JULY 21

Junk Food Day 

July 21 is celebrated as Junk Food Day every year. The term 'junk food' is used for food that has very little nutritional value and contains high amount of fat, calories, sugar and salt. This kind of food has little or no proteins, vitamins, minerals or fibres, all of which are essential for the body. 

Junk food and fast food are mainly mid-20th century inventions. Michael F Jacobson, co-founder of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), coined the term 'Junk food' in 1972. However, the term only became popular in 1976 due to a novelty song, 'Junk Food Junkie' by Larry Groce. Food items like candy, chips, French fries, chewing gum, soft drinks, pizza and burgers are labelled as Junk food. 

According to doctors, there is a direct relation between the rise in the popularity of junk food and rise in the cases of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, tooth decay and other health problems. Let’s take a look at some popular junk food items and how they affect our health. 

Pizza: 

Originally from Italy, pizza is a combination of dough, sauce, vegetables, meat and cheese. Pizzas are laden with high amounts of sodium and refined carbohydrates. They have a high calorie count, which is why eating too much pizza can lead to weight gain and weight-related health problems. 

A standard serving of cheese pizza contains 18.5gms of fat and 675mgs of sodium. The fats in pizza lead to weight gain and obesity. The refined carbohydrates in the white flour used to make pizza affect the glucose level in the body and the high salt content can also raise blood pressure. 

French fries: 

French fries originated in Belgium and were eaten as a substitute for fried fish in the 1600s when rivers froze during the winter. US President Thomas Jefferson was credited with introducing French fries in the US in 1801.

Potatoes are a source of fibre and potassium, which help in digestion and give you adequate energy. However, if they are fried, potatoes become an ultimate source of transfat, which elevate cholesterol levels and clog the arteries in the heart. French fries tend to be over-loaded which sodium, which results in greater risk of obesity. Deep-frying also increases the cancer-causing substances in them.

Soft drinks: 

There are hundreds of varieties of soft drinks available in the market. These contain carbonated water, sweeteners and natural or artificial flavours. Soft drinks have zero nutritional value and contain caffeine, artificial colours and preservatives, which are harmful for the body. Sweeteners in soft drinks include sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice and sugar substitutes. It is proven that adults who drink soft drinks or sugar sweetened beverages are 27% more likely to be obese. Consuming a lot of soft drinks also causes kidney damage, weak bones, high blood pressure and dehydration. 

Sweets and candy: 

Egyptians made the earliest candies by combining honey with fruits, nuts, dates and spices. Indians are credited with making the first sugar candy around 250 AD. Modern candies were first made around the 16th century and the sweet manufacturing industry developed in the early 19th century. Manufacturers created chocolate bars in the 1840s by mixing together cacao butter, cocoa powder and sugar. 

Binging on candy can cause dental cavities and other oral issues. Sugar-based sweets are not only filled with high doses of fructose and sucrose, which increase blood sugar levels, but also contain harmful artificial colours and flavours. 

Burgers: 

Do you know why the burgers in commercials look so appealing and near perfect? It is because they are undercooked. A burger or a hamburger is very similar to a sandwich and consists of one or more fried patties placed inside a sliced bun. Burgers first appeared during the 19th or early 20th century. They are sold at fast-food joints and restaurants and are served with cheese, lettuce, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, tomato sauce, mayonnaise and mustard. 

The typical bun or bread in a fast-food burger contains 20 different ingredients, some of which are also used to make fertilisers, explosives and even yoga mats! Ketchup is made with high-fructose corn syrup and a single slice of cheese can add up to 200 calories and 500mgs of sodium. Most of the bottled sauces used in burger are processed, containing artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. The meat used in fast-food burgers is also processed and mechanically treated with ammonia to kill bacteria. 

Vada Pav: 

The Indian version of the burger, a vada pav is a speciality of Maharashtra and is thought to have been invented in 1971. A vada is made of potato mixed with spices and vegetables. It is coated with gram flour batter and then deep fried. It is served between a bun (pav) along with chutney. A single vada pav can contain as many as 500 calories. One of the major health-related issues associated with eating vada pavs is that of hygiene. They are made under different circumstances, usually alongside roads, which compromises the quality of the food. 

