Take sleeping pills on prescription only

Many insomniacs risk their health by taking sleeping pills for more than a month without getting proper medical advice. A study of 2,000 people in the UK taking sleeping pills without prescription showed 80% of cases had underlying health problems, such as heart disease, that needed to be dealt with immediately.

Medication widely used to combat anxiety and insomnia also increases the risk of dementia. Over65s who start taking benzodiazepines increase their chances of developing dementia within 15 years by 50%.
If sleeplessness lasts longer than a month, there will possibly be an underlying medical condition, such as a mental health problem, like depression, or a physical condition like asthma. One in four adults has trouble sleeping and up to 10% have insomnia.

Red wine helps you live longer

Drinking red wine may increase the lifespan of a person due to the presence of an antioxidant capable of diminishing the damaging effects of free radicals in the body, a new study suggests.

Research shows that honey bees given resveratrol — a compound found in red wine — ate less and lived longer. In the past, scientific studies on resveratrol have also shown it lengthens the lifespan.
Being an antioxidant, the compound also is capable of diminishing the damaging effects of free radicals - often released during stressful conditions that cause damage to cells and have an effect on how we age.

Coconut water is a natural sports drink

Coconut water an excellent natural sports drink that replenishes the nutrients that the body has lost during a moderate workout. Apart from having everything an average sports drink has, it has five times more potassium than other sports drinks, which helps get rid of muscle cramps. It is also high in healthy antioxidants.

Those doing strenuous exercise, however, should stick to traditional sports drinks, as coconut water is low on sodium that one loses significantly during sweating and needs to be replaced fast.

OFFICE GOSSIP HELPS YOU BOND

Gossiping in office brings employees closer and makes them more co-operative, found a study on the role of gossip in cementing friendships between employees in a Dutch healthcare centre.

The researchers, however, warn that people who engage in excessive gossip have fewer friends in the workplace, suggesting that individuals should be careful not to be labelled “the office gossip”.
Gossip was defined as “talking about someone who's not present at that moment. This can mean talking negatively about someone, but it can also mean talking about positive things.” The study, published in the journal Social Networks, found that people who trusted one another were more likely to share negative gossip because it entails an element of risk.

Joyous in celebration of the Preserver

We’re in the interstice now between two important festivals at Tirupati, the Brahmotsavams of September and October, perhaps a time for reflection, which may be the purpose of such calendar events.
What’s so interesting about these festivals is their operational concept: ananda, joy. It’s a very Vaishnava thing and appropriate, associated with ‘the Preserver’. No gloom or doom, just thankfulness for creation and hope in life. This USP of the Vaishnava worldview was pointed out to me years ago by senior artist Mr Adimoolam, and that’s when I began to properly notice the untrammeled celebration in the air the moment we cross the threshold of a temple to Mahavishnu in any avatar or aspect.
Showers of rose petals and sprays of sandalwood-water and rose-water flung at devotees, solo singers and groups of singers in sangeet seva, solo dancers and groups of dancers in nritya seva, the clothes and ornaments of deities changed to suit the seasons and for special days.

The intense ritual theatre of arati, including waving long peacock feather-fans set in antique silver whisk-holders, the velvet curtains, the great bells, the blazing lampfire and sometimes a glimpse of the historic jewellry offered to the deities by kings and queens. Life is one long party at a Vaishnava temple, the mantra is ‘Affirm Existence’. Some temples have huge mirrors at the entrance that ask that we reflect on the reflection. Their literal, poignant message is ‘Beyond the illusion, go forth to the unifying reality.’
Inside, we get to ask pardon for any lapses, knowing or unknowing, into kaam, krodh, moh, lobh, jhoot and ninda. We feel part of the human plan, taking our turn at darshan. We don’t go empty-handed, we carry at least a rupee coin to offer, not because ‘God’ wants ‘gifts’ but as a reminder that we are an inter-dependent race and the money collected will be used for the general good.
When we leave, we take away prasad as a sweet aftertaste. True, there’s much that annoys about some temples but there’s no denying either that the key foundational premise is rather wonderful. Possibly the biggest take-home from a nice temple visit is a buzz of reassurance about ‘God’ as a real sweetheart and consequently, a kinder view of our fellow-beings, each an ‘ishwarshrishti’. Not a bad SOP if sincerely followed, could keep things sort of bright and affectionate.
Renuka Narayanan writes on religion and culture shebaba09@gmail.com

Is sleeplessness killing you softly?

Despite stacks of research on how sleeplessness kills you in insidious ways, being a borderline insomniac has never bothered me. I’d rather be up doing nothing particularly useful than asleep doing, well, nothing that I’m conscious of.
Of course, when I say sleeping kills, I don’t mean getting killed in an accident from sleeping over the wheel while driving. What I had in mind was sleeplessness killing you softly by triggering high blood pressure, raising stress hormone levels and inflammation, all factors that raise heart disease and stroke risk. Truncated sleep also interferes with metabolism, causing glucose intolerance, type-2 diabetes and obesity by altering metabolic functions, such carbohydrate processing and storage.
All this is old hat. So when I came across a disease called Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), I almost put the book away. Anything termed ‘fatal’ obviously kills you, and it gets seriously worrying when it precedes a disorder you may be suffering from. But the word ‘familial’ was comforting — my parents and extended family have no sleep disorders that I could have inherited — so I read on.
FFI is a very rare and incurable disorder (great news) that afflicts only 100 people worldwide (even better news). Caused by a mutation to the brain protein PrPC, it leads to progressively worsening insomnia till the sufferers starts hallucinating and losing their minds from lack of sleep. It kills within 18 months, which must seem a bit longer to someone who cannot sleep at all.

