Disinfection By-Products

Chlorine was discovered in 1774 by the chemist Karl Scheele . One of the first known uses of chlorine for disinfection was not until 1850, when Snow used it to attempt to disinfect London’s water supply during that now-famous cholera epidemic. It was not until the early 1900’s, however, that chlorine was widely used as a disinfectant . Chlorine revolutionized water purification, reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases across the western world, and “chlorination and/or filtration of drinking water has been hailed as the major public health achievement of the 20th century” . Chlorine remains the most widely used chemical for water disinfection in the United States . However, close to 1 billion people in the world still lack access to safe drinking water, and new questions about health effects from chlorine by-products formed during disinfection have led to questions about the advisability of using chlorine to provide safe water for this population. This page summarizes information about the production, and health effects, of disinfection by-products (DBPs).

These guidelines must be evaluated in context of the WHO Guidelines which state: "Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and helminths are the most common and widespread health risk associated with drinking-water"  (Chapter 7, Microbiological Aspects; Section 7.1, pg 118). Additionally, a previous version of these guidelines states: "Where local circumstances require that a choice must be made between meeting either microbiological guidelines or guidelines for disinfectants or disinfectant by-products, the microbiological quality must always take precedence, and where necessary, a chemical guideline value can be adopted corresponding to a higher level of risk. Efficient disinfection must never be compromised" (Chemical Aspects; Section 3.6.4, pg 49/65).

In disinfection, gaseous chlorine (Cl₂) or liquid sodium hypochlorite (bleach, NaOCl) is added to, and reacts with, water to form hypochlorous acid. In the presence of bromine, hypobromous acid is also formed. Both chlorine and bromine are in the “halogen” group of elements, and have similar chemical characteristics. Hypochlorous and hypobromous acid form strong oxidizing agents in water and react with a wide variety of compounds, which is why they are such effective disinfectants.

In 1974, Rook  discovered that hypochlorous acid and hypobromous acid also react with naturally occurring organic matter to create many water disinfection by-products, including the four primary trihalomethanes:

• Chloroform – CHCl₃
• Bromodichloromethane (BDCM) – CHCl₂Br
• Dibromochloromethane (DBCM) – CHClBr₂
• Bromoform – CHBr₃

At the center of each of the four trihalomethanes is a carbon atom, and it is surrounded by and bound to four atoms: one hydrogen and three halogens. These four compounds are collectively termed trihalomethanes and are abbreviated as either THM or TTHM (for total trihalomethanes).

Rook’s discovery of THMs in drinking water led to research on other chemicals formed when chlorine is added to water, and to the health effects of these chemicals. Richardson  identified greater than 600 water disinfection by-products in chlorinated tap water, including haloacetic acids (HAAs). THMs, and to a lesser extent HAAs, are currently used as indicator chemicals for all potentially harmful compounds formed by the addition of chlorine to water. In many countries the levels of THMs and HAAs in chlorinated water supplies are regulated based on this assumption.

Humans are exposed to DBPs through drinking-water and oral, dermal, and inhalational contact with chlorinated water ⁶. In populations who take hot showers or baths, inhalation and dermal absorption in the shower accounts for more exposure to THMs than drinking water .

World Health Organization (WHO) Research and Guideline Values for DBPs

The World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviews research conducted on potential carcinogens and develops monographs that summarize the research and classify the compound. Links to the monographs for BDCM, DBCM, bromoform, and chloroform are available below (see Additional Resources(https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/chlorination-byproducts.html#resources) ). As can be seen in Table 1 (below), chloroform and BDCM are classified as possible human carcinogens. The classifications of possible human carcinogens come from data that is extrapolated from research on animals that may or may not be relevant to human cancer. DBCM and bromoform are not classifiable, indicating there is no evidence supporting these two compounds as carcinogens, but there is not enough research to classify them as non-carcinogenic. There is inadequate epidemiological evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for all four compounds.

Table 1: IARC Classification of THMs
	Humans	Classification
Chloroform	Inadequate evidence for human carcinogenicity.	Possible human carcinogen (Group 2B)
Bromodichloromethane	Inadequate evidence for human carcinogenicity.	Possible human carcinogen (Group 2B)
Dibromochloromethane	Inadequate evidence for human carcinogenicity.	Not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans (Group 3)
Bromoform	Inadequate evidence for human carcinogenicity.	Not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans (Group 3)

WHO states that “all people, whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to an adequate supply of safe drinking water” . To this end, WHO has developed guideline values for many contaminants in drinking water. It is important to note that these guideline values are not standards. “It must be emphasized that the guideline values recommended are not mandatory limits. In order to define such limits, it is necessary to consider the guideline values in the context of local or national environmental, social, economic, and cultural conditions and waterborne disease occurrence” .

To develop the guideline values for drinking-water, WHO reviewed the literature for well-designed and documented studies showing health effects from exposure to each of the THMs . A safety factor of 1,000, an average adult human weight of 60 kilograms, and an average drinking water consumption of 2 liters per day were incorporated into the development of each guideline value. The chloroform, bromoform, and dibromochloromethane guideline values were all obtained using a total daily intake calculation. It was assumed that 50 percent of total daily intake of chloroform came from drinking water, and 20 percent of total daily intake of bromoform and dibromochloromethane came from drinking water (in areas with no showers, this assumption leads to a conservative estimate of risk). The models developed for bromodichloromethane and chloroform were based on an excess cancer risk of 10^-5, or one extra cancer per 100,000 people at the guideline value for 70 years .

• The chloroform guideline value was developed from a study showing hepatotoxicity in beagle dogs ingesting chloroform-laced toothpaste for 7.5 years. (A linearized multi-stage model based on observed increases in kidney tumors in male rats supports this total daily intake calculation).
• The bromoform guideline value was developed from a study showing lesions on the livers of rats exposed to bromoform for 90 days.
• The dibromochloromethane guideline value was developed based on the absence of histopathological effects in rats exposed for 90 days.
• The bromodichloromethane guideline value was developed using a linearized multi-stage model based on observed increases in kidney tumors in male mice.