Doughnuts: 

Although the origin of the doughnut or donut is unknown, different nationalities have their own version of the treat. Some historians believe that the first to introduce the modern doughnut were the Dutch, in the form of olykoeks or oily-cakes during the mid-19th century. Doughnuts are served in hundreds of flavours around the world from chocolate and cream to bubble gum and even cheese. 

A doughnut is deep-fried and contains a large amount of saturated fat and transfat. On an average, a glazed doughnut contains 240 calories and a single chocolate glazed doughnut has around five teaspoons of sugar. The sugar in the doughnuts makes them very addictive and hard to resist. Consuming doughnuts excessively will result in weight gain, leading to heart-related issues, high cholesterol and high blood sugar. 

HOW TIME HAS BEEN KEPT THROUGHOUT HISTORY

  From sundials to atomic clocks

The world has come from keeping time with the sun and the moon to atoms and their nuclei. Some physicist have even started work on the next-to-next generation of devices, called nuclear clocks. 

Time is an inalienable part of our reality. Scientists don’t understand it fully at the universe’s largest and smallest scales, but fortunately for humans, a panoply of natural philosophers and inventors have allowed us to keep step with its inexorable march — with clocks.

What is a clock?

Clocks are devices that measure the passage of time and display it. Their modern versions have the following parts— a power source, resonator, and counter. A clock measures the amount of time that has passed by tracking something that happens in repeating fashion, at a fixed frequency. In many modern clocks, for example, this is a quartz crystal. More rudimentary devices often depended on natural events instead. The sundials in use in ancient times allowed people to ‘tell’ time by casting shadows of changing lengths against sunlight. In water clocks, water would slowly fill a vessel, with its levels at different times indicating howmuch time had passed. 

The hourglass served a similar purpose, using sand instead of water.

How did mechanical clocks work?

Until the Middle Ages, engineers around the world improved the water clock with additional water tanks, gear wheels, pulleys, and even attached musical instruments to the point where they were practically developing rudimentary analog computers.

One of the first major revolutions in timekeeping that paved the way for modern clocks was the invention of the verge escapement mechanism in the 13th century, which first opened the door to mechanical clocks. The fundamental element here was a gear that, through a combination of mechanical arrangements, could only move in fixed intervals. The gear was called an escape wheel if it was circular. A second gear, called the balance wheel, was enmeshed with the first such that when the escape wheel moved forward one gear tooth at a time, the balance wheel would oscillate back and forth. This oscillation would drive the ‘hands’ of a clock on a clock face as long as some force was applied on the balance wheel to keep it moving.

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, clockmakers developed and improved on spring­-driven clocks. These devices replaced the suspended weight that applied the force on the balance wheel in the previous designs with a coiled spring. To keep these clocks from becoming inaccurate as the spring unwound, clockmakers also developed mechanisms like the fusee, which ensured the spring always delivered a uniform force. The idea to couple a balance spring with the balance wheel also led to the advent of pocket watches.

After every ‘tick’ motion before the ‘tock’ motion towards the other side, the balance spring would return the balance wheel to its neutral position. As a result, the clocks lost a few minutes a day versus a few hours a day before.

Finally, in the mid­ 17th century, the Dutch inventor Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock. While the clock itself used the by­ then familiar escapement mechanism, Huygens made an important contribution by working outa formula to convert the pendulum’s swings to the amount of time passed.

How did clocks change shipping?

The marine chronometer came the next century. For a ship to accurately know where it was on the face of the earth, it needed to know its latitude, longitude, and altitude. The latitude could be computed based on the Sun’s position in the sky and the altitude could be assumed to be sea level, leaving the longitude — which requires an accurate clock onboard each vessel. Pendulum clocks couldn’t serve this purpose because the ship’s rocking motion rendered them inaccurate.

A carpenter named John Harrison built a working marine chronometer in 1761 and delivered it to the British government for its longitude prize, worth GBP 20,000 at the time. This device featured mechanisms to ensure the clock's operation wasn’t affected by the ship's rocking, the force of gravity and some temperature changes. 

