close to the roots

It is a shame that I yet do not know how to efficiently converse in my mother tongue , reading and writing it is a miles apart destination for me. I am not very good at languages except  English. so I find it very difficult to connect to my roots. nevertheless due to my keen interest in mythology , history and stories I try my best to understand the beauty of my native town - Sringeri .


In the Chikmaglur district of Karnataka , lies the hill town of Sringeri .It is situated on the banks of the holy river Tunga ,at  roughly  a distance of 100 km from Mangaluru and around 300 km from the capital city of Bengaluru
.    "  bank of river tunga at Sringeri "


The name Sringeri is derived from Rishyashringa-giri, a nearby hill that is believed to have contained the heritage of Rishi Vibhandaka and his son Rishyashringa. "shringa " means horn in Sanskrit .it is said that the holy rishi had two horns on his head . as he performed most of his penance here  , the place was named as "shringa giri" where giri means mountain in sanskrit. by word of mouth the name shortened with time to "Sringeri".

A magnificient 1200 year old temple called sringeri sharada peetham lies in the heart of the town.it is believed that shri adi shankaracharya  meditated here and as he found this place extremely pure and established this temple here. it is one of the best examples of Dravidian architecture . it is said that underneath the ground the temple has humongous wheels.it is a major centre for learning Sanskrit and people from all over the world come to learn the ancient language from here.

According to legend, Adi Shankaracharya is said to have selected the site as the place to stay and teach his disciples, because when he was walking by the Tunga river, he saw a cobra with a raised hood, providing shelter from the wrath of the rains, to a frog undergoing labour. Impressed with the place where natural enemies had gone beyond their instincts, he stayed here for twelve years. I have seen that place where the frog and the snake were  ,so believe me this is not fiction.

isn't the very thought that a snake , the animal who is believed to be one of the most not trustworthy animals , who could kill the very person who would care for him protected his natural prey , unbelievable?. such a place where such positive energy that even natural enemies help each other , has increased the sanctity of the place.

this temple was originally made of sandalwood and later replaced with gold and stone. 



We owned a beautiful bungalow and betel nut farm at a distance of roughly 1 km from the temple.there my grandparents and my paternal cousins  used to live and it would be a holiday home for the whole of my paternal family every summer. my father made it a point that we would visit Sringeri at least twice a year if not thrice .

I am not a person who loves travel so it used to be damn tedious for me to go to sringeri from Mumbai because it neither has an airport nor a train station.it was more tedious when we were living in Gurgaon ( Haryana ) for three years. I  recollect that time as one of my most tiring travel experiences. the flight from delhi airport to Bengaluru airport was at 8 am so we had to move from Gurgaon at around 6:30 am. we missed our flight by a couple of minutes and so we had to wait for another hour for the next possible flight nearest and that was to Mumbai 2 hours later. so it went - flight from delhi to Mumbai( 3 hours) then from Mumbai to Bengaluru   ( 2 hours) then from Bengaluru to mangaluru ( 45 minutes) and a road trip from mangaluru to sringeri that was about three hours. including the time for food etcetra we reached sringeri in 14 hours at about 12 am of the next day .Pheww!!!


this was my experience of my hometown and I think everyone should go closer to their roots at least once in their lives..............
with this I bid adieu to all of you for today.

a chocolaty treat....

Since childhood, there is only one name on all lips of the human world ........... Chocolate. The very name is so sweet that I can bet most of us must already be imagining the time when we shall next get to relish its taste.
I love chocolate in all its forms - pastry, cake , bar , éclair , ice cream , waffle , milkshake , cookies and whatever else possible way ! to this extent that I have even tried chocolate chilli cake and trust me it is marvellous...even if you don't trust me , it is worth a try guys.

So  , I decided today how about I discuss something about this heavenly  pleasure to the entire human existence.

