Cleanliness may lead to death now

Have you ever cleaned your house for a pooja? If yes, then you are a killer. I know it sounds strange, but it is true. You are not a criminal but environment’s friend. You may have sometimes been told by elders that if you are killing any living being, you will be punished and will end up going to hell instead of heaven. Forget all these orthodox elements which can always give birth to false belief.

It has been said that cleanliness is next to godliness. According to ancient belief, Goddess Laxmi enters places which are clean, like clean houses, clean offices or clean shops. It has also been observed that people get positive vibes when they are in and around clean places.

Many insects like mosquitoes give birth to dangerous diseases through contamination of food items when kept open. Regular cleaning helps prevent and curb the growth of such dangerous insects.

There are many occasions in India like marriages, festivals like Diwali, Eid, etc., where burning crackers forms a big part of the celebrations. This practice of burning crackers ends up harming the environment and killing many micro-organisms and sometimes humans as well. Here, even those healthy organisms are getting killed who play a positive role in the eco system. Some of them include human beings who plant trees which in turn contribute towards a cleaner environment, animals that eat up all the dirty things present in the environment like pigs.

Today, one of the major issues facing us include cutting of trees. If this is going to continue now, Nature is god and this god is going to clean us.

Vikram Kapoor
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Big Brands embrace fashion with progressive luxury

Fashion is a wonderful art embedded with creativity and luxury through designers. But today, fashion is not accessible to a larger public. It can be altered through many ways with creative and innovative ideas that also relies on people’s desires, choices and their perspective towards fashion. The beauty of fashion is that it can take you from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

When we think of fashion, the first thing that comes to our mind is the brand. Many people desire to buy a certain brand only because celebrities prefer that. This often happens because of advertisements. But, not every big brand comes with advertisements.

                                        Google Images

Today, major brands do not hesitate to embrace new ideas. Before, clothing was a part of sculpture and paintings and even today, it is also considered as a trend, and these fashionable clothes do follow the designs of paintings, animal skin, and many more adopted from nature which is preferred widely by many designers. Most of the people are attracted because of their wild naturalistic colours and designs. There are many designers whose brands are recognised in a wide range like traditional classics, western designs and many more that depend according to their taste and interests, and in what they are specialised and good at. According to this, people select their designers for different occasions.

Although the old fashion is back and will be followed even now as it’s been blended with today’s new, innovative and creative designs which gets enhanced with bold styles. Brands tend to be fashionable and luxurious, but, most people cannot afford branded clothes and accessories today.

There are people who prefer big branded products and clothes because it makes the person feel confident, fashionable, comfortable, and is durable. It also enriches their beauty and makes them look like movie stars.

Prices vary depending upon the brands, as people have more choice to select and their selection could be varied depending on their comfort level, style, design and prices. Nowadays, few big brands price clothes at affordable prices to make sure that even ordinary people can buy.

Big brands are only preferred by the celebrities designed by the famous designers who showcases their creativity by means of fashion shows and reaches people’s eyes. This field is very competitive and innovative, and one must have a creative mind to portray their talents to reach the highest level and their brand depends widely on their designs and also varies according to the season.

Hence, the bigger brands are considered to be in progress with luxury that follows more creativity in terms of wide varieties of designs, and it follows the old fashion with new trends to get a complete fashionable makeover.

Poonam D.P

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Civet coffee- the most expensive coffee in the world.

Anyone for a cup of most expensive coffee? Kopi Luwak or civet coffee is definitely the one. Civet coffee is one of the world’s most expensive varieties of coffee. It is obtained from the beans of coffee cherries which have been eaten by the Civet cats and then passed through its digestive system. In fact, the so-called ‘civet cat’ is also known as the ‘palm civet’ is a kind of mongoose which consumes selected ripened cherries. The civet cat finally excretes the indigestible beans of the cherries. After gathering these beans it is thoroughly washed, dried and roasted moderately. These beans produce great aromatic coffee with much less bitterness. The beans are gently roasted so that the aromas are not destroyed. These flavours arise as a result of the reaction of the beans with the enzymes inside the civet’s stomach.

                                                                                 Google Images

                                                                                                                                                                            

Civet coffee or Kopi Luwak as it is called in the Philippines is endemic to the islands of Sumatra, Java in the Indonesian islands. This rare coffee is also found in southern India as well by the name of ‘Kari Bek Coffee’.

