Why Indian toilets are best?

Courtesy: http://guruprasad.net/posts/why-indian-toilet-is-best-scientific-reason/

Squat: To sit in a crouching position with knees bent.

Ever since the first human being descended on the Earth, squatting has been the most natural posture to finish one’s daily “business”. With the advent of civilizations, human habits (discipline), shelter (housing), clothing (cotton & silk), food (farming & cooking) and several factors evolved but the seating posture for defecation remained the same i.e squatting posture.

The very fact that such a posture comes naturally even to babies in the womb and (children while playing) further proves that it is the most commonly used posture by humans.

In Yogasanas, there is a very popular posture called “Shashankasana” which provides a massaging effect for abdominal organs & stimulates the nervous action of the bowels to give a good motion. Even in squatting position, the same effect is observed. If you rotate a photograph of Shashankasana by 90 degrees, you can notice how similar it is to the squatting posture.

When the flush toilet was invented during 16th century, it caught some eyeballs but was still limited to royalty who adored it’s seating posture which seemed more “dignified” (since it’s posture resembled sitting on a throne). Over the next few centuries, it gradually witnessed penetration into the masses of western world (Europe & America), and by 19th century, it had become the norm for them. However, eastern world (India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Korea) chose not to switch and stuck on to doing their business in squatting posture.

Over the last few decades, bowel related diseases like hemorrhoids, appendicitis, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome have been on the rise especially in the western world due to several reasons including diet & lifestyle. That triggered a series of experiments and research studies in which scientists & doctors began to notice an interesting pattern. They noticed that the probability of such diseases was higher when one used the western toilet. Further research on this topic revealed that the seating position for western toilet was actually against human anatomy.

Here is an article written by Dr.Mercola explaining how western toilets have led to increasing Colon and Pelvic diseases:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/03/toilet-squatting-position.aspx

The following article on toxic removal & tissue cleansing actually recommends squatting position for healthy bowel movement:
http://www.yourreturn.org/Inertia/Bowel_Cleansing.htm

In the medical sciences field, a very popular Doctor & Neuroscientist named Daniel Lametti has been creating awareness about the benefits of Indian toilet. Following is a popular article written by him:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/08/dont_just_sit_there.html

As more Doctors in the western world started recommending Indian toilets for healthier living, several companies began to offer solutions in the form of converters & accessories which could be used to achieve the same position, effect & benefit as that of squatting posture.

For example, following are a few ads of companies which offer such solutions:

http://naturesplatform.com/

http://www.lillipad.co.nz/

This short video clip explains all these concepts clearly (based on research at Stanford University) with the help of animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYcv6odWfTM

Hence, Indian toilet is not only the oldest form but also the most scientifically proven form for human anatomy which the western world has been realizing of late and embracing it gradually.

Vedic History

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

In a startling development Mahesh Keshavam, Gangadhar Yadav and Akbar Patel have announced that they've deciphered the Indus Valley script. Their task was made simple by the discovery of an Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone. For those who don't know, the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Pharaonic-Egypt decree discovered in the 18th century, helped decipher the ancient Egyptian script.

The Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, called the Naga Stone by the trio who discovered it, has a message from a king who lived many millennia ago, inscribed in three different scripts. One of these is the ancient Brahmi script, which as we all know, has been deciphered already.

"We discovered the Naga Stone in Nagaland, and hence the name,� explained Mahesh. "It appears to be a message from a local ruler, prescribing that a certain festival celebration be followed strictly. It has the same message in three different scripts, one of which is Brahmi, which we can read. Since the message is the same across the other scripts, it was a simple job of matching words to decipher the other scripts.�

Interestingly, all three scripts including Brahmi can be identified as Indus Valley scripts since they contain symbols commonly found in Indus Valley seals. The Indus script (which is a hieroglyphic script, like that of Mandarin) has largely been found to be inscribed on small seals that were probably used for trade and, some say, for inspirational quotes as well.

