How does starch act as an indictor?

Date: 31.10.2007

All Chemistry lovers would know that starch (a bio-polymer) serves as an indicator in iodometric and iodimetric titrations, which are epitomes of redox titrations.

As a student of Chemistry, I wish to explain the intricate mechanism by which the bio-polymer serves as an indicator in the aforesaid redox titrations.

The bio-polymer starch comprises of 20% water soluble amylose and 80% water insoluble amylopectin. The amylose component of starch possesses helical structure by virtue of which it serves as an indicator in iodometric and iodimetric titrations.

In both the titrations, the system will possess a mixture of molecular iodine(I2) and iodide ions(I-). Molecular iodine combines with iodide ions in a reversible manner, thereby giving rise to a complex called tri-iodide ions(I3-). The equilibrium of the reaction of formation of tri-iodide(I3-) ions is always backwards. So, I3- ions are actually considered as molecular iodine(I2) in a solution of iodide ions(I-).

It is hypothesised that when an aqueous solution of starch is added into a system comprising a mixture of I2 and I- ions, the I3- ions(that will be present all the time) and I2 will enter into the cage formed by the helical structure of starch, where they combine together to form I5- ions. The I5- ions complex with starch through weak Van-der-Waals force. This complex of I5- ions and starch is blue in colour. Thus as soon as starch is added into the system, violet colour is observed. With subsequent addition of the titrant, usually sodium thiosulphate(Na2S2O3), the violet colour gradually disappers and the end-point is complete disappearnce of the violet colour.

A necessary precaution that has to be taken while making use of starch as an indicator is that, it should be added only after the colour of the solution in the conical flask turns straw yellow in colour. If starch is added in prior, then excess of iodine would get into the helical structure of starch and get coagulated. Thus, one would end up getting non-reproducible end-points.

Common Errors in English - 7

Date: 17.10.2007

Today let us see some aspects on correct usage of verbs.

* Error No.: 1

The conjunctions "Either....or" and "Neither....nor" take up only singular verbs

The following are some examples on the correct usage:

* Either Mala or Manju takes care of the creche (Right)

* Either Mala or Manju take care of the creche (Wrong)

* Neither Ramesh nor Raju speaks French (Right)

* Neither Ramesh nor Raju speak French (Wrong)

* Error No.: 2

The phrase "One of..." should be followed by plural noun/plural pronoun and singular verb. The following are some of the examples on correct usage:

* One of my sisters is an Engineer (Right)

* One of my sister is an Enginner (Wrong)

* One of my cousins lives in Singapore
(Right)

* One of my cousin lives in Singapore (Wrong)

* One of my cousins live in Singapore (Wrong)

* Error No.: 3

Always remember the structure in English that "Does + Plural present tense verb = Singular present tense verb". Therefore,

* She speaks Tamil (Correct)

* She does speak Tamil (Correct)

* She does speaks Tamil (Wrong)

* Does she go to college today? (Correct)

* Does she goes to school? (Wrong)

* Error No.: 4

One more important structure in English language is as under:

"Did + Plural present tense verb = Past tense"

Therefore, the correct usage is,

* Did you watch cricket the last day? (Correct)

* Did you watched cricket the last day? (Wrong)

* I did not meet her today in office (Correct)

* I did not met her today in office (Wrong)

Anticipating your valuable comments. Bye for now. Happy learning...........

Common Errors in English - 6 (Of Redundants)

Date: 17.10.2007

Today let us see some common redundants in English.

* Redundant No.: 1

Never use "Suppose" and "If" together, since they both mean the same. Let us see some examples:

* Suppose she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Right)

* If she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Right)

* Suppose if she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 2

Never use "Otherwise" and "Or" together, since they both convey the same meaning. Let us see some examples:

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone otherwise no need (Right)

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone or no need (Right)

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone or otherwise no need (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 3

Never use "Return" and "Back" together, because the very word "Return" means "Give Back". Let us see some examples:

* Please return the book to me (Right)

* Please give back the book to me (Right)

* Please return back the book to me (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 4

Never use "Revert" and "Back" together because the very word "Revert" means "Get back". Let us see some examples:

* Please revert to me at the earliest (Right)

* Please get back to me at the earliest (Right)

* Please revert back to me at the earliest (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 5

Never use "AM" and morning together and "PM" and evening together. It is again a redundant.

