10 ways to control Cholesterol

10 Ways to Control Your Cholesterol

With every one percent reduction of total blood cholesterol, there is about a two percent reduction in the risk of heart attack. Getting your total cholesterol down and your HDL, or good cholesterol, up is good medicine. Here’s what you can do to control your cholesterol.

1. Eat less fat. Keep your total daily fat intake below 20 percent of your daily calories. If you average 2,250 calories a day, eat no more than 450 calories from fat, or 50 grams of fat (there are 9 calories per gram of fat).

NUTRITIP: How Much Cholesterol Every Day? The American Heart Association recommends that people keep their total daily cholesterol intake under 300 milligrams.

2. Eat the right fats. Eat foods that are low in saturated fats, that contain mostly monounsaturated fats, and that are high in essential fatty acids. This means eating fats from seafood and plant sources. Minimize foods of animal origin, which are high in saturated fats. Keep your saturated fats to less than ten percent (better is seven percent) of your total daily calories.

Get used to checking the package label for grams of saturated fat per serving. Avoid “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils and shortenings. New insights into the fatty food/heart disease correlation reveal that the amount of saturated fats and hydrogenated fats in a food may actually do more harm to the fats in your blood than the cholesterol in the food. The trans fatty acids in hydrogenated fats do all kinds of bad things to blood fats, such as: increase LDL (bad) cholesterol, decrease HDL (good) cholesterol, increase triglycerides, and increase lipoprotein A – the blood fat that contributes to plaques in the arteries. Look for labels that claim “contains no saturated fats” or “contains no hydrogenated oils.”

Eat more fish that contain omega 3 fatty acids (coldwater fish: seabass, salmon and albacore tuna), which help lower blood fat levels and reduce the risk of blood clots, which can clog arteries and cause strokes and heart attacks. Replacing saturated fats in your diet with unsaturated ones (for example, vegetable and fish oils) can reduce blood LDL levels. Yet, a diet that is too high in polyunsaturated fat (more than 10 percent of daily calories) can suppress production of HDL. Choose monounsaturated fats instead, such as olive oil, canola oil, and nut oils. These monounsaturated fats do not lower HDL levels.

3. Cut cholesterol-containing foods. Too much cholesterol in the diet increases the number of LDLs, the bad cholesterol. As we said above, cholesterol is found only in animal products, not plant foods. Therefore, eating less animal foods and more plant foods will lower the blood cholesterol. While eating lean beef and peeling the skin off chicken reduces the cholesterol in these foods, there is still cholesterol and saturated fat within even lean meat and poultry. Organ meat (such as liver) is particularly loaded with cholesterol. (Making cholesterol is the liver’s job.) Lean beef, lean lamb, and lean chicken are all about the same in the amount of cholesterol they contain. Egg yolks, milk fat, and shellfish (shrimp and lobster) are high in cholesterol. Other oily fish (such as salmon and tuna) are much lower in cholesterol. White-fleshed fish tend to be the lowest in saturated fat.

While your goal may be to raise the good cholesterol, you can’t get “good cholesterol” directly from foods. If you already have a high cholesterol, temporarily switching to a vegetarian diet (with fish and non-fat dairy products, such as yogurt) may help lower your levels quickly. Persons who go on a vegetarian diet and reduce their fat intake by 26 percent have shown a significant drop in blood cholesterol levels in just six weeks. One study showed that switching from whole milk to nonfat milk lowered the total cholesterol of people in the study by seven percent and the LDL (bad) cholesterol by eleven percent after six weeks.

NUTRITIP: Overweight Cholesterol We think of fatty foods as the cause of high cholesterol, yet eating more calories than we need from any food (fats or carbohydrates) can raise blood cholesterol, since being overweight itself raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk for heart disease. So, controlling your intake of all foods is important in controlling your cholesterol.

4. Eat cholesterol-lowering foods. Besides avoiding cholesterol-containing foods, plant foods actually lower blood cholesterol. Plant foods have chemicals in them called sterols which, like cholesterol, hold the cell membranes together. By a fortunate biochemical quirk, plant sterols are not absorbed through the intestines and into the bloodstream, but they do decrease the absorption of sterols (cholesterol) in animal foods. The following are some plant foods that lower blood cholesterol.

• Soy protein. Switch from sirloin to soy. Replacing animal protein with soy protein reduces blood cholesterol levels, even when the total amount of fat in the diet remains the same. A recent review of 38 studies concluded that eating soy protein lowered blood cholesterol by an average of 32 milligrams (9 percent), LDL cholesterol by 22 milligrams (13 percent), and triglyceride (total fats) concentrations by ten percent. As an added perk, the HDL cholesterol increased a bit. Soy protein worked best in people who needed it most. While the amount of soy protein it takes to lower your cholesterol varies considerably among individuals, as a general guide, if half of your daily protein comes from soy (between 30 and 40 grams of soy protein a day), you should notice the cholesterol-lowering effect. This can be accomplished by simply changing from cow’s milk to soy milk, meat to soy substitutes, or from dairy products to tofu. As an added health benefit, soy products contain phytonutrients called “isoflavones,” which reduce the risk of some cancers.

• Fiber. Soluble fiber slows the absorption of the cholesterol from animal foods and acts as an intestinal broom to sweep the cholesterol out. Top-billing for research-backed, cholesterol-lowering effects of fiber goes to oatbran . Eating one to two ounces a day (30-60 grams) along with a lowfat, low cholesterol diet can reduce blood cholesterol by ten to fifteen percent. Similar benefits can be obtained from other soluble fiber-rich foods, such as beans, cruciferous vegetables, apricots, prunes, and a super-soluble fiber-rich food, psyllium, a bran-like grain which has been shown to lower cholesterol by fifteen percent within two to four months, after eating an average of ten grams (three tsp.) per day.
  

