DEAR DEEON pg (ii)

Oct 30-05 Nov, 2002 a NOW! supplement

MI TINgggggRESTAURANT

TIBET ROAD, GANGTOK

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Local scribe wins prize in Cosmo-politan’s “Why I want to see thisman naked” competition.

Serah Basnet, a reporter withlocal weekly Northeastern Week-end Review tells why she wants tosee this man stripped to take homethe prize.

“I want to strip David Gaden be-cause that caveman-ish look, thateagle gaze (sexy enough to makeyour knees go the jello way), thatbod! I’m sick of sweet guys. And thetattoos are a bonus (did I tell you Ihave a couple myself),

Hallelujah! He has a bum fetish– a change from a cleavage obses-sion. And finally someone who pre-fers his babe with a short crop. He’ssensual, secure, confident, differ-ent. Its obvious he’s not afraid ofwomen who have a mind of theirown. We need more of his kind. Andhe loves partying? Man! Just visu-alize this guy shaking his booty onthe dance floor…I’m drooling.Would I like to see him naked? I’drather strip him myself after a cou-ple of sensual numbers. By the way,Does he Salsa?”

Way to go, Girl!

The use of the drug Nimesulide given for fever and pain reliefin children is becoming more controversial each day. The

Union Government has decided to go to pediatricians acrossthe country to find out whether it is safe to continue the use ofthe drug. The popularity of the drug has been such that 12preparations are available for children alone. The drug hasbeen said not to be entirely safe and has been associated withacute liver toxicity leading to death in some cases. Some weeksago, the scientific advisory committee of the European Unionissued a precautionary advice on the marketing of the drugfollowing some serious complications in the liver, especially withchildren. Earlier this year, it was withdrawn by the innovatoritself, Boehringer, from Spain and Finland. Infact, the drug wasnot licensed for use in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia.Scientific journals have been cautioning on the use of the drugfor sometime.

So mothers, please go easy on Nimusulide.

STRIPPED NAKED

Nimesulide not safe?

They are arriving in batches, havingcovered almost 110 kms of thelovely and fertile terrain of South

and East districts, braving also the hazardsof high altitude to marvel at the bright, blueskies, lush green hills and occasional glimpsesof the mountain peaks covered in snow.

They are the NCC girl cadets from allover the country, who are participating inthe All India Sikkim Trek 2002 for NCCGirls Cadets (Senior and Junior Wing), or-ganized by NCC Group Headquarters,Darjeeling of NCC Directories West Ben-gal and Sikkim, which began from Octo-ber 14 and will end on November 2, 2002.

As they arrive in batches of about 125cadets to their final destination, theRanipool Government Senior SecondarySchool, where they will put up for two days,the girls, some hundreds of kilometres awayfrom their homes, have with them beauti-ful memories of Sikkim to take home.

The trekking is being conducted ineight batches with about 125 cadets each.There are about 1000 girl cadets from allover the country participating in this 10-day trek held in South and East Sikkim.

Maj. Feroz Khan, CO, 3 Sikkim Bat-talion, NCC, said that 1000 girl cadets from10 different state directorates are partici-pating in this trekking programme beingheld in the State, which is aimed at foster-ing a bond amongst the cadets from diversecultural and social backgrounds and instill-ing in them an appreciation of nature and aspirit of adventure.

The girl cadets are starting their Sik-kim Trek from Namchi and make it toRanipool via Damthang, Temi, Singtam,Sang, Rumtek and finally to Gangtok - atotal distance of almost 110 kms travelledon foot.

For Mahalaxmi, a senior wing cadetfrom Tirchi, Tamil Nadu, the trek has been“the most exciting and memorable” expe-rience of her life. “Having stayed in theplains all my life, this is the first time Ihave seen the hills and the mountains andsuch greenery. I will never forget this ex-

perience,” she says.Achila, another senior wing cadet from

Mokokchung in Nagaland echoes her senti-ments. “We have really enjoyed ourselves andmade lots of new friends from all over thecountry. Sikkim is so beautiful,” she says.Anu from Delhi is certain she will return tovisit the State once again, this time with her

family, so does Achila. “Such beautiful snow-capped mountains and blues skies were some-thing I had only seen in magazines. I felt Iwas up in the clouds,” gushes this Delhi lass.

