Spicy Food and Loud Volume

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 18 Feb 2009, 19:53

My own intake of oorkai and spicy food has steadily increased over the years and I often gasp at the amount of oorkai I eat. Of late, I'm making a conscious effort to reduce my intake of spices. In spite of my high threshold of tolerance, I am constantly surprised in Chennai.

So much "kaaram" in the food actually masks all other delicate flavors.

Now let's segue to loud volumes in sabhas that smother all delicate musical flavors. Chennai is the world's epicienter of unhealthily high volumes in sabhas. I have attended Katcheris in Bangalore and Bombay where the volumes are mild and mellow as befits a "classical" concert.

Also did you notice how loud people turn up the volumes of their TV's in Chennai ? If you walk thru the streets in the evening, every household is blaring the latest TV serial at the loudest setting. I can bet they are also munching on extremely spicy food.

I think there's a correlation between spicy food and threshold of hearing

.

arunk · Post by **arunk** » 18 Feb 2009, 20:33

So by this token all those yester-year rock-heads, and later metal-heads were munching habaneros?

Correlation? I certainly think not.

Arun

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 18 Feb 2009, 20:53

threshold of hearing may have to do with senior citizens watching TV too much at home as they have nothing else to do or they did not cultivate any other habit.

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 18 Feb 2009, 21:04

Not so much a correlation as a similarity: losing sense-itivity.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Feb 2009, 22:42

uppu (salt) too smothers the flavors in food and raises one's blood pressure. Eating too many chilis can make one hot-tempered, I have heard.
Deafness comes with old age. With today's popular music, one does not have to wait until one is old to become deaf...

akb · Post by **akb** » 18 Feb 2009, 22:55

I have not heard a lot of concerts in India but in my most recent one (TMK @ Odukathur Mutt on Feb 17), I had to resort to physically shutting my ears with my fingers in order to hear (and appreciate) the music. This was especially so at sections when the tempo sped up during the swarams section.

In fact, a chamber music setting seems to provide a more musical ambience in which the nuances of the music can be experienced. One wonders how the minute gamaka oscillations and modulation of voice practiced by Brindamma and Ramnad Krishnan would sound in today's day of deafening volumes. Having to bear these deafening volumes (also spurred on by the misuse of non-use of feedback monitors to the artistes), one almost longs for the days of PMI's mikeless kutcheris.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 18 Feb 2009, 23:45

akb

I hear you (pun intended).

Since this last season, my constant companion in any Katcheri is a roll of surgical cotton. It is the single best Katcheri experience enhancer in Chennai.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Feb 2009, 01:36

Have you heard the story of the vidvaan cutting his fingers and applying a slice of lemon to enable him to reach the higher octaves

But then he had to have a shot of whiskey to bring him down to the ati mantra sthaayi

Joking apart I have heard from old time vidvaans that 'snuff' used to enable him to traverse the octaves with ease by opening the nasal passages! But there is no physiological confirmation!
Better be 'PaTNaM poDi' in those days

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 19 Feb 2009, 01:55

Nasika-choornam

"Japeshu japa-madhyeshu japantheshu sarvada
Nasika-choornam adaya sarva-thrupthadhiko bhaveth."

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 19 Feb 2009, 06:09

Very good! Some corrections
japEShu japamadhyEShu japAntEShu sarvadA
nAsika cUrNamAdAya sarva t^RiptAdhikO bhavEt ||
(At the commencement, in the middle or at the end of a japa (meditation) always snuff will be highly satisfying)
gAna prArambhE madhyamE cAntE nAsikAcUrNasEvanam
sarva sukhakaram bhavEt paTu vidvatpraViNa mataH ||
(In the opinion of an expert vidvaan taking snuff at the beginning, middle or end of singing will make one very comfortable

(please don't do it ! ) (snuff can cause nasal cancer!)

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 19 Feb 2009, 06:44

Uday_Shankar wrote:I think there's a correlation between spicy food and threshold of hearing .

Maybe some people just have a higher threshold for pain

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Feb 2009, 07:26

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 26 Feb 2009, 00:34

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/ ... tion_o.php

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 26 Feb 2009, 01:22

Uday: Ccould there be a relation be noise and higher frequecny of vibration of the tympanic membrane?

There could also be a relation between capsaicin (a major component of peppers) and receptor cells in the choclea!