The WHO Guideline Values  for the THMs are shown in Table 2. WHO also considers potential health effects caused by exposure to the four compounds simultaneously. In addition to the individual guidelines, there is an additional guideline that states the following: the sum of each individual THM concentration divided by its guideline value cannot be greater than one. This is depicted in the following equation:

Table 2: WHO Guideline Values for Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water (WHO, 1996)
	WHO Guideline Value
Chloroform	200 μg/L
Bromodichloromethane	60 μg/L
Dibromochloromethane	100 μg/L
Bromoform	100 μg/L

These guidelines must be evaluated in context of the WHO Guidelines which state: "Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and helminths are the most common and widespread health risk associated with drinking-water"  (Chapter 7, Microbiological Aspects; Section 7.1, pg 118).
Most importantly, the WHO specifically states in the 2nd edition of the Guidelines that: "Where local circumstances require that a choice must be made between meeting either microbiological guidelines or guidelines for disinfectants or disinfectant by-products, the microbiological quality must always take precedence, and where necessary, a chemical guideline value can be adopted corresponding to a higher level of risk. Efficient disinfection must never be compromised" (Chemical Aspects; Section 3.6.4, pg 49/65). In the 4th edition of the Guidelines, the WHO states: "In all circumstances, disinfection efficiency should not be compromised in trying to meet guidelines for DBPs, including chlorination by-products, or in trying to reduce concentrations of these substances"  (Chapter 8 Chemical Aspects, Section 8.5.4, pg 188).
Thus, waterborne pathogens pose a real and more immediate threat to health; water disinfection by-products are certainly the lesser of these two evils.

USEPA Standards for DBPs

The disinfectant/disinfection by-products (D/DBP) rule that regulates DBPs in the United States was designed to be implemented in three stages (Table 3) ^, . The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) does not regulate THMs or HAAs individually – there is only a standard for total THMs and total HAAs.

Table 3: D/DBP Rule Implementation, USEPA
Stage	TTHM Standard	HAA Standard
Initial	100 μg/L
Stage 1	80 μg/L	60 μg/L
Stage 2	80 μg/L	60 μg/L

The USEPA has calculated cancer potency factors for the four THMs, which can be used to calculate the probability of cancer for varying exposure levels (Table 4). As can be seen, DBCM has the highest factor, and bromoform is an order of magnitude lower.

Table 4: USEPA Cancer Potency Factors
Compound	Cancer Potency Factor
Chloroform	insufficient data
Bromodichloromethane	0.062 mg/kg/day
Dibromochloromethane	0.084 mg/kg/day
Bromoform	0.0079 mg/kg/day

Thus, the extra cancer from chloroform was calculated to be negligible.

Other countries in the developed world, particularly in Europe, have established much stricter standards for DBPs in drinking water. These countries have the resources to follow the precautionary principle, which advocates the avoidance of chemicals until they are proven safe. These low standards are met, in part, by researching and implementing alternative disinfection methods (such as the use of ozone, UV light, and chloramines) and water treatment strategies (such as filtration before disinfection).

DBPs and the Safe Water System

Addition of chlorine to untreated water will lead to the formation of DBPs. A significant amount of energy and time has been invested in the United States and Europe to determine the human health effects of these DBPs and how to restructure water treatment processes to prevent DBP formation in order to minimize the slight risk of cancer from long-term exposure to DBPs. However, diarrheal disease in the developing world is still a leading cause of infant and under-5 mortality and morbidity. In these populations, the risk of death or delayed development in early childhood from diarrheal disease transmitted by contaminated water is far greater than the relatively small risk of cancer in old age.

CDC has tested Safe Water System water to measure the concentration of THMs in the finished water. In that study, household chlorination of turbid and non-turbid waters did not create THM concentrations that exceeded health risk guidelines ^, . In addition, ceramic filtration, sand filtration, cloth filtration, and settling and decanting were not effective mitigation strategies to reduce THM formation. Since this finding may not hold for all source waters worldwide, reducing organic matter in turbid source water may reduce the potential for DBP formation . To do this:

• Let the water settle for 12-24 hours and then decant water into a second bucket. Chlorinate this decanted water, and/or
• Filter the water through a cloth or filter before chlorination.

The Safe Water System is a proven intervention that consistently reduces diarrheal disease(https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/data/publications-by-topic.html#diarrheal) incidence among users in the developing world. This disease reduction leads to healthier children and adults. There is a slight risk to the ingestion of THMs at the WHO guideline value level. Although the risk from THMs is important to address, until centrally treated, piped water can be delivered to every family, the initial critical need is the provision of microbiologically safe drinking water to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and other waterborne disease.

If you have any questions or comments on this page or the Safe Water System, please email 

References

1. White, G. The Handbook of Chlorination, 2nd Edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York. 1986.
2. Gordon G, Cooper WJ, Rice RG, Pacey GE. Disinfectant residual measurement methods. AWWA Research Foundation, American Water Works Association. 1987.
3. Calderon RL. The epidemiology of chemical contaminants of drinking water. Food Chemical Toxicology. 2000;38:S13-S20.
4. Rook JJ. Formation of haloforms during chlorination of natural waters. Water Treatment Examination. 1974;23:234-243.
5. Richardson SD. The role of GC-MS and LC-MS in the discovery of drinking water disinfection by-products. Environmental Monitoring. 2002;4(1):1-9.
6. Lin, Tsair-Fuh, Shih-Wen Hoang. Inhalation exposure to THMs from drinking water in south Taiwan. Science Total Environment. 2000;246:41-49.
7. Backer, LC, Ashley DL, Bonin MA, Cardinali FL, Kieszak SM, and Wooten JV. Household exposures to drinking water disinfection by-products: whole blood trihalomethanes levels. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiology. 2000;July-August 10(4); 321-6.
8. WHO. Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 2nd edition, Volume 2: Health Criteria and other supporting information[PDF – 94 pages]. World Health Organization, Geneva. 1996.
9. WHO. Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 2nd edition, Volume 1: Recommendations. World Health Organization, Geneva. 1993.
10. WHO. Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th edition. World Health Organization, Geneva. 2011.
11. EPA. National primary drinking water standards.
12. EPA. Comprehensive disinfectants and disinfection byproducts rules (Stage 1 and Stage 2): Quick reference guide. 2010.
13. EPA. Integrated Risk Information System.
14. Lantagne DS, Blount BC, Cardinali F, Quick R. Disinfection by-product formation and mitigation strategies in point-of-use chlorination of turbid and non-turbid waters in western Kenya. J Water Health. 2008;6(1):67-82.
15. Lantagne DS, Cardinali F, Blount BC. Disinfection by-product formation and mitigation strategies in point-of-use chlorination with sodium dichloroisocyanurate in Tanzania. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010;83(1):135-43.

