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A short history of India's drinking culture
Magandeep SinghOct 07, 2017 | 10:20
Alcohol came to India way earlier than anyone would guess. It ebbed and flowed with the powers that governed, sometimes rising to popularity and at other times slinking away into the shadows.
To correct that first statement, it didn't actually "come" to India; alcohol was as much a homegrown essential as any other staple. We were among the first civilisations to discover the science of distillation and put it to good use. However, some historians dispute the claim that the Easterners were among the pioneers in distillation and state that it was invented by Europeans in the twelfth century.
Although ferments don't feature as widely or popularly in our ancient past, many historians argue that the beverages mentioned in the Vedas were never stated to be distillates. There could be many reasons for this: we didn't have the right ingredients for ferments, viz grapes or barley (although, in my research, I did find a mention of masara, a pre-Aryan rice, grass and barley drink that was consumed by the hill tribes of the northern provinces of our country).
Ferments deteriorate fast whereas spirits can hold for much longer which could have served as an incentive to quickly distil and concentrate the life-giving virtues of the ingredient at hand. Another possible explanation is that since early days the obsession with alchemy attracted us more to distillation as a science which may also explain why we had so many drinks and perfumes before everyone else. Still no gold from lead though.
We can't also discount the notion that we may have lost some concoctions and recipes along the way – even our knowledge of the distillates is mostly educed from our findings of containers and utensils which were possibly used in the process. As for what our ancestors drank and how it tasted, one can only hazard a guess.
So our journey begins here, pour yourself something suitably stiff and settle in.
Pre-Vedic potents
The Aryans arrived in India circa 1600 BC and displaced the Harappans who had established one of the earliest civilisations here in 3000 BC. Excavations from both these periods have yielded clay pots. Scientists and archaeologists have been able to rearrange somewhat rudimentary but complete distillation set-ups from these findings.
Various metals too may have been used. Mankind had been busy honing its skills at extracting and forming them into useful shapes, fashioning everything from tools to weapons to receptacles. Metallurgy contributed much to man's pursuit of the process of distillation as did clay pots and utensils.
The early distillates were mostly made from Bassia latifolia aka Madhuca indica, or the mahua flower as it is popularly known today in places where it is grown, stretching from Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh, and including Chhattisgarh. It grows wild all over the country save for the extreme north. Mahua flowers soaked in water and then left to ferment yielded a drink high on glucoside (and glycoside) which serves as a laxative. Glucosides are glucose precursors ie they yield glucose (a form of sugar) upon being broken down.
Without this conversion, they act like roughage which can cleanse out the system. Glycoside, or more precisely senna glycoside, is a laxative that can empty out the large intestines rather quickly. Both of these are often found in the same plant sources, flowers mainly.
So indeed, mahua is a very strong laxative which may have deterred our ancestors from indulging too much in it. It can hardly be a party if within twenty minutes every guest is queuing up for the bushes with an agitated bowel.
So it was the distillate that was preferred. The spirit, as it comes off the still, has a foetid (mousy) odour. Not a very pleasant flavour to hold down, really. Ageing helps alleviate this rankness so utensils must have been required to hold the beverage while it homogenised and became more palatable.
But, as mentioned above, whatever little we know of times then is purely based on smart assumptions and logical deductions from what remains and that which we have managed to collect. It's the reassembling of a puzzle with missing jigsaw pieces. Any picture we are seeing is still largely incomplete.
The Vedas
The first mention of alcohol appears only with the Vedas when the Rig Veda (1700 bc) talks about intoxicants like soma and prahamana. The juice of the soma plant is considered an intoxicant, delivering a euphoric high. It sounds very similar to the Incan ayahuasca, a plant-based drink which has hallucinogenic properties (thanks to dimethyltryptamine, or DMT).
DMT is a psychedelic compound which was traditionally consumed by the Ayahuasca natives for its healing properties but also for its divinatory relevance. This most powerful of hallucinogens is also the one found very commonly in nature. Not only is it found in plants but there are traces of it in the human body as well (albeit in very small doses). Dating back centuries, this ayahuasca drink has managed to survive to this day while the soma plant is not to be found any more.
Of what we can gather from textual descriptions, soma had long stalks, tawny in colour and fifteen leaves (although the Vedas record this plant as being leafless). Some point out that it was possibly a creeper (somalatha is a candidate for this, still found in the Himalayas) with a bulb but it couldn't have been the source of the juice as it is toxic to humans and, strangely enough, white ants. How one found that out will perhaps remain the bigger mystery.
The secreted juice was almost milky in nature and obtained by the pressing (and even pounding) of the stalks and stems. It was common to mix this with milk and honey. Although it grew commonly and widely in the Himalayan reaches, nobody knows where it came from or where it was native to. But it was known to be big on the trade circuit; so it could have just as easily arrived in someone's backpack and then found its root here with much commercial success, which then would have further boosted its popularity as a commodity on the trade route. What does remain are entire strings of songs (well, prayers more correctly) offering apologies to the gods for the loss of this plant and its marvellous elixir. Rhubarb has been cited as a substitute, but that again, wasn't a native plant.
There are other contenders for what could have been the original soma plant: from American milkweed (some species are toxic to humans, don't know about their effect on white ants though) to ephedra which has medicinal (anti-allergy) properties and is also a cardiac stimulant (not to mention illegal sports performance enhancer). Some have even nominated Cannabis sativa (aka good ol' weed) for the position but it remains the least plausible candidate.
Sushruta recorded in his famous medical compendium, the Samhita, that he who drinks soma will not age and will be impervious to fire, poison or weapon attack. He can master all the Vedas and will find success wherever he goes. Furthermore, it could imbue the drinker with the energy of a 1000 elephants! On certain evenings I have felt exactly like that with mere alcohol but then woken up the next day to inexplicable bruises on knees and shins.
But the trouble was that one really had to prepare to drink soma — not before imbibing it but for the period which followed right after. A drinker was prescribed an unusually long ritual which dictated what he was supposed to do to counter its effects as well as explained what the person would feel for each day after consuming soma.
From building a house with three chambers and living in each progressively to throwing up worms from all orifices, having fixed meals and drinks at predetermined times of the day, it was almost 120 days before the person was stable enough to be reintroduced into society again. Now I've had a few nasty hangovers in my time and I know all about that feeling of not wanting to see anybody the next day out of the sheer shame of the evening before (there's, in fact, a word for it, veisalgia).
But four months is too long a quarantine even by my decadent standards. Also, it would make it well-nigh impossible to meet up with all your friends for general weekend catch-ups over the course of a year.
The sweet juice of the soma plant was drunk as is and was said to provide a divine connection to the gods. The Brahmins, the yogic elite, believed that soma provided them with more than just a hotline to the divine; it imbued them with supernatural powers. For example, they could simply look at a living being and make them fall dead.
The only reason they didn't exercise them all the time was because, thanks to soma, other yogis were equally powerful. And as for dropping the ignorant dead, the sages knew what Spiderman's Uncle Ben taught him much later, about great power involving great responsibility and as such, they kept their strength to themselves.
Alongside soma, there existed somarasa, and while few places outline a clear difference, my readings have inclined me to believe that this was perhaps fermented soma. In the process of acquiring alcohol, the juice lost some of its (hallucinogenic) properties. It also acquired a sharp acrid taste, one which needed toning down with curd, honey and grain (gruel).
But rather than its drinkability, its other usages were more sought after: in its unspiked form, somarasa was strong enough to be used for washing metals and was applied in the purification of mercury as also in the production of pure zinc. It was also used as a dye and a solvent.
So the fermented version clearly had many uses. In fact, so scientific and precise was its making and extraction that there existed a name for every stage of the product starting from day 1 to day 15, and maybe more. Hymns praising soma have been found through the ages and most importantly, they constitute the ninth mandala (book) of the (Rig) Veda which in its 114- hymn entirety is devoted to the purification of soma. That's a lot considering there were only a total of ten mandalas and most were dedicated to praising deities, cosmology, or the importance of charity.
Many other names have been found for the drink(s) of the times: madhu (mead), subhra, gorjika, vivakasa, and one of particular anecdotal interest, sukra.
Astrologically speaking, "Sukra"(meaning white) is Sanskrit for Venus. In Vedic lineage, he was a pure brahmin of the highest order and a guru of the asuras (demons), who were in constant battle with the devas (gods). Sukra knew the mantra to revive the dead. This was of much concern to the devas so their teacher Brahaspati (aka Jupiter) sends his own son, Kaça, to study under Sukra, alongside Sukra's daughter Devayani. The plan was to somehow get Sukra to teach Kaça the chant of immortality.
The asuras come to know of this infiltration and immediately kill Kaça, at which point Devayani goes and tells her father about the goings-on and he, using the chant, immediately brings Kaça back to life. Sukra's reasons for bringing the boy back to life were based on the principle of the teacher's duty to protect his disciples.
The demons kill him again, Devayani complains once more, and shortly, he is alive again. This cycle goes on for a bit, like a loop, till the demons come up with a devious plan. They kill Kaça, grind him up and mix him into Sukra's wine which the latter then drinks. This time when he tries to revive Kaça, he experiences a severe pain in his stomach.
