lifcozine - volume 1 issue 3

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Welcome to our third issue. As our fledgling e zine takes wings we look ahead to create moreavenues for exploration.

For instance in this issue we have spotlighted articles angled at children with Ahana's storyfor them about the descent of Ganga in Bhagiratha's Achievement , Prof T. S. Rajagopalan'sMagic Squares and the Box of Science which has snippets of information on the sudden que-ries children have in the field of Science.

What does life feel like for a new student in USA - Prashanti and Anuj write from their firsthand experience about how bemusing but fascinating things turn out to be. While closerhome Mahima writes about Chennai and details its famous spots.

For the looming festival season ahead Priya Dinesh has put together a recipe for that all timefavorite Omampodi, otherwise known as Sev and Vasuda's Carnatic Quiz is back to test yourknowledge of all things relating to Carnatic Music.

As always we welcome contributions by readers and any suggestions for improvement. Arti-cles may relate a range of topics like religion, philosophy, fitness, sports . Before signing out- some good news : The Lifco zine is now available on the Amazon Kindle. We intendstreaming more publications online there.

Vidya Saranyan

Editorial For Third IssueSeptember 2010 | Vol. 1 : Issue 3


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Childrens CornerBhagirathas Achievement - Ahana Lakshmi

It was summer holidays and we had gone to our grandparents home. Next to thathas desk

was a new painting. Well, it was not really new because the frame was pretty old and broken

in places, and the painting was a trifle faded, but it was the first time we were seeing it.

Thatha said that he had been clearing the attic and had found it.

Looks like a Ravi Varma painting exclaimed my brother.

Isnt it the descent of Ganga? said my sister.

Yes to both, said patti. Only it is a copy of the original by Ravi

Varma. However, it must be an old copy going by the looks.Anyway, do you know who suggested that Ganga be brought

down to earth?

I know it was because of King Sagaras Aswamedha Yagna

and Bhagirathas penance, but beyond that, I said.

Patti, please tell us the story, cajoled my brother.

Oh well. You know the Ramayana is actually made up of many kandas or books. It is not

merely a story about Rama but is made up of hundreds of branch stories about many peopleand their deeds. In the Bala Kanda of Ramayana, Rama is told about

many of his ancestors. One such story is about King Sagara and as Raja said, who

performed the Aswamedha yagna.

Sagara had two wives Keshini, the elder wife was from the Vidarbhas and Sumati, the

younger one was sister to Garuda.

The vahana of Vishnu?

Yes. In response to a boon, Keshini gave birth to one son, Asamanja, and Sumati gave birth

to sixty thousand sons.

I am sure they were clones, said my sister as an aside.

September 2010 | Vol. 1 : Issue 3


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Childrens cornerBhagirathas Achievement - Ahana Lakshmi

In the aswamedha yagna performed by Sagara, Amsuman, the son of Asamanja was put in

charge as the attendant to the horse. The horse, at a point, was stolen by Indra who took the

form of an ogre. Sagara stayed back with his grandson and the officiating priests and sent his

sixty thousand sons in search of the horse, first to search the entire globe and then under the

earths surface. They searched all over the earth and finally were directed to the nether world

where they encountered Lord Vishnu in the form of Sage Kapila with the horse grazing nearby.

The princes decided that it was the sage who was the thief and accused him.

The sage opened his eyes and said, hum, in a voice full of contempt.

Patti paused dramatically before saying, Next moment, all that was left there was a huge pileof ashes.

I just could not help saying, Seems to have been a very popular way of getting rid of people in

those days.

Patti continued, Many years passed by since the sons disappeared. Sagara now requested

Amsuman to search for his uncles. Amsuman searched all over the earth and then in the

nether worlds where he encountered the huge heap of ash. He realized that it was his

uncles who had come under a curse and wanted to offer water to the spirits of the princes.

But there was not a drop to be found. Suddenly Garuda, the king of birds, appeared. Do you

remember who he was?

Wasnt he the mama-maternal uncle- of the 60,000 princes said my brother promptly.

Correct. Garuda told Amsuman, O Prince! Understand that the death of your 60,000 uncles

is actually to ensure the descent of Ganga on to earth. Ganga is capable of purifying the entire

earth. It is the water of the Ganga that will enable the souls of the 60,000 princes to achieve

salvation.

So Amsuman went back to his grandfather and narrated his experiences. Sagara

subsequently performed many penances, as did Amsuman and his son Dileep in their time.

But it was left to Amsumans grandson Bhagiratha to please Brahma with his tapasya. He

prayed that Ganga should descend on earth purify the ashes of his ancestors. They would

then get salvation.