So I turned the page again and came across the Strange and Horrific Death of Michael Corke, a music teacher from Chicago, who turned into a rabid insomniac immediately after his fortieth birthday in 1991. Within months, he had to be hospitalized because he lost his mind along with his ability to sleep. Even inducing a coma using sedatives couldn’t shut his brain down. Corke died a month before his forty-first birthday, after being sleepless for six months.
It still read a bit like a page out of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, so my interest remained purely academic. But then the author Matthew Wolf-Meyer muddied the waters by describing a non-inherited even rarer form of the disorder called sporadic fatal insomnia that spontaneously appeared in people with no inherited mutation in mid life - read that as over the age of 40. That’s when I started losing some more sleep wondering if my brain was battling mutant proteins that were kicking it awake when it really wanted to sleep.
But having slept over it, The Slumbering Masses proved to be a good read. Anthropologist Wolf-Meyer argues that sleep patterns are societal, not biological, and designed to fit the schedule of cultures that want you alert and functioning at the break of day after eight hours of sleep. Sleeping pills at bedtime and coffee at daybreak, he proposes, are meant to make you adhere to socially-acceptable sleep-wake cycles.
Sleep experts say most of us are not getting as much sleep as our parents did, which is leading tosleeping pill-dependence, jagged nerves and a host of mood and brain disorders, from as depression to Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of agerelated dementia. A sleepless night or two or a short-lived bout of insomnia is generally nothing to worry about, but if your sleeplessness is interfering with your life, it may be a good idea to find out what is causing it before popping sleeping pills.
But as Wolf-Meyer points out, you don’t have to stick to the eight-hour schedule. Some people make do with five hours a night, while others need up to 9 hours. Ideally, you should target for 7 to 8 hours, but if you function fine without getting enough, don’t to lose sleep - our your mind — over it.

Overweight women have smaller children

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese can encounter a host of health complications. The added weight also appears to affect how their children grow and develop, at least initially.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Paediatrics, it’s reported that babies of overweight/obese mothers gained less weight and grew less in length than babies of normal-weight women from just after birth to three months. The overweight/ obese mother babies also gained less fat mass comparatively. Fat mass in infants is widely considered to be crucial to brain growth and development. The findings emphasise need of addressing the risk of obesity among would-be mothers.

With viruses and bacteria infecting people with a vengeance, here’s a ready-reckoner on how to differentiate a simple flu from a more potent illness

With viruses and bacteria infecting people with a vengeance, here’s a ready-reckoner on how to differentiate a simple flu from a more potent illness

When Tushar Pushkar came home from school with a runny nose and fever five days ago, his mother Deepa hoped it was yet another viral infection that would go away on its own. When the fever stayed over 102 F over three days, the worried mom visited a paediatrician.
“I usually don’t rush to a hospital but when the fever did not come down, especially at night, I got petrified that it might be dengue. He stopped eating, lost almost one kg in three days,” she says. Luckily for the Pushkars, it was viral fever.


She’s not the only parent fretting about fever-causing infections that seem to be striking the young and old at will. Last week, Priya Walia, 2, developed tiny red rashes on her skin, which turned out to be a viral skin infection.
“Most children these days are turning up with symptoms of respiratory and stomach viral. Priya just needed symptomatic treatment using anti-allergy medicines and calamine lotion because all viral infections are self-limiting and resolve within a week,” says Dr Nitin Verma, senior consultant, department of paediatrics, Max Hospital, Saket.
“Seasonal fevers have kept us very busy for three weeks, with most people reporting of a cold, cough and high fever and in some cases, gastrointestinal problems. The current influenza outbreak is quite potent as the illness lasts for a week after which people get better on their own. The fever, however, leaves them very weak,” says Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director of the Apollo hospitals group, who also runs a clinic in Defence Colony.

Since viruses cause most fevers, the disease is self-limiting and the fever takes about a week to go away on its own. “There is no need for antibiotics. The symptoms can be treated to make the patient feel comfortable, and may include paracetamol to bring down the fever, or an probiotics and oral rehydration solution for a stomach infection,” says Dr Sibal. Till dengue is ruled out, avoid taking disprin as it can intensify internal bleeding.
Experts say you should look for “localising” symptoms that indicate the underlying cause of the fever. While a cough, runny or blocked nose and a sore throat indicate an upper respiratory tract infection, rash, breathlessness and vomiting could be signs of a serious illness such as dengue. “People, however, should not panic if the platelet count is low as some viral illnesses other than dengue may also cause platelets to drop,” says Dr Dr SP Byotra, chairperson, department of medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. The normal range of platelets is between 1.5 lakh and 4.5 lakh.
Since the platelet count and the total white blood cells (WBC) go down because of other viral infections as well, people need not take lower than normal counts as a surefire indication of dengue. If the fever is dengue, however, the fall in platelets is more dramatic, with people losing up to 50,000 to a lakh in 24 hours.
Even if the blood tests confirm dengue, there is no need to panic. “This year, the strain f dengue going around and most people do not need hospitalisation. The majority of dengue cases can be treated at home with paracetamol (crocin) for fever and lots of water,” says Dr Byotra.
A transfusion is needed only if the patient starts bleeding from the gums, mouth or nose or the total WBC goes below 1,500 (normal is over 4,000) and platelets go as low as 15,000.

Is your fever the ubiquitous seasonal flu or a symptom of the more worrying dengue, malaria or chikungunya? We list the ‘localising symptoms’.
Symptom Checklist
Apart from high fever, which is common across these infections, the classic symptoms of the major infections currently afflicting most parts of the country are:
Dengue
Severe headache
Pain behind the eye
Nausea vomiting
Rash
Abdominal cramps
Internal bleeding, including gums
Malaria
Shaking chills
Severe headache
Seasonal viral influenza
Cough
Runny
nose nasal congestion
Rash
Muscle and body ache

Stomach flu
Stomach cramps
Nausea
vomiting
Diarrhoea
Chikungunya
Severe joint pain and/or swelling
Headache
Muscular weakness
Inability to walk
Pain may last for up to month
When should I visit a doctor?
Here's a checklist to help you decide whether you need to visit a doctor immediately or treat the symptoms at home:
If the fever stays over 102 for three days.
If it is fever, headache, tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and muscle ache, it is likely to be a viral.
Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea indicate gastrointestinal infection. If you have cramps, visit a doctor.
Cough only at bedtime could be undiagnosed asthma.
Antibiotics are needed if the mucous/sputum is yellow or green, indicating a bacterial infection.
Itchy rashes could be dengue, measles or chicken-pox and need a medical examination.

