Diet to keep health good going:

Sham S. Misri

A healthy diet consists of a variety of foods, because different foods contain different things that our body needs. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats  are vital for energy or growth. They are called nutrients. Vitamins , minerals, and water are also important as they help our body to work properly.

Carbohydrates give energy. There are two types; Sugars and starches. Sugars are found in fruits, cake, and other sweet foods. They give quick energy. Starch is found in bread , potatoes, and rice. The energy it produces  lasts much longer.

Dietary fiber, also known as roughage, is a type of carbohydrate found in bran, whole wheat bread, fruit, and vegetables. Fiber cannot be digested by humans , but it is bulky, so it helps the muscles of intestines to move food efficiently through the digestive system.

Proteins are used for growth and repair of body tissue. They are found in meat, fish, eggs, nuts, milk, and beans. Proteins are like building blocks.

Fats are needed by the body for energy and warmth. Unused fats are stored in various areas of body, such as under the skin. Fats are of two types; saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are mostly found in animal products, e.g. butter, fatty meat. These fats also contain cholesterol, a fat like substance. Unsaturated fats are found in non-animal products, including vegetables, oils, and nuts. Besides this, the body  needs fat to produce the hormones- Cholesterol is metabolized in liver. Olive oil,  almonds, and walnuts are good fats. The Foods that can reduce belly fat are the Avocados, Cinnamon, and Eggs. fish, Salmon, Cod, and Tilapia. Etc.Omega -3 makes the nervous system function better. Sex is about circuitry. From erection standpoint, anything that is good for heart is good for penis.
 

Oatmeal’s, watermelon, berries should be part of regular diet. Berries have a profound effect against age related diseases including heart diseases, diabetes, mental decline, cancer, as they contain antioxidants and noninflammatory properties. Soy is beneficial for prostrate.

Vitamins keep the body healthy. They are found in wide variety of foods. A balanced , healthy diet gives body all the vitamins it needs. Body needs tiny amounts of nearly 15 different vitamins for essential chemical processes to take place.

Minerals are  important  to keep a good body. The body needs small amounts of nearly twenty different minerals in all. Trace minerals, such as iron, are needed in extremely small quantities. Knol khol (Kohlrabi) is rich in Ca, Fe, and Vitamin A, B1,  B2   Niacin, and vitamin C. Multivitamins and minerals help. Both improve neurological function and good circulation. Vitamin- D bones teeth and skin.

Guava (Amrood) is  very good for stomach rich source of vit.A,B,C.; Pomegranates contain high levels of several different poly -phenol antioxidants-which are not found in any food.

Ginger is good for stomach, and  arthritis; While Garlic good for heart and lowers triglycerides.

 “ Turmeric is the spice of Life”; Pepper improves circulation; Regular use of cinnamon lowers Blood sugar and cholesterol.

“ To eat vegetables” is a timeless prescription-Radish, Cabbage, Celery, and Onion, Greens, and Broccoli. The Broccoli is high in fiber and has cholesterol lowering effects. It is also rich in sulfur compounds, which are good for liver and strengthens body’s natural detoxification system. 

       Water is vital for life. Without it, one cannot survive for a few days. We need water to replace what we lose in urine and sweat. About 65 % of our body weight is water. Drink eight glasses of water early morning, empty stomach. Do not anything for 45 minutes.

Red wine  raises good cholesterol and reduces the bad kind. An antioxidant in grape skins , reduces the impact of bad cholesterol, which in turn reduces the  risk of cardio vascular disease. Polyphenols in Coffee is number one source of antioxidant and is associated with lower incidence of dementia, Parkinson ’s disease, and  types two diabetes.

Eat for your blood type:

·         Group A: Have  carbohydrates, play golf, and Have vegetarian diet with fresh organic foods. Avoid heavy proteins.

·         Group B: Drink half liter of milk per day, Milk actually helps control weight , since, calcium binds with fat in the food digesting in the gut, meaning that one absorbs less of that fat. No significance difference between skim, low fat, and whole milk-when it comes to weight control. Go for a hike, Avoid peanuts, lentils, and corns.

·         Group AB: Combination of diet for group A and B.

·         Group O: Take high proteins, Should run.

To make breakfast diet;

·         To one cup of soy milk add one fourth cup orange juice  and one fourth cup of orange juice. To this add one cup of blue berries, plus one teaspoon of any protein powder and fresh handful spinach. Put ingredients in blender and enjoy.

Running is the most ideal exercise for staying healthy and fit. It is just about anyone can do, and is not hard to get started. Running also burns calories while giving the heart and legs a great workout. The best part about running is that it can be done anywhere. Whether in gym, on the side walk, or at the beach, all that is needed is a pair of running shoes to get moving. It is a fun, one should give a try, and feel good after the running. There should be a balance between diet and exercise.