For most of the girls, this is their first timeon a trek, that too up in the Himalayas. Someof the girl cadets have had rock climbing para-gliding and para-sailing experience, but noth-

ing could have matched the excitement oftrekking in the hills. The girls fromUttaranchal are no stranger to hills andmountains but Sikkim is “totally differentfrom where we are from,” says Vimla Karkifrom Almora in Uttaranchal. “The forestsare so dense and green here,” she explains.

And language is no barrier for the ca-dets. All of them speak a smattering of Hindiand English. To prove her point, Gayatri,from Tamil Nadu breaks into a spontane-ous rendition of a popular Nepali song,which she learnt from her fellow cadets fromSikkim. There are cultural shows put up bycadets every evenings - a true depiction ofthe diversity of the country.

That the girl cadets from Sikkim wereextremely helpful towards their fellow ca-dets from other parts of the country is evi-dent from the fact that most of their col-leagues are all praises for the girls from Sik-kim.

“The cadets from Sikkim GovernmentCollege, Tadong, were extremely helpfuland cooperative. They were the guides andinterpreters for us. They showed us aroundand explained in details the culture, religionand ethnicity of Sikkim,” they say in uni-son. Rubina, from Uttaranchal, who had abad fall during the trek and hurt her leg,was carried by girl cadets from Sikkim andhelped through the remaining portion of thetrek. Rubina is overwhelmed by emotionswhen she narrates her brush with Sikkimesehospitality.

And there is Tshering, a third year B.Com student from St. Joseph’s College,Darjeeling, whose parents are based inGangtok. She has been a role model withher support, encouragement and leadershipqualities, the girls say.

Asked about their future plans, a lot ofgirls say the want to join the Armed Forces

GI Janes indulge in some girl-bonding

Some 1,000 girl cadets from NCC would have trekked through Sikkim

by November 2. SARIKAH ATREYA met up with one of the first batches to

finish the trek and got to know from the GI Janes in the making of how

they bonded and how Sikkim agreed with them...

turn to page (iv)

DEAR DEE

WOMENNOW

iiOct 30-05 Nov, 2002

SSSSSusongusongusongusongusongSAYS

BETTER GROOMING

Dear Madam Mia,

No, you are not knowing me but please to kindly allow me to introduce my good self before you are

requesting for police intervention for unnecessary ac-tion .

Myself a goodself, having most honourable inten-tions.

Mainly to inform your goodself madam, that you are having relation-ship with fellow madam having good name Dee in the form of corre-spondence? Is it not? It is? Very good madam.

Now myself having inculcated from very early age to peruse localnewspaper (in fact, I am having inclination to peruse local newspapereven before local paper is coming to existence) I am enjoying the car-toons and what-not and suddenly- I am seeing your letter to Dee.

Madam, I am feel embrace to tell you how I am feeling seeing yourmost privates exposed to raw eyes of public... who always are committingnuisance at smallest excuse.

This your friend, Madam Dee, I am thinking she is not of good house.Her character is most definitely questionable, whyfore she is publishingall your personal letters in local newspaper for acquiring few rupees andannas, for acquiring fermented vegetables for her consumption, then whattype of friend she is being, hanh?

(my sentence is confusing even me, but you are comprehending whatI am saying I think.)

Your child with problem, your mother in law with problem, your eve-rything with problem - I am thinking it is solely for Madam Dee, and notfor all to see… (yes, yes, sometimes I am also getting the poetic urge…he, he, he...)