The taste can vary greatly depending on the type of cherries. Usually, Arabica and Robusta are the cherries eaten by civets. However, civet coffees have a unique aroma and flavor characteristics, along with their lack of bitterness. Civet coffee has a thick texture, and tastes alter depending on roasting grades. The taste also varies depending on the diet of the civet.  Usually, grades ranges depending upon the colors from yellowish brown to dark brown. Moreover, the beans which have very smooth profiles are often given a lighter roast. Berries such as Liberica eaten by civets give a pungent, sometimes bitter taste too. This rare coffee is also known as the ‘Bucket List Coffee’ from the movie ‘The Bucket List’.

PONNANNA P.C
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Kodaikanal - Call of the Bison

Tranquil green landscapes, the magnificent sites and unlimited adventure, picturesque and charming views – that’s what Kodaikanal offers. A perfect weekend get-away, Kodai is the ideal choice for a quick, low budget travel destination.

Kodai is one of the most popular hill stations in India because of the splendid and gigantic forests, massive rocks, lonely lakes, bracing air and waterfalls that define the calmness of the place. Kodai is situated at an altitude of about 2000 meters and its known for its hill plantation fruits and plums.

Well, Sooraj and myself boarded the bus on Friday evening to Kodai. It was a 470km long journey from Bangalore. On Saturday, the early morning mist welcomed us to Kodai asking us to taste hot coffee and then the taxi drove us with a bumpy ride to Vettakanal where we rented the house for a nominal amount standing amidst sylvan beauty on the southern crest 8 km away from Kodai in Tamilnadu. We happened to meet a couple of people from Egypt, France and India who were our neighbours staying in the misty woods for weeks together producing music. It was in the evening after the call of Bison and preserving its spirit, everyone planned to meet and set campfire at 9pm after the dinner at Altaf an Israeli restaurant. Exchange of knowledge, culture, information, lots of fun and not to forget to mention the role of Brandy, which kept us warm and light throughout the night.

Of all attractions and experiences in Kodai, the one that stands out and cannot afford to be missed is the Cockers Walk, which offers a majestic view of the valley. Tourists can go for trekking in the wild and with luck, can catch an eyeful of wildlife. It is an ideal hill resort for tourists.

Photo Credits - Devaiah

Devaiah

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Smoking's Ill Effects

“Smoking is injurious to health”, people of almost all age groups know this fact, but nobody wants to take a accept that almost 63 percent of the Bangalore public has this habit. "Lets have a smoke" is a common dialogue of the present generation these days. For some people it’s a mere fashion or custom to hang out with their friends with a cigarette in their hand, and for some others it’s a habit which they can't quit.

Why do you smoke? a question that leaves a lot of people puzzled, but yet no answers.This question can be answered in a rather simple manner . A lot of young individuals get into the habit of smoking when they are young, when they pass through their adolescence and the remaining catch the habit once they are done with their college life, but the facts suggest that almost 50 percent of them get into this habit when they are starting of their college life.

The initial habit of smoking is replaced by regular purchase of cigarettes to find out the pleasure of taking the smoke inside, this inturn leads to regular purchase of cigarettes and one doesn’t know when the effect becomes a habit. This inturn makes a vital influence on one's habit as regular use of cigarettes makes us socially vulnerable to other new things that can be tried out in course of time. The whole aspect of smoking is related to satisfying the peer pressure that one experiences through their college life and related groups which are formed at that point of time. A few people get over this habit only because of the continuous efforts of their loved ones and other people who have lost a lot, only because of this habit. And of course we all know public smoking is an offense.

 Photo Credits : Amith M

Amith M

Under My Belly!

Morning, noon or night, Sara’s has something to offer at any time of the day !

If you ask the owner,what’s best at his shop he replies with a confident grin “everything." Although the ambience looks grimy and packed, Ashish is right, Sara’s is a proof that the first impression is not necessarily the best. Sara’s offers a variety of mouth watering food. From paranthas to sandwiches to chats to pulaos,   there are various items on the menu. Situated in Loafer’s Lane, in front of Mount Carmel College , Vasanthnagar  for the unfamiliar ones, this eating hub sees a good number of hungry college students .

We have variety of paranthas, right from aloo paratha to corn paratha to cheese aloo paratha to gobi paratha served with curd and pickle, the aroma of these paranthas can be whiffed  from a mile away. “ Since it's a stone's throw away from college, I prefer eating there when time is short in between college hours. Moreover, they provide a variety of chats and paranthas that are awesome. So it's the best place to go for a quick bite. I normally land up with cheese alu parantha which is the yummiest there and wind up with a lassi. It's quick and reasonable," says Charollote, a student from Mount Carmel College .

Those of you who cannot do with out a portion of rice, you have the yummiest pulaos lined up just for you, like Tawa Pulao served hot ,comes with a modest rate of about Rs. 40.The place is crowded at any time of the day .

