Do you know

WHY ARE CHOCOLATES PACKED IN METALLIC FOIL?

Chocolates are often packed in metallic foil for a couple of yummy reasons! First, the foil helps keep the chocolates fresh by protecting them from things like air and light that can make them go bad. Just like how you might put your favourite cookies in a jar to keep them tasty, chocolate needs a little wrapper to stay delicious. 

Second, the shiny foil makes the chocolate look extra special and fancy. It’s like giving the chocolates a shiny outfit! This makes them more appealing when you see them in the store or get them as a gift. Plus, the foil helps keep the chocolate from melting too quickly in your hands, so you can enjoy it without making a sticky mess. 

So, next time you unwrap chocolate with that crinkly sound, remember that the foil is like a superhero cape, protecting and presenting your sweet treat in the most delightful way!

A World of Fun

 CARTOONS 

Cartoons are a fantastic way to tell stories through visuals, and it’s amazing to see how different cultures bring their own unique animation styles to life! Take Japan, for example, known for its anime style, which is filled with vibrant colours and intricate details that make characters feel like they’re truly alive. Shows like Naruto and One Piece are popular worldwide for their thrilling adventures, magical moments, and deep friendships from touching romances to epic battles.

In the United States, the approach is often more exaggerated and whimsical. Cartoons like The Simpsons and Sponge Bob Square Pants find humour in everyday life, with simple character designs, but their adventures are just as exciting and funny. And, of course, we can’t forget the iconic Disney cartoons and movies, which have captured hearts all over the world.

Europe also brings something special to the table with their animation styles. French cartoons, for instance, often have a beautifully artistic, charming feel. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir is just one example, blending stunning visuals with captivating storytelling. Countries like Germany and the UK also create unique animations, with a perfect mix of art and narrative that appeals to audiences of all ages.

And it’s not just these regions- South Korea, India, China, Canada, and Australia and manymore countries all have their own distinctive styles. In the end, what makes cartoons so magical is not just how they look, but the stories they tell. Which cartoon’s storyline is your choice?

Unusual architecture

THE BASKET BUILDING 

The Basket Building in Ohio was an iconic structure in Newark, Ohio, designed to resemble a giant picnic basket. It was originally the headquarters of the Longaberger Company, a famous handcrafted basket manufacturer.

Key Facts:

Built: 1997

Height: 7 stories (approximately 180,000 square feet)

Design: Modeled after the Longaberger Medium Market Basket, complete with two massive handles on top.

Architects: NBBJ and Korda Nemeth Engineering

Closure: The Longaberger Company faced financial struggles, and the building was abandoned in 2014.

Current Status: In 2017, it was sold, and renovations began to turn it into a luxury hotel.

As of February 2025, the Basket Building in Newark, Ohio, remains unoccupied. Originally constructed in 1997 as the headquarters for the Longaberger Company, the seven-story structure was designed to mimic the company's signature woven basket. After the company vacated the premises in 2016 due to financial difficulties, the building has seen various ownership changes and proposed redevelopment plans.

In December 2017, developer Steve Coon purchased the building for $1.2 million, intending to convert it into a luxury hotel. However, by January 2021, these plans were abandoned, and the property was listed for sale at $6.5 million. As of October 2022, the building remained empty, with no confirmed redevelopment plans. 

Despite its vacancy, the Basket Building continues to attract attention for its unique architecture and stands as a notable landmark in Ohio.

Do you know

WHY DOESN'T  THE CHOCOLATE IN THE  CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES MELT?

Chocolate melts when heated, but when you bake chocolate chip cookies, you don't end up with a gooey mess.

Why? Cooking chocolate tends to have less cocoa butter than eating chocolate, which raises the cooking chocolate's  melting temperature and makes it more difficult to melt. 

However, the chocolate will still melt in the oven. The chocolate chips in your cookies are simply held in shape by the surrounding cookie mixture. When the cookies cool, the chips solidify again, so it looks as if they never melted. 

Popular packaging material

BUBBLE WRAP 

Bubble Wrap was invented in 1957 by engineers Alfred W. Fielding and Marc Chavannes. Interestingly, it was originally intended to be a textured wallpaper. The two inventors sealed two shower curtains together, trapping air bubbles inside, but the idea didn’t catch on as wallpaper.