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Childrens cornerBhagirathas Achievement - Ahana Lakshmi

Now, Ganga is not a small, weak stream. She is powerful and imagine what will happen if

Ganga were to fall directly on earth from heaven! Bhudevi may not be able to bear her impact.

So Brahma said that Gangas descent on earth should be slowed down by Lord Siva. Siva was

the only one strong enough to bear the force of Ganga. Bhagiratha prayed to Lord Siva. At the

end of a year, Lord Siva answered his prayers. Parvati and Nandi watched while Ganga

descended to earth. Look at the painting can you see Ganga rushing down towards earth.

So that is why we see Siva arms akimbo with matted hair loose in this painting, said my

sister.

Yes, indeed, said grandmother, that is why Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi as it was hisachievement to bring her down to earth. She closed her eyes and with palms folded, started

reciting, and we joined:

O Mother Bhagirathi, giver of happiness to all, the greatness of your holy waters is sung in theVedas In my ignorance, I dont know your importance, You are full of mercy, please protect

me.



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Childrens cornerMagic Squares - Prof T.S. Rajagopalan (from LIFCO Archives)



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Childrens cornerBox of Science - Vidya Saranyan

Here are some snippets that children would love to read about.

1.The Biggest and Smallest tree

The world 's largest living tree is the Giant Sequoia Tree in California, USA that grows to the height of 272 ft or 83 meters approx.Some of the world's smallest tree The Willow Tree grows in the Arctic - they

top just over four inches.

2. Sweeteners used by Prehistoric Man

Honey was one of the sweeteners used by prehistoric man. Even as far back as 7000 B.Ccave paintings show that honey was in popular use. In Sumerian and Babylonian writingshoney is mentioned as the choice food.

3.Highest Melting Point and Lowest Freezing Point

Carbon has the highest melting point and helium the lowest freezing point of around 450 de-grees F.

4. The Oldest Toothbrush use by Man

The oldest records of toothbrushes used were in 3000 B.C.- twigs of herbsor trees like The Neem. complied by Vidya .



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Culinary CornerOmampodi - Priya Dinesh

Thin strands of crisp sev flavoured with omam (thyme).

Ingredients

Besan 1 cupRice flour cupThyme (omam) tspSalt tspGhee 2 tbspOr Unsalted Butter 3 tbspOil for deep-frying

Method

Grind omam into a very smooth paste with salt.In a mixing bowl, add the flours, ghee and the ground paste. Knead into a soft dough adding

just as much water as necessary. The dough should be neither too hard nor too runny. Ideallyit should roll up without being sticky.Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Fill the omampodi press with the dough and press over hot oil.Fry well on both sides till the foam settles down and the hissing sound ceases. Remove fromfire onto a drainer.Vasumma says If the omam is not ground to a very smooth paste, it will get stuck in thepress. To avoid this, grind the omam with a little water, strain and use this water to mix thedough.

Tips

1. Chilli powder ( tsp) and 2 pinches of hing can be used instead of/ in addition to thyme.2. You could also try a proportion of 1: 3 of besan and rice flours respectively for a crunchiereffect.3. To extract the omam decoction : soak omam in half cup hot water for one hour. reserve

this water and use it to grind the omam.



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Youth CornerLife in the USA (BIG) - Prashanti and Anuj

Big. If theres one thing that every foreigner experiences as soon as he or she sets foot in er-ica, its the enormity of what America truly is. The build-ings are bigger, the people are bigger, the food is big-ger, and the whole American Dream is to dream bigger.Coming from India, where everything looks like its on apermanent diet, except the buildings of course, we find

the enormity of things difficult to digest.

Most international students who come to America go through three stages of culture shock. First, is theHoneymoon Stage in which students generally fall inlove with every little thing about this country. In thehoneymoon stage were amazed by everything we see whether its the wide clean roads, the

friendly people or a general openness that is a characteristic of the American people. I love the way the traffic here is managed.

The second stage is the more frightening What am I doing here?! stage. Simple things start to bother some of us. For instance, when somebody asks us Howre you doing? ,theyre notreally asking howre you doing?, theyre just trying to say Hello. Or when if some studentsays We should really do lunch sometime. Its code-word for Bye.

Other things start to annoy as well, coming from a tropical climate, the cold weather heremakes us want to go back home!