Only when Kaça speaks up from inside him Sukra realises what has happened. Unwillingly, he teaches Kaça the mantra so that when he rips through and comes out of Sukra's tummy, he can revive Sukra. But in the process, the chant now comes to be in both camps of the battle.
Why is this story of interest to us? Because this is the birth of the reason why Brahmins don't drink wine. And yet, Sukra is a name that was used to describe one of the Vedic drinks.
Could sura as a name have been derived from Sukra? There is no evidence to suggest so. Also, if Sukra was drinking soma, then it couldn't have been sura for the latter has been recorded as a distillate. Unlike ferments which are simply a product of a natural reaction where yeast acts upon sugars present in a substance and converts them to alcohol (thereby releasing carbon dioxide), distillation is a man-made process to separate and concentrate specific components from any given liquid based on the principle that different compounds boil at different temperatures. The first mention of sura being distilled is found in the Rig Veda.
The Sukla Yajur Veda, however, records sura to be made from rice meal, wheat, grapes, sugarcane and a host of other fruits.
It could have been a brew (and not a distillate) but it was popular among the warriors and the working class. As these sections of society (the non-god types basically) were only allowed to consume distillates to unwind at the end of a stressful day, chances are that it may just have been a spirit.
But then it was also Lord Indra's favourite drink and he won many a battle after consuming it. Considering the ingredient list, I wouldn't have minded a cup or two myself. Another recipe I found mentioned germinated barley and rice which sounds more like a refreshing modern-day beer, really. But remember Lord Indra was a god so he also drank soma for its possibly hallucinogenic high while sura, now sounding more and more like a distillate, was to help with the drudgery of life in general.
Parisruta is another drink mentioned in the Vedas and was said to be made from flowers and grass. The word also means to trickle or ooze, so most likely it was a ferment made from collected sap. Unlike fruit juices, saps are natural secretions found in the trunks (and barks) of trees and plants.
Alexander the Great, Bacchus and Shiva
A very curious story, one that has not been mentioned enough, is that of Alexander and his time in India. When he barged into Asia and finally invaded India, Alexander came across the city of Nysa, which, as lore goes, had been earlier invaded and settled by Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. Nobody knows when this might have happened. Or how given the terrain that had to be covered to reach India from Greece; even Alexander must have doubted this as another tall tale.
As the story continues, the king of Nysa met with Alexander, requesting him not to disturb the city of Nysa. Dionysus had settled the city in the region called Nysae with people who had accompanied him in war but were too weak to return. The city was named after his nurse. And proof of all this was that Nysa was the only city in India where ivy (the vine, implying grapevine) grew.
Alexander did indeed find vines in the region and must have been convinced not to meddle with a god's dwelling for he left the city and its people alone. Historians have put its location somewhere around Punjab where this encounter must have happened. Meros is the mountain where Dionysus was supposed to have been born and in Sanskrit, Meru is the sacred mountain with five peaks and is the centre of all universes.
The city that Alexander must have come across would have been in the region where the inhabitants were probably followers of Shiva. Now, this is where the similarities between the two gods gets uncanny. Both Dionysus (or Bacchus) and Shiva are gods who are scantily draped in just a cloak. Both the gods freely administer and use intoxicants.
Their followers too celebrate their respective gods by dancing and drumming. And, here's the last one, both the gods believe in the cycle of birth and rebirth, or reincarnation by any other name. So do we possibly worship the same god in another interpretation? Not too far-fetched to imagine given the empirical data.
Many centuries later, when the English made wine in India (to coincide with the International Exhibition in Calcutta in 1883–84), the regions they chose were Kashmir and modern-day Sindh which would have been part of the greater area of Punjab back then and even today they share borders. The vine would have once again returned to the region with the English settlers this time.
Alexander and the Indian Drinking Olympics
While still on Alexander, allow me to digress a bit further; my research threw up this very interesting anecdote and since I have nowhere else to put it, here it is. Alexander always believed that he had earned the wrath of Bacchus by killing his best friend when drunk and also by not making the requisite sacrifices when he had razed the town of Thebes which was under the protection of the same wine god. So he always sought out ways to buy his way into the Lord's good books. This act here was one such effort.
Calanus (or Kalanos) was a native of Taxila (in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan). He had accompanied Alexander on his voyages and Alexander had a deep regard for his interpretation of Greek philosophy. It is said that this great Indian philosopher self-immolated when he felt his cycle of life was coming to a close.
As this happened in India, it prompted Alexander to organise (funeral) games in his honour, much on the lines of the Olympics back home in Greece. Except these weren't your regular sports competitions; one of the games involved copious amounts of drinking. I guess Alexander saw us as being built more for comfort than for speed. Also, with these games not only was he trying to celebrate the memory of the pious Calanus but also maybe appease Bacchus.
Whoever could drink the maximum amount of unmixed wine would be declared the winner. Should have been quite the party except that thirty-five people died almost immediately after ingesting ridiculous amounts of alcohol. Shortly after, six more succumbed to this binge fest. The one who won (or rather, survived) celebrated his victory for four days before joining the others in the afterlife.
As for buying Bacchic benevolence, guess the ploy failed for the march back home was disastrous as many soldiers died or were lost in the desert, and it all ended with Alexander's own death upon reaching Babylon. Strangely enough, the last words of Calanus to Alexander, as he sat unflinchingly atop his burning pyre, had been, "We shall meet in Babylon." Some say Alexander died after drinking eight horns of unmixed wine but most likely it was poison that did him in. In other words, no matter how powerful you are, you don't mess with the god of alcohol!
Medicinal Alcohol
While alcohol for revelry and celebration was always a moot point, alcohol being used for other purposes was never a problem. Alchemy was a growing interest and purification of metals required alcohol. It was a ready solvent and good for preservation. Alcohol also had antiseptic properties. The Charaka Samhita (Charaka's compendium), the most exhaustive tome of the day on medicinal sciences, was unbelievably detailed about alcohol and its consumption.
The book is a compilation of parts of that had been destroyed or lost under other circumstances at various points. It wasn't written by one person as such but compiled and taught by many sages over time. Çaraka or Charaka was possibly the last one to edit and revise the text and it is mostly this version that has survived (with some parts being added by another sage, Dridhbala, as they had been lost over time, and it was he who put together this final compilation).
So the Samhita as we know it today has texts from various authors from different eras on the subject and the final compilation contains almost 120 chapters discussing everything from the human body to symptoms and cures of diseases.
The chapter concerning alcohol starts with the fact that alcohol in any form is a toxin and one needs to prepare the body before consumption of the same. The sages clearly left no room for ambiguity on their feelings towards intoxicants. There was a time, place and a ritual for administering alcohol.
One had to take into account age, diet, constitution, season, time of day, state of mind, and the doshas (Vedic classification of a mix of physical, mental and emotional characteristics derived from the natural elements — earth, air, water, fire — that make up our conscience). Fail to follow these precisely and you risk bringing misery upon yourselves. Their words, not mine.
The use of alcohol, especially by a mind which was not in a state of balance gave the momentary illusion of happiness but in the long run was detrimental to both physical and mental health. A person who was angry, grieving, tired, starved, paranoid, or scared should refrain from having alcohol as it would only worsen their condition. How could they have known, for all those words describe precisely the last few rememberable moments of a modern-day Saturday night bender... before one wakes up past noon the next day on a strange sofa!
The Ayurveda texts don't just stop here; they have detailed notes on when to drink and subsequently, how to wean someone off an addiction to substances. Ayurveda decrees, in what can only be called contorted logic, that it is okay to have alcohol with mango juice but it is best to avoid alcohol during summers or when it rains. Isn't that precisely the season when mangoes are in abundance?
That's like declaring that you can order a drink as long as there's no bar involved! As for those who were hitting the liquor-laced earthenware hard, satmikarana is the process of gradually reducing the dosage of intoxicants over time before one can be declared free from its clutches. Think of it like rehab minus the social trolling that accompanies it today.
The Charaka Samhita also lists recipes for alcohol-based tinctures which were administered in tiny amounts (48ml or one pala, generally). They were usually given after meals as curative and preventive potions. These were called arishtas (fermented decoctions) and some of them can be found even today. Almost eighty-four alcohol-based recipes can be found for arishtas and asavas (fermented infusions).
Together they were used to balance the doshas (there's that word again!) of an individual. Alcohol increases the pitta while reducing the vata and the kapha elements of our constitution. Both arishtas and asavas were prepared in hermetically sealed earthen pots using natural ingredients and a fermentation starter. They could be stored and were administered as per the advice of the physicians who usually studied the pulse of the patients to determine the dosha imbalance and then decided what mix was needed to restore total equilibrium.
This was the other compilation on the medical advancements of the day. Sushruta is the same gentleman who also delved into surgery and is considered the first Indian plastic surgeon. He performed operations from amputations to rhinoplasty and even more complicated procedures.
In his compendium, he listed over 500 drugs with curative properties. Of these almost sixty-four were mineral based and involved intricate handling and washing of various metals and their salts. All this alchemy required alcohol as a major tool to aid in the extraction, isolation and/or conversion processes.
But apart from being the father of (Indian) surgery he may just have been the first sommelier too for he left notes about where the best soma came from: his appellation of preference was the Upper Indus valley (in the reaches of Kashmir) chosen from almost twenty-four types of drinks of varying potency that he had defined and classified as part of his (tasting) notes.
