Download - 01 ashwini-life science
LIFE SCIENCES ASHWINI PART-01
EXTRACTS FROM SSS GLOBAL AND OTHER SITES
2014
Krishna Rao Khanapur
5/1/2014
Page 1 of 92
1. WHY PLANTAIN FRUIT…………………………………………………….PAGE 1
2. WORRYING PARENTS………………………………………………………PAGE 1
3. VISIT TO TEMPLES…………………………………… …………………… PAGE 5
4. SECRETS OF LIFE………………………………… ………………………… PAGE 7
5. JOKES 2012………………………………………… …………………………..PAGE 7
6. INDIAN MILLIONAIRES…………………………………………………….PAGE 10
7. HYDERABAD NAMES……………………… ……………………………… PAGE 14
8. HOW PRAANA LEAVES THE BODY…………………………………….PAGE 17
9. HINDUISM……………………………………… ……………………………… .PAGE 18
10. HINDU RITUALS……………………………… …………………… ……… PAGE 21
11. HINDU MYTHOLOGY………………………………………………………….PAGE 42
12. COFFEE ORIGIN………………………………………………………………….PAGE 42
13. CANADA MEDICALS………………………………… ……………………….PAGE 44
14. BENEFITS OF BASMATHI RICE……………… ………………………….PAGE 50
15. 1000 PROVERBS……………………………………… ……………………….PAGE 53
16. 100 INCREDIBLE PARTS OF HUMAN BODY ……………………… PAGE 76
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1. Why plantain fruit is preferred for puja?
In Bengal there is custom of establishing ghata (kalasha)
Before any puja and katali kola (a type of banana) is
Preferred as Prasad in any puja. Other fruit in Hindu dharma
is coconut.
My brother subbu has illustrated as why coconut and
banana is preferred as offering for God, in Tamil beautifully,
the gist of it I am giving in English:
If you eat any fruit and throw its seed, it takes rebirth. If you
eat banana and throw it’s remain. It does not grow back as
tree. The simple analogy is that banana tree grows from its
root only and no seed are there.
Similar is the case of coconut. If we eat
coconut by making a hole in it and throw the shell it will not
grow in to tree. The coconut as a whole is to be burying in
earth, than only it will grow in to tree. What best can be
offering to the God. It is not ucchista offering to the god.
Both offering symbolise that it cannot have rebirth. What
else can be best offering to God? This symbolic gesture is
the inherent prayer to lord that we should get boon not to
have punarapi jananam punarapi maranam (Rebirth)
M S Subbulakshmi: Bhaja Govindam (w. Eng. subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4FUQxn4CnY
cnu.pne
2. Worrying Parents
How Long Do You Worry
About Your Children?
Is there an imaginary cut off period when
Offspring become accountable
for their own actions?
Is there some wonderful moment when
Parents can become detached spectators in
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the lives of their children and shrug,
'It's their life,' and feel nothing?
When I was in my twenties,
I stood in a hospital corridor
waiting for doctors to put a few stitches
in my son's head and I asked,
'When do you stop worrying?'
The nurse said,
'When they get out of the accident stage.
My Parents just smiled faintly
and said nothing.
When I was in my thirties,
I sat on a little chair in a classroom
and heard how one of my children
Talked incessantly, disrupted the class,
and was headed for a career
making license plates.
As if to read my mind, a teacher said,
'Don't worry, they all go through this stage
and then you can sit back,
Relax and enjoy them.'
My Parents just smiled faintly
and said nothing.
When I was in my forties,
I spent a lifetime waiting
for the phone to ring,
the cars to come home,
the front door to open.
A friend said,
'They're trying to find themselves.
'Don't worry!
In a few years, they'll be adults.
'They'll be off on their own
they’ll be out of your hair'
My Parents just smiled faintly
and said nothing.
By the time I was 50,
I was sick & tired of being vulnerable.
I was still worrying over my children,
but there was a new wrinkle.
Even though they were on their own
I continued to anguish over their failures,
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be tormented by their frustrations and
Absorbed in their disappointments.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
My Parents just smiled faintly
and said nothing.
My friends said that
when my kids got married
I could stop worrying
and lead my own life.
I wanted to believe that,
but I was haunted by my parent's warm smiles
and their occasional,
'You look pale. Are you all right’?
'Call me the minute you get home'.
Are you depressed about something?'
My friends said that
when I became a grandparent
that I would get to enjoy
the happy little voices yelling
Grandma! Papa!
But now I find that I worry
just as much about the little kids
as the big ones.
How can anyone cope
with all this Worry?
Can it be that parents are sentenced
to a lifetime of worry?
Is concern for one another
Handed down like a torch
to blaze the trail of human frailties
and the fears of the unknown?
Is concern a curse or is it
a virtue that elevates us
to the highest form of earthly creation?
Recently, one of my own children
Became quite irritable, saying to me,
'Where were you?
I've been calling for 3 days,
And no one answered
I was worried.'
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I smiled a warm smile.
The torch has been passed.
PASS IT ON TO OTHER WONDERFUL PARENTS
(And also to your children... That's the fun part)
3. Visit to Temples.
The scientific explanation
for visiting temple regularly
Very Informative and this info should make all our people believes that our
ancestors were not a bunch of idiots
. I APPEAL TO PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS TO PERUSE THIS.
- Moderator
Well, here is a scientific explanation..........just read on.
There are hundreds of temples all over India in different size, shape and
locations but not all of them are considered to be in the Vedic way.
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Generally, the temples are located in a place where earth's magnetic waves
pass through. In simple terms, these temples are located strategically at a place
where the positive energy is abundantly available from the magnetic wave
distribution of north/ South Pole thrust.
Because of its location, where high magnetic values are available, the Main Idol
is placed in the center, and also because they place a copper plate written
with some Vedic scripts, which is buried, beneath the Main Idol's placement
known as "Garbhagriha" or Moolasthan, the copper absorbs the earth’s
magnetic waves and radiates to the surroundings. Thus a person, who regularly
visits a temple and makes clockwise pradakshina of the Main Idol's placement,
automatically receives the beamed magnetic waves which get absorbed by his
body. This is very slow and a regular visit will make him absorb more energy,
known as positive energy. In addition, the Sanctum Sanctorum is completely
enclosed on three sides. The effect of all energies is very high in here. The lamp
that is lit radiates the heat and light
energy.
The ringing of the bells and the chanting of prayers gives sound energy. The
fragrance from the flowers, the burning of camphor gives out chemical energy.
The effect of all these energies is activated by the positive energy that comes
out of the idol. This is in addition to the north/south pole magnetic energy that is
absorbed by the copper plate and utensils that are kept in the Moolasthan.
The water used for the Pooja is mixed with Cardamom, Benzoin, Holy Basil
(Tulasi), Clove, etc. is the "Theertham". This water becomes more energized
because it receives the positive-ness of all these energies combined. When
persons go to the temple for Deepaaraadhana, and when the doors open up,
the positive energy gushes out onto the persons who are there. The water that is
sprinkled onto the people passes on the energy to all. That is the reason why,
men are not allowed to wear shirts to the temple and ladies have to wear more
ornaments because it is through these jewels (metal) that positive energy is
absorbed in ladies. It is proved that Theertham is a very good blood purifier, as it
is highly energized.
In addition, temples offer holy water (about three spoons). This water is mainly a
source of magneto therapy as they place the copper water vessel at the
Garbhagriha. It also contains cardamom, clove, saffron, etc. to add taste and
Tulasi (holy Basil) leaves are put into the water to increase its medicinal value!
The clove essence protects one from tooth decay, the saffron & Tulasi leave
essence protects one from common cold and cough, cardamom and benzoin
known as Pachha Karpuram, acts as a mouth refreshing agents. This way, one's
health too is protected, by regularly visiting Temples!
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4. Secrets of Life
SECRETS OF LIFE.pps
Click on the above for a power point presentation of 34
slides.
5. Jokes 2012
If you have it, you want to share it. If you share it, you don’t
have
it. What is it?
A. A secret
Q. The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?
A. Darkness
Q. What book was once owned by only the wealthy, but now everyone can
have it? You can’t buy it in a bookstore or take it from a library.
A. A telephone book.
Q. What gets whiter the dirtier that it gets?
A. A chalkboard
Q. What happened in the middle of the twentieth century that will not
happen again for 4,000 years?
A. The year 1961 can be read upside down and that won’t happen again until
6009!
Q. What has no beginning, end, or middle?
A. A doughnut.
Q. What has to be broken before it can be used?
A. An egg.
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Q. What does no man want, yet no man wants to lose?
A. Work – Employment.
Q. How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of brick?
A. Only one, the last one.
Q. What is everything to someone, and nothing to everyone else?
A. Your mind.
Q. Big as a biscuit, deep as a cup, even a river can’t fill it up. What
is it?
A. A kitchen strainer.
Q. What goes up and never comes down?
A. Your age.
Q. What’s the greatest worldwide use of cowhide?
A. To cover cows.
Q. What’s long and thin, covered in skin; red in parts,
and put in tarts?
A. Rhubarb.
Q. What has feet and legs, and nothing else?
A. Stockings.
Q. What is the moon worth?
A. $1, because it has 4
quarters.
Q. What grows when it eats, but dies when it drinks?
A. A candle.
Q. What stays where it is when it goes off?
A. An alarm clock.
Q. You heard me before, yet you hear me again. Then I die, ’til you call
me again. What am I?
A. An echo.
Q. There is a man standing over a dead body in a coffin, and another man
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walks in and asks, who’s in the coffin. The first man replies, brothers and
sisters, I have none, but this man’s father is my father’s son. Who’s in the
coffin?
A. His son.
Men are in the locker room of a golf club. A cell phone on a
bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker-function and
begins to talk.
Everyone else in the room stops to listen.
MAN: "Hello."
WOMAN: "Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?"
MAN: "Yes."
WOMAN: "I am at the shops now and found this beautiful leather coat.
It's only £1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?"
MAN: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much."
WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2006
models. I saw one I really liked."
MAN: "How much?"
WOMAN: "£45,000."
MAN: "OK, but for that price, I want it with all the
options."
WOMAN: "Great! Oh, and one more thing.....the
house I wanted last
year is back on the market. They're asking £450,000."
MAN: "Well, then go ahead and give them an offer
of £400,000. They
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will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra 50 thousand. It is
really a pretty good price."
WOMAN: "OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!!"
MAN: "Bye! I love you, too."
The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room are staring at him
in astonishment, mouths agape.
Then he smiles and asks: "Anyone knows to whom this phone belongs to?" [Image:
Laughing] [Image: Smile]
. 6. Indian Billionaires and Their Castes
A very interesting story on India’s caste issues
>Forbes magazine has put out a list of the
world's 1,210 billionaires.
>Fifty-five of them are Indians. A billion dollars is
Rs. 4,480 crore.
>A Baniya is a member of the Vaish caste,
originating mainly from Rajasthan and Gujarat.
>They are under 1% of India’s population. Yet,
26 of the 55 are baniyas!
>India's richest man is a Baniya (Lakshmi Mittal, world's sixth richest with $31.1
billion),
>second richest man is a Baniya (Mukesh Ambani, $27 billion),
>third richest man is a Khoja (Azim Premji, $16.8 billion),
>fourth richest men are Baniyas (Shashi and Ravi Ruia, $15.8 billion),
>fifth richest person is a Baniya (Savitri Jindal, $13.2 billion),
>sixth richest man is a Baniya (Gautam Adani, $10 billion),
>
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>seventh richest man is a Baniya (Kumar Mangalam Birla, $9.2 billion),
>eighth richest man is a Baniya (Anil Ambani, $8.8 billion),
>ninth richest man is a Baniya (Sunil Mittal, $8.3 billion).
>India’s 10th richest man is a Parsi (Adi Godrej, world's 130th richest with $7.3
billion).
>
>Score: Baniyas 8, Rest of India 2. If we consider the Gujaratis Godrej and
>Premji (from the Lohana caste) as coming from mercantile communities then
>actually Rest of India wasn't playing this match so far.
>
>India’s 11th richest man is K.P. Singh of DLF ($7.3 billion). He is the
>first departure from our trend of mercantile castes. Singh is a peasant, the
>most populous caste grouping of India, about 50% of our population. From
>numbers 11 to 20, there are four Baniyas. They are Anil Agarwal of Vedanta
> ($6.4 billion), Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma ($6.1 billion), Uday Kotak
> ($3.2 billion), and Subhas Chandra Goel of Zee, ($2.9 billion). The
>non-Baniyas are Shiv Nadar of HCL ($5.6 billion), Malvinder and Shivinder
>Singh of Ranbaxy ($4.1 billion), Kalanithi Maran of Sun TV
($3.5 billion),
>Mukesh Jagtiani of Landmark ($3 billion) and Pankaj Patel of Cadila
($2.6 billion).
>
>Between 21 and 30, there are five Baniyas. They are Indu Jain of The Times
>of India ($2.6 billion), Desh Bandhu Gupta of Lupin ($2.1 billion), Sudhir
>and Samir Mehta of Torrent ($2 billion), Aloke Lohia of Indorama ($2
>billion) and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon ($1.9 billion). The five
>non-Baniyas are G.M. Rao of GMR ($2.6 billion), Cyrus Poona Walla of the
>Serum Institute ($2.3 billion), Mumbai builder Rajan Raheja ($2.2 billion),
>Narayana Murthy ($2 billion) and Gautam Thapar of Avantha ($2 billion). Of
>the non-Baniyas, three are from mercantile communities: Poona Walla (Parsi),
>Raheja (Shikarpuri Sindhi) and Thapar (Khatri). Murthy is Brahmin.
>
>Between 31 and 40 are two Baniyas: Rahul Bajaj ($1.6 billion) and Ajay
>Piramal ($1.4 billion). The non-Baniyas include three Brahmins: Nandan
>Nilekani
($1.8 billion) and S. Gopalakrishnan ($1.6 billion) of Infosys, and
>Vijay Mallya ($1.4 billion). Three of the others are from mercantile castes:
>Chandru Raheja ($1.9 billion), Brijmohan Lall Munjal of Hero Motors ($1.5
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>billion) and Vikas Oberoi ($1.4 billion). The last two are K. Anji Reddy
> ($1.5 billion) (from Andhra's dominant peasant community) and Ajay Kalsi of
>Indus Gas ($1.7 billion).
>
>Between 41 and 50 are five Baniyas. They are
R.P. Goenka ($1.3 billion),
>Rakesh Jhunjhunwala ($1.2 billion), Brij Bhushan
Singhal ($1.2 billion),
>B.K. Modi ($1.1 billion) and Mumbai builder
Mangal Prabhat Lodha ($1.1
>billion). The non-Baniyas are Baba Kalyani of
Bharat Forge ($1.3 billion),
>Keshub Mahindra ($1.2 billion), K. Dinesh ($1.2 billion) and S.D. Shibulal
> ($1.1 billion) of Infosys, and Yusuf Hamied of Cipla ($1.1 billion).
>
>The last five, from 51 to 55, include two Baniyas: Mumbai builder
Mofatraj
>Munot of Kalpataru ($1 billion) and Ashwin Dani of Asian Paints ($1
>billion). Two of the others are from mercantile castes: Parsi Anu Aga of
>Thermax ($1 billion) and Khatri Harindarpal Banga of Noble ($1 billion).
>Delhi builder Ramesh Chandra of Unitech ($1 billion) ends our list of
>Indians with a billion dollars or more.
>
>The list has three Parsis, two Muslims and Sikhs in one spot (shared by the
>Ranbaxy Singhs). Banga is also a Sikh name but Harindarpal is clean-shaven.
>All of them, except Poona Walla, have inherited their wealth, though in the
>case of one (Premji), he took a small firm and made it global. There is
>nobody from the scheduled tribes or castes.
>
>India’s large peasant castes have some representation (Singh, Patel, Reddy),
>but not much.
>
>There are 26 Baniyas on our list. Many of them inherited their wealth, but
>just as many (Mittal, Ruias, Adani, Dhoot among
others) are self-made.
>The list has 16 Rajasthanis, and 13 Gujaratis. Every single Rajasthanis is
>from one caste, Vaish, though they are from two faiths: Hindu and Jain.
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>
>Only Gujarat is capable of producing billionaires drawn from four different
>faiths-Hindu, Parsi, Jain and Muslim-and three different castes: Baniya,
>Khatri and peasant. This is unique in India and there is something about
>this secular mercantile culture that produces great men across communities.
>What is it? Three out of the four biggest leaders of the subcontinent under
>British rule were Gujarati, and they were drawn from these three castes:
>Gandhi, Jinnah and Patel. Only 5% of India’s population, Gujaratis don't
>have the numbers to dominate its democratic politics. But businesses are not
>run in democratic fashion. And to rise, you
need quality, not quantity.
>The heartland of India, where our quantity
resides, is
missing from this
>list. Bihar, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,
Uttar Pradesh have little or no
>representation and this does not surprise us.
>
>On the list are 10 south Indians, in proportion to their 20% share of
>India’s population. The famous five from Infosys are obviously self-made. Of
>the others, four are first-generation wealthy. This is a good indicator for
>the future and it restores some balance in favour of Rest of India.
>
>Two final observations. India’s greatest businessman is not on this list.
>Why is that? It is because Ratan Tata owns less than 1% of Tata Sons. He is
>exceptional in every way!!!!!!!!!
>
>Some of you will be wondering that why is Pallanjee Mistree with his wealth of
around $6.00 Billion not featuring in the top ten?
>That's because he is an Irish citizen.
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7. Hyderabad Names 1) Nampally:
Raza Ali Khan was the Dewan of Noam’s State in 1670
AD. His Title was
> 'Nekh Nam Khan' a Jagir was granted to him, which
came to be called
> Nekh-Nampally. This became 'Nampally'.
2) Begumpet:
Basheerunnissa Begum, daughter of Nizam II was married to a Paigah noble.
She received lands in dowry. The village came to be known as Begumpet.
3) Khairatabad:
The Jagir granted to Khairunnisa Begum Daughter of Ibrahim Qutub Shah, came
To be known as Khairatabad.
