Scandinavia who also subscribed to it plundered the monasteries and settlements on the coast of England and France in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The principal god of this mythology was the one-eyed Woden, god of wisdom and divination, whose crows told him everything that happens in the world and who with his rune stones could always see the past and the future. His day, Woden’s day, is now called Wednesday. The day before Woden’s day, Tuesday, belonged to Tiw, the brave god of war, who placed his arm in the mouth of a giant wolf so that he could be chained by the dwarves and thus restrained from destroying the world. The day after Woden’s day belonged to Thor, the great hero, lord of thunder, Woden’s son by Friia, the love-goddess who gave her name to Friday. Tiw was associated with the planet Mars, Woden with Mercury, Thor with Jupiter and Friia with Venus. India had no contact with the Germanic or Viking tribes. Yet, in the Hindu calendar of India Tuesday is called Mangal-vaar or the ‘Day of Mars’, Wednesday is called Budha-vaar or the ‘Day of Mercury’, Thursday is called Brihaspati-vaar or the ‘Day of Jupiter’ and Friday is called Shukra-vaar or the ‘Day of Venus’. The practice of naming days after planets has been traced to the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic, dated between 200 BC and 200 AD.
This leads us to the question: How is it that the planets associated with the days of the week in the European calendar are the same as the planets associated with the days of the week in the Indian calendar? The answer according to many scholars lies in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, that stands between India and Europe. Babylon, the greatest of Mesopotamian cities, was the centre of many occult sciences including astrology and divination. Babylonian scholars looked at the skies and mapped the constellations. They gave great importance to seven celestial bodies in particular: the sun, the moon, and the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. The movements of these astrological bodies across the lunar and solar mansions of the sky helped Babylonian stargazers figure out the destiny of man. A day was reserved for each of these 7 astrological deities in sequence creating a ritual cycle of 7 days which became known as the week. This 7-day week based on astrological deities was adopted by India and Egypt. From Egypt it spread to Rome.
In Rome, the Babylonian names of deities were replaced by Latin names and later Germanic names while in India, the Babylonian names of deities were replaced by names of Hindu gods. Ancient Romans had their own 8-day week. This was gradually replaced by the 7-day week of Egypt and Babylon. When Rome became Christian, the 7-day week became a religious, not merely an astrological, measure of time. Like the Jews, the Christians, and later the Muslims, believed God created the world in 7 days. In Hebrew, the days of the week are simply numbered with the 7th day being addressed as the day of rest and prayer, Shabbat. In Arabic, the days of the week are also numbered, but it is the 6th day which is the day of gathering and prayer. In Greece, which held the banner of Christianity before Rome, the days of the week are also numbered, but it is the first day which is special – it is the Lord’s day. When Rome became Christian, the days of the week were not merely numbered; they were named using Latin and/or Germanic nomenclature.
In the early 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine regulated the use of the week due to a problem of the myriad uses of various days for religious observance, and established Sunday as the day for religious observance and rest for all groups, not just those Christians and others who were already observing Sunday. While the Jews believed Saturday as the last day of the week and hence the day of rest, the Christians made Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of prayer. This is because in Rome, the greatest challenge to Christianity came from the solar cult of Mithra and the best way to cope with this challenge was to absorb symbols and rituals associated with sun-worship into Christianity. This included declaring 25th December the birthday of Jesus Christ, although the time of his birth was more likely to be around spring. As a result of this strategic initiative, the day of the sun, Sunday, became the day of the Lord. Muslims, to differentiate themselves from Jews and Christians, made Friday or the sixth day of the week the day of gathering.
The curious thing about the Latin/Germanic nomenclature, clearly using the planets, is that the ancient order of the planets, rising from the Earth to the Fixed Stars, can be read off by starting with Monday and jumping every other day for two weeks: Monday (Moon), Wednesday (Mercury), Friday (Venus), Sunday (Sun), Tuesday (Mars), Thursday (Jupiter), and Saturday (Saturn). One is left with the impression that the names were assigned in a kind of code, so that the Sun would come first in the week, but then the true order of the planets could be read off nevertheless. Saturn comes both at the end of the week and at the end of planets. The day that many people consider to the 1st day of the week, Monday, is the first planet and does begin the sequence of planets. We must remember that unlike the year that is a natural phenomenon (the period during which the earth goes round the sun) the week is an artificial unit of time with no corresponding natural phenomenon. In parts of Africa, a week is 3-day long and the new week is marked as market-day. The ancient Mayans had a 5-day week. The Romans had a 8-day week. Babylonian astrology and Jewish faith gave rise to the 7-day week. According to some Christian scholars, the 7-day week is not manmade. It is divinely ordained. As proof they refer to the ‘circaseptan’ biological rhythm. It is known that plants and animals go through physiological changes depending on whether it is day or night (diurinal changes) or depending on the season.
Researchers have discovered that there are changes in certain species of algae which are 7-day long suggesting that the 7-day week is based on not human intelligence but on divine intelligence. In an attempt to make the week a natural phenomenon, some people believe that a week is half a fortnight which in turn is half a lunar month. But a lunar month is over 29 days and not 28 days, hence an attempt to make a week a quarter of the lunar month seems rather contrived. Weeks can be thought of as forming an independent artificial continuous calendar running in parallel with various calendars based on natural phenomena. To break free from the religious legacy of the 7-day week, French revolutionaries tried to create the 10-day week. Their year was made of thirty-six 10-day weeks followed by a week of 5 or 6 days. The Soviets wanted to abolish religion and hence they abolished the 7 days week. Everybody worked for 5 days and rested for 2 days but the days of rest was never specified. It was not global. Thus every day 80% of the workforce was operational increasing the country’s productivity. Both exercises failed. The 7-day week typically involved 6 days of labour and one day of rest.
In traditional societies, the Sabbath was not for rest and relaxation but for prayer. A day to remember God. The 5-day weekday followed by a 2-day weekend originated following the Industrial Revolution and the passing of labour laws. The question is why was Saturday and Sunday, rather than Sunday and Monday, chosen as holidays. One theory holds that the owners of many industries were Jews while the workers were Christians. The former wanted Saturday as holiday while the latter wanted Sunday. Finally, both days became holidays and we got the 5-day working week. Following European colonization and the subsequent rise of global corporate business, the 5-day weekday with a 2-day weekend has become universal in keeping time, even in cultures that did not practice it before. Each time we use this unit of time, we must remind ourselves of the power of manmade constructs, hence myths.