Thus, time flew until modernity dawned. The better clocks of the 19th century were electric clocks, that is, whose energy source was a battery or an electric motor rather than suspended weights or springs, although the former and latter were attached to improve the efficiency of existing designs. And at long last came the 20th century. 

How do quartz clocks work?

Two important types of clocks in operation today are the quartz clock and the atomic clock. The fundamental set up of both these instruments is similar: they have a power source, a resonator and a counter. In quartz clocks, the resonator is a quartz crystal. The power source sends electrical signals to a quartz crystal, whose crystal structure oscillates due to the piezoelectric effect. The signal's energy can be tuned to make the crystal oscillate at its resonant frequency, making it the resonator. The counter counts the number of periodic oscillations and converts them into seconds (depending on the crystal's period). A digital display shows the counter's results. 

Such quartz clocks are inexpensive to make and easy to operate, and their invention led to watches and wall clocks becoming very common from mid-20th century. 

What are atomic clocks?

An atomic clock may seem futuristic in comparison. The power source is a laser and the resonator is a group of atoms of the same isotope. The laser imparts just enough energy for the atom to jump from its low energy state to a specific higher energy state. And when the atom jumps backdown, it releases radiation with a well ­established frequency. For example, the caesium atomic clock uses caesium­133 atoms as the resonator.

When these atoms excite and then de-­excite, they release radiation of frequency 9,192,631,770 Hz. So when the counter detects 9,192,631,770 full waves of the radiation, it will record that one second has passed.

Atomic clocks are distinguished by their resonator; each such clock is called a time standard. For example, India’s time standard is a caesium atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, which maintains the Indian Standard Time. Many countries are currently developing next­generation optical clocks. This is because the higher the frequency of the radiation emitted in the clock, the more stable the clock will be. That emitted in a caesium atomic clock is in the microwave range (gigahertz), and the resulting clock loses or gains a second only once in 20 million years or so. The radiation in the next­ generation clocks is in the optical range (hundreds of terahertz) — thus the clocks’ name. These devices use strontium or ytterbium atoms as resonators and don’t miss a second in more than 10 billion years. 

Some physicists have even started work on the next ­to­ next generation of devices, called nuclear clocks: their resonators are the nuclei of specific atoms rather than the whole atom. Atomic clocks need to make sure the resonator atoms aren’t affected by energy from other sources, like a stray electromagnetic field; an atom’s nucleus, however, is located well within each atom, surrounded by electrons, and thus could be a more stable resonator. 

Since April this year, researchers around the world have reported three major developments in building functional nuclear clocks: a laser to excite thorium­229 nuclei to a specific higher energy state, a way to link a thorium­229 nuclear clock with an optical clock, and a precise estimate of the excitation energy. The nucleus’s de­excitation emission has a frequency of 2,020 terahertz, alluding to an ultra-­high precision.

DO YOU KNOW

How are clothes dry-cleaned?

It is a process used by launderers to remove dirt and stains from clothes using little or no water. The method involves the use of liquid solvents. First the clothes are sorted and put into a large machine which resembles the domestic washing machine. It has a rotating drum that is filled with solvents to which is added a detergent. Once the cleaning is done, the solvents are drained out by the rapid spinning of the drum. Then a machine called a tumbler blows warm air through the clothes to dry them up. Later, the clothes are checked to see if stains have been removed. A device called a steam gun is used to spray water on any stain found. Certain chemicals are applied on the wet spot to remove the stain thoroughly.

THE WORLD'S FIRST BILLIONAIRE

  John D. Rockfeller

John D. Rockfeller (July 8, 1839–May 23, 1937), the founder of Standard Oil, was once the richest man in the world. He was the world’s first billionaire. 

"He amassed a net worth of at least $1 billion in 1916. When Rockefeller died in 1937, his net worth was estimated to be approximately $340 billion in today's dollars."

By the age of 25, he had one of the largest oil refineries in the United States. He was 31 when he became the world's largest oil refiner. At 38, he controlled 90% of the oil refined in the United States. At fifty, John was America's richest man. As a young man, every action, attitude, and connection was crafted to establish his wealth.