Evolution of Bubble Wrap:

1. Failed Wallpaper Idea (1957) – Fielding and Chavannes tried marketing it as a new type of wallpaper, but it didn’t sell well.

2. Greenhouse Insulation (Late 1950s) – They attempted to use it as insulation for greenhouses, but it wasn’t widely adopted.

3. Protective Packaging (1960) – IBM changed everything when they needed a way to safely ship their new 1401 computer. They adopted Bubble Wrap as protective packaging, and its real purpose was born.

4. Sealed Air Corporation (1960) – The inventors founded Sealed Air Corporation, which became a leader in protective packaging.

How Bubble Wrap is Made: Bubble Wrap is made from polyethylene plastic, which starts as small resin pellets. These pellets are melted down, formed into a thin film, and then air is trapped between two layers to create the bubbles. The size and thickness of the bubbles vary depending on the type of Bubble Wrap needed.

Types of Bubble Wrap

1. Standard Bubble Wrap – Small bubbles for general protection.

2. Large Bubble Wrap – Bigger bubbles for cushioning fragile items.

3. Anti-Static Bubble Wrap – Designed for electronics to prevent static electricity.

4. Self-Adhesive Bubble Wrap – Sticks to surfaces without tape.

5. Biodegradable Bubble Wrap – More eco-friendly and decomposes faster than traditional plastic.

Uses of Bubble Wrap

Packaging – Protects fragile items during shipping.

Insulation – Helps retain heat in windows or greenhouses.

Stress Relief – Popping the bubbles is fun and therapeutic!

Arts and Crafts – Used in paintings, decorations, and even costumes.

Medical Use – Can provide cushioning for injured areas or act as padding for medical shipments.

Interesting Facts

● Bubble Wrap was almost called "Air Cap".

●There’s an official Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, celebrated on the last Monday of January.

●A non-poppable version was introduced in 2015 to reduce shipping bulk.

●Despite its original failure as wallpaper, Bubble Wrap became one of the most popular and satisfying packaging materials worldwide!

●The largest sheet of Bubble Wrap recorded was 8,891 square feet (set in 2015).

● NASA uses Bubble Wrap to insulate equipment in space.

●Over 240,000 miles of Bubble Wrap are produced every year—enough to wrap around the Earth 10 times!

56 types of food items

CHHAPPAN BHOG 

It is a common practice in Hinduism to offer food to idols of God. This is called bhog. While bhog is offered to all deities, the one offered to Sri Krishna is unique because it contains 56 types of food items. This is popularly called ‘chhappan bhog’, where chhappan means fifty-six. While different sources give a different list of what the individual dishes should be, they are all unanimous on the number 56. There is a story behind this.

When Sri Krishna was a young cowherd in Vrindavana, the residents used to celebrate a festival towards the end of the rainy season to honour Indra. He was the God of the clouds and of the waters. He sent clouds laden with moisture from which rain fell on the earth, helping grains and grasses grow, on which humans and cows survived. The cowherds used to hold this festival to thank Indra for the rains.

Krishna argued that they were cowherds, not cultivators of land or merchants. Their only wealth was cows, which grazed on the Govardhana Mountain. Thus, a proper divinity to be worshipped by cowherds would be Govardhana. What did cowherds have to do with Indra? The people of Vrindavana agreed wholeheartedly and offered worship to Govardhana and circumambulated it. Indra became extremely angry at the lack of worship for him. He sent down large clouds and a fearsome storm to Vrindavana. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and an incessant rain poured. The cows and cowherds of Vrindavana became greatly oppressed by the rain. Soon, there was flooding everywhere, and if nothing was done quickly, the people and cows would drown. Krishna lifted the Govardhana Mountain in one hand and asked all the cowherds to enter beneath it, with their cows, for shelter from the rain. For seven days and nights, the rain poured, but the cowherds happily sang songs in the shade of the mountain. On the eighth day, Indra accepted defeat and ceased the rain.

