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What is PERMANENT ADDRESS.....??? Written by Hon. Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman Very thought-provoking! Our joint family home in Tiruchirapalli housed 14 of us from age 5 to 95 years. All kids, grandkids, and Grandparents lived happily by sharing what we had with joy and contentment. But today, I watch both the ancestral houses abandoned and nature taking over the garden my mother used to tend for hours every day. The Jamun, the Drumstick, a few Neem and Peepal have survived, but all beauty is both transient and fragile, and the law of entropy is powerful. The lovely flowers of myriad colours are all gone. I wonder what happened to the squirrels, the peacock family that came every day and ate from my mother’s hand. The Bulbul, the sparrows, the parrots, spotted flycatchers, Cuckoos, a huge troop of monkeys that once in a month would upset the order of the place Once people leave, a home becomes a house. Initially, I didn’t feel like selling, and now I don’t feel like going. Time has taken a

  H ah-Koo: N oun (in Hawaii) a crown of fresh flowers. MORE ABOUT HAKU First recorded in 1835–40. Comes from Hawaiian and means literally, “to arrange, put in order, compose, braid.” EXAMPLES OF HAKU The hula dancer gracefully moved across the stage, her  haku  swaying with each step. As a symbol of celebration and honour, he presented a fragrant  haku  to the guest of honour. Jouissance [ zhwee-sah n ns ] noun pleasure; enjoyment . MORE ABOUT JOUISSANCE First recorded in English in 1480–90. Comes from Old French, equivalent to  jouiss -, stem of  jouir  “to enjoy.” EXAMPLES OF JOUISSANCE The novel’s rich descriptions and poetic language offered readers moments of  jouissance  as they immersed themselves in its captivating narrative. The ballet performance was a masterpiece of grace and passion, eliciting feelings of  jouissance  in all who had the privilege to witness it. Smorgasbord [  smawr -g uh s-bawrd,  shmawr - ] MORE ABOUT SMORGASBORD First recorded in 1875–80. Comes from the

Know What is a "Mondegreen?' If you’ve been listening to rock music, you know it’s often hard to make out the lyrics. They sing it their way and we hear it our way. Jimi Hendrix famously sang the phrase “While I kiss the sky” which was heard by thousands as “While I kissed this guy.” CCR’s popular song originally said, “There’s a bad moon on the rise.” Many heard it as “There’s a bathroom on the right.” Deep Purple’s still-popular chorus (known for its timeless guitar riff) “Smoke on the water/Fire in the sky” was misheard as “Smoke on the water/Fire engine guy.” Nirvana’s anthem “Smells like Teen Spirit” had the lines, “Here we are now/Entertain us.” They were misheard as “Here we are now/In containers.” When Elvis Presley sang, “Everybody in the Whole Cell Block”, many heard it as” Everybody in a wholesale Frock” There’s actually a word for misheard lyrics like these. Mondegreen. Some mondegreens became so famous that even artists like Hendrix and CCR sang the misheard versi

Bengaluru: The water level in all dams and reservoirs of Karnataka has dipped to an alarming low level like never before while Bengaluru the Silicon city and state capital hasn’t received rainfall for more than 150+ days; once touted as a naturally air-conditioned city, pensioners paradise and what not is literally struggling to cope up with the scorching heat to no avail. It used to evince rainfall whenever the mercury crossed 36 degrees centigrade but not anymore and these days, it is even touching 40-41.06 degrees as well! However, all these adverse natural conditions are no barometer when it comes to spending at the hustings as money is flowing like water in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. Ministers set to spend crores: Probably, for the first-ever time in the electoral history of the state 11 incumbent cabinet ministers have been roped in through their sons, daughters, wives and relatives to pump in money bags for electoral gains to the Congress party. These minister

Bengaluru: Venkataiah Srinivas Prasad’s passing away looks like paving the way for an end of dissent Dalit voice in public life and more so in the politics of Karnataka. His passing away was neither sudden nor unexpected as his ill health was well-known to all those known to him. It’s a real big surprise that he could brave all odds on the health front so far despite being on dialysis daily for years. Eternal dissent in a way: Like true socialists’ he lived being an eternal dissent since the beginning of his public life and later forever, whether in or out of being in power positions. On the other hand, he refused to budge or compromise on his stance other than kicking out the power positions. Only a few years back, he resigned as a revenue minister following differences with Siddaramaiah, then the chief minister. He could have easily remained a minister until the end of the tenure, but he was the last person to even think so. Golden jubilee in politics: A resident of the royal Mysur