> 4) Begum Bazar:
>
> Land gifted by Humda Begum (the wife of Nizam Ali Khan Nizamul Mulk) to
> The merchants of Hyderabad for trade and commerce, finally developed as
> Begum Bazar.
5) Sultan Bazar:
After 1933, the Residency bazar was renamed Sultan Bazar, when these areas
were returned to the Nizam, by the British (Residency).
6) Afzal Gunj:
> The V Nizam (Afzalud Dawlah) gifted land to the grain merchants for trade
> And commerce. The place was named Afzal Gunj.
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7) Secunderabad:
Named after Sikander Jha (1806) (III Nizam). The Village where British
Troops were stationed.
8) Ma Saheba Ka Talab:
Hayat Bakshi Begum, wife of Quli Qutub Shah VI - was called Ma Saheba. The
Tank constructed by her to irrigate lands of Mallepally village, was called
Masaheba ka Talab. Finally it was called Masab Tank.
9) Kadve Saheb Ki Galli (lane):
After a person, who was always angry-faced and talked
ill of others. This
Lane is in the old city.
10) Himayat Nagar:
New locality named after Himayat Ali Khan - Azam Jha - eldest son of VII
Nizam - Osman Ali Khan (in 1933). His name was Himayat Ali Khan.
11) Hyderguda:
New locality named after Hyder Ali, who was 1st Talukhdar (District
Collector) and owned lands in the village formerly the Jagir of Vaheed
Unnisa Begum, wife of Nizam. The locality is called after him, as
Hyderguda.
12) Basheer Bagh:*
The garden of Sir Asman Jha, Basirud-dulah - a Paigah Noble, who had a
Palace at the Garden.
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13) Somajiguda:
A revenue department employee, named Sonaji, who owned lands and
resided in
> This village. Sonaji became Somaji and the hamlet came to be called
> ‘Somajiguda’. (Guda is from Godem a hamlet).
14) Malakpet:
Named after Malik Yakoob, a servant of Abdullah Qutub Shah Golconda King
Where he resided had a market, hence the name Malakpet.
15) Saidabad:
A Jagir village of Sayed Meer Momin, Dewan of Golconda (1591).
16) Abid Shop: (Now known as Abids or Abid Road)
A Valet and steward of Nizam (VI) Mahboob Ali Khan. This man was the first
To have a shop here.
17) Saroornagar:
Named after Sarwari Afzal Bai, mistress of Arasthu Jha. Dewan of Hyderabad,
Who granted a Jagir, and constructed a palace and Garden for her.
18) Dabirpura:
The village named after Abdul Samad with the titles; Dabir-ul Mulk, a noble
Man.
19) Noor Khan Bazar:
A market developed by Noor Khan, who came from Luck now, during the time
of the II Nizam.
20) A.C.Guards:
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A locality to the West of Lakdi-ka-pul. The barracks of Abyssinian Cavalry
Guards of Raja of Wanaparthy - (1910) (Abyssinia is the old name of
Ethiopia, an East African country)
8. How Praana Leaves the Body
By way of sharing only
G.Balasubramanian
from: Guruswamy Balasubramanian <[email protected]>
Date: January 5, 2014 at 8:30:27 AM EST
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: {viprasamhitha} HOW DOES THE LIFE FORCE LEAVE THE BODY?
Reply-To: [email protected]
One of the members of a group has
requested me to explain as to 'how the
prAna leave the gross body'. He has
requested confidentiality about his
name. Hence I am making this as a fresh
posting. And not as a reply to his mail.
At the time of death, it is said that one of
the five prAna-s viz., udAna located in
neck region is said to prevent prAna from
escaping from the body. Until the last
breath takes place, the life force is
active in the body and when the 'svAsa' stops people say one cannot survive
and he is declared dead.
Among the panchaprAna-s, prAna is said to stay at the heart, apAna at anus,
samAna at naval region, udAna at neck and vyAna in the rest of the body.
Before the prAna departs, vyAna is said to come back from blood to the prAna.
When the blood dries up or shrinks one experiences pain of death. When apAna
and samAna also join the prAna, digestion, evacuation etc. stop. This can be
compared to a householder gathering all his items at a central place in his
residence when he vacates a house and shifts to another residence. Similarly, all
the life forces gather at the heart and stay there.
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When udAna gives way to PrAna, breath goes out. At that time if we pour
gangAjalam or milk etc. it will not go inside the mouth but will flow outside. It is
said all the indriya-s merge in the mind and hence the eye cannot see, ear
cannot listen, tongue cannot swallow, skin cannot feel touch and nose cannot
smell. The body is warm as long as the Atma which is jyotirmaya stays in the
body, it will be warm. As soon as it leaves through vyAna etc. those parts will
become cold. One of the methods to ascertain death of a person is pouring
milk or any liquid in the mouth of the person suspected to have died. Some
people used to grind a paste of black pepper and cloves and apply it to the
eyes of dead body. If life is there in the body, tears will flow from eyes. No water
will come if the person is dead. Such practices, I am told were being resorted to
some one hundred years ago where qualified or experienced medical
practitioners were not available at a village or place of death. Discussion on this
topic is welcome in the Group for mutual benefit.
G.Balasubramanian.
9. Hinduism
Trying to explain the core beliefs of "Hinduism" to an interested observer can be
challenging to say the least. It’s often stated that the word "Hinduism" itself is a
total misnomer, as it basically refers to the sum total of spiritual and religious
thought and practice that has taken place on the Indian subcontinent over the
past 5,000 years. And let’s just say it's been a busy 5,000 years.
The sheer volume of spiritual literature and doctrine, the
number of distinct gods worshiped (over 30 million,
according to some sources), the breadth of distinct
philosophies and practices that have emerged, and the
total transformation over time of many of the core Indic
teachings and beliefs can be disconcerting to those
raised in monotheistic cultures, as we are used to each
faith bringing with it a defined set of beliefs that -- with
the exception of some denominational rifts over the
centuries -- stay pretty much consistent over time.
However, the key point of differentiation between
Hinduism and these other faiths is not polytheism vs.
monotheism. The key differentiation is that "Hinduism"
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is Open Source and most other faiths are Closed Source.
"Open source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution
of software, offering practical accessibility to software’s source code."
If we consider god, the concept of god, the practices that lead one to god,
and the ideas, thoughts and philosophies around the nature of the human mind
the source code, then India has been the place where the doors have been
thrown wide open and the coders have been given free rein to craft, invent,
reinvent, refine, imagine, and re-imagine to the point that literally every variety
of the spiritual and cognitive experience has been explored, celebrated, and
documented.
Atheists and goddess worshipers, heretics who've sought god through booze,
sex, and meat, ash covered hermits, dualists and non-dualists, nihilists and
hedonists, poets and singers, students and saints, children and outcasts ... all
have contributed their lines of code to the Hindu string.
The results of India's God Project -- as I like to refer to Hinduism -- have been
absolutely staggering. The body of knowledge -- scientific, faith-based, and
experience-based -- that has been accrued on the nature of mind,
consciousness, and human behavior, and the number of practical methods that
have been specifically identified to work with one’s own mind are without
compare. The Sanskrit language itself contains a massive lexicon of words -- far
more than any other historic or modern language -- that deal specifically with
states of mental cognition, perception, awareness, and behavioral psychology.
At the heart of the Indic source code are the Vedas, which immediately
establish the primacy of inquiry in Indic thought. In the Rig Veda, the oldest of all
Hindu texts (and possibly the oldest of all spiritual texts on the planet), God,
or Prajapati, is summarized as one big mysterious question and we the people
are basically invited to answer it.
"Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced?
Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?"
While the god of the Old Testament was shouting command (ment) s, Prajapati
was asking: "Who am I?"
Since opening the floodgates on the divine question, Indic thought has followed
a glorious evolutionary arc from shamanism, nature worship and sacrifice
through sublime and complex theories on mental cognition, the nature of
consciousness, and quantum physics.
Page 20 of 92
Through tracing the subcontinents relationship with the deities of the Vedas, we
can trace the course of Indic thought over the centuries. One of the first things
we notice is that not only does the people's relationship to god change over the
centuries, the gods themselves change. Shiva, for example, appears in the
Vedas as Rudra, the howler, god of storms, still something of a lesser deity.
Reappearing over the centuries as Bhairavi -- he who inspires fear -- Pashupati,
lord of beasts, the god of yogis, and the destroyer, Shiva finally, by the 9th
century, achieves status in Kashmir as the fundamental energetic building block
of the entire universe. Neat trick.
But as much as the gods change and the evolution of Indic thought leads us to
increasingly modern and post-modern views of the nature of reality, the old
Vedic codes still remain front and center. One of Hinduism's defining factors is
that the historic view of god, the nature worship and shamanism, never went
away, so that god as currently worshiped exists simultaneously as symbol and
archetype as well as literal embodiment. That Shiva, for instance, could
simultaneously be the light of ultimate consciousness and an ash-smeared
madman who frequents cremation grounds is a delight to us spiritual anarchists,
while mind numbing to most western Theologists.
Western and Middle Eastern monotheistic faiths have simply not allowed such
liberal interpretation of their God. They continue to exist as closed source
systems.
"Generally, [closed source] means only the binaries of a computer program are
distributed and the license provides no access to the program's source code.
The source code of such programs might be regarded as a trade secret of the
company."
One of the defining facts of Christian history is that access to God has been
viewed -- as in most closed source systems -- as a trade secret. The ability to
reinterpret the bible, or the teachings of Christ, or the Old Testament or to
challenge the basic fundamental authority of the church has been nonexistent
for most of the church's history. Those who dared to do so were quite often
killed.
In Indic thought, there is no trade secret. The foundation of yoga is that the key
to god, or the macrocosm, or the absolute ... lies within the individual and can
be accessed through a certain set of practices. It's a beautifully simple but
ultimately profound concept that has been allowed to flourish unchecked for
millennia. The process of discovert.ng and re-imagining the divine is in your
hands. The God Project.
Page 21 of 92
10 Hindu Rituals
Hindu Rituals - Answers to most common questions
Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:22 am (PDT). Posted by:
"Ramesh B" rameshbukkapatnam
On Tuesday, 22 April 2014 3:44 PM, spa Chari
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hindu Rituals
forwarded by Mr. Vasant Roy C Vora
We having born in a Hindu Family have been
performing a variety of Hindu Religious Rituals all along
our life without any objections as directed by our parents and our Religious
Purohit. Here are some of the detailed reasons with meanings on these Rituals
being performed.
There a posting of these Rituals on sss global site by Mr. Ramesh Bukkapatnam
which I have redrawn in a more presentable format………..KKR
1. Why do we light a lamp?
2. Why do we have a Prayer Room?
3. Why do we do Namaste?
4. Why do we prostrate before Parents and Elders?
5. Why do we wear Marks (Tilak, Pottu and the like) on forehead?
6. Why do we not touch papers, books and people with the feet?
7. To touch another with the feet is considered an act of Misdemeanor. Why
is this so?
8. Why do we apply the holy ash?
9. Why do we offer food to the Lord before eating it?
10. Why do we fast?
11. Why is Pradakshina done (circumambulate)?
12. Why is Pradakshina done only in a clockwise manner?
13. Why do we regard trees and plants as sacred?
14. Why do we ring the temple in the temple?
15. Why do we worship the Kalasha?
16. Why do we consider the Lotus as special?
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17. Why do we worship Tulasi?
18. Why do we blow the conch?
19. Why do we say Shashi thrice?
20. Why do we offer a coconut?
21. Why do we chant OM?
22. Why do we do Aarati?
The explanations for the questions are as under:
1. why do we light a lamp?
In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily before
the altar of the Lord. In some houses it is lit at dawn, in
some, twice a day – at dawn and dusk – and in a few it
is maintained continuously (akhanda deepa). All
auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the
lamp, which is often
maintained right through the occasion.
Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness,
ignorance. The Lord is the "Knowledge
Principle" (chaitanya) who is the source, the
enlivener and the illuminator of all
knowledge. Hence light is worshiped as the Lord himself.
Knowledge removes ignorance just as light removes darkness. Also
knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievement can
be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge
as the greatest of all forms of wealth
Why not light a bulb or tube light? That too would remove darkness. But
the traditional oil lamp has a further spiritual significance. The oil or ghee in
the lamp symbolizes our vaasanas or negative tendencies and the wick,
the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the vaasanas get slowly
exhausted and the ego too finally perishes. The flame of a lamp always
burns upwards. Similarly we should acquire such knowledge as to take us
towards higher ideals.
Whilst lighting the lamp we thus pray:
Deepajyothi parabrahma
Deepa sarva tamopahaha
Deepena saadhyate saram
Sandhyaa deepo namostute
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I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp; whose light is the Knowledge Principle
(the Supreme Lord), which removes the darkness of ignorance and by
which all can be achieved in life.
2. Why do we have a prayer room?
Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar.
A lamp is lit and the Lord worshipped each day.
Other spiritual practices like japa (repetition of
the Lord's name), meditation, paaraayana
(reading of the scriptures), prayers, and
devotional singing etc. is also done here. Special
worship is done on auspicious occasions like
birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and the like.
Each member of the family – young or old –
communes with and worships the Divine here.
The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the house we
live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the house. We are the earthly
occupants of His property. This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.
The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of our homes
and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather difficult, we could at least
think of Him as a very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important
guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord's presence in our homes
by having a prayer room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-
decorated.
Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our homes with us,
we have prayer rooms. Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be
successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by communing with
Him in the prayer room each day and on special occasions.
Each room in a house is dedicated to a specific function like the bedroom for
resting, the drawing room to receive guests, the kitchen for cooking etc. The
furniture, decor and the atmosphere of each room are made conducive to the
purpose it serves. So too for the purpose of meditation, worship and prayer, we
should have a conducive atmosphere – hence the need for a prayer room.
Sacred thoughts and sound vibrations pervade the place and influence the
minds of those who spend time there. Spiritual thoughts and vibrations
accumulated through regular meditation, worship and chanting done there
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pervade the prayer room. Even when we are tired or agitated, by just sitting in
the prayer room for a while, we feel calm, rejuvenated and spiritually uplifted.
3. Why do we do Namaste?
Indians greet each other with Namaste. The two palms are
placed together in front of the chest and the head bows
whilst saying the word Namaste. This greeting is for all –
people younger than us, of our own age, those older than
friends, even strangers and us.
There are five forms of formal traditional greeting enjoined in
the shaastras of which namaskaram is one. This is understood as prostration but it
actually refers to paying homage as we do today when we greet each other
with a Namaste.
>
>Namaste could be just a casual or formal greeting, a cultural convention or an
act of worship. However there is much more to it than meets the eye. In Sanskrit
namah + te = Namaste. It means – I bow to you – my greetings, salutations or
prostration to you. Namaha can also be literally interpreted as "na ma" (not
mine). It has a spiritual significance of negating or reducing one's ego in the
presence of another.
The real meeting between people is the meeting of their minds. When we greet
another, we do so with Namaste, which means, "may our minds meet,"
indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The bowing down of
the head is a gracious form of extending friendship in love and humility.
The spiritual meaning is even deeper. The life force, the divinity, the Self or the
Lord in me is the same in all. Recognizing this oneness with the meeting of the
palms, we salute with head bowed the Divinity in the person we meet. That is
why sometimes, we close our eyes as we do Namaste to a revered person or the
Lord – as if to look within. The gesture is often accompanied by words like "Ram
Ram", "Jai Shri Krishna", "Namo Narayana", "Jai Siya Ram", "Om Shanti" etc. –
indicating the recognition of this divinity.
>
>When we know this significance, our greeting does not remain just a superficial
gesture or word but paves the way for a deeper communion with another in an
atmosphere of love and respect.
4. Why do we prostrate before parents and elders?
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Indians prostrate before their parents, elders, teachers and
noble souls by touching their feet. The elder in turn blesses
us by placing his or her hand on or over our heads.
Prostration is done daily, when we meet elders and
particularly on important occasions like the beginning of a
new task, birthdays, festivals etc. In certain traditional
circles, prostration is accompanied by abhivaadana, which
serves to introduce one-self, announce one's family and
social stature.
Man stands on his feet. Touching the feet in prostration is a sign of respect for
the age, maturity, nobility and divinity that our elders personify. It symbolizes our
recognition of their selfless love for us and the sacrifices they have done for our
welfare. It is a way of humbly acknowledging the greatness of another. This
tradition reflects the strong family ties, which has been one of India's enduring
strengths.
The good wishes (Sankalpa) and blessings (aashirvaada) of elders are highly
valued in India. We prostrate to seek them. Good thoughts create positive
vibrations. Good wishes springing from a heart full of love, divinity and nobility
have a tremendous strength. When we prostrate with humility and respect, we
invoke the good wishes and blessings of elders which flow in
the form of positive energy to envelop us. This is why the
posture assumed whether it is in the standing or prone position,
enables the entire body to receive the energy thus received.
The different forms of showing respect are:
Pratuthana– rising to welcome a person.
Namaskaara–paying homage in the form of Namaste
(discussed separately in this book).
Upasangrahan–touching the feet of elders or teachers. >Shaashtaanga–
prostrating fully with the feet, knees, stomach, chest, forehead and arms
touching the ground in front of the elder.
Pratyabivaadana– returning a greeting.
Rules are prescribed in our scriptures as to who should prostrate to whom.
Wealth, family name, age, moral strength and spiritual
knowledge in ascending order of importance qualified
men to receive respect. This is why a king though the ruler
of the land, would prostrate before a spiritual master.
Epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata have many
stories highlighting this aspect.
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5. Why do we wear marks (Tilak, Pottu and the like) on the
forehead?
The Tilak or Pottu invokes a feeling of sanctity in the wearer
and others. It is recognized as a religious mark. Its form and
colour vary according to one's caste, religious sect or the
form of the Lord worshipped.
