Cheap Natural Drinks for Summer

Image by XcBiker via Flickr

The simplest of drinks the people used to consume in some tropical countries like India to combat the heat in summer is the milk of rice fermented for two to three days making it tarty and smelly and diluted with water. When the drink is taken enormously to fill the belly no amount of atmospheric heat outside in these summer days can be able to dent the body. This is the age old practice, a culture that has been in profound use in most of the tropical countries where rice is the favourite dish. But due to advent of modern life styles to make such a drink from the rice is very difficult. First of all extracting the milk by cooking rice in earthen pot and its fermentation is not possible; as fermentation can be achieved essentially in earthen bowls which are a very rare commodity in these days. The earthen pot makers have lost their profession to other sundry jobs as there is no such market to provide them the earning for their livelihood. Secondly the processing of the rice is not only to be done in a earthen pot to extract the milk but the fuel is preferably required to be wood. As these ingredients are impossible to get abundantly the practice of preparation of such natural drinks has been lost to oblivion. The coming generation will be wondered to hear the existence of such delicacies in our society. This is a civilisatonal loss. When the civilisation moves forward these drinks yields to its modern corporate formats like Pepsi, Limca and a host of other formatted, bottled drinks.
The Pepsi culture has unobtrusively intruded into the lives of the poorest of the poors as one can see every remotest village shop popping up the canes of empty bottles in its front veranda.

Some days ago there was a vehement counter campaign against these bottled drinks by some environment concerned NGOs showing the unacceptable pesticide levels contained in these drinks, but the marketing strategy has defeated the campaign and the sale is soaring high since then.Surprisingly it never reduced.

Here I venture to suggest a natural and cheap drink that can be easily homemade and can be consumed by mass with much more health benefits. It is the lemon water. There are a number of health benefits besides to quench the summer thirst.
Lemon is a citrus fruit grown in tropical countries. It harvests through out the year. In summer the demand outgrows the production hence it becomes a little expensive but much less than all other citrus fruits in the market. Preparations of the drink is very very easy. Just cut the lemon horizontally into two parts and squeeze to drop the juices into the water kept in the glass jar, remove the seeds by filtration and add sugar or salt to provide a palatable taste. The drink is ready.

The innumerable health benefits it provides can be seen here.

in reference to: Top 10 Health Benefits of Lemon Water health and fitness (view on Google Sidewiki)

Pune Bakery Blast

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While the world is abuzz with valentine day greetings and celebrations the tragic news of an powerful explosion in one restaurant in Pune broke the headlines. It was 7.30 PM Saturday that one package deliberately kept abandoned in one corner of the Bakery while some Indian as well as foreign tourists were busy in celebrating their day inside. While the restaurant menial tried to unpack to see what was inside the package it detonated. Some six persons were died on the spot Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the mischief but it surely points to an deliberate attempt to jeopardize the process of peace talks now programmed to be revived from 25th Feb. The peace process is to normalize the relation between the two rival countries of India and Pakistan after the gory incidents on 26.11.08. Hence the purpose of the blast is obviously to destabilize the process. It might certainly be triggered by the terror stake holders from the Pakistani land. In short time the investigations will reveal it.

But how far its effect is able to disrupt the normalization process taking place right now? Mr SM Krishna is now silent on it. Mr G. K. Pillai Home Secy busy to establish the links of the blast to the perpetrators and prevaricates to comment.

The incident is tragic no doubt. As some 57 persons succumbed injury including some four to five foreigners. but in no case the peace talks should be postponed. These type of events should be dealt with brave hands and brave minds and should not be allowed to vitiate any diplomatic process.