Home Remedies from the World over

According to the famous Greek philosopher Hippocrates every one has in him or her, a physician. With a little help he can do wonders. Here are some of the kitchen remedies which are in use the world over.

For sore throat (From Ukraine)
Ukrainian climate is cold and due to cold climate sore throat is very common. Ukrainian people use 1 tsp of honey mixed with 1 tsp of vinegar in a glass of luke warm water and gargle with it. Vinegar acts as an antibiotic and astringent. It also helps to maintain the proper pH where as honey sooths the sore throat.

To fight body odour ( From Italy )
Italia women use a very simple recipe to remove body odour due to sweating. They make a paste of one tsp of baking powder (Sodium bicarbonate) and smear it for five minutes in the armpits. The sodium bicarbonate magically removes all the body odour of sweating.
For minor burns (From Mexico)
Minor burns are common while working in the kitchen. For minor burns, Mexicans use tomato paste. The freshly prepared paste is smeared over the burn. Tomato paste contains phytonutrients, Vitamin A and Vitamin C which help to heal the burn. The burnt area can also be smeared with Honey. Research has proved that Honey is an excellent antibiotic and helps in quick healing of burns.
Face pack (From Africa)
Every women wish to appear lovely and attractive and use different types of face packs to maintain the smooth skin of the face. African women use a special type of home made face pack. It is prepared by mixing Honey, egg and Avocado. Avocado makes the skin dry. For dry skin only egg yolk is mixed and for oily skin egg white is mixed. Honey acts as an antibiotic as well as an astringent.
For Stomach ache (From Hungary)
Hungarians use Chamomile tea mixed with peppermint. Chamomile helps to sooth the muscle and intestines where as menthol in the peppermint acts as an analgesic to gently soothe away the muscular spasms of the stomach. The herbal tea can be repeated every one hour.
For Bad Cold (From Russia)
With a slight drop in the temperature, it is quite easy to catch the cold and once you catch cold it is a tough job getting rid of it. Try the Russian way to fight cold. Mix one bulb let of garlic (grounded) with one Aloe Vera leaf paste. Add one half tsp of Honey. Mix it. Take some of this mixture on a little cotton swab, rap it up in your hanky and breathe through it for five minutes. The cold will magically disappear. Garlic is a potent antibiotic. Aloe Vera keeps the nasal mucus moist.
Soft and lovely lips (From Middle East)
Soft and lovely lips are the show case of your general health. To keep lips soft and lovely the women of the Middle East have a nice home recipe. Mix 1 tsp of fresh lime juice, I tsp of Glycerin with a little of sugar and smear your lips with it. Vitamin C of the lime juice removes the dead skin, glycerin keeps the lips moist and sugar helps to heal the cracks.

The Reason Behind Global Warming

Once again weather is playing spoil sport. During summers the mercury shoots up to 47-48 degree Celsius and during winter it dips to all time low. During rainy season either it rains cats and dogs or it is out right draught like conditions.
Four to five years back in Northern India the mercury dipped to all time low of o.2 degree Celsius at Delhi. The famous Dal lake of Kashmir was frozen and people played cricket on it. In other parts as well the mercury dipped to near zero degrees Celsius.
Hurricanes like Katrina and Rita in USA and a devastating earthquake on the Indian subcontinent are indications of natural up heavels. Antarctic snow melted. Subsoil water is getting contaminated. Increased pollution results in acid rain.
The pollution is causing drastic changes which spell danger not only for yhe mankind but also to entire flora and fauna of the earth. We are constantly ignoring the warning signals being sent by the nature through these changes.
Climatic changes have never been so pronounced in last 10,000 years as are evident today. Industrialization, increasing population, decreasing forest cover and rapidly changing life style is responsible for deterioration in the environmental conditions. Amount of industrial pollutants like Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide and Methane is rapidly increasing due to rampart industrialization.