  NUTRITIP: Can Yogurt Lower Cholesterol? While medical studies are inconclusive about whether or not yogurt lowers cholesterol, there is some experimental evidence to suggest that byproducts of lactobacilli fermentation (which is what turns milk into yogurt) inhibit the body’s ability to make cholesterol. Obviously, the cholesterol-lowering effect was greatest with non-fat yogurt. The most striking results were seen in experiments on swine. Since these animals seem to metabolize cholesterol similar to humans, it is possible that yogurt may lower cholesterol in humans, too.

• Nuts. A recent study showed that volunteers who got 30 percent of their daily calories from fat, yet got two thirds of this fat from walnuts lower their cholesterol by twelve percent within four weeks. The cholesterol lowering effect of nuts was thought to be due to the combination of fiber, B- vitamins, and vitamin E, and to the fact that these fats are primarily unsaturated ones. Yet, don’t go too nutty. Since nuts are high in fat, it’s important not to eat too many.
• Garlic. The jury is still out on whether or not garlic will lower your cholesterol. Powdered garlic supplements probably will not. Eating one clove of garlic per day may. Watch the medical news for a garlic update. Until then, stick to the proven cholesterol-lowering foods, soy and fiber, and eat garlic because you enjoy it.
• Alcohol. You may also read that 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks a day can raise HDL cholesterol. Yet, similar to garlic, the jury is still out on whether the HDL-raising effect is significant enough to lower the risk of heart disease and to outweigh the potentially harmful effects of alcohol abuse.
  

  NUTRITIP: Read the Fine Print While some foods boast “cholesterol-free” on the front of the package, the fine print on the back tells you they are full of saturated and fake fats. Highly saturated tropical oils, such as palm kernel oil, may have a worse effect on cholesterol levels than foods that contain cholesterol. Hydrogenated fats will also push cholesterol levels higher. Some cereals, for example, may be labeled “cholesterol-free” on the front of the package, yet if you read the fine print these contain hydrogenated tropical oils.

  5. Get lean. Trimming excess body fat can increase the levels of good cholesterol (HDL). It is not only excess body fat that influences cholesterol levels, it’s where you carry it. Studies show that men who carry excess fat around the middle (a body type we refer to as “apples”) are at a higher risk of coronary artery disease than those who carry excess weight around the hips and buttocks (“pears”). Research has shown that apple-shaped people should pay even more attention to staying lean through a combination of exercise and a lowfat diet. Being over-fat increases LDL and decreases HDL, just the reverse of what you want, and this effect seems to be more aggravated in “apples” rather than “pears.”
  6. Exercise. Aerobic exercise (the kind that gets your heart rate up) raises the level of HDL cholesterol and may also reduce the level of LDL. In fact, since there is no such thing as eating foods high in HDL cholesterol, the only two ways you can raise HDL cholesterol is by exercising and reducing your body fat. Exercise is one of the few cholesterol-lowering activities that accomplish all three goals: lowering total cholesterol, raising HDLs, and lowering LDLs. Exercise stimulates the body to manufacture more HDL. The cholesterol level of athletes is much lower than that of sedentary individuals.

  NUTRITIP: Is Cholesterol Really the Cardiac Culprit? The healthcare industry has built a whole cardiovascular complex (almost a religion) around heart disease and cholesterol, and certainly experimental evidence seems to indicate that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between high cholesterol diets and a high incidence of heart disease. Yet, other factors may be involved. Is it really the cholesterol in the food that causes problems, or could there be something else present (or absent) in high cholesterol foods that affects heart disease? Why do plant-food-eaters have lower cholesterol than animal-food-eaters? While the obvious answer is that plant food doesn’t contain cholesterol and animal food does, could there be another explanation? Plant foods are high in phytonutrients and antioxidants, such as vitamin C, and fiber. Meat, on the other hand, is low in vitamin C and fiber. Our belief is that while it’s easier to blame heart disease on the one chemical-cholesterol-the connection is more complex. Switching from a primarily animal-based diet to one based on plant and seafood sources may be just what the heart doctor ordered.

  7. Relax. Stress releases stress hormones, such as adrenaline, which can elevate blood cholesterol levels. A daily relaxation program, such as meditation, deep-breathings or mental imagery can lower blood cholesterol.
  8. Graze. Grazing on many mini meals throughout the day rather than eating three big meals can lower cholesterol. In studies comparing frequent snackers to three-meal-a-day eaters, the grazers had lower cholesterol.
  9. Don’t smoke. Smoking makes everything that’s bad for the heart worse.
  10. Raise low cholesterol kids. Children who grow up with a plant and seafood-based diet rather than one high in animal-based foods are more likely to grow up with healthier hearts.

4 ways to control your diabetes

Step 1: Learn about diabetes.

What is diabetes?

There are three main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes – Your body does not make insulin. This is a problem because you need insulin to take the sugar (glucose) from the foods you eat and turn it into energy for your body. You need to take insulin every day to live.
• Type 2 diabetes – Your body does not make or use insulin well. You may need to take pills or insulin to help control your diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.
• Gestational (jest-TAY-shun-al) diabetes – Some women get this kind of diabetes when they are pregnant. Most of the time, it goes away after the baby is born. But even if it goes away, these women and their children have a greater chance of getting diabetes later in life.

You are the most important member of your health care team.

You are the one who manages your diabetes day by day. Talk to your doctor about how you can best care for your diabetes to stay healthy. Some others who can help are:

• dentist
• diabetes doctor
• diabetes educator
• dietitian
• eye doctor
• foot doctor

• friends and family
• mental health counselor
• nurse
• nurse practitioner
• pharmacist
• social worker

How to learn more about diabetes.

• Take classes to learn more about living with diabetes. To find a class, check with your health care team, hospital, or area health clinic. You can also search online.
• Join a support group — in-person or online — to get peer support with managing your diabetes.
• Read about diabetes online. Go to www.YourDiabetesInfo.org.