Begum Jaan Movie ,பேகம் ஜான் திரைப்பட விமர்சனம்

முதலில் கையில் ஒரு சாட்டையை கொடுத்து விட்டு படத்தை ஆரம்பிக்கிறார் இயக்குநர் ஸ்ரீஜித் முகர்ஜி. ஹூக்கா பைப்பில் புகைத்துக் கொண்டே இந்தியாவுக்கு சுதந்திரம் கிடைத்து விட்டது என்று பட்டாசு வெடித்து கொண்டாடி மகிழும் சக பாலியல் தொழிலாளிகளை உணர்வில்லாத பார்வையை அலட்சியமாக வீசி நம்மை புழு போல் உணர வைக்கிறார் வித்யா பாலன் .எப்படி சொல்வது என்று புரியவில்லை ஜான்சி ராணி லஷ்மி பாயின் வீரத்தில் எந்த விதத்திலும் குறைந்து விடாத , மகாராணியாக வித்யா பாலன் வாழ்ந்...து இருக்கிறார். படம் முழுவதும் அளந்து செதுக்கி நம் கண் முன்னே வலம் வரும் காட்சிகளும் , வசனங்களும் , நம் கை சாட்டை நம் சம்மதம் இல்லாமலே நம்மை அடிக்க துவங்கு கின்றன . மனம் வலிக்கிறது .

Lines drawn on paper may have catastrophic consequences in the real world. This seems to be the message and premise of Begum Jaan, a film about a fictional brothel sliced in half by the line dividing India and Pakistan. This could also - tragically - serve as a warning that should have been extended to the makers and writers of this film, for too much has obviously been lost on the way from intent to execution.

National Award winning Bengali director Srijit Mukherjee makes his Hindi language debut with this remake of his own Rajkahini, and it turns out to be an odd choice of film. Begum Jaan is a highly melodramatic film that waxes frequently on how Hindus and Muslims are the same beasts, but - at its core, under all the shrillness - it is a frustratingly straightforward film about an eviction being carried out.

The brothel is run by the titular Begum Jaan, played like a banshee by the usually wonderful Vidya Balan. It is devastating to watch an actress of Balan's caliber turned into this kind of caricature, a woman who starts off like an angry Kirron Kher and ends up going gale force Rakhee. It is also mystifying why she would want to run a brothel, given the way Begum constantly complains about her life and her lot. Considering how she speaks exclusively in platitudes, she could have had a fine career painting silly idioms onto the backs of bullock carts.

ஆனால் அழ முடியவில்லை . அது என்னவோ ஹிந்தியில் வித்யா பேசும் கொச்சையான கெட்ட வார்த்தைகள் மட்டும் தெளிவாக அர்த்தம் புரிகின்றன . “என் அம்மாவை விட்டு விடு , என்னை உயயோகித்து கொள்” என்று அந்த குழந்தை அத்தனை ஆண்கள் முன்னிலையில் , அந்த கொடூர இராணுவ வீரனுக்கு தன் கண்களாலேயே சம்மதம் தெரிவித்து உடைகளை களைந்து நிர்வாணம் ஆகும் போது , அந்த வீரனுடன் சேர்ந்து நாமும் பதறி போய் மூச்சு திணறி சவமா கிறோம் . என்ன சிந்தனை ? இது போன்ற படங்களின் கதைகளை சொன்னால் ஒத்து கொள்ளும் தயாரிப்பாளர்கள தமிழ் சூழலில் இல்லை என்பது ஒரு அவலம் என்றாலும் ,இந்த திரைப்படம் தமிழ்நாட்டில் வெளியிட பன்னிரெண்டு தணிக்கை வெட்டுக்கு பின்னரே அனுமதிக்க முடியும் என்றார்களாம் . அது தான் கொடுமை . நல்ல வார்த்தை வாயில் வர மறுக்கிறது தமிழ் கலாசார காவலர்களை பற்றி நினைக்கும் பொது ...... “இந்தியா பாகிஸ்தானை யாரு பிரிக்க சொன்னா ? பிராமணன் , சூத்திரன் ,இந்து , முஸ்லீம் என்ற எந்த பாகுபாடு எனக்கு தெரியாது .
Ah, the partition. "At the stroke of the midnight hour," we hear Jawaharlal Nehru's voice boom from a radio as the women of the brothel gather around to dreamily listen. It is a disturbing, telling shot. The radio is in the foreground and the women are looking at it, rapt, disbelieving, somewhat confused. This last bit may be the truest thing in the film, since they are looking, in point of fact, at the back of the radio which faces no one - but the camera.
Begum Jaan is, thus, immensely hard to take seriously. A character portends her death by literally kicking a bucket, and I kept wondering if another character, named Salim, would eventually be crippled simply because of his name. (He is.) During the scenes of displacement, the weight of partition is expressed by a big tall Sikh bent over under a single little suitcase he carries on his shoulder. Representatives of India and Pakistan are shown to us with half their faces on screen, as if even aspect ratio is now taking sides. The main plot doesn't make sense, since a routine eviction - at gunpoint, at most - that could have been carried out by the authorities, is handed over to a madman so he can wreak utter (and inane) havoc.

