International Dog Day

 Today August 26, I should talk about International Dog Day. Well, I did not on my volunteer website, but here I will. It's going to turn out into another personal memoir. 

Dogs have always been part of my life since childhood. 

When I was born, I think, my mother's parents had a dog at their home. She told me the story of how even the dog at our home was planned into mental blame and was annoyed to be ruffian that it has to be terminated to death. 

Later when I was in Uraiyur, where my father was working in the sugar factory, we had the neighbor's dog always visiting us. His name was Shankar. He was having more of us as his home though he always like going back to his home. I do not know what makes him always come to us but whenever I am up during the day he used be in our home participating in all of my activities right from gardening to guarding me. 

At the same time, there was a puppy that grew up to be a dog ahead of me - that's natural as you all know that dogs grow 15 times faster than us. So he was like a plump pig when we go to visit my grandparents I can't bear his weight and needed my mother's support and begging to stop him from jumping on me, licking me, sniffing me all over, and in the entire process pushing me down to the floor and all my toes bruised in his weight - unbound joy in welcoming me home!  You will never know what made him intelligent but he's got more than a terrier, dachshund, beagle, Doberman, and whatnot that even I am not aware of. And he has one girlfriend, but my mother tells me that sometimes she suspects many of them were his puppies - why not, he was the smartest on The American Mission campus and has such a large territory for himself with no man being able to enter without his permission - not even the wild boars and porcupines. Well, that reduced a heap of my grandfather's workload. And he loves taking my titbits because he knows that I am the only one who will get the news lately about his diet that he should not be fed with that he can taste by then. And, needless to say, there will be always something new to learn like eating a cone of ice cream or an apple cake that he always can get a bite of because something will fall down for sure on the floor; and there will be no fussy about him eating it because sometimes it will get dropped in purpose! This gave me the privilege to cover him with the blanket at night when he goes to bed with us on par with my grandmother and my mother, and there was always a piggyback ride during morning sunbath with my mother - what a view of the lake? I learned my environmental lessons from my mother watching along with him. He is the one who taught me how I should avoid the busy bees gathering honey from the flowers in my grandparent's garden and in those gardens of those people living in the hills at the other end and in the nearby Bryant Park. Well, they own everything and there were no boundaries for them. He is the one who used to take care of me from not being bullied by my sister and cousins and took my place in turning me that they all lost - his point is I should not fall down the hill slope and the green wet slippery grass, besides he knew the terrain better than me giving them all a clear message - want someone on par with you? I miss now for not understanding that I could have hugged him than crying for blocking me from playing. What to do as he had clear instructions from my mother asking him to take care of me and he watched my mother and grandparents chiding my siblings for bullying me for my ignorance. Maybe he will be the happiest pal to know how kind I am now despite knowing more than them in many ways. And there he was ready to join my mother for a picnic, a walk in the garden, and only my and my time anywhere including shopping. What more he gets but only a walk with us that gives him immense joy for there was always him involved! He has the best coat that won him the First grand prize at the world-famous Kodaikanal Dog Show making my sister the proud winner. He loves kittens - nibbling them is fun and he agrees to Enid Blyton's Topsy. But mother pussy never agrees to it and poor did Sherly know that I will take all her kittens in her absence as I had enough pockets in my jumpsuit for each one of them. Unfortunate, Zimbo was not around, but I got caught by the entire family including one old warrior Brigadier thatha exalted to find many small mews from my pocket with a big mummy mewing pleadingly at my back that they had to run at my back and pamper me to return the kittens back to their mother. Even now they talk about it, maybe he is from heaven. I still remember being pulled back along with him by my grandmother for getting under the bed to get the kittens and being chided for Sherly being in bad temper for disturbing her children.  Needless to say, who will mind me telling him that I will eat his food because he is very much assured that he will get it all no matter what and gobble it at one go - of course, he never minds the kittens getting inquisitive about his plate and he doesn't mind them licking the drops that might be left out of the stew once he's done, but never before or when he's eating. Bathing him is very tough - warm water and he hates it! We never had to leash him even in the church he knows how to gimmick the pastor of the church until he forgets and goes to the pulpit to wish him with a wag only to be sent out of the church sadly if not there can be a small bark at times with the hymns. I don't know why the pastor minds him worshipping with us, anyway, he's part of our family and was healed by God's grace - that's why all the extravaganza allowance of not complaining to my grandparents that he is the only family dog attending the church. 