Akbar said, "What we have discovered is that there was not one uniform Indus Valley script. There were many, each differing from the other quite a degree, even if some of the symbols were similar. In fact, one of the scripts is even written right to left!�

It is a common view among linguistic experts that there should be one standard Indus Valley script. It seemed logical as everything within the Indus Valley civilisation seemed to be rigidly standardised, from the dimensions of the bricks used in construction to the broad layouts for cities. It appears that the linguistic experts were wrong. Different regions did use different scripts. But was the language common?

"Yes, the language was common even though the scripts were different,� said Mahesh. "And the language was Sanskrit.� At the look of surprise on my face, Gangadhar stepped in. "You know,� explained Gangadhar, "the practice of using the Devanagiri script for the Sanskrit language is a relatively recent phenomenon. In ancient times, many other scripts were used, including the Brahmi script. In fact, ancient manuscripts have been found in Kerala wherein Sanskrit had been written in the Malayalam script. So the idea of using different scripts for the same language is not new in India. Of course, originally, Sanskrit had no native script and was primarily an oral language.�

But this obviously raises questions about the version of history taught to us. We are taught that the Indus Valley people were Dravidians who were indigenous Indians. They were, apparently, overrun by Sanskrit-speaking Aryan invaders and pushed to the south. So how can the script of a defeated people be used for the language of the victors?

"If you read the message on the Naga Stone itself,� said Akbar, "your doubts will be cleared. There was no so-called Aryan invasion. Unbiased historians have always marvelled at this strange dichotomy in ancient Indian history-the Indus Valley civilisation, the largest, most urban and richest civilisation of its time, purportedly left behind no literature or markers of high culture; whereas the so-called Aryan invaders from Central Asia, who didn't build any great cities and were apparently barbaric warriors, left behind the largest body of literature when compared to any other people of the ancient world. The only logical explanation is that the Indus Valley civilisation and the Vedic-erroneously called Aryan-civilisation were one and the same.�

"In India, the study of history is unfortunately heavily politicised, with left- and right-wing ideologues making arguments based on their ideological positions rather than facts,� said Gangadhar. "They both, sadly, allow their ideological leanings to cloud their thinking. Therefore, today, we have to turn to Westerners or non-professional Indian historians who are still untouched by the politics that plagues our history departments, to find unbiased interpretations of our history which are based on facts. Most Western historians have already junked the Aryan Invasion Theory as colonial-era, European myth-making.�

But the convincing proof is the Naga Stone itself. The message written on it is unambiguous. The local ruler of that time, Vasuki, said that the ancient Naga celebration of Panchami must be followed since it had come down to his people (whom he called Vedic people) from an ancient 10,000-year-old tradition from Sangam and Dwarka. Since the stone itself is at least 3,000 years old, it makes the 'mother cultures' of Sangam and Dwarka more than 13,000 years old, that is, before the end of the last great ice age.

But where were Sangam and Dwarka? "We believe that Sangam refers to an ancient Tamil civilisation and Dwarka to an ancient Gujarati one,� said Akbar. "It would seem that the British writer, Graham Hancock, was right. He had postulated that there were many ancient civilisations spread across the world before the end of the last great ice age, when the sea levels were a lot lower. Two of those civilisations were based in India -one off the coast of modern Tamil Nadu and another off the coast of modern Gujarat. These civilisations were destroyed when the ice age ended and the sea levels rose. The survivors escaped to the north and established what we call the Vedic civilisation. So, according to Graham Hancock, the ancient Vedic civilisation descended from an even more ancient Tamil and Gujarati civilisation. The Naga Stone has just confirmed this theory.� Clearly, our history books need some rewriting!

- Amish Tripathi is the author of The Shiva Trilogy

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

Article on traditional housing

http://www.thehindu.com/features/homes-and-gardens/handmade-homes/article514
9514.ece#.Uj0h3IktQv4.email

Counting on cow dung

http://allafrica.com/stories/201207020509.html

Rwanda: Charging Your Phone With Cow Dung
By Saskia Houttuin, 30 June 2012

When one thinks of animal dung, one usually thinks: messy. Dutch research
institute TNO has developed a prototype of a socket that turns biogas heat
into electricity. Together with SNV and BoP Innovation Center, students at
Delft University of Technology visited Rwanda for TNO to test this new
prototype in people's homes. Who could have ever imagined, that one day
mobile phones would be charged with cow dung?