Art by the Road Art is not meant for galleries and museums alone. There is utilitarian art too, where the artist may not have exalted goals but still manages to produce genuine works of beauty. The line between artists and artisans is rather blurred, Malavika Velayanikal discovers on a trip to Bangalore’s Shivaji Nagar

Art by the Road

Art is not meant for galleries and museums alone. There is utilitarian art too, where the artist may not have exalted goals but still manages to produce genuine works of beauty. The line between artists and artisans is rather blurred, Malavika Velayanikal discovers on a trip to Bangalore’s Shivaji Nagar

There is a strange gleam in Farooq Khan’s eyes when he talks of how he used to beat hot copper and brass into exquisite vases of all shapes and sizes. There are large Mughalai dum teapots, brass utensils with handles and snouts, copper tumblers and wide biryani handis (vessels) all around him in his one-room shop on the most congested, crowded Old Market Road of Shivaji Nagar. That the shop has no name but only a tiny, faded circular board with ‘166 ‘ written on it hasn’t stopped a handful of clients — nowadays mainly the five-star hotels of Bangalore, Farooq’s son, Lateef tells me — from finding their way here. Farooq looks wiser than his 68 years. His forehead is creased, and laughter lines are well defined — perhaps, the result of hours and hours spent close to a fire, eyes screwed to carefully etch details on hot metal. He learnt to bend and mould copper and brassware from his father, Mohiuddin Khan, who learnt it from his father, Dawood Khan, who was taught by his father Hassan Khan, the first one in the family to master these techniques. This art is almost dead, Farooq says, shaking his head slightly. The hollow-casting method of making copper and brassware is rather elaborate. Farooq discontinued his schooling to learn it. It took him five to ten years to master it. First a clay model of the object is made, which is then covered with a thin coating of wax. This mould is then rotated on a lathe to create enough friction to spread the wax evenly. Moist clay is then smeared on it to keep the wax coating scatheless. After the clay is burnt tight, a tiny hole is made on the mould, and it is put to fire. The wax melts and flows out, leaving a vessel-shaped gap in the mould. Molten metal is poured into the gap. Repeated cooling and heating tempers the metal. Plates and vessels are then made by hammering and shaping. This long, tiresome process is probably one of the reasons why nobody seem interested in learning it. “The main reason is, of course, the easily available, mass-produced, cheaper substitutes like aluminium and stainless steelware,” says Lateef, the fifth-generation entrant. “I don’t know how to make the ware. But I learnt how to do kalai (polishing) using acid and tin. I also trade in old brass and copperware. ITC Gardenia, Taj Vivanta, etc are our clients. They show us pictures and clips of vessels from abroad, and I get them made for them here. Foreigners also come to us.” A stroke paralysed Farooq’s left hand and tongue a few years back. Though he can walk and talk now, he hasn’t yet found strength enough to hammer metal into shape. He has trained a couple of workers but he fears the art is already lost. On the other hand A few bylanes away from Farooq’s shop No. 166 is PR Kopathi’s Nandini Clay Works. “Specialist in Ganesh idols,” his visiting card says. He is touching up a 10-ft tall Ganesha idol perched on the footpath outside his shop. The plaster of Paris idol looks pleased and benevolent — just the right expression devotees look for in their God. “I have been making Ganeshas for over 20 years now. So the expressions on the idol’s face come effortlessly,” Kopathi says. This is the busiest time of the year for Kopathi -- Ganesha Chathurthi festival time. He has hundreds of Ganeshas, bejewelled and dressed in bright colours, sitting, standing and reclining on the benches and shelves in the shop. “This is when people come to buy the idols, but I have to start making them in January,” he says. “I have to come up with new designs. I make them in clay first. Once ready, they will take 45 days to dry. Then I make a rubber moulding, which takes about 10 days to make, and 10 days to dry. Then the production starts.” He learnt the art while studying terracota and pottery making at the Khadi Village Industries Commission. Once in a while, eager students, mostly women, approach him to learn the techniques. “It looks beautiful and easy. So people want to learn. They try it for two days, and hardly anyone turns up on the third day,” he laughs. Neither Farooq nor Kopathi assume any artistic airs. They have no exalted goals to nudge people into seeing things from a different perspective or to make them reflect on their existence. But both of them use their creative skills and imagination to produce works of beauty, and even utility. There is hardly any line dividing artists and artisans, their art by the road taught me. v_malavika@dnaindia.net

Social networking isn't just about catching up with friends from another time. It can also mean getting together with complete strangers and collectively reminiscing about school, TV, music, games and other activities that shaped our lives, writes

That 90's Show

Social networking isn't just about catching up with friends from another time. It can also mean getting together with complete strangers and collectively reminiscing about school, TV, music, games and other activities that shaped our lives, writes

The first time I stumbled across the 'You know you grew up in India in the 90s' page on Facebook, a whole bunch of memories came rushing back. Twelve years since that decade ended, I seem to have forgotten a lot of things associated with that time. Fortunately, countless posts, pictures and comments by fellow users on that page reminded me of all the things I enjoyed while growing up. The first thing that strikes a visitor to the page is the cover picture — a collage of all things evocative of the 90s, with shows like Small Wonder and Shaktimaan, WWF and the Road Rash game. The timeline is filled with pictures and posts by its two lakh members. There's a poll on favourite cartoon shows where Tom and Jerry emerges as the clear-cut winner and a post about the first-ever gel pen. One of the members posts the jingle of the gel pen ad, while another talks about how owning the Rs25 pen was a status symbol. Recently, the administrators put up a picture of the Indian cricket team riding atop the Opel Astra after their victory at the 1998 Sharjah Coca-Cola Cup. Within minutes, the picture had been shared by hundreds of users and the thread of comments ranged from "Cricket in those days was truly worth watching" to "I wonder who has that car now." One of their most popular posts is a picture of a ruled notebook page with four columns titled 'Name', 'place', 'animal' and 'thing' respectively. Browsing through the page, I was transported to a time when Cartoon Network was the only cartoon channel, countless Govinda movies ruled the roost, and we countered the summer heat with glasses or Rasna and ice golas. Akash Mitra, one of the founders of the page, recently invited members to share memories of people who they haven't seen in years but still fondly remember. The results ranged from school bus drivers and conductors, house maids, the neighbourhood chaat waala and the balloon seller. On social networking sites, where people share pictures, videos and opinions, the idea of collective nostalgia is fascinating. Monica Francis, one of the administrators of the page, says that the idea for the community was born when she and the other founders started reminiscing about games, ads and cartoons that they were fond of while growing up, and discovered that they had a lot in common. “The fact that so many people associated with the memories lent an emotional touch. So many things that were present during the 90s don't exist today so it's always fun to revisit those times,” she says. The success of the page prompted Sudeep K, another co-founder, to take this nostalgia a step further. He is developing a website on the lines of a social networking platform where users can share memories via pictures, posts and more. For its members, the Facebook page serves like a virtual time machine. Mandira Dutta, senior executive at a PR company and a member of this page, feels that in this age of chaos and too much information, there is a need to go back in time and relive memories of schooldays, a relatively simpler time. “You want to rewind to those simple times when you were a kid and had no hassles. The movies, the TV serials, the advertisements, they all reflected our society and us as individuals,” she says. She cites the example of teleserials like Hum Paanch, Dekh Bhai Dekh and Hip Hip Hurray, and how they're all just fond memories now. “It's fun to discuss these with other members, even if they're complete strangers.” For a lot of us, the beginning of the new millennium signalled the end of the age of innocence. Computers got more advanced, cellphones became commonplace and an animated TV show about a disobedient Japanese boy became the preferred choice of entertainment. While we may not associate with these developments, every decade brings with it new inventions, new faces and new trends. Who knows, a few years down the line, there may be a page titled 'You know you grew up in the 2000s if...' shikha.kumar@dnaindia.net