In earlier times, the four castes (based
on Varna or colour) – Brahmana,
Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra – applied marks differently. The
Brahmin applied a white Chandan mark signifying purity, as
his profession was of a priestly or academic nature. The
Kshatriya applied a red kum kum mark signifying valour as
he belonged to warrior races. The Vaishya wore a yellow
kesar or turmeric mark signifying prosperity as he was a
businessman or trader devoted to creation of wealth. The
Sudra applied a black bhasma, kasturi or charcoal mark signifying service as he
supported the work of the other three divisions.
Also Vishnu worshippers apply a Chandan Tilak of the shape of "U", Shiva
worshippers a tripundra (of the shape of "º ") of bhasma, Devi worshippers a red
dot of kum kum and so on).
The Tilak cover the spot between the eyebrows, which is the seat of memory
and thinking. It is known as the Aajna Chakra in the language of Yoga. The Tilak
is applied with the prayer – "May I remember the Lord. May this pious feeling
pervade all my activities. May I be righteous in my deeds?" Even when we
temporarily forget this prayerful attitude the mark on another reminds us of our
resolve. The Tilak is thus a blessing of the Lord and a protection against wrong
tendencies and forces.
The entire body emanates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves – the
forehead and the subtle spot between the eyebrows especially so. That is why
worry generates heat and causes a headache. The Tilak and Pottu cool the
forehead, protect us and prevent energy loss. Sometimes the entire forehead is
covered with Chandan or bhasma. Using plastic reusable "stick bindis" is not very
beneficial, even though it serves the purpose of decoration.
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6. Why do we not touch papers, books and people with the
feet?
To Indians, knowledge is sacred and divine. So it must
be given respect at all times. Nowadays we separate
subjects as sacred and secular. But in ancient India
every subject – academic or spiritual – was
considered divine and taught by the guru in the
gurukula.
The custom of not stepping on educational tools is a
frequent reminder of the high position accorded to
knowledge in Indian culture. From an early age, this wisdom fosters in us a deep
reverence for books and education. This is also the reason why we worship
books, vehicles and instruments once a year on Saraswathi Pooja or Ayudha
Pooja day, dedicated to the Goddess of Learning. In fact, each day before
starting our studies, we pray:
Saraswati namasthubhyam
Varade kaama roopini
Vidyaarambham karishyaami
Sidhirbhavatu me sadaa
O Goddess Saraswati, the giver of
>Boons and fulfiller of wishes,
>I prostrate to you before
>starting my studies.
>May you always fulfill me?
7. To touch another with the feet is considered an act of
misdemeanor. Why is this so?
Man is regarded as the most beautiful, living breathing temple of the Lord!
Therefore touching another with the feet is akin to disrespecting the divinity
within him or her. This calls for an immediate apology, which is offered with
reverence and humility.
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8. Why do we apply the holy ash?
This shows extreme case of applying ash (this is too
much and not commonly done
>the ash of any burnt object is not regarded as holy
ash. Bhasma (the holy ash) is the ash from the homa
(sacrificial fire) where special wood along with ghee
and other herbs is offered as worship of the Lord. Or the
deity is worshipped by pouring ash as abhisheka and is
then distributed as bhasma.
Bhasma is generally applied on the forehead. Some
apply it on certain parts of the body like the upper arms, chest etc. Some
ascetics rub it all over the body. Many consume a pinch of it each time they
receive it.
The word bhasma means, "That by which our sins are destroyed and the Lord is
remembered". Bha implied bhartsanam ("to destroy") and sma implies
smaranam ("to remember"). The application of bhasma therefore signifies
destruction of the evil and remembrance of the divine. Bhasma is called vibhuti
(which means "glory") as it gives glory to one who applies it and raksha (which
means a source of protection) as it protects the wearer from ill health and evil,
by purifying him or her.
Homa (offering of oblations into the fire with sacred chants) signifies the offering
or surrender of the ego and egocentric desires into the flame of knowledge or a
noble and selfless cause. The consequent ash signifies the purity of the mind,
which results from such actions.
Also the fire of knowledge burns the oblation and wood signifying ignorance
and inertia respectively. The ash we apply indicates that we should burn false
identification with the body and become free of the limitations of birth and
death. This is not to be misconstrued as a morose reminder of death but as a
powerful pointer towards the fact that time and tide wait for none.
Bhasma is specially associated with Lord Shiva who applies it all over His body.
Shiva devotes apply bhasma as a tripundra (the form of
"&ord� ;"). When applied with a red spot at the center,
the mark symbolizes Shiva-Shakti (the unity of energy and
matter that creates the entire seen and unseen universe).
Bhasma has medicinal value and is used in many
Ayurveda medicines. It absorbs excess moisture from the
body and prevents colds and headaches. The
Upanishads say that the famous Mrityunjaya mantra
Page 29 of 92
should be chanted whilst applying ash on the forehead.
Tryambakam yajaamahe>Sugandhim pushtivardhanam
Urvaa rukamiva bhandhanaan
Mrytyor muksheeyamaa amrutaat
"We worship the three-eyed Lord Shiva who nourishes and spread fragrance in
our lives. May He free us from the shackles of sorrow, change and death –
effortlessly, like the fall of a rip brinjal from its stem."
9. Why do offer food to the Lord before eating it?
Indians make an offering of food to the Lord and later
partake of it as prasaada – a holy gift from the Lord. In
our daily ritualistic worship (pooja) too we offer
naivedyam (food) to the Lord.
>The Lord is omnipotent and omniscient. Man is a
part, while the Lord is the totality. All that we do is by
His strength and knowledge alone. Hence what we
receive in life as a result of our actions is really His
alone. We acknowledge this through the act of
offering food to Him. This is exemplified by the Hindi words "tera tujko arpan"– I
offer what is yours to you. Thereafter it is akin to His gift to us, graced by His divine
touch.
Knowing this, our entire attitude to food and the act of eating changes. The
food offered will naturally be pure and the best. We share what we get with
others before consuming it. We do not demand, complain or criticise the quality
of the food we get. We eat it with cheerful acceptance (prasaada buddhi).
Before we partake of our daily meals we first sprinkle water
around the plate as an act of purification. Five morsels of
food are placed on the side of the plate acknowledging the
debt owed by us to the Divine forces ( devta runa) for their
benign grace and protection, our ancestors (pitru runa) for
giving us their lineage and a family culture, the sages (rishi
runa) as our religion and culture have been "realised",
maintained and handed down to us by them, our fellow beings ( manushya
runa) who constitute society without the support of which we could not live as
we do and other living beings (bhuta runa) for serving us selflessly.
Thereafter the Lord, the life force, who is also within us as the five life-giving
physiological functions, is offered the food. This is done with the chant
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praanaaya swaahaa,
apaanaaya swaahaa,
vyaanaaya swaahaa,
udaanaaya swaahaa,
samaanaaya swaahaa,
brahmane swaahaa
after offering the food thus; it is eaten as prasaada – blessed food.
10. Why do we fast?
Most devout Indians fast regularly or on special occasions like festivals. On such
days they do not eat at all, eat once or make do with
fruits or a special diet of simple food.
Fasting in Sanskrit is called upavaasa. Upa means "near"
+ Vaasa means "to stay". Upavaasa therefore means
staying near (the Lord), meaning the attainment of
close mental proximity with the Lord. Then what has
upavaasa to do with food?
A lot of our time and energy is spent in procuring food items, preparing, cooking,
eating and digesting food. Certain food types make our minds dull and
agitated. Hence on certain days man decides to save time and conserve his
energy by eating either simple, light food or totally abstaining from eating so
that his mind becomes alert and pure. The mind, otherwise pre-occupied by the
thought of food, now entertains noble thoughts and stays with the Lord. Since it
is a self-imposed form of discipline it is usually adhered to with joy.
Also every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Rest and a
change of diet during fasting are very good for the digestive system and the
entire body.
The more you indulge the senses, the more they make their demands. Fasting
helps us to cultivate control over our senses, sublimate our desires and guide our
minds to be poised and at peace.
Fasting should not make us weak, irritable or create an urge to indulge later. This
happens when there is no noble goal behind fasting.
The Bhagavad-Gita urges us to eat appropriately – neither too less nor too much
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– yukta-aahaara and to eat simple, pure and healthy food (a saatvikdiet) even
when not fasting.
11. Why do we do pradakshina
(circumambulate)?
We cannot draw a circle without a center point. The
Lord is the center, source and essence of our lives.
Recognizing Him as the focal point in our lives, we go
about doing our daily chores. This is the significance
of pradakshina.
Also every point on the circumference of a circle is equidistant from the center.
This means that wherever or whoever we may be, we are equally close to the
Lord. His grace flows towards us without partiality.
12. Why is pradakshina done only in a
clockwise manner?
The reason is not, as a person said, to avoid a
traffic jam! As we do pradakshina, the Lord is always on
our right. In India the right side symbolizes auspiciousness.
So as we circumambulate the sanctum sanctorum we
remind ourselves to lead an auspicious life of righteousness, with the Lord who is
the indispensable source of help and strength, as our guide – the "right hand".
Indian scriptures enjoin – matrudevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava, and
acharyadevo bhava. May you consider your parents and teachers as you
would the Lord. With this in mind we also do pradakshina around our parents
and divine personages.
After the completion of traditional worship (pooja), we customarily do
pradakshina around ourselves. In this way we recognize and remember the
supreme divinity within us, which alone is idolized in the form of the Lord that we
worship outside.
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13. Why do we regard trees and plants as sacred?
The Lord, the life in us, pervades all
living beings, be they plants or
animals. Hence, they are all
regarded as sacred. Human life
on earth depends on plants and
trees. They give us the vital factors
that make life possible on earth: food, oxygen, clothing,
shelter, medicines etc.
Hence, in India, we are taught to regard trees and plants as sacred. Indians
scriptures tell us to plant ten trees if, for any reason, we have to cut one. We are
advised to use parts of trees and plants only as much as is needed for food, fuel,
shelter etc. we are also urged to apologies to a plant or tree before cutting it to
avoid incurring a specific sin named soona
Certain trees and plants like tulasi, peepal etc., which have tremendous
beneficial qualities, are worshipped till today. It is believed that divine beings
manifest as trees and plants, and many people worship them to fulfill their
desires or to please the Lord.
14. Why do we ring the bell in a temple?
Is it to wake up the Lord? But the Lord never sleeps. Is it
to let the Lord know we have come? He does not need
to be told, as He is all knowing. Is it a form of seeking
permission to enter His precinct? It is a homecoming
and therefore entry needs no permission. The Lord
welcomes us at all times. Then why do we ring the
bell?
The ringing of the bell produces what is regarded as an auspicious sound. It
produces the sound Om, the universal name of the Lord. There should be
auspiciousness within and without, to gain the vision of the Lord who is all-
auspiciousness.
Even while doing the ritualistic aarati, we ring the bell. It is sometimes
accompanied by the auspicious sounds of the conch and other musical
instruments. An added significance of ringing the bell, conch and other
instruments is that they help drowned any inauspicious or irrelevant noises and
comments that might disturb or distract the worshippers in their devotional
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ardour, concentration and inner peace.
As we start the daily ritualistic worship (pooja) we ring the bell, chanting:
Aagamaarthamtu devaanaam
gamanaarthamtu rakshasaam Kurve ghantaaravam tatra
devataahvaahna lakshanam
I ring this bell indicating
the invocation of divinity,
So that virtuous and noble forces
enter (my home and heart);
and the demonic and evil forces
from within and without, depart.
15. Why do we worship the kalasha?
First of all what is a kalasha? A brass, mud or
copper pot is filled with water. Mango leaves are
placed in the mouth of the pot and a coconut is
placed over it. A red or white thread is tied around
its neck or sometimes all around it in an intricate
diamond-shaped pattern. The pot may be
decorated with designs. Such a pot is known as a
kalasha.
When the pot is filled with water or rice, it is known as purnakumbha representing
the inert body which when filled with the divine life force gains the power to do
all the wonderful things that makes life what it is.
A kalasha is placed with due rituals on all-important occasions like the traditional
house warming (grihapravesa), wedding, daily worship etc. It is placed near the
entrance as a sign of welcome. It is also used in a traditional manner while
receiving holy personages. Why do we worship the kalasha? Before the creation
came into being, Lord Vishnu was reclining on His snake-bed in the milky ocean.
From His navel emerged a lotus from which appeared Lord Brahma, the creator,
who thereafter created this world.
The water in the kalasha symbolizes the primordial water from which the entire
creation emerged. It is the giver of life to all and has the potential of creating
innumerable names and forms, the inert objects and the sentient beings and all
that is auspicious in the world from the energy behind the universe. The leaves
and coconut represent creation.
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The thread represents the love that "binds" all in creation.
The kalasha is therefore considered auspicious and
worshipped. The waters from all the holy rivers, the
knowledge of all the Vedas and the blessings of all the
deities are invoked in the kalasha and its water is thereafter
used for all the rituals, including the abhisheka.
The consecration (kumbhaabhisheka) of a temple is done in
a grand manner with elaborate rituals including the pouring of one or more
kalasha of holy water on the top of the temple. When the asuras and devas
churned the milky ocean, the Lord appeared bearing the pot of nectar, which
blessed one with everlasting life.
Thus the kalasha also symbolizes immortality. Men of wisdom are full and
complete as they identify with the infinite Truth (poornatvam). They brim with joy
and love and respect all that is auspicious. We greet them with a purnakumbha
("full pot") acknowledging their greatness and as a sign of respectful and
reverential welcome, with a "full heart".
16. Why do we consider the lotus as special?
The lotus is the symbol of truth, auspiciousness and beauty
(satyam, shivam, sundaram). The Lord is also that nature
and therefore, His various aspects are compared to a lotus
(i.e. lotus-eyes, lotus feet, lotus hands, the lotus of the heart
etc.)
The lotus blooms with the rising sun and close at night.
Similarly, our minds open up and expand with the light of knowledge. The lotus
grows even in slushy areas. It remains beautiful and untainted despite its
surroundings, reminding us that we too can and should strive to remain pure and
beautiful within, under all circumstances.
The lotus leaf never gets wet even though it is always in water.
It symbolizes the man of wisdom (gyaani) who remains ever
joyous, unaffected by the world of sorrow and change. This is
revealed in a shloka from the Bhagwad-Geeta:
Brahmanyaadhaaya karmaani
Sangam tyaktvaa karoti yaha
Lipyate Na SA paapena
Padma patram ivaambhasaa
Page 35 of 92
He who does actions, offering them to Brahman (the Supreme), abandoning
attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf remains unaffected by the
water on it.
From this, we learn that what is natural to the man of wisdom becomes a
discipline to be practiced by all saadhakas or spiritual seekers and devotees.
Our bodies have certain energy centers described in the Yoga Shaastras as
chakras.
Each one is associated with lotus that has a certain number of petals. For
example, a lotus with a thousand petals represents the Sahasra chakra at the
top of the head, which opens when the yogi attains Godhood or Realisation.
Also, the lotus posture (padmaasana) is recommended when one sits for
meditation. A lotus emerged from the navel of Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma
originated from it to create the world. Hence, the lotus symbolizes the link
between the creator and the supreme Cause.
It also symbolizes Brahmaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma. The auspicious
sign of the swastika is said to have evolved from the lotus.
17. Why do we worship tulasi?
In Sanskrit, tulanaa naasti athaiva tulasi - that which is
incomparable (in its qualities) is the tulasi.
For Indians it is one of the most sacred plants. In fact it is known
to be the only thing used in worship, which, once used, can be
washed and reused in pooja - as it is regarded so self-purifying.
As one story goes, Tulasi was the devoted wife of
Shankhachuda, a celestial being. She believed that Lord
Krishna tricked her into sinning. So she cursed Him to become a
stone (shaaligraama). Seeing her devotion and adhered to
righteousness, the Lord blessed her saying that she would become the
worshipped plant, tulasi that would adorn His head.
Also that all offerings would be incomplete without the tulasi leaf - hence the
worship of tulasi.
She also symbolises Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu. Those who wish
to be righteous and have a happy family life worship the tulasi.
Tulasiis married to the Lord with all pomp and show as in any wedding.
This is because according to another legend, the Lord blessed her to be His
Page 36 of 92
consort. Satyabhama once weighed Lord Krishna against all her legendary
wealth. The scales did not balance till a single tulasi leaf was placed along with
the wealth on the scale by Rukmini with devotion.
Thus the tulasi played the vital role of demonstrating to the world that even a
small object offered with devotion means more to the Lord than all the wealth in
the world.
The tulasi leaf has great medicinal value and is used to cure various ailments,
including the common cold.
Yanmule sarvatirhaani
Yannagre sarvadevataa
Yanmadhye sarvavedaascha
Tulasi taam namaamyaham
I bow down to the tulasi, At whose base are all the holy places, At whose top
reside all the deities and In whose middle are all the Vedas.
18. Why do we blow the conch?
When the conch is blown, the primordial sound of
Om emanates. Om is an auspicious sound that was
chanted by the Lord before creating the world. It
represents the world and the Truth behind it.
As the story goes, the demon Shankhaasura
defeated devas, the Vedas and went to the bottom
of the ocean. The devas appealed to Lord Vishnu for help. He incarnated as
Matsya Avataara - the "fish incarnation" and killed Shankhaasura. The Lord blew
the conch-shaped bone of his ear and head. The Om sound emanated, from
which emerged the Vedas.
All knowledge enshrined in the Vedas is an elaboration of Om. The conch
therefore is known as shankha after Shankaasua. The conch blown by the Lord is
called Paanchajanya. He carries it at all times in one of His four hands.
It represents dharma or righteousness that is one of the four goals
(purushaarthas) of life. The sound of the conch is thus also the victory call of
good over evil.
Another well-known purpose of blowing the conch and the instruments, known
traditionally to produce auspicious sounds is to drown or mask negative
Page 37 of 92
comments or noises that may disturb or upset the
atmosphere or the minds of worshippers.
Ancient India lived in her villages. Each village was presided
over by a primary temple and several small ones. During the
aarati performed after all-important poojas and on sacred
occasions, the conch used to be blown. Since villages were
generally small, the sound of the conch would be heard all
over the village. People who could not make it to the temple
were reminded to stop whatever they were doing, at least for a few seconds,
and mentally bow to the Lord. The conch sound served to briefly elevate
people's minds to a prayerful attitude even in the middle of their busy daily
routine.