At tea time, you can feast on your daily chaat like Paani Puri, Behl Puri, Masala Puri, the samosa chaat are the most sought after items at this place.

Talking about spotting this place, Ashish, the owner says, "Its very easy to find my shop, just come down from Mount Carmel College, wherever you find the most crowd, that’s Sara’s." Ashish is not far from the truth, this place is flooded with people at any time of the day.

"I love the food here , its awesome one must definitely try out this place; it's worth the money spent," says Meghana, a regular customer of Sara’s.

Sara’s also has a chaat stall inside Mount Carmel College and also has restaurants on Cunnigham Road called Fat Buddha, A Pan Asian Kitchen and  all these places are must tries.

Preethi R

The shopping hub of Bangalore

One of my favorite hang out spots in Bangalore is Commercial Street. It is a street where people belonging to all classes come to shop and eat. The street is always crowded with people of all ages who mainly have the passion to shop.

There are many shops which vary from selling expensive branded clothes to non branded clothes which are affordable.

Woody's, a famous restaurant is located in the street. This restaurant sells delicious Indian food and home made chocolates. Sagar refreshments, a store famous for the chat they sell is always crowded with youngsters. For the fast food lovers, KFC and McDonald's are available.

A large number of small shops located on the footpaths sell amazing accessories, footwear and handbags at reasonable prices.

A day of shopping at commercial street will definitely help u buy everything u wanted as one can find different stores selling various commodities.

Ebraham Sahib, a street parallel to commercial street also has many small shops which mainly deal with selling clothes and handbags which vary from Rs 50 to Rs 3000 depending on your budget.
But do keep in mind that when you go to commercial street, you could try to take a localite along, as he/she would know where to buy the right stuff without getting cheated. Another thing would be to avoid taking your car as it becomes a problem for parking.

Harini.S
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A piece of heaven on Earth

Gokarna, a town located in Karnataka is famous for its temples. A large number of devotees who worship Lord Shiva reside in the region. But what makes Gokarna ''A piece of heaven on earth'' is the Kudle beach. Kudle beach is a 20 minute trek away from the city and because there is no road which connects the city to the beach, the beach is not very commercialised. A large number of shacks are located on the shore. The prices of the shacks vary from Rs150 to Rs500 a night.
One could start off their day by feasting on scrumptious continental breakfast where fresh fruit is served along with sizzling pancakes. The hammocks found in and around the shacks help people relax through the day. The sun set at Gokarna is absolutely breath taking as the sun sets right into the sea. The darkness of the night is lit up by numerous stars which adorn the sky. The fireflies flying around add on to the beauty of the night. The plankton in the water glow making it look like stars beneath one's feet.
So, the next time you think u need a break from the noisy city life, Gokarna is the place to be.

Priyanka.S
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Comfort Food

Food displayed for sale at a market in Melaka City, Malaysia

As a child I grew up in a household where a variety of cuisine used to be cooked. The dominant one always being Malay cuisine, which is very close to my heart.

“Food is the most primitive form of comfort.” - Sheilah Graham.As the saying goes Malay cuisine has always proved to be comfort food to all those who seek solace in it.

Malay cuisine originates from Malaysia. It is a fusion of three major culinary ethnicities, such as, Malaysia, India and China.  A strong Thai, Indonesian and Middle Eastern influence of flavours is also notable.

The ingredients used are very fresh, exotic and healthy giving the dish a sweet and sour flavour to it. The dish is cooked in such a way that the ingredients sing for themselves and are not overly empowered by spices and other flavourings. Many of the herbs used in Malay dishes impart a unique flavour not influenced by any other added flavouring, but stand out in the dish giving it a zing. One major feature is that Malay food is very spicy. Having said that, one must remember, the spiciness in the dish does not make it inedible.

Nasi Lemak

Fresh ingredients such as coriander, pandan leaf, cumin, garlic, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and fenugreek, to name a few, are staple in all dishes. Coconut milk, however is a  habitual ingredient in the Malay cuisine. Popular dishes that constitute the cuisine are Satay, Sambal Udang, Beef Redang, Ayam Masak Merah, Nasi Lemak and Air Batu Campur to name a few.

Food on display in a street stall

What makes this cuisine comfort food is the frequency at which it is available to the people. On every street in Malaysia one can find a food stall that whips up these delicacies, ensuring that the people in that region never go to bed hungry. The food served in these road side stalls are hygienic and not to forget, tasty. This cuisine helps people connect to the food that they eat as it is warm not only for the stomach but also for the soul. This is food that you will never get tired of eating.

Photo courtesy : Google Images

Maria Rubina R

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