Therefore these few lines of prayer I am laying at your most honour-able feet madam. Please not to write to that unmentionable Madam Deeagain. She will only make laundry of your lungi in public place. This isvery much disagreeable for Reader’s Digestion.

Another point I am making madam, …there seems to be no any danc-ing around trees in true Bollywood ishtyle in your life. This is very sad.May I humbly place my application for the same? I am knowing throughreliable sources that in Gangtok the trees have been replaced by oneresturent name of Time Out. God willing (and you too, madam) I am surewe can do the tree hopping there and then proceed for some hot rice andlentil with curd thereafter. I have matched our kundlis and this comingSaturday is very auspicious for activity of the emotional kind. With prideI am telling I have recently acquired export quality coconut oil from myhomeplace, conducive for just this type of purpose. Please to reply at yourearliest convenience, for which act of kindness I shall leave no unturnedstone for your satisfaction.Thanking you .Yours faithfully humble servant,Pia

from Pia to Mia...

My feet are in a bad shape. I don’tget time to take care of them. Theyare dry and cracked and there aremarks which don’t go away. Whatshould I do?

Radha Rai, Gangtok

You have to find time to takecare of your feet. Otherwise

not only will it look ugly but willbecome painful. Especially withwinter around the corner, crackedand dry feet need special care.

Every evening, add aromaticoils like lavender or pine and a smallpiece of ginger to a bowl of hotwater. Soak your feet in this. Thiswill help revive and relieve tiredfeet. Soften the hard skin and prevent cracks by mixing in a bowl – 2tsp ofalmond oil, 1tsp each of honey and glycerine and 1/2tsp of turmeric. Warmthe mixture and when it cools rub over cracked heels and use it regularlyfor 2 weeks. Always use a pumice stone on the heels and massage the feetwith coconut oil and oatmeal mixed with milk. This will reduce the marksand also smoothen out the skin on your feet.

Woman, the word soundsso simple but the greatmeaning hidden behind

that simple word gives us a vastexample of love, sacrifice and tol-erance.

The great philosopherRabindranath Tagore has rightlysaid that “Woman is God’s bestcreation.”

Really women are the mostbeautiful and unique creations ofGod. They add grace, charm, loveand care to every aspect of life andhave been eulogized by great menof all ages and regions.

A woman performs variousroles in her life as a daughter, sis-ter, wife, mother, daughter-in-lawand so on. She is so many things toso many people. And when she getsmarried, a new responsibility isplaced on her shoulders. A newfamily and the creation of a new lifecome into her lap through her ownwomb which adds a new name toher and that is the name of love andsacrifice - “Mother.”

Woman is the paragon of beautyand cynosure of all eyes and mix-ture of surprise, curiosity, emotions,shyness, awe and slight nervous-ness. She takes all her trials andtribulations in her stride and there-fore she may be wooed or she maybe won. She can play a construc-tive role and then sometimes shecan be destructive too. All said anddone, they remain Man’s objects of

passion.Women, who serve their family

and do house work and feed thebaby, the hand which holds the cra-dle can hold the reins of the wholeworld in her hand. Since ancienttime she has displayed the best ex-ample of woman power to theworld. Today she has come a longway in this male dominated worldand has proven that she is not infe-rior to men in any field.

Women like Mother Teresa,Sushmita Sen, Kalpana Chawla,Rani of Jhansi, Laxmibai, IndiraGandhi, Baijendri Pal, Kiren Bediare some of the few who have done

FOR SMOOTHER FEET

WOMEN POWERTHE WORLD

Legginess is in the eye of thebeholder. Here’s how to fakethe look if you weren’t blessedwith a pair of the world’s long-est stems.- Wear a front- slit skirt for aleg-lengthening vertical line.- Go monochromatic withfootwear and hose that matchyour skirt. Wear opaque hosewith short skirts.- Wear heels even withjeans. They don’t have to behigh or skinny, just not flat.- If you’ve got thick calves orankles, wear knee- high boots.- Choose a pegged or pencilskirt rather than a straight one,narrow pants over flares.- Don’t wear skinny or tex-tured hose, ankle strap or highramp shoes. (They cut you offat the feet): socks of any lengthwith the skirt.