Another tome of extensive knowledge of the times, covering everything from political governance to social customs, is the Arthashastra. The title roughly translates to "Science of Political Economy/Gain". It was written by Chanakya, or Kautilya, who was the teacher-cum-adviser of King Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya dynasty in India.
He wrote the entire script on palm leaves and for the most part of our history, it was lost to us till it was found again in 1904 and published. The found manuscript wasn't the real McCoy but it was largely an edited version, true to the original work. The language of the book is measured and logical without giving in to emotion or passion. Think of it as the Indian equivalent of the Machiavellian Prince. But it also talks about the alcohol of the times.
Chanakya mentioned the asavas and the arishtas but he also wrote about kapasayani, which was the name given to white wine, and, harahuraka, the red wine, from the region of Kapisi, just north of Kabul. Today the region is called Kafiristan but harahura is the term used for black raisins even today. The red wine was often used as a draksha, which were supplements to aid in digestion.
Maireya was a spiced sugar-based liquor that was drunk exclusively by royalty in those days. For the commoners there was kilaka, from cereals, and masara from a mix of rice and spices. Avadatika, jathi (from flowers), parisruta, s(h)iddhu (dhataki flowers which were also used for asavas/arishtas), varuni (strong liquor)... all these may just seem like names to you and me but these were possibly the most used words when they clanged last orders in the tavern.
Oh by the way, for trivia sake, ever wonder what they ate to accompany their drinks in those pubs? Salt! That's right. Good old table salt: keeps you thirsty, keeps you going. Pretty hard-core stuff that, if you ask me.
Maurya's times were one of the first periods in India when the sale of liquor was controlled and even taxed. Designated areas for drinking were created and these were the early bars of our times. During festivals, public drinking was allowed for a period of no more than four days and anybody found flouting the rule on the fifth day would have been fined by the excise inspector.
An important thing noted in the writings of the times is that although they mention the use of soma for religious ceremonies, it was excluded from domestic rituals and substitutes were listed instead. One of the reasons for this could be a growing paucity of the hallucinogenic plant which would have made the amount of juice available limited and thus precious; a clear indicator of the general decline of soma, an eventual loss for all of us.
Anno Domini: Post-Vedic virtues
By ad first century, a lot had changed. It isn't as if we suddenly went from making frugal concoctions to mixing world-class drinks but between the Vedas (which were a few hundred years old already) and the detailed recordings of the visiting travellers (from ad 5 onwards), we find little in local texts to substantiate or mark any major development or evolution in our fermenting and brewing processes or in our drinking behaviour.
So when we contrast the two it seems that by the start of the first millennium the small changes had cumulatively added up thereby leaving us to assume that over time knowledge of alcohol and the many recipes had become more concrete.
As also had the variety! Prasanna (spiced beer), medaka (spiced rice beer), mahua (flower distillate), madira (high-quality wine) were all to be found. Madya was the generic term for all high alcohol-content beverages (spirits). The recipes too became more intricate (and elaborate) using ingredients beyond the basic: from honey and treacle to all sorts of flowers, roots, barks and fresh spices for flavouring fine distillates.
Sugarcane beer was another common beverage. In fact, many of the beverages which were formalized in the scriptures of the day have continued to exist to this day and are still made and consumed in remote parts of our country.
The trouble is that these advancements weren't confined to a geographic location. It all happened simultaneously over the entire subcontinent. What we do know of them is through records of the day which were maintained by the local historians or by the travelling/visiting types. And safe to assume that, sadly, a lot has been lost in translation. So while many believe madira to be a distillate, one description labelled it as fine wine.
Asava, a medicinal fermented infusion, has been interchangeably listed as a generic name for sugarcane beer. Worst loss yet were the recipes themselves, especially the ones which detail the production of various alcohols. And lastly, the measurement units changed over time so what was one drona (10kg by my research) at one point could have meant something different a few decades earlier, or after. And we still don't know how much exactly is a
And we still don't know how much exactly is a choe of unmixed wine even if we do know that the winner of Alexander's drinking game drank four of them (which killed him, precisely four days after).
Fast-forward a century and this ambiguity was much tamed. Detailed recipes for fermentation starters have been found. One certain yeast recipe was called kinra. It wasn't just local produce that was popular and growing. Coins have been found with Roman seals (of the kings of those times) suggesting a flourishing trade. But Roman money (denarius) back then was the most stable currency and was used in trade even within India. So finding coins wouldn't be enough to suggest an ongoing trade.
But warehouses in Pouduke (Pondicherry) with amphorae (with two ears hinting at the Roman style) replete with the manufacturers' (Roman potters') seals have been found indicating that wine was definitely a traded commodity. These facilities were built near ports and considering that they were almost 50m in length, it signifies the volume of trade that was being carried out then.
Apart from this and much, much later, Indian wine shone at the Great Calcutta Exhibition. This was made by the British in the regions of Kashmir, Golconda and Baramati. Unfortunately, these vineyards too were destroyed when an American louse called phylloxera attacked the vineyards of Europe (circa 1890). The small bug travelled to Europe and infested the vineyards, decimating them in a matter of years.
American Vitis varieties were resistant to the critter but the European Vitis vinifera genus wasn't. The entire European wine-production industry nearly shut down (as also did Cognac's). Then, this same louse managed to board a ship heading further East and came to India, where again, it demolished entire fields of vines. And with that, the local wine industry was exiled into dormancy for almost a century.
Mahua
If you are in the market for a strong laxative, fermented mahua will do the trick for you only too well. Our ancestors from pre-Aryan times figured this out and hence preferred to distil the beverage to attain a stronger substance. This packed more potency minus the involuntary loosening of the bowels. It was a popular flower-based spirit and is the only one which has survived the onslaught of time.
While most others have been lost or else relegated to minuscule production in the heart of remote tribal settlements, mahua has survived and is now seeing a resurgence as the organised alcohol production sector of India is trying to approach it. Armed with all the science and technology that the times can afford us, it appears that a bright heady future awaits mahua.
The sanctity of a historic tradition, one that pre-dates our current civilisation, now stands to be protected and preserved. Just so long as some bright marketing type doesn't come along and start a "chug it with salt and lemon juice" trend.
Travellers and Indian Hospitality (5 AD–1400 AD)
Another very rich account of our heritage is to be found by studying the colourful records of the many travellers who visited and documented their journey through India. Megasthenes was among the first to arrive, in circa 300 BC, sometime around the death of Chandragupta Maurya. The first king of the Mauryan dynasty ruled over a kingdom spanning the stretch of the Indian subcontinent from just beyond the Indus valley in the west to the Gangetic plains in the east.
Megasthenes was most likely an envoy of Seleucus I Nicator, a general under Alexander who had established his empire after Alexander's death in the east bordering Chandragupta's empire. The two had fought for two years before Seleucus conceded some territory to the Indian king. It was perhaps sometime then that Megasthenes arrived in India, a little before the death of the Mauryan king.
Megasthenes saw wine as a sacrificial offering rather than a commodity for quotidian consumption. Indians, he wrote, were frugal drinkers. And mostly vegetarians. They led simple lives. Except for the city of Nysa which had been conquered and established by Dionysus, the god of wine, no less. Here not only did people know how to make wine but it was also freely drunk and traded.
Looks like Megasthenes got the tourist bubble visit and wasn't really allowed to mix with the locals else he wouldn't have given so sober an account of the subcontinent. It reminds me of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where planet Earth and the entirety of its history and civilisation were summed up in two words, "mostly harmless."
But he wasn't the only one who saw the shy side of Indian tipplers. Another visitor was Fa Xian, who walked his way to India in search of better translations of Buddhist books circa ad 400. He too spoke of India's abstinence. He also mentioned that "all through the country" Indians don't eat onions or garlic and don't harm (let alone kill) any other living organism. Sounds like a sweeping generalization but, in his defence, his entire trip lasted around fifteen years so it couldn't have been a rush job.
Xuanzang came in ad 600 and reported similarly; his journey lasted over seventeen years. Yijing, who came in 671 AD, didn't speak at all about drinking but did express surprise at the fact that Indians ate only using their right hand unless ill when they could use (rudimentary) cutlery; that and the realisation that only China used chopsticks!
A common strain runs through these three visitors — they were seeing India through the prism of Buddhism. They had come here to take back the essence of Buddhism to China. This helped budding Chinese monks and aspiring Buddhists who didn't have the resources to undertake such a tedious travel to India.
These travellers were trying to imbue a certain sense of sanctity to the Buddhism of China. So their interactions may have somewhat constricted their exposure to the myriad melee that was the Indian diaspora even back then. That or their involuntary selective perception discounted a lot of what may have been going on around them. For all other records point at meat and alcohol being popularly present in society at all levels.
But their views are once again confirmed by Al Masudi, the Arab historian and geographer (also the unique one to apply a scientific approach to his recordings) who noted that Indians "abstain to maintain clarity". This is fairly logical and understandable. He did not deny the presence of alcohol, merely commented on the way Indians perceived it.
He arrived in 947 AD, during the reign of the Hindu rulers of the Shahi dynasty who were more occupied in protecting their territories from invasions from the north-east and devoted little time to the finer arts. They were defeated and replaced by Mahmud of Ghazni who was an extremist in every sense; everything came second to his lust for gold, riches and power.