An application/software to check water quality

An app to chart water quality

When environmental engineer John Feighery got an internship at NASA in the 1990s, he wanted to be an astronaut but he was given a job working with a team designing the US bathroom for the space station. The small, closet-like space needed a toilet and room for hand washing, bathing and a place to keep toiletries. Feighery also worked on a project to fix equipment designed for monitoring crew health, which included testing water and air quality. After the Columbia Space Shuttle accident in 2003 left seven crew members dead, the Space Shuttle programme was suspended and further work on the International Space Station was delayed. Feighery turned his focus from managing water, sanitation and health problems in space to those on Earth. “I’d been working on supplying clean water to three or four people in space, and meanwhile there are a billion here on earth that don't have it,” Feighery said. “The world that my kids are going to grow up in has this huge problem that I felt like I could work on." After he left NASA Feighery tested well water in Bangladesh for a job funded by the National Institutes of Health. He felt the work, which involved using heavy equipment, charting notes and locations by hand and transporting samples in incubators to a distant laboratory could be made simpler. That's how he came up with the idea to use inexpensive testing equipment available online, and mWater — an Android app that records the data results of water quality tests and maps them. The application allows people to track water quality tests at any given water source over time, providing instant results which are put in context with other tests. The app also allows users to leave notes for other users about the appearance of the water, its scent, and how the water is flowing from the source, building up an archive of information over time. A photograph of the water source can be uploaded and location details are registered automatically using a GPS reading from the mobile device. UN Habitat funded a study in Tanzania to test mWater’s capacity to provide local health officers with a simple way to see the quality of water using a mobile phone. Health workers can use the data or even go with a sick patient and easily test the water where they live. "Anybody can look at it and see what's going on to see if anyone else might get infected," Feighery said. "When fecal contamination occurs somewhere it is the first precursor of disease in water systems. Before cholera spreads there's usually some failure in the sanitation system." Next, Feighery will be working with UN Habitat and Rwanda's ministry of health to help equip health workers to use mWater.

Hi-tech medicine, boon or bane?

Hi-tech medicine, boon or bane?

During the past several decades, treatment for a variety of conditions has begun to shift from a “one size fits all” approach to a more personalised strategy. As a result, patients can more often be matched to the best drug for their genetic makeup or the exact subcategory of their disease. This enables physicians to avoid prescribing a medication (or a dosage) that might cause serious side effects in certain populations. In other words, even among patients who apparently have the same disease and symptoms, the treatment for each one would be determined by various predictive or prognostic tests. But, while this high-tech approach could be a boon to patients, it could prove detrimental to drug companies’ bottom lines. The reasons are subtle. Personalised drug therapy uses biological indicators, or “biomarkers” — such as DNA sequences or the presence or absence of drug receptors — as an indicator of how patients should be treated, as well as to estimate the likelihood that the intervention will be effective. This concept is not new: it has been known for decades, for example, that people who have a genetic deficiency of an enzyme called G6PD can experience severe and precipitous anemia if they are exposed to certain drugs. Improving the efficacy and reducing the side effects of drug therapy will be a boon to doctors, patients, and insurance companies, to be sure, but why should pharmaceutical companies embrace personalised medicine in the long term? On the positive side, in any kind of experiment, a fundamental principle is that the greater the number of subjects or iterations, the greater the confidence in the study’s results. Unless the effect of the intervention is profound, small studies generally have large uncertainties in results. That is where biomarkers can help drug makers to design clinical studies that will show a high “relative treatment difference” between the drug and whatever it is being compared to. In reality, however, the situation is more complex. Assessments of safety and efficacy often do not move closely in tandem, so that even if smaller, better-targeted clinical trials offer clear evidence of a drug’s efficacy, regulators might demand far larger studies to provide evidence of the drug’s safety. Thus, the impact of personalised medicine in the short term might be positive at the patient’s bedside, but vast clinical trials to demonstrate the safety of new drugs will impose huge development costs that manufacturers might never recover. If society is to derive the maximum benefit from personalised medicine — which will require companies to pursue it — regulators worldwide will need to adopt reasoned and reasonable policies. Henry Miller is a physician and molecular biologist

Organic food catching on Promoters of organic food fest say these varieties are healthy

