Homo sapiens - Carcinogen of The planet Earth !!

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram

When I was studying my Grade 7, I thought the 10 Mark question comprising the consequences of breaking an eco-food chain was mere theory and never that it will happen someday. Felt the Biologists were jobless and kept those topics just to burden my school days !!

But today I’m stunned to see it happening in front of my eyes and ashamed to realize how worse we have treated our fellow living beings !! We should soon turn to Organic farming and treat livestock in a more organic way to save our eco-system before things get worse. 

The following video is a typical example of how we are bringing the count of Vultures down:

https://www.facebook.com/itmatters.news/videos/1755162621406145/

The alarming factor is, it is the fastest population collapse of any bird species in recorded history. While I was worryingly searching why is that anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac causing this, suddenly something shook my mind. Lately, we have come across similar news where Food producers be it packed or fresh products like vegetables, fruits, meat etc using many such antibiotics, chemicals etc. so invariably we will also have such effect and in fact, we are already undergoing the consequences of such actions.

One such incident is sellers injecting Erythrosine to make the Watermelons redder. Adulteration isn’t a new thing and we have this for ages now but what is more concerning is the entry of chemical agents which the food manufacturers, vendors are using for the past decade or so. They aren’t worried about the quality of food and ethics has no role to play in today’s market. Substances like Erythrosine aren’t just harmful to the human body but also dangerous and can cause cancer.

Money involvement in such incidents is huge and sadly even Government fails to regulate such things. Recently The Supreme court of India banned a famous noodles brand and issued a notice to its parent company citing hazardous ingredients in it. But to everyone’s surprise, they are back to business now and the irony is most of us know it is still not good to eat !!

Another familiar case is that of Broiler Chicken and how many of us know that if we test a broiler chicken specimen we could detect traces of several antibiotics like Oxytetracycline, Chlortetracycline etc. One obvious question for everyone is how these antibiotics affect Human body ?. Let me explain with myself being the example J right from my childhood I am afraid of medicines and had a tough time swallowing tablets every time (to be honest still having trouble). One good thing because of this habit is I don’t take medicines often in fact the number of medicines I have taken all these years could be counted. Of course, for any major health problem I used to take but not for headaches, body pains, general cold etc

But once I grew up for colds I started taking tablets and whenever I take any antibiotic, I can get rid of the cold in 1 day. Then I sensed that the immunity power of my body is high and the antibiotic also works well because all these years I made my body fight the germs and didn’t use any antibiotics. So when I take those drugs now it is certainly working for me and this isn’t the case for people who take medicines/antibiotics often from their childhood.

A similar argument holds good for broiler chicken scenario as well where the chickens are injected antibiotics like Baytril in the poultry farms to make them immune against e.coli infection and to increase their size in a short span. So their body has an excess of antibiotics traces and when we take them often our body also gets that. In the long term, our body gets used to these antibiotics which will eventually lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria thus harming our body.

Here comes another example - just think when was the last time you saw a mango having a bug inside ? Certainly I am not seeing such Mangoes lately and the reason is obvious. Bugs can survive in naturally grown mango and they cannot do in a Hybrid one which is using pesticides and artificial fertilizers.

Well, these are few examples I am pointing at out of our day-to-day life but we have several other instances where we spoil this ecosystem not only destroying many species of plants and animals but also the mankind. How could this be mitigated would be an obvious question for everyone and few things I have started following are:

·         Strictly NO to Broiler chicken but may take once in a month that too in any inevitable situations like while having food at Guests home, hotel visits with friends etc.

·         Use more of the natural breed of vegetables/fruits and not hybrid variety. Example: Country Tomato, Onion etc.

·         Started using Gingelly Oil (Nallennai) and Coconut oil made out of Sekku naturally.

·         Stopped eating at KFC completely and eating Pizzas once in a quarter J 

·         The last time I had carbonated drink was several months back and have stopped taking it completely.

Needless to say, it is high time to change our approach towards farming, food habits and the manner in which we treat/feed other living beings around us. This has to happen sooner rather than later so that co-existence amongst various species exists and living can be better on this planet for all.

I owe a lot to Nammalvar, Dr.Sivaraman, and Seeman for making me understand many facts which are explained above and letting everyone know the politics behind the food industry, farming etc.

Also, people who can understand the Tamil language can go through my post in Facebook for similar info:

https://www.facebook.com/vignesh.kalyanasundaram/posts/1156369237749360?comment_id=1177314585654825&notif_t=like&notif_id=1465902367227554

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram is an Information Technology Analyst by Profession, Traveller, and a Budding Blogger.

Wishes to the Vice-captain

                                                                                                           June 7, 2016

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram     

Jinks – That is how Ajinkya Rahane familiarly known as who turned 28 yesterday and is getting ready for the all-important series in Caribbean which starts exactly in a months’ time.  Getting into the age group where every great batsman in the history had their peak seasons, Rahane has huge responsibility mounted over his shoulder with not only being the reliable middle order batsman but also the Vice-captain of Indian test team now.

Though Rahane started his test career on a happy note with India winning that series 4-0 against the Aussies in India, the overseas seasons followed weren’t great for him and Team India !! The tours to South Africa and New Zealand can be seen as learning cure for many Indian players but to be fair to the Indian batters - Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli and Rahanae applied themselves relatively well and showed what sound technique can do irrespective of the playing conditions.