Take diabetes seriously.

You may have heard people say they have “a touch of diabetes” or that their “sugar is a little high.” These words suggest that diabetes is not a serious disease. That is not correct. Diabetes is serious, but you can learn to manage it.

People with diabetes need to make healthy food choices, stay at a healthy weight, move more every day, and take their medicine even when they feel good. It’s a lot to do. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it!

Why take care of your diabetes?

Taking care of yourself and your diabetes can help you feel good today and in the future. When your blood sugar (glucose) is close to normal, you are likely to:

• have more energy
• be less tired and thirsty
• need to pass urine less often
• heal better
• have fewer skin or bladder infections

You will also have less chance of having health problems caused by diabetes such as:

• heart attack or stroke
• eye problems that can lead to trouble seeing or going blind
• pain, tingling, or numbness in your hands and feet, also called nerve damage
• kidney problems that can cause your kidneys to stop working
• teeth and gum problems

Actions you can take

• Ask your health care team what type of diabetes you have.
• Learn why diabetes is serious.
• Learn how caring for your diabetes helps you feel better today and in the future.

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Step 2: Know your diabetes ABCs.

Talk to your health care team about how to manage your A1C, Blood pressure, andCholesterol. This can help lower your chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or other diabetes problems. Here's what the ABCs of diabetes stand for:

A for the A1C test (A-one-C).

What is it?

The A1C is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar level over the past three months. It is different from the blood sugar checks you do each day.

Why is it important?

You need to know your blood sugar levels over time. You don’t want those numbers to get too high. High levels of blood sugar can hurt your heart and blood vessels, kidneys, feet, and eyes.

What is the A1C goal?

The A1C goal for many people with diabetes is below 7. Ask what your goal should be.

B for Blood pressure.

What is it?

Blood pressure is the force of your blood against the wall of your blood vessels.

Why is it important?

If your blood pressure gets too high, it makes your heart work too hard. It can cause a heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease.

What is the blood pressure goal?

Your blood pressure goal should be below 140/80 unless your doctor helps you set a different goal.

C for Cholesterol (ko-LESS-tuh-ruhl).

What is it?

There are two kinds of cholesterol in your blood: LDL and HDL.

LDL or “bad” cholesterol can build up and clog your blood vessels. It can cause a heart attack or stroke.

HDL or “good” cholesterol helps remove the “bad” cholesterol from your blood vessels.

What are the LDL and HDL goals for people with diabetes?

Ask what your cholesterol numbers should be. If you are over 40 years of age, you may need to take a statin drug for heart health.

Actions you can take

• Ask your health care team:
  • what your A1C, blood pressure, and cholesterol numbers are and what they should be. Your ABC goals will depend on how long you have had diabetes, other health problems, and how hard your diabetes is to manage.
  • what you can do to reach your ABC goals

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Step 3: Learn how to live with diabetes.

It is common to feel overwhelmed, sad, or angry when you are living with diabetes. You may know the steps you should take to stay healthy, but have trouble sticking with your plan over time. This section has tips on how to cope with your diabetes, eat well, and be active.

Cope with your diabetes.

• Stress can raise your blood sugar. Learn ways to lower your stress. Try deep breathing, gardening, taking a walk, meditating, working on your hobby, or listening to your favorite music.
• Ask for help if you feel down. A mental health counselor, support group, member of the clergy, friend, or family member who will listen to your concerns may help you feel better.

Eat well.

• Make a diabetes meal plan with help from your health care team.
• Choose foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt.
• Eat foods with more fiber, such as whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta.
• Choose foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, bread and cereals, and low-fat or skim milk and cheese.
• Drink water instead of juice and regular soda.
• When eating a meal, fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, one quarter with a lean protein, such as beans, or chicken or turkey without the skin, and one quarter with a whole grain, such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

Be active.

• Set a goal to be more active most days of the week. Start slow by taking 10 minute walks, 3 times a day.
• Twice a week, work to increase your muscle strength. Use stretch bands, do yoga, heavy gardening (digging and planting with tools), or try push-ups.
• Stay at a healthy weight by using your meal plan and moving more.

Know what to do every day.

• Take your medicines for diabetes and any other health problems even when you feel good. Ask your doctor if you need aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke. Tell your doctor if you cannot afford your medicines or if you have any side effects.
• Check your feet every day for cuts, blisters, red spots, and swelling. Call your health care team right away about any sores that do not go away.
• Brush your teeth and floss every day to keep your mouth, teeth, and gums healthy.
• Stop smoking. Ask for help to quit. Call 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669).
• Keep track of your blood sugar. You may want to check it one or more times a day. Use the card at the back of this booklet to keep a record of your blood sugar numbers. Be sure to talk about it with your health care team.
• Check your blood pressure if your doctor advises and keep a record of it.

Talk to your health care team.

• Ask your doctor if you have any questions about your diabetes.
• Report any changes in your health.

Actions you can take

•  Ask for a healthy meal plan.
•  Ask about ways to be more active.
•  Ask how and when to test your blood sugar and how to use the results to manage your diabetes.
•  Use these tips to help with your self-care.
•  Discuss how your diabetes plan is working for you each time you visit your health care team.

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Step 4: Get routine care to stay healthy.

See your health care team at least twice a year to find and treat any problems early.

At each visit, be sure you have a:

• blood pressure check
• foot check
• weight check
• review of your self-care plan

Two times each year, have an:

• A1C test. It may be checked more often if it is over 7.

Once each year, be sure you have a:

• cholesterol test
• triglyceride (try-GLISS-er-ide) test - a type of blood fat
• complete foot exam
• dental exam to check teeth and gums
• dilated eye exam to check for eye problems
• flu shot
• urine and a blood test to check for kidney problems

At least once in your lifetime, get a:

• pneumonia (nu-mo-nya) shot
• hepatitis B (HEP-uh-TY-tiss) shot

Medicare and diabetes.