Calories consumed =Calories burned.

Do brisk walking for twenty minutes. One hour of low impact aerobic burns 365 calories- Not bad!

A good diet Model:

Grains =30%

Proteins= 20%

Vegetables=35%

Fruits=15%

*My doctor advised me to Use Aspirin,  You Consult your doctor.

Abatwa -The smallest people

Sham S. Misri

Among the Zulu people of South Africa, tales were told of men who suddenly heard a shrill voice speaking to them from the ground. Looking down, the man would see a tiny , tiny figure standing near his feet and would know he had met one of the Abatwa People.

The Abatwa were the smallest people in the world. They slept in anthills and walked among blades of grass as full sized people walk among trees in a forest. But they were very self conscious about their size, and if a man met an Abatwa, he had to be very careful to pretend the little creature was a full sized person. Otherwise, the Abatwa would become enraged and shoot at the man with tiny  poisoned arrows!

Amanuk tot.(Ponny)

Sham S. Misri

Aman's pony.

A bad, lazy fellow who requires a lot of advice before he will do anything,

Aman is a small Kashmiri Village. A man once purchased a pony from this place

and was setting forth towards his home. While on his way home, the beast suddenly stopped, and

nearly threw the rider over his head. Any little ditch or a similar place like that would cause

the pony to thus stop. Eventually the purchaser got off the animal, and asked a

Passer-by to mount it. The other man being a good horseman was not afraid to hit

the pony; and so for the rest of the journey, and ever afterwards, the pony went

splendidly •

Mureed Baie Hund Parvai (Disciples Care)

Sham S. Misri

One day a Mullah goes to the house of one of his disciples. The mullah wants to know the welfare of his this client, as the client seems not to have gone to meet the Mullah.  The client, his disciple becomes very happy to see his Mullah at his home. The disciple kills a cock and entertains the Mullah extremely well.  In the evening when they    are done with the hearty dinner, the Mullah starts 

For further reading and the collection of more stories visit Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVN2W4I

Silk the queen of Textiles

 

Sham S.Misri

Silkworms were domesticated in China thousands of years ago.  Stories have been told through the generations based on fact and partly on legend. The tale which persists is that about 2,640 B.C. A Chinese empress was watching the cocoons that little worms were spinning in the mulberry trees in her palace gardens. She unwound one of the threads on a cocoon and found that it was one, very long strand of shiny material. Fascinated, she pulled strands from several cocoons through her ring to form a thicker thread. Eventually, with the help of her ladies of the court, she spun the threads into a beautiful piece of cloth to make a robe for the emperor, Huang-Ti. This magnificent material, silk, became known at the "cloth of kings".

For thousand of years the royal family of China had silk. The Chinese kept the secret of how silk was made for 2500 years. Silk cloth was sold to the West, but the source of the shiny thread that made the material was not revealed. The penalty in China for telling that the silk came from the cocoons of the little silkworms was death! Some very strange ideas were formulated by Westerners to explain the origin of silk. Here are a few: Silk came from the colored petals of flowers in the Chinese desert, silk came from a spider-like animal that ate until it burst open and the silk threads were found inside its body.

Legend has it that the Japanese carries off four Chinese maidens, who knew the secret of silk, along with mulberry shoots and silk moth eggs. Today Japan is the leading producer of silk!  Another story is that a Chinese princess married an Indian prince. She carried silkworm eggs and mulberry shoots to India in her headdress and the secret of raising silkworms in her head. 

Two Christian monks told Emperor Justinian of Constantinople that they had learned the secret of silk. Emperor send them back to China to get eggs and mulberry shoots for him. They returned many years later with the eggs and shoots hidden inside their hollowed-out walking sticks. Since Justinian was the emperor of Constantinople, a crossroads city, the secret soon spread throughout Europe.

After hatching from an egg, the silkworms eat mulberry leaves and grow larger. When they are finger-sized, they spin a cocoon, pupate inside the cocoon, and then emerge as a moth to mate and female lays nearly 400 -500 eggs. Silkworms go through four stages of development, as do most other insects: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larva is the silkworm caterpillar.  The adult stage is the silkworm moth.

If the silk moths are allowed to emerge from the cocoons, they would make holes in the silk thread.  Silkworm farmers kill the pupas inside the cocoons by baking them in a hot oven or sun drying.  Then the cocoons are soaked in boiling water to loosen the threads.  A person finds the end of the thread and places it on a winding bobbin.  Then a machine unrolls the cocoon, winding the silk from five to six cocoons together to make one silk thread.   Then the thread is woven into cloth. 

