Cuneatus

                       Hunger is one of the earliest reflexes to develop in a foetus. Tracing human history down the lines of evolution, it can be said with good certainty that it was food, and not fire, which was the first human discovery. Hunger has migrated populations. Great wars have been fought in the name of alleviating hunger. Even to this day, food continues being the omnipotent force that can shake the strongest of the governments. Hunger is ever-perpetuating. Indian concepts on food and nutrition is deep-rooted in the Vedic texts on Ayurveda, the science of life. The Indian tradition of food is closely linked with spiritual well-being. This concept of a merger of the physical dimension with the spiritual or the fourth dimension of health is relatively new to the Western world, where nutrition, till the beginning of the nineteenth century, was perceived as merely...

Take me to the land where cuckoo's melody drifts in the gentle gale Where banyan boughs quiver their leaves through lazy wind trail I would hum a tune and bring dead emotions back to life Lingers where the fragrance of rain pampering brittle soil. Where breeze would gift me a melody from the bamboo flute, Where clouds, like the kids, dance, innocent and cute; Air of celebration around would sink my heart in; A place to detach from the material world and take the heart's route. Take me to the land where music is lived and relished; Where hopes are sown and dreams are cherished, Where harmony consoles a million tormented souls, Where revenges are forgotten and hatreds have perished. I wish to live a day of my life in Prosperland, Where orchids blend their shades into spring's garland, Where people are free from the clutches of suffering and desire, Where the limps can run and the paralyzed can stand. I know for sure the journey is long and paths uncle...

Yet another Onam. And it brings with it all the merry and prosperity. That time of the year when King Mahabali visits his kingdom on earth. People of his city, believed to be in the perfection of administration and justice under the reign of Bali, the benevolent king, welcome the king to their houses elegantly. Earthen figurine of the king is placed with reverence on the centre of a floral pattern. It is said that the heart and soul of Onam lies in the beauty of the floral pattern, and that every blossoming flower longs to attain salvation by filling a gap anywhere in the patterns drawn on the day of Thiruvonam. Thiruvonam or Shravana is the 22nd star in the zodiac. It is a constellation of Alpha Aquila, Beta Aquila and Gamma Aquila stars, Alpha being the brightest. These three stars are believed to have originated from three footsteps of Vamana, the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. King Bali had promised to offer three footsteps of land that the young Brahmin scholar demanded for....

Let us not be divided by any religious sentiment. It is a well-established fact that spiritual thinking is the hallmark of a civilized society. This fact is reflected in understanding that answers to questions on self and reasons for existence lies in spirituality. A vibrant shade among the several reflections of the spiritual thought process is devotion towards the teacher. Scriptures have a grading of the attitude one displays. It says that attention comes first, develops into surprise, surprise grows into attraction, attraction blossoms into love, love matures into respect and respect immortalizes in devotion. If our lives could be imagined as a transcendental sojourn through the dark black emptiness of the eternal universe, its our teachers who take the role of the guiding stars. It is the teacher who becomes our first inspiration. Our success stories of today are also the stories of several selfless sacrifices of many a noble men and women who strived to bring out the good in ...

The day was 18th July 2014. I remember the date precisely, as it was me who got the letter from our HOD signed and sealed at the college office. A copy of the letter was also forwarded to the director of our institution. After all, it is the director who takes the final call for implementing or discontinuing any administrative move. The letter was the hard copy of an idea from the head of our department, Department of Community Medicine. He says he traced the origin of this idea to the days of his erstwhile service as the in-charge director of Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences. The idea sprung from thinking about a corrective action for ensuring punctuality in the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, following a report in an allegedly-local newspaper about allegedly-irregular allegedly-staff who allegedly do not report at the allegedly prescribed duty timings. The idea was to introduce biometry attendance for the post-graduate students. For the post-graduate population of our ...

A doctor's son was relishing the tasty vermicelli payasam his mom had cooked. He asked his dad: "Dad, why do they call this Vermicelli?" Dad replied: "Son, Vermicelli is derived from the Greek word for worms. Look into your plate. Doesn't it look like worms boiled in milk?" Son miserably nodded. Dad continued: "Son, the payasam you are eating gets converted into stools inside your intestines. There is a worm-like organ inside your stomach called the Vermiform appendix. When vermiform appendix gets infected and filled with foul-smelling pus, we remove it surgically." Mom, hearing the conversation, spilled her plate of vermicelli payasam into the garbage bin.

If I had to handpick the best ones among all the elegantly melodious songs in Malayalam films, I will never miss these three songs. 1. Kanneer poovinte kavilil thalodi - from Kireedom 2. Aaro viral meetti - from Pranayavarnangal 3. Anuraaga vilochananayi - from Neelathamara Humming the tunes of these songs can immediately help you realize that these songs share the same Raag. Yes. They are all set in Raag Kapi. Kapi is a beautiful Carnatic Raag that evokes the feelings of separation pangs (many songs expressing Radha's grief are in this Raag), devotion, and pathos. The famous composer Papanasam Sivan has composed Enna Thavam Seithanai Yashoda in this Raag. Rahman's famous song Vennilave vennilave vinnaithaandi varuvaaya from Kadhalan is also in Raag Kapi. This Raag does not have an exact Hindustani counterpart. However, Raag Pilu shares some similarity with Kapi.