AR RAHMAN TEAMS UP WITH HANS ZIMMER ,84TH OSCAR AWARDS 2012 - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

EAST MEETS WEST-  AR RAHMAN AND HANS ZIMMER - 84TH OSCAR AWARDS 2012 - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

The 84th Oscar awards ( 2012 ) audience "shivered their musical timbers" , when two living legends cum geniuses Indian AR Rehman and German Hans Zimmer joined forces on stage.

Check out the video below ( Sangamam ) yourself-  put on your headphones.

This is the 3rd time AR Rahman is performing on the Oscar stage-- to a spellbound and appreciative Western audience.

In 2009, the Rahman won two golden statuettes for best original score and best original song (Jai ho) for the Hollywood movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Rahman is a music composer, singer, songwriter, music producer, musician  and multi-instrumentalist . Zimmer is a music composer and producer.

In addition to two Academy Awards, Rahman has won two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations.  

He is called " the Mozart of Madras"-- 

To be frank he is a greater genius than Mozart or Hans Zimmer as he can sing too, in addition to being astonishing on the keyboard.  

In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People. The UK based World Music magazine Songlines named him one of 'Tomorrow's World Music Icons' in August 2011.

German Hans Florian Zimmer has composed music for several hit Hollywood movies like for The Lion King (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), Gladiator (2000), The Last Samurai (2003), The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010). 

He has received four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Classical BRIT Award, and an Academy Award. 

He was also named on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, published by The Daily Telegraph.

RAHMAN FOR BHARAT RATNA !

Late addendum :

Below video shows Tamil music director Ilayaraja's genius  ( see my comments column below )--  he has pulled soul strings in almost 1000 movies-- and how!. .

ILAYARAJA IS THE JEWEL ON THE CROWN OF INDIA --  BHARAT RATNA IS BELOW HIM.

Check out a clip of the Malayalam movie Pazhassi Raja below --  Ilayaraja, bagged the National Award for the best background score for Malayalam film Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. Shivered your timbers-- nay --every cell of your body , right?

Let me introduce young Stephen Devassy,  a genius Malayali keyboard player from Kerala--  a Dhoni look alike.  Can Hans Zimmer do this?

Stephen holds the record at Trinity College of Music, London for completing the course in three years’ time-- the shortest ever.

See video below.

THERE IS A WHOLE BETTER 

WORLD BEYOND OSCARS !!

Grace and peace!

CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

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MANSA MUSA KING OF MALI AND SRI PADMANABHASWAMY TEMPLE GOLD - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

MANSA MUSA OF MALI, RICHEST  KING OF THE PLANET -- SRI PADMANABHASWAMY TEMPLE OF KERALA,  THE RICHEST TEMPLE OF THE PLANET-- IBN BATTUTA'S  TRAVEL ACCOUNTS IN MECCA, MALI AND CALICUT , --  BARTER OF GOLD FOR VEDIC BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

Two days ago, it was a bit distressing to hear that the rebels burn the library of Mali containing ancient  books of knowledge accumulated by Mansa Musa , the richest king of this planet ever.  

I guess the rebels did this with a heavy heart to prevent the white man stealing their books and carting it away. 

As it is in the guise of digital translation the white man has been trying hard to get hold of these ancient priceless books — most of which are Arabic translations of  Kerala school of Vedic Maths and Science.

US attempts to build up Mali's military as a bulwark against the extremists, by training army officers and providing equipment including brand-new Land Cruisers with huge long range guns and expensive communications equipment, ( like in Libya ) backfired spectacularly last year after a rebellion in the north provoked a coup that unseated the elected government in Bamako.  On March 22, 2012  just a month before a presidential election in the country, US trained Capt Amadou Haya Sanogo and soldiers loyal to him stormed the presidential palace in the capital Bamako and overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure.

In 1799, the owner of British East India Company , German Jew Rothschild stole the largest amount of gold on this planet from Tipu Sultan , and carted it away to Europe. 

This would be the base of the Rothschild banking cartel fortune-- and their elevation to the status of Big Brother.

Tipu Sultan stole his gold from the vaults of the ancient Kerala temples, the fruit of millenniums of trade in spices and knowledge –yes- knowledge.  An insignificant temple of South Kerala was NOT destroyed by Tipu Sultan. 

He tried , but all he got for his efforts was a broken leg and loss of his sword, which is now with Indian Businessman Vijay Mallya.

Punch into Google search TIPU SULTAN UNMASKED VADAKAYIL to know more about the dirty tricks of the Jew Rothschild.

In June 2011, the Indian Govt opened a minor vault of this temple and the discovery shocked the world. An enormous quantity of gold was found,  valued prima facie at 24 billion US dollars .

The antique value of gold artifacts and jewels will make the value 10 times more.  