Silkworms are insects.  All insects have six legs in the adult stage.   Silkworm caterpillars have six real legs, plus five pairs of false legs on the rear of the body used for grasping twigs and leaves.  Silkworms shed their skins four times while growing.  Silkworms are cold-blooded, as are all insects.  A warm-blooded animal always has the interior of its body at the same temperature (98.6°F or 37°C for a human) unless it is sick. If their interior temperature gets too high or too low, it will die. A cold-blooded animal's interior temperature is usually within a few degrees of the air around it.

Mostly the smallest caterpillars, which make the smallest cocoons, turn into male moths.  The big caterpillars turn into female moths.  The medium-sized worm’s ones can go either way.

Silkworm moths don't eat or drink anything.  They mate, the female lays eggs, and then they die within 3-6 days. Silkworms operate entirely on instinct. 

In order to unwind the cocoon, we kill the pupa inside. Place the cocoons in a 200°F (90°C) oven for 30 minutes.  Then drop the cocoons in boiling water.  After five minutes, one can begin to unwind the cocoon.  Unwinding five at a time will make a fine, strong, thread.

Raising silkworms needs space and access to fresh mulberry leaves, and silkworm eggs.

 Caterpillars eat for about 26 days before spinning silk. It takes about 3 days to fully spin a cocoon and turn into a pupa. The moth emerges from the cocoon after about 21 days.

The female moth lays eggs about 2 days after emerging from the cocoon.

Silkworms only eat fresh mulberry leaves which are available in most temperate climates in the spring and summer. Silkworms will not eat any other food.

Once eggs are out of the refrigerator they will hatch. Fresh leaves are fed and growth starts.

Hygienic conditions, maintenance of proper temperature and humidity gives good results. 

Sometimes the tiny silkworms will eat their shed skin. The larger ones don't. Each stage the silkworm goes through is called an "instar". First instar caterpillars are black. The second and third instars are grayish-white with black heads. The fifth and final instar has a white head. In between each instar is a time of resting and molting. We say the silkworm is "sleeping".

The silkworm does 80% of its eating during the fifth instar. The silk glands now make up 25% of its body weight. The larva has increased its size 10,000 times since birth. The final instar of the larval stage is 2-3/4 inches long.

In each instar, the caterpillar has six real legs (as do all insects). It also has five pairs of false legs on the rear of its body. The body is made up of thirteen segments, each of which has a black dot on the side. These dots are called spiracles, and the silkworm breathes through them.

The silkworm eats continuously for twenty-six days.  Then it stops eating and spins its cocoon.   The silk thread from a single cocoon is about one-and-a-half kilometers (one mile) long. The caterpillars like to spin cocoons in dry grass where it forms cocoons.

The cocoon-spinning process takes about three days. While spinning, try not to disturb their threads or they will have to start over again.  Once the cocoons are all spun, remove dried-up leaves to prevent mold from forming.  The silk is actually hardened silkworm saliva.  When the silkworm ate leaves, they were digested and nutrients were sent into the bloodstream. The silk glands absorbed these nutrients. The larva has a small spinneret on its lip, through which the silk emerges. The single strand of silk that forms the cocoon is about one mile long!

The silkworm moves its head in figure 8 patterns as it spins the cocoon. When the cocoon is partially made, you can see the head moving around inside if you hold it up to the light.

Pupa and moth

Inside the cocoon, the silkworm sheds its skin one last time and becomes a brown-shelled pupa. Inside this shell, the pupa takes three weeks to change into the adult silk moth. When the transformation is complete, the moth emerges from the cocoon. The adult moth has a special secretion which is used to dissolve the silk so it can push its way out of the cocoon.

When the silk moths emerge, their wings are crumpled, but they get pumped full of fluid and harden it about an hour.   The moths cannot fly since their bodies are large and their wings are small.  The moths do not eat or drink.

Females silk moths are significantly larger than males. Females periodically extrude a scent gland through the hole in their abdomen.  Males have a flap of skin at the end of their abdomen and flutter their wings frequently. Each moth will expel a reddish-brown fluid shortly after emerging from the cocoon.  This fluid is like the moth's "urine" that it retained since it couldn't "urinate" while it was in the cocoon.

The silkworm moth mates with another moth within hours of emerging from the cocoon.  The moths remain mated for one day, then separate.  The female lays eggs immediately afterward.  The moths do not eat, and die naturally after one week.

The moths stay mated for about a day. After separation, the female lays eggs and the male looks for another female. Sometimes another male mates with the female before she can lay eggs. Each female will lay between 200 - 500 eggs!  Put paper on the bottom of the container and remove empty cocoons as the moths emerge. The moths will lay eggs on the paper. When the moths are dead, save the dead moths and cocoons to make display cases.