Dear Dee,

It’s raining men, Hallelujah! No no no, that’s not true.

Not even funny anymore. I’m declaring a whole drought

like situation, the way the Government does. After care-

ful study of prevailing conditions and delaying it as

much as possible. The fact is that the only thing that

makes my skin tingle on a Saturday night is a pore tight-

ening face pack. Is this what the whole mid-life scene is

all about? I wish youth and all fun things that go with

it could be bottled and put away. To be taken out after

the kids were all grown up and gone and you had all the

free time you ever wanted. Then you could just spray

some on and go out for the evening or whatever.

The festive season makes me despair. All that eating

and making merry just settles down into some more

happy fat cells. But this time I think I’m ahead of the

game. I’ve finally found a way to keep things in control.

Drink lots of coffee! According to recent research, caf-

feine’s stimulating effect reduces your appetite. Caffeine

inhibits the breakdown of Norepinephrine, a neuro-

transmitter in your brain that tells you when you’re

full. Hope it helps. What is not is your advice about

making smart changes in my life by keeping all options

open all times. And flexitime is not the perfect solution

as you suggested. I’ve tried all options like flexitour,

the gliding schedule, the variable week, the multiflex,

everything the experts recommend. But the boss just

thinks these are words which imply I’m working when

I’m not! He’s started giving me those icy glares, which

always make me feel like a Bengali tourist at Tsomgo.

Bishon Thanda.

Love,

Mia

F A S H I O N

F U N D A S

with

Jyotsna

Periyar

leggyLOOK

(even when you’re not)

NIRMALA RAI

on what makes

Women so

special...

a great job in every field and havegiven an example of women’s love,beauty, brain and woman power tothe world.

Today she is walking shoulderto shoulder with men in every field.What men need to do is understandthe feelings of women and givethem a helping hand so that theworld becomes a more harmoniousplace where women and men shareall things equally. The journeyahead is long and we need to traveltogether.

The writer resides in Mangan,North Sikkim

THE WOMAN SHOULDERS MANY RESPONSIBILITIES, ITWOULD BE GOOD IF MEN CHIPPED IN TOO

a N

OW

! F

ILE

FO

TO

WOMENNOW

iiiOct 30-05 Nov, 2002HEALTH&FITNESS

Too much of everything isbad, thus the saying goes andalcohol is no exception. Al-

coholism is a family disease. It in-volves not only the alcoholic butalso each and every member of his/her family. The innocent victims arehis wife and children. The familyof an alcoholic person is a set ofhurt, confused people.

They are victims of addictioneven though they do not abuse anysubstance but are victims all thesame. They are victims strugglingdesperately to solve their problems.

When an alcoholic person getsinto trouble and develops problemsrelated to the abuse of alcohol, hisfamily is deeply concerned and getsupset.

The emotional response to ad-dictive illness in a family memberfrequently has its roots in feelingsof guilt. Our culture often impliesthat if a person drinks too muchsome one else is to be blamed. Suchself blame produces more guilt andshame.

Grief is another emotional re-sponse of the family to addiction.The family especially the wife losesall pleasures of life. For the wife,grief is the result of all sorts oflosses – loss of prestige, loss of fam-ily and personal dignity, loss of feel-ings of love, loss of care and un-derstanding, loss of security, loss of

AN ALCOHOLIC’S FAMILYMRIDULA MOKTAN details just how an alco-

holic’s family suffers and suggests ways

and means to deal with the addiction...

friends, finances - loss in each andevery sphere of life. The most pa-

thetic truth is that they do not sharetheir feelings of grief with anyone.