One of the most extensive accounts of the drinking culture of India was documented by Al Biruni, the famous Iranian scholar, traveller and historian who visited India in ad eleventh century. He noted that the brahmins abstained from intoxicants but they were the only ones to do so. They had fruit juice instead. The warriors drank wine as also did the businessmen. Honey- and flower-based distillates were the only types allowed among spirits. The lower castes (shudras) could drink spirits but were not allowed to trade in it.
By contrast, while the journals of Ibn Batuta, the famous Moroccan traveller who visited India in ad 1330, said nothing negative about our festive rituals, he pretty much skipped the bit about alcohol being a part of our society at any level. Being a favourite of the king, he was privy to many a lavish feast hosted for visiting dignitaries or when the king won at war or, simply because it was an otherwise dull Tuesday. And yet nowhere does he mention alcohol (the king was a follower of Islam so that could be a reason too).
Even those elaborate feasts to celebrate the return from a hunt had dancing girls on high platforms (to get up to the height of the elephants where the king and his troop were perched) serving syrup water to everyone. A special drink he talks about was called fuqqa, a mix of barley water and sugar. His travelogues make for a lovely read, save for the fact that he prefixes all non-Muslim entities with "infidel" each and every time he refers to them, like a series of irritatingly frequent jolts in an otherwise poetic passage.
But the absence of alcohol from his detailed writings (which give a first-person account of everything from tax collection to the practice of sati) seems rather conspicuous and hints at a deliberate and conscious omission rather than an innocent oversight.
Also read: Honeypreet Insan tracked, claims no impure relationship with 'papa' Ram Rahim Singh
Last updated: July 08, 2018 | 15:34
#Book Extract
#Alcohol
#Vedas
#Mahua


Rabbi Joshua Chasan speaks in support of CCTA bus drivers during an afternoon press conference on Church Street.
With a bus strike entering its second week, relations between Chittenden County Transportation Authority management and drivers appear to be getting worse, not better.
The sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract over the weekend and started issuing statements that show they don't even agree on what went wrong on Saturday.
CCTA said that it offered a new compromise on Saturday but that union representatives "walked out of negotiations without notice while the CCTA team was still actively engaged with the federal mediators at 8:20 p.m." The bus agency's statement continued, "CCTA's proposal included compromises in areas identified by the union as priorities. However, union demands continue to be out of line with CCTA's obligation to operate a safe, affordable and reliable public transportation system."
At a press conference Monday at Church and Cherry Streets, where drivers and supporters have been picketing for a week, drivers accused their bosses of "stonewalling." The drivers left the bargaining table only after CCTA made it clear it would not meet the union's demands, said drivers' spokesman Rob Slingerland.
"CCTA had already told them they couldn't meet their demands," Rob Slingerland said. "We didn't walk out."


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At the end of February the MATS power plant (Multipurpose Applications by Thermodynamic Solar) was officially inaugurated in Borg El Arab near Alexandria in Egypt. The solar thermal power plant is the first of its kind and was developed in a project with participants from research centers and industry from Italy, France, UK, Germany and Egypt. The project manager Martin Karl was present at the opening ceremony and represented Fraunhofer ISE who provided scientific support for the project.
The MATS power plant with an electrical power of 1 MW is based on parabolic trough collectors with an area of 10,000 m². The plant meets the electricity demand of over 1000 people; the waste heat is utilized to desalinate 250,000 liters of water daily.
Molten salt, a mixture of sodium and potassium nitrate, is used as the heat transfer fluid. In comparison to thermal oil, the typical heat transfer medium in conventional systems, molten salts are characterized by their safety, environmental friendliness and handling. They function under low pressures and high temperatures up to 550 °C, thus contributing to higher power plant efficiency. The coupling to a storage system allows the plant to provide continued electricity generation and desalination after sunset for up to four hours at times of especially intensive electrical energy demand.
A particular feature of the MATS plant is the single tank storage (left) which stores both hot and cold salt (290 °C) in stratified layers in one tank, instead of the usual two. In addition, the steam generator is located within the storage tank, which reduces the investment costs. Through an auxiliary gas heater (right), power production and desalination can both be assured.
Large media presence: Besides the system's integration in the local electricity, gas and water distribution grids, the project offers training courses, imparts technical expertise, and provides new employment possibilities for the region. These all contribute to the further development of the renewable energy sector which is strategically important for North Africa in many ways.
The project partners: Research institutes and industry partners from Italy, France, UK, Germany and Egypt are working together in the MATS project, which is coordinated by the Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development ENEA. The research consortium aims to develop the semi-arid region into a center for technology and to strengthen the cooperation between the European Union and Egypt in the area of sustainable research, innovation and development.
Waiting for the big event: Our colleague from Fraunhofer ISE Martin Karl waits with representatives of the media for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, the Egyptian Minister for Research and Higher Education, Khalid Atef Abdul Ghaffar (left), the Italian ambassador Giampaolo Cantini (third from left), James Moran, the ambassador of the EU in Egypt (third from right) and the MATS coordinator Dr. Alberto Giaconia (second from right).
The MATS power plant is now in their hands: the plant operators with Martin Karl (in the middle).


text:
ASSESSMENT & REPORTING IN EYFS
ASSESSMENT & REPORTING
DAILY STRUCTURE
CCONTACT & CONCERN
LUNCH & SNACK
THE U.K. NATIONAL CURRICULUM
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD SCHEME
At Silverline, we have a team of experienced staff dedicated to the performing arts. We have teachers specialised in drama, music and dance, who provide students with opportunities to explore their passion for performance both within the curriculum and as extra-curricular clubs.
Throughout the school year, students will have the chance to perform to their classmates, in class assemblies, Christmas shows and end of year performances. From public speaking, to musical performance, to class productions, we endeavour to ensure that those students who love to perform, are provided with a great range of opportunities.
Students across the primary and secondary schools receive lessons in music and drama each week, and many students choose to register for a range of after school performance options alongside this.
School Productions
Alongside curriculum coverage, each year we perform a large scale school production. For interested students, auditions are usually held at the start of each school year and rehearsals are held weekly during afternoon sessions.
These productions are a whole school event and we aim to encourage as many students as possible to participate. With roles in prop design, sound and lighting, graphic design, ticket sales, publicity and advertising and stage design, we try to ensure that anyone with an interest in theatre, has an opportunity to get involved. The production takes place in the Spring term at a local theatre, and although priority is given to our school families, these performances are enjoyed thoroughly each year by the wider public.
Our current production will be the West End show 'Wicked'. Tickets will go on sale in March 2019.
Most recent shows include:
The wizard of Oz --- Silverline's Got Talent --- Annie
Now Rehearsing: Wicked!
Alongside the annual school production, we have our own school choir who rehearse weekly. This is run as an after school club option, and is open to students from Year 2 and above. Our school choir performs at a range of public events throughout the academic year.
We run music tuition lessons after school from specialised teachers in a range of different instruments. If your child is interested in learning an instrument, and for an up to date list of instruments on offer, please contact the administrative team.
For students already receiving music lessons in an instrument, we have a newly formed school orchestra who rehearse once per week in our music studio.
Admission / Fees
Copyright © 2019 Silverline Private School. All rights reserved.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Apparently I took the month of December off from blogging. It was not my intention, but I did intentionally choose not to feel obligated to blog. We had a wonderful time celebrating the holidays.
We went to a Thanksgiving in Vermont and then hosted one at our house.
Complete with a craft and Thanksgiving skit.
We then spent a wonderful week in sunny California over Christmas.
Looking forward to adventures in 2011!
Your Christmas card is BEAUTIFUL! Simple and beautiful (and that is the sweetest pic!) Where did you have it done?


text:
The Portuguese Nature Reserve You've Never Heard of - Ideal for Family Adventures
by Abigail Blasi
Feb 11, 2019 3:48pm
Photo by Jacek_Sopotnick/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
by Abigail Blasi, The Telegraph, February 11, 2019
Our kayaks slid across the mirror-flat water. It rippled like silk in our wake. We were on a preternaturally beautiful lagoon, its surface reflecting the pale, cloudless blue sky: it felt as if we were enveloped in light, our boats dark brushstrokes on a luminous canvas.
Gabriel, my 13-year-old son, had been grumbling about having to leave behind his friends in the UK to head to the sunshine, beaches and watersports of the Algarve – poor him – but as soon as we had the chance, he was first into a boat, zipping out towards the horizon.
He was clearly thrilled by the freedom of this calm expanse. Herons and cormorants flitted above the surface to gather on tiny weed-bundle islands. Wild samphire, prickly pear and purple-tipped cactus fringed the banks. In the distance a man was bent double, weeding something from the water's edge.
Our guide explained that he was plucking out clams. Before we climbed aboard our kayaks, Gabriel discovered a praying mantis on the banks of the Ria Formosa and brought it over to us, gazing at this alien creature that resembled the love child of a leaf, a butterfly and a grasshopper. Minutes later he and his brother were arguing about what to do with it (it survived unscathed) but for a moment they had been silent, in awe.
