Thursday 28 December 2017

A CUP OF COMFORT –CLASSIC EDITION



                                                image of the book cup of comfort के लिए इमेज परिणाम

A cup of comfort is a book of short stories with more than 50 short stories of varied authors. The book is edited by COLLEEN SELL and published by Adams media. Colleen sell has compiled nineteen volumes of the CUP OF COMFORT book series. She has also authored more than 100 other books, published dozens of magazine articles, and served as editor-in chief of two award winning magazines.
A CUP OF COMFORT-CLASSIC EDITION is a collection of timeless stories that warm your heart, lift your spirit, and enrich your life. These 50 short stories are best of their quality and style of writing. Each story has a message from the life experiences of the people around them or in their family. Authors from across the globe has contributed their unique works and made this book really a comfort book.
Teri Bayus’s  “ MIRACLE FISH” is a story giving sure hope &happiness even in the dark times. Reading this story offers a rare view and a different angel of a troubled situation.
Susanmarie Lamagna’s “LISTEN TO YOUR HEART” is a about the value of sharing not only one’s things but also of one’s self. The story revolves around the children in a classroom and their teacher.
All the 50 stories in this series are the real gems that will surely enrich our lives and values. Reading this cup of comfort will definitely energise and boost your thought process and you will be excelling in your action and words.
The title of the stories itself is so catchy that it will compel to read it soon and get to know the concept of the story. The few titles of the stories are: “Quiet courage”, “sing your song”,In the arms of grace”, and the “light of innocence”.

Tell your story in the next cup of comfort is the message the editor has left for the readers and for those who wish to contribute may visit the website www.cupofcomfort.com

Tuesday 26 December 2017

TOP TEN TOURIST SPOTS IN CHENNAI



Chennai the capital city of TAMILNADU, is one of the largest Indian city and gateway to the festivals and rich cultural tradition. Chennai retains a charm characteristic of the typical south Indian heritage and way of living. Many places of tourist interest are located in and around the city. Let’s take a look at the top ten tourist spots the city.

                                        image of marina beach chennai के लिए इमेज परिणाम

  MARINA BEACH : Chennai city is almost synonymous with MARINA. Pride of the Chennai city and one of the longest artificial beaches, running in 12 KM in length. With it’s natural sandy beauty and spacious promenade, the beach continues to be the most sought after rendezvous of many. It has acquired a south Indian aura with vendors hawking wars ranging from shell and glass baubles to kites and fruit juices.
Light house is another special attraction in the MARINA, stands 48m above sea level at the southern end of MARINA commanding a panoramic view of the city.
At the end of the MARINA is the sammadhi’s of the chief ministers of Tamilnadu.

                                                   image of triplicane temple के लिए इमेज परिणाम

 TEMPLES: There are many number of temples in Chennai, but these three are the major ones:

 Sri Triruvalikeni parthasarathy swamy Temple: An ancient Lord KRISHNA‘s temple. It was originally built by the pallavas in th e8th century. But it was occupied at various times in the 16 and 17th centuries by the Goloconda, Dutch and French. A distinctive feature of the temple is that it houses five incarnations of Lord Vishnu and even has a small shrine to vishnu’s consort Vedavalli Ammal.
Sri Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple: An ancient Shiva Temple. It is a delightful introduction in Dravidian temple architecture. There are some fragmentary inscriptions of 1250 AD which were damaged in 1566 by the Portuguese and the original temple was demolished. The present temple was rebuilt by the VIjayanagar kings in the 16th century.

Sri Besant Nagar MahaLakshmi Temple: Located at Besant Nagar, Elliots Beach. It is dedicated to eight Lakshmi’s.  A beautiful specimen of modern temple. It attracts large number of devotees.

                                        image of kalakshetra के लिए इमेज परिणाम


 KALASHETRA: Devoted to reviving the classical arts, the ‘Temple of Art.’  is in Adayar. It was founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1936. KALASHETRA, today, has students from many countries. with the students and their gurus (teachers) living in the same campus in the ancient Indian tradition of Gurukulam where education is inseparable from other experience.


                                                image of valluvar kottam के लिए इमेज परिणाम

 VALLUVAR KOTTAM: Situated in Nungambakkam. It is  a memorial to poet-saint THIRUVALLUR who wrote the sacred book “THIRUKKURAL”-Highly valued for its ethical content and purest expression of human thought. A life size statue of THIRUVALLUR is seen in the shrine.