The final stage is acceptance. Thats when we learn to nod to the hellos without making a big deal out of it, get past the general loudness of Ameri-

cans, get used to the concept of eating out for breakfast(In India, if we didnt have time to make breakfast, wed

just skip it and eat brunch), drinking coffee during everywaking hour in fancy thermoses, the fact that peoplehere wont honk unless they are really annoyed(Oklahomans never seem to run out of patience), , andevery other little things thats characteristic of Ameri-cans.

The classes here are very different compared to theones we had back in India. For one, we are not used to having computers in class. The teach-

ers are also extremely helpful in making us comfortable and we enjoy the extra attention thatwe sometimes get just because we are international students. The classes here are more in- teractive and the learning process is different. The experience that the teachers have is tre-mendous and is reflected in the way they teach the classes.

America is pregnant with promises and anticipation, but is murdered

by the hand of the inevitable.

- Emerlist Davjack



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Youth CornerSecrets of the Past - Mahima Jain

When you look at a city, it's like reading the hopes, aspirations and pride of everyone who built it.

Chennai which came into existence from the merger of two small villages named Chennaipattinam andMadraspattinam in 1639 celebrates its birth on August 22 nd . Here is a revelation of inquisitive factsabout the hopes of builders and architects, aspirations of young entrepreneurs and the pride of theMadras constituency.

Chennai Central Started in 1873 and completed in 1900, theChennai Central was not originally built with theintention of a Central Station. It was actually aback up for the Royapuram Station!

Buckingham CanalBuilt in three segments from 1806 to 1878, this420 kilometre long Canal was a waterway andoriginally had fresh water! If generations of citi-zens had not polluted it, we could probably dowater sports or dream of a beautiful sea facing villa! With government reassuring citizens that

the Buckingham Canal will be restored, lets just hope that we dont have to hold our breath every time we cross it.

Spencer PlazaNow that in every nook and cranny of the city there is Nilgiris, Spencers Daily, Reliance Fresh andFood World no one seems to remember that the father of them all Spencer Plaza was originally a de-

partmental store too. The truth is Charles Durant and J.W. Spencer established the first ever depart-mental store in the Indian sub-continent!

HigginbothamsAbel Higginbotham spearheaded the Higginbothams Bookstore in 1844 making it Indias oldest book-store in existence! The bookstore shifted to its current location at Mount Road in 1904 during itsgolden jubilee.

Victory War Memorial and Madras War CemeteryAnyone who claims that India never took part in the World Wars is wrong. The Cupids bow or the Vic-

tory War Memorial at Beach Road, near island Grounds and the Madras War Cemetery, near Nandam-bakkam stand testimony to this fact. The former pays homage to soldiers who laid down their lives dur-ing the World Wars. And the latter has names of 1000 service men who martyred on behalf of BritishIndia. Not only were Indians fighting for freedom but also for the Allied Forces!

So thats two for hope, two for aspiration and two for honour. This is certainly not the end of the list but this can be the cream of it. I bet every Chennai-ite will have more facts about more landmarks in thecity! So this Madras Day bring out the historian in you and add more to the history of the city which ismelange of dreams!To know more about participation in events, contests and heritage walksvisit: http://themadrasday.in/



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Carnatic Quiz - Vasuda Murali - Part III 1. What was Muthuswamy Dikshatars first Krithi?

a. Nithichala Sugamaab. sri Naathadi Guruguha Jayathi Jayathic. Mari Mari Ninnay.

2. What is the first Raga song by Muthuswamy Dikshitar?

a. Kanadab.Sankarabarnamc.Mayamalava Gowlai Raga

3. At which temple did Muthuswamy Dikshitar sing his first song?

a. Tirutani Lord Muruga Templeb.Lord Vishnu Templec. Lord Ganesha Temple

4. What is the mudra of Muthuswamy Dikshitar?

a. Murugab. Guru Guha

c. Padmanabha

5. To which period does Thyagaraja Swamigal belong?

a. 1777-1847b.1767-1867c.1767-1847

6. To which period does Muthuswamy Dikshatar belong?

a. 1786-1835

b.1776-1835c.1776-1855

7. To which period does Shyama Sastri belong?

a. 1772-1827b.1762-1847c.1762-1827 Refer Next Page for Answers



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Carnatic Quiz - Vasuda Murali - Part III Secrets of the Past - Mahima Jain

ANSWERS

1.Sri Naathadi Guruguha Jayathi Jayathi2.Mayamalava Gowlai Raga3.Tirutani Lord Muruga Temple4.Guru Guha5.1767-18476.1776-18357.1762-1827



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Gita Govindam -(from the LIFCO Book Gita Govindam)



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Gita Govindam -(from the LIFCO Book Gita Govindam)



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