After him, there were no pets in our house. But we had a lot of stray animals helped and they are helping me in return since 2014. They found that there was drug trafficking near our house, they were doped to mate a puppy, with another mother stray bitch named beauty "hearing" all the plans and if I am getting emotionally upset. She knew that my baby was hated and the womb was hated even more and the plan was to mutilate and humiliate it with drugs. She spent time "hearing" all the conversations. There was Rangeela teaching Thomas kitten how to warm me up as she smelt me at the distance turning cold and going down when they had doped me thinking that a Christian baby was formed in my womb during a Hindu festival despite the temple people telling them that she is staunchly Christian and not to disturb her but for the misguided priest - that's what public got to know they wanted to abort the "Christian smart baby". And there she was day and night guarding the gate that no man or woman was allowed to get near the gate. 

And, so there is now a beautiful puppy appearing like Zimbo, with hooves that can hop like a horse, finding a home has made him so happy that he wants the same belly rub as he's getting in his home! I call him Scott, who knows what's his home name!

Sniff! Sniff! is all the message but there's a lot of love and so much of a personality that's more adorable than a human!

Why 78% Indian Christians Do Not Wear Bindi?

 Ha.. ha... I am not the voice for 78% of Indian Christians but only for myself. 

So when I started to get bothered over my blank forehead that had a lot of space, I realized that I better be ahead of the bus to understand why Hindus wear Bindi, though I know it's no use like how they claimed about "drugs" in name of sastram.

Why Hindu women keep Bindis or Sindoor?

Both are different, as they say, is based on the location, and probably, the type of material to colour it. It is placed on the forehead at the center spot between the two eyebrows.

It's fashion these days! But is more of a cultural and signature for women and its Hindu tradition!

Benefits:

Bindi relieves headache. 

Bindi clears sinuses in the forehead.

Bindi improves vision and eye health.

Bindi rejuvenates the facial skin to look young.

Bindi has an aroma because of the material used and it also relaxes because of the acupressure thereby preventing depression.

Bindi improves hearing.

Bindi will help to reduce stress, eye strain, fatigue, and insomnia. 

Bindi boosts memory and concentration.

Bindi improves intuition and awareness.

Well, now coming to the point of why Christians do not keep Bindi?

Simple. 

It's mostly a Hindu tradition that Christians do not want to follow as it has religious significance. 

They should have adopted by observing the women missionaries who came to India spreading the word of God who is not used to wearing Bindis.

Bindi is removed in widowed women and is part of the patriarchal societal system. But in Christianity women do not lose their significant position in society, for if you remember Jesus has fought for a prostitute to all the men who threw stones at her and have healed many women. Single women were also common. For God marital status was insignificant. God kept women on par with men. This is why he made Eve from Adam's rib and not the tarsals of his ankle. So the death of a husband is not stigmatized and ritualized against her to isolate her socially. Widows are allowed to remarry. So Bindi is not worn not to differentiate women based on her marital status.

Some of my Christian friends have discussed this when I was in college - I have always asked them to shut up and stop bothering me as I have a better business - they told me that is because of the cross that is blessed during baptism and every Holy Communion. They think it is not right to have something applied, especially because they have related it to Hindu culture and God, on top of God's blessing in the form of the Cross, on which Jesus died for us. 

Ask me why I don't wear it? Because my mother doesn't wear one. 

Beyond that, I cannot tolerate it spreading and slipping on my face or have the patience to spend time placing one on my forehead. I don't want that material to give me the confidence and a beauty appeal to my face. 

I have worn this stuff on my head on a few occasions - when I staged for Bharatanatyam as a child, then during my farewell at school when my sister's friend wanted to have her final touch on me, and lastly when I staged for dramatics as a Brahmin girl at college. But I always think, if I had continued my Bharatanatyam classes, I would have danced without Bindi to experiment especially for Christian Carnatic compositions.

Above all, if you ask me to keep Bindi, I will say a "Please, No, thank you!"  Basically because I don't find a need to dress up myself with that extra stuff on my forehead!

Sanity in Faith

When I was in college, we had the habit of conducting morning prayer by sharing a message. I never had such an encounter with people discussing about Christian concepts except for one of my peers in the first few days of college over anklets and Christianity. She later left the college. 