It's hard to believe that this extraordinary natural park lies so close to Faro airport, such an easy trip from Britain. When you think of the Algarve, it conjures up resorts and beaches, but the Ria Formosa is a 38-mile (60km) maze of lagoons, channels, marshes and islands, that stretches along almost the entire length of its coast. Its dunes are knitted together by Mediterranean maquis, a wild tangle of scrub that's tinged chalk-green, mauve and rust.
I was here with my husband and two sons at the Algarve's Quinta do Lago, to kayak, run, play tennis and more as part of its new Active Living packages with Helen Glover, twice Olympic rowing gold medallist. Her four-month-old son Logan (dad is TV naturalist Steve Backshall) was there too, and cheerfully bobbed along in a sling, blue eyes constantly curious, for most of the activities. I'm closer to an olive than I am an Olympian, but I was hoping this introduction to the outdoors with Helen would be a chance to get us all outside, away from our moth-like devotion to our screens.
I had felt slightly nervous about taking to the water with an Olympic rower, but Helen set us at ease. When we tried stand-up paddleboarding the following day, she explained how to angle the board when the wave of a motorboat threatened to upset our balance. Gabriel was off again into the distance before I'd even stepped aboard. I watched him paddle away, a trail of sunlight sparking across the water. The sun warmed our faces, and we were all in T-shirts – no need for wetsuits, even though it was midwinter back home.
It took a few minutes to get my balance: I'd never tried stand-up paddleboarding before, but in calm water it was much easier than I expected. I instantly saw the appeal of this graceful-looking, tranquil sport, and it was only moments before I felt as serene as a duck trailed by her ducklings (OK, mine are way ahead in front).
At 8am the following day, Helen took us through some stretches, explaining how stretching noticeably improves sporting performance. She told us about training for the Olympics, and how she used to wake at 4am to train before work (as a PE teacher), then again until 11pm. I glanced across at Jack, hoping that he was absorbing these inspirational tales of Olympian grit, but he looked half asleep, midway through a stretch on the mat. Perhaps we were not quite in the zone for pre-breakfast family exercise yet.
Our base, Four Seasons Fairways, was a whitewashed collection of immaculate villas and apartments, surrounded by golf courses (Europe's finest). It's a let's-take-a-break-from-reality complex: no traffic, no noise, and no trying logistics. On arrival, Jack said, approvingly: "I feel like we're in Bel Air."
Jack is the keenest runner in the family, and so joined Helen for a run along the bank of Ria Formosa. They ran down to the water's edge and around its banks, before crossing the bridge. It made a change from cross-country at school. Birds flew overhead, insects buzzed, ferns filtered the sun by the water's edge and the whole landscape was a messy paintbox of colours, the winter sun beating overhead. I could see Jack's stubborn determination to run ahead of Helen all the way, and once they had circled the waterway and run back to Fairways, we were amazed to find they had covered 41/2 miles (8km) – it's so much easier to run when you're distracted by the scenery.
Why the Algarve is the greatest place on Earth for a family holiday
The following day we took an open-backed speed boat from Faro to the Ilha Deserta. This is still part of the Ria Formosa Nature Reserve, a desert island only 20 minutes offshore. We sped across lapis-blue sea in a yellow-canopied boat, to the protected island, which has just one restaurant, Estaminé (meaning, simply, "place"), at its centre. Its building is sculptural, rust red, accessed via boardwalks to protect the vegetation. The owners told us how, on rare occasions, storms have blown up and they've had to stay overnight on the island. "It's wonderful," said Isabella, the crop-haired, smiling restaurateur.
A marine biologist, Tom, walked us around the raised walkways, explaining about the island's rare plants and bird life. There were once holiday homes here, and so there are ornamental plants introduced by previous inhabitants, as well as the natural vegetation, but the houses were removed in order to protect the landscape. The seawater lapping the white-sand edges of the island was startlingly blue, and as we walked on the wooden slats at the water's edge, Jack exclaimed, "Look at the fish!" There were shoal upon shoal of mullet, glinting silver, just beyond our feet.
Wild thyme, rosemary and oregano scented the air, a profusion of herbs, interwoven across the sandy landscape. Other than the restaurant, the only other structures were three ramshackle wooden shacks, the home of the island's sole remaining resident, a fisherman who must relish his own company.
We ended our walk at the restaurant, rounding off a perfect afternoon, feasting on its signature prawns, the fat juicy clams that we had seen being gathered on the banks of the lagoon, and succulent, freshly-caught sea bass sourced from local fishermen. Although it was off-season, the sun was brilliant, almost blindingly bright. With windows on all sides the restaurant is wrapped by sky and sea views. Afterwards we walked across more boardwalks to the island's four miles (7km) of white-sand beach. It was thick with shells, and we found one the size of a baseball mitt.
Back at Fairways, the boys were particularly thrilled by its sumptuous breakfasts, poolside, and in the evening its magnificent skewers, fresh fish, and lamb chops. Another boon for these tired parents was that you could order takeaway from the clubhouse if not in the mood for eating out. We swam in the heated outdoor pool after dark, its mood lighting changing from pink to red to blue, under the clear, starlit sky, and ironed out our creases at the spa, bubbling hot tub and saunas.
Late on the afternoon of our last day, my husband and I wandered back down to the Ria Formosa, where we had been kayaking a few days before. The light was different at this time of day, and the water now reflected a sky that blurred from deep blue to peaches and cream. The tide had ebbed out and the perfect flatness of the water now surrounded molehill islands. A fish suddenly leapt high out of the water, then disappeared back beneath the silvery surface.
We crossed the wooden walkway, and to our surprise found a gathering of people at its end, facing out along the empty, golden-sand beach. There was not a building in sight. Everyone was looking out to sea, all gathered here to watch the early evening show: the sunset. The great burning ball of the sun sank imperceptibly lower, and orange light splashed on the steel-blue surf. It was fire-bright, and we were mesmerised by the hypnotic repetitive wash of the waves. It was one of those rare moments when time appeared to slow down before our eyes (our eldest also has the ability to do this when getting ready for school).
As a family introduction to the outdoors, Fairways was a treat, and we were returning home with a new impetus, to be less olive, and more Olympian: let's see how that goes. But even more precious, perhaps, was this chance to slow down, and watch the sun sink into the sea.
The chidlren's verdict
"I loved the hotel, because it had a swimming pool, two in fact: a small one at our apartment and a very big one at the clubhouse. I ran with Helen by my side and a person I did not know. I did 8km, but I could not do any more. I enjoyed playing tennis. I also liked the rooms, which were nice. We had a Jacuzzi, and a bag of oranges every day. I liked the TV, which was massive, and there were three sofas which had three cushions on each."
Jack, aged 11
"I liked the canoeing best – and looking at the beautiful river and bank as we were gliding along. I also loved doing stand-up paddleboarding because I really enjoy water sports. While I did like the resort, I also really enjoyed walking around it and seeing the natural beauty of the Algarve. On the trip I also got to experience Portuguese wildlife, as I saw a small raccoon on one of my walks and also got to hold a praying mantis. The resort was also very nice and we got to experience a variety of Portuguese food and their oranges."
Gabriel, aged 13
This article was written by Abigail Blasi from The Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
Uniworld Outlines Plan to Roll Out Four Ships in 2020
Is Overtourism Turning Lisbon Into the Next Venice?
48 Hours in . . . Porto, an Insider Guide to Portugal's Splendid Second City
AmaWaterways Names Julia Lo Bue-Said as Godmother of AmaDouro
Destination Information Family Vacations Adventure Tours Europe Algarve Portugal Travel Ria Formosa Faro Quinta do Lago Four Seasons Fairways Ilha Deserta
Abigail Blasi


An experienced guitarist, Magnus has played most tracks and riffs on his records himself. On troubadour gigs, he usually accompanies himself on the guitar or lute.
"On bigger occasions such as weddings and concerts, I may use a more substantial backing – a dance or rock band, for example.
I cooperate with skilled and experienced musicians. My 'Court Pianist' Iiro Salmi is a merry person who always finds the right touch.


I'm constantly urging my hair to grow longer and faster than it does. Then paying around £40 for a hair cut but asking them to barely cut anything off, which is always too much. So any product which claims to improve hair growth always catches my eye, whether it truly does or not! It's a tricky one to measure [literally], but any product which improves the condition, health and feel of my hair is a good'un in my books.
Old Wives Tail have a lovely brand story - all treatments are the product of a homemade recipe passed down through the generations, originating in Portugal and ending up in the UK. The 'Old Wives' part of the brand name relates to the older generations of the family and the 'Tail' linking it all up with hair!
The Melado Oil Treatment is a product packed full of organic essential oils, designed to soften the hair and nourish right down into the hair follicle. The consistency of the product is like that of any of the oils we're familiar with, such as olive oil, so it's pretty runny. The directions state that the product should be massaged into damp hair - I just run my head under the shower slightly then towel dry until just damp. I then pour a small amount of oil into the palms of my hands and rub together before applying to my scalp - do this over the shower or sink! Once the scalp is covered, I use a wide tooth comb to distribute the oil through the lengths. Pop your hair up into a bun then just chill out for an hour, or use the time to write up a blog post like I did! Once the hour's up, wash your hair as normal then pop a little conditioner just on the ends - you really won't need much. I find that I need two shampoos to get all the treatment out of my hair and a thorough rinse too.