Organic food catching on

Promoters of organic food fest say these varieties are healthy

The awareness on the benefits of organic food is rising slowly yet steadily. To promote the same, a biodiversity mela was organised by Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmers association with farmers and seed-savers of Karnataka on Saturday at Lalbagh. The mela brought together food crops from all over the state which includes 200 varieties of rice and 120 varieties of millets, fruits, vegetables and seeds. According to Somesha B, CEO of Sahaja Organics, the awareness about organic food has been rising steadily. “There has been an increase in consumers from the last year to this year. However, reducing the pricing in the coming days will only be possible as consumption increases,” he said adding that there is a need to popularise the benefits of organic products in urban Karnataka. There are 18 stalls and this is the first time that such a mela is being held in the state. “We are trying to promote organic food by organising melas like these,” he added. “We want to link producers to the market. For instance, there are many varieties of grains which are nutritious that are disappearing. A variety of brown top millet called koralu, which is grown in some parts of the state, has been completely neglected. The fiber content and the nutrition value is very high. Besides it can be grown in waste lands and is a solution to the climate change. However, grains like these are fast disappearing,” said Krishnaprasad, secretary of Sahaja Samrudha. According to stall owners, the prices of organic products is about 20% more than regular food stuff. At the mela, there are various varieties of rice, millets, oils, health drinks, seeds, spices, herbal soaps and also snacks which have been made from organic products. The mela has been held to raise awareness to the public about the importance of biodiversity and raise awareness on the ‘convention of biological diversity to be held between October 8 and 19 in Hyderabad. There is also a plan to organise a mela on the theme food for good health in the next two months.

She’s got the heart for a cyclothon Reena Raju had a heart transplant in 2009. Since then, she does something special every World Heart Day

She’s got the heart for a cyclothon

Reena Raju had a heart transplant in 2009. Since then, she does something special every World Heart Day

Proving that determination is at the heart of all success stories, the first female heart transplant patient of Karnataka, Reena Raju, took part in a cyclothon on Saturday. The event, called Pedal for a Healthy Heart, was organised to coincide with the World Heart Day. The cyclothon, which was organised by BuzzinTown, saw several Bangaloreans taking part in it. It was a special task for Raju, who received a heart transplant in 2009 at the age of 29. But on Saturday, she was all about cycling. “I was able to cycle for eight kilometres. I had to stop during the event about two or three times because my legs were cramping, but it was great,” she says unassumingly. For Raju, the World Heart Day is unlike any other day as it reminds her of the gift she received that helped her defeat a seemingly impossible situation. “They had written me off. Every time the World Heart Day comes along, I do something special. I used to cycle to school all the time and then my heart condition came into the fore and I couldn’t do anything. At one point, I could not even lift my eyelids. Then post-surgery, I was able to cycle and jog. I take part in such events because I was sent a message about organ donation and also about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle,” she adds. While organ donation saved her life, Raju realises that there is still a lack of awareness about its importance in the state. “Tamil Nadu has an active heart transplant programme because there is awareness in that state. People here know about eye and kidney donation but don’t know that vital organs can also be donated. I always say that I don’t have a Hindu heart or Muslim heart or Christian heart but rather I have an angel’s heart,” says Raju. She elaborates that many are apprehensive of donating organs because of their religious beliefs. “I went through the process myself and I know that everyone from every faith is fighting for their lives and waiting for a heart transplant. If people can understand and if I can play a part in it, that would be great,” she muses. She says that she sees it as her own responsibility to show people that organ donation is important and also act as a beacon of hope for those still awaiting a new heart. “Within one month of my heart transplant, my appetite increased. I started exercising and cycling. My life definitely changed for the better. And people think if they get a new heart, somehow their feelings will change. I can say that is not the case at all. I played hockey before my heart problem and I still play hockey and I definitely still love my loved ones,” she laughs.

A ONE-STOP DESTINATION FOR SHAADI SHOPPING

A ONE-STOP DESTINATION FOR SHAADI SHOPPING

    Abrand that boasts of successfully having created a niche in the market for traditional and contemporary styles is Mohanlal Sons. This is considered just the right place for those looking to do some wedding shopping.
    They have pioneered a specialised segment of men’s wedding couturewear. Their designers work exclusively with customers to bring to life every imagination, in fabric, colour, embroidery and style, and ensure that the end product is satisfactory.
    As a one-stop destination for those looking to shop for the right clothes for a wedding, Mohanlal Sons offers to prospective grooms and their families, clothes and accessories for all occasions and ceremonies – tika, sagai, sangeet, cocktail, wedding and reception. Their collection offers finely tailored and customised sherwanis, Jodhpuri suits, kurta pyjamas, Indo-Western and the choicest of wedding accessories in vibrant colours and a variety of designs.
    Catering to women as well now, they have recently opened an ethnicwear boutique showcasing suits, saris, lehengas and evening gowns under the brand name of the designer, Chitwan Mohan. Prerna Mohan, a known interiors designer has made an exclusive hand-embroidered trousseau, some bedcovers and cushions for Mohanlal Sons.
    Their mastery over tailoring techniques has always been well known, but when combined with the most diverse range of fabrics, they create a fashion statement that is traditional in its roots, and at the same time, contemporary in style. Mohanlal Sons offer a wide range of wedding wear, formal wear and club wear. The eveningwear includes tuxedos, suits, coats, shirts and breeches that are perfect for a night out in the town.
    The Mohanlal Sons legacy goes back to as early as 1881, when they were known as Trevillion and Clark. They gained prominence for excelling in tailoring and stitching drapes and gradually evolved to become a complete fashion and wedding destination for men in particular.
Visit their stores in: Connaught Place (B-21), South Ex -2 Main Market, Noida (Great India Place Mall) and Sec-14, Gurgaon (Payal Cinema Road) For more information, visit www.mohanlalsons.com
Customercare number: +91 9310884100
E-mail: customercare@mohanlalsons.com

Models in outfits tailored by Mohanlal Sons

Holmes reconnects with first love Joshua Jackson

Holmes reconnects with first love Joshua Jackson

    Joshua Jackson has revealed that he received an unexpected phone call from the recently-divorced Katie Holmes.
    Holmes’ first big, real-life romance was with Dawson’s Creek co star Jackson, before she married Tom Cruise. “Like any old friend, it was like, ‘Oh, hi how are ya? What’s going on?’; ‘I had a kid,” a magazine quoted him as saying. “It was very nice, actually,” he said. In a magazine interview, the rising star, then 19, opened up about her romantic misfortunes.
    “I had really good luck this past year and I had a really wonderful, amazing experience,” she said. “I’m just going to say that I met somebody last year, I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable. I feel so fortunate because he’s now one of my best friends. It’s weird, it’s almost like a Dawson-and-Joey type thing now,” she said. ANI