* Today I got up at 8 AM (Right)

* Today morning I got up at 8 O' clock (Right)

* Today morning I got up at 8 AM (Wrong)

The same thing holds good for evening/night and PM

* Redundant No.: 6

Never use "Repeat" and "Again" together, because the very word "Repeat" means "Do again". Let us see some examples:

* Please repeat the sentence (Right)

* Please tell the sentence again (Right)

* Please repeat the sentence again (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 7

Never use "Descend" and "Down" together and never use "Ascend" and "Up" together. Let us see some examples:

* She was descending down the stairs (Right)

* She was going down the stairs (Right)

* She was descending down the stairs (Wrong)

* She was ascending the stairs (Right)

* She was ascending up the stairs (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 8

The words "Each" and "Every" are synonymous and therefore they shouldn't be used together. Let us see some examples:

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses each and every facet of human life (Wrong)

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses every facet of human life (Right)

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses each facet of human life (Right)

Silappadhikaaram - Narration in English

Date: 24.09.2007

Here I would like to give a gist of the famous Tamil epic "Silappadhikaram", my most favourite epic. This is essentially for non-Tamil speakers to gain a flavour of the marvellous Tamil literary work.

The title of the work, "Silappadhikaaram", literally translates into English as, "Chapter of the Anklet". It was penned by a Prince(of Chera dynasty, the dynasty that ruled the present day's Kerala for centuries together) turned Jain Saint, by name, Elangovadigal, around 2nd century AD. Elangovadigal abdicated worldly life to belie the predication of an astrologer, who in his father's court predicted that despite being the second son of the ruler, Neduncheralathan, he would only succeed his father and not his elder brother Cheran Senguttuvan, who was believed by all as the heir to the throne.

The following is something very peculiar to Silappadhikaaram:

The epic conveys three universal truths, the story of the epic revolves around three principal characters, it extols three dynasties (The Chera, Choza and Pandya dynasties, the three great dynasties that ruled the then Tamil Nadu), it talks about three cities (Poomphuar, Maduari and Vanji (Vanji is a part of present day's Kerala)) and about three mountains, the epic has three main chapters (known as Kaandangal in Tamil), the epic has been penned in all three facets of Tamil language, namely, prose, poetry and drama. One more beauty of the epic is that eventhough it has been penned by a staunch follower of Jainism, no other deity/religous sentiment has been criticised or abased in it.

The three universal truths that are being conveyed by the epic are:

a) If a ruler doesn't abide by righteousness, then the very act would prove to be a God of Death (known by the name Yaman/Yama in Hindu mythology) for him

b) A woman with high degree of chastity would be worshipped even by the noble

c) Every human being has to face the music for every sin, even if it had been comitted in the ex-birth

In most of the Tamil epics/literary works of those days, the principal character would be a Divine figure and not a layman. On the contrary, in Silappadhikaaram, all three principal characters are laymen. Hence, in Tamil, the epic is referred by the epithet, "Kudimakkal Kaappiyam", which means, "Epic of the masses".

With this much of introduction on the epic and its author, let me start narrating the story of the epic now:

In the city of Poompuhar, which was then ruled by the Choza dynasty, where river Cauvery flows into Bay of Bengal, there lived two reknowned businessmen by name Masaathuvaan and Maanaicken. Masaathuvaan had a son by name Kovalan, the hero of the epic and Maanaicken had a daughter by name Kannagi, the heroin of the epic. When Kovalan attained the age of sixteen, he got married to Kannagi, who was twelve then. Their marriage ceremony was performed to the amazement of the entire town of Poompuhar.

Kovalan and Kannagi lived happily for a while. One fine day, they both went to witness the performance of danseuse Madhavi, who hailed from a Devadasi family (referred to as Kanikaiyar Kulam in Tamil), the third principal character of the epic. Kovalan, apparently seduced by her performance and beauty, deserted innocent Kannagi and remained all the time at Madhavi's quarters and in due course united with her in wedlock. Through Kovalan, Madhavi bore a female child, by name, Manimekalai, christened after the family deity of Kovalan.

Owing to his affairs with Madhavi, Kovalan was least bothered about grief- stricken Kannagi. Seduced Kovalan gradually lost interest in his business also. Chitrapathi, mother of Madhavi, in the name of Kovalan, cunningly deprived Kannagi of all her wealth and heaped the same at her daughter Madhavi's premises.