Students Anne Jansen (24) and Diana Alacron (32) spent six weeks in Rwanda's
countryside, where they spoke with families to understand their specific
needs when it comes to gas and electricity.

"We noticed a need for gas for cooking, but also for electricity," says
Diana. "Eighty percent of the Rwandan population has no access to
electricity." Meanwhile, according to their research, almost everyone owns a
mobile phone - both parents and their children.

Phone charging

"When people don't have electricity, they walk every three days to the city
where they leave the phones on little charging stations," explains Anne.
"This means a lot of effort, time and money is spent on charging.
Electricity would make them more independent".

The biogas socket is still in development, but after their research in
Africa, the students are confident with its development. "It's easy to
apply," says Diana. "The idea is to simply connect the socket to the cook
stove, which means no new difficult system regarding the installation."

How many cows?

Although biogas installations require refined technology, the underlying
process is quite simple. One gathers dung and urine in an underground tank
and a gas is produced. The resulting residue can be used as fertiliser for
agriculture.

So how many cows do you need to charge a phone while still having enough for
cooking and light? According to Anne, one needs 400 liters of gas for one
hour of cooking. The biogas socket will use 50 to 150 liters of biogas per
hour. In terms of dung this means a "daily minimum of thirty to forty
kilograms of cow dung, so one needs at least two cows," says Anne.

Dung etiquette

Both students were surprised to discover it was very impolite to ask how
many cows a family owned. "It's like asking in Western countries how much
people earn. But it's nice to experience these cultural differences," says
Anne. "You may prepare a lot beforehand, but you will always come across
something unexpected. Our solution was to simply count the cows in the
garden".

Simple Technology

Sorry for delay in posting this.
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From:      Internet: "Shyamasundara Dasa" <shyamasundaradasa@gmail.com>
Date:      20-Sep-11 06:35 (12:05 +0530)
To:        Global Varnasrama Mission
Subject:   Simple technology-light from a bottle of water
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14967535

9 September 2011 Last updated at 01:31 GMT  Help

A simple initiative in the Philippines is bringing a bit of brightness into
the lives of the country's poorest people.

The project is called "Litre of Light", and the technology involved is just
a plastic bottle filled with water.

It's an environmentally-friendly alternative to an electric light bulb, and
it's virtually free.

The BBC's Kate McGeown reports from Manila.
(Text PAMHO:22254139) --------------------------------------

------- End of Forwarded Message ------

Sustainable Living Architecture - The Living Bridge of Meghalayas

Wow! great post by Bala Krishna Prabhu!

http://www.snotr.com/video/7331/The_Living_Bridge


Hope you get time to watch this wonderful video!
Ys, BCD


---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From:      Internet: "James McComb" <bforganics@gmail.com>
---------------------------------------
From: <DasDasDas@aol.com>
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http://www.snotr.com/video/7331/The_Living_Bridge

The Living Bridges Of The Cherrapunji

Posted on 03 February 2010

It is incredible to see the bridges in Cherrapunji grow on their own, instead of being built. They are called ‘Living Bridges’ of Cherrapunji. Cherrapunji, in Meghalaya, India, is famous for the highest amount of rainfall in the world. It is not only the maximum rainfall that you witness here, but the place is adorned with amazing plants also, which leave you astonished.

A local tribe in Meghalaya, called War-Khasis, realized the utility of the plant ‘Ficus elastica’ (a rubber tree that produces secondary roots from higher up in the trunk, steeping into the river beds or perching around the boulders), to grow bridges naturally.

It is all about using intelligence in making this bridge. The local tribesmen allow the rubber tree’s roots to grow in the right direction, by making use of the betel-nut trunks which are sliced down from the middle and hollowed out.

The roots are then made to return to soil, so that over a period of time, a strong bridge is constructed. This strength of the bridge is directly proportional to the time factor i.e. the maximum the time covered; the maximum is the strength of the bridge. And to one’s amazement, these bridges can last up to centuries, taking of about 10-15 years of time for the development.

The root bridges can stretch up to 100 feet long and are sturdy to accommodate around 50 or more people simultaneously. The passage is covered with stones and boulders entangling the roots, to make an easier way.