Do not have negative thoughts about others you are harming yourself. .. sometimes leads to autoimmune diseases. Forgive and move on You will conserve your energy enormously And positivity will reign. Every half an hour, close your eyes, relax for a minute and rest. After all, it's working tirelessly. The only thing that can save you at the start of a heart attack is an aspirin tablet...push it into the mouth and under the tongue. Always carry two Ecospirin 375 mg tablets in your pocket. After getting up in the morning sit up and put your feet flat on the ground lift the heels up and relax do that 10 times in the morning will increase blood circulation and prevent varicose veins. Every night before going to bed open a window look at a distant object have a pinpoint vision blink and then look at a distance again. By blinking your is getting reformatted. Every night if you do that you will find that you retain your eye power. If you do not drink two litres of water a day and the u

What is folate? Folate, also known as vitamin B₉ and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and storage. Folate is the naturally occurring form of vitamin B9 Its name is derived from the Latin word “folium,” which means leaf. In fact, leafy vegetables are among the best dietary sources of folate Vitamin B9 Vitamin B9 is an essential nutrient that naturally occurs as folate. Low levels of vitamin B9 are associated with an increased risk of several health conditions, including: Elevated homocysteine. High homocysteine levels have been associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Inadequate green leafy vegetable intake is the major cause of heart block and bypass. Inputs Courtesy: ENT Specialist Doctor with 41 years of experience. He can be reached Only on  WhatsApp messages at  9243301223.

Bengaluru: Bengalureans continue to remain indifferent to the general elections by preferring to forget their duty to vote as evinced on Friday 26 April. This stance, by and large, has continued to remain so and also sadly for decades.   Second-class polling in the first-class city: S Suresh Kumar, former BJP Minister and Rajajinagar MLA laments over the sad development. He also relents at the predicament as 'Second-class polling in the first-class city' and claims to humbly receive the 'commemorative letter' and puts forth the following opinion: 1. Pleaded for polling days several times: Maybe, I pleaded with the election commission against having the polling days on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. If Friday is the polling day, it will also be declared as a holiday thereby tempting many people to utilize the same as a long weekend for personal leisure and pleasure. It is quite natural as well. 2. Need for a sub booth: Among some polling booths, for instance, th

Japan does not have any welfare programmes like Free LPG, Free Electricity, etc. Their motto: Work for it or do without it. These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all must be made applicable in India too. 1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! 5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation. Good citizens should stop this mania. Can you think of a reason for not sharing this? Neither could I.

742 grains of green gram A retired officer goes to a shop and asks the young shopkeeper "Give me 742 grains of green gram" The boy, without speaking a word, quickly weighs 200 grams of green gram and gives it to the customer. The customer asks him: "Are there really 742 grains in this packing"? Youngster replies: "Of course, you can go home and count. My dad has counted and established that each kilo of green gram comprises of 3710 grains. Therefore, for 200 grams, it should contain 742 grains" The customer gets even more curious and asks the youngster: "What does your dad do"? Youngster replies: "He is also retired, like you" Author Anonymous

(Very thought-provoking message. Please go through the write-up.) Whoever wrote, it is wonderfully written. I never understood one thing what do these film actors or actresses do that they get 50 crores or 100 crores for each film? In a country where top scientists, doctors, engineers, professors, officers, etc. get 10 lakh to 20 lakh rupees per year, in the same country a film actor earns 10 crores to 100 crores of rupees per year! What does he do after all? What is their contribution to the development of the country? After all, what do they do to earn so much in just one year that it might take 100 years for the top scientists in the country! Today, the three areas which have fascinated the new generation of the country are cinema, cricket and politics. The earnings and prestige of the people belonging to these three fields are beyond all limits. These three areas are the ideals of modern youth, while their credibility is currently under question. So it is useless for the country a

Bengaluru: The Janata Dal-Secular regional party headed by HD Devegowda, former chief minister and prime minister is set to increase its tally in comparison to its strength of lone member in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Prajwal Revanna, son of HD Revanna and grandson of HD Devegowda representing Hassan constituency is the only Lok Sabha Member of the Parliament. HDD and Nikhil Kumaraswamy defeated: In the 2019 general elections HD Devegowda had contested as a JDS-INC alliance candidate from Tumakuru and was defeated against GS Basavaraj of the BJP. Likewise, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of HD Kumaraswamy was defeated in the Mandya constituency against Mrs Sumalatha, an Independent supported by the BJP. After the Parliamentary polls, HD Devegowda was elected to the Rajya Sabha, along with Mallikarjun Kharge with the support of the BJP. Mandya and Kolar to the JDS? Thanks to the alignment with the BJP and pro-Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave across the country political observers think that Ma