They suffer their problems all alone.When she’s not even heard, the

wife experiences anger and deepsadness. Initially the anger is fo-cused towards the addict and hisinappropriate behaviour. As the dis-ease progresses, the wife or parentsare unable to manage the enormousproblems any more. Anger thereforedoes not subside. It continues tobubble. Their anger gets misplaced,they shout at the children. They getangry with themselves, with theirhusband even when he is not drink-ing, angry with friends, society, inshort their anger is directed towardsthe entire world at large.

Most of the painful experiencesresulting from alcoholism bring alot of shame to the family members.The behaviour of the addict in frontof relatives and friends makes thefamily terribly embarrassed. Shameproduces low self worth in each andevery member of the family. Anexample would be the wife of anaddict who refrains from attendingany social function because she isscared the people will ask about herhusband and his addiction. The verythought leads to shame and hatred.

Living in a problematic dis-

Elderly people who eat fish orseafood at least once a weekare at lower risk of develop-

ing dementia, including Alzheim-er’s disease as reported recently byresearchers.

The study calculated the inci-dence of dementia by a Cox pro-portional hazards model to estimatethe relative risk of dementia, tak-ing into account age, sex, and edu-cation. During the seven years offollow up, 170 new cases of demen-tia occurred, including 135 cases ofAlzheimer’s disease. A significanttrend was shown between increas-ing consumption of fish or seafoodand decreasing incidence of demen-tia. Frequency of fish or seafoodconsumption was higher in the par-

ALCOHOLISM,when perceptions blur

tressed family produces fear, fear offinancial matters, fear of relation-ships, fear of arguments and thepersistent fear that nothing is evergoing to be normal. This stressfulsituation in the family results in thebreakdown of normal family com-munication, love, care and concernare lost in the stress, anxiety andcrisis is experienced on a day to daybasis. This isolation created by lackof communication always leads tobitter loneliness.

Bitter as it may sound, accept-ing the fact simplifies the problem.Accept it, this will to a large extenthelp in changing your attitude to-wards the person. Efforts can be ini-tiated to show care, love and com-passion. This in turn is likely tospeed up his recovery. Realize thatthe disease of addiction has devel-oped over a period of time. Recov-ery therefore cannot happen over-night. Share your problems andfeelings with someone you trust.This will help you in ventilatingyour negative emotions. Understandthat addiction is a progressive dis-ease which requires professionaltreatment. To do nothing about it,is the worst choice one can evermake.

The writer is a Counsellorwith the De-addiction Centre,

Psychiatry Deptt., STNM Hospital

EATING FISH MAY CUTRISK OF DEMENTIA

ticipants with higher education,consuming fish at least weekly. Par-ticipants who ate fish or seafood atleast once a week had a significantlylower risk of being diagnosed ashaving dementia in the seven sub-sequent years.

The researchers suggest that then-3 fatty acids contained in fish oilscould reduce inflammation in thebrain and may have a specific rolein brain development and regenera-tion of nerve cells. Healthy dietaryhabits acquired in infancy could beassociated with achievement ofhigher education. Highly educatedpeople might also adhere moreclosely to dietary recommendationson fish consumption.

What is shyness?

Shyness is felt as a mix of emo-tions, including fear and in-terest, tension and pleasant-

ness. There may be an increase inheart rate and blood pressure. Shy-ness can be a normal, adaptive re-sponse to social experience. By be-ing somewhat shy, children canwithdraw temporarily and gain asense of control. Generally, as chil-dren gain experience with unfamil-iar people, shyness goes away. Butif not, shyness can lead to certainproblems such as:• shy children obtain less practice ofsocial skills and develop fewer friends• such children may have poor self-image• shy children may be less compe-tent at play with peers• shy people are often seen as lessfriendly and likeable• children who continue to be ex-cessively shy into adolescence andadulthood seem more lonely andhave fewer close friends and rela-tionships with members of the op-posite sex, than their peers.• at times, shyness may interferewith optimal social developmentand restrict a child’s learning.What are the causes for shyness?