 PARKS: The parks in Chennai, though limited are more famous for their purpose. CHEMMOZHIP POONGA near GEMINI FLYOVER, is a park full of trees &creepers with relevance in Tamil Literature. A complete botanical delight

SNAKE PARK located in Guindy adjacent to the children’s park has a variety of reptiles ranging from snakes to monitor lizards and turtles. King cobras, banded kraits, puff adders, vipers, pythons, crocodiles and gaint turtles and some of the species that can be seen here

CHILDREN’S PARK: situated in Guindy. It has a small collection of animals and birds. The main attraction in this park are elephant and pony rides. Besides this, there is also a playground with swings, slides and see-saws which delight any child.

 THE NATIONAL ART GALLERY:  Situated in Egmore. It is housed in a building built in 1906 in the Indo-saracenic style of architecture. The building itself is a work of art and was originally intended to be the Victoria memorial and technical institute. But it was made the National Art gallery I n 1951.

 SHOPPING CENTERS: Parry’s corner is an important place in Chennai, it is a big bazaar for wholesale and retail shopping. We can get everything from this place.
Burma Bazaar is having more than 500 stalls, exclusively for foreign goods. It is mainly attractive place for tourists and local people to buy luxurious goods.
T.NAGAR &MAMBALAM is a shopping hub &it’s a paradise for shopper’s. Textiles showrooms, jewellers, automobiles, groceries, fruits &vegetables, cosmetics, house hold goods and many more knick-knacks are there to buy. More to this, eateries with splendid south Indian varieties along with other cuisines are available.
Apart from these market places &bazaars, there are huge number of malls with National &International brand of products.

 THE GOVERNMENT MUSEUM: undoubtedly one of the country’s best museum. Established in 1857, It has section devoted to geology, archaeology, anthropology, numismatics, botany, zoology and sculpture. There is a good collection of arms and armour and several other specimens.

. ANNA CENTENARY LIBRARY: Located in Kotturpuram is a public library is built if 8 acres of land. The 9 floors library hosts 1.2 million books. There is a separate braille section in this library.

.PLANETORIUM &PERIYAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Located at  kottur in Chennai, houses fully modern &computerised projectors which pictures the heavens on a hemispherical dome. The planetarium presents to the visiting public and students audio-visuals programmes on various themes on science and technology.

Tuesday 19 December 2017

KITES



                                    image of kites on sankranti festival के लिए इमेज परिणाम


Kites fly high; trees grow tall
Crackers go up ; vapours reach clouds.

Signs of progress; directions to function
Indicating  vigour ; actions of dedication.

Kites a cognate of Chinese first
Kites a pastime & sport for rest
Kites –kings of sky with a crest
Kites- dash against winds just.

Kites conquer sky like a kajal to eye
Kites make a crop of paper flowers in the sky
Kites embark on a journey with winds, clouds & dust.

Flying freely with a wish to touch the sky
Without fright marching forward
Varied in shapes & sizes
Kites take the flow of the wind.

Kites get torn, kites get turned
Kites get rolled up with the other,
Flying line the only saviour.

Kites diverge; but within domain
Kites lost; but surely revived.

Dare to wear an adventurous cap
Spare not a chance to stand a top
Fly like kites; Kites are prissy & pop. 


                       image of kites on sankranti festival के लिए इमेज परिणाम

Monday 18 December 2017

ANONYMOUS – HIERUSALEM , MY HAPPY HOME



HIERUSALEM, my happy home,
When shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end
Thy joys when shall I see?

O happy harbour of the saints,
O sweet and pleasant soil
In thee no sorrow may be found
No grief, no care, no toil……

No dampish mist is seen in thee,
Nor cold nor darksome night;
There every soul shines as the sun,
There God himself gives light.

There lust and lucre cannot dwell,
There envy bears no sway;
There is no hunger, heat nor cold,
But pleasure every way.