The conch is placed at the altar in temples and homes next to the Lord as a
symbol of Naada Brahma (Truth), the Vedas, Om, dharma, victory and
auspiciousness. It is often used to offer devotees thirtha (sanctified water) to
raise their minds to the highest Truth. It is worshipped with the following verse.
Twam puraa saagarot pannaha
Vishnunaa vidhrutahakare
Devaischa poojitha sarvahi
Panchjanya namostute Te
Salutations to Panchajanya
the conch born of the ocean
Held in the hand of Lord Vishnu >and worshipped by all devas
19. Why do we say shaanti thrice?
Shaanti, meaning "peace", is a natural state of
being. Disturbances are created either by others or
us. For example, peace already exists in a place
until someone makes noise.
Therefore, peace underlies all our agitations. When
agitations end, peace is naturally experienced since
it was already there. Where there is peace, there is
happiness. Therefore, every one without exception desires peace in his/her life.
However, peace within or without seems very hard to attain because it is
covered by our own agitations. A rare few manage to remain peaceful within
even in the midst of external agitation and troubles. To invoke peace, we chant
prayers. By chanting prayers, troubles end and peace is experienced internally,
irrespective of the external disturbances. All such prayers end by chanting
Page 38 of 92
shaanti thrice.
It is believed that trivaram satyam - that which is said thrice comes true. For
emphasizing a point we repeat a thing thrice. In the court of law also, one who
takes the witness stands says, "I shall speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth".
We chant shaanti thrice to emphasise our intense desire for
peace. All obstacles, problems and sorrows originate from
three sources.
Aadhidaivika: The unseen divine forces over which we
have little or no control like earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions etc.
Aadhibhautika: The known factors around us like accidents, human contacts,
pollution, crime etc.
Aadhyaatmika: We sincerely pray to the Lord that at least while we undertake
special tasks or even in our daily lives, there are no problems or that, problems
are minimised from the three sources written about above.
May peace alone prevail? Hence shaanti is chanted thrice.
It is chanted aloud the first time, addressing the unseen forces. It is chanted
softer the second time, directed to our immediate surroundings and those
around, and softest the last time as it is addressed to oneself.
20. Why do we offer a coconut?
In India one of the most common offerings in a
temple is a coconut. It is also offered on occasions
like weddings, festivals, the use of a new vehicle,
bridge, house etc. It is offered in the sacrificial fire
whilst performing homa. The coconut is broken and
placed before the Lord. It is later distributed as
prasaada.
The fibre covering of the dried coconut is removed
except for a tuft on the top. The marks on the coconut make it look like the
head of a human being. The coconut is broken, symbolising the breaking of the
ego. The juice within, representing the inner tendencies (vaasanas) is offered
along with the white kernel - the mind, to the Lord.
A mind thus purified by the touch of the Lord is used as prasaada (a holy gift). In
the traditional abhisheka ritual done in all temples and many homes, several
materials are poured over the deity like milk, curd, honey, tender coconut
Page 39 of 92
water, sandal paste, holy ash etc. Each material has a specific significance of
bestowing certain benefits on worshippers. Tender coconut water is used in
abhisheka rituals since it is believed to bestow spiritual growth on the seeker.
The coconut also symbolises selfless service. Every part of the tree -the trunk,
leaves, fruit, coir etc. Is used in innumerable ways like thatches, mats, tasty
dishes, oil, soap etc. It takes in even salty water from the earth and converts it
into sweet nutritive water that is especially beneficial to sick people. It is used in
the preparation of many ayurvedic medicines and in other alternative
medicinal systems.
The marks on the coconut are even thought to represent the three-eyed
Lord Shiva and therefore it is considered to be a means to fulfill our desires.
21. Why do we chant Om?
Om is one of the most chanted sound symbols in India. It has a profound effect
on the body and mind of the one who chants and also
on the surroundings. Most mantras and Vedic prayers start
with Om.
All auspicious actions begin with Om. It is even used as a
greeting - Om, Hari Om etc. It is repeated as a mantra or
meditated upon. Its form is worshipped, contemplated
upon or used as an auspicious sign.
Om is the universal name of the Lord. It is made up of the
letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as
in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal
chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the
lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".
The three letters symbolize the three states (waking, dream and deep
sleep), the three deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur
and Sama) the three worlds (Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah) etc. The Lord is all these and
beyond.
The formless, attributeless Lord (Brahman) is represented by the silence between
two Om Chants. Om is also called pranava that means, "That (symbol or sound)
by which the Lord is praised". The entire essence of the Vedas is enshrined in the
word Om. It is said that the Lord started creating the world after chanting Om
and atha. Hence its sound is considered to create an auspicious beginning for
any task that we undertake. The Om chant should have the resounding sound
of a bell (aaooommm).
Om is written in different ways in different places. The most common form
Page 40 of 92
symbolizes Lord Ganesha's. The upper curve is the head; the lower large one,
the stomach; the side one, the trunk; and the semi-circular mark with the dot,
the sweetmeat ball (modaka) in Lord Ganesha's hand. Thus Om symbolizes
everything - the means and the goal of life, the world and the Truth behind it,
the material and the Sacred, all form and the Formless.
22. Why do we do aarati?
Towards the end of every ritualistic worship
(pooja or bhajans) of the Lord or to welcome
an honored guest or saint, we perform the
aarati. This is always accompanied by the
ringing of the bell and sometimes by singing,
playing of musical instruments and clapping. >It
is one of the sixteen steps (shodasha upachaara) of the pooja ritual. It is referred
to as the lighted lamp in the right hand, which we wave in a clockwise circling
movement to light the entire form of the Lord.
Each part is revealed individually and also the entire form of the Lord. As the
light is waved we either do mental or loud chanting of prayers or simply behold
the beautiful form of the Lord, illumined by the lamp. At the end of the
aarati we place our hands over the flame and then gently touch our eyes and
the top of the head.
We have seen and participated in this ritual from our childhood. Let us find out
why we do the aarati?
Having worshipped the Lord of love - performing abhisheka, decorating the
image and offering fruits and delicacies, we see the beauty of the Lord in all His
glory. Our minds are focused on each limb of the Lord as the lamp lights it up. It
is akin to silent open-eyed meditation on His beauty. The singing, clapping,
ringing of the bell etc. denote the joy and auspiciousness, which accompanies
the vision of the Lord.
>Aarati is often performed with camphor. This holds a telling spiritual
significance. Camphor when lit burns itself out completely without leaving a
trace of it. It represents our inherent tendencies (vaasanas). When lit by the fire
of knowledge which illumines the Lord (Truth), our vaasanas thereafter burn
themselves out completely, not leaving a trace of ego which creates in us a
sense of individuality that keeps us separate from the Lord.
Also while camphor burns to reveal the glory of Lord, it emits a pleasant perfume
even while it sacrifices itself. In our spiritual progress, even as we serve the guru
and society, we should willingly sacrifice ourselves and all we have, to spread
the "perfume" of love to all. We often wait a long while to see the illumined Lord
but when the aarati is actually performed; our eyes close automatically as if to
look within. This is to signify that each of us is a temple of the Lord.
Page 41 of 92
Just as the priest reveals the form of the Lord clearly
with the aarati flame, so too the guru reveals to us
the divinity within each of us with the help of the
"flame" of knowledge (or the light of spiritual
knowledge). At the end of the aarati, we place our
hands over the flame and then touch our eyes and
the top of the head. It means - May the light that
illuminated the Lord light up my vision; May my
vision be divine and my thoughts noble and beautiful.
The philosophical meaning of aarati extends further. The sun, moon, stars,
lightning and fire are the natural sources of light. The Lord is the source of this
wondrous phenomenon of the universe. It is due to Him alone that all else exists
and shine. As we light up the Lord with the flame of the aarati, we turn our
attention to the very source of all light, which symbolizes knowledge and life.
Also the sun is the presiding deity of the intellect, the moon, that of the mind,
and fire, that of speech. The Lord is the supreme consciousness that illuminates
all of them. Without Him, the intellect cannot think, nor can neither the mind feel
nor the tongue speak. The Lord is beyond the mind, intellect and speech. How
can this finite equipment illuminate the Lord? Therefore, as we perform the
aarati we chant;
Na tatra suryo bhaati Na chandra taarakam
Nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagnib
Tameva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam
Tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhaati
He is there where the sun does not shine, >Nor the moon, stars and lightning.
Then what to talk of this small flame (in my hand),
everything (in the universe) shines only after the Lord,
And by His light alone are we all illumined.
Page 42 of 92
11. Hindu Mythology
http://hindumythologybynarin.blogspot.in/
OPEN THE WEB SITE. U WILL SEE NUMBER OF PICTURES. CLICK
ON EACH PICTURE DIALOGUE BOX OPEN. IT GIVES THE FULL
STORY OF THAT PICTURE
12. Coffee Origin
How filter kaapi made it to Chennai Asha Sridhar
>
>
> - [image: Though coffee is said to have reached the shores of India,
> along with tea, in the 17th century, it was not until the end of the 19th
> century that coffee and it's `cultural other', tea, became a phenomenon in
> India -- Photo: Bijoy Ghosh]
> Though coffee is said to have reached the
shores of India, along with
> tea, in the 17th century, it was not until the
end of the 19th century that
> coffee and it's `cultural other', tea,
became a phenomenon in India --
> Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
> -
>
> Asha Sridhar on the Ethiopian-origin beverage that became intrinsically
> linked to colonialism
>
> Chennai-bred entrepreneur S. Sujan (24) first took to coffee while studying
> in Scotland, four years ago. In his words, he "put up with the espressos
> and cappuccinos", and when he came back home, got himself a filter and
> coffee powder to have "real coffee".
>
> New-age coffee shops, with their swanky couches and bloated prices, may
> have introduced the culture of drinking coffee to a new demographic, but
> youngsters like Sujan have chosen to keep alive a living tradition, where
> filter coffee is not just another drink.
Page 43 of 92
>
> But, this drink which has, over the years, lapped up fierce loyalists,
> self-confessed connoisseurs and coffee puritans who spend much of their
> time contemplating the proportion in which the varieties of beans should be
> ground, its storage, how often fresh coffee should be purchased, and the
> best way of savoring it, made headway into Tamil society only in the early
> 1900s, say scholars.
>
> When author and historian Pradeep
Chakravarthy's grandmother went to
> Ananthakrishnapuram in Tirunelveli as a new bride
in 1916, she was the
> first one to brew coffee in the village. "When they
first saw the coffee
> filter, discussions surrounding coffee and the filter
ensued for a week,
> and gradually, even the extremely orthodox
members began to consume it," he
> says.
>
> So how did coffee, which traces its origin to
Ethiopia, make headway in the
> south and in the city? Though it is said to have
reached the shores of
> India, along with tea, in the 17th century, it was
not until the end of the
> 19th century that coffee and it's `cultural other', tea, became a
> phenomenon in India, says A.R. Venkatachalapathy, author and professor,
> Madras Institute of Development Studies, in his book, *In those days there
> was no coffee: Writings in cultural history*.
>
> The cultivation of coffee and tea was linked to colonialism, and in the
> literature of the time, it was described as a drink of the Europeans,
> before it percolated to the emerging middle classes, and in some places, to
> the working class. Prof. Venkatachalapathy says coffee replaced traditional
> beverages like *neeragaram*, *kanji* and buttermilk.
>
> When coffee came to be patronized by a class educated in modern schools
and
> worked in jobs created by colonialism, it gained new cultural connotations,
> and came to be perceived as `modern'. And this modern drink came at a
> price.
>
> "Unlike tea, coffee was an expensive drink. It naturally lent itself to
Page 44 of 92
> that bracket because unlike tea which brews better in water, coffee was
> brewed in milk, and milk was expensive," he says. In the 80s, it was common
> practice in Madras to borrow coffee powder from neighbors, for a day or
> two, because it was expensive.
>
> Venu Srinivasan, partner, Leo Coffee, whose grandfather set up their first
> outlet in Mylapore in 1971, says, back then, households were loyal to their
> neighborhood coffee-maker, and there were only a handful of families that
> consumed coffee. "In the 1970s, our coffee was priced at Rs. 10 per kg
> which was considered expensive. It was always a niche product," he says,
> adding, it grew to be widely-consumed only over the last decade.
>
> And it is not just south Indians who cherish their filter *kaapi*. "Though
> we are Gujaratis, our day does not begin without a cup of filter coffee. I
> began having filter coffee as a child at my mother's place, and the
> practice continued even after I got married. While we have tea in the
> evening with snacks or biscuits, filter coffee has to be had with no
> accompaniment to be relished," says Jamuna Dave.
>
> And ask old timers about their favorite coffee haunts in the city, their
> answers range from Karpagambal Mess and Rayars Mess in Mylapore to Hotel
> Krishna Prasad on N.S.C. Bose Road and Vasantha Bhavan in Anna Nagar.
13. Canada Medicals
Medical Facilities in Canada
Canada is a developed country with a low population of around 33 million of
people. This is about half the population of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The
statistics is given below:
R
an
k
Name[1]
Popu
latio
n
(2011
Cens
us)
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2011
)
%
gro
wt
h
(20
06–
11)
Lan
d
area
(km
²)
Popu
latio
n
densi
ty
(/km2
)
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
(%)
2013
popu
latio
n
(July est.)
[
2]
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2013
)
Page 45 of 92
R
an
k
Name[1]
Popu
latio
n
(2011
Cens
us)
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2011
)
%
gro
wt
h
(20
06–
11)
Lan
d
area
(km
²)
Popu
latio
n
densi
ty
(/km2
)
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
(%)
2013
popu
latio
n
(July est.)
[
2]
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2013
)
1 Ontario 12,851,8
21 38.4% 5.7%
908,607
.67 14.1 106 34.4%
13,537,9
94 38.5%
2 Quebec 7,903,00
1 23.6% 4.7%
1,356,5
47.02 5.8 75 24.4%
8,155,33
4 23.2%
3 British
Columbia
4,400,05
7 13.1% 7.0%
922,509
.29 4.8 36 11.7%
4,581,97
8 13%
4 Alberta 3,645,25
7 10.9% 10.8%
640,081
.87 5.7 28 9.1%
4,025,07
4 11.4%
5 Manitoba 1,208,26
8 3.6% 5.2%
552,329
.52 2.2 14 4.5%
1,265,01
5 3.6%
6 Saskatchewa
n
1,033,38
1 3.1% 6.7%
588,239
.21 1.8 14 4.5%
1,108,30
3 3.2%
7 Nova Scotia 921,727 2.8% 0.9% 52,939.
44 17.4 11 3.6% 940,789 2.7%
8 New
Brunswick 751,171 2.2% 2.9%
71,377.
18 10.5 10 3.2% 756,050 2.2%
9 Newfoundla
nd and Labrador 514,536 1.5% 1.8%
370,510
.76 1.4 7 2.3% 526,702 1.5%
Page 46 of 92
R
an
k
Name[1]
Popu
latio
n
(2011
Cens
us)
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2011
)
%
gro
wt
h
(20
06–
11)
Lan
d
area
(km
²)
Popu
latio
n
densi
ty
(/km2
)
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
Hou
se of
Com
mon
s
seats
(%)
2013
popu
latio
n
(July est.)
[
2]
Perc
ent
of
natio
nal
popu
latio
n
(2013
)
10 Prince
Edward Island 140,204 0.4% 3.2%
5,685.7
3 24.7 4 1.3% 145,237 0.4%
11 Northwest
Territories 41,462 0.1% 0.0
1,143,7
93.47 0.0 1 0.3% 43,537 0.1%
12 Yukon 33,897 0.1% 11.6% 474,712
.64 0.1 1 0.3% 36,700 0.1%
13 Nunavut 31,906 0.1% 8.3% 1,877,7
87.62 0.0 1 0.3% 35,591 0.1%
Total Canada 33,476,6
88 100% 5.9%
8,965,1
21.42 3.7 308 100%
35,158,3
04 100%
Canada due to low population with huge land area extending from Atlantic
Ocean on the east to Pacific Ocean on the west and a variety of huge
resources lacks in skilled man power. In order to have additional skilled
personnel it allows immigration of skilled personnel from across the world. It now
allows yearly 250,000 immigrants.
Canada has good Governance by the federal Government with its capital at
Ottawa. The economy is very high
Page 47 of 92
There is a single one point taxation at 13 percent. Except for food and drugs
which are lower. All people pay taxes and there is no tax evasion. Government
provides all basic facilities to its people. There are no power cuts or power
breaks. Round the clock power is available through per capita consumption of
power is very high.
Infrastructure is good with high degree of high
maintenance.
Medical Facilities
Canada is the only country in the entire world providing
Medical Facilities free to all its citizens. The doctors provide a high degree of
medical advice and drugs appropriate to the identified diseases. There are
sophisticated modern world class Hospitals for in patients all free including drugs
and food.
There are medical walk in clinics in all places near to the place of residence.
Every person a citizen or an immigrant holding permanent residency is issued
with a health card for each province. This health card entitles free health facility.
Walk in Clinics
A patient can walk into any clinic for medical attendance. The doctor after
examination prescribes the drugs. People in service have to pay for drugs. But
these are reimbursed to them by their employers to an extent of
80 percent through their group health insurance policies.
Senior citizens of age 65 and above enjoy the facility of free
drugs. The doctor’s e mail the drugs to the Pharmacy usually
located in the same premises. The patient can collect the medicines on
payment and senior citizens free from the pharmacy. Subsequent monthly
medicines are delivered free of cost by the pharmacy to the patients home
Every citizen has to get registered for a family doctor of his choice from any of
the walk in clinics. The patient will have to go to that doctor every time
for his medical attendance. The family doctor keeps complete record
of the patient electronically. All test done, medicines prescribed
Page 48 of 92
lab reports of pathological tests conducted, X ray reports, scan reports etc. all
are maintained.
Senior citizens have to undergo a set of prescribed tests compulsorily every year.