The possible causes of shynessmay be: genetic; a not so firm

attachment bond between the par-ent and the child; poor learning ofsocial skills; parents, siblings, orothers harshly and frequently teas-ing or criticizing a child; new so-cial settings are the most frequentcauses of shyness, especially if theshy person feels that he is the focusof attention; some aspects of shy-ness are learned; a child’s culturalbackground and family environ-ment may offer models of socialbehaviour; if the parents are toobusy doing their own thing, hencenot being able to meet the child’sbasic emotional needs by not spend-ing enough time with him; in somecases it could be that the child hasan inferiority complex and feels in-adequate in comparison to a sibling

SHYNESS IN CHILDREN

who might be smarter or better look-ing than him; some children arebasically timid and seem to fear al-most everything around them.What can parents and teachers doto help children overcome shyness?

There are many strategies thatcan be used to help children

overcome shyness. Some strategiesmay be more effective with somechildren than with others. The keyis to recognise when a child’s shy-ness is becoming a problem andthen act accordingly.1. One way to help a child overcomeshyness of certain social situations isto help him feel understood and ac-cepted. Also, help the child talk abouthis emotions. Let the child know thatbeing shy is not a character flaw andit is nothing to be ashamed of.2. Prevent labelling of the child as“shy”. Children who are told thatthey are shy tend to start thinkingof themselves as shy and stop mak-ing any effort to change.3. Set goals for more outgoing be-haviour and then keep a check of thechild’s progress. For many shy chil-dren, a realistic, challenging goal isto say at least one word to one newperson every day. Other goals mightinclude speaking in front of a wholeclass, or asking a teacher a question.

4. Set an example for the child.Children learn a great deal throughobserving the behaviour of parentsand others.5. Expose the child to unfamiliarsettings and people. The more prac-tice they get interacting with unfa-miliar people the faster the shynesswill decrease. Prompt the child tointeract with others.6. Reward the child for outgoing be-haviour. For example, whenever heacts outgoing, praise him. Praise evenslight improvements in behaviour.7. Help the child practice interact-ing with others. Some children donot know what to say in certain situ-ations, such as when they meet anew child. Parents can help the shychildren by encouraging them topractice the social skill.8. Accept the child and be sensi-tive to his interests and feelings.This can make the child more con-fident, less inhibited and also helpbuild his self-esteem.9. Do not push a child into a situa-tion, which he sees as threatening.Help the child feel secure and pro-vide interesting materials to helphim participate in social situations.10. Share your experiences of be-ing shy with the child.

Shyness in children should be overcome

NOWWOMENiv

Oct 30-05 Nov, 2002

Home remedies, kitchen tips, beauty makeovers, recycling advice..... just about anything that makes life easier for the

housewife... Send in your tips and if adjudged the most useful tip of the week, you will win a Gift coupon worth Rs. 250/-

sponsored by Curtina, MG Marg.Send in your entries to: NOW! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong, East Sikkim. Or

email us at sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

CBEST TIPS

Contest

urtina

the

K. DIKI, Gangtok

� For cleaning small stainless steel items, soak themin warm water and then rub with lemon juice or vin-egar before rinsing thoroughly.

� Stainless steel worktops and sinks tend to havestreaks on them after cleaning. So, a simple little tipto remove those streaks is to rub them with olive oil.It will remove the streaks

WINNERS ARE REQUESTED TO COLLECT

THEIR COUPONS FROM NOW! OFFICE AT

GAIRI GAON, TADONG

DRAGON Good news comes on Sundaybut differences arise on Monday,with frustration seen onWednesday. This is dissolved on

Friday, but expect delays on Saturday.SNAKE Strong conflict arises on

Sunday, with problems getting worse onThursday. Yet, good news comes on

Monday and improves your positionon Tuesday. Expect some delay onSaturday.

HORSE Don’t be stubborn onTuesday or Wednesday. Make fulluse of opportunities on Sunday,

Thursday. Expect a change onSaturday.