எனக்கு கிடையாது .இது என் பூர்விக வீடு இங்க நான் ராணி .. வா .. வந்து போ “என்று அலட்சியமாக கோணவாய் சிரிப்புடன் பேசும் வித்யா .... சல்யூட் !வித்யா கேரக்டர் மூலமாக இயக்குனர் வைக்கும் கேள்விகளுக்கு நம்மிடம் பதில் இல்லை. ஒரு பாலியல் தொழிலாளியை நேசிக்கிறேன் என்று அந்த வேலைக்காரன் கூறியதும் அவன் கைகளை எடுத்து தன் மார்பிலும் , தொடைக்கு இடுக்கிலும் வைத்துக் கொண்டு பலத்த சிரிப்பை வெளிவிடும் அந்த பெண் . ஐயோ..! வசனம் இல்லாமல், அங்கே ... அந்த காட்சியே கேட்கும் கேள்விகள் துண்டு துண்டாக நம்மை சிதைக்கின்றன . வேலைக்காரனை கொலை செய்ய அந்த பிராமண வில்லன் கொடூரமாக பார்க்கும்போது அவன் ஐ லவ் யு என்று காதலியை நினைத்து சொல்லும் காட்சியில் மனம் கனத்து போகிறது .

எத்தனை படம் இயக்குகிறோம் என்பதல்ல என்ன படம் இயக்கு கிறோம் என்பதே முக்கியம் . Kausar Munir வசனமும் கோபி பகத் ஒளிப்பதிவும் படத்தின் டாப் ஹீரோக்கள் எனலாம் .அட்டகாசமான ஒளிப்பதிவு. இசை அனுமாலிக் உணர்வு பூர்வமாக இருக்கிறது . படத்தை பார்த்து முடித்தவுடன் கையோடு வைத்திருந்த கர்சீப் நனைந்து துவளும் வரையிலும் அழுது தீர்த்தேன் . எதிரிகளை சுட்டு முடித்ததும் , இனி அவ்வளவுதான் என்று அலட்சியமாக சிரித்தபடி எரியும் வீட்டிற்குள் நுழையும் பெண்கள் ..அந்த கிளைமாக்ஸ் காட்சி ..ஐயோ ..முடியல ... இன்னும் அவர்கள வாழ்க்கை நெஞ்சிற்குள் மையம் கொண்டு என்னை உறுத்துகிறது . அரச பயங்கரவாதத்தை இதை விட அழுத்தமாக யாரும் பதிவு செய்ய இயலாது .படம் முடியும் போது அந்த இயக்குநர் நான்கு விரல்களை மடக்கி தன் நடுவிரலை உயர்த்தி அதிகாரத்தை நோக்கி விரல் ஜாடை காட்டுவது போல் உணர்வு எழுவதை தடுக்க இயலவில்லை.

Much could have been salvaged had the women of the brothel been fascinating, but none are given the sprawl to really do much of anything. Gauahar Khan is effectively bold when telling her lover about her body and how little it matters in the grand scheme of things, Pallavi Sharda does well as a girl with brothel-escaping dreams, but nothing here is particularly interesting, and nearly every accent is murder.

Two lesbians appear briefly intriguing, but the camera - so keen to shock throughout this film - shies away from their affection, choosing to show us Vivek Mushran getting kissed instead.
Begum Jaan could well have been a film about a fantastic bunch of feisty, disparate women taking on all odds, but alas. We're left only with memories of some melancholy bores.

Review English Raja Sen

Tamil Govindarajan Vijaya Padma

ஸ்ரீ கனகதாரா ஸ்தோத்திரம் தமிழில்

🍀"ஸ்ரீ ஆதிசங்கரர் அருளியது, "வறுமை விலக்கி எல்லா வளங்களையும் தரக் கூடியது."🍀

ஸ்ரீ ஆதிசங்கரர் பிட்சைக்குப் போகும் போது ஒரு ஏழைப் பெண்மணியின் வீட்டின் முன் நின்று பிட்சை கேட்டார். வறுமை தாண்டவமாடிக் கொண்டிருந்தது அந்த வீட்டில். அப்படியிருந்தும், 🍀அந்த வீட்டில் ஒரு வாடிய நெல்லிக்காய் மட்டுமே உணவுப் பொருளாக இருந்தது! பிட்சை கேட்கும் பிள்ளைக்கு இதைத் தவிர கொடுக்க ஏதுமில்லையே என்று பெரிதும் மனம் குமைந்தாள் வீட்டுக்காரப் பெண்மணி. 🍀ஆனாலும், மனம் குறுகி அந்த தெய்வக் குழந்தைக்கு அந்த நெல்லிக்காயை பிட்சையிட்டாள். அடுத்த வேளை உணவுக்கு எந்தப் பொருளும் இல்லாத வறுமையிலும், தன்னிடமிருந்த ஒரே ஒரு நெல்லிக்காயைத் தந்த அந்தப் பெண்மணியின் தாய்மைக் கனிவைக் கண்டு பெரிதும் நெகிழ்ந்தார் ஆதிசங்கரர்.🍀
- 🍀மகாலட்சுமியிடம் அப்பெண்ணுக்கு சகல ஐஸ்வர்யங்களையும் அருளுமாறு உள்ளம் உருகப் பிரார்த்தித்தார். அதைக் கேட்ட திருமகள், ‘‘இப்பெண்மணி, அவளது முந்தைய ஜென்மத்தில் குசேலரின் மனைவியாக வாழ்ந்தவள். 🍀கஷ்டங்கள் அனைத்தும் கண்ணன் அருளால் நீங்கி குபேர வாழ்க்கையை மேற்கொண்டபோது, தன் பழைய ஏழ்மைச் சம்பவங்களை மறந்து செல்வச் செருக்கால் ஒருவருக்கும் உதவி செய்யாமல் இருந்தாள். அந்தப் பாவமே இன்று அவளை தாத்ரியமாக வாட்டுகிறது’’ என்றாள்.🍀

🍀‘‘அம்மா! எது எப்படியிருந்தாலும் நாளை பாரணைக்கு வைத்திருந்த ஒரே ஒரு வாடல் நெல்லிக்கனியைக்கூட எனக்கு பிட்சையிட்டதால் அவளது அனைத்துப் பூர்வ ஜன்மப் பாவங்களும் நீங்கி விட்டன. 🍀தங்கள் கடைக்கண் பார்வை இந்தப் பெண்மணி மீது விழவேண்டும்’’ என்று கூறி கனகதாரா ஸ்தோத்திரத்தால் திருமகளைத் துதித்தார். 🍀அதனால் மனமிரங்கிய திருமகள் அந்த பெண்மணியின் இல்லத்தில் தங்க நெல்லிக்கனிகளாகப் பொழிய வைத்தாள். இந்தக் கனகதாரா ஸ்தோத்திரத்தைப் பாடுவோர் அனைவருக்கும் தன் நல்லருள் கிடைக்கும் என உருதி மொழிந்தார்.🍀

A Sumerian (Music) Hymn Written 3,400 Years Ago

But there are songs that are older than most civilizations.