This forced the Indian Govt to abort the opening of the major vaults, due to security concerns. Probably they are at a loss to understand what to do with all this money.

Till today all are scratching their heads as to the source of this gold, lying unknown , in the sealed vaults of this minor temple--  Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple of Kerala..

Punch into Google search IBN BATTUTA AT CALICUT VADAKAYIL to read an account of the barter of gold by Mansa Musa , the wise king of Mali with books of knowledge ( of medicine, maths, astronomy, science etc)  with the Calicut king.  

Ibn Batuta was at Calicut ( my hometown ) and worked in the Calicut Kings court for a while.  A lot of Vedic books were translated into Arabic .

Mansa Musa was  born in 1280 and ruled the Mali Empire which, at the time, produced more than 70% of the world's supply of gold thus contributing to his substantial wealth. 

Mansa Musa's reign (1312-1337 CE) was "the golden age of the empire of Mali”. Today Mali has been exploited and is one of the poorest countries in the world.  Mali has good reserves of Uranium, oil and gas.

Mansa Musa is remembered for his extravagant Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), which he performed in 1324. 

The journey across Africa to Mecca took over a year and he is said to have travelled with a large retinue of camels, slaves, subjects, saddled horses, coloured flags, gold - as well as his senior wife Inari Kunate, who, apparently took with her five hundred maids-in-waiting.

Mansa Musa set out from Mali for Mecca with an entourage of 60,000 people as per Ibn Batuta who visited Mecca 9 years later.

Since his empire was one of the richest in the world, the caravan of travelers must have made quite an impression to everyone they passed. 12,000 servants accompanied him, each wearing valuable silks and carrying a 4 pound bar of gold.  

More than 100 camels of this caravan carried more than 300 pounds of gold nuggets , each. The propaganda is that he gave all the gold away away free,  enroute.

No Sir!  not at all !!!.  

He has lot of scholars with him and he bought up every book of knowledge on the way for nearly one year.  He also hired doctors , architects , teachers , thinkers, translators and scholars and took them back to Mali with him.  He would set up great universities.

Those days the King of Calicut had his own camel caravan operating between seaports Aden, Salalah to Mecca and from  Bernice in Egypt to Mali – and he got royalty for the goods and the books of knowledge translated to Arabic.

This wise king knew that knowledge is more precious than gold, which very few understood those days.  

Most of this knowledge in those days were transcripts of Vedic Indian books in Astronomy, Medicine, Maths, Science etc translated to Arabic from Malayalam and Sanskrit books of Kerala--my home state.

This is as per Ibn Batuta’s accounts .

Musa’s Mecca trip and his barter of gold for books and scholars would soon establish Mali as one of the intellectual capitals of the world.  Mali developed one of the richest educational traditions of the world at that time.  Libraries were all over cities such as Gao and Timbuktu. Public and private collections had thousands of books.

Most of these books are still lying in deep foxholes in the desert sands at the people of Mali do NOT trust any central library which can be raided by the cunning white man.

This tradition of knowledge lasts until today in Mali. Families still hold on to private library collections that number in the hundreds of books, many of them hundreds of years old. 

The people of Mali are fiercely protective of their knowledge that has been passed down from the time of Mansa Musa, making it very difficult for outsiders to access these great libraries. 

Mind you, never be under the illusion that this knowledge is generated from brains of Mali citizens -- this is IMPORTED Indian ( translated ) knowledge, paid for with gold nuggets --money well spent.


Those days you could dig 3 feet under the ground with a stick and get gold nuggets.

Mansa Musa was the richest man ever to have lived! The 14th Century king of Mali is ranked at number one in a new inflation-adjusted list of the world's 25 wealthiest people of all time (three of which are still alive including Bill Gates and Warren Buffet). This king is said to have had a personal net worth of $400 billion at the time of his death in 1337 !

Timbuktu is not mentioned by the early Arab geographers such as al-Bakri and al-Idrisi. The first mention of Timbuktu is by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta who visited Timbuktu in 1353.

Timbuktu is located in the western African nation of Mali at the edge of the Sahara.  The popular statement, " From here to Timbuktu." conjures up images of remote, isolated and distant parts of this earth.  Despite its illustrious history, modern-day Timbuktu is an impoverished town,  desperately poor even by Third World standards.

Mansa Mussa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 had made Mali known worldwide and attracted the attention of the Kings of Portugal and Spain. The fact that so much of gold was bartered and taken away to Calicut was NOT lost on them. 

It is no wonder that soon by 1498,  Vasco Da Gama would land at Calicut. Some of the Kerala manuscripts translated to Arabic are now found in Mauritania.

Today, nothing remains of the palace built by Mansa Musa, but the mosque still stands as a reminder of the past. After the Europeans actually reached Timbuktu, it was reduced to little more than a "mass of ill-looking houses made of earth." 