But at the age of 53, he fell unwell. His entire body became wracked with pain, and he lost all his hair. In total anguish, the world's lone millionaire could buy anything he wanted but could only eat soup and crackers.

According to an associate, "He couldn't sleep, wouldn't smile, and nothing in life meant anything to him". His personal, highly trained physicians indicated that he would die within the year. That year passed painfully slowly. As he approached death, he awoke one morning with the faint understanding that he would not be able to bring any of his fortune with him to the next world.

The man who could dominate the commercial world suddenly realised he had no control over his personal life. He informed his solicitors, accountants, and management that he intended to devote his assets to hospitals, research, and charity work. John D. Rockefeller started his foundation.

The Rockefeller Foundation financed Howard Florey and his colleague Norman Heatley's penicillin research in 1941. But arguably the most astounding aspect of Rockefeller's narrative is that when he began to give back a fraction of all he had gained, his body's chemistry changed dramatically, and he recovered.

He was expected to die at the age of 53, but he survived to reach 98 years old. Rockefeller learnt gratitude and returned the great bulk of his money. This made him whole. It's one thing to be healed. It is another to become fit. He was a devout Baptist who attended the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio.

Before he died, he wrote in his diary: "God taught me that everything belongs to Him, and I am merely a conduit to carry out His will. My life has been one long, happy holiday since then; full of work and play, I let go of my worries along the road, and God was wonderful to me every day.

WHERE NATURE IS AT HER BEST

 Mizoram

Mizoram, located in the northeastern part of India, is bounded by Myanmar (Burma) to the east and south and Bangladesh to the west and by the Indian States of Tripura to the northwest, Assam to the north, and Manipur to the northeast. The capital of Mizoram is Aizawl, situated in the north-central part of the State. Mizoram “the Land of the Mizos” was known as the Lushai Hills District of Assam before it was renamed Mizo Hills District in 1954.

In 1972, it became a centrally administered union territory under the name of Mizoram. On 20 February 1987, Mizoram became the 23rd State of India, sharing its borders with all the seven sister States.

Land

Geologically, the Mizo Hills form part of the Rakhine (Arakan) Mountains, a series of compact parallel ridges with a north-south axis formed of sandstone, limestone, and shale — all Cenozoic rocks. The ridges, separated by narrow river valleys, rise to about 7,000 feet. In the south, the Kaladan River and its tributaries flow southward into Myanmar, while the Dhaleswari (Tlawng) and Sonai (Tuirail) rivers flow north into Assam.

More than three-fourths of the land area of Mizoram is forested. Thick evergreen forests contain valuable timber trees such as champak (Michelia champaca), ironwood and gurjun (genus Dipterocarpus). The woodlands also provide habitat for many animals, including elephants, tigers, bears, deer, monkeys, gibbons, and serows.

People

Mizoram is one of the most sparsely populated States of India. The population density decreases from north to south, owing to a southward increase in humidity and temperature that renders the area less desirable for habitation. Aizawl is the State’s only major city; large towns include Lunglei, in the eastern part of the state, and Champhai, in the southcentral region.

The people of Mizoram consist almost entirely of Scheduled Tribes (an official category embracing indigenous groups that fall outside the predominant Indian social hierarchy). Most of the Mizos are Tibeto-Burman, speaking Mizo or a closely related Tibeto-Burman language. However, the Chakmas speak an Indo-Aryan language. Mizo and English are the official languages. Having no script of its own, they use the Roman alphabet.

The Five Major Mizo Tribes

Lushai is the tribe under the Kuki-chin group. Lushai’s are known as Mizos. Racially they are of Mongolian origin. They have a similar culture as Mizos.

The Ralte tribe is found scattered in the Lushai villages to the north of Aizawl. About 200 years ago the Raltes lived mostly near Champhai. Mangkhaia was an important Ralte chief there. He was killed in course of events following his clash with a Lushai chief.

The Hmars are part of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group. The Hmars still treasure and garner their traditional arts, including folk dance, folk songs, handicrafts, etc., representing scenes of adventure, battle, love, victory, and other experiences throughout history.