If you have Medicare, check to see how your plan covers diabetes care. Medicare covers some of the costs for:

• diabetes education
• diabetes supplies
• diabetes medicine
• visits with a dietitian
• special shoes, if you need them

Actions you can take

•  Ask your health care team about these and other tests you may need. Ask what your results mean.
•  Write down the date and time of your next visit.
•  Use the card at the back of this booklet to keep a record of your diabetes care.
•  If you have Medicare, check your plan.

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Things to Remember:

• You are the most important member of your health care team.
• Follow the four steps in this booklet to help you learn how to manage your diabetes.
• Learn how to reach your diabetes ABC goals.
• Ask your health care team for help.

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My Diabetes Care Record

Write down the date and results for each test or check-up you get. Take this card with you on your health care visits. Show it to your health care team. Talk about your goals and how you are doing.

My Diabetes Care Record card

Self Checks of Blood Sugar

Each time you check your blood sugar, write down the date, time, and results. Take this card with you on your health care visits. Show it to your health care team. Talk about your goals and how you are doing.

History of Urdu

History of Urdu

A couple of weeks ago, there was a very interesting article in the Economic Times that gave the break up of languages spoken by the people of Pakistan. Interestingly 48 % of the population speaks Punjabi while Urdu is spoken by only 8 %. I always thought that Urdu was the language of sub continent Muslims. A few weeks later there was a letter in the Outlook by Khushwant Singh where he complained that the Punjabis had killed Urdu in Punjab. An earlier essay titled Aligarh Movement read “Another development during this period was the emergence of Urdu as a literary language during the period 1818 to 1905”. Where did Urdu spring from?

The objective of this article is to trace the origins of Urdu and its development in Bharat starting with advent of Mughal rule (Persian-Arabic-Turkish were used by earlier rulers) and ending in 1947. I have also tried to find an answer to Khushwant Singh’s remarks and tell you how Urdu got caught in the Hindu Muslim pre 1947 crossfire. Incidental to the objective of this article was my realizing that Urdu has become another example of the Pan Islamic Muslim mind. The article has three chapters.

1.    1526 to 1707 A.D.
2.    1707 to 1947 A.D.
3.     Analysis

1526 to 1707 Proto-Urdu    

Just to give you a perspective Mughal rule began with Babar in 1526 but started moving Southwards after the death of Islamic zealot, puritan Aurangzeb in 1707.

The word Urdu is derived from the Turki word Ordu, which meant “a military camp”. The language as we now know it had not come into existence during this period. Instead it was a product of the dialect used by the Muslims who ruled over Deccan and South India from the 14th century awards. The literary speech arising out of it, known as Dakhni or the Southern Speech may be traced back to the 15th century. It’s use was limited to the Deccan and South India and was used in literature by the Muslims of these regions who were less influenced by the local Hindu spirit of the dialects and languages of North India than the other Muslims living in North India. This difference becomes clearly manifest from the fact that the Perso-Arabian script was used in the Deccan, in writing from almost the beginning. Gradually the literature increasingly came under foreign influence in the sense that it became more and more Muslim and Persian in its attitude. However, it continued to retain till the end of the 17th century, a good deal of Indian vocabulary.

The chief centers of Dakhni literature were Gujarat, Golconda, Bidar, Bijapur and Aurangabad. It was patronized by amongst others Qutb Shahi Sultans of Golcondo, one of whom, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah was a gifted poet. One of his courtiers wrote a romantic poem whose theme was the love of this king, than a prince,  for a Telegu Hindu girl named Bhagwati whom he later married, named the city built in her honor as Bhag-nagar and subsequently renamed with her Islamic name Haider-Begum. This became the city of Hyderabad. Various other poems were written by many rulers.

Dakhni literature flourished up to the end of the 17th century, but declined after the conquest of the Deccan and South India by Aurangzeb. By the first half of the 18th century, the mantle of Dakhni fell to the newly rising Urdu speech of Delhi into which this colonial form of a North India speech virtually merged and Urdu became well established with its present name by 1750.

The Persian literature produced during the heyday of the Mughal rule in India exercised a tremendous influence on the formation and shaping of regional literatures, especially those cultivated by the Muslims. One of the results was the evolution of literary Urdu. Other sister languages modeled on the Persian tradition are Punjabi, Pushtu, Sindhi, Baluchi and Kashmiri, all of which use the Persian script.

1707 to 1947      

1707 to 1815 - This period starts with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 and ends with the Third Maratha War in 1818. It was an eventful period in the sense that it witnessed the end of Muslim rule, the rise and fall of the Maratha Empire and the foundation of the British Empire in India. In fact volume eight is named The Maratha Supremacy. If you want an answer to why was the volume named so, please go the history section and read Maratha Supremacy in the 18th century. In the post-Aurangzeb period, the status of the Persian language faced a challenge as a result of the collapse of the central authority of the Muslim rulers and the emergence of Urdu as the potential lingua franca of the country. However, it was not until 1837 that Persian ceased to be official language of India. Urdu, which later became the dominant language of education and administration, came only with the establishment of British rule over Punjab.

Delhi and Lucknow were the two centers of influence.

The Urdu poets of Delhi wrote under the influence of Wali (1667-1707), were partial to Iham, which was at that time practiced in Persian and Hindi especially in Dohas. The language continued to be in a fluid state. The rules of grammar and spelling were not cared for, Urdu poets also did bother about Radif and Wafiyas as the Arabic and Persian pets did. There were many poets who helped the Urdu language grow namely –

Shah Hatim (1699 to 1787) a leading poet time at the time of Muhammad Shah was closely connected with Ihami poetry. But he joined the reformers of his time and made a selection of his poetry and called it Diwan Zadeh (1757). Along with others, Hatim brought about many learned and academic changes in Urdu language and poetry. They believed in and insisted on using the loan words from Arabic and Persian in the original sense with original spellings. Subsequently it became fashionable for the then and future writers to follow their dictates ie increased used of Arabic / Persian in Urdu. Another was Mirza Muhhammad Rafi Sauda (1713 to 1780) who is considered as the greatest quasida and satire writer of Urdu. In his social satires he castigates the social, political and moral vices of his age. There was another notable poet Wali Muhammad Nazeer (1740 to 1830). 