While standardized music theory is only a few centuries old, humans have been making music since as long as they have been communicating with each other.While standardized music theory is only a few centuries old, humans have been making music since as long as they have been communicating with each other.

Harmonies and certain diatonic scales can be traced back as far as the Ancient Grecian civilization and recent archaeological evidence can tell us what these ancient songs sounded like.

In discovering that “the 7-note diatonic scale as well as harmony existed 3,400 years ago” (Archeologia Musicalis, 1988) it can be said the evidence “flies in the face of most musicologist’s views that ancient harmony was virtually non-existent (or even impossible) and the scale only about as old as the Ancient Greeks.” says Richard Fink.

The songs were likely plucked and strummed on instruments similar to the lyre some 3,000 years ago.

To hear the recording of this ancient piece of music, watch the video below.

Thanks  http://livetheorganicdream.com

History Of Prostitution(அந்த காலங்களில் பாலியல் தொழில்)

Wherever we find evidence of human culture, we find evidence of prostitution. When the earliest known human societies emerged in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, the sex trade evolved alongside temples, customs, markets and laws. Beginning in the third millennium B.C, the Sumerians, the first major inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia, worshiped the goddess Ishtar, a deity that would remain a constant throughout Mesopotamia’s Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Ishtar was the goddess of love and war, symbolized by the planet Venus, and was born anew as a maiden every morning only to become a ‘whore’ every evening – the etymology of the word lying in the Indo-European root meaning ‘desire.’

அந்த காலங்களில் பாலியல் தொழில் என்பது பணம் ஈட்டும் சந்தையாகவே கருதப்பட்டது, அதில் ஈடுபடும் பெண்களும் தங்களுக்கு நேரும் பிரச்சனைகளை கருதாமல், அதனை ஒரு தொழிலாகவே கருதி வந்தனர்.

உலகளவில் ஒவ்வொரு நாடுகளிலும் பாலியல் தொழிலானது பல்வேறான முறையில் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது.

Ironically, Mesopotamian religious practices gave birth to the prostitution trade, as women in Ishtar’s service would help men who offered money to her temples with the ‘sacred’ powers of their bodies. Achieving a priority of communication with the goddess from their fertility, only women enjoyed this religious position. Thus I,shtar temples became knowledge centers concerning birth, birth control, and sexuality. Priestesses became the nurses and sacred sex therapists of these early societies. Men of all rank could hire these women and, in turn, make an offering to the goddess from whose temple the prostitute came. The king would also take part in certain sacred sex rituals with the high priestesses in conjunction with grain harvests: the fertility of the earth was secured through a ritual that celebrated the fertility of the womb. The king, regent of the earth, and priestess, regent of the goddess, coupled in this highly symbolic manner celebrates the sexual process that brought both grain and people into being. Thus Ishtar became known as the protector of all prostitutes. Prostitution, or at least the religious prostitution involved in these sacred sex rituals, existed without taboo or prohibition, as evidenced in some of our species’ earliest literary works.
In one such work, The Epic of Gilgamesh, we are introduced to a nameless Harimtu woman – a term used by famed lawgiver Hammurabi which denoted lower-class prostitutes – who lavishes Gilgamesh’s rival Enkidu with many variations of love, from the maternal and mystical to the sexual and orgiastic. The prostitute emerges not just as a purveyor of sex but as a force of civilization: the harlot literally educates the savage in love and care of the body. This is certainly antithetical to the stigma prostitution harbors today, where the trade itself is seen as sexually primitive, an unfortunate remnant of a less civilized and more phallocentric past. The goddess of love was also seen as being connected to the prostitutes – including males – that operated beyond the temples, often under the supervision of a madam. Theologically, all were seen as being in service to the goddess of love, but in Babylonian law there remained legal distinctions between the priestesses and the roadside/inn prostitutes.

ஒட்டோமன் பேரரசு

ஒட்டோமன் பேரரசில் இளம் வயது சிறுவர்கள் கூட பாலியல் தொழிலில் களம் இறங்கினார்கள், ஒட்டோமான் சாம்ராஜ்யத்தில் இளைஞர்களிடம் ஈர்ப்பு கொண்டிருப்பது பொதுவானதாக கருதப்பட்டு வந்த நிலைலயில், அநேக பெண்கள் தங்களை கவர்ச்சிகரமானவர்களாக ஆக்கிக்கொள்ள இந்த நடவடிக்கை வழிவகுத்தது.

துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக, அந்த தொழிலில் உள்ள பெண்கள் தங்கள் வீடுகளை இழக்க வேண்டிய கட்டாயத்திற்கு ஆளானதால், பார்களில் வேலை செய்வதற்கு ஏலத்தில் விடப்பட்டனர்.

மெக்ஸிகோ

மெக்ஸிகோவில் சில குறிப்பிட்ட கட்டிடங்களில் மட்டுமே பாலியல் தொழில் நடைபெறும். இவ்வாறு நடைபெறும் இடங்கள் Cihuacallis என்று அழைக்கப்பட்டது. Mesoamerican இன பெண்கள் மட்டுமே இங்கு பாலியல் தொழிலில் ஈடுபடுத்தப்பட்டனர். மேலும், ஓரினச்சேர்க்கை முறையில் இங்கு ஈடுபட்டால் கடுமையான தண்டனைக்கு ஆளாவார்கள்.