One day, one of my very good friends shared this message:

Praise the Lord! 

A pious man purchased a horse one day. He trained his horse to obey the command, "Praise the Lord!" When he said once, it started to move and when he said again it stopped moving. One day when he was riding his horse, he came near the tip of a hill. The view was magnificent. He said "Praise the Lord!" The horse obeyed his master and both fell down the hill. 

The moral of the story is to have sanity in Faith. God demanded in his Ten Commandments, Do not use my name in vain. I was thought this.

I am not preaching against anyone or their practices. 

Chana Chole Masala Noodles! Here's an Authentic Indian Noodles!

 Chana masala or Chana chole or Chhole masala or whatever is a favorite Indian subcontinent dist. It's mouth-watering and lip-smacking spicy chickpea cooked in authentic Indian spices. This dish is usually cooked making use of Kabuli Chana or the white chana. There are two versions of Chana Masala the dark brown thick gravy where there is little to no tomato while the reddish-orange gravy is the one made with a lot of onions and tomato gravy. Here we will see how to make both the versions and mix them up with noodles. These noodles are not only nutritious but are also stomach-filling!

Preparing the Chole or Chana Masala:

Soak the Chickpeas:

Soaking chickpeas should be done overnight as this will allow the chickpeas, if fresh, to germinate making it easy to digest and protein breakdown thereby more nutritious; if dry chana, then it will make it easy to cook by softening them through rehydrating the chickpeas and also by breaking down the phytic acid in these peas as it causes flatulence and bloating. Overnight or 8 hours of soaking is needed for making the chickpeas easy to cook in a pressure cooker. This can be done using a quick and alternative process by soaking the chickpeas in hot water for 1 to 2 hours. Canned chickpeas are even easier to prepare and will not need to be soaked. When you soak the chickpeas, soak them in a bowl that has enough headspace and pour enough water that the chickpeas are submerged in the water that they will still remain immersed in water after expanding on imbibition at the end of time. Before use, strain all the water, rinse, and wash the soaked chickpeas. 

Boiling the chickpeas: 

The chickpeas are boiled with dried amla or a tea bag that a tangy flavour and a dark colour is imparted for the preparation of chole. Amla gives both the taste and the colour while the tea bag imparts only the colour. In that case, either pomegranate seeds or amchur powder or lime or lemon juice can be used as an alternative. Add enough water that the chickpeas are immersed in the water - about 2.5 to 3 cups of water for 1 cup of soaked chickpeas. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix it well. Pressure cook the chickpea for 2 to 3 whistles or until it is cooked soft and is easy to mash. Remove the amla pieces or the teabag. 

Chole Spices:

Place a skillet on the stovetop and heat it on low heat. To this hot skillet add the following spices:

2-3 black cardamoms

1 to 1.5 inches of cinnamon bark

3 to 5 peppercorns

2 to 3 cloves

1 medium-sized bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon carom seeds or ajwain or omam

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1.2 teaspoon dry pomegranate seeds or amchur (mango powder) (optional)

1 to 3 dry red chilies whose seeds are removed and broken open

Roast them dry in this hot skillet till they are deep brown but not burnt. Allow the spices to cool and dry grind them to a fine powder. 

Preparing the Chana Masala Gravy:

Heat in a wok or a vessel 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Any oil can be used but preferably lightly dense oil than coconut or mustard or olive oil as they can leave their own flavor. 

Grind 1 to 2 cm of ginger root with 4 to 5 pieces of peeled garlic cloves. Add this ginger-garlic paste to the oil and saute it. Add 1/3 cup of finely chopped onions and saute it till it turns translucent or light brown. 

Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of tomatoes (as per the desired color of the gravy, fewer tomatoes or no tomato for black gravy) and saute it till it turns soft and cooked appearing pale red. The oil will start to mix well with the wet ingredients and leave the sides of the wok. 

Reduce the heat to low heat from medium or high heat. Add all the dry chole spice powder, 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, and 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder. To this, add 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala powder, but is optional. Mix well until the ingredients blend with each other. 

2 to 3 deseeded and slit green chilies are added and sauteed till it blends well with the mixture.

Add the cooked chickpeas after draining the remaining water. The water will be used as a stock. Stir the chickpeas to mix well with this sauteed masala until it blends well and coats all the chickpeas. 