Can Indian EVMs be hacked? Debapratim Ghosh, Assistant Prof. (Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar) replies/gives his opinion as follows: I know the Indian EVM in a fair amount of detail through an ex-professor during my PhD days. Here it goes: 1. The Indian EVM is not designed by a single person or group of persons from a single company. There are no foreign designers involved. In fact, the design is made by taking contributions from (a) the Election Commission of India (b) a Technical Experts Group (TEG) consisting of professors from IITs, IISc etc. and (c) Non-commercial public sector manufacturing units such as BEL (Bharat Electronics) and ECIL (Electronics Corp of India Ltd.). 2. Most EVMs around the world are essentially generic microcomputer systems which can do multiple functions or tasks. On the other hand, the Indian EVM can only be used for voting and nothing else. Hence there is only one single program that runs in it, and that is for voting only. So, introducing a

A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper, Guido, has cheated him out of $10,000,000. His bookkeeper is deaf and dumb. That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that Guido would hear nothing so he would never have to testify in court. When the Godfather goes to confront Guido about his missing $10 million, he takes along his lawyer who knows sign language. The Godfather tells the lawyer, "Ask him where the money is!" The lawyer, using sign language, asks Guido, Where's the money? Guido signs back, "I don't know what you are talking about." The lawyer tells the Godfather, "He says he doesn't know what you're talking about." The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to Guido's head and says, "Ask him again or I'll kill him!" The lawyer signs to Guido, "He'll kill you if you don't tell him." Guido trembles and signs, "OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buri

Just leave it. It is a wonderful sentence. If we know the value of it, we won’t be suffering as much as we do in our lives. The principle of JUST LEAVE IT ( Worth Practicing) - Try convincing a person once or twice. If he or she refuses to get convinced, Just Leave it - When the children grow up and make their own decisions, do not impose, Just Leave it - Your frequency doesn't match with everyone in life. If you can't connect with someone, Just Leave it - After a certain age if someone criticises you, don't get upset, Just Leave it - When you realise that nothing is in your hands, stop worrying about others and the future, Just Leave it - When the gap between your wish list and your capabilities increases, stop self-expectations, Just Leave it - Everyone's path of life, size of life, quality of life is different, so stop comparing, Just Leave it - When life has given you such a wonderful treasure of experience, stop counting your daily earnings, Just Leave it - If this

Indian Elections 2024 - the headlines from abroad A compilation: “Will the outcome of India’s election increase intolerance” - Deutsche Welle “Modification of India is almost complete” - TIME Magazine. “India’s election: fixing a win by outlawing dissent damages democracy” - UK Guardian “Is India’s BJP the world’s most ruthlessly efficient political party?” - Financial Times “‘Messianic spell’: how Narendra Modi created a cult of personality” - UK Guardian “Narendra Modi Is Preparing New Attacks on Democratic Rights” - Jacobin Magazine “With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi’s India, how free and fair will this year’s election be?” - The Conversation, Australian Research Council “India can grow fast with or without Narendra Modi” - Reuters. “Modi Is Making India’s Election All About Himself” - Bloomberg “Progressive South Is Rejecting Modi” - Bloomberg “Modi’s Campaign May Have Already Peaked” - Bloomberg “‘Billionaire Raj’ Is Pushing India Toward Autocracy” - Bloomberg “India’s

OUT OF BOX Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a Merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the Moneylender.  The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail. They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the s

According to an old native American legend, one day there was a big fire in the forest. All the animals fled in terror in all directions, because it was a very violent fire. Suddenly, the jaguar saw a hummingbird pass over his head, but in the opposite direction. The humming flew bird flew towards the fire! Whatever happened, he wouldn't stop. Moments later, the jaguar saw him pass again, this time in the same direction as the jaguar was walking. He could observe this coming and going until he decided to ask the bird about it because it seemed very bizarre behaviour. "What are you doing, hummingbird?" he asked. "I am going to the lake," he answered, "I drink water with my beak and throw it on the fire to extinguish it." The jaguar laughed. 'Are you crazy? Do you really think that you can put out that big fire on your own with your very small beak?' 'No,' said the hummingbird, 'I know I can't. But the forest is my home. It feeds

A N O S O G N O S I A: What is it? Anosognosia, is a temporary forgetfulness, according to French Professor, Bruno Dor, of the Institute of Memory and Alzheimer's Disease (IMMA), La Pitié-Salpêtrière, Hospital, in Paris. He addresses the subject in a rather reassuring way: "If anyone is aware of his memory problems --he does not have Alzheimer's." 1. I forget the names of families; 2. I do not remember where I put some things; This is "Anosognosia" or temporary forgetfulness. Half of people 60 and older have some symptoms that are due to age, rather than disease. The most common cases are: 1. forgetting the name of a person; 2. going to a room in the house and not remembering why we were going there; 3. a blank memory for a movie title or actor\actress; 4. a waste of time searching where we left our glasses or keys; After 60 years, most people have such a difficulty, which indicates that it is not a disease, but rather a characteristic, due to the pas