Courtesy:
First City magazine, Delhi, September 2005

Mystery map

Mystery map
By Victor Ghoshe

Without satellite imagery and aerial photography how is this possible in 1531? How could a cartographer in 1531 possibly know what was under the thick ice??



Among all the maps produced at the turn of the 16th century portraying an Antarctic continent, there are probably none more remarkable than those produced by French mathematician and cartographer Oronce Finé. Finé's maps not only present Antarctica as an independent landmass, but also render the continent with amazing accuracy. While our current view of history dictates that this cannot be an authentic map of Antarctica, the accuracy in Finé's design strongly suggests otherwise.

"Of course the real intrigue here is that the cartographers would have had to chart this region of the continent when it had been free of ice as the Foundation Ice Stream is thousands of feet thick, and even Atka Bay is currently occupied by a 600-foot sheet of snow-covered ice composing a portion of the Ekstrom Ice Shelf. This presents a conflict with scientific analysis and dating of ice core samples which have established that a deglaciated Antarctica last existed some 30 million years ago, vastly predating any civilization capable of charting the continent. If this is an authentic map of Antarctica we have either to believe the impossible that an advanced civilization existed more than 30 million years ago creating a map that somehow endured this span of time or believe the improbable, that scientific dating of the icecap is flawed and the ice is merely thousands of years old. It is definitely hard to fathom Finé accomplishing this degree of accuracy equipped with luck alone. Keep in mind also that this is not one lucky design pulled out of a collection of thousands appearing at the turn of the 16th century, it is one of perhaps a dozen or so."

Source :: http://www.atlantismaps.com/chapter_2.html

5 new Indian destinations (you’ve not heard of)

5 new Indian destinations (you’ve not heard of)

by Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy



From a maiden beach of western India to a Blue-green hills of north east,
here are 5 new travel ideas to boast about.