The green house gases are one reason for the increase in atmospheric temperature. Green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons etc allow to trap the heat of the Sun resulting in the increased temperature. If the pollution and green house gases continue to increase unchecked, by the middle of the 21st Century, the mean temperature will increase by 2-3 degree Celsius. This will have devastating repercussions. The polar ice will melt resulting in rise in the water level of the Oceans. A large no. of coastal cities will get submerged. Increase in temperature will result in fierce hurricanes and cyclones causing wide spread damage to life, property and vegetation. The monsoon pattern will change causing draught in large parts of the world. Cultivable land will become arid and the world may be in the grip of a severe famine unheard of in the history of the human civilization.


It is high time that we pay heed to not so subtle signals nature is trying to send, least it is too late. Or we should be ready to say good bye to good times and look ahead to worst times to come.

Growing Fruit Trees

Fruits that we buy from the market are full of pesticides and insecticides and most often they have been ripened artificially using chemicals, chemicals that are hazardous to the health. All this can be avoided by planting a lot of fruit trees in our kitchen garden. But most of the times the fruit trees planted in the kitchen garden fail to bear good crop. To ensure a good crop from the trees planted in the kitchen garden proper procedure during planting should be followed.
The pits for planting the fruit trees should be dug up well in advance, preferably about a month before undertaking planting. Pits should be round and at least three feet deep. During summer months the pits should be left open to ensure killing of all pathogens. Mix the soil dug up from the pit with equal amounts of matured farmyard manure. The mixture should be mixed with Lindane dust or Cholorpyriphos 20EC if the soil is infested with white ants.

Plant the sapling of the fruit tree in the middle of the pit and fill up the pit with top soil mixed with farm yard manure and lindane dust or Cholrpyriphos.The pit should be filled with soil lightly compacted on the sides and top it about six inches above ground level. This will prevent lodging of the sapling after watering. Loop sided sapling do don’t show proper growth and branches may break under the weight of the fruit.

But what to do if no space for the kitchen garden is available as in case of most of the urban high rise houses. The answer lies in growing dwarf verities of fruit plants in adequate sized earthen pots (about 18’) or wooden boxes ( one cubic feet) in your terrace. But more care is needed as water holding capacity of the pots is limited. Overwatering and under watering are to be avoided. Some of the common fruit trees that can be easily grown in the pots are- Citrus, guava, papaya, mango etc. Care should be taken to buy the dwarf or normal verities of the fruit tree from a reputed nursery or Horticultural departments only.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Evolution of Robotics

With advances in technology in the fields of electronics and mechanics a seemingly new branch of science called Robotics has sprung up. It deals with the invention and working of sophisticated machines which assist us in our day to day activities and can simplify our work


The idea is not so new. If we flip through the pages of history we find that robotics is not a new idea. According to mythology Greek God Hephaestus(The God of Fire)was served by mechanical devices obviously the Robots. In ancient Egypt priest used steam activated mechanism to open the doors of their temple, used steam powered contraptions to light fires at the alter, at the command of the Head Priest. Around 350 BC Greek mathematician- Archytas constructed a mechanical steam powered flying Robot called Bird. Ctesibus contributed by designing water clocks with moving figures to strike out time.

After a long period, in which recorded evidence is scanty, it is during the industrial revolution that the Swiss clock maker invented robotic doll that could play music or draw pictures. Production of textile was also automated using steam power. In 1801 Joseph Jacquard invented automated loom using punched cards. In 1822 Charle Babbage, inspired by the automated loom of Jacquard using punched cards, invented 'Analytical Engine' also designated as first computer. In 1898 Nikola Tsela demonstrated a remote controlled robotic boat.

It is the 20th century that is the true age of computers and Modern day Robotics. In 1927 in a science fiction movie 'Metropolis' a female robot named Maria was introduced for the first time on the silver screen. In 1959 Artificial Intelligence lab was established at MIT. Rapid advances have been made since then. The modern day robots are small, more versatile, highly mobile and quite intelligent. Robots are extensibly used in deep sea and deep space explorations. All space probes are intelligent robotic machines. The field of Robotics holds immense potential for dreamy and bright individuals capable of vivid imagination. Go ahead and plunge yourself in this potentially unexplored field with high returns on your investment (as a disciple).