The complete blood picture, blood pressure, eyes test, bone density, prostate
gland. Stools test, x ray, ECG, echo, stomach scan, EEG where warranted, all
physical tests, any other tests pertaining to medical history of patient such
tuberculosis, kidney stones, strokes, etc.
The family doctor prescribes these tests and sends patients to concerned labs
and centre for carrying out these tests free. An appointment has to be got
booked for these tests and on the appointed day these will be carried out. The
test reports are sent to the family doctor who takes necessary further action as
required. An appointment has to be booked to visit a family doctor. If
appointed time we don’t attend there is a heavy penalty. Appointment can be
got postponed or cancelled at least 24 hours before time of appointment.
The doctors cannot have private practice in fact there are no private doctors.
But The Medical Facilities do not cover dental problems. These are treated by
private practising dental doctors. These are all private clinics and have to be
paid for the services.
Physically Challenges Persons
Special care is taken for physically challenged patients. They are
provided free wheel chairs where warranted, free travel in buses,
special reserved parking at all places, Facility to board buses along
with wheel chair.
The treatment for eyes is covered but the eye specks are not covered in these
facilities. Further hearing problem treatment is free but hearing aids are not free
but are with a subsidy. All types of surgery, hospitalisation, and drugs when
admitted in hospital are all free. The accidents patients are treated free.
Ambulance Services
In case of emergency if u phone 911 and ambulance comes to u r
house to pick up and will take you to nearest hospital and
treatment offered on emergency basis. Similarly due to emergency
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a patient can walk into any hospital for admission and get treated.
Chronic Diseases
The chronic diseases are periodical reviewed by family doctor and rugs
adjusted accordingly. The monthly medicines are supplied by the Pharmacy to
the patient at his door step free of cost.
The health department maintains the cost incurred per year on each person in
the country and can be had on request.
Test Reports
Similarly all test reports are maintained electronically by the family doctor. If
copies are required by patient it will be given on a small fee. In fact this
requirement does not arise.
There are various insurance companies for dental insurance. With a monthly or
yearly premium the dental treatments are all free for the family.
Pharmacy
The Pharmacy is out sourced by Government. It is in most cases situated
along with the walk in clinics. They are also located in Malls. No Pharmacy
will sell drugs without Doctor’s prescription except a few drugs which are
common like cough syrups etc. They are manned by qualified person with
diploma or degree in Pharmacy. They issue the medicines based on
Doctors prescriptions in plastic bottles which are child proof for opening.
The bottles are labelled with patients name, doctor’s name, medicine
name etc. so that it is not misused. The costs are reimbursed by
Government.
Review
I have been visiting Canada since 2002. I became a permanent Resident in
2007. Since then I am visiting here frequently. I am enjoying all medical benefits
free of cost a world class treatment being a senior citizen. Though the
temperatures are low with just 2 months July and August summer months with 32
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To 34 C temperatures and up to minus 20 in
winter months with
snow fall. But life
never stops here. All
roads are cleared
of snow
immediately by
Government for easy commuting. Canada a lovely place to live and enjoy the
facilities with good Governance and infrastructure facilities especially for people
from India more so for senior citizens.
Compiled by: Krishna Rao Khanapur
14. Benefits of Basmati Rice.
Benefits of Eating Basmati Rice According to Ayurveda
Published on Apr 13 2014 06:53 AM | Posted by Radha Pukan | Health and
Ayurveda | 2,710 views
Since centuries rice forms an essential component of the Indian diet. It
symbolizes fertility, wealth and good health according to Hindu customs.
Ancient priests used it as a component of worship. Even today across cultures,
rice is thrown at newlyweds as a blessing of healthy offspring and everlasting
prosperity. It is in fact a staple food of India, with most Indian homes serving the
same every day. It is said to be the very foundation of nourishment. The food
that we eat daily directly affects our natural constitution. Our constitution in turn
is based on our inherent doshas. This is why a balanced diet helps to balance
the natural doshas presence. Depending on whether one is vata, pitta or kapha
dominant, one must design a specific diet for regular nutrition. Ayurveda has a
beautiful dietary plan suiting each kind of body type. Different foods are known
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to produce one of these three doshas aspects as well. Hence, we must have
knowledge on the apt food for our inherent constitution.
There are several dozen varieties of rice such as Jasmine, Arboria,
Japanese, Brown rice, Red rice, Black rice, Wild rice, Texmati (from Texas),
Calmati (from California), and the original basmati rice from India. An exotic
type of rice, basmati and its versions are thin and long stemmed. There are both
brown basmati as well as white basmati versions of the rice. It has several
wondrous properties. Rice is a contributor to the buildup of ojas and interestingly
it is said to smell of burnt rice. Of all the rice varieties basmati is the most Sattvic
and aromatic. It fulfills several functions in Ayurveda nutrition. Its rasa, or quality
of taste, is sweet, that in turn offers a deep satisfaction. During the process of
digestion, its virya or energetic impact on the inner digestive fires tends to be
cooling. And finally, its vipaka or post-digestion effect is also sweet and provides
a great sense of contentment and comfort.
Basmati rice can be cooked in an amazing
variety of ways. Usually this kind of rice is used to
cook special saffron infused pulao, biryani and
sweet rice pudding with fruits, milk and speckled
with a dash of ghee. It can also be combined
with beans, nuts, cottage cheese, and
vegetables for wholesome and nutritious dishes.
Rice can also be spiced with a variety of herbs
such as basil, cardamom, fennel, etc. Basmati rice is
not one for everyday eating but for special occasions and generally families in
India treats themselves with basmati every weekend.
What one doesn’t realize is the amazing properties of basmati rice in balancing
doshas. It is specifically evident in the case of Kapha and Pitta doshas. Rice is
the most nourishing and easy to digest. It offers more calories with less effort from
the point of view of the digestive tracts. While in the West, brown rice is known
for health reasons due to its bran and fiber content, Ayurveda advises long-
grained and aromatic basmati rice. It is pure and nutritious while balancing
physiology. Basmati rice builds body tissue and is very rich in prana or vital bio-
energy. In fact plain rice is a good snack too and doesn’t really disturb the inner
digestive fires. It is a valuable food for those recovering from an illness and a
basis of Samsarjana Karma.
There are many benefits of including rice as a part of one’s diet. Ayurveda
recommends the six fundamental tastes on the plate during meal times. This
includes sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. Rice is one of the
major constituents of Ayurveda meals that add a flavor of sweetness. It is light,
soft and nourishing when cooked. It also has a wonderful cooling nature and it
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thus plays an important role in balancing the Vata and Pitta doshas. To balance
Vata doshas, one must consume well-cooked rice soaked and boiled in water.
In Sattvic meals a dash of clarified butter (ghee) is added while cooking the
rice. Desserts made with rice and milk is predominantly cooling and
complementary for Pitta doshas. Basmati rice is great for such preparations. But
such rice does in fact create a volume of mucus. Due to this reason it becomes
important for those with Kapha doshas predominance to avoid eating rice too
often. Dry-roasting it prior to eating is a good idea as it lessens heaviness.
One must be careful about how the rice is cooked. Rice that is cooked 'al
dente', without enough water, can cause gas, bloating and constipation for
Vata people. It must be cooked in water for a long while and finally strained
from it. If rice gives one gas, then one must add extra water and cook it until it is
soft and puffy. This is the right way to eat. Poorly digested food becomes poison
or aama in the digestive tract. Rice has good medicinal value too and can
counter aama. Ayurveda recommends white rice for issues like gas, bloating, or
indigestion.
How to Cook Basmati Rice
How to cook the perfect basmati rice: In a medium pot combine one part rice
and 2½ parts water and bring the same to a gentle boil. This must be cooked till
rice settles below becoming puffy and a small amount of water remains in the
pot. One must never stir the pot and let the water evaporate. Some people also
put excess water and then strain it once the rice is fully cooked. One must finally
remove the pot from the heat and then proceed to cover it. In an ideal situation
its best to let the basmati rice stand for about 10 to 15 minutes prior to serving. To
test if the rice is cooked well one can press a few grains between the fingers.
Most people in India prefer distinct fluffy grains, not sticky or hard ones as they
eat it with their bare hands.
The following are some of the well-known varieties of basmati rice. Among
Indian varieties there are: basmati-370, basmati-385, ranbirsinghpura basmati,
Punjab basmati, Uttar Pradesh basmati, safidon basmati, Haryana basmati,
kasturi basmati, Bihar basmati, mahi suganda basmati, super basmati and push
basmati. Outside of India there are varieties called as texmati and pishori
basmati.
Health Benefits of Brown Basmati Rice
Among all varieties of rice, brown basmati rice provides the most benefits for
your health and nutrition. Brown basmati rice is basmati rice that has not had the
outer bran layer removed. It is considered healthier as there are more vitamins
and fiber present in the outer bran layer. Brown basmati rice contains about 20%
more fiber than other types of brown rice. This fiber helps prevent the formation
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of cancerous cells in the body. Brown basmati rice is unprocessed (unpolished)
and thus contains more nutrition and vitamins than other forms of polished rice.
Brown basmati rice is perhaps the healthiest rice one can eat. The benefits of
basmati rice are many, and they increase even more when you eat the rice in
its natural unprocessed form as brown basmati rice.
According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, basmati rice has a "medium"
glycemic index, which is lower than other varieties of rice and thus better suited
for those who suffer from diabetes.
Due to all these reasons and more, for centuries now, aromatic basmati rice has
proved to be a great healing food. Ayurveda supports its properties and
recommends it to every human being. It is not expensive and can be a part of
your regular meals.
Author's Name: Radha Pukan
15. 1000 Proverbs FOR THE JOY OF SHARING GOOD THINGS
1000 English Proverbs and Sayings
>1. A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
> 2. A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit.
> 3. A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
> 4. A bargain is a bargain.
> 5. A beggar can never be bankrupt.
> 6. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
> 7. A bird may be known by its song.
> 8. A black hen lays a white egg.
> 9. A blind leader of the blind.
> 10. A blind man would be glad to see.
> 11. A broken friendship may be soldered, but will never be sound.
> 12. A burden of one's own choice is not felt.
> 13. A burnt child dreads the fire.
> 14. A cat in gloves catches no mice.
> 15. A city that parleys is half gotten.
> 16. A civil denial is better than a rude grant.
> 17. A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast.
> 18. A clean hand wants no washing.
> 19. A clear conscience laughs at false accusations.
> 20. A close mouth catches no flies.
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> 21. A cock is valiant on his own dunghill.
> 22. A cracked bell can never sound well.
> 23. A creaking door hangs long on its hinges.
> 24. A curst cow has short horns.
> 25. A danger foreseen is half avoided.
> 26. A drop in the bucket.
> 27. A drowning man will catch at a straw.
> 28. A fair face may hide a foul heart.
> 29. A fault confessed is half redressed.
> 30. A fly in the ointment.
> 31. A fool always rushes to the fore.
> 32. A fool and his money are soon parted.
> 33. A fool at forty is a fool indeed.
> 34. A fool may ask more questions in an hour than a wise man can answer in
seven years.
> 35. A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred wise men cannot
pull out.
> 36. A fool's tongue runs before his wit.
> 37. A forced kindness deserves no thanks.
> 38. A foul morn may turn to a fair day.
> 39. A fox is not taken twice in the same snare.
> 40. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
> 43. A friend is never known till needed.
> 42. A friend to all is a friend to none.
> 43. A friend's frown is better than a foe's smile.
> 44. A good anvil does not fear the hammer.
> 45. A good beginning is half the battle.
> 46. A good beginning makes a good ending.
> 47. A good deed is never lost.
> 48. A good dog deserves a good bone.
> 49. A good example is the best sermon.
> 50. A good face is a letter of recommendation.
> 51. A good Jack makes a good Jill.
> 52. A good marksman may miss.
> 53. A good name is better than riches.
> 54. A good name is sooner lost than won.
> 55. A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.
> 56. A good wife makes a good husband.
> 57. A great dowry is a bed full of brambles.
> 58. A great fortune is a great slavery.
> 59. A great ship asks deep waters.
> 60. A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
> 61. A hard nut to crack.
> 62. A heavy purse makes a light heart.
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> 63. A hedge between keeps friendship green.
> 64. A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
> 65. A hungry belly has no ears.
> 66. A hungry man is an angry man.
> 67. A Jack of all trades is master of none.
> 68. A Joke never gains an enemy but often loses a friend.
> 69. A lawyer never goes to law himself.
> 70. A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy.
> 71. A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth.
> 72. A lie begets a lie.
> 73. A light purse is a heavy curse.
> 74. A light purse makes a heavy heart.
> 75. A little body often harbors a great soul.
> 76. A little fire is quickly trodden out.
> 77. A man can die but once.
> 78. A man can do no more than he can.
> 79. A man is known by the company he keeps.
> 80. A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.
> 81. A miserly father makes a prodigal son.
> 82. A miss is as good as a mile.
> 83. A new broom sweeps clean.
> 84. A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool.
> 85. A penny saved is a penny gained.
> 86. A penny soul never came to two pence.
> 87. A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.
> 88. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
> 89. A round peg in a square hole.
> 90. A shy cat makes a proud mouse.
> 91. A silent fool is counted wise.
> 92. A small leak will sink a great ship.
> 93. A soft answer turns away wrath.
> 94. A sound mind in a sound body.
> 95. A stitch in time saves nine.
> 96. A storm in a teacup.
> 97. A tattler is worse than a thief.
> 98. A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf.
> 99. A thief passes for a gentleman when stealing has made him rich.
> 100. A threatened blow is seldom given.
> 101. A tree is known by its fruit.
> 102. A wager is a fool's argument.
> 103. A watched pot never boils.
> 104. A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.
> 105. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
> 106. A wonder lasts but nine days.
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> 107. A word is enough to the wise.
> 108. A word spoken is past recalling.
> 109. Actions speak louder than words.
> 110. Adversity is a great schoolmaster.
> 111. Adversity makes strange bedfellows.
> 112. After a storm comes calm.
> 113. After dinner comes the reckoning.
> 114. After dinner sit (sleep) a while, after supper walk a mile.
> 115. After rain comes fair weather.
> 116. After us the deluge.
> 117. Agues come on horseback, but go away on foot.
> 118. All are good lasses, but whence come the bad wives?
> 119. All are not friends that speak us fair.
> 120. All are not hunters that blow the horn.
> 121. All are not merry that dance lightly.
> 122. All are not saints that go to church.
> 123. All asses wag their ears.
> 124. All bread is not baked in one oven.
> 125. All cats are grey in the dark (in the night).
> 126. All covet, all lose.
> 127. All doors open to courtesy.
> 128. All is fish that comes to his net.
> 129. All is not lost that is in peril.
> 130. All is well that ends well.
> 131. All lay load on the willing horse.
> 132. All men can't be first.
> 133. All men can't be masters.
> 134. All promises are either broken or kept.
> 135. All roads lead to Rome.
> 136. All sugar and honey.
> 137. All that glitters is not gold.
> 138. All things are difficult before they are easy.
> 139. All truths are not to be told.
> 140. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
> 141. "Almost" never killed a fly (was never hanged).
> 142. Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.
> 143. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
> 144. An ass in a lion's skin.
> 145. An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.
> 146. An ass loaded with gold climbs to the top of the castle.
> 147. An empty hand is no lure for a hawk.
> 148. An empty sack cannot stand upright.
> 149. An empty vessel gives a greater sound than a full barrel.
> 150. An evil chance seldom comes alone.
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> 151. An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.
> 152. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.
> 153. An idle brain is the devil's workshop.
> 154. An ill wound is cured, not an ill name.
> 155. An oak is not felled at one stroke.
> 156. An old dog barks not in vain.
> 157. An open door may tempt a saint.
> 158. An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning.
> 159. An ox is taken by the horns and a man by the tongue.
> 160. An unfortunate man would be drowned in a teacup.
> 161. Anger and haste hinder good counsel.
> 162. Any port in a storm.
> 163. Appearances are deceitful.
> 164. Appetite comes with eating.
> 165. As drunk as a lord.
> 166. As innocent as a babe unborn.
> 167. As like as an apple to an oyster.
> 168. As like as two peas.
> 169. As old as the hills.
> 170. As plain as the nose on a man's face.
> 171. As plain as two and two make four.
> 172. As snug as a bug in a rug.
> 173. As sure as eggs are eggs.
> 174. As the call, so the echo.
> 175. As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks.
> 176. As the old cock crows, so does the young.
> 177. As the tree falls, so shall it lie?
> 178. As the tree, so the fruit.
> 179. As welcome as flowers in May.
> 180. As welcome as water in one's shoes.
> 181. As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
> 182. As you brew, so must you drink?
> 183. As you make your bed, so must you lie on it?
> 184. As you sow, so shall you reap?
> 185. Ask no questions and you will be told no lies.
> 186. At the ends of the earth.
> 187. Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune.
> 188. Bad news has wings.
> 189. Barking does seldom bite.
> 190. Be slow to promise and quick to perform.
> 191. Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
> 192. Beauty is but skin-deep.
> 193. Beauty lies in lover's eyes.
> 194. Before one can say Jack Robinson.
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> 195. Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him.
> 196. Beggars cannot be choosers.
> 197. Believe neither all that you see nor half what you hear.
> 198. Best defense is offence.
> 199. Better a glorious death than a shameful life.
> 200. Better a lean peace than a fat victory.
>
> 201. Better a little fire to warm us, than a great one to burn us.
> 202. Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.
> 203. Better an open enemy than a false friend.
> 204. Better be alone than in bad company.
> 205. Better be born lucky than rich.
> 206. Better be envied than pitied.
> 207. Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.
> 208. Better deny at once than promise long.
> 209. Better die standing than live kneeling.
> 210. Better early than late.
> 211. Better give a shilling than lend a half-crown.
> 212. Better go to bed supper less than rise in debt.
> 213. Better late than never.
> 214. Better lose a jest than a friend.
> 215. Better one-eyed than stone-blind.
> 216. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
> 217. Better the foot slip than the tongue.
> 218. Better to do well than to say well.
> 219. Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.
> 220. Better unborn than untaught.
> 221. Better untaught than ill-taught.