இத்தாலி

இத்தாலியில் பாலியல் தொழிலில் சாதகமானதாக இருந்தது. ஒரு ஆண் மற்றொரு ஆணால் ஈர்க்கப்படுவதை தவிர்க்க பாலியல் தொழில் சாதகமாக்கப்பட்டது, மேலும் இதுபோன்ற செயல்களில் ஈடுபடுபவர்கள் பாவப்பட்டவர்கள் என அழைக்கப்பட்டனர்.

ஜப்பான்

ஜப்பானில் பாலியல் தொழிலாளிகள் "ஓரன்" என்று அழைக்கப்படுகின்றனர், இவர்கள் நடனமாடி, பாடல்கள் பாடி மற்றும் தங்கள் வாடிக்கையாளர்களுக்கு கவிதை வாசித்து மிகவும் மகிழ்ச்சியோடு கவனித்துக்கொள்வார்கள்.

சமூக நிலைமை அடிப்படையில் இப்பகுதியில் பாலியல் தொழில்கள் பல்வேறு நிலைகளில் வகைப்படுத்தப்பட்டனர். இதில் டாயு என்ற மக்களே வாடிக்கையாளர்களை கவனிப்பதில் உயர்ந்த மட்டம் உள்ளவர்களாக கருதப்பட்டனர்.

அமெரிக்கா

ஐக்கிய மாகாணங்களில் பாலியல் தொழில் அமெரிக்க புரட்சிக்கான முதுகெலும்பாக இருந்தது.

பல பெண்கள் தங்களை துணிச்சலுடன் பலப்படுத்திக் கொள்ளும் விதமாக இராணுவ வீரர்களை பயன்படுத்திக்கொண்டார்கள்.

நியூயோர்க் நகரை சுற்றி பாலியல் தொழிலுக்காக பல்வேறு கட்டிடங்கள் கட்டப்பட்டன. மேலும், இந்த கட்டிடங்களில், சீட்டாடம் உட்பட பல்வேறு வேடிக்கை விளையாட்டுக்கள் இருந்ததால் பல்வேறு ஆண்கள் இங்கு குவிந்தன. இதன் மூலம் அதிக வருவாய் கிடைத்தது.