The Pawi Tribe resides in the south and south-eastern part of Mizoram. They have migrated from the Chin Hills of Burma. The Pawi call themselves Lai. This is commonly known as Chins in the Chin Hills district of Burma. At home the Pawis speak the Lai language and they speak the Mizo (Dulian) language in Schools and with the other tribals.

Christian missionaries began to work in the Mizo Hills area in the late 19th century. Consequently, the great majority of the population is Christian, predominantly Protestants. Buddhists form the largest religious minority group in Mizoram, followed by Hindus and Muslims and tiny groups of Sikhs and Jains.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the dominant economic activity of Mizoram, engaging more than two-thirds of the workforce in the State. Two types of agriculture are practised: terrace cultivation, in which crops are planted on relatively permanent, terraces on the sides of hills and mountains to conserve water and reduce soil loss; and shifting agriculture, in which tracts called jhum are cleared by burning, cultivated for a limited period of time, and then abandoned for a number of years.

Transportation

The State is traversed by two national highways, and major roads serve most of the larger towns. Regular bus routes operate across the State, and some also provide interstate services. A small airport provides flights from Aizawl to neighbouring States. There are no railways in Mizoram.

Education

Institutionalised education in Mizoram is attributed to Christian missionaries, who established the first schools in the State in the early 20th century. Mizoram has now over 2,000 primary, middle, and secondary schools, and its literacy rate is among the highest in India.

In 2000, Mizoram University was established in Tahnril, near Aizawl. It replaced a branch of the North Eastern Hill University (based in Meghalaya), which until then was the principal University in the State. Other institutions of higher learning include the Aizawl Theological College (1907) and Hrangbana College (1980), both in Aizawl.

Dances of Mizoram

Mizoram has one of the most captivating dance forms as the Mizos love to indulge in dances, making their lives as cheerful and vibrant as possible. Most of the dances are performed during the festival season.

Cheraw is one of the oldest and the most popular dance forms of Mizoram, using long bamboo staves. It is also known as the Bamboo Dance. Men sit face to face on the ground holding the bamboo sticks. They then tap pairs of horizontal and cross bamboo staves open and close in rhythmic beats. The main instruments are gongs and drums.

Khuallam is the dance of the guests. Guests are invited from other villages, and are asked to perform. No songs are sung during the dance. The traditional handwoven Mizo cloth is used, which is wrapped around the shoulder, and is swayed while performing the dance.

Chailam is performed during the Chapar Kut Festval. It is done by men and women standing in a circle. Men hold on the shoulder of women while women hold the waist of men. Musicians remain within the circle. And play the drum and Mithun’s horn.

Sariamkai is the traditional, and one of the oldest dance forms of Mizoram. It is performed as part of the celebrations after winning a battle. Men and women stand in their places while the hero stands holding his shield and the sword, swinging them to the tune of gong beats. 

Festivals in Mizoram

Music and dance are important elements in Mizo cultural life, with many festivities associated with the Christian holidays. Other celebrations, however, are centred on significant phases of the agricultural cycle. The authenticity of the festivals of Mizoram stems from the fact that the Mizo’s have not forgotten their roots and their culture. Till date, the Mizos are known to be one of the most culturally oriented and traditionally driven. 

Chapchar Kut Festival: This is one of the major festivals in Mizoram. This vibrant and colourful festival is very special as it signifies the coming of spring season. In 1973, the Mizoram government recognized it as a State Festival, to be celebrated by all irrespective of the ethnic groups. The spring season marks also the onset of cultivation season. Chapchar Kut is the harvest festival of Mizoram.

Mim Kut Festival: This is another important harvest festival of Mizoram. It is dedicated to the loved ones and the departed souls. The importance of the Mim Kut Festival is directly related to the Chapchar festival. The crops that were sowed during the Chapchar festival are harvested during this festival. The Mizos take the first produce from the harvest and present it to the departed souls who are believed to be visiting the homes during the festival. Other than the products from the harvest, they also keep favourite articles like clothes, ornaments and other objects dear to them. Mim Kut is celebrated in all the Mizo households with equal importance. 