It is interesting to note that one ounce of silkworm eggs contains 40000 eggs (1500 eggs per gram).  These worms will eat 1500 kilograms of mulberry leaves, and will spin cocoons. The yields may vary. On an average 50 kilograms of silk cocoons may be harvested.

When first laid, all eggs are yellow. After three days, they will turn white if they are infertile, or turn black if they are fertile. 

Care to be taken while rearing;

Change mulberry leaves at least three times a day.  Silkworms will not eat dried-up leaves. 

Do not disturb the silkworms once they start to spin.  If the framework for the cocoon is disturbed, then they will not make a cocoon.  They will turn brown, then black, and die. 

Avoid overcrowd the silkworms. Remove old leaves and droppings before mold starts to form.

Books by the Author(s)

Lal Ded Of Kashmir Saint Poetess: A Catalogue of Lal Vakhs

Kashmir Shaivism and Modern Science

Kashmir - A Concise History: Mahabharata Epoch 3067 BCE to Modi Era 2016 A.D

The Aryan Invasion Theory - A Subterfuge: A Scientific Look

Tibet: Earthly Paradise

Kali Maa: The Dawn of Woman and Beyond

Maa Ganga: Mythology, Mystery and Science

The Ten Departures of Kashmiri Pandits

Tales from Kashmir, Part-1

Tales from Kashmir, Part-2

Tales from Kashmir, Part-3

Tales from Kashmir, Part-4

Tales from Kashmir, Part-5

The Wandering Pandit

Wonderful Stories for Children, Book-1

A Peep Into America's Past

Silkworm Breeding Made Easy

Collected Poems of Pt. Krishen Joo Razdan, By J. N. Misri, Vol. 1, 2,3,4,5 and 6[Edited and Published]

Travels Through America And Canada

When I Met Her

The Ultimate Fishing Rod

Kashmir: The Book of Anecdotes

Tour to 5 Countries in Europe

Cleopatra-Harmachis-Part-1-Love-Lord

Cleopatra and Harmachis - Part-2: The Finding of Treasure

Agar Khan tsayov gagar waji, tatih no mijis kum-yaji

Sham S.Misri

Afghan Governors of Kashmir (1753-1820) reigned with terror. Kashmiri Muslims invited the Afghans to take over the administration of the valley. This was the greatest blunder that they did. People began to be looted and killed. Petty Afghan soldiers amassed wealth by the foulest means. Most of the well to do people of the valley were summoned by the Governor to his palace, and ordered to surrender all their wealth on pain of death. There was complete gloom and despair on every side. All the prosperity of the valley was gone, and the people could not even move on the streets, for fear of being robbed of even their scanty clothing.

Kashmirs got a rude shock when they witnessed the first acts of barbarity at the hands of Afghans.

Agar Khan was one of the old Pathan governors of Kashmir. In his time affairs arrived at a crisis. The army had rebelled, and the treasury was empty. To support his family and servants he parted with his jewels and other treasures, and yet all through this time of distress he was keeping a favorite elephant. When he could no longer feed the pet beast, he let it go to wander whither it pleased.

Then Agar Khan said; “Agar Khanun hustu lustu tah lustu; lustu nah tah khustu”.

Should Agar Khan's elephant live, it lives; and if it does not live, then never mind.

Some people are so little respected, that it does not much matter whether they live or die.

Another time Agar Khan was reduced to such distress that he was glad to take shelter in a little broken-down hut and slept there.

The people of Kashmir who are full of humor said,” Agar Khan Tsayov gagar waji, tatih no mijis kum-yaji”

Agar Khan entered into a rat's hole, and there he did not get, even, a bran-cake.

Vampire

Sham S. Misri

Night time brought fear  to the countryside’s of Hungary, Romania, and other parts of Balkans. It was well known there that during the hours of darkness the terrible creatures known as vampires came forth to seek the blood of humans. A Vampire was a dead person whose body had been taken over by an evil spirit. By day, the body lay in a hidden place as if dead, resting upon earth. With the setting of the sun , the Vampire arose. Keeping its human form , or perhaps taking the form of a bat , it went in search of blood it needed .   It attacked sleeping people, sucking their blood without awakening them, but causing them to have dreadful  nightmares and to grow weak  and listless. Unfortunately people bitten by Vampire often became Vampires themselves.

There were a number of ways in which people could protect themselves against a Vampires attack. Sprays of fresh garlic or bulbs of dried garlic , bells, or objects made  of iron placed at a door or a window would prevent Vampires from entering a house. After the Balkans became Christianized , a cross of crucifix  would also protect against Vampires.  If a Vampire’s body could be found , the creature could be destroyed by driving a wooden stake through its heart  and burning the corpse to ashes.