Today we got a query from Vinoth.

“I have planned to replace my existing mixer grinder with Preeti Blue leaf model - I could not find much comments about the model on the net

can anyone help me out in this matter”

We decided to dig deep for helping Vinoth out and realized first that Preethi does not have a very popular web site. After some detailed searches we landed on their url :

http://www.preethi.biz/index.htm (we feel it is odd for the company to have a .biz extension, which is perhaps the reason why they are not popular with search engines)

Strangely enough , the model which Vinoth mentioned was not listed on their homepage.

This is what we got from the internet.

New range of mixer-grinder launched

Courtesy: UNI

Preethi, the largest selling mixer-grinder brand in India, today launched its new range that would lead the company’s pan-India market expansion and was planning to enter into the wet grinder market in the next 12 months.

The first piece of the new product, ‘Preethi Blue Leaf’, was handed over to noted businessman and Vasanth and Company chain of stores owner H V Vasanth Kumar by Mr Vijay Srinivasan, Director, Marketing, Maya Appliances Private Limited, which owns the Preeti Brand.

Speaking at the launch function, Mr Vijay Srinivasan said the new mixer-grinder from its Manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh, was designed on a ‘leaf motif’, hitherto the convention ‘L’ shaped mixer-grinders.

The new range comes in two models — the Blue Leaf Platinum priced at Rs 3,970 and the Blue Leaf Gold at Rs 3691, and would hit the market during the Deepavali season.

The product occupies reduced table top footprint and the platinum range comes packaged with Preethi’s patented super extractor and “Grind” and “Store” attachments along with their silent 750 Watts motors, the first one to get the ISI approval in the category.

Replying to questions, the new product was expected to contribute 22 per cent in the first year in the overall sales volume, and the company has targeted to touch one million units by 2010.

The company has invested about Rs 10 crore at the Himachal Pradesh plant to support the company’s expansion in the northern region.

Unveiling the company’s plans to roll out wetgrinders and gas stoves, Mr Vijay said the table-top wet grinders would hit the market in the next 12 months.

”The design is out of the drawing table and a final decision is yet to be taken whether to manufacture it in Himachal Pradesh plant or in its two manufacturing facilities in Chennai”, he added.
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Vinoth, if you could tell us the following it would help us answer you better:

a) Which city are you from?

b) What is the current brand of mixer grinder that you own?

c) What prompted you to choose Preethi’s Blue lead model?

d) Are you already in touch with a dealer for price information? If so can you share it with us?

I request our fellow readers to help Vinoth if you own the same model or have seen it in action.

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• Home items

Often people are wondering what kind of wood should go into their furniture or wardrobes. What made us write this piece today was for the very same reason. Most of us hear “Teak” as the first choice of wood. Of-course there are other types of wood out there as well. We covered MDF boards on Aavaas in the past. Today we hope to give a small brief of the other types.

Image Courtesy : buildingconservation.com

a) Teak

An undisputed first choice for making furniture and doors, Teak has come a long way from being a practical choice to a lifestyle statement. Its prices are always on the rise and coupled with the fact that it’s maturity time varies between 50-70 years, purchasing it is easier said than done.

Teak is classified as a hardwood due to it’s properties. It is famous for its weight (heavy feeling) and durability.

b) Rosewood

If teak is the king, then rosewood would be considered to be the queen of wood. It is heavy and hard. Rosewood is noted for it’s stability and resistance to decay. Being dark reddish brown in color has perhaps earned it the name. Good quality rosewood also possesses a distinct fragrance.

c) Rubberwood

A new entrant into the furniture scene in India, Rubberwood is from the same tree which is used to extract latex for manufacturing rubber! It is sturdy and cheaper compared to the king and queen woods we mentioned above. Very few people are even aware of such types of wood.

It is estimated to be nearly 30% cheaper than traditional types of wood like teak or rosewood which are also tough to source. Although lighter than teak, rubberwood still has a good density and is quite resistant to screw and nail withdrawal. This means longer life for your fixtures. Rubberwood is also easily available as its maturity varies between 7-16 years.

d) Plywood

The first three wood types are naturally occurring. Plywood like MDF is artificially created.