Pawl Kut Festival: It is yet another major harvest festival that happens annually. The festival was first recorded in the 15th century. Mizoram once faced a severe drought which lasted for three years. People prayed to the rain gods to send them rain, and the rain gods showered their blessings by sending them good rain. As a mark of gratitude, they decided to dedicate their first produce to the rain god. Since then, the festival is always celebrated at the end of autumn and starting of spring.  

Lesser-known facts about Mizoram

The scenic beauty and cultural richness is what defines Mizoram best. It is the land of hills and valleys inhabited by many age-old tribal groups with different cultural significance, thereby making Mizoram a unique State of the country. It is the perfect place to visit if you are fond of hills and are keen to know the historical places. Mizoram is where nature is at her best.

Tourists travelling to Mizoram need an inner line permit. For travelling to Mizoram, you need to take an inner line permit without which no one will be allowed inside the State. This is to stop the entry of undesirable visitors who can cause harm to the people and surroundings. Domestic tourists can get it from the Lengpui airport or from the Liaison Officer of Mizoram in Kolkata, Silchar, Guwahati, Shillong, and Delhi. 

Mizoram is the ideal destination for bird watchers and wildlife photographers. The wildlife here will never fail to amaze wildlife photographers. It is also the ideal destination for bird watchers. One can find Mrs Hume’s Pheasant there. It is a rare bird and one will be lucky if one can get to see it. It is named after the wife of British naturalist Allan Octavian Hume, and is the State Bird of Mizoram and Manipur.

The major part of Mizoram is covered by forest. Among all the States of India, Mizoram has the highest amount of space covered by forests. Almost 90.68% of the area of the State is covered by forests. Mizoram is the third-highest forest cover in India with 1594000 hectares.

Mizoram is the second most literate State in India. Mizoram’s literacy rate was recorded as 92% in the last census, which is more than the literacy rate of India (74%). Even though 60% of the population depends on farming, people do not compromise with their education. 

The Tropic of Cancer passes through Mizoram. The Tropic of Cancer passes through Aizawl, which makes it geographically very significant.

Mizoram has 21 mountain peaks. A total of 21 peaks of different ranges crisscross Mizoram. One of the most famous ranges is the Blue Mountain or Phwangpui Tland. It is a protected area under Phawngpui National Park.

Weaving works of Mizoram are unique. The textile industry and special weaving work of Mizoram is one of the unique aspects of the State. The weaving skills and the designs made of the shawls and local outfits are vibrant and intricate, and a huge variety is seen in the needlework and designing.

Caves of Mizoram are of great historical significance. There are innumerable caves found in Mizoram like the Milu Puk, also called the Cave of Skulls, because a huge heap of human skeletons was found when the cave was discovered. These caves are manifested with interesting stories and are beautiful creations of nature.

Places of Tourist Interest 

Solomon’s Temple located in Aizawl district is a very important destination for those who practise Christianity.

Phawngpui Tlang (Blue Mountain) is one of the most important tourist destinations in Mizoram as it is the highest peak in the State.

Mizoram State Museum is a well-known tourist spot in Mizoram. The State Museum is a collection of artefacts and antiquities from the history of the land, and of the Mizo people.

Khwanglung Wildlife Sanctuary: If you are looking for places close to nature, the Khwanglung Wildlife Sanctuary would be a perfect destination for travellers who want to explore the wilderness of the northeast.

Vantawng Falls is the highest waterfall in Mizoram, standing at an altitude of 750 feet. It is one of the very important places to visit in Mizoram for experiencing the natural beauty around.

Rih Dil is a heart-shaped lake located at the border of Mizoram and Myanmar. It is a popular Mizo belief that this lake is a place where souls rest before they pass on to the life after. 

THE SIDEWALK SPECIALISTS

Crabs 🦀 

For some people the very mention of the word 'crab' makes the mouth water as they think of crab soups or curries. For others it brings smiles of amusement as they think of these freaky crustaceans skittering sideways on their tiptoe. A walk along the beach never fails to reveal a variety of crabs, but there are land crabs too. Life on the seashore can be rather difficult for those creatures, for they must make the most of the few hours of low tide, when the sea ebbs, to dig their burrows and feed. Imagine your home to be submerged under sea water every few hours and you have to repeatedly carry out repairs in the short span when the sea recedes!