> 222. Between the cup and the lip a morsel may slip.
> 223. Between the devil and the deep (blue) sea.
> 224. Between two evils 'tis not worth choosing.
> 225. Between two stools one goes (falls) to the ground.
> 226. Between the upper and nether millstone.
> 227. Betwixt and between.
> 228. Beware of a silent dog and still water.
> 229. Bind the sack before it be full.
> 230. Birds of a feather flock together.
> 231. Blind men can judge no colours.
> 232. Blood is thicker than water.
> 233. Borrowed garments never fit well.
> 234. Brevity is the soul of wit.
> 235. Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.
> 236. Business before pleasure.
> 237. By doing nothing we learn to do ill.
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> 238. By hook or by crook.
> 239. By the street of 'by-and-bye' one arrives at the house of 'Never'.
> 240. Calamity is man's true touchstone.
> 241. Care killed the cat.
> 242. Catch the bear before you sell his skin.
> 243. Caution is the parent of safety.
> 244. Charity begins at home.
> 245. Cheapest is the dearest.
> 246. Cheek brings success.
> 247. Children and fools must not play with edged tools.
> 248. Children are poor men's riches.
> 249. Choose an author as you choose a friend.
> 250. Christmas comes but once a year, (but when it comes it brings good
cheer).
> 251. Circumstances alter cases.
> 252. Claw me, and I will claw thee.
> 253. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
> 254. Company in distress makes trouble less.
> 255. Confession is the first step to repentance.
> 256. Counsel is no command.
> 257. Creditors have better memories than debtors.
> 258. Cross the stream where it is shallowest.
> 259. Crows do not pick crow's eyes.
> 260. Curiosity killed a cat.
> 261. Curses like chickens come home to roost.
> 262. Custom is a second nature.
> 263. Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools.
> 264. Cut your coat according to your cloth.
> 265. Death is the grand leveller.
> 266. Death pays all debts.
> 267. Death when it comes will have no denial.
> 268. Debt is the worst poverty.
> 269. Deeds, not words.
> 270. Delays are dangerous.
> 271. Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
> 272. Diligence is the mother of success (good luck).
> 273. Diseases are the interests of pleasures.
> 274. Divide and rule.
> 275. Do as you would be done by.
> 276. Dog does not eat dog.
> 277. Dog eats dog.
> 278. Dogs that put up many hares kill none.
> 279. Doing is better than saying.
> 280. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
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> 281. Don't cross the bridges before you come to them.
> 282. Don't have thy cloak to make when it begins to rain.
> 283. Don't keep a dog and bark yourself.
> 284. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
> 285. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
> 286. Don't sell the bear's skin before you've caught it.
> 287. Don't trouble until trouble troubles you.
> 288. Don't whistle (halloo) until you are out of the wood.
> 289. Dot your i's and cross your t's.
> 290. Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed.
> 291. Drive the nail that will go.
> 292. Drunken days have all their tomorrow.
> 293. Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals.
> 294. Dumb dogs are dangerous.
> 295. Each bird loves to hear he sings.
> 296. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
> 297. Easier said than done.
> 298. East or West home is best.
> 299. Easy come, easy goes.
> 300. Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.
> 301. Empty vessels make the greatest (the most) sound.
> 302. Enough is as good as a feast.
> 303. Envy shoots at others and wounds herself.
> 304. Even reckoning makes long friends.
> 305. Every ass loves to hear he brays.
> 306. Every barber knows that.
> 307. Every bean has its black.
> 308. Every bird likes its own nest.
> 309. Every bullet has its billet.
> 310. Every country has its customs.
> 311. Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
> 312. Every day is not Sunday.
> 313. Every dog has his day.
> 314. Every dog is a lion at home.
> 315. Every dog is valiant at his own door.
> 316. Every Jack has his Jill.
> 317. Every man has a fool in his sleeve.
> 318. Every man has his faults.
> 319. Every man has his hobby-horse.
> 320. Every man is the architect of his own fortunes.
> 321. Every man to his taste.
> 322. Every miller draws water to his own mill.
> 323. Every mother thinks her own gosling a swan.
> 324. Every one's faults are not written in their foreheads.
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> 325. Every tub must stand on its own bottom.
> 326. Every white has its black, and every sweet it’s sour.
> 327. Every why has a wherefore.
> 328. Everybody's business is nobody's business.
> 329. Everything comes to him who waits.
> 330. Everything is good in its season.
> 331. Evil communications corrupt good manners.
> 332. Experience is the mother of wisdom.
> 333. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools learn in no other.
> 334. Experience keeps no school, she teaches her pupils singly.
> 335. Extremes meet.
> 336. Facts are stubborn things.
> 337. Faint heart never won fair lady.
> 338. Fair without, foul (false) within.
> 339. Fair words break no bones.
> 340. False friends are worse than open enemies.
> 341. Familiarity breeds contempt.
> 342. Far from eye, far from heart.
> 343. Fasting comes after feasting.
> 344. Faults are thick where love is thin.
> 345. Feast today and fast tomorrow.
> 346. Fine feathers make fine birds.
> 347. Fine words butter no parsnips.
> 348. First catch your hair.
> 349. First come, first served.
> 350. First deserve and then desire.
> 351. First think, and then speak.
> 352. Fish and company stink in three days.
> 353. Fish begins to stink at the head.
> 354. Follow the river and you'll get to the sea.
> 355. Fool's haste is no speed.
> 356. Fools and madmen speak the truth.
> 357. Fools grow without watering.
> 358. Fools may sometimes speak to the purpose.
> 359. Fools never know when they are well.
> 360. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
> 361. For the love of the game.
> 362. Forbearance is no acquaintance.
> 363. Forbidden fruit is sweet.
> 364. Forewarned is forearmed.
> 365. Fortune favours the brave (the bold).
> 366. Fortune is easily found, but hard to be kept.
> 367. Four eyes see more (better) than two.
> 368. Friends are thieves of time.
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> 369. From bad to worse.
> 370. From pillar to post.
> 371. Gentility without ability is worse than plain beggary.
> 372. Get a name to rise early, and you may lie all day.
> 373. Gifts from enemies are dangerous.
> 374. Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself.
> 375. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
> 376. Give him an inch and he'll take an ell.
> 377. Give never the wolf the wether to keep.
> 378. Gluttony kills more men than the sword.
> 379. Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark.
> 380. Good clothes open all doors.
> 381. Good counsel does no harm.
> 382. Good health is above wealth.
> 383. Good masters make good servants.
> 384. Good words and no deeds.
> 385. Good words without deeds are rushes and reeds.
> 386. Gossiping and lying go hand in hand.
> 387. Grasp all, lose all.
> 388. Great barkers are no biters.
> 389. Great boast, small roast.
> 390. See
> 391. Great spenders are bad lenders.
> 392. Great talkers are great liars.
> 393. Great talkers are little doers.
> 394. Greedy folk have long arms.
> 395. Habit cures habit.
> 396. Half a loaf is better than no bread.
> 397. "Hamlet" without the Prince of Denmark.
> 398. Handsome is that handsome does.
> 399. Happiness takes no account of time.
> 400. Happy is he that is happy in his children.
>
> 401. Hard words break no bones.
> 402. Hares may pull dead lions by the beard.
> 403. Harm watch, harm catch.
> 404. Haste makes waste.
> 405. Hasty climbers have sudden falls.
> 406. Hate not at the first harm.
> 407. Hatred is blind, as well as loves.
> 408. Hawks will not pick hawks' eyes.
> 409. He begins to die that quits his desires.
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> 410. He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue.
> 411. He carries fire in one hand and water in the other.
> 412. He dances well to whom fortune pipes.
> 413. He gives twice who gives in a trice.
> 414. He goes long barefoot that waits for dead man's shoes.
> 415. He is a fool that forgets himself.
> 416. He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs.
> 417. He is happy that thinks himself so.
> 418. He is lifeless that is faultless.
> 419. He is not fit to command others that cannot command him.
> 420. He is not laughed at that laughs at himself first.
> 421. He is not poor that has little, but he that desires much.
> 422. He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
> 423. He knows best what good is that has endured evil.
> 424. He knows how many beans make five.
> 425. He knows much who knows how to hold his tongue.
> 426. He laughs best who laughs last.
> 427. He lives long that lives well.
> 428. He must need swim that is held up by the chin.
> 429. He should have a long spoon that sups with the devil.
> 430. He smells best that smells of nothing.
> 431. He that comes first to the hill may sit where he will.
> 432. He that commits a fault thinks everyone speaks of it.
> 433. He that does you and ibid turn will never forgive you.
> 434. He that fears every bush must never go a-birding.
> 435. He that fears you present will hate you absent.
> 436. He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.
> 437. He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns.
> 438. He that has a full purse never wanted a friend.
> 439. He that has a great nose thinks everybody is speaking of it.
> 440. He that has an ill name is half hanged.
> 441. He that has no children knows not what love is.
> 442. He that has His head needs no hat.
> 443. He that has no money needs no purse.
> 444. He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.
> 445. He that is full of himself is very empty.
> 446. He that is ill to himself will be good to nobody.
> 447. He that is warm thinks all so.
> 448. He that knows nothing doubts nothing.
> 449. He that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas.
> 450. He that lives with cripples learns to limp.
> 451. He that mischief hatches, mischief catches.
> 452. He that never climbed never fell.
> 453. He that once deceives is ever suspected.
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> 454. He that promises too much means nothing.
> 455. He that respects not is not respected.
> 456. He that seeks trouble never misses.
> 457. He that serves everybody is paid by nobody.
> 458. He that serves God for money will serve the devil for better wages.
> 459. He that spares the bad injures the good.
> 460. He that talks much errs much.
> 461. He that talks much lies much.
> 462. He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.
> 463. He that will not when he may, when he wills he shall have nay.
> 464. He that will steal an egg will steal an ox.
> 465. He that will thrive must rise at five.
> 466. He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree.
> 467. He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens.
> 468. He who is born a fool is never cured.
> 469. He who hesitates is lost.
> 470. He who likes borrowing dislikes paying.
> 471. He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
> 472. He who pleased everybody died before he was born.
> 473. He, who says what he likes, shall hear what he doesn't like.
> 474. He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.
> 475. He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell.
> 476. He who would search for pearls must dive below.
> 477. He will never set the Thames on fire.
> 478. He works best who knows his trade.
> 479. Head cook and bottle-washer.
> 480. Health is not valued till sickness comes.
> 481. His money burns a hole in his pocket.
> 482. Honesty is the best policy.
> 483. Honey is not for the ass's mouth.
> 484. Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.
> 485. Honour and profit lie not in one sack.
> 486. Honours change manners.
> 487. Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper.
> 488. Hope is the poor man's bread.
> 489. Hunger breaks stone walls.
> 490. Hunger finds no fault with cookery.
> 491. Hunger is the best sauce.
> 492. Hungry bellies have no ears.
> 493. Idle folks lack no excuses.
> 494. Idleness is the mother of all evil.
> 495. Idleness rusts the mind.
> 496. If an ass (donkey) brays at you, don't bray at him.
> 497. If ifs and as were pots and pans...
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> 498. If my aunt had been a man, she'd have been my uncle.
> 499. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
> 500. If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.
> 501. If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.
> 502. If things were to be done twice all would be wise.
> 503. If we can't as we would, we must do as we can.
> 504. If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.
> 505. If you agree to carry the calf, they'll make you carry the cow.
> 506. If you cannot bite, never show your teeth.
> 507. If you cannot have the best, make the best of what you have.
> 508. If you dance you must pay the fiddler.
> 509. If you laugh before breakfast you'll cry before supper.
> 510. If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.
> 511. If you sell the cow, you sell her milk too.
> 512. If you throw mud enough, some of it will stick.
> 513. If you try to please all you will please none.
> 514. If you want a thing well done, do it yourself.
> 515. Ill-gotten gains never prosper.
> 516. Ill-gotten, ill-spent.
> 517. In every beginning think of the end.
> 518. In for a penny, in for a pound.
> 519. In the country of the blind one-eyed man is a king.
> 520. In the end things will mend.
> 521. In the evening one may praise the day.
> 522. Iron hand (fist) in a velvet glove.
> 523. It is a good horse that never stumbles.
> 524. It is a long lane that has no turning.
> 525. It is a poor mouse that has only one hole.
> 526. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest.
> 527. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.
> 528. It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.
> 529. It is easy to swim if another holds up your chin (head).
> 530. It is enough to make a cat laugh.
> 531. It is good fishing in troubled waters.
> 532. It is never too late to learn.
> 533. It is no use crying over spilt milk.
> 534. It is the first step that costs.
> 535. It never rains but it pours.
> 536. It's as broad as it's long.
> 537. It's no use pumping a dry well.
> 538. Its one thing to flourish and another to fight.
> 539. It takes all sorts to make a world.
> 540. Jackdaw in peacock's feathers.
> 541. Jest with an ass and he will flap you in the face with his tail.
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> 542. Judge not of men and things at first sight.
> 543. Just as the twig is bent, the tree is inclined.
> 544. Keep a thing seven years and you will find a use for it.
> 545. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.
> 546. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.
> 547. Last, but not least.
> 548. Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free.
> 549. Learn to creep before you leap.
> 550. Learn to say before you sing.
> 551. Learn wisdom by the follies of others.
> 552. Least said, soonest mended.
> 553. Leaves without figs.
> 554. Let bygones be bygones.
> 555. Let every man praise the bridge he goes over.
> 556. Let sleeping dogs lie.
> 557. Let well (enough) alone.
> 558. Liars need good memories.
> 559. Lies have short legs.
> 560. Life is but a span.
> 561. Life is not a bed of roses.
> 562. Life is not all cakes and ale (beer and skittles).
> 563. Like a cat on hot bricks.
> 564. Like a needle in a haystack.
> 565. Like begets like.
> 566. Like cures like.
> 567. Like father, like son.
> 568. Like draws to like.
> 569. Like master, like man.
> 570. Like mother, like daughter.
> 571. Like parents, like children.
> 572. Like priest, like people.
> 573. Like teacher, like pupil.
> 574. Little chips light great fires.
> 575. Little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
> 576. Little pigeons can carry great messages.
> 577. Little pitchers have long ears.
> 578. Little strokes fell great oaks.
> 579. Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape.
> 580. Little things amuse little minds.
> 581. Live and learn.
> 582. Live and let live.
> 583. Live not to eat, but eat to live.
> 584. Long absent, soon forgotten.
> 585. Look before you leap.
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> 586. Look before you leap, but having leapt never look back.
> 587. Lookers-on see more than players.
> 588. Lord (God, Heaven) helps those (them) who help themselves.
> 589. Lost time is never found again.
> 590. Love cannot be forced.
> 591. Love in a cottage.
> 592. Love is blind, as well as hatred.
> 593. Love me, love my dog.
> 594. Love will creep where it may not go.
> 595. Make haste slowly.
> 596. Make hay while the sun shines.
> 597. Make or mar.
> 598. Man proposes but God disposes.
> 599. Many a fine dish has nothing on it.
> 600. Many a good cow has a bad calf.
> 601. Many a good father has but a bad son.
> 602. Many a little makes a mickle.
> 603. Many a true word is spoken in jest.
> 604. Many hands make light work.
> 605. Many men, many minds.
> 606. Many words hurt more than swords.
> 607. Many words will not fill a bushel.
> 608. Marriages are made in heaven.
> 609. Measure for measure.
> 610. Measure thrice and cut once.
> 611. Men may meet but mountains never.
> 612. Mend or end (end or mend).
> 613. Might goes before right.
> 614. Misfortunes never come alone (singly).
> 615. Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.
> 616. Money begets money.
> 617. Money has no smell.
> 618. Money is a good servant but a bad master.
> 619. Money often unmakes the men who make it.
> 620. Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain.
> 621. More haste, less speed.
> 622. Much ado about nothing.
> 623. Much will have more.
> 624. Muck and money go together.
> 625. Murder will out.
> 626. My house is my castle.
> 627. Name not a rope in his house that was hanged.
> 628. Necessity is the mother of invention.
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> 629. Necessity knows no law.
> 630. Neck or nothing.
> 631. Need makes the old wife trot.
> 632. Needs must when the devil drives.
> 633. Neither fish nor flesh.
> 634. Neither here nor there.
> 635. Neither rhyme nor reason.
> 636. Never cackle till your egg is laid.
> 637. Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometime drunk.
> 638. Never do things by halves.
> 639. Never fry a fish till it's caught.
> 640. Never offer to teach fish to swim.
> 641. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do (can be done) today.
> 642. Never quit certainty for hope.
> 643. Never too much of a good thing.
> 644. Never try to prove what nobody doubts.
> 645. Never write what you dare not sign.
> 646. New brooms sweep clean.
> 647. New lords, new laws.
> 648. Nightingales will not sing in a cage.
> 649. No flying from fate.
> 650. No garden without its weeds.
> 651. No great loss without some small gain.
> 652. No herb will cure love.
> 653. No joy without alloy.
> 654. No living man all things can.
> 655. No longer pipe, no longer dance.
> 656. No man is wise at all times.
> 657. No man loves his fetters, be they made of gold.
> 658. No news (is) good news.
> 659. No pains, no gains.
> 660. No song, no supper.
> 661. No sweet without (some) sweat.
> 662. No wisdom like silence.
> 663. None but the brave deserve the fair.
> 664. None so blind as those who won't see.
> 665. None so deaf as those that won't hear.
> 666. Nothing comes out of the sack but what was in it.
> 667. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.
> 668. Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas.
> 669. Nothing so bad, as not to be good for something.
> 670. Nothing succeeds like success.
> 671. Nothing venture, nothing have.
> 672. Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm.
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> 673. Of two evils choose the least.
> 674. Old birds are not caught with chaff.
> 675. Old friends and old wine are best.
> 676. On Shank's mare.
> 677. Once bitten, twice shy.
> 678. Once is no rule (custom).
> 679. One beats the bush, and another catches the bird.
> 680. One chick keeps a hen busy.
> 681. One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine.
> 682. One fire drives out another.
> 683. One good turn deserves another.