Plywood is preferred by many carpenters because it is cheap, resistant to cracking, shrinkage and has a high degree of strength.

You can read all about Plywood at Wikipedia - - > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plywood

More on types of wood can be read here, here and here.  We will cover laminates in the coming days.

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Some time back we had written about knives. What we are about to cover today is an essential tool which should grace every kitchen - Cutting Board.

Image Courtesy : about.com

At my home, people use all kinds of surface to cut vegetables or peel onions and garlic. The surface ranges from dining table to kitchen counter top and even vessels!

What one does not realize is that sharp knives will damage most of these surfaces - permanently.

A wooden cutting board presents the following advantages for use at one’s home:

• Wood being a natural substance does not do harm to the food being cut or chopped on it.
• Wooded boards are long lasting and have a longer life. They are easy to clean but occasionally when we wet them too much, they take a while to dry completely.
• Using a board can ensure that you could carry out your tasks either inside the kitchen or on the table. The board protects your precious furniture and counter tops from being scratched.
• One unknown plus is that the life of the knife is enhanced as it does not have to touch surfaces like laminate boards or granite or stone which is found on counter tops.

Generally speaking a wooden cutting board is better to use over a plastic counterpart. In our experience, plastics ones especially low quality and low grade ones tend to break into small particles which could easily get mixed with the food. So please make sure that you change your board if it shows signs of wear and tear.

Please clean your cutting board regularly to prevent growth of organisms on it.

Purchasing a cutting board with a provision for hanging would be a sensible thing to do. Also make sure that the size of the board is sufficient so that you can organize your cut vegetables on it.

There are even glass cutting boards according to Wikipedia, so you may want to check out the complete article here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board

Now back to kitchen

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We wanted to write on home aquariums for some time now. This would probably be the best time to do so. Especially after all these “not-so-relevant” announcement messages regarding our migration and the like.

Since we do not have one at home, this article is more of a thought provoker and, by writing this we hope to invite some comments from people who actually have experience installing a Fish Tank at home.

Image Courtesy : johnbokma.com

We know the following about aquariums:

• A lot of enhancements are available for aquariums ranging from pebbles, greenery - both natural and artificial, water pumps , lights and more.

A typical aquarium consists of:

• An enclosure made or glass or plastic
• Sediment layer at the bottom comprising of sand and/0r pebbles with some vegetation
•  Water - fresh or saline, depending on the type of fish
• A filtration system - Although in India, most home owners manually clean or recycle the water once in a while
• Temperature control - Again this is something which we are not certain of being used in India. The philosophy behind this is that, most fish are sensitive to temperature just like humans and it is essential to regulate the temperature especially in too hot or too cold regions.
• Top cover - Optional , preventing fish from jumping out and foreign objects from entering in your aquarium. These could include lizards which often end up eating fish!
• Dedicated stand - The aquarium is usually very heavy and needs to be placed on a firm stand which can take its weight while being horizontal to the surface as well.

Calculating the size of the aquarium

Too large a tank with a few fish within is not a good sight and not good for the inhabitants as well. Similarly putting too many fishes in a small tank can lead to crowding effect which may lead to death or your beloved fish.

There are some thumb rules governing the size of the aquarium based on the number of fishes, but we recommend you also talk to your aquarium provider and learn from his experiences.

You can read more about Aquarium from Wikipedia - - > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium

Tell us somethings about:

- How do you maintain your aquarium?

- How do you purchase the fish? Are you aware of the actual names of the fish?

- Do you buy the fish based on their aesthetic appeal only?

- Do fish often die in your aquarium? If so what have you done to keep this in check?

If you have any other tips and suggestions from your own experience, please share it with us by commenting here.  Photographs or short video clips are also welcome for publishing on Aavaas.

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With the migration process complete, we are now optimizing the site for faster viewing across browsers. This involves rebuilding all links and image sources. During this time, you may experience some issues while browsing our site. Please be patient. We are working on correcting these as soon as possible.

Do leave your comments and suggestions on the new theme and the site features.

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