AMADUBI, JHARKHAND

In one line: Make a day trip from Jamshedpur to watch artists at work.
Though India is known for its rich art forms, the concept of Pyatkar painting is not so widely known. Chitrakars in Jharkhand paint on scrolls made from leaves and barks as they relate ancient legends through a series of pictures.
Just 65km from Jamshedpur, Amadubi is home to these artists and presents a wonderful opportunity to watch the pictorial storytellers at work. Experience village tourism in rustic huts at a newly designed tourist complex while dining on local delicacies like ud-pitha (steamed rice dumpling with lentils), gud-pitha (with jaggery) or zil-pitha (non-vegetarian). The akhara (open stage) showcases traditional dances linked to agricultural practices during colourful festivals such as Tusu parab (January-February), Sarhul/Baha (February-March), Dansai (October-November) and Sohrai (November-December).
The nearest railway station Dhalbhumgarh, 9km from the village, has historic sites like Rajbari, the palace of the Raja of Dhalbhum; and the Trivineshwar and Dasbhuj temples. Samples of Pyatkar paintings, dokra craft, Mithila hand-painted saris and the region’s rich crafts can be bought at Biponi Handicrafts in Jamshedpur, which also organizes trips to Amadubi.
Make it happen: +91 657 232 0109; kalamandir.jsr@gmail.com www.kala-mandir.org


PARULE & BHOGWE, MAHARASHTRA

Bhogwe beach, Maharashtra.


Photo: Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy
In one line: An authentic farmstay experience, complete with plantation walks and Malvani cuisine.
The Konkani settlement of Parule was once Parulya gramam, built around a Surya temple where the rays of the setting sun touched the idol before disappearing over the horizon. The temple’s renovation may have eclipsed this phenomenon but the magic of the region is intact. Stay with the Samants at Maachli while enjoying life on a farm—milk a cow, get a fish spa treatment in a natural stream, go on a plantation walk and learn how to use a laath (traditional method of drawing water for irrigation) as you relish delicious Malvani cuisine.
Go on a morning nature trail to a shepherd’s temple or a longer sunset trek to the beach. Nearby, Bhogwe, lying in the shadow of Tarkarli, has remained unnoticed by travellers. But the rustic eco cottages made of bamboo, cane and thatch offer stunning coastal views and an enriching experience. Visit a devrai (sacred grove) or cashew processing units, go bird-watching in serene mangroves in country crafts, enjoy sunsets at Kille Nivti fort before taking a boat ride to Golden Rocks. Stop by at Chiva, designer George Oomen’s store near Kudal for innovative bamboo products.
Make it happen: Maachli: +91 2366-269531, 9637333284; prathamesh.samant@maachli.in; www.maachli.in. Bhogwe: +91 94230 52022; a.samant4530@gmail.com


HANKON, KARNATAKA
In one line: For the eco-conscious adventurist.
A 12-km diversion from Karwar towards Dandeli on SH-95 leads past agricultural fields,railway crossings and Asnoti village, till finally, you reach the riverside hamlet of Hankon. Spread over five acres by the gently flowing Kali, River Edge Paradise Resort is an eco-adventure camp that offers a range of water sports right on the property!
Try kayaking, canoeing, rafting, tubing and river crossing, or go rock-climbing and rappelling four kilometres km away at Pata. For white-water rafting, banana boat rides and other water sports, head to Kali River Lodge at Dandeli or Devbagh Beach Resort. Stay in wooden cabins or comfortable tents with a river-facing restaurant serving fresh seafood. Solar-lit pathways, solar-heated water supply and the wastewater treatment plant enhance the eco-experience.
Make it happen: +91 8382 266 742, 98455 88439

DAMRO, ARUNACHAL PRADESH


Damro's hanging bridge. Photo: Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy

In one line: Visit the original village of the Adi Padam tribe and witness their age-old customs.
The longest hanging bridge in Arunachal Pradesh at Damro sways gently over a silvery slash of the Yamne River as Adi Padam herders head to the forests with their mithun. A domesticated form of the gaur (Indian bison), these semi-feral bovines recognize their master’s call and lumber forth for salt. Just above the woods, surrounded by terraced fields, is Yamne Abor, a cluster of thatched bamboo houses in a clearing.
Run by Tsange Tsering Thungon and Oken Tayeng, the country home is a great base to explore this hidden back route between Pasighat and Yingkiong. Visit Damro, the original village of the Adi Padam tribe and get an insight into their unusual Donyi-Polo culture centred on the worship of the sun and the moon. Try the local staple of smoked pork, lai (leaves), raja chili chutney and apong (rice beer). Watch men wield daos (machetes) with practiced ease as women carry firewood or harvested crops in cane baskets called beyen. For stay at Yamne Abor or longer explorations in the North East, contact Abor Country Travels & Expeditions.
Make it happen: +91 9863 553 243; aborcountry@gmail.com; www.aborcountrytravels.com

NEDUNCHERI T PUTHUR, TAMIL NADU
In one line: Marvel at the rich Chola tradition and get your fortune read by a parrot.
Just 12km from Chidambaram and two kilometres east of Veeranam Lake, Lakshmi Vilas is a heritage hotel run by the Saradharam group at Neduncheri, housed in a traditional 1927 pannaiyar bangla (landlord’s bungalow) on Sivankoil Street. Replicating Chola architecture and showcasing rich Tamil traditions and cultural heritage, the heritage bungalow has an ethnic charm. The sprawling four-and-a-half acre property has 20 heritage rooms and a restaurant in a coconut grove.
Visit the adjacent Shiva temple, get your fortune read by a parrot (Kili jyotisam) and play traditional games like Pallankuzhi (board game played with seeds), Adu Puli (tiger hunt board game), Goli Gundu (marble stone balls), Pambaram (spinning a top with thread) and Uri Adithal, where blindfolded participants break a clay pot hung above their heads. Lakshmi Vilas is a great base for birding at Veeranam Lake or the mangrove forest at Pichavaram.
Make it happen: +91 414 425 6555/56/66; lakshmivilasheritage@gmail.com; www.lakshmivilas.co.in

10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting aliens in Chhattisgarh, India

10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting aliens and UFOs found in Chhattisgarh

By Rashmi Drolia

Indian Rock Paintings Depicting UFOs|Indian Rock Paintings Depicting Aliens|Chhattisgarh department of archaeology|Chhatisgarh Rock Paintings|Charama Rock Paintings

One of the ancient rock paintings carved on caves at Charama in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. (TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)
CHARAMA (Chhattisgarh): Chhattisgarh state department of archaeology and culture plans to seek help from Nasa and Isro for research on 10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting aliens and UFOs in Charama region in Kanker district in tribal Bastar region.

According to archaeologist JR Bhagat, these paintings have depicted aliens like those shown in Hollywood and Bollywood flicks. Located about 130km from Raipur, the caves come under village Chandeli and Gotitola.

"The findings suggest that humans in prehistoric times may have seen or imagined beings from other planets which still create curiosity among people and researchers. Extensive research is needed for further findings. Chhattisgarh presently doesn't have any such expert who could give clarity on the subject," Bhagat told TOI.


One of the ancient rock paintings carved on caves at Charama in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. (TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)

There are several beliefs among locals in these villages. While few worship the paintings, others narrate stories they have heard from ancestors about "rohela people" — the small sized ones — who used to land from sky in a round shaped flying object and take away one or two persons of village who never returned.

"The paintings are done in natural colours that have hardly faded despite the years. The strangely carved figures are seen holding weapon-like objects and do not have clear features. Specially, the nose and mouth are missing. In few pictures, they are even shown wearing space suits. We can't refute possibility of imagination by prehistoric men but humans usually fancy such things," the archaeologist said.

(TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)

He added that it is a co-incidence that such ancient images appear to have sharp resemblance to UFOs shown in alien movies. "The fan-like antenna and three legs of vehicle's stand clearly show a similarity to UFO type craft," he said.

Other archaeologists would also be consulted for further verification.

courtesy:TNN | Jul 15, 2014,

(TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)