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The making of tandoori tea is quite interesting! Let us see how to make it? It’s a special blend of tea half brewed along with a blend of Amol’s grandma’s secret aromatic spices. The empty kulhar (a traditional clay bowl without any handle) is roasted in the tandoor (Indian clay oven) till it is hot.  The tea is half cooked in a tin. The half-cooked tea is then poured into the hot kulhar and it froths over and gets fully brewed. The tea is served in clay cups also. The tandoori Chai was invented by Amol Dilip Rajdeo who runs India’s first Tandoor tea corner by the name ‘chai LaThe Chenab river is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan and is one of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of  Himachal Pradesh state, India. Tandoori chai is a magical beverage which has benefits for heart, health, digestion, controlling blood sug...

Imagine you spend 17 years inside a small closet. One day, you realize that you can just open the door and hit the town! By the way, you have two to four weeks to live. It’s crazy right! Yeah, that's what happens in the life of cicadas! Female cicadas can lay up to 400 eggs. Young cicada nymphs hatch and dig themselves into the ground to suck the liquids of plant roots. And after 17 years, they march like zombies towards the nearest tree and start to climb.  where they climb out of their external skeletons and their adult winged form. The cicadas have no defense and virtually offer themselves to their attackers and soon all the predators are full to the point of bursting. Cicadas are also known for their buzzing and clicking noises. The insects use different calls to express alarm or attract mates. After mating, the adults lay their eggs and then their job is done. In just a few days. they will all die, and the forest will fall silent. It’s not clear why these cicadas have such dis...

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa is believed to be the wife of Francisco del Giocondo, Lisa Gherardini. The 30 inches × 21 inches painting is an original oil painting on a white poplar panel and is owned by the government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, France. The Mona Lisa painting has no eyebrows because it was the fashion in the Renaissance to shave them. Woman shaved their facial hair, including their eyebrows. Leonardo was an Italian, but he sold the painting to the king of France. Mona Lisa real name was Lisa Gherardini (born on 15th June 1479) based on their mid 16th biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Giorgio Vasari, many historians believe the painting is a portrait of Madam Lisa Giocondo, wife of a wealthy Florentine. It is from Vasari that the painting received the name Mona Lisa, also known as La Giocondo in Italian or La Joconde in French. Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint the ...

The medicines used nowadays are the result of advancements in science and technology. But in the olden days, people used animals or parts of animals, plants to cure diseases.  In ancient times mastic oil, an essential oil extracted from the resin (mastic gum) of the Pistacia lentiscus var chia, was used to cure ulcers. It was mainly used to cure stomach ulcers. The bile of pythons was also used to cure specific ulcers. Bloodletting was one of the treatments during that time for all ailments. It first started with the Sumerians and Egyptians but did not go on for long. Later Hippocrates and Galen, who were physicians told that there are four types of humors - yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. They explained that the four humors had to be in equal amounts in the body to stay healthy. So, if any ailment like a fever was there for a person, they would make a slit in a vein and let some blood (bad blood) flow out into a dish. Then they would apply medicinal plants crushed on...

Sometimes spending time with family and friends is important for your mental wellbeing, but sometimes you need time to be alone by yourself. You may be surprised by what scientists are saying about how solitude can make you stronger? Yes, researchers say that if you perceive yourself as lonely without friends, then you will feel alone. Other research found that lonely people were more prone to disease and immune problems. In fact, “no serious work is possible without great solitude.”   In a survey, 85% of those adults interviewed said they wish to have more time alone. Learning how to hang out with yourself reduces your stress. Solitude allows you to take a breath and enjoy some peace.  Researchers say that you can alter your negative view of your life so that you reinterpret the meaning of a distressing situation. It’s called cognitive reappraisal. Hope you understand and agree there are benefits to being by yourself, but how do you find the time for solitude?  You d...

The Mysterious skeleton lake is a high-altitude glacial lake in the Uttarakhand state of India. It lies in the lap of Trishul massif. Located in the Himalayas, the area around the lake is uninhabited and is roughly at an altitude of 5,020 meters, surrounded by rock-strewn glaciers and snow-clad mountains. The Mysterious skeleton lake is also known as Roopkund lake. Roopkund is a popular trekking destination. The size of the lake varies substantially, but it is seldom more than 40 meters in diameter (1000 to 1500 square meters in area) and is frozen in the winter. The coordinates 30°15`44``N 79°43`54``E and average depth are 3 meters (9.8ft). Why is it called skeleton lake? Roopkund is widely known for the hundreds of ancient human skeletons found at the edge of the lake. The human skeleton remains are visible at this bottom. Research generally points to a semi-legendary event where a group of people was killed in a sudden, violent hailstorm in the 9 th century. Because of the human ...