> 684. One law for the rich and another for the poor.
> 685. One lie makes many.
> 686. One link broken, the whole chain is broken.
> 687. One man, no man.
> 688. One man's meat is another man's poison.
> 689. One scabby sheep will mar a whole flock.
> 690. One swallow does not make a summer.
> 691. One today is worth two tomorrow.
> 692. Open not your door when the devil knocks.
> 693. Opinions differ.
> 694. Opportunity makes the thief.
> 695. Out of sight, out of mind.
> 696. Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
> 697. Packed like herrings.
> 698. Patience is a plaster for all sores.
> 699. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.
> 700. Pleasure has a sting in its tail.
> 701. Plenty is no plague.
> 702. Politeness costs little (nothing), but yields much.
> 703. Poverty is no sin.
> 704. Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is.
> 705. Practice what you preach.
> 706. Praise is not pudding.
> 707. Pride goes before a fall.
> 708. Procrastination is the thief of time.
> 709. Promise is debt.
> 710. Promise little, but do much.
> 711. Prosperity makes friends and adversity tries them.
> 712. Put not your hand between the bark and the tree.
> 713. Rain at seven, fine at eleven.
> 714. Rats desert a sinking ship.
> 715. Repentance is good, but innocence is better.
> 716. Respect yourself, or no one else will respect you.
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> 717. Roll my log and I will roll yours.
> 718. Rome was not built in a day.
> 719. Salt water and absence wash away love.
> 720. Saying and doing are two things.
> 721. Score twice before you cut once.
> 722. Scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings.
> 723. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
> 724. Self-done is soon done.
> 725. Self-done is well done.
> 726. Self is a bad counsellor.
> 727. Self-praise is no recommendation.
> 728. Set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil.
> 729. Set a thief to catch a thief.
> 730. Shallow streams make most din.
> 731. Short debts (accounts) make long friends.
> 732. Silence gives consent.
> 733. Since Adam was a boy.
> 734. Sink or swim!
> 735. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.
> 736. Slow and steady wins the race.
> 737. Slow but sure.
> 738. Small rain lays great dust.
> 739. So many countries, so many customs.
> 740. So many men, so many minds.
> 741. Soft fire makes sweet malt.
> 742. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
> 743. Soon learnt, soon forgotten.
> 744. Soon ripe, soon rotten.
> 745. Speak (talk) of the devil and he will appear (is sure to appear).
> 746. Speech is silver but silence is gold.
> 747. Standers-by see more than gamesters.
> 748. Still waters run deep.
> 749. Stolen pleasures are sweetest.
> 750. Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach.
> 751. Stretch your legs according to the coverlet.
> 752. Strike while the iron is hot.
> 753. Stuff today and starve tomorrow.
> 754. Success is never blamed.
> 755. Such carpenters, such chips.
> 756. Sweep before your own door.
> 757. Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.
> 758. Take us as you find us.
> 759. Tarred with the same brush.
> 760. Tastes differ.
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> 761. Tell that to the marines.
> 762. That cock won't fight.
> 763. That which one least anticipates soonest comes to pass.
> 764. That's a horse of another colour.
> 765. That's where the shoe pinches!
> 766. The beggar may sing before the thief (before a footpad).
> 767. The best fish smell when they are three days old.
> 768. The best fish swim near the bottom.
> 769. The best is oftentimes the enemy of the good.
> 770. The busiest man finds the most leisure.
> 771. The camel going to seek horns lost his ears.
> 772. The cap fits.
> 773. The cask savours of the first fill.
> 774. The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream.
> 775. The cat would eat fish and would not wet her paws.
> 776. The chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
> 777. The cobbler should stick to his last.
> 778. The cobbler's wife is the worst shod.
> 779. The darkest hour is that before the dawn.
> 780. The darkest place is under the candlestick.
> 781. The devil is not so black as he is painted.
> 782. The devil knows many things because he is old.
> 783. The devil lurks behind the cross.
> 784. The devil rebuking sin.
> 785. The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.
> 786. The Dutch have taken Holland!
> 787. The early bird catches the worm.
> 788. The end crowns the work.
> 789. The end justifies the means.
> 790. The evils we bring on ourselves are hardest to bear.
> 791. The exception proves the rule.
> 792. The face is the index of the mind.
> 793. The falling out of lovers is the renewing of love.
> 794. The fat is in the fire.
> 795. The first blow is half the battle.
> 796. The furthest way about is the nearest way home.
> 797. The game is not worth the candle.
> 798. The heart that once truly loves never forgets.
> 799. The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail.
> 800. The last drop makes the cup run over.
> 801. The last straw breaks the camel's back.
> 802. The leopard cannot change its spots.
> 803. The longest day has an end.
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> 804. The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
> 805. The moon does not heed the barking of dogs.
> 806. The more haste, the less speed.
> 807. The more the merrier.
> 808. The morning sun never lasts a day.
> 809. The mountain has brought forth a mouse.
> 810. The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh.
> 811. The pitcher goes often to the well but is broken at last.
> 812. The pot calls the kettle black.
> 813. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
> 814. The receiver is as bad as the thief.
> 815. The remedy is worse than the disease.
> 816. The rotten apple injures its neighbours.
> 817. The scalded dog fears cold water.
> 818. The tailor makes the man.
> 819. The tongue of idle persons is never idle.
> 820. The voice of one man is the voice of no one.
> 821. The way (the road) to hell is paved with good intentions.
> 822. The wind cannot be caught in a net.
> 823. The work shows the workman.
> 824. There are lees to every wine.
> 825. There are more ways to the wood than one.
> 826. There is a place for everything, and everything in its place.
> 827. There is more than one way to kill a cat.
> 828. There is no fire without smoke.
> 829. There is no place like home.
> 830. There is no rose without a thorn.
> 831. There is no rule without an exception.
> 832. There is no smoke without fire.
> 833. There's many a slip 'tween (== between) the cup and the lip.
> 834. There's no use crying over spilt milk.
> 835. They are hand and glove.
> 836. They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer.
> 837. Things past cannot be recalled.
> 838. Think today and speak tomorrow.
> 839. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
> 840. Time and tide wait for no man.
> 841. Time cures all things.
> 842. Time is money.
> 843. Time is the great healer.
> 844. Time works wonders.
> 845. To add fuel (oil) to the fire (flames).
> 846. To angle with a silver hook.
> 847. To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth.
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> 848. To be head over ears in debt.
> 849. To be in one's birthday suit.
> 850. To be up to the ears in love.
> 851. To be wise behind the hand.
> 852. To beat about the bush.
> 853. To beat the air.
> 854. To bring grist to somebody's mill.
> 855. To build a fire under oneself.
> 856. To buy a pig in a poke.
> 857. To call a spade a spade.
> 858. To call off the dogs.
> 859. To carry coals to Newcastle.
> 860. To cast pearls before swine.
> 861. To cast prudence to the winds.
> 862. To come away none the wiser.
> 863. To come off cheap.
> 864. To come off with a whole skin.
> 865. To come off with flying colours.
> 866. To come out dry.
> 867. To come out with clean hands.
> 868. To cook a hare before catching him.
869. To cry with one eye and laugh with the other.
> 870. To cut one's throat with a feather.
> 871. To draw (pull) in one's horns.
> 872. To drop a bucket into an empty well.
> 873. To draw water in a sieve.
> 874. To eat the calf in the cow's belly.
> 875. To err is human.
> 876. To fiddle while Rome is burning.
> 877. To fight with one's own shadow.
> 878. To find a mare's nest.
> 879. To fish in troubled waters.
> 880. To fit like a glove.
> 881. To flog a dead horse.
> 882. To get out of bed on the wrong side.
> 883. To give a lark to catch a kite.
> 884. To go for wool and come home shorn.
> 885. To go through fire and water (through thick and thin).
> 886. To have a finger in the pie.
> 887. To have rats in the attic.
> 888. To hit the nail on the head.
> 889. To kick against the pricks.
> 890. To kill two birds with one stone.
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> 891. To know everything is to know nothing.
> 892. To know on which side one's bread is buttered.
> 893. To know what's what.
> 894. To lay by for a rainy day.
> 895. To live from hand to mouth.
> 896. To lock the stable-door after the horse is stolen.
> 897. To look for a needle in a haystack.
> 898. To love somebody (something) as the devil loves holy water.
> 899. To make a mountain out of a molehill.
> 900. To make both ends meet.
> 901. To make the cup run over.
> 902. To make (to turn) the air blue.
> 903. To measure another man's foot by one's own last.
> 904. To measure other people's corn by one's own bushel.
> 905. To pay one back in one's own coin.
> 906. To plough the sand.
> 907. To pour water into a sieve.
> 908. To pull the chestnuts out of the fire for somebody.
> 909. To pull the devil by the tail.
> 910. To put a spoke in somebody's wheel.
> 911. To put off till Doomsday.
> 912. To put (set) the cart before the horse.
> 913. To rob one's belly to cover one's back.
> 914. To roll in money.
> 915. To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
> 916. To save one's bacon.
> 917. To send (carry) owls to Athens.
> 918. To set the wolf to keep the sheep.
> 919. To stick to somebody like a leech.
> 920. To strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
> 921. To take counsel of one's pillow.
> 922. To take the bull by the horns.
> 923. To teach the dog to bark.
> 924. To tell tales out of school.
> 925. To throw a stone in one's own garden.
> 926. To throw dust in somebody's eyes.
> 927. To throw straws against the wind.
> 928. To treat somebody with a dose of his own medicine.
> 929. To use a steam-hammer to crack nuts.
> 930. To wash one's dirty linen in public.
> 931. To wear one's heart upon one's sleeve.
> 932. To weep over an onion.
> 933. To work with the left hand.
> 934. Tomorrow come never.
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> 935. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
> 936. Too much knowledge makes the head bald.
> 937. Too much of a good thing is good for nothing.
> 938. Too much water drowned the miller.
> 939. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
> 940. True blue will never stain.
> 941. True coral needs no painter's brush.
> 942. Truth comes out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.
> 943. Truth is stranger than fiction.
> 944. Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
> 945. Two blacks do not make a white.
> 946. Two heads are better than one.
> 947. Two is company, but three is none.
> 948. Velvet paws hide sharp claws.
> 949. Virtue is its own reward.
> 950. Wait for the cat to jump.
> 951. Walls have ears.
> 952. Wash your dirty linen at home.
> 953. Waste not, want not.
> 954. We know not what is good until we have lost it.
> 955. We never know the value of water till the well is dry.
> 956. We shall see what we shall see.
> 957. We soon believe what we desire.
> 958. Wealth is nothing without health.
> 959. Well begun is half done.
> 960. What can't be cured must be endured.
> 961. What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.
> 962. What is done by night appears by day.
> 963. What is done cannot be undone.
> 964. What is got over the devil's back is spent under his belly.
> 965. What is lost is lost.
> 966. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
> 967. What is worth doing at alt is worth doing well.
> 968. What must be, must be.
> 969. What the heart thinks the tongue speaks.
> 970. What we do willingly is easy.
> 971. When angry, count a hundred.
> 972. When at Rome, do as the Romans do.
> 973. When children stand quiet, they have done some harm.
> 974. When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner.
> 975. When guns speak it is too late to argue.
> 976. When pigs fly.
> 977. When Queen Anne was alive.
> 978. When the cat is away, the mice will play.
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> 979. When the devil is blind.
> 980. When the fox preaches, take care of your geese.
> 981. When the pinch comes, you remember the old shoe.
> 982. When three know it, all know it.
> 983. When wine is in wit is out.
> 984. Where there's a will, there's a way.
> 985. While the grass grows the horse starves.
> 986. While there is life there is hope.
> 987. Who breaks, pays.
> 988. Who has never tasted bitter, knows not what is sweet.
> 989. Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl.
> 990. Wise after the event.
> 991. With time and patience the leaf of the mulberry becomes satin.
> 992. Words pay no debts.
> 993. You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.
> 994. You cannot eat your cake and have it.
> 995. You cannot flay the same ox twice.
> 996. You cannot judge a tree by it bark.
> 997. You cannot teach old dogs new tricks.
> 998. You cannot wash charcoal white.
> 999. You made your bed, now lie in it.
> 1000. Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse.
Extracted from other group of sss-global
16 100 Incredible Parts of Human Body
C.Madhusudana Rao
100 INCREDIBLE PARTS OF HUMAN BODY
1. Information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or any other encyclopedia for
that matter. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount, but the storage
capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to be between 3 or even
1,000 terabytes. The National Archives of Britain, containing over 900 years of
history, only takes up 70 terabytes, making your brain’s memory power pretty
darn impressive.
2. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your blood stream. The brain
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only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than
any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to
damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain
happy and swimming in oxygenated cells
.
3. The brain is much more active at night than during the day. Logically, you
would think that all the moving around, complicated calculations and tasks and
general interaction we do on a daily basis during our working hours would take
a lot more brain power than, say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is true.
When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists don’t yet know why this is but
you can thank the hard work of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant
dreams.
4. Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream. While this may be true,
don’t take it as a sign you’re mentally lacking if you can’t recall your dreams.
Most of us don’t remember many of our dreams and the average length of most
dreams is only 2-3 seconds–barely long enough to register.
5. Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For years scientists and
doctors thought that brain and neural tissue couldn’t grow or regenerate. While
it doesn’t act in the same manner as tissues in many other parts of the body,
neurons can and do grow throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension
to the study of the brain and the illnesses that affect it.
6. Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all
neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and
transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as
fast as 120 meters/sec.
7. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center
when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain
receptors and cannot feel pain. That doesn’t mean your head can’t hurt. The
brain is surrounded by loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty
receptive to pain and can give you a pounding headache.
8. 80% of the brain is water. Your brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on
TV. Living brain tissue is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of
blood and high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling
dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.
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Hair and Nails
While they’re not a living part of your body, most
people spend a good amount of time caring for their
hair and nails. The next time you’re heading in for a
haircut or manicure, think of these facts.
1. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the
body. If you’ve ever had a covering of stubble on
your face as you’re clocking out at 5 o’clock you’re
probably pretty familiar with this. In fact, if the
average man never shaved his beard it would grow
to over 30 feet during his lifetime, longer than a killer whale.
2. Every day the average person loses 60-100 strands of hair. Unless you’re
already bald, chances are good that you’re shedding pretty heavily on a daily
basis. Your hair loss will vary in accordance with the season, pregnancy, illness,
diet and age.
3. Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair. While it might sound
strange, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that men’s hair should be
coarser than that of women. Hair diameter also varies on average between
races; making hair plugs on some men look especially obvious.
4. One human hair can support 3.5 ounces. That’s about the weight of two full
size candy bars, and with hundreds of thousands of hairs on the human head,
makes the tale of Rapunzel much more plausible.
5. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. And the nail on the middle
finger of your dominant hand will grow the fastest of all. Why is not entirely
known, but nail growth is related to the length of the finger, with the longest
fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.
6. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a
chimpanzee. Humans are not quite the naked apes that we’re made out to be.
We have lots of hair, but on most of us it’s not obvious as a majority of the hairs
are too fine or light to be seen.
7. Blondes have more hair. They’re said to have more fun, and they definitely
have more hair. Hair color determines how dense the hair on your head is. The
average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is capable of
producing 20 individual hairs during a person’s lifetime. Blondes average
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146,000 follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles.
Those with brown hair fit the average with 100,000 follicles
and redheads have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.
8. Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails. If you notice that you’re
trimming your fingernails much more frequently than your toenails you’re not just
imagining it. The nails that get the most exposure and are used most frequently
grow the fastest. On average, nails on both the toes and fingers grow about
one-tenth of an inch each month.
9. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. While you quite a few
hairs each day, your hairs actually have a pretty long life providing they aren’t
subject to any trauma. Your hairs will likely get to see several different haircuts,
styles, and even possibly decades before they fall out on their own.
10. You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to
anyone. You lose hundreds of hairs a day but you’ll have to lose a lot more
before you or anyone else will notice. Half of the hairs on your pretty little
head will have to disappear before your impending baldness will become
obvious to all those around you.
11. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from its flammability, human hair
decays at such a slow rate that it is practically non-disintegrative. If you’ve ever
wondered how your how clogs up your pipes so quick consider this: hair cannot
be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is
resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.
Internal Organs
Though we may not give them much thought unless they’re bothering us, our
internal organs are what allow us to go on eating, breathing and walking
around. Here are some things to consider the next time you hear your stomach
growl.
1. The largest internal organ is the small intestine. Despite being called the
smaller of the two intestines, your small intestine is actually four times as long as
the average adult is tall. If it weren’t looped back and forth upon itself it
wouldn’t fit inside the abdominal cavity.
2. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet. No wonder
you can feel your heartbeat so easily. Pumping blood through your body quickly
and efficiently takes quite a bit of pressure resulting in the strong contractions of
the heart and the thick walls of the ventricles which push blood to the body.
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3. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. While you
certainly shouldn’t test the fortitude of your stomach by eating a razorblade or
any other metal object for that matter, the acids that digest the food you eat
aren’t to be taken lightly. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is
not only good at dissolving the pizza you had for dinner but can also eat
through many types of metal
4. The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels. To put
that in perspective, the distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, making
the distance your blood vessels could travel if laid end to end more than two
times around the earth.
5. You get a new stomach lining every three to four days. The mucus-like cells
lining the walls of the stomach would soon dissolve due to the strong digestive
acids in your stomach if they weren’t constantly replaced. Those with ulcers
know how painful it can be when stomach acid takes its toll on the lining of your
stomach.
6. The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court. In order to more
efficiently oxygenate the blood, the lungs are filled with thousands of branching
bronchi and tiny, grape-like alveoli. These are filled with microscopic capillaries
which oxygen and carbon dioxide. The large amount of surface area makes it
easier for this exchange to take place, and makes sure you stay properly
oxygenated at all times.
7. Women’s hearts beat faster than men’s.
The main reason for this is simply that on
average women tend to be smaller than
men and have less mass to pump blood to.
But women’s and men’s hearts can
actually act quite differently, especially
when experiencing trauma like a heart
attack, and many treatments that work for
men must be adjusted or changed entirely to work for women.