There were a number of poets who gave a shape to the language and poetry of Lucknow. I am not getting into too much of detail about them.

As a language Urdu took birth during this period. Both Arabic and Persian contributed significantly to Urdu. As the religio-ethical and socio-economic health of the Muslim community came to be adversely affected by the weakening of the imperial authority, the intelligentsia felt the need to revitalize the Muslim morale by means of religious reforms. And Arabic became the natural medium for fulfilling the requirements of religious rethinking among the Muslims in the early part of the 18th century. This could also explain the influence of Arabic on Urdu. When the British came to India they realized the need to communicate in Urdu, which is why they set up a Urdu center at the Fort William College Calcutta to teach British employees the language. The college helped promote Urdu too.

1818 to 1905  - The origin of the literary language, now known as Urdu, in the 18th century from the local dialect of Delhi has been discussed in the paras above. Another development during this period was the emergence of Urdu as a literary language. It was born in the military camps from the Hindi Khari Boli during the later Mughal period. It was between 1818 to 1905 that Urdu developed into a language of expression for religious, philosophic thoughts. An Urdu translation of the Koran was made as late as 1791. Now Urdu became popular and replaced Persian as the language of the educated masses. It was only in 1837 that Persian was replaced as the official language of India.

Urdu poetry upto the fourth quarter of the 19th century was just a reflexion of Persian poetry. Nothing in it but a few common words, inflexions, postpositions and verbs were in Hindi. The Urdu poets thought and wrote in terms of Persian poetry, the references were things, events and ideas of Persia and Arabia. They use names of Persian flowers, all the little streams of Persia, and its towns and provinces, its hills and mountains but they never mention an Indian flower or an Indian river or mountain or town, much less an Indian hero. It was an absolute and deliberate shutting of their eyes to all the great things of their own country, the soil of which, according to a great Urdu poet, was napak or impure.

As referred to above, Muslim dominance over India had begun to wane. They had got demoralized because of that. In order to rejuvenate them the Islamic influence had to be reinforced. One of the ways was to take the local dialect Hindi and marry it with a strong Persian read Islamic influence. I wonder why they could not derive strength their motherland i.e. Hindustan.

Muhammad Nazir of Agra (1740 to 1830) was a remarkable Urdu poet who composed his poems on Persian themes but also all sorts of subjects relating to Indian life in a language that was not very Personalized, which is also the language of the Hindus. Among the great poets of the pre-modern period were Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1806 to 1905), Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq (1789 to 1894). Ghalib was the most popular. He was a Sufi and a mystic who wrote in Persian and Urdu and inaugurated literary history and criticism through his letters. He is generally regarded as the greatest poet of Urdu before the modern age because of his human sympathies and his Sufi feel for the ultimate Reality.

Lucknow and Rampur became the centers of Urdu literature in the 19th century.

The Aligarh Movement by Sir Syed Ahmad gave rise to modern Urdu literature at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the 19th century. His greatest contribution were his letters and historical work Asaru-s-Sanadia. The Aligarh movement made the Muslims more and more conscious of their Islamic rather than their Indian heritage and instilled in them the concept of Pan-Islamicism. I maintain that Sir Syed Ahmad gave birth to the Pan-Islamic movement in India, the Khilafat Movement by Gandhi united the Indian Muslims like never before and lastly Muhammad Iqbal with his poetry cemented the concept in the minds and hearts of the sub-continent Muslim. Thanks to the Aligarh movement a number of Muslim Urdu prose writers of eminence, historians and essayists came to the front. There were several prominent Hindu writers of Urdu too.

As time passed by Urdu came to be seen as the language of the Muslims, part of their an Islamic baggage, an example. Evidence given by Muslim leaders before the Hunter Commission (between 1883 to 1890) in Bengal demanding entire separate arrangements for the primary education of the Hindu and the Muslim and insisting upon Urdu as a medium of instruction even in a province like Bengal where 99 % of the Muslims were ignorant of that language. Their spoken language had always been the medium of instruction but the decline of Muslim power in India had to be reinforced with a Pan Islamic identity. Even in 1947 and thereafter Bengali and not Urdu was the most widely spoken language. One is however, not sure how long it will be the case.

The Urdu press flourished during this period and the majority of the Hindu organs of North India at the beginning of 1861 were edited by Hindus.

Muhammad Iqbal (1873 to 1938) referred to in the essay on Wahabi movement was also largely responsible for popularizing Urdu amongst Indian Muslims. Actually speaking he only consolidated the efforts laid down by his Muslim brothers before. He was comfortable in Persian and Urdu. His doctrine went counter to the quietism and acceptance preached by traditional Sufism. It was a rather militant doctrine of action, of fight to achieve an ideal placed before man, and this ideal was of primitive Islam which in Iqbal’s opinion was preached by the Prophet – to select the narrow path of shaping one’s destiny and forging ahead, heart within and God overhead.

This doctrine of action made Iqbal the great leader of Indian Muslims. His two longer poems Shikwa (complaint) and Jawab-I-Shikwah (Reply to the Complaint) are looked upon as the Mein Kampf of Muslim revivalists in India who were for separation from India in both spirit and political rehabilitation. These poems give in the form of a complaint before Allah about the adverse circumstances in which the Indian Muslims had fallen, and the sequel given the remedies prescribed by God for Muslim uplift. So his poems in Urdu cemented the thought in the sub-continent Muslim mind that Urdu and Islam in India were synonymous.