Sand Bubbler Crabs:

While walking along the wet sand just beyond the water mark on a beach, you may have come across tiny sand balls radiating in straight lines around a minute hole, forming a striking pattern. This piece of art is the work of Sand Bubbler Crabs, which come out of their chimney-like burrows to feed. The fine layer of organic matter from around sand grains is what they dine on after which they mould the sand grains into little pellets. The pellets, strung like beads, appear like a sunburst and are the hallmarks of these crabs. 

Fiddler Crabs 

Moving on to wetlands, you may come across an army of crabs, the males among them waving one of their bright, cherry-red claws that is much larger than the other. To some people they appear to be playing a fiddle, for which reason they are called Fiddler Crabs. But in actual fact the crabs are neither waving nor fiddling. The strange exercise is to attract their would-be female partners or to ward off rival males. Adding to this comical behaviour are their long, stalked eyes that look like matchsticks and sometimes pop out like the periscope of a submarine. The waving action is not the only absurd behavior among fiddler crabs. Sometimes all of them, males and females, appear to be performing a mass drill. They raise their bodies altogether by standing on the tips of their legs, claws held upwards, then squat down on the sand and repeat this again and again. 

Clapping Crabs 

Now, here is another crab that, unlike the fiddler crab, does not wave, but keeps clapping! Clapping Crabs, with an interesting zigzag border on their carapace, open wide their claws as if inviting someone to hug them. Move a little closer and the claws come together with an audible 'clap'. They are not applauding you or the other creatures around. Clapping for them is a manner of threatening any potential enemy. 

Ghost Crabs 

Higher up on sandy beaches you find sand-coloured crabs with a square body, which are very difficult to spot. They run extremely fast on the tips of their pointed legs, casting shadows. Then suddenly, they stop and lower their body, so that their shadow disappears. It seems as though the crab has melted into the sand. These are ghost crabs, rightly so called. Moreover, they produce creaky or eerie sounds by rubbing their claws together, offering up a stronger reason to be called by this name. As if to fully justify the moniker they have earned, ghost crabs even have a fierce countenance-protruding from their head are two horns with eyes in the middle of the horns. 

Robber Crabs 

Residing in the Indian Ocean islands like the Andaman and Nicobar islands is one of the rarest and largest crabs, the robber crab or coconut crab. This land crab has been conferred this notorious reputation because it is known to climb up coconut trees, pierce the coconut shell with its very sharp claws, break it open with its phenomenal strength, feast on the kernel within and drink up the coconut water! These Herculean crabs are 30cm long and 20cm wide and weigh a whopping 3 to 5 kilograms. They hide in 'dens' amongst the roots of trees. Besides coconuts, these crabs also enjoy feasting on chikoos, jackfruits and pandanus (screw pine) fruits. 

On and on we go- each of the 4,500 species of crabs has a story to tell. Perhaps you can go for a marine walk and witness them first hand. If you don't live in a coastal town, the monsoon is the best time to meet a land crab and learn its secrets!

ART OF LIVING

Live in the Present

There is a story of a man who was a real workaholic, and did not ever waste a single moment of his important life. 

On his way to town, he would plan what stores he would shop in. Once in a store, he would plan where he was going to take a walk. During the walk, he would plan where he was going to eat. While eating his main dish, he would plan on what he was going to have for dessert. While eating dessert, he would look at the schedule to choose the bus he was going to take home. And so on...This man never paid attention to what he was actually doing. He was always getting ready for the next event. Then one day he came to something he was not prepared for. As he lay dying, he started reflecting on his life. He was shocked at how empty and meaningless a life he had led. The man had never lived in the present. Now there was nothing he could do about it! 

This is indeed a story for thought. Nowadays, we are always busy. We do this, that, and a lot of other things. But do we really live as we progress in life? Do we take time to enjoy the company of our family and friends? 

Let us strive to set aside some time for play and laugh. Concentrate on the present action and then move ahead. Planning everything is a good thing. But a good plan implemented today, is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow. 

There is a famous quote by Bill Keane: 

“Yesterday is history, 

Tomorrow is a mystery, 

Today is a gift of God, which is why it is called the present. 

So living in the present is the most important thing”.