One fine day, Kovalan went to attend a trade fare along with Madhavi. They had a nice time there and in an exuberant mood Kovalan requested Madhavi to sing a song. Madhavi obliged her spouse's request and sang a song by playing the musical instrument veena. Kovalan started reading between the lines of Madhavi's lyrics and developed a suspicion on her that she being a Kanigai(Devadasi) possessed interest on the Choza King, even after having had married him.

Furious Kovalan then parted with Madhavi and left for Kannagi's place. Grief-stricken Kannagi, became ebullient on seeing Kovalan. Kovalan begged the pardon of Kannagi. But Kannagi by virtue of her high degree of chastity, didn't even consider her spouse's affairs with Madhavi either as an insult or as a disloyal act of Kovalan towards her. With all grace, he was accepted by Kannagi.

Kovalan and Kannagi found themselves deprived of all material wealth except a pair of anklets(called Silambu in Tamil) that were being worn by Kannagi. Since Kovalan's affairs with Madhavi had earned him disgrace amongst the people of Poompuhar, they thought that it would be embarassing for them to continue living there. So, they came up with the decisive decision of earning a living and settling down peacefully in the city of Madurai, the capital of Pandya dynasty. That night itself, they started their voyage to Madurai by walk.

During their voyage, they encountered a female Jain Saint by name Kaundhiadigal. The chastity of Kannagi made the unadulterated Jain Saint to utter the following in praise of Kannagi:

"I, who had not worshipped anyone other than Lord Arugan(The principal deity of Tamil speaking Jains), instantaneously after looking at Kannagi, started worshipping her as a Goddess"

She accompained Kovalan and Kannagi till Madurai, where her hermit was. Also, she left them under the protection of Ayai, a Yadhava woman. Ayai took utmost care of her guests. Kovalan and Kannagi were moved by the hospitality of poor Ayai.

To earn a living in the city of Madurai, Kovalan and Kannagi came up with the idea of pledging one of the anklets of Kannagi. Kannagi happily handed over one of her anklets to Kovalan, who left her at Ayai's premises and went to pledge it at the premises of a gold smith. At that time, one of the anklets of Koperundevi, the Queen of Madurai, which was given to the gold smith for repair, was stolen. When Kovalan went to pledge one of the anklets of Kannagi, he was mistaken for the culprit by the people over there. They then informed the King, Pandiyan Neduncheziyan. The King, who was supposed to make thorough enquiries before rendering his final verdict, instead, ordered his men to behead Kovalan. Consequently, innocent Kovalan was beheaded!

Kannagi, after hearing the news, became furious and bravely stepped into the court of the king and verbally attacked him with rage. She proved to everyone that her husband was innocent by breaking open the sole anklet that she had with her, which comprised of beads of rubies. She demanded the king to break open both the anklets of his queen. He accepted her demand and broke open one of the anklets of the queen which comprised of beads of pearls and when he broke open the another anklet of his queen, to his horror and to everybody's horror in the court, beads of rubies were emerging out of it!!

The King, who was very much reputed for rightousness until then, realised his grave blunder and died of shock and grief. Following the king, the queen also joined the majority. Kannagi, who remained inconsolable even then, by virtue of her high degree of chastity tore off one of her breasts and threw it and set ablaze the entire city of Madurai, where injustice was rendered to her innocent consort.

With untold sorrow and agony, she reached the city of Vanji, where her deceased husband descended from a vehicle from the heaven and took her along with him. Both Kovalan and Kannagi then attained oneness with God.

In this epic,

* The unadulterated female Jain Saint Kaundhiadigal worshipping Kannagi as a Goddess conveys the second aforesaid universal truth that a woman with high degree of chastity would be worshipped even by the noble

* The king rendering his final verdict without even investigating the case conveys the first aforesaid universal truth that if a ruler doesn't abide by righteousness then the very act would prove to be a God of Death for him

* It is said in the epic, that the hero Kovalan in his ex-birth had rendered injustice to a gold smith and as a consequence of it he was rendered injustice in the next birth through a gold smith. This conveys the third aforesaid universal truth.

A temple has been raised for Kannagi in Srilanka by Kayavaghu, the then ruler of Lanka. There is a temple enshrining Kannagi in present day's Kerala. The art gallery established at Poompuhar by the Government of Tamil Nadu narrates the entire story of Silappadhikaaram through sculptures.

