Sunday, February 21, 2010

Amla Powerful Rejuvenating Herb

Amla is perhaps the single most of ten mentioned herbs in Charaka Samhita. The Amla plant is a middle sized tree commonly found in the mixed deciduous forests in India, Srilanka, China and Malaya ascending to 1,500m on the hills.It is often cultivated in gardens and home orchards.

It has reputation as a powerful rejuvenating herb. The fruit is reputed have a high content of vitamin C of any natural occurring substances in nature. Actually, the principal chemical constituent of Amla is vitamin C (650-900 mg/100g). The fruit juice contains about 20 times more vitamin C than orange juice. It also contains tannins (5%), glucose minerals like iron phosphorous and calcium.

A research team discovered that when Amla is taken regularly as a dietary supplement, it counteracts the toxic effects of prolonged exposure to environmental heavy metals such as lead, aluminium and nickel. These metals are prevalent in the environment of industrialized countries.In another research studies, the pro-oxidant or oxygen radical scavenger qualities of amla-suggest that it is also very effective in lowering the risk of may cancers.

Studies indicate that the naturally occurring vitamin C is easlier for the body to absorb than synthetic vitamins and the presence of the tannins presents the oxidation of vitamin. The naturally occurring vitamin C may be ten times beneficial to the body than synthetic vitamins.Other studies show that amla increases red blood count and hemoglobin percentages.
The dried fruit reduces cholesterol levels, indicating that amla is safe to consume on along term basis.

Amla also reduces unwanted fat because it increases total protein levels this is due to its ability to create a positive nitrogen balance and it also significantly reduces cholesterol level cholesterol induced atherosclerosis (obstruction of the arteries), making it a useful natural product to fight obesity.

The Amla fruit has acrid, cooling, refrigerant diuretic and laxative properties. Dried fruit is useful in haemorrhage, diarrhoea diabetes and dysentery. In combination with iron it is used to treat anameia, jaundice and dyspepsia. Fermented liquor prepared from the fruit is used in jaundice, dyspepsia and cough.

Other study shows that it prevented atheroma (degeneration of the artery walls due to fat and scare tissue) further more, amla has exhibited considerable effect in inhibiting the HIV virus which ultimately results in the disease AIDS.

Therefore, one can draw the conclusion that amla is good for almost everyone on a regular basis as it reduces or eliminates the risk of environmental pollutants, normalizes cholesterol, reduces unwanted fat, cures ulcers, reduces or prevents cancer, has the highest content of vitamin C of an natural source, detoxifies the body, regulates digestion, has inhibiting effects against the HIV virus, promotes metabolic function and can produce these results in a dried, natural unprocessed form. The only thing that could possibly be better than amla for a daily herbal supplement is the Triphala formula, of which amla constitutes one third.

Monday, February 8, 2010

3 Idiots Mistakes

At the outset, I will honestly admit that like Raju and Farhan who were upset about Rancho being a topper while they were only mediocre; I , as a film director working in what we now call Bollywood, am extremely envious of Raju Hirani’s astounding success as a film maker. I use the word ‘Envy’ and not ‘Jealousy’, because envy makes you want to push yourself up to be like one who is more successful, where as jealousy makes you want to pull down one who is more successful. So when I point out the loopholes in plot, motivation or characterization in the otherwise brilliant screenplay of three idiots, my purpose should not be misunderstood.

Like everyone else, I was also blown away by the sweep of this thoroughly entertaining film when I went to see it for the first time. Within a week, I went to see it again to imbibe the craft of its writing as I have admired the collaboration of Abhijat Joshi and Raju Hirani in both Munna Bhai movies and now 3 idiots. I have tremendous respect for a film maker whose film appeals to both the classes and the masses because the tastes of the two demographics are so far apart especially in what each group finds funny. When a film maker and writer team is able to score a hat-trick with their humour, you have to tip your hat and salute their achievement. To somehow dissect that magical element embedded in their screenplay, I went to see 3 idiots again. This is when I found the three loopholes which I am surprised that the writers didn’t bother to plug, even though I am not surprised that the audience glossed over them. Here they are:

1. Loophole in Plot: For ten long years, neither the two idiots, nor the dean’s daughter, bothered to go through college registration papers of Rancho, which may have had a false identity for Aamir as Ranchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad, but would certainly have had his address as Chanchad Estate in Simla. As a matter of fact there is a scene where Virus admonishes Raju by saying that Rancho’s father’s monthly income has so many zeroes that even if you take away a few nothing will change in his life whereas Raju will be in serious trouble if he didn’t graduate. So, the dean is fully aware of Rancho’s father’s wealth and status. It is safe to assume that all that information is in his college registration documents. Even if we buy the fact that a gardener’s son was presented as Shyamaldas’s son, as no one knows what he looks like, it is difficult to buy that his Simla address is not in the application, and it took ten years and a chance appearance in the background of a photo snapped of Chatur’s secretary on a visit to Simla, for everyone to realize that Rancho is in Simla and therefore the three classmates show up there to look for Chanchad Estate. If they had done so after Rancho left the campus and didn’t keep in touch with his mates and girlfriend (because of the promise he made to Mr.Shyamaldas), they would have found out in a few weeks what they learnt after ten years and plot wouldn’t have moved to the second half of the film.

Now that I have pointed to the problem, I have a suggestion for plugging this loophole, as already a setup was done by giving Rancho the duplicate key of Dean’s office to copy the exam paper. If at that time, Rancho had also removed his file from that office, we would accept that after he left college, he couldn’t be traced.

2. Loophole in motivation: Second loophole was that of the motivation of Dean’s daughter played by Kareena Kapoor. When Rancho had so cleverly demonstrated to her the shallow attitude of her fiance whose ring she returns after calling him an Ass, after ten long years, an accomplished doctor and a beautiful woman can’t find anyone else but the same jerk to marry whom she gullibly accepts by thinking he must have changed. Even if she didn’t go looking for Rancho by going through his college application papers, she would have gotten many other offers from possible suitors or better still, would have chosen to be a career woman.

As it is, story wise, this ten year gap was too long. In this day and age of information technology, fortunes can change in an year; so at the most five years would have served the purpose of the story.

3. Loophole in Characterization: Third loophole was in the characterization of Professor Viru Sahasrabuddhe. The name suggests that he is a Maharashtrian. I went to IIT, Bombay and had many Maharashtrian professors including one called Sahasrabuddhe . Unfortunately, Boman Irani as Viru Sahasrabuddhe had no trace of Maharashtrian in him. His clothes, styling, accent, as well as his home and his daughters were completely cosmopolitan. If anything, he looked like an eccentric Parsee. I understand that the joke was in calling him Virus but then he could be Cyrus Dastur and still be called Cyrus the virus.

The film’s unprecedented success doesn’t need a stamp of approval from any one, but as a lifelong student of Cinema, and because of the high esteem I hold the team which made this charming and meaningful film, what I have done is an academic exercise in dissecting what seemed like a flawless screenplay, otherwise consistent in its own logic, with every setup having a clever and satisfying payoff.

In spite of what I have pointed out in this blog, ALL IZZ WELL.