They had no interest other than looting whatever wealth was available.  The local population hid the books in fox holes in the desert and most of them are still there in these holes.

Today Timbuktu lies in the independent country of Mali. It is accessible by air, but it is far easier to go by boat or camel caravan.

On 3 April 2012, the BBC reported that the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine had started implementing  Islamic sharia in Timbuktu , and that the Christian population had fled the city,  pissing off the Christian West.

Never mind the poverty and the suffering.  French and British soldiers are now in Mali, to re-install their "pro-west puppet democratic government".  

Christianity must get a toe hold and prevail, right?

History repeats itself.

The widespread looting in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk and other Iraqi cities, following the collapse of the Ba'athist regime of President Saddam Hussein, was not merely an incidental byproduct of the US military conquest of Iraq.  It was deliberately encouraged and fostered.  Thousands took part in the looting in Baghdad which began , the day the Hussein government ceased to function in the capital city . Some of them have already found their way to the auction houses of the West, quietly .

Perhaps the most devastating loss for the Iraqi people is the ransacking of the National Museum, the greatest trove of archaeological and historical artifacts in the Middle East. The 28 galleries of the huge museum were picked clean by “sponsored” looters ( with US military watching ) who made off with more than 171,000 irreplaceable artifacts, PRICELESS  relics of past civilizations dating back 8,000 years .

Wanna know more about gold barter? check out the video below!

Grace and peace!

CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
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UNDERSTANDING JET LAG AND MANAGING IT - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

JET LAG PREVENTION ,  MELATONIN , CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS,  NITROGEN DECOMPRESSION , NOISE CANCELLING BOSE HEADPHONES  - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

My elder son came home for vacation from USA last month. Despite travelling several zones eastwards, causing significant circadian rhythm disruption he appeared fresh as cucumber when he landed at Calicut.

He showed me his secret.  

A swank pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones which kills the monotonous back ground ground noise of the jet engines and the hissing air inside the aircraft, and of course the usual noise clutter. The Bose Quiet Comfort headphones set will set you back by 300 US dollars.

It electronically cancel out sound waves.  They do this by picking up a sound, processing it, and then creating a new sound that effectively cancels the original sound by destructive interference. 

Nowadays most airline pilots use it on long haul flights.  Bose pioneered the technology and have been continually perfecting it for 26 years.

Having flown around the world for the past 4 decades to embark and disemark from a ship, half way across the globe , I guess i am competent enough to write about jet lag.

You find lot of people giving you bull advise on how to manage jet lag. How can they do it when they do NOT understand the real reason?  There are many reasons , but some affect you more.

The air we breathe in the aircraft contains 78% nitrogen, unlike divers who breathe in pure oxygen . When you inhale air, your body consumes the oxygen, replaces some of it with carbon dioxide and does nothing with the nitrogen. 

At normal atmospheric pressure, some nitrogen and oxygen is dissolved in the fluid portions of your blood and tissues. Most of the oxygen gets consumed by your tissues, but the nitrogen remains dissolved.

Nitrogen, which is present in body fluids, comes out of solution and forms bubbles if the pressure on the body drops sufficiently as it does during ascent into the higher altitudes.  Overweight persons are more susceptible to evolved gas decompression sickness as fatty tissue contains more nitrogen.  

Low pressure in the cabin causes the nitrogen gas in our body to expand, and this is what causes your ankles and joints to swell, due to ruptured capillaries and edema caused due to the type of iodised salt they use in the aircraft food. ..  

The lack of blood circulation from sitting for long periods without moving, compressing the veins at the underside of the thighs makes matters worse. To remedy this, wear slippers or large travel shoes and periodically walk around.

Released nitrogen bubbles on ascent, are responsible for increased blood-clotting and complications of mountain sickness like by nausea, headache, loss of appetite, dizziness and sleep disturbance. 

Airlines are required by civil aviation authorities to carry oxygen supplies in the event of an emergency such as a decompression. The supplies are in the form of drop-down masks and portable oxygen cylinders. There is sufficient oxygen to allow either a 30-minute high flow or a 60-minute low flow. 

Although on-board oxygen is available for medical incidents, the airline should be notified at least 48 hours before departure for any supplemental requirements, particularly for continuous oxygen throughout the flight. Most of the airlines charge a supplement for providing these additional facilities, which in the case of US carriers can be up to US $200.  

Babies cry a lot, and produce a dry cough which is the result of dehydration. The remedy is to get them to breathe oxygen through a moist hand towel.

The humidity level within the aircraft cabin is low, partly because the outside air at high altitude contains 67 percent less water than at sea level and partly due to the fact that the outside cold air, has to be heated. Respiratory viruses survive better than bacteria in low humidity and passengers tend to suffer from upper respiratory infections post-flight.

