50 Interesting Facts

1 If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side
2If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
3Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
4Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
5The Mercedes-Benz motto is 'Das Beste oder Nichts' meaning 'the best or nothing'.
6The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
7The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.
8 The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.
9Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
10The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
11Dalmatians are born without spots.
12Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
13The 'v' in the name of a court case does not stand for 'versus', but for 'and' (in civil proceedings) or 'against' (in criminal proceedings)
14Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left
15The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids
16The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it's already been digested by a bee
17Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks
18The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones
19Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die
20 Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart
21The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate
22When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red
23When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red
24 The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor
25The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney
26Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros
27Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan
28It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it
29The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples
30 There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower
31The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting
32Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
33It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body
34The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets
35Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game
36The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air
37Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die
38In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it is smiling).
39Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command "go hang yourself."
40The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot
41Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair
42The average person laughs 13 times a day
43Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)
44Women blink nearly twice as much as men
45German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog
46Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump
47Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound
48Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death
49If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.
50The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!

What does it cost?

A winter evening.

Four friends.

One barsaat.

Four glasses of chai.



Hundred bucks of gas.

A rusty old bike.

And an open road.



Maggi noodles.

A hostel room.

4.25 a.m.



3 old friends.

3 separate cities.

3 coffee mugs.

1 internet messenger.



Rain on a hot tin roof.

Pakoras deep-frying.

Neighbours dropping in.

A party.



You and mom.

A summer night.

A bottle of coconut oil.

A head massage.

Gossiping about absent family members.



You can spend hundreds on birthdays, thousands on festivals, lakhs on weddings, but to celebrate all you have to do is spend your Time.

THE ABCD's Diwali

American Born Confused Desi's Diwali Version

A young second generation Indian in the US was asked by his mother to explain the significance of "Diwali" to his younger brother, this is how he went about it...

" So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him. But, like, his step-mom, or something, was kind of a bitch, and she forced her husband to, like, send this cool-dude, he was Ram, to some national forest or something...

Since he was going, for like, something like more than 10 years or so.. he decided to get his wife and his bro along... you know..so that they could all chill out together. But Dude, the forest was reeeeal scary ... really man... they had monkeys and devils and like that. But this dude, Ram, kicked ass with darts and bows and arrows... so it was fine.

But then some bad gangsta boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his babe (Sita). And boy, was our man, and also his bro, Laxman,... all the gods were with him... So anyways,you don't mess with gods. So, Ram, and his bro get an army of monkeys..Dude, don't ask me how they trained the damn monkeys... just go along with me, ok...

So, Ram, Lax and their monkeys whip this gangsta's in his own hood. Anyways, by this time, their time's up in the forest..and anyways...it gets kinda boring,you know... no TV or malls or like that. So,they decided to hitch a ride back home... and when the people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home... they thought, well, you know, at least they deserve something nice... and they didn't have any bars or clubs in those days... so they couldn't take them out for a drink, so they, like, decided to smoke and ...and since they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps also... so it was pretty cooool...you know with all those fireworks...

Really, they even had some local band play along with the fireworks... and you know, what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding.., that was the very first music-synchronized fireworks... you know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff, you know. And, so dude, that was how, like, this festival started................


HAPPY DIWALI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good joke

A newly wed girl was being welcomed at the husband's home in a traditional manner.

As expected she gave a speech:
My dear family,
I thank you for welcoming me in my new home and family",
she said "Firstly, With my presence I would not want to create any inconveniences - my being here does not mean that I would want to change your way of life, your routine."

"What do you mean my child?" asked the patriarch of the family

"What I mean dad is: Those who used to wash dishes must carry on washing them. Those who used to do the laundry must carry on doing it. Those who cooked shouldn't stop at my account. Those who used to clean should clean.

As for me, I'm here just to entertain your son!"

Recipe Junction for October

Following are the recipes i tried out as Prashadhams for my golu.

Aval Inipu(Sweet poha)
***********************

Ingredients
------------
1) Aval(Poha) - 2 tumblers
2) Jaggery(Grated)- 2 Tumblers
3)cashenuts - 10
5)Dried Grape (Kismis) - some
6)Ghee - 3 tspn

Method
--------

1)Wash Aval in water and drain water immediately so that they are still crisp.You can wash them in Milk also to enhance the taste

2)Take grated or powdered jaggery in a kadai and heat them by sprinkling some water. Heat it till there are bubbles by stirring.Pour them onto aval.

3)Fry the cashewnuts and kismis in ghee and pour them onto aval.

Delicious Aval inipu is ready in seconds..


Rava Halwa(Kesari)
***********************
Ingredients
------------

Rava - 1 cup
sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 5 tspns
Water - 3 cups

Method
--------

Boil water in a kadai by mixing sugar in it till you get bubbles.If you want you can add kesari colour also. Add rava and dont touch it for 2-3 minutes. When it all joins together add ghee into it and mix it thouroughly. Add friend cashenuts and kismis.