Rahane got his credit from Test cricket fans when he scored his 1^st century against the Kiwis under the overcast condition of Wellington and helping India to draw that test match. Many consider Pujara to be the next Dravid however during this match I had the gut feel that it is Rahane who is going to carry the legacy of Dravid. Early days for him, still the way he plays with horizontal bat makes me like him more – of course for a batsman coming from Mumbai following the Legends Sunny and Sachin, it isn’t a big deal. One more reason why Jinks brought Dravid’s thought to me is the maiden century of RD was also under difficult conditions. It was against Donald, Pollock, McMillan & Kluesner on a seaming Johannesburg wicket. 

Below video is for those who wish to relive that innings of RD J :

It this is the same application Rahane showed against the likes of Boult, Southee, Anderson at Wellington. Needless to mention Rahane’s century at Lords and this not only got his name on Lords Honours Boards but also cemented his place in India’s test squad.

Interestingly, making his debut in Home conditions he has to wait 17 tests before playing again in India. In the interim he played in some tough conditions like RSA, England, Australia, Sri Lanka and the impressive stat is that he got centuries in each country except RSA !!.

Unlike Pujara who struggles a bit when it comes to limited overs format, Rahane has the ability to adapt himself to pick the pace and score some quick runs. But an alarming note would be, the over dosage of T20 shouldn’t affect the way Rahane bats and the class should remain in him to improve his test batting.

Fact of the matter is not too are many worried about his ODI batting despite his 2 centuries because India never had shortage of players to represent limited overs game. It is good quality test players India finding difficult to produce so Rahane should go heights from here and let us wish him Good Luck for his Caribbean tour !!

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram is an Information Technology Analyst by Profession, Traveller and a Budding Blogger.

Happy Birthday Steve Waugh !!

                                                                                                                 June 2, 2016

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram

It was 1996 World Cup season, the time I started following cricket seriously. By then I thought Steve Waugh is just another Australian middle order Batsman scoring few runs and who can bowl his military medium occasionally !!

Then I started observing him closely when he was in India for the Titan Cup series. I wasn't aware of his solid batting technique then but was surprised seeing his bowling where he got Sachin out in one of the league matches !! Throughout the series he was batting in the middle overs along with Slater, Bevan & Law and one thing I noticed was his ability to play spin bowling in sub-continent pitches.

Then came the famous 1998 Australia's tour of India and it was the time Cricket Australia gave the world a completely new idea of having two completely different teams, one for the longer format and other for the ODI's. The tour started with Test series which was led by Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh was set to lead their limited overs side which followed the test series. The series had huge hype for the battle between Sachin Vs Warne so not too many would have noticed the way Steve Waugh played Anil Kumble. For me among players outside Asia, Steve Waugh is second best in playing Anil Kumble following Andy Flower. The literal meaning of slog sweep I understood watching Steve Waugh playing those. Of course, slog sweep - hitting the ball exactly over deep mid-wicket isn't a big deal these days with advent of T20's but 20 years back it wasn't played well by many. Taking left foot outside the leg stump and slogging over mid-wicket/wide long on would be a treat to watch for me those days.

Needless to say, to know the potential of any English/Aussie player one has to watch the Ashes. One thing I noticed in him was, unlike his twin brother Mark he didn't had good hook/pull in his batting book. He had that limitation but never he gave up; he stood still and he won the battle on numerous occasions by sheer patience and even getting blows on his body. I was stunned to see highlights of 1 of his match where there was a battle between Curtly Ambrose and Waugh, trust me it was deadly !! He stood alone scoring 63 in that match when the entire team got bundled out for a mere 128. Facing the mighty Ambrose at Trinidad isn't an ordinary thing and during their words exchange The Caribbean quickie has said ‘Man, I will knock you out – here and now. I don’t care if I have no career left’. Boyy!! The Voice of West Indies cricket Tony Cozier said during that over that this over is going to be discussed for many years to follow and even after 21 years we are discussing about it.

His several match winning performance at Test level increased his confidence in his ODI's making him a consistent limited overs batsman. His crucial century against RSA in league during 1999 World cup was one of the major reason which Australia went to finals not too many know !! Reason being the semifinals between those 2 teams ended up in a tie after the famous Donald - Klusener run out. So the win in the league match secured a place in 1999 World cup final for the Aussies and S.Waugh was the Man of the Match for his century. It was only his second ODI century then out of his 3 ODI centuries but the timing of that innings proved him as one of the best big match players.

And not too many of this generation would know his ability with ball; he is an excellent medium pacebowler with close to 200 ODI wickets and has the ability to break partnership at crucial times. As far as I know he is the first bowler to bowl slow deliveries from back of his hand !! He has delivered with ball on numerous occasions and one such instance is helping Australia win against the West Indies getting the wicket of Brian Lara. West Indies were cursing along at 93/1 chasing a mere target of 208 and by then Waugh produced an absolute beauty squaring up Lara and cleaning his stumps.

By Jan 2004 Waugh played his last test with his baggy green on and that was a hard fought match; eventually he saved the series for his country battling for more than 150 deliveries before he got out to Kumble caught by Sachin in deep mid-wicket region scoring 80. That was the last time we saw him bat with his red cloth in his pocket !!

He is so kind by his heart and does lot of good deeds helping for the rehabilitation of children affected by leprosy. He is inspired by Mother Teresa and has helped many poor people at Kolkatta. 

Mr. Waugh - You remain a Champion for us always !! Happy Birthday again !!

Vignesh Kalyanasundaram is an Information Technology Analyst by Profession, Traveller and a Budding Blogger.