On long flights the aircraft has very little moisture in the air and the relative humidity drops to less than 10% .  Dehydration is the result with dry skin and itchy eyes .  The rest of the body reacts to the lack of moisture by adjusting its biochemical levels, which can throw your entire system haywire.  

Our bodies consist of over 65% water, so when we lose that water, every organ is affected.  Our brain is 83% water, blood-92%,  kidneys - 82%,  liver-69% and muscles-75% .

Water is the lubricant of all moving parts in the body.  All cells are water cooled. The dry air of the airplane cabin wicks moisture away from the skin and can cause acute water loss if not properly managed . 

A very important tip to prevent jet lag is applying skin moisturizer to minimize dehydration. Often, dehydration symptoms alone present as jet lag.  

Drink plenty of water to remain hydrated. To avoid the uncomfortable feeling of “jet-belly” do not drink anything with bubbles because all gasses expand during flight causing acute abdominal distention (bloating). 

Airplane food is typically high in fat, salt, and sugar, and low in carbohydrates.  It is difficult to digest in flight with your intestines all swollen from the airplane's low air pressure.  Avoid alcohol and coffee; they have diuretic properties, i.e., they squeeze water out of your cells.  

For humidified breathing air, cover your nose with a water-saturated cotton handkerchief. (Fold on the diagonal and wrap ends around your ear).

After landing, take a shower or soak in the water tub as soon as possible.  Bathing when dehydrated helps to replenish moisture right through the pores and relaxes the nervous system. 

During a 3 hour flight your body can lose up to 1.5 litres of water, then you can do the math on how much water to drink by the length of your flight.   Use saline eye drops during the flight to prevent dry eyes and use a saline nasal spray too. 

Air gets rarified as you go higher up.  As you go higher the oxygen content which is 20.8% at the surface of the earth gets less. 

Therefore each breath of air that you breathe at, for example, 15,000 feet above sea level has about half the amount of oxygen of a breath taken at sea level.  Airplane cabins that are pressurized to accommodate an altitude of  8,000 feet or higher will decrease the oxygen level in the blood.  

The air that you breathe during a flight is the air that is outside your window, although the air is modified and compressed before being pumped into the cabin. This air is more akin to the thin rarified mountain air we breathe on high mountains. 

The already lesser oxygen of the pressurized air can have the same effects that low-oxygen does on earth. ie light headedness, difficulty in concentrating, shallow breathing, loss of math skills, aches in joints, impaired vision and other maladies . As altitude increases, the body becomes less and less efficient due to lesser oxygen. 

You may be aware that completely deprived of oxygen, the human body dies in 8 minutes.

Although the proportion of gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide remains the same in the atmosphere no matter the altitude, as you go higher the partial pressure of each decreases. Oxygen deficiency, which is technically known as hypoxia, occurs when there is a decrease in the partial pressure of inspired oxygen (PIO2 ), such as happens in an aircraft . 

The PIO2 at sea level is 150 mmHg; at altitude it can fall to 60 mmHg, decreasing the oxygen level in the blood to 89 percent or below.  Of all the tissue cells, the brain cells are the most sensitive to lack of oxygen. The areas of the brain most affected at low cabin altitudes are those associated with the powers of judgement, self-criticism and accurate performance. 

Carbon monoxide, the chief component in tobacco smoke of passive smokers , has 300 times greater affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen, and therefore will displace it readily to form carboxy-hemoglobin.  It is a good thing that aircrafts now ban smoking.

Hypoxia is defined as a lack of sufficient oxygen in the body cells or tissues. The higher the altitude, the greater the sleep disruption.  Generally, sleep disturbance becomes greater at altitudes of 13,000 feet or more.  The disturbance is caused by diminished oxygen levels and accompanying changes in respiration. 

This may makes you slightly lethargic, resulting in a higher risk of more severe jet lag symptoms.  If the flyer has an underlying medical condition, such as anemia or heart disease, having less oxygen may worsen jet lag symptoms even more.

Aircraft which have partially recirculated air have a higher humidity level ( breathing and perspiration of passengers ) than those with only a 100-percent fresh airflow—but then the quality of this air is very poor.

What with so many passengers in the plane - with some of them farting continuously and hyper ventilating passengers breathing out too much carbon-di-oxide..

Man’s  body is equipped to operate at greatest efficiency within relatively narrow limits of atmospheric pressure and, through years of habit, has adapted itself to movement on the ground.   As the plane gains altitude, the air pressure drops.  At 5,500 metres, it is only half of the pressure at sea level, at 11,000 metres—only a quarter.  

In the cabin interior, the pressure is always equivalent to that at a height of 2,500 metres.  The Concorde was an exception with higher cabin pressure differential.