Sweet Rava Halwa is ready in minutes


Sundal
*******
Ingredients
------------

Channa(Sundal) - 2 cups
Oil- 3 tspn
Red chilli- 4
Grated coconut - some
Soris(Kadugu) - some


Soak channa in water for 6 hours.Then boil them in a cooker for about 10 -15 minutes Heat oil in a frying pan and add soris(kadugu).Then add red chilli. Add boiled channa, salt and grated cocnut and fry them for a minute or two.

Soodana Sundal ready.

Puliogare
**********
Ingredients
------------
Tamraind - Lemon size
Gingely oil - 8 tspn
Rice - 2 cups
Ground nuts- some
Soris,urad dhal(Ulunthu parupu), Chana dhal(Kadalai parupu)- some
Haldi(Manjal)- a bit
Red chilli - 5-6
Salt to taste

Soak tamrind in water for half an hour and then extract juice out of it. Cook rice in a pressure cooker with 2 times the water and take it out in 2 whistles so that the rice doesn't stick to one another.Add oil in a frying pan and fry soris, urad dhal and chana dhal in it.Then add red chilli, haldi, salt and then add the tamarind juice.Let it boil till the oil comes out. Mix it with rice. Fry the groundnuts in oil separately and mix them with rice.Puliagare is ready.

Lemon Rice
************
Ingredients
------------
Lemon - 2
Gingely oil - 8 tspn
Rice - 2 cups
Ground nuts- some
Soris,urad dhal(Ulunthu parupu), Chana dhal(Kadalai parupu)- some
Haldi(Manjal)- a bit
Red chilli - 5-6
Salt to taste

Extract juice out of the lemons and keep aside. Cook rice in a pressure cooker with 2 times the water and take it out in 2 whistles so that the rice doesn't stick to one another.Add oil in a frying pan and fry soris, urad dhal and chana dhal in it.Then add red chilli, haldi, salt and then add the lemon juice.Let it boil for 3 minutes. Mix it with rice. Fry the groundnuts in oil separately and mix them with rice.Lemon Rice is ready.

Curd Rice
***********

Ingredients
------------
Curd - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Rice - 2 cups
Ginger - some(finely chopped)
soris, urad dhal,channa dhal- some
(Kadugu,Ulunthu parupu, kadalai parupu)
pomegranate seeds - some

Cook rice by adding 3 times the water till they become a paste. Cool them by keeping it out.Then add curd , salt and milk to it and mix thouroughly. Heat oil in a pan and add soris, urad dhal, channa dhal and ginger and add them to tthe rice. Decorate it with pomegranate seeds.
Tip - dont prepare curd rice when the rice is hot.

My First Golu Experience

I remember the good old days when i was a small girl , I used to visit golus nearby our houses. By the very word Golu i remember all those sweet dolls their arrangement,sundal and the songs.When they asked me to sing in the golu i remember singing some movie song, when the girls who came with me sang Alaipayuthey song(The movie was not released then , otherwise i would have known the song).

Last friday i was feeling very nostalgic when i was talking to my mom about those days. Then suddenly something struck me.I decided i am going to have a golu in my house this time. My in laws and mom were here at my house when i decided this. They were all very happy. But then they said you have to keep it every year if you do it once. I was reluctant. I called my dad who was in my home town and asked him to buy dolls and other things needed for golu.He did it immediately and sent them here to bangalore.

The d-day came and my sister in law helped me with all Nav dhaniyam , dolls and other pooja stuff. When i finished all the settings i was amazed .It turned out to be very good.This is the happiest Dusserah i ever had in my life.All my close friends who knew me well knew for sure i am not that very pious or religious.My main purpose of this golu was to invite everyone to my home. I needed a reason and ofcourse i do dress up everyday with pattu saree,flowers and jewels(hehehehe).

I was wondering why people of the older days had this. Ofcourse they must have been pious. But the real reasion would have been NETWORKING. Those days ladies networking means , "Hey Sudha, is your uncle's ,inlaw's daughter's son still single? We are looking for marriage proposal for our Latha you know?" .Nowadays also its there , but a slight variation .They talk about these things plus other happening things also. Having people everyday at my house was a great joy. I invited all my friends and my husband's friends.

Things to be followed for a Golu( as per my knowledge)

1) Have steps in Odd numbers (3,5,7,9)

2) Grow NavaDhaniyam(Green grams grow well and early, so use them most).

3)Arrange dolls with a theme. Nowadays you get dasavatharam set, Ashtalakshmi set and the so. You can use your own imagination and make a cricket ground, Apartment, Bus Stop and what not.