To this chickpea masala in the wok, add 1 to 1.25 cups of the stock and water as needed. Stir well and add enough salt to taste. Stir well again. Cook it in low to medium heat. 

When the chana masala reaches a boil or starts bubbling, add some more water as needed for the noodles to cook. This can amount to another 1 to 1.5 cups of water. Let the chana masala come to a boil. (You can squeeze or add the lime or lemon juice at this point).

Open the ready-to-cook noodles, and add the noodles to the boiling chana masala. To this also add the given masala powder and salt to taste. (Adding the masala powder is optional and in that case, the chana spice powder can be made a little spicier to accommodate the noodles). Stir the mixture well that the chickpeas and the noodles are mixed well. Close it with a lid and allow the noodles to cook. 

If you are using a Hakka or such noodle cake, prepare the noodle separately in a round-bottomed container with a drop of oil and salt to taste. Drain the noodles dry and transfer the noodles to the boiling chana masala. Stir well in the heat until the noodles and the chana masala blends well. Simmer it until the chana masala noodles are of desired gravy and transfer it to the bowl. Top it with grated cheese and coriander leaves.

Hint: Vegetables like potato, carrots, beetroot, and beans can be added but is optional.

Once the noodles are cooked, stir it once more and top the chana noodles to a bowl with coriander to dress. For a more cheesy taste, sprinkle some grated cheese before serving. 

Break the Barriers by Pairing Your Choice of Fruit with Lime and Mint Water

 On a hot sunny day is when we drink a cold Lime Juice! Whenever I go to any fruit juice shop, I always find that the lowest-priced but the healthiest, refreshing, and hygienic drink is Lime juice? 

But times have changed! I find that lime juice and lime soda have turned out to be savory and made a priced fruit dash with the addition of other fruits and veggies! 

How do I prepare my Lime and Mint WAter combinations - many ways that you can imagine!

1. Lime Mint Water:

Add a few slices of lime and a few sprigs of mint into a jar full of water and leave it for a few hours. It makes a refreshing drink. A Detox Drink - you can add to this water, other fruits or veggies like cucumber slices, pineapple slices, lemon slices, orange slices, strawberries, mosambi slices, grape, grapefruit slices, kiwi fruit slices, and watermelon slices. These combinations make it excellent detox water.

2. Lime Mint Juice (Salt/Sweet):

This is the refreshing drink that revitalized me during a hot, sunny, and humid day. 

Squeeze half a lime or lemon juice and to this add a few pinches of salt (1 or 2 tsp of sugar or nannari syrup). Mix it up in the fruit juicer, followed by adding a few sprigs of mint or as needed, and mix it in the juicer until the mint leaves make into a smooth paste blending with the lime juice. You can add ice cubes if desired. 

3. Lime Mint Soda or Mojito (Salt/Sweet):

This is the same drink preparation as Lime Mine Juice but soda is added instead of water. Initially, the lime juice, sprigs of mint leaves, salt (or sugar or syrup) are added to a small proportion of water and blended in a juicer. To this, the rest of the proportion is mixed with soda water or sparkling water. I was told that soda rehydrates two times better than water. 

Benefits of Lime-Mint and its combinations:

1. Lime juice rejuvenates skin because of its hydration and antioxidant properties. It is also a rich source of vitamin C and flavonoids. 

2. It helps in digestion because of its acidic nature that helps in breaking down complex fat (in the African continent it is by their culture that they drink a glassful of lime juice after a meaty meal). Thus, it also helps to ease constipation. 

3. Vitamin C is the immunity vitamin fighting against viral infections - the dash of mint and other veggies like strawberries, cucumber, orange, or melon, only make it more valuable Immunity Water. 

4. Helps in weight loss as the citric acid boosts the metabolism accessing the stored fats to be burnt. It also supplements with other needed minerals and vitamins that satiate to reduce the craving for bigger portions by including it in weight loss diet plans. 

5. The lime mint water has the ability to regulate the blood glucose sugar level by boosting the energy potential and reducing the craving or need for energy. So the blood sugar spikes can be controlled especially by drinking the salted version of lime mint juice or soda. 

6. Lime and mint are good sources of potassium and magnesium that aids in regulating blood pressure by increasing blood circulation. It also has a chemical called limonins which break down cholesterol. 