Analysis      

The chapter is presented in three parts. Part one is a summary of the above, part 2 attempts to answer Khuswant Singh’s statement and part 3 tells you how Urdu became a tool by which the Muslims wanted to establish parity with Hindi and Hindus.

Part One - Summary

1. The word Urdu is derived from the Turki word Ordu, which meant “a military camp”. During the period 1526 to 1707 it was called Dakhina and used in the Deccan and South India.
2. As the religio-ethical and socio-economic health of the Muslim community came to be adversely affected by the weakening of the imperial authority, the intelligentsia felt the need to revitalize the Muslim morale by means of religious reforms. And Arabic became the natural medium for fulfilling the requirements of religious rethinking among the Muslims in the early part of the 18th century. This could also explain the influence of Arabic on Urdu.
3. Urdu is Hindi Khari boli (Delhi Hindi) with Persian and Arabic thrown in. Although the language came into existence after 1730 it is only after 1818 did it become a language of expressing thoughts.
4. Its main centers of influence were Delhi and Lucknow. Sir Syed Ahmed and Muhammad Iqbal did a lot to promote the language and make it the lingua franca of the Indian Muslims.
5. With the establishment of British rule over Punjab, Urdu became a dominant language of education and administration there.
6. Starting the 20th century Urdu became a bone of contention between Hindus and Muslims.

Part Two - K Singh’s, How did the Punjabis kill Urdu?

Before I answer the question it would be useful to know the state of Hindi, Punjabi in Punjab around 1700-1720. Guru Govind Singh (1666-1708) kept in his employ 52 poets who composed in the prevalent mode of neo-classical Hindi poetry works whose themes were heroic and philosophical. All the writings of these poets were also written down in the Gurumukhi script and recited at sessions convened by the Guru. Most of these poems have been lost. Bhai Mani Singh, priest of the Hari Mandir or the Golden Temple. At some time during the 18th century got together whatever remained of these poems and compiled them into the Granth of the 10th master or the Dasham Granth. This work contains three versions of the epic of the goddess Chandi based on the story of her fight with Mahisasur, the Buffalo-Demon. Two of these are in Hindi while the third is in Punjabi. The third is believed to be the Guru’s own composition while the other two by some poets. The Guru got a great deal of literature written based on the tales of heroism whereby he sought to arouse the people to crusade for higher values which he gave the name Dharma. He also composed some important works in Apabhramsa style of Hindi, including the autobiographical poem, the Bichitra Natak (the wonderful Drama). So both Punjabi and Hindi were prevalent.

Urdu, which later became the dominant language of education and administration, came only with the establishment of British rule over Punjab. Since the British captured Punjab only in 1849 (Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839) Urdu became dominant after that. Another perspective. Till 1857 the Muslims hated the new rulers, Christians, for snatching away the throne from them. It was only after 1857 that Sir Syed Ahmad made the Muslims realize that it was in their interest to support the Christians read Brits. The British too realized the importance of having the Muslims on their side and using them as a counter to Hindus. Hence they decided to support the Muslims by making Urdu the official language of Punjab. Undivided Punjab had more Muslims than Hindus but Hindus were in large numbers thus if the Brits were not bent on enhancing the Hindu Muslim divide they could have made both Urdu and Hindi languages of education / administration. Also note that undivided Punjab consisted of modern day Punjab on both sides of the border, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

It is the Arya Samaj that led the movement for revival of Hindi. The founder of the Arya Samaj Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1875) used to communicate in Sanskrit till he met a leader of the Brahmo Samaj Shri Keshub Chandra Sen who stressed the importance of carrying on his propaganda in a popular language. So Dayanand decided to propagate his teachings in Hindi. Since the Arya Samaji movement had strong roots in Punjab, Hindi became Arya Bhasa there. Subsequent Samaj leaders carried on the movement for usage of Hindi.

The eighth of the ten principles of the Arya Samaj points out to the Arya that he should endeavor to diffuse knowledge and dispel ignorance. In Punjab and the United Provinces the Samaj have done excellent work ahead of the missionary effort. No single organization could claim to have as many schools for boys and girls as the Samaj. For the boy’s education there were two types of colleges, one affiliated with the Government University and other independent of official control. The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College was started at Lahore in 1886. A number of educational institutions were opened in Punjab and modern day Uttar Pradesh. By 1914, the Samaj had the largest number of institutions in Northern India and probably the second largest in the country. For the girls the Samaj maintained a large number of schools and colleges. One of them is the Kanyamahavidyala at Jullundar where my mother studied.

The impact of the Arya Samaj is also to be seen in the adoption of Hindi as a language of administration in Rajputana and U.P. Dayanand wrote all his works in Hindi or Sanskrit. Under the persuasion of Sir Pratap Singh, several states of Rajputana were convinced to adopt Hindi script for official work. It came to be adopted as an alternative medium of administration in U.P. early in the 20th century.

Therefore, the emergence of the Arya Samaji movement in North India led to the resurgence of Hindi. Since the Arya Samajis (mainly Punjabi) opened a number of schools, colleges in North India these institutions were used to promote Hindi. Also the Arya Samaj movement made Hindus pride of their past, led to a revival of their confidence levels. It made them shun foreign influence understood as Urdu, the language of the Muslims. Digressing a bit, this single decision of using Hindi enabled the Arya Samaj movement to grow beyond Punjab unlike the Punjabi sect Sikhism that restricted itself to using Gurumukhi as a medium of communication limiting its acceptability in the process.

I spoke to two seventy plus Uncles in my building who had grown up in undivided Punjab. They told me that during their childhood 1930-47, Urdu was indeed the language of the courts and administration. In schools too Urdu was taught. However, only boys learnt Urdu since they had to work thereafter while girls learnt Hindi since they did not normally work. However with the growth of the Arya Samaj a greater number of Hindus began to learn Hindi only.