4)Take bath early in the morning. If you can , fast one time a day.Otherwise atleast avoid non veg.

5)Show Arathi for the dolls and gods everyday in the morning and evening.

6)Water your Navdhaniyam

7)Sing some songs praising the godess Durga/Amman if you can.Otherwise atleast play them in a recorder.

8)Keep water in a jug and keep a coconut on top of it surrounded by mango leaves.This has to be kept all 9 days, so choose a good coconut. After 9 days take this out and prepare some sweet out of it.

9)When people visit your house to see the golu , give them prashadham which you have prepared.Offer them kumkum with the thambulam.Thamboolam includes kumkum, Manjal(Haldi), Yellow rope, Beetle leaves and beetle nuts and a gift of your choice( a blouse bit, Kattori, tray etc..)

10) After 9 days put the navdhaniyam you have grown in any running water.

It was such a pleasant experience that i have already started waiting for next year's golu.

Do's and Dont's in Orlando

Recently when we were in US we 3 went to orlando.It was quite a nice trip. Would like to list the do's and don'ts out of my own experience

1)Look for a good deal in flight tickets.If you book real early it will be very cheap. You can either plan for a 4 or 5 day trip depending upon your budget. And when you are booking the flight tickets make it such that you reach orlando in the night and when you are starting from there also make it in the night, so that you get full whole days to spend there.

2)Booking a hotel - Book something nearer to the theme parks . So that commutation will cost you less if you prefer to take a cab service. If you are going for a rental car then this might not be a problem .Always carry a car seat if you have a kid, because the rent of the car seat might exceed the actual price of the car seat.Always book a hotel with kitchen in it , because food there is costly.So atleast whenever you can ,you can cook something for yourself.Read reviews in net for the hotels and then book them.

3)Book the entrance tickets to the theme parks. You have to book them well in advance because walt disney tickets are not e tickets. It will take you 10 - 15 days to receive them.

4)Once you book your travel tickets,hotel and then park tickets , start preparing for your travel.

5)http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/myVacation/customizedMaps/index?id=CustomizedMapsSampleMapsPage You can get the maps of all the disney parks from here.

6) In the maps there is explanation about each and every ride and show there. You can go through it and select the items which you want to explore based on your interest. Doing this prior to your trip will help you more because one day in one park in not enough for seeing everything there and you might end up missing something very important there. So if you do a research and select the items which you want to go for, it might be easy.

7)There is something called fast pass in Disney land.Its like booking an appointment. In disney land every ride and show has long queues.To avoid getting struck up in one place for long time you can get fast pass and return to that place at the time indicated.If you select which all rides you should see, go and take fast passes for them first, as many of the rides and shows are really crowded.

8)Photo pass is something which you can ask any Disney photographer there.They will give you a card for free and if you present the card to any Disney photographer they take pictures of you for free. You can log in to net with the address specified there and fill in your details to check the photographs.If you want to order any photographs you can do so online.That will cost you money.

9)Dont miss the Parades in Disney world. They are the speciality items there.Look for the timings before you get there and make your rides adjusting these timings.Once you get to the park ask the route where the parade goes by and well before half an hour get a seat for yourself in the route, because getting a place to stand to watch the parade itself will be difficult.

10)Dont miss any of the fire works in Disney Land. Like parades get yourself placed well before half an hour here also as getting place will be difficult.

11)Cooking - Before you leave buy some ready to eat foods , noodles and the like so that it will make your cooking easy. You can try simple recipes and long lasting food items like puliogare/Lemon Rice/Curd rice. It will be difficult to find an Indian Restaurant near by where you stay so be prepared.

12)Can cook chapathis/Idlis and freeze it.Later when you want to use thewm you can microwave them.Every hotel has a micro wave facility.

13)Dont forget to take Sun Screen ,hat, Drinking water,goggles. Because climate there is really hot. Its better to get drinking water bottles outside the parks because they are very costly there.

14)Wear proper comfortable shoes beacuse you will have to walk in miles inside the parks. Avoid wearing high heels, Chappals or the like. For kids also shoes are better.

15)Stroller for kids is available in every theme park for rent. You can take your own strollers also.

16)Dont forget to take basic medicines for head ache ,fever ,cold, and the like .Take your Health Insurance cards,Passport, Driving License for User identification.Beacuse inside the parks when you book your tickets or get in by using online tickets they ask for user identification.

17)Dont forget to carry your mobile phone and important phone numbers.

18)If you have a digital camera / Handy cam better take your Laptop with it, because you might want to take 100's of pictures there and the memory in your camera will never be enough.

19)Take extra dresses with you in case u get wet or dirty you can use them. In Sea world definitely take an extra pair because its a water park.

20)Have a nice trip to disney :)