Hierusalem, Hierusalem,
God grant I once may see
Thy endless joys, and of the same
Partaker aye to be

Thy walls are made of precious stones,
Thy bulwarks diamonds square;
Thy gates are of right orient pearl,
Exceeding rich and rare

Thy turrets and thy pinnacles
With carbuncles do shine;
Thy very streets are paved with gold,
Surpassing clear and fine
Thy houses are of ivory,
Thy windows crystal clear,
Thy tiles are made of beaten gold,
O God, that I were there

Within thy gates nothing doth come
That is not passing clean;
No spider’s web, no dirt, no dust,
No filth may there be seen

Ah, my sweet home, Hierusalem,
Would God I were in thee!
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!  …

Thy gardens and thy gallant walks
Continually are green;
There grows such sweet and pleasant flowers
As nowhere else are seen…..

Quite through the streets with silver sound
The flood of life doth flow;
Upon whose banks on every side
The wood of life doth grow

There trees for evermore bear fruit
And evermore do spring;
There evermore the angels sit
And evermore do sing.

There David stands with harp in hand
As master of the Quire;
Ten thousand times that man were blest
That might this music hear

Our Lady sings Magnificat
With tune surpassing sweet;
And all the virgins bear their parts
Sitting about her feet

Te Deum doth saint Ambrose sing,
Saint Austin doth the like;
Old Simeon and Zachary
Have not their songs to seek

There Magdalen hath left her moan
And cheerfully doth sing,
With blessed saints whose harmony
In every street doth ring.

Hierusalem, my happy home,
Would God I were in thee!
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!

Tuesday 12 December 2017

A SIMPLE LIST ON FENUGREEK’S FLAVOUR



                                      image of fenugreek के लिए इमेज परिणाम


Fenugreek – bitter in taste, yellow in colour, cuboid in shape, is a herb when its leaves are used and when its seeds are used it turns as a spice.   Kitchen’s are never devoid of fenugreek it’s a must in the sambhar powder & masala powder.   Mendhiyam and Mendhiyakkeerai in Tamil, Menthulu in Telugu Methi in Hindi and obvious is the popularity of  Methi Paratha.  

Many of the well  known favours that fenugreek extends for humans are:
* Nice flavour when dry roasted and added in the sambhar .
*Smoothes hair & removes dandruff if added in the hair wash powder.
*Regulates stomach upset when taken dry seeds along with buttermilk.
*Added in the dosa batter after soaking it to get soft & delicious dosas.



                                            image of fenugreek के लिए इमेज परिणाम


Special recipes with fenugreek are:

MENTHIYA KUZHAMBU- pour oil in a Kadai, add mustard , Toor dal, Urad dal,  Channa dal, fenugreek along with green & red chillies, roast till golden brown. Add water, cook in a pressure cooker along with vegetables like carrot, onion.  Soak tamarind and extract juice. Simmer it in slow flame for some time and add red chilli powder or sambhar powder. cook till the liquid thickens, then mix  the cooked dal & vegetables, .add salt. When blended well, serve hot with plain rice.

MORE KUZHAMBU: This is a famous sambhar made with butter milk or curd.   Pour oil in a Kadai and add Toor dal, Channa dal, Urad dal, fenugreek and green chillies.   Allow it to cool. Add coconut pieces, zeera and the roasted ingredients in a mixer jar & grind it into creamy consistency. Mix the content with the butter milk or curd, add turmeric, salt & mix well. For tempering pour oil, add mustard, red chillies & pour it over the sambar.   Vegetables like ladies finger and white pumpkin are more suitable.

NEZHUKARAMUDU: is a sambar made with special importance to fenugreek.  Roast with little oil, Toor dal & Channa dal along with fenugreek and red chillies.   Keep aside, soak tamarind.   Grind the roasted ingredients along with some coconut pieces and cook it together with tamarind juice.   Vegetables like white pumpkin or plantain bulb goes well with this sambhar.

Now, the best health benefits that fenugreek can offer:
It contains amino acids and galactomannan that regulates blood sugar
It is good for treating fever, cough and cold.
Its oestrogen –like properties ease menstrual and menopausal symptoms.
It is also used to treat acne due to its anti-inflammatory compounds
Its fibre and antioxidants aid in digestion.


                                        image of fenugreek के लिए इमेज परिणाम   


A SHRINE WHERE BRIGU MAHARISHI WORSHIPPED THE LORD

     The Divya Desam TIRUPPAVALAVANNAM is located in the temple town of Kanchipuram. There are two shrines of Pachai vanna Perumal and Paval...