The difference between the two pressures, outside and inside an aircraft cabin, is called the cabin pressure differential. The engines of jet airliners compress air as part of their operation. The air, which is bled from each engine, enters the fuselage throughout the flight to keep the pressure constant. 

There are outflow valves to control the expulsion of air and to protect the aircraft itself from excessive differential pressures. Too great a difference in the outside and inside pressures and, as in the case of the balloon or bicycle tyre, the plane would either burst or crumple in on itself.

During ascent or descent when the plane is below that height, the cabin pressure varies according to the air outside, and the pressure in your middle ear adapts accordingly (often noticeable by a crackling noise). These pressurization changes may cause discomfort in your ears during climb or descent. 

You can relieve this discomfort by yawning, swallowing hard or chewing gum. You can also pinch your nose and force air into it with your mouth shut. This will re-open the passage linking the middle ear with the pharynx and relieve the pressure.  

If you are travelling with a bad cold, nose drops in both nostrils during take off and landing will ease the swelling of the mucous membrane and allow the pressure in the middle ear to adapt more easily. 

The body contains a number of gas-filled cavities such as the ears, sinuses, lungs and stomach, which communicate with the surrounding atmosphere. In accordance with Boyle’s Law, the gas will expand on ascent in an aircraft by about 35 percent, and while there is unrestricted access between the cavities and the surrounding atmosphere, this expansion will occur unnoticed. However, if this pressure build-up cannot be relieved it may cause considerable pain.

See video above  how many of you think Freemason Charles Darwin and his evolved monkey gang will understand this?

The ear is composed of three sections. The outer ear is the auditory canal and ends at the eardrum. The middle ear is a cavity surrounded by bones of the skull and is filled with air. The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear to the throat. The inner ear is used for hearing and certain equilibrium senses.

As one ascends or descends, air must escape or be replenished through the Eustachian tube to equalize the pressure in the middle ear cavity with that of the atmosphere. If air is trapped in the middle ear, the eardrum stretches to absorb the higher pressure. The result is pain and sometimes temporary deafness.

During climbs, there is little problem since excess air escapes through the tube easily. However, during descents, when pressure in the middle ear must be increased. The Eustachian tubes do not open readily. The passengers must consciously make an effort to swallow or yawn to stimulate the muscular action of the tubes.

Sometimes it is advisable to use the Valsalva technique, that is, to close the mouth, hold the nose and blow gently. This action forces air up the Eustachian tubes.

Children may suffer severe pain because of ear blocks during descents. They should be repeatedly reminded to swallow or yawn. Small babies are incapable of voluntarily adjusting the pressure in the middle ear and should be given a bottle to suck during descents.

Painful ear block generally occurs; as a result of too rapid descent. Some stupid pilots descend too fast causing a great deal of grief to small babies.

Alcohol is absorbed very rapidly into the blood and tissues of the body. Alcohol is absorbed into the fluid of the inner ear and stays there after it has gone from the blood and brain. 

Since the inner ear monitors; balance, alcohol there can be responsible for incorrect balance information and possibly spatial disorientation.

The presence of alcohol in the blood interferes with the normal use of oxygen by the tissues (histotoxic hypoxia). Because of reduced pressure at high altitudes and the reduced ability of the haemoglobin to absorb oxygen, the effect of alcohol in the blood, during flight at high altitudes, is much more pronounced than at sea level. The effects of one drink are magnified 2 to 3 times over the effects the same drink would have at sea level.

Infection of the inner ear, that is a common symptom of a cold, can also produce severe vertigo. The tissue around the nasal end of the Eustachian tube will quite likely be swollen and middle ear problems associated, under normal conditions , with descent from altitude will be severely aggravated. A perforated eardrum is a possible result. Although a perforated eardrum usually heals soon, in some cases there is permanent hearing impairment or prolonged infection of the middle ear.

When you look out of the window in daylight , the sunlight is reflected is back into your eyes by cloud tops. This light contains more of the damaging blue and ultra-violet wavelengths than are encountered on the surface of the earth. 

Prolonged exposure can cause damage to the eye and especially to the lens. Sunglasses should, be worn to,  provide protection against these dangers and to prevent eyestrain in case you are the type who wants to look out from the window. 

Jet lag, is termed desynchronosis in medical parlance.   It results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms resulting from rapid long-distance transmeridian (east to west or west to east) travel on a jet aircraft.  It is a physiological condition and has to be prevented or managed with this in mind. 

Transmeridian flights in excess of three time zones can result in significant circadian rhythm disruption. When flying in a westerly direction the day is lengthened. When flying east, against the direction of the sun, the day is shortened.