After my hair is dry, it feels so soft and nourished. The ends especially feel much smoother and less flyaway - I love the fact that a product with no chemicals or crazy-named ingredients can achieve this too. The smell of the essential oils, lavender in particular, fill the bathroom while you're using the product and lightly transfer to the hair when dry too - it smells lovely. I can't really comment just yet whether it's made my hair grow any faster - but it's keeping it looking, smelling and feeling in very good condition which are all positives for me! Do you think hair treatments make your hair grow any faster? Which products should I try out?


Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, with over 30 million visits each month. Like many enterprises, they relied heavily on spreadsheets to maintain IT data, which resulted in cumbersome processes and varying sources of the truth. Now, with a single system of record, Cars.com is able to put the right information in the hands of its employees. HR saves over 300 hours per year in onboarding processes and IT is empowered to complete 60% more service request tickets per month.


text:
The Rosenthal Prize
for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching
Designed to recognize and promote hands-on math teaching in upper elementary and middle school classrooms, the Rosenthal Prize carries a cash award of $25,000 for the single best activity, plus up to five additional monetary awards for other innovative activities. The winning teacher(s) will have the opportunity to share their activities with educators around the world.
The application window is now open.
Visit rpz.momath.org for instructions, eligibility requirements, and an application form.
Applications are due by May 15, 2023.
Apply for the 2023 Rosenthal Prize
Thinking of applying but still have questions?
Sign up for a free workshop
on Monday, February 20, at 5:00 pm ET,
offering tips on how to apply to the Rosenthal Prize.
Free online workshop:
"Tips on applying to the Rosenthal Prize"
Stay tuned! The winner(s) of this year's 2022 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching will be announced soon.
Teachers, want to learn how to deliver past prize-winning lessons in your own communities?
Learn about The Rosenthal Prize Summer Institute.
Congratulations to the 2021 Rosenthal Prize winners!
From left to right: Steven Strogatz (2021-22 MoMath Distinguished Visiting Professor and Rosenthal Prize judge), John Urschel (MoMath Trustee), Chaim Goodman-Strauss (2021 Rosenthal Prize 1st place winner), Saul Rosenthal (MoMath Trustee and Rosenthal Prize sponsor and judge), Elena Pavelescu (2021 Rosenthal Prize 3rd place winner), David Caliri (2021 Rosenthal Prize 2nd place winner), and Cindy Lawrence (MoMath Executive Director/CEO and Rosenthal Prize judge). Not pictured: Ryan Smith (2021 Rosenthal Prize honorable mention).
Congratulations to Chaim Goodman-Strauss, first place winner of the 2021 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching for his lesson on symmetry, "Tooti Tooti (2222)." Chaim's winning lesson teaches students about symmetry by crafting handmade "tiles" with four different points of two-fold rotational symmetry (i.e., the patterns remain the same as you rotate them 180 degrees) and piecing the tiles together into patterns that can fill an infinite space, similar to wallpaper patterns. Chaim is a professor of mathematics at the University of Arkansas, and he was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
David Caliri, who currently lives in Tbilisi, Georgia, and works for a Boston-based organization that grew out of the MIT Media Lab, was awarded second place for his lesson, "Binary Coins Are Better Than Bitcoin!" His interactive lesson allows students to learn about the binary number system by pretending to be business owners and creating their own currency to make exact change for product sales. David was awarded a $10,000 cash prize.
Third place winner Elena Pavelescu, Associate Professor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL, was recognized for her lesson, "The Game of Cats: A mathematical logic activity," which teaches students logic by asking them to interpret "and" and "or" statements. Elena was awarded a $2,500 cash prize.
Ryan Smith of Lake Worth, FL received an honorable mention for his lesson, "Astronaut Explorer: A Measurement Conversion Conundrum," which allows students to take on the role of astronauts exploring a new planet on which they must learn about the civilization's measurement system. This activity promotes genuine thinking, decoding, and reasoning, and is designed to help students construct procedures for converting from one unit to another using ratios. Ryan was awarded a $500 cash prize.
The awards were presented to the winners at the March Math Encounters presentation.
Winning Lesson Plans from Previous Years
2020 1st Place
Doug O'Roark "Towers & Dragons"
2020 Runner-up
Lauren Siegel "Engagement with Ratio and Proportion: Building a Tool to Deepen Understanding"
Nat Banting "Dice Auction: Putting Outcomes of the Dice Up for Sale"
Matt Roscoe "Building the City of Numbers: An Exploration of Unique Prime Factorization"
Elizabeth Masslich "Geometry Project: DARTBOARD"
2018 1st Runner-up
Hector Rosario "Squareland: Into How Many Squares Can You Cut a Square?"
Dwaynea (Golden) Griffin "Statistics Tri'M'athlon"
Kristen Rudd "Searching for Intersections"
Matt Engle "Bringing Similarity Into Light: Experiencing Similarity and Dilations Using Shadows"
2017 2nd Place
Heather Danforth-Clayson "Derangements and Random Rearrangements: An Exploration of Probability"
Elisabeth Jaffe "Dancing Transformations"
David Poras "Growing Alligators: How Big Will It Grow?"
Traci Jackson "Creating Color Combos: Visual Modeling of Equivalent Ratios"
Dena Lordi "Where Can I Find A Weightless Stick"
Crystal Frommert "Algebra on a Number Line"
Maria Hernandez "Pass the Candy: A Recursion Activity"
Jemal Graham "Blacktop Coordinate Plane"
Jillian Young "MUTANT Creature Invasion: Minecraft Volume Investigation"
Ralph Pantozzi "Random Walk"
Trang Vu "Mathematics and Fashion Design"
Brent Ferguson "Engineering a Number Line by Construction"
Scott Goldthorp "Hands-On Data Analysis"
Patrick Honner "Sphere Dressing"
2020 Rosenthal Prize winners
Congratulations to Doug O'Roark, winner of the 2020 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching, for his lesson "Towers & Dragons." In Doug's lesson, students discover a stunning connection between paper folding and a classic disc-moving puzzle. Doug is the Executive Director of Math Circles of Chicago. He was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Additional congratulations to the 2020 runner-up, Lauren Siegel, the Director of MathHappens Foundation in Austin, TX, for her lesson "Engagement with Ratio and Proportion: Building a Tool to Deepen Understanding." In Lauren's lesson, students learn to appreciate ratios by making their own calipers and applying them to objects, photos, and geometric figures. Lauren was awarded a $5,000 cash prize.
(Top from left to right) Douglas O'Roark (winner) and Lauren Siegel (runner-up)
(Bottom from left to right) Saul Rosenthal (Sponsor and MoMath Trustee) and Cindy Lawrence (MoMath Executive Director and CEO)
Congratulations to Nat Banting, winner of the 2019 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching, for his lesson "Dice Auction: Putting Outcomes of the Dice Up for Sale." In Nat's lesson, students test their intuitive probabilistic reasoning of dice throws with a dynamic "outcomes auction." Reality — and mathematics — then provide feedback! Nat is a high school mathematics teacher and a university faculty member in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Additional congratulations to the 2019 runner-up, Matt Roscoe, a mathematics professor at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, for his lesson "Building the City of Numbers: An Exploration of Unique Prime Factorization." In Matt's lesson, the prime factorizations of the counting numbers from 2 to 100 come to stunning, three-dimensional life. Matt was awarded a $15,000 cash prize.
(From left to right) Alex Kontorovich, Peter Winkler, Nat Banting, Saul Rosenthal, Matt Roscoe, Cindy Lawrence, and Paul Zeitz
Congratulations to Elizabeth Masslich, winner of the 2018 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching for her lesson "Geometry Project: DARTBOARD." In Elizabeth's lesson, students learn geometric probability using shapes on a dartboard. Elizabeth is a teacher in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin metro area, and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Additional congratulations to the 2018 first runner-up, Hector Rosario of the Atlanta, Georgia metro area, for his lesson "Squareland: Into How Many Squares Can You Cut a Square?" In Hector's lesson, students generate and analyze patterns by cutting squares into smaller squares while making conjectures and trying to prove their claims. Hector was awarded a $5,000 cash prize.
The Museum also wishes to congratulate the 2018 runners-up, Dwaynea (Golden) Griffin of Hinesville, GA, and Kristen Rudd of Bergen County, NJ, who each received a $1,000 cash prize.
Congratulations to Matt Engle, winner of the 2017 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching for his lesson "Bringing Similarity Into Light: Experiencing Similarity and Dilations Using Shadows." In Matt's lesson, students examine the shadows of shapes to explore concepts such as ratio, dilation, and proportionality in triangles. Matt is a teacher at Monterey Bay Academy in La Selva Beach, CA, and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Additional congratulations to the 2017 second place winner, Heather Danforth-Clayson of Helios School in Sunnyvale, CA, for her lesson "Derangements and Random Rearrangements: An Exploration of Probability." In Heather's lesson, students explore rearrangements of number sets by conducting hands-on experiments in probability.
The Museum also wishes to congratulate the 2017 runners-up, Elisabeth Jaffe from Baruch College Campus High School in New York, NY, and David Poras from Weston Middle School in Weston, MA.