DRAGON: 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000. SNAKE: 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001. HORSE:1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002. SHEEP: 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003. MONKEY: 1956,1968, 1980, 1992, 2004. ROOSTER: 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005. DOG: 1958, 1970,

THE WEEK AHEAD FOR THE ANIMAL SIGNS

etc.

SHEEP Conflict arises quickly on Sunday,Wednesday and Thursday, withSaturday making you uncertainemotionally. Use Tuesday to getback on your feet.

MONKEY Unexpected problems ariseon Thursday, with conflict the result. UseFriday to settle all issues. Expectfrustration on Saturday.

ROOSTER Look behind the scenes onMonday and Tuesday, protectreputation on Friday. Good newscomes on Sunday. Expect delay on

Saturday.

DOG Opposition mounts quickly onSunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday,

so back down rather than confront. Youcan dissolve problems on Saturday.

PIG Good news comes on Sunday andThursday, so be busy. Trouble is seenfor you on Monday, Tuesday andSaturday, and this includes pastissues causing tension.

RAT Stress mounts quickly on Sunday, soavoid conflict and back down. Some

frustration is seen on Wednesday, butmake the effort to overcome it, and youcan gain status on Friday.

1982, 1994, 2006. BOAR: 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007. RAT: 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996.OX: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997. TIGER: 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998. RABBIT: 1951,1963, 1975, 1987, 1999

SamsaraTHE

Recipebar & restaurant

CONTEST

Recipes are not easily parted with, but share

one with us and if it is the most exciting one

for the week, you shall win a free dinner for

two at Samsara Bar & Restaurant at Nam

Nang. Send in your entries to: NOW! Near

Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong, East

Sikkim. Entries can also be dropped off at

Oberois, MG Marg

OX Uncertainty, opposition mountsquickly on Tuesday and Wednesday,and be prepared for frustration onSaturday as well. Conditionsimprove on Sunday and Thursday.TIGER Protect your reputation on Mondayand Tuesday, avoid secret meetings, andwatch out that Friday can become evenworse. Try to stabalise your position onWednesday and Saturday.RABBIT Avoid a quarrel on Sunday, andwatch out for an unexpected reversal onThursday. You make good round onMonday and Tuesday, with some delayshown on Wednesday, but you shouldmake the effort. Travel plans materialize on Friday.

NOW!can be reached at 70949 & emailed at

sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

CHICKEN TAMATARIINGREDIENTS

Chicken-1kg; Ripe tomatoes-1/2 kg (chopped); Onion –2(sliced); Onion-1 (chopped);Garlic paste-1 tsp; Gingerpaste-1 tsp; Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp; Cumin seeds powder-1 tsp; Chili powder-1 tsp; Cori-ander leaves (chopped)-2 tsp;Sugar –2 tsp; Oil- 2 tsp; Salt totaste

METHODWash and cut chicken intopieces. Heat oil in a pan and fryonion till it is golden in colour.Add ginger-garlic paste, tur-meric powder, cumin powderand chili powder and fry for aminute. Then add chicken andcook till it is brown in colour onall sides. Add chopped toma-toes and onions, fresh corian-der and salt and cook on me-dium heat till chicken is tender.Add sugar and cook uncoveredon high flame till the gravy isthick. Serve hot with roti or rice.

SERVES-4-6 Persons.- Neeti Nepal, Near Krishi

Bhawan, Tadong

LONDON. - The British Army ap-pealed on Monday for anyone hid-ing one if its borrowed inflatabletanks — which blew away in aweekend gale — to kindly return it.

“If anyone has seen a flying tankplease contact us. We would like itback,” Army spokesman David Webbtold Reuters from breezy Wales.

“We borrowed six of the inflat-able tanks from the Royal Air Forceand would very much like to givesix back to them. At the momentwe only have five.”

The dummy tank, which takesthree men to handle, was being usedin an exercise involving troops fromBritain, the United States, Canada,Belgium and Poland high in theBrecon Beacon mountains.