Cocoa  , the mother fruit of our favourite grows on the cacao trees ( Theobroma cacao) in most of western coast of Africa ( ivory coast). it had originated in the America and we can trace it back to around 1900 BC. it had been originally used as a drink.
the whole pod of the cocoa is slit with a huge knife and the pulp ( it has an awesome sour sweet taste , if you ever get to taste it . I know because once the cocoa tree in my farm in Karnataka had laid its fruit . that was the first and the last  time I had tasted the pulp of the chocolate fruit .) and the bean are separated. the bean is roasted and supplied to factories to make chocolate out of it.

 lets know about  the different types of chocolate that exist : 

milk chocolate -   It is the most commonly eaten chocolate ,favourite among the little ones for its lovely sweet taste. it was first developed by in 1875 by a swiss confectioner ,Daniel Peter in association with Henri Nestle  who supplied him his own invention , condensed milk which was mixed with cocoa solids and chocolate liquor. Hershey's is the leading chocolate selling brand in the United States of America while Cadbury's dominates the chocolate market in the United Kingdom.                                                                 

• 
  white chocolate - it is not actually a chocolate but due to the presence of cocoa butter , we call it so . it consists of condensed milk and sugar besides cocoa butter.  nevertheless , with or without cocoa , it is as tasty as its name describes it to be. also it has a very attractive ivory white colour.                                                                                                                                              
•   dark chocolate-  ie plain chocolate  it is made from pure cocoa solids having all the fat content coming from cocoa butter instead of milk. it has a natural bitter sweet taste  , an attribute to mature personas. it has been noted to have several health benefits especially for heart patients .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
• compound chocolate- it is a solidified form of sweetened cocoa solids along with vegetable fats. it is used in confectionaries and bakeries to make chocolate products like pastries , chocolate icing , donuts, waffles etc....
• cocoa powder- it is the powdered form of cocoa beans used for drinking chocolate and for introducing chocolate flavour in cakes and cookies....
• ruby chocolate -  it is a new type of chocolate invented in 2004 by Barie Callebaut. it has an unusual sweet but sour flavour . it is made from red cocoa bean and has a red colour.( P.S. if you would like to try it out then KitKat has launched it in many countries , unfortunately not in India .)

MEDICAL BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE.

1. 
   

   If you buy quality dark chocolate ( not milk or mix variety) with a high cocoa content, then it is actually quite nutritious.

   It contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals.

   A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70–85% cocoa contains :

   • 11 grams of fiber
   • 67% of the RDI for iron
   • 58% of the RDI for magnesium
   • 89% of the RDI for copper
   • 98% of the RDI for manganese
   • It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium

   ( RDI  - reference daily intake)

   Of course, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) is a fairly large amount and not something you should be consuming daily. All these nutrients also come with 600 calories and moderate amounts of sugar .
   For this reason, dark chocolate is best consumed in moderation.
   The fatty acid profile of cocoa and dark chocolate is also excellent. The fats are mostly saturated and monounsaturated, with small amounts of polyunsaturated fat.
   It also contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine, but is unlikely to keep you awake at night as the amount of caffeine is very small compared  to coffee.
   

   Cocoa and dark chocolate have a wide variety of powerful antioxidants. In fact, they have way more than most other foods.
2. the bioactive compounds in cocoa may improve blood flow in the arteries and cause a small but statistically significant decrease in blood pressure.

   
   

    Dark chocolate improves several important risk factors for disease. It lowers the susceptibility of LDL( low density lipoprotein commonly known as good cholesterol) to oxidative damage while increasing HDL( high density lipoprotein) and improving insulin sensitivity.

   Observational studies show a drastic reduction in heart disease risk among those who consume the most chocolate.

   
   

    Studies show that the flavanols from cocoa can improve blood flow to the skin and protect it from sun damage.

   Cocoa or dark chocolate may improve brain function by increasing blood flow. It also contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine.

   
   

CREDIT for information on health benefits of chocolate :Kris Gunnars  -https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate

credit for all images : google devta..

I hope you all enjoyed reading this small bit of sweetness as much as I did while writing it.