The traveller’s body clock will be out of synchronization with the destination time, as it experiences daylight and darkness contrary to the rhythms to which it has grown accustomed. The body's natural comfort zone pattern is upset, as the rhythms that dictate times for eating, sleeping, hormone regulation and body temperature variations no longer correspond to the environment , nor to each other. Resetting the circadian clock can be difficult.

The body operates with many circadian rhythms, such as body temperature regulation, endocrine (gland and hormone) function, airway function, and kidney (renal) function.

Jet-lag is not psychological; it is cycle logical. All our internal cycles (temperature, sleep, cravings for sweets, reactions to medications) are programmable, like computers. For instance, body temperature slowly rises throughout the day, drops dramatically around midnight, and begins to rise again before 6 a.m.

Mental alertness and the propensity to fall asleep are regulated by circadian rhythm. There are two peak times of day at which a person is most susceptible to falling asleep, 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most people have experienced the urge to fall asleep in the late afternoon, after eating lunch. It is not necessarily the food that makes people want to fall asleep at this time, but the time of day.

All the rhythms mentioned above occur in humans within a cycle of approximately 24.5 hours. These natural rhythms occur even in the absence of daylight or darkness. Studies in which people live without any way of knowing what time of day it is have shown that these people continue to follow a 24-hour schedule.

That is, they sleep for about eight hours, and their waking activity levels correlate with those found for individuals under normal conditions of time and light-dark cycles. It seems the influence of circadian rhythm is unavoidable.

People naturally synchronize their internal clocks with day-night cycles, which allows them to be awake during the day and to sleep during the night. The body regulates this chiefly through the eyes. Light stimulates nerves in the retina that pass a signal through a chain of nerves to the brain.

Some of these nerves feed the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that regulates body temperature, water and sugar ratios, and fluid secretions and which houses the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a bundle of nerves that controls the body's circadian rhythms.

The hypothalamus like a alarm clock regulates our sleep cycles, as well as many other body processes such as body temperature, hunger, thirst, blood pressure, and the level of hormones and glucose in the bloodstream.

A disruption to the circadian rhythm affects alertness, appetite, and hormone secretion because the hypothalamus is unable to immediately recover to a change in the environment. These interactions are responsible for the majority of the symptoms of jet lag...

When bright light stimulates the optic nerves, the optic nerves send the signal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which then triggers circadian rhythms, resulting in the synchronization of the body's 24-hour cycle with the earth's 24 hour cycle. When the eye of an air traveler perceives dawn or dusk many hours earlier or later than usual, the hypothalamus may trigger activities that the rest of the body is not ready for, and jet lag occurs.

Jet-lag affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally. A physical example is swollen feet and abdomen distension. . A mental example is disorientation. An emotional one is anxiety.

There is travel fatigue as the passenger is sitting in a cramped space, usually sharing elbow room with strangers  with little chance to move around and the concept  of time is disoriented.

Jet lag effects include  confusion, dehydration, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, lethargy, fatigue mild depression, unsettled feeling , decreased awareness and attention deficit. Meals, sleep, bowel habits, and other daily routines are all pushed either side..

Eastward travel is associated with difficulty falling asleep at the destination bedtime and difficulty arising in the morning. Westward travel is associated with early evening sleepiness and predawn awakening at the travel destination. Travelers flying within the same time zone typically experience the fewest problems.

 Your body clock controls your sleeping and waking pattern.  It also affects your hunger, digestion, bowel habits, urine production, body temperature and blood pressure.

  

Sunlight is a big component of your internal body clock.  When the sun goes down, your brain induces melatonin, your sleep-stimulating hormone.  The retina, a layer at the back of your eyeball, captures light and is used to receiving a regular amount of sunlight in your local time zone.  

Hi tech “sunglasses”,  “time control” spectacles, which can imitate sunlight patterns inside aircraft has been developed.  The glasses emit a soft green glow that helps a traveler adapt to changing sleep patterns and time zones in “small steps”.  Sunlight is the primary environmental influence that regulates the internal clock and the associated late-night melatonin pulse.

The earth's magnetic field is also be an environmental signal affecting circadian rhythms in humans.  When shielded from the earth's ambient magnetic field, human circadian rhythms become disrupted

Melatonin tablets which are used to manage jet lag , are available without doctors  prescription and selling like hot cakes 

The Pharma lobby tells you that these tablets are safe.

OH YEAH?

First of all, Melatonin is a sleep and body clock regulator – NOT a sleep initiator.   

Melatonin works with your biological clock by telling your brain when it is time to sleep. Melatonin does not increase your sleep drive or need for sleep.  

Your melatonin levels can be tested with a blood test, urine test or saliva test.  The melatonin is also produced in the retina, the skin, and the GI tract, but this is not the melatonin what affects your biological sleep clock.   