Matt Engle (second from right) poses with (from left to right) David Poras (runner-up), Elisabeth Jaffe (runner-up), Heather Danforth-Clayson (second place winner), Saul Rosenthal (Sponsor and MoMath Trustee), and Cindy Lawrence (MoMath Executive Director and CEO).
Congratulations to Traci Jackson, winner of the 2016 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching for her lesson "Creating Color Combos: Visual Modeling of Proportional Relationships!" In Traci's lesson, students explore proportional reasoning by mixing colored solutions, creating different color combinations to visualize ratios. Traci is a teacher at Oak Valley Middle School in San Diego, CA, and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Additional congratulations to the 2016 second place winner, Dena Lordi of Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, CA, for her lesson "Where Can I Find a Weightless Stick?" In Dena's lesson, students trace the changing balance point on a scale as weights are added in order to identify the mean value of a set of numbers.
The Museum also wishes to congratulate the 2016 runners-up Crystal Frommert, Jemal Graham, and Maria Hernandez.
Download Traci Jackson's winning lesson plan,
"Creating Color Combos: Visual Modeling of Equivalent Ratios"
Download Dena Lordi's second place lesson plan, "Where Can I Find A Weightless Stick"
Download Crystal Frommert's runner-up lesson plan, "Algebra on a Number Line"
Download Maria Hernandez's runner-up lesson plan, "Pass the Candy: A Recursion Activity"
Download Jemal Graham's runner-up lesson plan, "Blacktop Coordinate Plane"
Traci Jackson (center front) poses with (from left to right) Cindy Lawrence (MoMath Executive Director and CEO), Maria Hernandez (runner-up), Jemal Graham (runner-up), Dena Lordi (second place winner), and Saul Rosenthal (Sponsor and MoMath Trustee).
Congratulations to Jillian Young, winner of the 2015 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching! Jillian created a lesson that helps students learn about surface area and volume using the game Minecraft. Jillian is a teacher at Elwood Kindle Elementary School in Pitman, NJ, and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Download Jillian Young's winning lesson plan,
"MUTANT Creature Invasion: Minecraft Volume Investigation"
Jillian Young (center right) poses with (from left to right) Heather Herd (runner-up), Eileen Finney (runner-up), Larry McMillan (runner-up), Saul Rosenthal (Sponsor and MoMath Trustee), Cindy Lawrence (MoMath Executive Director and CEO), Ralph Pantozzi (2014 Rosenthal Prize Winner), and Glen Whitney (MoMath President and Founder).
2014 Rosenthal Prize Winner
Congratulations to Ralph Pantozzi, the winner of the 2014 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching! Ralph, a teacher at Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, was awarded a $25,000 cash prize.
Download Ralph Pantozzi's winning lesson plan, "Random Walk"
See a short video from "Random Walk" here
Saul Rosenthal (Trustee and Sponsor) and Ralph Pantozzi (winner) pose for a photo at the announcement of the winner of the third annual Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching.
Congratulations to Trang Vu and Brent Ferguson, respectively the winner and runner-up of the 2013 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching! Trang, a teacher at La Jolla High School in La Jolla, CA, was awarded a $25,000 cash prize, and Brent, a teacher at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ, was awarded a $10,000 cash prize.
Download Trang Vu's winning lesson plan, "Mathematics and Fashion Design"
Download Brent Ferguson's runner-up lesson plan, "Engineering a Number Line by Construction"
Brent Ferguson (runner-up), Saul Rosenthal (Trustee and Sponsor), and Trang Vu (winner) pose for a photo at the announcement of the winner of the second annual Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching.
Congratulations to Scott Goldthorp and Patrick Honner, respectively the winner and runner-up of the 2012 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching! Scott, a teacher at Rosa International Middle School in Cherry Hill, NJ, was awarded a $25,000 cash prize, and Patrick, a teacher at Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, NY, was awarded a $10,000 cash prize.
Download Scott Goldthorp's winning lesson plan, "Hands-On Data Analysis"
Download Patrick Honner's runner-up lesson plan, "Sphere Dressing"
Patrick Honner (runner-up), Saul Rosenthal (Trustee and Sponsor), and Scott Goldthorp (winner) pose for a photo at the announcement of the winner of the first annual Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching.
About the Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching
The annual Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching is designed to recognize and promote hands-on math teaching in the upper elementary and middle school classrooms. Each year, the winning teacher is awarded a cash prize of $25,000, and the winning activity is shared with interested teachers around the world.
The Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching has four goals:
To recognize and reward exceptional 4th through 12th grade teachers around the world who employ innovation(s) appropriate to the upper elementary or middle school classroom.
To demonstrate to the education profession and the general public that innovative math teaching exists and can successfully reach the middle grades.
To replicate the successful innovative activity of the winning teacher, distribute it to classrooms across the country, and positively impact math education in the United States and beyond.
To encourage innovation and incorporation of hands-on methods in classrooms around the world.


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HomeJOBBorno State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024 Application Portal
Borno State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024 Application Portal
Borno State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024 Application Form Portal | www.bornostate.gov.ng.
The online application gateway for Borno State's hiring of teachers in 2023 is now available. This page provides additional instructions on how to submit a recruitment form through the Borno State teachers recruitment website, along with other important details about the hiring intake for academic and non-academic staff. Here are the teaching positions available in Borno State.
Borno State Teachers Recruitment Form 2023
Requirement for Borno State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024
Borno State Teachers Recruitment Portal 2023
How To Apply for Borno State Teachers Recruitment Form 2023
In this piece, we'll go over all you need to know about Borno TESCOM recruitment. In order to assist you with your application, we have provided you with a variety of information and guidelines. These specifics include qualifications, requirements, and advice on how to easily apply for teachers in Borno State.
Do you wish to work in Borno State as a teacher? You may find current information about teaching vacancies in Borno State in this article. To find out more about the available positions and their requirements, keep reading.
You must take this area very seriously if you want to be chosen for a position as a teacher in Borno State. The following prerequisites must also be met before applying for the Borno TESCOM:
All qualified candidates must have successfully completed and passed the West African Senior Certificates (WASC) or Secondary School Certificates (SSCE), including English Language and Mathematics, with at least five (5) subject credits in at least two sittings.
All candidates must get the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria TRCN certificate in order to verify their qualifications as teachers.
A Nigerian institution must issue this certificate to applicants who have a B.Sc., HND, or NCE in any field.
B.Sc., HND, and Bachelor of Arts graduates are required to possess a NYSC Discharge or Exemption certificate.
The applicant must be under 35 years old in order to be considered.
Candidates must have a recent passport photo taken.
The candidate must be open to working for any municipal administration in the state.
For information on how to apply for a job as a teacher in Borno, please visit www.bornostate.gov.ng. It is not a good idea to pay money in exchange for an application form. On the internet, the form can be accessed for nothing. The application process is easy to follow. If you've met every requirement, you shouldn't have any worries.
You can follow the instructions provided below to complete the Borno teacher application process:
To access the Borno State Teachers Login Portal, go to www.bornostate.gov.ng.
Follow the instructions on the Borno State recruitment website.
Complete the application and submit it.
Simply leave a comment below this page with any further questions you may have about the registration process, and we'll get back to you right away.
Ekiti State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024 Application Portal
Edo State Teachers Recruitment 2023/2024 Application Portal


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Home»US»Christian Medical Professional & Pregnant Wife Arrested, Children Taken Simply Because They Were Being Responsible
Christian Medical Professional & Pregnant Wife Arrested, Children Taken Simply Because They Were Being Responsible
Tim Brown 2017-10-08
Tim Brown / October 8, 2017
A Huntington dentist and his pregnant wife have been arrested in Dubois County, Indiana and are facing neglect and confinement charges for trying to be responsible parents in dealing with their eldest adopted daughter who made threats of murdering the family.
Both Alan and Aimee Friz are just the latest in a long line of parents who have come under the scrutiny of the state and are facing the incredibly stressful and even tyrannical measures of the state as it imposes its way into the nucleus of society, the family.
The Dubois County Herald reports:
The Dubois County Sheriff's Department made contact with the female juvenile in question as well as Alan and Aimee Friz and then requested assistance from the Dubois County Office of Family and Children Services.
The juvenile reportedly told authorities she had been in the house playing with a ball when her grandfather became angry. In court documents, the juvenile reported the ball bounced toward her grandfather, he kept it and the situation intensified.
The grandfather reportedly told authorities the other children were in the living room attending to daily studies when the juvenile bouncing the ball in the kitchen became disruptive, according to court documents.
Court documents indicate Aimee told authorities she and Alan Friz worried about the juvenile's behavior.
Aimee allegedly told authorities the juvenile had made the comment of killing her (Aimee's) unborn child and killing her as well, according to court documents.
During a forensic interview conducted with the assistance of the Dubois County Prosecutor's Office, the juvenile alleged she slept in a cage at night and was locked in it with a chain and a combination lock. She reported she was let back out in the morning.
After completing the interview with the juvenile, the sheriff's department sought and received a search warrant from Dubois Circuit Court.
Troopers with the Indiana State Police were requested to assist deputies with the resulting search.
Authorities say a closet area of a bedroom was found to have been converted into a lockable cage where the juvenile was allegedly kept for extended periods of time.