Urdu vs Hindi    Part 3

1. Excerpts from the essay on the Aligarh Movement “What complicated matters further was the Hindi Urdu controversy originating from a movement by the Hindus of Kashi in 1867 to replace Urdu by Hindi and the Arabic script by Nagari. It must be mentioned that a similar movement for the use of Hindi was started in Punjab by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. These movements convinced Syed Ahmed Khan that Hindus and Muslims could never join whole-heartedly together and the differences would only increase in the future. Nawab Mulk said “Although we do not have the power of the pen, our hands are still strong enough to wield the might of the sword”. Muslim league pg 25.

2. Another Hindi Urdu controversy erupted in 1900. It was the practice in Uttar Pradesh that all petitions to the court must be written in Urdu. The Hindus protested against it forcing the govt to pass an order on 8/4/1900 that Government offices and law-courts should also entertain petitions written in Hindi and Devanagari scripts and that court summons and official announcements would be henceforth be issued in both Hindi and Urdu. The Muslims protested that it was lowering the prestige of Urdu, the matter got politicized, led to a worsening of Hindu Muslim relations. This decision and the reversal of the partition of Bengal in 1905 by the British made the Muslims realize the need to counteract the political organization of the Hindus, read Congress. And so on 30/12/1906 was formed the All India Muslim League at Dacca. And so Urdu became one more reason for the increasing Hindu Muslim divide.

3. Urdu got caught in the Hindu Muslim crossfire that got accentuated after Khilfat movement. When the Hindus insisted on use of Hindi, the League denounced it as a sign of Hindu domination and could not think of co-operating with the Congress unless Urdu was made the national language in place of Hindi. That too when Urdu was nothing but a Persianized dialect of Hindi. Its script is Persian and the grammar is of Hindi. The Congress could not face the League onslaught and effected a compromise. A new hybrid language half Hindi half Urdu named Hindustani was sought to be created, which the Congress accepted in place of Hindi.

4. Like many others, Vande Mataram, national flag Urdu became a rallying point for Muslims. Unfortunately searching for this mirage of Hindu Muslim unity, the Congress capitulated before the Muslims every time that was to result in Partition later and a permanent source of violence in the Indian sub-continent. Urdu became one more symbol of their Persian / Arabic identity, to the Hindus it is one more reminder of Muslim rule over India. Hindi movies have both Hindi and Urdu words so do news channels like Zee News.

5. The bottom-line that Indian Muslims derive strength, a sense of identity with Islam by the use of Urdu. When a child is in pain he always looks for his mother. So also when the Indian Muslim lost political power, condition began to detiorate he looked for ways to rejuvenate himself, one of them was having a language that though derived from an Indian language borrowed heavily from Persian and Arabic. Today a 250-year-old language has become a symbol of his Islamic identity.

6. It has become one more stick that is used to browbeat Hindus with. Hindi movies producers are forced either subtly or otherwise to increase the use of Urdu in movies. Why even Television serials have not been spared. Channels like Zee News that derives virtually all their revenues from India use Urdu words more often than not.

7. Is it not ironical that Urdu is more widely spoken in India than in Pakistan, a country that was created to satisfy the separatist needs of the Indian Muslims? The Pakistani Muslim lives in an Islamic state thus does not need to reinforce his Muslim identity, is comfortable speaking Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtuni. On the other hand the Indian Muslim is living in Hindu India, needs to reemphasize his Muslim ness, Urdu is just one more tool.

Urdu like Persian, Arabic reminds the Hindu of Muslim domination that is why he is averse to it. Muslims see Hindi as a symbol of Hindu domination. Where Islam is in a dominant majority, Dar-ul-Islam must be created meaning “Muslim sovereignty pure and simple.” To the Indian Muslim it means increase usage of Urdu. Rationalists might ask, which language is older? Look at any conflict in the world involving Islam, does one associate rationalism with it?

This article is based on inputs of volumes 7 to 11 of the History and Culture of Indian People published by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain

Most people agree that hypnosis does something to your brain — specifically something that makes people make fools of themselves at hypnotist shows. But how does it actually affect the human brain? Can it make people recall events perfectly? Are post-hypnotic suggestions a bunch of baloney? What is the truth about hypnotism?

A History of Hypnosis

Nearly every culture in the world has a history of hypnotic trances. Some only considered them spiritual or eerie, but most began to make use of them as soon as they were discovered. India and China have ancient records showing hypnotic trances being used to relieve pain during surgery. The practice migrated to Europe, where in 1794 a young boy having an operation for a tumor was put under. The boy was Jacob Grimm, who grew up to write about quite a few hypnotic trances in his and his brother's book of fairy tales.

As ether and anesthesia came in, hypnosis went out. The medical community at large rejected its claims to pain reduction and hypnotic suggestions. Meanwhile, Hollywood embraced it as a plot device, adding on fantastic properties that made it seem still more outlandish to the public. It finally settled in the entertainment industry, where it does have the power to make people do extremely silly things, with extreme sincerity. (Watching some dead-serious kids give Grammy speeches as if they were Ricky Martin convinced me that hypnotism must have power over people.) But the extent of its power has always been debated.

How Hypnosis Affects the Brain

A person in a hypnotic state will appear tuned-out, and one of the marks of true hypnosis is a decrease in involuntary eye movement to the point where deeply hypnotized people will have to be reminded to blink. This gives an observer the impression that the hypnotized aren't paying attention. In fact, they're playing hyper-attention. Compared to a resting brain, many areas come online when a person is put into a hypnotic trance. All the areas that flare to life during hypnosis are also engaged when a person is concentrating on mental imagery — except one. Like many areas of the brain, the precuneus lights up during many different tasks, all of them having to do with a consciousness of self. It also deals with visuospatial aspects of the brain, letting us know where we are in space.