If prostitution is the oldest profession, the brothel must be the oldest public institution. The Government's plan to legal brothels - albeit only small ones, with a maximum of two prostitutes and a receptionist - may sound bold to those in Middle England who fear the woman next door may turn to a bit of home working. But the debate on whether prostitutes are best confined to brothels or allowed to walk the streets is hardly new.
The "oldest profession" tag is, of course, almost certainly wrong. Not just because, as some feminists have pointed out, it is probably the profession of midwife that qualifies for the label.
Anthropologists suggest prostitution did not actually seem to exist at all in what were once called primitive societies. There was no sex for sale among the Aborigines of Australia before the white man arrived. Nor, apparently, were there brothels in societies ranging from the ancient Cymri people in Wales to recently discovered tribes in the jungles of Burma. Prostitution seems to be something to do with what we call civilisation.
The first recorded instances of women selling themselves for sex seem to be not in brothels but in temples. In Sumaria, Babylonia and among the Phoenicians, prostitutes had sex, not for gain, but as a religious ritual. Sex in the temple was supposed to confer special blessings on men and women alike. But that was very different to just doing it for money.
There's plenty of that in the Bible. However, prostitutes in the Jewish scriptures seemed to ply their trade from home, such as Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho who aided the spies of Joshua and identified her house with a scarlet rope - the origin, some say, of the "red light" (though that may, more prosaically, come from the red lanterns carried by railroad workers left outside brothels while they were inside).
The first brothels proper seem to have been in ancient Egypt. Some historians suggest prostitution was not common until the influence of Greek and Mesopotamian travellers took hold. But, in the times of the later Pharaohs, dancing women and musicians were used to recruit men into brothels. Herodotus said a Greek prostitute called Rhopopis was so successful in Egypt she built a pyramid from her takings.
But certainly it was the Greeks who first put the brothel on an official footing. The celebrated Athenian lawmaker and lyric poet Solon founded state brothels and taxed prostitutes on their earnings in the 5th century BC. They were staffed by hetaerae (companions) who ranged from slaves and other lowclass women to those of the upper ranks. The cost of sex was one obole, a sixth of a drachma and the equivalent of an ordinary worker's day salary. For that you got intercourse but nothing oral, which Greek women had a distaste for, although hetaerae were commonly beaten for refusing.
The Romans were keen on sex. There can be few languages richer than Latin in the pornographic, with dozens of terms for prostitutes and different sexual acts. Waitresses in taverns usually sold sexual services. Prostitutes set themselves up at the circus, under the arches (fornices - hence fornication). Official prostitutes were registered by the police and their activities were regulated. Rent from a brothel was a legitimate source of income for a respectable man.
Not all brothels were the same. Those in the Second District of the City were very dirty but the brothels of the Peace ward, were sumptuously fitted. Hairdressers stood by to repair the ravages of amorous combats. Aquarioli, or water boys, waited by the door with bidets for ablution. The superior prostitutes had immense influence on Roman fashions in hair, dress and jewellery.
To attract trade, the houses had an emblem of Priapus in wood or stone above the door "frequently painted to resemble nature more closely" as one ancient historian delicately put it.
Several such advertising standards have been recovered from the ruins of Pompeii where a large brothel was found called the Lupanar - lupae (she-wolves) were a particular kind of sex worker known to be skilled with their tongues.
Among the fossilised ruins were what our delicate historian called "instruments used in gratifying unnatural lusts" which "in praise of our modern standards of morality, it should be said that it required some study and thought to penetrate the secret of the proper use of several of these instruments".
The ambivalence towards the brothel - the simultaneous urge to license and to regulation - continued into medieval times. Prostitution was tolerated because it was held to prevent the greater evils of rape and sodomy. No lesser figures than St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas argued that prostitution was a necessary evil: a well-ordered city needed brothels just as it needed good sewers. The medieval brothels were under the authority of the state, city or prince.
Rules were set in place. Brothels were situated in special streets. Ecclesiastics and married men weren't allowed to visit. Prostitutes, who had to wear distinctive dress, were allowed to ply their trade just outside the town walls but not within. Special houses were built for repenting prostitutes.
Places as varied as the town of Sandwich and foreign municipalities such as Hamburg, Vienna and Augsburg, built public brothels. Such systems of regulation continued in many places for three centuries - until a great epidemic of syphillis swept over Europe in the 16th century and these official medieval brothels were closed.
By Elizabethan times, the sale of sex was more diverse. In London, Southwark was the red-light district. Brothels, usually whitewashed, were called "stews" because of their origins as steambath houses. But prostitutes were active in the theatres. Celebrated theatrical impresarios and actors, such as Philip Henslowe and his son-in-law, Edward Alleyn, owned a profitable brothel.
Henry VIII, in 1546, tried to close the bawdy houses but without much success; some were moated and had high walls to repel attackers. And again the Tudor whorehouse catered for both poor and rich - one 1584 account records that a young man might have to part with 40 shillings or more in a brothel for "a bottle or two of wine, the embracement of a painted strumpet and the French welcome [syphilis]".
But in Paris, the French were, by the end of the 17th century, demanding a medical examination of prostitutes who also had to wear a distinct dress with a badge, and live in a licensed brothel. Many approved. Bernard Mandeville, a Dutch doctor in London in 1724 wrote a defence of public stews, "for the encouraging of public whoring will not only prevent most of the mischievous effects of the vice," he said, "but even lessen the quantity of whoring in general and reduce it to the narrowest bounds which it can possibly be contained in".
But others disapproved. In Vienna in 1751, the Empress Maria Theresa outlawed prostitution and imposed fines, imprisonment, whipping and torture for violations. She even banned female servants from taverns and forbade all women from wearing short dresses.
Throughout the ages, there have been plenty of folk determined to outlaw the trade. In France in 1254, Louis IX ordered all courtesans to be driven out of the country and deprived of their money, goods and - a bit dodgy this one - even their clothes.
When he set out for the Crusades, he destroyed all brothels, with the result that prostitutes mixed more freely than ever with the general population.
In Russia, not long after Marie Therese's purge, the Czarina Elizaveta Petrovna ordered a "find and catch" of all prostitutes both Russian and foreign. And her successor, Tsar Paul I ordered all those caught in Moscow and St. Petersburg to be exiled to Siberia.
In 1860, the Mayor of Portsmouth tried the same thing, turning all the city's prostitutes on to the streets but, at the end of three days, the condition of the place was so bad that he allowed them to return to their former premises. Practically the same episodes were repeated in Pittsburgh and New York in 1891.
Originally legal in the United States, prostitution was outlawed in almost all states between 1910 and 1915 largely due to the influence of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union which was influential in the banning of drug use and was a major force in the prohibition of alcohol. But whoring survived just as boozing did, with brothels opening and closing with regularity, and women switching between prostitution and working as chorus girls in the brothels that lined West 39th and 40th streets in New York alone.
The intervening years have only told the same story, with many countries oscillating between phases in which the sex industry was tolerated or cracked down upon. In 1885, Rotterdam, with regulation, had more prostitution and venereal disease than Amsterdam, a city without regulation. In 1906, Denmark abandoned regulation. Amsterdam adopted it in 1911. The brothels of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy were banned in the 1920s. In 1949, Paris abandoned its brothels after two centuries.
Neither the permissive nor the prohibitive approach is successful because the problems they try to address - protecting public morals, controlling sexually transmitted disease, improving health and working conditions for the prostitutes, reducing the exploitation of women and the sex-slave trade are not amenable to common solutions.
What assists the one, detracts from another. Yet still we try, changing policy here, shifting it there. The only true lesson of history, it seems, is that we never learn from history.

Ten Types Of Prostitutes In History
Ying-chi

 The ying-chi are arguably the first official, independent prostitutes in Chinese history. Their acknowledged existence is credited to Emperor Wu, who was said to recruit female camp followers for the sole purpose of escorting his armies and keeping them entertained on long marches. Ying-chi literally means “camp harlot,” a title that was no doubt a flattering one in 100 BC.
Some sources question these girls’ claim as the first Chinese prostitutes, though. It’s said that the King of Yue set up the first prostitution camps, made up of the widows of fallen soldiers. These women were quite different from the later, upstanding courtesans that were so popular, whose role was to give a man “friendship.” The ying-chi are also different from the women who worked in government-run brothels—these much older institutions date back to somewhere in the seventhth century BC.
Temple Prostitutes

 The role of the temple prostitute in ancient Greco-Roman society is one that’s been the subject of much debate. It’s not debated whether or not it was a popular practice—that much is sure—but the details of the practice are still up for interpretation. Temple prostitutes were those that plied their trade within the sanctity of the temples and with permission from temple priests—by extension, they were also working for their deity.
Just how much of a religious service these temple prostitutes were carrying out isn’t known. Some scholars argue that they were simply slaves whose services were sold as a way to earn money for the temple. Others believe that they had a much more respected role in the temple and in the worship of their deity, and believe that visiting a temple prostitute and hiring her (or his) services was a form of worship. This theory is especially popular in conjunction with fertility cults and goddesses like Aphrodite.
The idea of a temple prostitute is a general one and there are different tiers in the temple hierarchy. Many of all types were brought to the temple as virgins to dedicate their lives and their bodies to the worship of their god or goddess. Some sources suggest that it was only girls younger than 14 who served as temple prostitutes in ancient Greece. There’s a huge amount of contradicting evidence available as to what roles these figures served, but without a doubt they were an important part of temple life.