The annual exercise is supposed

VANCOUVER: British Columbia - A British Columbia Supreme Courtjudge has laid down the law: a chicken is a chicken no matter how it is

raised.The trial court rejected an organic farmer’s

claim that he did not need a production licensefrom the Canadian province’s chicken marketing

board because, he said, it had authority only toregulate conventional, non-organic chickenfarms.

Justice Lynn Smith ruled on Thursdaythere was nothing in the law that establishedthe British Columbia Chicken Marketing

Board that would “exclude organicallyraised chicken from the meaning of theword ‘chicken’.”

The farmer had objected to payingfees to the board. The board argued that

would be unfair to other farmers, includingat least one who also raised his chickens organi-

cally but abided by the board’s production quotas.

NEW YORK - Enjoying a cock-tail now and then is not associatedwith declining mental functionover time and may even makewomen sharper, according to a newreport.

“Findings from this...studysuggest that long-term social andhabitual consumption of alcohol isnot associated with an increasedrisk of cognitive decline in menand may even protect against cog-nitive decline in women,”Constantine G. Lyketsos and col-leagues from Johns Hopkins Uni-versity in Baltimore, Maryland,write.

Nearly 1,500 adults 18 andolder were divided into five groupsbased on their self-reported alco-hol consumption at three pointsduring the nearly 12-year study. Allcompleted a test to measurememory and other cognitive skills.

Group 1 was comprised of non-alcohol users. Adults in the secondgroup were dubbed social or infre-quent drinkers, and consumed no

and “serve the country.” The girlsare “fascinated” by the “uniform,the adventure and the service to thecountry,” promised by the ArmedForces, they say. And they wouldnot be contented with just adminis-trative posts. They want to be in thebattle fields, shooting down en-emies shoulder to shoulder withmen. GI Janes in the making. In-deed. Indian Armed Forces betterbe listening!

The problems associated withhigh altitude trekking notwithstand-ing, the girl cadets have beenthrough an experience of a lifetime,which will remain forever engravedin their memories.

GI Janes indulgein some

girl-bondingcontinued from page (i)

Court Defines What Is a

Chicken

Tank Blown Away -

by the Windto give troops a feel of what it islike to operate patrols deep behindenemy lines.

Inflatable tanks and artillerypieces are staked out in various lo-cations for the patrols to find. Notonly are they less lethal than theirreal life counterparts, they do lessdamage to the countryside.

However, the violent gales thatswept Britain at the weekend kill-ing several people and causingwidespread damage also took thetank with them.

“It just took off and hasn’t beenseen since,” Webb said.

“They are very realistic from adistance and hard to miss. But bynow it might have been puncturedso it would look more like a gianttarpaulin than a tank.”

more than four drinks a day but didnot drink daily and drank on fewerthan 20 days a month.

The frequent or habitual drink-ers in the third group had no morethan four drinks a day but reporteddrinking on at least 20 days amonth. Group four was comprisedof heavy but infrequent users whohad more than four drinks daily onfewer than 20 days, and adults ingroup 5 drank the same amount onat least 20 days a month.

All groups of adults experi-enced some decline over the yearsregardless of how much alcoholthey consumed at any time, prob-ably reflecting the inevitable ef-fects of aging. But teetotalers, es-pecially women, experiencedgreater declines in cognitive abil-ity. Test scores were nearly 1 pointlower overall among female non-drinkers compared with womenwho often drank heavily, for in-stance.

There was no difference amongmen, according to the report in arecent issue of the American Jour-nal of Epidemiology.

It is not clear from the studywhy drinking would protect wom-en’s memories. The researcherssuggest potential flaws in the studydesign, including the “survivalbias” in which the least healthy in-dividuals, including those withcognitive problems, die before theend of the study

Alcohol May Not

Affect Memory over Long Term

TENDULKAR BRIEFS,ANYONE?

in