Melatonin in pill form does not function like your body’s naturally produced melatonin.  It affects the brain in bursts and rapidly leaves the system, instead of the slow build-up and slow wash-out that your body’s naturally produced melatonin experiences.

If Melatonin tablets are safe I dare any doctor to prescribe it to a pregnant woman or a woman who is nursing .  

Women who are pregnant,  nursing or attempting to become pregnant should avoid melatonin supplements.  Excessive melatonin use during pregnancy usually lead to developmental disorders in the baby, and high levels of melatonin may have a contraceptive effect on those hoping to conceive.  

Men using the supplement may notice a decrease in sperm count, decreased sperm mobility and increased breast size ( tuft titties ) .  Both men and women will experience a decrease in sex drive.  Melatonin supplements may increase cholesterol . 

Patients with type 1 diabetes have reported elevated blood sugar levels while taking melatonin. Even low doses of melatonin may reduce glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Arrhythmia ( irregular heartbeat ) is often associated with regular use of melatonin supplements.  

Melatonin supplements have also been linked to an increased risk of autoimmune disorders such as autoimmune hepatitis, and even to triggering Crohn's disease ( bowel inflammation ) symptoms. According to MedlinePlus, users have reported stomach cramping, nausea and vomiting.

Melatonin is a hormone. It tells your body that it’s nighttime and it’s time to go to bed. It is not an herb, a vitamin, a medicine or a mineral. Hormones are naturally produced by your body as you need them. Which means it is very unlikely that someone has a melatonin deficiency—unless you are trying to beat jet lag with it in a stupid manner. 

While a melatonin supplement could be considered natural, in most cases, it doesn’t come from the earth. There are exceptions of foods that contain melatonin, but this is totally a different type of NATURAL melatonin , SANS SIDE EFFECTS than what is produced in by your pineal gland.

Melatonin can have side effects.  Doses of melatonin (2-3 mg or higher) have reported side effects of headaches, nausea, next- day grogginess, hormone fluctuations and nightmares

This means now I must explain Melatonin in greater detail.  

The Western world woke to to a gland by the name of Pineal Gland only recently-- after they read the ancient Indian Vedas of 5000 BC. 

The Shiva Lingam which produced Melatonin or rather converts Serotonin to Melatonin , is the pineal gland of Shiva.

Like I said before--

Our sleep is regulated by the production of the hormone melatonin.  

The perception of darkness alerts the hypothalamus to secrete melatonin which promotes sleep and the perception of light forces the hypothalamus to withhold melatonin.  

The hypothalamus cannot readjust its schedule instantly,  when shifted half way across the globe. It takes several days.  

Melatonin is manufactured in the pineal gland from tryptophan, and its synthesis and release are stimulated by darkness and suppressed by light. This means, the secretion of melatonin is responsible for setting our sleep-wake cycle.

The body clock is adjusted to the solar day by rhythmic cues in the environment, mainly the light-dark cycle, and the rhythmic secretion of melatonin. The hormone Melatonin is also produced in the gastrointestinal tract.  

Sheep that normally breed only once per year can be tricked into having two breeding seasons by treatment with melatonin. 

You can trick hens to lay two eggs a day, by putting ON/OFF  a bright white light.

Melatonin is a natural sedative. The brain releases melatonin only during times when the level of light is low. Melatonin is released during darkness even by animals that are nocturnal.  Melatonin is also a free radical scavenger and an antioxidant. 

The pineal gland is large in children but shrinks at puberty.  It appears to play a major role in sexual development, hibernation in animals, metabolism and seasonal breeding.  The retina in the eye transmits information on light exposure to the pineal gland.  

The pineal gland uses this information to coordinate the human biological clock.  Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland at night to help induce sleep, while light exposure inhibits melatonin production. During the day, melatonin secretion is almost zero.

Melatonin is responsible for metabolism, sexual development and for regulating other hormones in the body. Pineal function can be affected by environmental stresses such as abnormal light and dark rhythms, temperature oscillations, radiation, high altitude and even magnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields (EMF) suppress the activity of the pineal gland and reduce melatonin production.  EMF activity therefore disrupts the bodies circadian rhythms. 

The pineal gland calcifies with age and melatonin production correspondingly decreases.

Decline in melatonin is the trigger for the aging process, for Melatonin is the super oxidant of  nature.  Serotonin, keeps you happy and in a balanced mental state of mind.  PROZAC raises serotonin. The pineal gland is a photosensitive organ and thus an important timekeeper for the human body

Chemically, you'll notice on a bottle of melatonin supplements that it says N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine.  However, natural melatonin is made from the brain tissue of cows. So how many vegetarians know about this?  

Remember mad cow disease a few years back? 

Were you warned, by the Pharma industry monopolized by Big Brother ? 

That's the risk of taking natural melatonin.  Melatonin safety for long-term use is dangerous, for frequent flyers . It is, after all, a hormone.  