Devadasis

A devadasi is a woman who has been forced into a life of prostitution in the service of the Hindu goddess of fertility, Yellamma. When girls reach the age of puberty, their parents auction their virginity to the highest bidder. Once that is taken from them, they are dedicated to the goddess and spend the rest of their lives as prostitutes in the name of Yellamma. Every night, their lot is the same—sold to whoever pays the most. For parents, it’s not a bad deal. Not only do they not have to raise a dowry to give to someone to marry their daughters, but many keep the money that the girls earn.
The practice has been a regular part of Yellamma’s religion for centuries. Even though it was outlawed in India in 1988, the practice still continues today. The stigma attached to the devadasi is heavy—even if the women decide to give up the lifestyle, they will never be married. Once they’re dedicated to their goddess, there’s no turning back. Most devadasis are cast out of the temple in their mid-40s, when they are no longer considered young and attractive enough to bring honor to their goddess, and most turn to begging in order to support themselves for the remainder of their lives.

Comfort Women

 The so-called “comfort women” of World War II are a dark and often overlooked footnote in history. Beginning in 1932, the Japanese military began recruiting women—mostly Korean—for work in newly established “comfort stations”. The women were promised jobs, but what they weren’t told was that these stations were brothels for use by the men of the Japanese military.

In the end, somewhere around 200,000 women were shipped off to become comfort women, and it’s estimated that only between 25–30 percent of these women survived their ordeal. Girls as young as 11 were forced to service anywhere from 50–100 different men each day and were subjected to beatings if they refused. While the Japanese government has issued verbal apologies, they have largely refused monetary compensation to the surviving comfort women and their families. As of 2014, there are only 55 known surviving comfort women.

Auletrides

 The auletrides were a class of Greek prostitute that enjoyed a unique position in society. Far from shunned, these women were skilled in more than just sexual encounters. They were flute players and trained dancers. Some of them had other talents that made them entrancing public performers, such as juggling, fencing, and acrobatics. Many took to the streets in public performances that were included in religious ceremonies and festivals, and some sources say that they were also popular entertainment for children.

The auletrides could be reserved for private parties as well, when the more sexual of their talents were utilized. Other, similar types of entertainers were the psaltriai, or harp players, and the kitharistriai, or lyre players. These girls—and occasionally boys—often reported to a poroboskos, who essentially acted as a madam to hire them out for private parties.

Ganika

  The Ganika was the Indian version of Japan’s geisha. These women enjoyed high standing in society and having one around meant that good luck and prosperity were to follow. As a Ganika would never marry and never be widowed, they escaped the social stigma of widowhood. Widows were considered to be extremely bad omens and were, at one point, forbidden to appear in public.

Indian society recognizes nine types of prostitutes and the Ganika was the elite tier in this hierarchy. In addition to sexual talents, these Indian prostitutes were expected to learn a variety of other skills in the field of the performing arts. Once all 64 were mastered, the woman was raised to the position of Ganika.
While other types of prostitutes were typically housewives making extra money for the husbands that controlled them or servants that were expected to provide their masters with sexual as well as domestic services, the Ganika would be given a place of honor in royal courts and have songs and poems written about her beauty and skills. As they typically served the nobility, they were protected by state laws. They were also subject to them, too, and could be beaten or fined for refusing a noble customer.

Zonah

 The zonah is the female prostitute of the Hebrew Bible. Unlike other women, she was not owned by a man and was not responsible for producing children to carry on a family line. The zonah existed outside the laws of the Bible, with only a small number of rules included in the book for dictating behavior of and towards these women.

One very specific rule is that a father is forbidden from selling his daughter into prostitution, and if the daughter of a priest becomes a zonah, then she is condemned to be burned to death. Priests were forbidden to marry a zonah, but other men were equally able to marry and to enjoy them. Other types of prostitutes were attached to the temples of pagan deities—it was said to be forbidden for an Israelite woman to become a qedeshab, sometimes interpreted as a temple prostitute.

Hetaira

A hetaira was a high-class courtesan in Athens. Because prostitution was legal in the city and those prostitutes couldn’t be Athenian citizens, a hetaira was often a slave. Less often, she was someone living in the town who was born of non-Athenian parents.
Unlike porne,women that practiced their profession behind closed doors, the hetaira were often seen working the crowds at symposiums. They were forbidden to marry a citizen, but could be bought and freed by one, although the practice was frowned upon. Their status as a hetaira would never be erased, and if they were caught pretending to be a full citizen, they could be taken to court. Those found guilty could be returned to a life of slavery. Hetaira were frequently made the mistresses of the most powerful of people and have been known to sit as models for statues of Aphrodite, so great was their elegance and beauty.

Tawaif

 The tawaifs were known as performing artists in North India during the 18th to early 20th centuries. Much like the geisha, they were dancers and musicians, thought of not as prostitutes in the usual sense but as performers with a circle of patrons rather than clients. Many were wealthy, especially those that chose their patrons wisely.
Those that had daughters could pass their wealth—and often their profession—on to them. In fact, coming from a long line of tawaifs increased social standing. They were forbidden from marrying, but could enter into a different sort of formal relationship with their patrons that made them wives in everything but name. Interestingly, they were seen as existing alongside traditional wives as two sides to the same coin. Where the wife was the respectable way to continue a family line, the tawaif was the beautiful, sensual creature that only a powerful man could attract.

Mut’ah

  The subject of mut’ah (or mut’a) is a tricky one. It’s an Islamic temporary marriage in which two parties enter into an agreement to be married for a set amount of time. The contract can be written or verbal, and all parts of the marriage are agreed upon beforehand, including how much of a “dowry” the woman will receive, what kind of physical contact will be involved, and how long the marriage will last.

On the one hand, proponents say that it’s a way for two people to live together before getting a full marriage to see if they’re right for each other without breaking any Islamic laws. Some contracts can stipulate that there will be no physical contact, and some are done under the watchful eyes of the parties’ parents. Other arrangements can stipulate that the marriage is only going to last a few hours and that the woman is going to get paid for it.
So clear-cut is the fact that it can be used as a way around the taboo of prostitution that some Muslims, such as the Sunni, staunchly oppose it. Because of the time restraint and payment options, they say it’s a loophole for young men and women to have infinite partners without religious guilt.


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A favorite subject of Van Gogh's - The Windmill

This painting is somehow both fantastical and nostalgic. La Moulin de a Galette. Oil on Canvas, 1886.