In those days, time of the day used to be measured in praharas, with one prahara being equal to three hours. There used to be eight praharas in a day. Mother Yashoda used to feed Krishna every prahara, so he used to have eight meals a day. Krishna had stood lifting the mountain for seven days, making a total of 56 praharas. During this time, he did not eat or drink anything. To compensate for that, Indra offered 56 types of food for Krishna to placate him. Some stories say that Mother Yashoda fed 56 types of food to Krishna after he put the mountain down. Since then, Sri Krishna has always been offered a chhappan bhog.

Life is like a sport

LIVE LIFE SPORTINGLY 

Wanting to play is a natural trait; we can see it in every child. Children are more their original selves when they play than when they study. They wait for every chance to play with their mates, unmindful of even eating or sleeping. There is so much cheer and joy when children run about, trying to catch and evade. There is never a need to force children to play because playing is joy, and who doesn’t want joy?

Sports, as a formalised platform to play, happened as the human civilisation evolved, and several games and their structures came about. While we know the thrill of playing a sport and the thrill of watching people play, there are several intricacies that the field of sports can reveal to us as life’s lessons. The field in which a game is played is akin to the field of life.There are teams of which some people favour us on our side and several others oppose us on the other side. This is similar to how different people interact with us differently in our lives at different times. Not everyone is a friend all the time; not everyone is a foe all the time. Different people relate with us in different ways in the field of life too, and their ways and behaviours towards us vary from time to time.

There are wicketkeepers, goalkeepers, catchers, and counter-attackers who constantly target our moves and try to prevent us from reaching our goals. Even in the sport of life, we face several challenges, both inside and outside, that elude us and hinder our progress.

There are dolly catches and the most difficult catches. Sometimes, we get the ‘golden ducks’, and other times, we last on the field till the game calls it a day. Sometimes, we are the tail-enders, and other times, we are the openers. Sometimes there are those slower balls that seem promising but end up deceiving us, and many times we may also be skittled out soon. Oftentimes, we may receive the jaffa (the unplayable ball), which is difficult to handle, and other times, we may be playing the same to someone, making it difficult for them to handle. Beamers and bouncers could be coming our way, too.

There are moments of victory when we least expect it and moments of failure despite our efforts. We are sometimes blamed, and other times praised. We are sometimes the star, and other times, we are no one. There are times when an opponent becomes a friend, and a  friend turns out to be less friendly.

At the end of it all, when the game ends, we shake hands with each other, looking eye to eye, knowing well that it was just a game and that everyone played their parts to perfection, giving their all and sweating their body. The happiness of our opponent in our loss and their desperation to bring an end to our game, in fact, made our game more interesting and made us strive to do our very best. It wouldn’t be half as interesting if there were no opponents to play with us. A game is a game only when there is a melange of all kinds of experiences, and none of it comes our way without a reason, and none of it is hence a bad experience.

Everything that happens throughout, all the time, is helping us in our progress and journey. It is with this understanding that we must look at the game of life. Loss and gain, pain and pleasure, betrayal and trust, friendship and animosity, judgements and acceptance, love and hatred—all these opposites do exist all the time. But remember, the ones who love you and the ones who don’t as much are both helping you. In fact, the person who criticises you and condemns you is playing an important part in your progress because he is playing the bad cop and pushing you beyond your comfort zone.

Here is how you can sport life: 

#Be aware that ‘Life is a game’. Everyone is just playing their role. 

#Be alert and keep your focus on the lessons you can derive from every situation and every person.

#Your mind can be your friend or enemy. Always befriend your mind and gradually master it.

#You are here for a purpose. Focus on your goal without getting distracted. 

#Do not hanker after fame, wealth, positions, possessions, reputation and remarks. They come and go.

#Delve into your true self and be yourself. This is your true worth.

#Your treasure is within you. Derive strength from within and blossom from within.

#Thank everyone, every situation, everything—everything has been carefully orchestrated to help you.

#Smile and take it easy. Unburden yourself of excessive thinking and analysis, negativities and notions, prejudices and plans.

#Never give up. You must finish the game that you have started even if you are to lose.

#Correct yourself before trying to correct others.

#There is a message in life’s every turn, and it is for you to catch it, contemplate on it, and take corrective action. Be a good sport in life, just like you would aspire to be on the game field. Play the game of life out of passion for life and living, learn and grow, be wise and keep an observant eye on life’s positive sides. 

Have a good playtime on the field of games and life, too!