Life and Spirituality

  Kanji, the vegetable drink H ere is a wonderful drink made from a few select vegetables. It is a great accompaniment for lunch. It shall contribute to good health while adding a sparkle to a meal. In North-Western India it is called Kanji and in West Asia it is known by a different name that I forget now and once when a friend from Poland visited he said that they make it in Eastern Europe too. I have not found it in Western Europe or North America though during my travels and it is time they learned about it because it is very simple to make. It has a pungent acidic taste that is pleasant with a meal once you acquire the taste and that does not take more than a couple of glasses of it. There are several variations of the drink but here is the recipe from my home: Ingredients Four liters drinking water Half kg turnips Quarter kg Beetroots Quarter kg Carrots (The darker the better) A finger of Ginger A few bay leaves and sticks of cinnamon (optional...

  The Meeting between Leo the Great (painted as a portrait of Leo X ) and Attila b y Raffael “Wars for a righteous cause result in peace but wars over self interest result in destruction during and after” ashok m. A n earlier post in this blog described healthy wines called Las wines of gods much healthier than any of the wines currently available in world markets. The present post is about another mildly alcoholic drink that is also a health drink. It is not a wine because it is not made from fruit juices but rather from milk. The drink described here is adapted from the ancient drink of Kumis. It’s the beverage of the horsemen of the Central Asian steppes, warriors like Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan. They were avid consumers of it. It appears to be still popular in countries like Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan. It created strong warriors, t he ones who caused the great migrations out of Central Asia between 400 and 800 AD. The Mon...

A human being may survive for many days without food but he cannot survive for long without water. Good clean drinking water that is neither too hard nor too soft is the best health drink. Yet water is often combined with ingredients of food and with health supplements in a manner so as to produce a drink for enhanced health, beauty and joy. The fact that drinks are an ideal delivery system is apparent from the fact that even Nature thinks so. The first food chosen for a new born by Nature is a drink – mother’s milk. As one ages one may add a number of other drinks to one’s daily routine in order to optimize one’s health and well being. Here is a collection of some of the best ones from around the world as discovered by this author in his travels, study and reflection.   Following is a description of drinks for different times of day some or all of which could become a person's lifestyle if not already so. The really special and unique drinks, the best on the plan...

  I have had the good fortune to live and work in different parts of the world. Everywhere, it was my cardinal principle to enjoy local culture including local foods and drinks rather than stick to the habits from back home. I was introduced to good wine as a doctoral student in Canada during the department Christmas party at UBC and still enjoy it on occasions. If you are a wine lover too then you may enjoy some simple facts about wine and wine making that have been gathered through my travels and experiments that most books don’t tell. First of all as regards alcohol uphold the principle enshrined by King Solomon the wise some thousands of years ago as recorded in the Old Testament of the holy Bible “Give wine to a person heavy of heart but give strong drink to a person who wishes to destroy himself” There is really much wisdom in this statement that personally experienced. Many persons consume an alcoholic drink once in a while. At times that drink happens to b...