Katie Holmes

Joshua Jackson

Popping pills to overcome insomnia may not be good for your health

Popping pills for sleep may be bad for health

    Popping pills to overcome insomnia may not be good for your health in the long run. For instance, eight out of 10 cases of insomnia were caused by underlying health problems, either physical or mental, that should be addressed. Attempting to treat sleeplessness without tackling its root cause was potentially dangerous. Causes of insomnia can include asthma, heart disease, anxiety or depression. A survey of 2,077 adults found 51 per cent of insomniacs had bought over-the-counter sleeping remedies without seeking advice from a doctor or pharmacist beforehand. Three in 10 said they had taken them for more than a month without advice, and a further 14 per cent for over six months.
    Paul Johnson, a pharmacist, said, “It’s worrying that so many people are overusing sleeping remedies. They can be effective for short-term treatment of mild insomnia, but should not be taken for long periods without advise because they can hide a serious health problem, which could get worse if untreated.”
    He said there were a number of simple techniques people could use to get a better night’s sleep, including going to bed and getting up at the same time each day, avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the evenings, and eating heavily late.

Don’t self medicate

Which colours do you think will be apt for a wedding in January 2013?

I’m not from India but I’m getting married here this December. What lines should I pick up for my bridal functions?
    - Priya Modi Indian contemporary bridal wear is the flavour of this season. Go in for different silhouettes for various functions. You should opt for exotic traditional, giving the whole look a modern twist with the use of bright colours like pink and orange, instead of the regular maroons and reds. For your sangeet, you can go for a floor-length anarkali or an anarkali lehenga. For the cocktail, you could go for a Victorian gown and for the reception, try a sari-inspired gown. 

Which colours do you think will be apt for a wedding in January 2013?
    - Pooja Khanna Shades of red, royal blue, wine and yellow are the most celebrated wedding colours this season. Don’t be afraid of colours, rather play with them. For sangeet, you can opt for an outfit in peacock colours or one with a play of four to five bright colours, blended into one ensemble. For cocktail, wear a wine or electric blue colour gown. For the reception, go for a golden, nude or a grey lehenga sari and colour block it with bright colours. 

I’m 26-years-old, 5-feet-1-inch tall and want to wear a gown for my cocktail. What would suit me best?
    - Shruti Jhavar Go for a floor-length gown with high platform heels since they would look great and make you look tall too. You could get these heels customised as they are not easily available. Go in for a vertical colour blocking or stick to the classic blacks and golds, which are slightly highlighted with crystal stones to give a glamourous and elegant look. Wear minimal jewellery — a pair of diamond studs or pearl earrings with a metallic bracelet.

Contemporary designs with a classic twist

Contemporary designs with a classic twist

    One of the most popular footwear brands, Clarks is launching its Autumn Winter 2012 collection. The collection bears a testimony to the brand’s heritage and their English country roots mixed with a city state of mind. Through the collection, the brand is making an effort to revisit and reinterpret the past. The Autumn Winter 2012 collection claims to be the perfect match for the season’s looks.
    Elements from Clarks’ heritage and Somerset roots mix with a London state of mind to create the perfect collection for Autumn Winter 2012. It is loaded with the authentic British stamp of Clarks design ingenuity and originality. For the latest trend updates from Clarks, visit www.clarks.in or subscribe to www.facebook.com/Clarksindia.

MUMFORD FOLK : Made from the best leather and nubuck; Price: 5,499

SELENA JEMMA: Turn back the clock with a look inspired by the1960s Price: 3,499

EASY BROWNIES

Want curves? Eat more chocolate!

While Jennifer Hudson is indulging in chocolate to achieve ‘ideal weight’, other celebs have sworn by it too. Here’s why you should tuck into some today

    Forget banning chocolate if you are a health addict. It’s actually good for you. Studies have pointed out how it reduces blood clots and can help fight strokes, and now another benefit of chocolate is sure to have women smiling; it can give you the curves you want! While singer Shakira had once said she owes her sexy figure to chocolate, now actress and singer Jennifer Hudson says she has been indulging in chocolate to help her achieve an ideal weight after having to lose 10 extra pounds for a new movie. “I love chocolate. I ate the rest of my weight. I got to the point where I was like,
this is enough. So I’ve gained all the weight back,” a news report quoted her as saying. 
 
IT BOOSTS APPETITE! Chocolate contains theobromine, an alkaloid chemical that is said to stimulate appetite. It also has substances that are known to affect the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger. 

    COOKING TRICKS: How to melt chocolate Melting chocolate is a dicey thing; one has to be careful not to burn it. Here’s how to melt it right: Chop the chocolate into small pieces It will melt more evenly.
    If you have to microwave it, do so for just one minute. For chocolate shavings, microwave the chocolate for just five seconds at a time.
    Don’t let chocolate come in contact with water or it will become lumpy.
    Don’t melt chocolate over high heat or it will become grainy.

Jennifer Hudson

 

EASY BROWNIES Ingredients Serves: 10 servings 

Ingredients
Butter — 1 cup Sugar — 1 1/2 cups Vanilla — 1 1/2 tsp Eggs — 2 All-purpose flour — 1 cup Cocoa powder — 1/2 cup Baking powder — 1 tsp Salt — a pinch Fresh coriander — Large sprigs, 2

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 in (33 x 23 cm) cake tin with paper and grease it. Melt butter, beat eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees. To test if it’s done, insert a knife end in the mix and if it comes out clean, it’s done (should be after about 30 minutes). Cool the cake, dust with powdered sugar, top with frosting. Enjoy!