The 4-by-8 cage is described in court documents as having a mattress and a label on its front door indicating it was the juvenile's cage. It did not have running water or electricity. The juvenile had reportedly been given a pan so she could use it to go to the bathroom, according to court documents.
When the juvenile's report of the cage was confirmed, authorities said, Alan Friz was taken into custody.
Notice the use of the term "cage" in this report. It is to make the parents look as diabolical as possible.
However, stop and think about how the state would be dealing with this girl if they actually believed the Frizes. She would be "caged" and not let out of a building. She would be in a small little room and heavily sedated with mind altering drugs. That's how the state would have handled this girl and yet, they hypocritically go after the parents because the parents sought to love and care for their daught, one that didn't even come from their own bodies, but from halfway around the world.
There is another side to the story, one that neither the Dubois County Herald nor other media outlet will tell you. However, we're going to tell you the story and it comes directly from the Friz's pastor.
Brian M. Abshire, pastor at Covenant Reformed Church, Evansville Indiana wrote a lengthy post and asked that Christians everywhere consider exactly what the Frizes were attempting to accomplish and also to consider the mental state of their adopted daughter and how they were seeking to get her help rather than be negligent or cruel.
Here's what Mr. Abshire had to say.
Today, a respected and well-loved member of our congregation was arraigned on two felony accounts of neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement. His wife has also been charged. Initially because she is almost nine months pregnant, she was under house arrest. Now, she is in jail as well. Meanwhile, the state has taken custody of their children.
So what great evil did this Christian couple commit against their eldest daughter? Allegedly, the daughter had made repeated threats to murder the family in their sleep. While trying to find professional help, the parents made sure she could not get out of bed at night; apparently by putting her bed in a lockable, walk-in closet. Was this an unreasonable act? Well, context, as they say, is everything.
First, some background and context; when Alan and Amy first married, they did not think that she could have children. Having a lot of love, they chose to go through the enormous red-tape and expense of adopting two children from the Ukraine. Alan is a medical professional, and well understood that such children often need extraordinary amounts of love and care; but that love is what they had in abundance.
Then, in the way of things, Amy got pregnant with their first natural born child; and got pregnant again and again (with twins and triplets)! Eventually, God blessed them with a total of ten children (including the two adopted ones) with number eleven to arrive shortly. At this point, if you want a picture of this family, think, "Sound of Music." This is a loving home, with a very definite 19th century value system. The kids study at home, have chores on the family farm, lots of pets and animals to love and care for. And just like the Sound of Music, the family puts on plays and musical numbers as a normal part of their family life. OK, the boys are often loud, boisterous and love to roughhouse. However, these children are always respectful to adults and attentive in church. From anyone's perspective, this is just about as healthy, normal and happy a family as we ever see in modern America.
But there was something dark growing in the background. Alan and Amy began to have concerns about their eldest, adopted daughter. It has been reported that developmentally, she had lagged far behind, even her much younger siblings. As she grew older, she exhibited serious behavioral issues such as constant lying (even when the lie was blatantly false and served no purpose), extreme aggressiveness towards her siblings, and, here is where it gets chilling, killing small animals. At first, Alan and Amy hoped this was a product of her developmental issues; that she literally did not know what she was doing when she "gave a bath" to the family pet snake by dropping it into scalding water. But things got even worse.
She began running away, going from house to house saying she was homeless and wanted a job. She threatened her male siblings that if they did not do what she wanted, she would accuse them of touching her inappropriately. She cheerfully talked of dreams of taking a knife and killing her mother and the baby inside of her.
Alan and Amy were rightly concerned and as I understand it, were seeking professional counsel on how to deal with her. This was not normal, adolescence angst or teenage rebellion. Apparently, the young girl was showing signs of sociopathy; of not having a conscience and was willing to inflict harm on others, just for the fun of it.
While pastoral confidentiality must govern much of the details, I can say that Alan and Amy's real fear of the harm this girl might do, was compounded by concern for the damage that she could do to the family, if Social Services believed her multiple false accusations. Apparently, she has made sexual accusations against every male she has come into contact with, even when those accusations were clearly impossible. The parents were trying to find some residential facility that the girl could attend; a place where her behavior could be contained, and where she would not be able to harm herself and others. As I understand it, when they described her symptoms to various institutions, nobody wanted the responsibility of dealing with a potentially dangerous young woman.
So, on the day that he was arrested, Alan told me that he locked her in at night so that she could not carry out her threats to kill them. As far as I know, the young woman was not confined apart from at night. She was free during the day, did whatever home school she could, or the few chores around the house that she was capable of. Now she did have to be closely supervised lest she harm her siblings, but fully participated in all family activities. There was literally, nothing different about her life, than any other member of the family. But since, she had repeatedly threatened the most horrific sorts of violence, Alan and Amy thought keeping her confined at night was the best way to deal with the danger, until they could find her a more permanent solution. Think of it this way, if the family had a home where each of the children could have their own room, what would be the ethics of locking a child, in their room, at night?
Things came to a head, early in the first week of October. First, the girl ran off again. Then, after the police brought her home, she assaulted her physically handicapped Grandpa, punching him the face and kicking him in the groin. This was not a normal, hormonal teenager acting out of frustration or anger; this was a determined attack, intending to inflict serious bodily harm. Alan's fear for the welfare of his family, overcame his fear of what the State often does to Christian homeschooling families. He talked to the police and they brought him and the daughter in for questioning. Within a short amount of time, the police got a judge to issue a search warrant where they found the girl's bed. Arrests, charges and taking custody of the rest of the children followed.
As a medical professional who runs his own business in a small community, Alan is not only facing the loss of his freedom, but complete financial disaster. His children are now in the care of Social Services. And surely, I am not the only one to see the irony of the State putting a man behind bars, because he tried to restrain his eldest daughter from hurting others.
This family needs the prayers and support of the broader Christian community. They took an orphaned child into their home, motivated by nothing but love and compassion. That child, probably due to early trauma experienced in the orphanage where she spent the first part of her life, may well have severe brain dysfunction that cause erratic and dangerous behavior. When she was young and weak, she could not do much damage. But as she grew older, stronger and cannier, apparently she has learned how to use lies to manipulate others, and even if unintentionally, destroy the lives of those who love her the most. We can all legitimately sympathize with and pity a child whose brain does not function properly; who does not perceive reality normally, who probably does not really understand the damage she is doing to others. But that does not change the fact that she is a danger to herself and others; a danger her father tried to mitigate until they could find her the help she needed.
So now Alan and Amy are on trial for trying to be responsible, loving parents. Even if they are acquitted of all charges, the legal fees, the loss of his business, and the trauma caused to their other children by having been removed from their home and farmed out to strangers, will change this family forever. Every Christian pastor ought to be preaching about this issue. Every Christian home-schooler ought to spread the word to their friends, families and coop members and ask for prayer. Every Christian, regardless of denomination, theology or even whether they home-school ought to be concerned about what happened to this family, because it can happen to yours.
It's clear that the girl was treated like any other member of the family even though she was disruptive, murderous in her threats and even violent on occasion. Yet, what did the parents do? They weren't negligent. They sought to protect the rest of the family by simply locking her door at night. She had a bed, she was able to go to the bathroom and if she needed anything during the night, no doubt, the Frizes would have aided her in that as every morning the door was unlocked and she was fed and cared for.
Still, the state thinks it is their responsibility to intervene in this matter and go so far as to make ridiculous charges against the parents that loved this girl enough to adopt her and give her a good home and even continue to care for her though she issued threats of murder, including Mrs. Fritz's unborn child.
Obviously, that does not bother authorities in Indiana.
Mr. Abshire is correct on one thing though, he's not the only one to see the irony of the State putting a man behind bars, because he tried to restrain his eldest daughter from hurting others.
My wife and I have been the victims of trumped up charges by Child Protective Services in our county as well. Although it did not result in jail, the threats we received along with the incompetence and constant badgering from CPS was enough to make a person lose their mind.
If you are a Christian out there, I encourage you to pray for the family, including the eldest daughter who has serious mental issues, and we know that stems from sin. Let's pray that the Gospel might break through and free her from the lies she is bound by and at the same time, the God would intervene for the Fritzes and their other children who are at greater risk of danger in Child Protective Services than they ever were in their own home.
Tim Brown is an author and Editor at FreedomOutpost.com, SonsOfLibertyMedia.com, GunsInTheNews.com and TheWashingtonStandard.com. He is husband to his "more precious than rubies" wife, father of 10 "mighty arrows", jack of all trades, Christian and lover of liberty. He resides in the U.S. occupied Great State of South Carolina. . Follow Tim on Twitter. Also check him out on Gab, Minds, MeWe, Spreely, Mumbl It and Steemit
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We ask that our citizen journalists agree to abide by the MEAA code of ethics.
Firstly, remove the unnecessary adjective - it is usually the 'colour' added that causes insult.
Secondly, be factual. If there is something that is yet to be heard in court, it is 'alleged' ... eg Peter Slipper's 'alleged' cabcharge rorting.
Articles should be about 500 words minimum up to about 2000 words of you have a detailed and well written story.
We can help sub-edit some pieces but not rambling opinions.


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