This laudable Tamil literary work is being taught at all levels in schools and in colleges for students, who opt to study Tamil as one of the languages. Thus, Saint Illangovadigal by virtue of his work has earned a peerless place in the history of Tamil literature.

Acknowledgements:

* To my respected father, Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan, to whom I owe all my interests and knowledge in my mother tongue Tamil as well as in English

* To my respected Tamil teacher, Ms. C. Ambujam, who first taught me the epic of Silappadhikaaram

* To my respected Tamil professor, Dr. (Mrs.) Padmavathi Vivekanandan, who inculcated in me a profound interest and understanding of the nuances of the epic and other great literary works of Tamil, by virtue of her teaching

* To my colleague cum best friend Ms. Harshita Jaiswal, whose unstinted moral support and constant encouragement made me to become a blogger

* Last but not the least, to my kith and kinand to The Divine Almighty

Udupi - Lord Krishna Temple

Date: 20.09.2007

The town of Udupi, is the head quarters of one of the 27 districts of the state of Karnataka in south India. The name of the district is the same as that of the town itself. Earlier it was a part of South Canara district of Karnataka. The town of Udipi is mainly inhabited by Tulu speaking people. The cuisine of Udupi is quite famous throughout the state of Karnataka as well as in other parts of India.

More than the cuisine, the first thing that would strike many people's mind soon after hearing/encountering the name of the town is the temple enshrining Lord Krishna, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the principal deity of the Vaishnavaites.

Let me now narrate one of the stories associated with the temple. There lived a staunch devotee of the Lord by name Kanakadas, who was also well-versed in playing the musical instrument called "Thambura", who hailed from a lower caste family. During the days of Kanakadas, caste discrimation was at its ne plus ultrum. As a consequence of which, he was forbidden from stepping into the temple by the people of the upper caste. Such an inhuman act made him to go and stand in front of the rear side wall of the temple everyday and made him to worship the Lord from there by playing thambura and singing devotional hymns in praise of the Lord.

This act of Kankadas was incessantly continuing until the day on which the following miracle happened:

On that day, amidst several hundred devotees, who were thronging in the temple to worship the Lord, four bricks from the rear side wall got dislodged completely and fell off and the entire statue of the Lord turned exactly 180 degree facing Kanakadas!!!

Even today we can find the doors opening into the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Krishna remaining shut. And whoever wishes to worship the supreme Lord has to worship Him by viewing Him through the space created by the dislodged bricks.

As a mediocre human bieng, I don't know whether the aforesaid is actually a true incident or a tall story. But unmindful of the authenticity of it, what I would like to say is, it actually corroborates the saying,

"God is one who neither likes nor loathes anyone"

The fourth couplet of the Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" also says,

"Those who bow down to His feet, who neither likes nor loathes anyone,
would never ever have anything called agony"

The town of Udupi is about 60 km from the town of Mangalore, which is the head quarters of the district of South Canara of Karnataka. People who wish to visit Udupi prefer to stay at Mangalore, where good hotels of moderate and affordable cost are available. Mangalore is well-connected by road, rail and air with Chennai, Mumbai, Goa etc. It is well-connected by road and rail with Coimbatore and other parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Plenty of buses ply in a day from Banglore to both Mangalore and Udupi.

Thus far I have visited the temple twice along with my parents. I wish that the Lord showers His Mercy on one and all in the world.

Spanish - Tamil & English - 4

La fecha: 19 de Septiembre 2007
நாள் : 19.09.2007
Date : 19th September 2007

El gobierno

(உச்சரிப்பு: எல் கோ-பீயர்-னோ) (Pronounciation: El GO-bee-er-no)

(பொருள்: அரசாங்கம்) (Meaning: The Government)

ஒரு நாள் ஒரு குறள்

நாள்: 19.09.2007


இனிய உளவாக வின்னாத கூறல்
கனியிருப்பக் காய்கவர்ந் தற்று

அதிகாரம்: இனியவைக் கூறல்

பொருள்: இனிய சொற்கள் இருக்கும் போது அவற்றை விடுத்து தகாத சொற்களைப் பயன்படுத்தும் செயலானது நல்ல சுவையுள்ள கனியிருக்கும் போது அதனை விடுத்து காயினை நாடுவதற்கு ஒப்பாகும்