UK-based digital media artist Andrea Zapp is currently showcasing her new works in the Mumbai city

DIGITAL ART ON YOU

UK-based digital media artist Andrea Zapp is currently showcasing her new works in the city

    Unusual, appealing and thoughtful — these are the words that come to your mind when you look at the works of UK-based digital media artist Andrea Zapp. Her exhibition Third Skin: An Exhibition of Textile Media Sculpture is about the digital and online identities of our lives. In a chat with BT, the artist talks about digital media and art.
Why have you titled your exhibition ‘Third
Skin’? There was a first version of the project in which I focused solely on the internet and satellite imagery for the fabric design. This was to reflect online habitats we all live in, our digital life through social media and networks. We have our own skin and identity, our first one, the second one is our environment and architecture. The third skin, in this case, is bringing back the digital onto the body to refer to our new virtual identities — our third layer in existence, so to say.
What inspires you? My surroundings, travel, modernist art, colours and shapes that give me ideas about patterns and forms for this kind of project. The ambiguity of a p h o t o g r ap h i c image that changes its form and outlook on fabric, distorting rules of perspective and issues of reality when printed.
Media-based textile art — please tell us more about it. I use the fabric as another screen to work with digital imagery. I always had a focus on narrative structures in my digital art work, a story is told or experienced through mixed forms of media, in metaphors. I am also interested in analogue-digital relationships of making. The digital is reflected, but the manufacture and product is very physical. The Third Skin project also has strong elements of design in it, obviously. I am not a fashion designer, but now I have to think about shapes and form of a garment in relation to visual art, which is new and just a starting point to take me to something else.
Why an exhibition in India? What do you
have to say about the Indian art scene? As I am exploring textile in its various forms at present, I went on a research trip to Gujarat earlier this year. I worked with a range of artisans there, who collaborated with me on designing wood blocks from my photography for printing fabric. In turn, as part of a dialogue, I made Indian-inspired garments from it, as well as a video with all the films from my trip about the breadth of textile crafts up there. So my view of the Indian art scene is very craft-orientated at the moment. The exhibition at The Loft here also goes back to contacts from Ahmedabad, where I met the curator.
Do you think that the outlook towards
media-based art has undergone a change? Yes, mostly in the field of interactive media arts, as we know it from its heydays as larger scale digital installations. Media art of today is very much about networking.
Programming language has become very accessible. Media art has also become more sculptural and merges more with contemporary art, which I think is really interesting. There are many hybrid formats now.
What is your message for
upcoming media-based artists? They need to develop an individual language and profile that the audience can clearly recognise. To make distinctions between design and media arts, it is not necessarily the same. Social networking sites are also not media art. It’s essential to research the history of media arts and its key institutions and artists since the 80s to be aware of crucial developments and ideas — to look at it as an experiment.
    The exhibition is on at The Loft, New
    Mahalaxmi Silk Mills Mathuradas Mills
    Compound, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel,
    Mumbai, till September 30.

Andrea Zapp

The Patels’ residence resonates with vibrant colours and beautiful artifacts.

SIMPLICITY PERSONIFIED

The Patels’ residence resonates with vibrant colours and beautiful artifacts.

    The Patels' 3-BHK home in Sea Shell building at Lokhandwala Complex is a classic example of a quasi-modern house that is filled with artifacts and relics collected during their different sojourns across the globe. Every room of the house adopts its own theme, which makes the ambience pleasant and welcoming. The house has an extraordinary entrance wherein an exquisite quillwork of a huge handmade Ganpati artifact gives a personal touch to their abode. "My house is an eclectic mix of my taste and my love for simplicity!" says the owner of the house, Yogesh Patel, who is a businessman and a resident of Lokhandwala since the past 20 years.

    Living Room: The textured walls illuminate the living room and enhances the feeling of space. But the focal point of the room are the beautiful artifacts. The Patels have coordinated them very well with the furniture and jute drapes thus making the room look remarkably different from the rest.

Kitchen: It is bigger than a usual modular kitchen. The classic contrast of black and white cabinets gives it a contemporary look.

    Bachelor’s Room: Blue dominates this space and the spacious study completes the elegant look of the room."This is my space and I just love to spend time here with my friends," says Brugul Patel.

    Master Bedroom: Excellent use of striking white shades makes the room look illuminated. Apart from furniture, the vibrant colours of drapes and tapestry complete this space.

>> Yogesh Patel with his wife Varsha, elder son Raj, daughter-in-law Meghna and youngest son Brugal

    Guest Bedroom: In shades of brown and white, this room is a welcoming delight. The French window makes the room look elevated and spacious. It is a wellequipped room with the right furniture and electronic gadgets.

MAPMYINDIA INTRODUCES SMASHING NEW MAPS FOR IOS

MAPMYINDIA INTRODUCES SMASHING NEW MAPS FOR IOS

    India's leading GPS navigation firm, MapmyIndia has yet again raised the bar with its latest product, the 'Don't Panic' app for iOS. Available on all Apple iOS versions including the latest iOS 6 (which has been largely bashed for poor navigation within its in-built Maps application), the 'Don't Panic' app from MaymyIndia is available for the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod Touch for all users in India. While a lot of new GPS companies have forayed into the country, the latest 'Don't Panic' app by MapmyIndia takes the game one notch higher by storing all map data on the device memory, eliminating the need for an active internet connection to load maps, thus also doing away with the extra data charges usually incurred by GPS navigation apps on mobile phones.
    For added convenience, the app is available in four statespecific packages, namely - All-India, Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra and Karnataka. So users have the flexibility to buy only the necessary package for their respective region and not the complete pan-India map. Reasonably priced, the all-India package costs about Rs 1,069 (19.99 US dollars) and has a total file size of 534MB. The individual state-based packages for Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra and Karnataka cost approximately Rs 427 (7.99 US dollars) and are sized 126MB, 130MB and 82.6MB, respectively. Interested users can download the 'Don't Panic' apps from iTunes App Store on their iOS devices.
    Rohan Verma, Director, MapmyIndia, said, "Don't Panic gives users freedom from data transfer charges and also the most accurate maps of India. iOS 6 users can also now experience this new product on their iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices."