7. The antioxidative effect of lime and mint must be helping cancer patients and preventing cancer by scavenging the painful oxidative chemicals flowing in the bloodstream. A direct role is still not clear. So this effect should also help to clean up the blood of unwanted other chemicals that causes inflammation. It also scavenged uric acid. 

8. It serves as an electrolyte drink while recovering from fever, diarrhea, and vomiting, or sunstroke. 

9. The rehydrating effect of lime mint water and its effect in balancing out the chemicals will help to flush out the excess minerals out of the body through urine. It helps to prevent kidney stones though it may help in increasing urine formation and micturition that can wash out if the kidney stones are small. 

10. It helps to clean up the teeth and will act as a natural teeth whitening agent. As the acidic properties of lime and minerals in mint juice are mixed with the saliva, savoring the water or soda will break down the debris and reduce the microbes in the cavities (salted version). Further, it will also clean up the yellow in the teeth making the enamel shine white. At the same time, the acidic nature can cause a sting in your cavity as well. This is why this drink is good when you have bad breath - halitosis. 

11. It helps to ease the pain of menstrual cramps by regulating the blood circulation to the uterus, acting as an emmenagogue, balancing the hormones, supplementing with the needed minerals and vitamin shot for easing the cramps, and stress relaxant. It also reduces fatigue of menstruation. 

On a final note, do you have to ask about the benefits that are multiplied by adding other fruits and veggies like cucumber, watermelon, strawberries, mosambi, orange, kiwi, and pineapple? 

A Sip of Immunity is Equally Refreshing - Ginger Tea

 Ginger Tea? Argh! This is how some people will say so! It's drunk as a medicine and is a common devotion made from Ginger root, a common daily spice found in the kitchen of all the households in countries of Asia and the Pacific continent. 

Ginger is a brown-skinned root that has yellow to a mustard-colored pulp. The root is flat and spreads in a branching manner. Small roots - rhizoids - are found on the crevices of these roots. They are tangy and sharp in taste that is neither sweet nor bitter.

How to Make Ginger Tea?

Ginger Tea can be prepared in several ways:

a) Ginger Tea:

Take a piece of ginger and boil it in water. Strain the water to collect the decoction. Add some honey or sugar or jaggery before drinking.

b) Lemon Ginger Tea:

Take a piece of ginger and boil it in water. Strain the water to collect the decoction in a cup having the juice of half the lemon squeezed in it. To this add honey or drink it as it is. 

c) Other combinations of Ginger Tea:

Mint, turmeric with black pepper, cardamom and cinnamon, and tulsi are other herbs and spices that can be added along with the ginger tea preparation. In all these cases, the ginger tea is prepared with these spices and herbs added to the boiling water, and the decoction is strained to a cup. To this devotion is added honey or jaggery. Maple syrup is also a good choice to add to it. 

d) Ginger tea with tea:

Ginger root added to the regular tea devotion while being boiled makes the typical and common Indian ginger tea. To this decoction, milk can be added as a choice, and adding milk to a strong pungent ginger tea is highly refreshing. Take my word for a recommendation. Sugar can be replaced with lemon in this tea and for this tea, milk should not be added as it will curdle. 

Benefits of Ginger Tea:

1. A shot of ginger tea is good enough to stop motion sicknesses like dizziness, cold sweat, vomiting, or nausea. 

2. Ginger tea relieves heartburn, reduces pressure, lowers blood pressure, slims blood clots, and increases blood circulation. 

3. Reduces weight gain and regulates blood sugar levels.

4. Reduces inflammation and pain. 

5. Boosts immunity. 

6. Helps in digestion and is good to have a cup after a heavy meal. 

7. Helps to fight viral infections - so good for COVID by helping to alleviate its symptoms - I think this is something that all of your should drink when you take your COVID shots. 

8. This is the best decoction to drink for alleviating and reducing menstrual cramps, dysmenorrhea, and amenorrhea; it is helpful to increase blood flow or start periods naturally as it is an emmenagogue. 

9. Nothing can surpass its refreshing effects as it instantaneously relieves stress. So sip a cup next time when you reach home tired. 

10. The anti-inflammatory properties of ginger and a load of antioxidants in this root, helps to reduce the occurrence of cancer.

11. The drink helps to improve brain function as it reduces stress and has a good amount of antioxidants that protect against Alzheimer's disease.