And just like early studies reported benefits of estrogen use in women, which turned out to be a complicated mess, there is no way of knowing how long-term use of melatonin supplements will effect a human being.   The American Academy of Sleep Medicine does not approve of the use of melatonin supplements unless administered under the direction of a doctor.  In Europe, melatonin supplements are only available by prescription.

Synthesis and release of melatonin is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. But even without visual cues, the level of melatonin in the blood rises and falls on a daily (circadian) cycle with peak levels occurring in the wee hours of the morning. . The maximum amount of melatonin released in the bloodstream of the elderly is only half of that in young adults.

At sunset, the cessation of light triggers neural signals which stimulate the pineal gland to begin releasing melatonin.  In my home  you will NOT  see white fluorescent tube lights.  Have you ever seen white tube lights in any 5 star hotel-- like in a Mumbai Irani restaurant?

This rise continues for hours, eventually peaking around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. for the elderly) after which it steadily declines to minimal levels by morning.  The delay in timing and decrease in intensity of the melatonin pulse is a manifestation of the aging process. 

Melatonin secretion naturally drops off with age. This decrease is so reliable that blood melatonin levels have been proposed as a measurement of biological age. This age-related reduction in melatonin levels may partially account for the reason many older people have difficulty sleeping at night, and for why they are so fatigued during the day. This is called age-induced "jet-lag." TEE HEEEEE !

In Europe, melatonin at very high doses has been used as a contraceptive.   With circadian enhancers like melatonin, the timing is critical. When taken in opposition to the body's natural circadian rhythm, they cause cognitive deficit just like jet-lag does. But when taken in synchronization with the body's natural circadian rhythms, they enhance mental performance.

Within the pineal gland, serotonin is acetylated and then methylated to yield melatonin. Serotoninworks by enhancing the mood, reducing pain and providing energy, and is a natural stimulant. Serotonin is a precursor to melatonin, meaning the body can convert serotonin into melatonin, which is then stored in the pineal gland. 

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter whose deficiency is associated with depression. Serotonin is targeted in the treatment of depression, but is not prescribed in its native form. Serotonin cannot pass the blood-brain barrier, so serotonin itself does not enhance mood . Instead, many medications for depression are aimed at stopping the breakdown of serotonin. 

The pineal gland of the brain sits outside the blood-brain barrier, meaning that melatonin can be used in its native form. Serotonin is a natural stimulant. Melatonin is a sedative derived from serotonin. 

An inadequate supply or inefficient use of either neurotransmitter is linked to mental illness. Depression can result from deficient serotonin or excessive melatonin production. Too much serotonin or too little melatonin can result in insomnia.

Move around on the plane on long flights to promote mental and physical acuity, as well as protect against deep vein thrombosis. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing.  Sleep, if possible, during long flights.  

Travelers should eat a bit less in-flight because the cabin pressure puts an extra strain on the digestive process. Many airlines have started serving their meals according to the destination's time zone .  Refrain also from drinking carbonated beverages or eating gas producing foods like beans.

Sleep on board if your flight lands in the morning and avoid sleeping on board if your flight lands in the evening When you first arrive, schedule work or other important activity at a time when you are likely to have maximum energy, (i.e., in the evenings, after jetting east, or in the mornings, after jetting west)

Avoid situations requiring critical decision making, such as important meetings, for the first day after arrival. 

As a ship-captain this is impossible most of the time, as after a hectic taking over, the ship has to be navigated out of port through busy lanes. After 30 years in command , I can vouch this is UNSAFE. All it requires is a hotel stay before going on board.

These problems which affect safety of life has NOT yet been addressed by the Maritime world, which is ruled by jack asses.

Grace and peace!-- trying playing this video below ( 20000 watts ) in a discotheque with BOSE speakers.

The Sanskrit chants are 7000 years old.

Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnu

Guru Devo Maheshwaraha

Guru Saakshat Para Brahma

Tasmai Sree Gurave Namaha

Meaning:  Guru is verily the representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. I salute such a Guru.

Akhanda Mandalaakaaram

Vyaaptam Yenam charaacharam

Tatpadam Darshitam Yena

Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha.

Meaning:  Guru can guide us to the supreme knowledge of THAT which pervades all the living and non-living beings in the entire Universe (namely Brahman).  I salute such a Guru.

Agnyaana Timiraandhasya

Gnyaana Anjana Shalaakayaa

Chakshuhu Unmeelitam Yenam

Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha.

Meaning:  A Guru can save us from the pangs of ignorance (darkness) by applying on us the balm of knowledge or awareness of the Supreme, I salute such a Guru.

You will notice they are different from the modern BEAT IT,  BEAT IT or for the matter BABE BABE BABE 

CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
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