Ray, Yamaha hasn't merely filled up a few blank spaces in its two-wheeler

With the launch of the new Ray, Yamaha hasn't merely filled up a few blank spaces in its two-wheeler arsenal for the Indian market, but rather engineered a product that despite its primary motive of catering to the country's growing female rider population, should immediately evoke mass appeal. On a recent test ride in Hyderabad, Rahul Basu got thinking while craftily circling cones on this purple pastel scooter

    For those who have already begun comparing this new face with the current generation Honda Dio, it's seriously time to stop. Yamaha may be among the late comers in the Indian scooter segment, but isn't exactly new to the small moped/scooter business globally. A quick glance at its Mio Ultimo and the family of commuters selling across south-east Asia for almost a decade now will better explain the inspiration behind the V-shaped headlights that we absolutely adore on the new Yamaha Ray.
    Unlike larger bodied scooter models now present in significant numbers, Yamaha has settled for a rather lean and well sculpted body frame (1835x675x1075mm) that isn't necessarily feminine in its overall demeanour.
    The rider display is lavishly laid out with a bright white speedometer dominating the central part of the triangular shaped console flanked by turn indicators and the high beam signal lamp.
    A highlight for me on this bike are the compact leg shields that offer protection to the rider's feet in the advent of an unsavoury fender bender.
    That apart, the inclusion of a telescopic front suspension, sizeable grab bars and a hip stopper for pillion riders, not to mention the rather unconventional yet stylish tail lamp assembly with clearlens indicators are all very neat touches to this very female focused scooter architecture.
    Unlike many scooters built for a more relaxed city ride, the Ray has a much narrower footboard. This leaves little place for added baggage, especially for riders with generous feet, but should give enough room to dainty footed women on the fly.
    The seat height from the footboard and the comfortable positioning of the handlebars means that riders even with varying proportions are well planted on the vehicle. Taking the backseat on this city scooter is also a rather comfortable affair.
    Weighing a shade over 100kg the Ray is an ergonomic work of art justified by a unique seat design which despite the bike's 128mm ground clearance makes it easy to flat-foot the bike. Much to everyone's surprise, Yamaha has gone with a displacement of 113cc for the air-cooled 4-stroke motor in the Ray, instead of the expected 125cc. It produces a healthy output of 7.1PS @ 7,500rpm and 8.1Nm of torque @ 5,000rpm.
    Turning the throttle on this single-cylinder Japanese scooter for the very first time didn't exactly throw me off balance but had my feet up on the footboard a lot quicker than I could have anticipated.
    Our media exclusive test ride wasn't a particularly nomadic one; an artificially created test track put together with a dozen cones and barrier tapes behind the Novotel Convention Centre in Hyderabad was arranged more so to get a feel of the Ray's peerless manoeuvring prowess which a few laps down got me doing the sort of figures of eight on a Yamaha scooter that I'd otherwise have abstained myself from attempting even on a prepped up BMX bicycle.
    This is where the Ray will completely outclass the competition. Any two-wheeler with such easy leg reach to the ground, comfortable ergonomic seating and such low speed cornering balance and on pace agility would be any city commuter's most prized possession.
    This is the first time in India that a company has developed scooters for women assembled by women. Yamaha has also developed a program called Yamaha Female Riding Training Program for female customers, an on road assistance service and furthermore an entire range of Ray branded goodies exclusively for its customers.
    Yamaha seems to have found an interesting balance between power, proportions, efficiency and handling with the Ray. That being said a single-minded focus on marketing such a capable machine solely to its female customers would be an ill advised decision for the Japanese bike maker in the long term.

Centre and side stands are offered as standard and take little effort to operate.

The rider display is lavishly laid out with a bright white speedometer dominating the central part of the triangular shaped console.

The telescopic front suspension set-up is perfectly suited for city riding conditions.

Musicians talk about the decor of their special spaces

Musicians talk about the decor of their special spaces 

Music rooms and home studios have a special place in the heart of all musicians. They provide the necessary ambiance and inspiration to hit the right note.

>> Merlyn de Souza, Music composer "Family photos add a very personal touch to my studio and they add a sense of warmth too. I love flowers and they brighten up the room with their colour and fragrance. The balcony window is full of potted plants and is very green and refreshing to look at. The music room is in off-white and completely sound proof. It is unique in the sense that I can feel totally engrossed in my musical compositions and go into the balcony for a whiff of nature. I have colourful stools in the studio which are from the NGO Akanksha. The corridor leading to my studio has a lot of artifacts and paintings depicting element of music. Since my son Rhys-Sebestian plays the Saxophone and I play the piano my friend gifted me a painting which is a blend of the two instruments. My music room is very warm and inspiring."

>> Anup Jalota, Singer "My music room is spacious and open. The off white walls make it look bright. The flooring is in cream tiles and the music area has polished wood.
    I have a home temple close by with a statue of Krishna, who is a great flutist himself. I have a thick maroon carpet and some colorful cushions. Potted plants add a bit of greenery to the room. There are also photo frames of me and my wife Medha. The room also has a tabla and harmonium. My awards and trophies are spread all around the house as I like an uncluttered space. There is ample space for my other friends and musicians when we are practicing or playing for the sheer pleasure of music."

>> Amaan Ali Khan, Sarod maestro "Our music room is a very special place in our life. The flooring is of wood. The off-white walls provide a neat backdrop for the numerous paintings all connected to our music. We have portraits of our forefathers and the oil canvas is of my grandfather, the Sarod prophet, Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan. The sound is just perfect due to the wood work and the wooden flooring. We also have images of our childhood and also some of Abba's highest civilian awards. This is the room where a legacy that has generations of nurturing, caring and preserving behind it is passed on to students, disciples and offsprings."

>> Remo Fernandes, Musician and singer "My recording room is where I live and that is where I spend most of my day and that is where I am most alive. So my recording room is cozy, warm and happy. I have sponge painted the walls in a sunny yellow and orange. The floor has a green carpet, the colour of fresh grass. The ceiling has bright colourful saris hanging across like a veritable rainbow. Arabian colored glass lampshades add to the fusion of colours. Personal curios are perched on wooden beams. Most important, my room has three windows; each one looking out to greenery - one to a chikoo tree which almost enters my room on which I see monkeys, parrots and even bats. The other gives on to a creeper with yellow buttercups in our interior courtyard; and the third one, in front of my recording desk, opens up to coconut trees and rice fields in the distance. The most wonderful aspect is that each of these windows, bring in natural sunlight into my room."

>> Nandu Bhinde, Singer "The flooring of the music room is carpeted and the whole room is in various hues of yellow and brown. As there is a lot of wood used in the wall paneling and on the roof, we have maintained this color scheme throughout the studio. The color scheme goes a long way into creating a warm, friendly ambience and is soft on the eyes. The walls are sound proofed and full of glass wool. My music room is sound
proofed with 'floating' ceilings and walls. This is to keep extraneous sounds out and keep the sound in the room as pure as possible. Yellow light is used to give a warm glow and it also helps to cool the room and maintain it at 24 degrees at all times. It sets the mood for some good music."