In essence, when we're hypnotized, people are able to concentrate intensely on self-created imagery (or imagery that suggested to them) but do not place their selves as part of that imagery. They've lost the reminder of what they personally do and what normal judgments they make, while increasing their ability to think about a whole range of imaginary situations. This explains the way adults can act out under the influence of hypnosis, or how they might remain calm and collected in situations that would otherwise terrify them. But how far does it go?

The Power of Hypnosis

One of the most incredible feats people under hypnosis are supposed to perform is the ability to remember details of a past event that a person has consciously forgotten. In movies everyone, under hypnosis, suddenly has a photographic memory (right up until they try to see the killer's face). There is debate, and some hypnotherapists claim that they have helped people retrace their steps through hypnosis and remember locations of, say, lost items or valuable papers.

But a larger study at Ohio State University cast doubt on whether hypnosis can actually enhance your memory to such an extent. When two groups of students, one hypnotized and one only relaxed, were asked about the dates of certain historical events, the groups performed equally well. The only difference was, when they were informed that there were some errors in their answers, the hypnotized group changed fewer answers than the unhypnotized group. Hypnosis got a more infamous reputation when it was used by psychologists to 'recover' lost memories, often of childhood abuse, that never happened.

But hypnosis does have the power to tap into memory in ways that other techniques do not. Most importantly, it has the ability to induce temporary, reversible amnesia. This condition is extremely rare, as many amnesiacs don't recover their memories, and some unlucky ones can't make new memories.

Although not all hypnotized patients can have their memories suppressed, and no one suppresses their memories unless they're told to, the effects can be startling. For one thing, the entire memory can be brought back with a word. This indicates that hypnosis doesn't obliterate memories, it just temporarily shuts off the retrieval system. One woman was told she couldn't remember the word 'six,' and so answered 'seven' to mathematical questions. A man forgot his own name. Any memory could be suppressed.

But the memory didn't go away. A group of students were hypnotized and told to forget a short film they had just watched. While unable to answer questions about the film, they had no problem remembering if the film was, for example, shot on a handheld camera. It was only the content that was suppressed. This ability to remember and react to the context of a thing without remembering the thing itself is the post-hypnotic suggestion. It's a suggested habit that makes sense in context (like reaching for a cell phone when hearing a ringtone) but not at that moment (if you deliberately left your cell phone at home). It just doesn't occur to the person to think of what they're reacting to before they react.

Another amazing hypnotic ability is, supposedly, suppression of pain. While it makes sense that people might feel less self-conscious, what with the part of their brain that feels self-consciousness offline, and that their perception might be altered by the part of the brain that governs perception, but pain is different. One of the primary functions of pain is to force someone out of the reverie they're in and make them pay attention to reality. Pain is the outside world breaking in.

But scientists studying perception think our experience is shaped far more by what we expect the stimulus to be than the stimulus itself. There are ten times as many nerve fibers carrying information down as carrying it up. Most people will have experienced feeling a shape in their pockets and being disoriented until they remember that it's a wadded up receipt, at which point the sensations seem familiar.

More to the point, most people will remember an itching or sting that, when they see a more serious injury than they expected, will blossom into pain. A hypnotized person undergoing surgery, for example, may be able to convince themselves that they're experiencing the discomfort of a bug bite instead of a scalpel. That, along with a state of enforced relaxation, can make all the difference.

But the shadiest aspect of hypnotism — what it can make an entranced person do — is still shrouded in mystery. Most hypnotists take pains to stress that no one is enslaved when they're in a hypnotized state, and that they can't be made to do something they don't want to do. Of course, that is the line they'd take. Scientists are, understandably, reluctant to give people the suggestion to murder someone under hypnosis, and test the results. Perhaps the best test of this isn't science, but history. Although there have always been legends of people under the direction of an evil puppet-master committing unspeakable acts against their will, there have been no actual cases. So don't worry about going to those hypnotist shows. Just . . . don't sit in the front.

Light and its colour

How to Make a Smoke Bomb

I'm going to show you how to make a smoke bomb out of common, inexpensive ingredients, without setting your kitchen or yourself on fire. Smoke bombs are classic fare for 4th of July celebrations or any holiday that involves fireworks plus they are just a fun project for older kids or adults.

A smoke bomb is an excellent introduction to the art of pyrotechnics because it's stable, meaning it can't blow up. It's non-toxic, in fact you can eat it, although I wouldn't. It's easy to get great results. Are you ready to try it? Let's go!

Homemade Smoke Bomb Ingredients

You only need two ingredients for this project: sucrose, which is ordinary table sugar, and potassium nitrate, which is sold as saltpeter in garden supply stores or sometimes as stump remover, which is what I'm using today. The ratio of the ingredients is three parts of potassium nitrate to two parts sugar. This isn't one of those projects where you need really specific measurements, so as long as you're close you should get good results.

Cook the Smoke Bomb Ingredients

Put the ingredients in a pan over medium to high heat. As you continue to mix the ingredients, you'll start to see them melt together and brown. This is carmelizing the sugar and the smoke bomb smells a little like candy. You could eat it, as I said before, but I wouldn't. Potassium nitrate is used as a preservative, but it's not intended as a main ingredient in your cooking.

Form Individual Smoke Bombs

Once the ingredients are all melted together, you're going to turn the heat off and drop spoonfuls of smoke bomb onto the foil. There's nothing magical about the foil. It's just there because it's easy to peel the smoke bomb off of it and if you can't get the smoke bomb off the foil it doesn't really matter because it's not going to burn.

Okay, I'm just finishing up the cooking. Now, try to get as much smoke bomb as possible off the pan. If you're using a non-stick pan, clean-up is a lot easier. If you have any trouble getting the smoke bomb off the pan or the spoon, use some hot water. Now we're ready to go outside and light these!

I hope you enjoyed the smoke bomb project. To learn more about smoke bombs or to get ideas for other projects, visit me on the Web at About.com. Thanks for watching.

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