8. Scientists have counted over 500 different liver functions. You may not think
much about your liver except after a long night of drinking, but the liver is one of
the body’s hardest working, largest and busiest organs. Some of the functions
your liver performs are: production of bile, decomposition of red blood cells,
plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification.
9. The aorta is nearly the diameter of a garden hose. The average adult heart is
about the size of two fists, making the size of the aorta quite impressive. The
artery needs to be as large as it is the main supplier of rich, oxygenated blood to
the rest of the body.
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10. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart. For
most people, if they were asked to draw a picture of what the lungs look like
they would draw both looking roughly the same size. While the lungs are fairly
similar in size, the human heart, though located fairly centrally, is tilted slightly to
the left making it take up more room on that side of the body and crowding out
that poor left lung
.11. You could remove a large part of your internal organs and survive. The
human body may appear fragile but it’s possible to survive even with the
removal of the stomach, the spleen, 75 percent of the liver, 80 percent of the
intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and
groin area. You might not feel too great, but the missing organs wouldn’t kill you.
12. The adrenal glands change size throughout life. The adrenal glands, lying
right above the kidneys, are responsible for releasing stress hormones like cortisol
and adrenaline. In the seventh month of a fetus’ development, the glands are
roughly the same size as the kidneys. At birth, the glands have shrunk slightly and
will continue to do so throughout life. In fact, by the time a person reaches
old age, the glands are so small they can hardly be seen.
Bodily Functions
We may not always like to talk about them, but everyone has to deal with
bodily functions on a daily basis. These are a few facts about the
involuntary and sometimes unpleasant actions of our bodies.
1. Sneezes regularly exceed 100 mph. There’s a good reason why you can’t
keep your eyes open when you sneeze–that sneeze is rocketing out of your
body at close to 100 mph. This is, of course, a good reason to cover your mouth
when you sneeze.
2. Coughs clock in at about 60 mph. Viruses and colds get spread around the
office and the classroom quickly during cold and flu season. With 60 mph
coughs spraying germs far and wide, it’s no wonder.
3. Women blink twice as many times as men do. That’s a lot of blinking every
day. The average person, man or woman, blinks about 13 times a minute.
4. A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball. No wonder you have to run to
bathroom when you feel the call of the wild. The average bladder holds about
400-800 cc of fluid but most people will feel the urge to go long before that at
250 to 300 cc.
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5. Approximately 75% of human waste is made of water. While we might
typically think that urine is the liquid part of human waste products, the truth is
that what we consider solid waste is actually mostly water as well. You should be
thankful that most waste is fairly water-filled, as drier harder stools are what
cause constipation and are much harder and sometimes painful to pass.
6. Feet have 500,000 sweat glands and can produce more than a pint of sweat
a day. With that kind of sweat-producing power it’s no wonder that your gym
shoes have a stench that can peel paint. Additionally, men usually have much
more active sweat glands than women.
7. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming
pools. Saliva plays an important part in beginning the digestive process and
keeping the mouth lubricated, and your mouth produces quite a bit of it on a
daily basis.
8. The average person expels flatulence 14 times each day. Even if you’d like to
think you’re too dignified to pass gas, the reality is that almost everyone will at
least a few times a day. Digestion causes the body to release gases which can
be painful if trapped in the abdomen and not released.
9. Earwax production is necessary for good ear health. While many people find
earwax to be disgusting, it’s actually a very important part of your ear’s defense
system. It protects the delicate inner ear from bacteria, fungus, dirt and even
insects. It also cleans and lubricates the ear canal.
Sex and Reproduction
As taboo as it may be in some places, sex is an important part of human
life as a facet of relationships and the means to reproduce. Here are a
few things you might not have known.
1. On any given day, sexual intercourse takes place 120 million times on
earth. Humans are a quickly proliferating species, and with about 4% of the
world’s population having sex on any given day, it’s no wonder that birth rates
continue to increase in many places all over the world.
2. The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the
male sperm. While you can’t see skin cells or muscle cells, the ovum is typically
large enough to be seen with the naked eye with a diameter of about a
millimeter. The sperm cell, on the other hand, is tiny, consisting of
little more than nucleus.
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3. The three things pregnant women dream most of during their first trimester are
frogs, worms and potted plants. Pregnancy hormones can cause mood swings,
cravings and many other unexpected changes. Oddly enough, hormones can
often affect the types of dreams women have and their vividness. The most
common are these three types, but many women also dream of water, giving
birth or even have violent or sexually charged dreams.
4. Your teeth start growing 6 months before you are born. While few babies are
born with teeth in place, the teeth that will eventually push through the gums of
young children are formed long before the child even leaves the womb. At 9 to
12 weeks the fetus starts to form the teeth buds that will turn into baby teeth.
5. Babies are always born with blue eyes. The color of your eyes depends on the
genes you get from your parents, but at birth most babies appear to have blue
eyes. The reason behind this is the pigment melanin. The melanin in a newborn’s
eyes often needs time after birth to be fully deposited or to be darkened by
exposure to ultraviolet light, later revealing the baby’s true eye color.
6. Babies are, pound for pound, stronger than an
ox. While a baby certainly couldn’t pull a
covered wagon at its present size, if the child
were the size of an oxen it just might very well be
able to. Babies have especially strong and
powerful legs for such tiny creatures, so watch out
for those kicks.
7. One out of every 2,000 newborn infants has a
tooth when they are born. Nursing mothers may cringe at this fact. Sometimes
the tooth is a regular baby tooth that has already erupted and sometimes it is
an extra tooth that
will fall out before the other set of choppers comes in.
8. A fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months. When only a small
fraction of the way through its development, a fetus will have already
developed one of the most unique human traits: fingerprints. At only 6-13 weeks
of development, the whorls of what will be fingerprints have already developed.
Oddly enough, those fingerprints will not change throughout the person’s life
and will be one of the last things to disappear after death.
9. Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell. All life has to begin
somewhere, and even the largest humans spent a short part of their lives as a
single celled organism when sperm and egg cells first combine. Shortly
afterward, the cells begin rapidly dividing and begin forming the components of
a tiny embryo.
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10. Most men have erections every hour to hour and a
half during sleep. Most people’s bodies and minds are
much more active when they’re sleeping
than they think. The combination of blood circulation
and testosterone
production can cause erections during sleep and
they’re often a normal
and necessary part of REM sleep.
Senses
The primary means by which we interact with the world around us is through
our senses. Here are some interesting facts about these five sensory
abilities.
1. After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp. If you’re heading to a
concert or a musical after a big meal you may be yourself a disservice. Try
eating a smaller meal if you need to keep your hearing pitch perfect.
2. About one third of the human race has 20-20 vision. Glasses and contact
wearers are hardly alone in a world where two thirds of the population have less
than perfect vision. The amount of people with perfect vision decreases further
as they age.
3. If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it. In order for foods, or
anything else, to have a taste, chemicals from the substance must be dissolved
by saliva. If you don’t believe it, try drying off your tongue before tasting
something.
4. Women are born better smellers than men and remain better smellers over
life. Studies have shown that women are more able to correctly pinpoint just
what a smell is. Women were better able to identify citrus, vanilla, cinnamon
and coffee smells. While women are overall better smellers, there is an
unfortunate 2% of the population with no sense of smell at all.
5. Your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. While a bloodhound’s nose
may be a million times more sensitive than a human’s, that doesn’t mean that
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the human sense of smell is useless. Humans can identify a wide variety of scents
and many are strongly tied to memories.
6. Even small noises cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate. It is believed that this is
why surgeons, watchmakers and others who perform delicate manual
operations are so bothered by uninvited noise. The sound causes their pupils to
change focus and blur their vision, making it harder to do their job well.
7. Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins. Newborns are able to
recognize the smell of their mothers and many of us can pinpoint the smell of
our significant others and those we are close to. Part of that smell is determined
by genetics, but it’s also largely due to environment, diet and personal hygiene
products that create a unique chemistry for each person.
Aging and Death
From the very young to the very old, aging is a necessary and unavoidable
part of life. Learn about the process with these interesting, if somewhat strange
facts.
1. The ashes of a cremated person average about 9 pounds. A big part of what
gives the human body weight is the water trapped in our cells. Once cremated,
that water and a majority of our tissues are destroyed, leaving little behind.
2. Nails and hair do not continue to grow after we die. They do appear longer
when we die, however, as the skin dehydrates and pulls back from the nail beds
and scalp.
3. By the age of 60, most people will have lost about half their taste
buds. Perhaps you shouldn’t trust your grandma’s cooking as much as you do.
Older individuals tend to lose their ability to taste, and many find that they need
much more intense flavoring in order to be able to fully
appreciate a dish
.
4. Your eyes are always the same size from birth but your nose and ears never
stop growing. When babies look up at you with those big eyes, they’re the same
size that they’ll be carrying around in their bodies for the rest of their lives.
Their ears and nose, however, will grow throughout their lives and research has
shown that growth peaks in seven year cycles.
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5. By 60 years of age, 60-percent of men and 40-percent of women will snore. If
you’ve ever been kept awake by a snoring loved one you know the sound can
be deafening. Normal snores average around 60 decibels, the noise level of
normal speech; intense snores can reach more than 80 decibels, the
approximate level caused by a jackhammer breaking up concrete.
6. A baby’s head is one-quarter of its total length, but by age 25 will only be
one-eighth of its total length. As it turns out, our adorably oversized baby heads
won’t change size as drastically as the rest of our body. The legs and torso will
lengthen, but the head won’t get much longer.
Disease and Injury
Most of us will get injured or sick at some point in our lives. Here are
some facts on how the human body reacts to the stresses and dangers from the
outside world.
1. Monday is the day of the week when the risk of heart attack is greatest. Yet
another reason to loathe Mondays! Aten year study in Scotland found
that 20% more people die of heart attacks on Mondays than any other day
of the week. Researchers theorize that it’s a combination of too much
fun over the weekend with the stress of going back to work that causes
the increase.
2. Humans can make do longer without food than sleep. While you might feel
better prepared to stay up all night partying than to give up eating, that feeling
will be relatively short lived. Provided there is water, the average human could
survive a month to two months without food depending on their body fat and
other factors. Sleep deprived people, however, start experiencing radical
personality and psychological changes after only a few sleepless days. The
longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is 11 days, at the
end of which the experimenter was awake, but stumbled over words,
hallucinated and frequently forgot what he was doing.
3. A simple, moderately severe sunburn damages the blood vessels
extensively. How extensively? Studies have shown that it can take four to fifteen
months for them to return to their normal condition. Consider that the next
time you’re feeling too lazy to apply sunscreen before heading outside.
4. Over 90% of diseases are caused or complicated by stress. That high stress job
you have could be doing more than just wearing you down each day. It could
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also be increasing your chances of having a variety of serious medical
conditions like depression, high blood pressure and heart disease.
5. A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been
decapitated. While it might be gross to think about, the blood in the head may
be enough to keep someone alive and conscious for a few seconds after the
head has been separated from the body, though reports as to the accuracy of
this are widely varying.
Muscles and Bones
Muscles and Bones provide the framework for our bodies and allow us to jump,
run or just lie on the couch. Here are a few facts to ponder the next
time you’re lying around.
1. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Unless you’re trying to give your
face a bit of a workout, smiling is a much easier option for most of us. Anyone
who’s ever scowled, squinted or frowned for a long period of time knows how it
tires out the face which doesn’t do a thing to improve your mood.
2. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to
206. The reason for this is that many of the bones of children are composed of
smaller component bones that are not yet fused like those in the skull. This makes
it easier for the baby to pass through the birth canal. The bones harden and fuse
as the children grow.
3. We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. The cartilage
between our bones gets compressed by standing, sitting and other daily
activities as the day goes on, making us just a little shorter at the end of the day
than at the beginning.
4. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. While you may not be
able to bench press much with your tongue, it is in fact the strongest muscle in
your body in proportion to its size. If you think about it, every time you eat,
swallow or talk you use your tongue, ensuring it gets quite a workout throughout
the day.
5. The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone. The next time someone
suggests you take it on the chin, you might be well advised to take their advice
as the jawbone is one of the most durable and hard to break bones in the body.
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6. You use 200 muscles to take one step. Depending on how you divide up
muscle groups, just to take a single step you use somewhere in the
neighborhood of 200 muscles. That’s a lot of work for the muscles considering
most of us take about 10,000 steps a day.
7. The tooth is the only part of the human body that can’t repair itself. If you’ve
ever chipped a tooth you know just how sadly true this one is. The outer layer of
the tooth is enamel which is not a living tissue. Since it’s not alive, it can’t repair
itself, leaving your dentist to do the work instead.
8. It takes twice as long to lose new muscle if you stop working out than it did to
gain it. Lazy people out there shouldn’t use this as motivation to not work out,
however. It’s relatively easy to build new muscle tissue and get your muscles in
shape, so if anything, this fact should be motivation to get off the couch and
get moving.
9. Bone is stronger than some steel. This doesn’t mean your bones can’t break of
course, as they are much less dense than steel. Bone has been found to have a
tensile strength of 20,000 psi while steel is much higher at 70,000 psi. Steel is
much heavier than bone, however, and pound for pound bone is the stronger
material.
10. The feet account for one quarter of all the human body’s bones. You may
not give your feet much thought but they are home to more bones than any
other part of your body. How many? Of the two hundred or so bones in the
body, the feet contain a whopping 52 of them.
Microscopic Level
Much of what takes place in our bodies happens at a level that we simply
can’t see with the naked eye. These facts will show you that sometimes
that might be for the best.
1. About 32 million bacteria call every inch of your skin home. Germaphobes
don’t need to worry however, as a majority of these are entirely harmless and
some are even helpful in maintaining a healthy body.
2. Humans shed and regrow outer skin cells about every 27 days. Skin protects
your delicate internal organs from the elements and as such, dries and flakes off
completely about once a month so that it can maintain its strength. Chances
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are that last month’s skin is still hanging around your house in the form of the dust
on your bookshelf or under the couch.
3. Three hundred million cells die in the human body every minute. While that
sounds like a lot, it’s really just a small fraction of the cells that are in the human
body. Estimates have placed the total number of cells in the body at 10-50
trillion so you can afford to lose a few hundred million without a hitch.
4. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. You may not think
much about losing skin if yours isn’t dry or flaky or peeling from sunburn, but your
skin is constantly renewing itself and shedding dead cells.
5. Every day an adult body produces 300 billion new cells. Your body not only
needs energy to keep your organs up and running but also to constantly repair
and build new cells to form the building blocks of your body itself.
6. Every tongue print is unique. If you’re planning on committing a crime, don’t
think you’ll get away with leaving a tongue print behind. Each tongue is
different and yours could be unique enough to finger you as the culprit.
7. Your body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long. Anyone who has
ever tasted blood knows that it has a slightly metallic taste. This is due to the high
levels of iron in the blood. If you were to take all of this iron out of the body,
you’d have enough to make a small nail and very severe anemia.
8. The most common blood type in the world is Type O. Blood banks find it
valuable as it can be given to those with both type A and B blood. The rarest
blood type, A-H or Bombay blood due to the location of its discovery, has been
found in less than hundred people since it was discovered.
9. Human lips have a reddish color because of the great concentration of tiny
capillaries just below the skin. The blood in these capillaries is normally highly
oxygenated and therefore quite red. This explains why the lips appear pale
when a person is anemic or has lost a great deal of blood. It also explains why
the lips turn blue in very cold weather. Cold causes the capillaries to
constrict, and the blood loses oxygen and changes to a darker color.
Miscellaneous
Here are a few things you might not have known about all different parts of your
anatomy.
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1. The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that you’ll have
a bad dream. It isn’t entirely clear to scientists why this is the case, but if you are
opposed to having nightmares you might want to keep yourself a little
toastier at night.
2. Tears and mucus contain an enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down the cell
wall of many bacteria. This is to your advantage, as the mucus that lines your
nose and throat, as well as the tears that wet your eyes are helping to prevent
bacteria from infecting those areas and making you sick
.3. Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water
to a boil. If you’ve seen the Matrix you are aware of the energy potentially
generated by the human body. Our bodies expend a large amount of calories
keeping us at a steady 98.6 degrees, enough to boil water or even cook pasta.
4. Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you
aren’t. The chemicals and hormones released when you are afraid could be
having unseen effects on your body in the form of earwax. Studies have
suggested that fear causes the ears to produce more of the sticky substance,
though the reasons are not yet clear.
5. It is not possible to tickle yourself. Even the most ticklish among us do not have
the ability to tickle ourselves. The reason behind this is that your brain predicts
the tickle from
information it already has, like how your fingers are moving. Because it knows
and can feel where the tickle is coming from, your brain doesn’t
respond in the same way as it would if someone else was doing the
tickling.
6. The width of your arm span stretched out is the length of your whole
body. While not exact down to the last millimeter, your arm span is a pretty
good estimator of your height.
7. Humans are the only animals to produce emotional tears. In the animal world,
humans are the biggest crybabies, being the only animals that cry because
they’ve had a bad day, lost a loved one, or just doesn’t feel good.
8. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed
people do. This doesn’t have a genetic basis, but is largely due to the fact that
a
majority of the machines and tools we use on a daily basis are designed for
those who are right handed, making them somewhat dangerous for lefties to
use and resulting in thousands of accidents and deaths each year.
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9. Women burn fat more slowly than men, by a rate of about 50 calories a
day. Most men have a much easier time burning fat than women. Women,
because of their reproductive role, generally require a higher basic body fat
proportion than men, and as a result their bodies don’t get rid of excess fat at
the same rate as men.
10. Koalas and primates are the only animals with unique fingerprints. Humans,
apes and koalas are unique in the animal kingdom due to the tiny prints on the
fingers of their hands. Studies on primates have suggested that even cloned
individuals have unique fingerprints.
11. The indentation in the middle of the area between the nose and the upper
lip has a name. It is called the philtrum. Scientists have yet to figure out what
purpose this indentation serves, though the ancient Greeks thought it to be one
of the most erogenous places on the body.
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