The year of the Crop Insurance

I don't see why this can't be put to use in India!

BBC should write a book

BBC should write a text book on news broadcasting and shove it down the throats of its Indian counterparts and graduate students of mass media. The high standards is very obvious.
Those on camera from the newsroom, BBC anchor or a guest, talk. Not yell. Reporters and correspondents yell if there is shelling or a hurricane in the background. The news presenters dress in pleasent attire and in colours that fit well with that of the newsroom. The presenters smile while delivering a happy news and dont while delivering a sad or neutral news. They remain dispassionate otherwise. All of them do it and they make it look easy.
The sceen has a BBC logo and one line of running news. No cluttering ads urging us to download its apps or use a deo that promises drive hot women go wild. The news or news transitions are not accompanied by submerging music in background. Recap of headlines come with the familiar and mild music.
One last thing. The presenters and correspondents come from diverse religious and ethnic background. They dont go around yelling about it but shows that it is a delibrate attempt to be diverse.
As I said, they should write a book and shove it down our newspersons throat. We deserve better than what we get in the name of news now.

The Unique, Compassionate genie meets an Ironic end

I came to know of Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire. (S)he was a unique character. I guessed the fact that Robin Williams produced the eponymous movie, before looking up Wikipedia to verify it. For, at least to me, "unique" completely defines Robin Williams too! And who played the lead role in the movie Aladin? I don't know. But, at the mention of the word, the first picture that flashes across my mind is the ever-effusive sky-blue slave Genie! Not Aladin!

None can dispute his unparalleled talent in comedy and mimicry. However, that is not why I respect Robin Williams. He is well known as a comedian. But, in all the roles that I have seen him play, the familiar, kind smile didn't portray comedy so much as it did compassion . In fact, in a few movies such as "Good Will Hunting", comedy was conspicuous in its absence, but can one recall a movie where compassion was missing?

Nothing can be more apt an example to define the word "Irony" than his death. A man who has made many laugh and feel has died because of depression. I think the oft-used statement in obituaries written for artists  "A tragic and irreplaceable loss for the world of art" has to be repeated, for when it refers to Robin Williams, it can never be cliche.

Robin Williams.  Rest In Peace

What can your servant maid tell?

Hey!

Have you ever heard from your servant maid (current and earlier) that her husband who is a daily wager or an auto rickshaw driver squanders their earnings on boozing? Has she tell you that she had to pay Rs. 700/- or so to get her unsafe LPG illegally from a local shop? Has she ever told you that she is worried about her teenage daughter and thinking of getting her married off because she her drunkard husband talks nonsense at home? Does she bargain for higher increase in her wage every year because it barely meets her daily expenses? When we talk about "Aam Admi", does it dawn on you that we wrongly see ourselves, and that she fits the description better? Why aren't the politicians talking any more about how they plan to get rid of  the bottle and his friends from her home? Don't politicians have a servant maid at home? Or do they choose not to listen to her just like you and I?

Credits to BESCOM

 My family had a tiring day a couple of nights ago because of work and minor ailments and accumulated sleep deprivation over the previous week. The sleep that night was a much needed one. But a couple of hours into the night we we woke up to a power outage and found that our backup supply has drained. With heat and mosquitoes, the next half-an-hour or so was difficult to get by. Unable to  take it any longer, I called the land-line number given in the BESCOM (responsible for power supply in Bangalore) website, without expecting a response. But to my surprise, a lady responded within the first ring and clarified that the incoming power supply line to one of the grids of Bangalore was damaged and that the repair works were in progress. She added that it is expected to be resolved by 2:00 AM. The power was restored at 2:30 AM. That someone actually answered my call was surprising enough for me to take the half-an-hour delay without qualms. Credits to BESCOM!

Happy Birthday Gayathri!

The opportunity of adversity

"The only true  disability is a crushed spirit"

Tips for a better life!

The following is not my advice. But I think they are lovely. Read it. Take what is sensible to you and discard the rest!

 1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant.

 2. Sit in silence for atleast 10 minutes each day.

 3. When you wake up in the morning, Pray to ask God's guidance for your purpose today.

 4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

 5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and almonds.

 6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

 7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.

Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

 8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

 9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

 10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for everything.

 11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

 12.You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

 13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

 14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

 15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

 16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

 17. Help the needy, Be Generous ! Be a 'Giver' not a 'Taker'

 18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

 19. Time heals everything.

 20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

 21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

 22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

 23. Each night before you go to bed ,Pray to God and Be thankful for what you've accomplished today.

 24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

Swing away Sahana!

Bad news

One of the the traits I have failed to develop so far is to deliver a bad news to a stranger without feeling bad about it. The bad feeling that I have from the time conception to delivery of the news, sometimes counted in days, causes low levels of prolonged stress. Often my discomfort shows up on my face and the receiver takes advantage of my sensitivity. I wish to develop a thick skin. But how do I know if it crosses the limit to become insensitivity? Or should I even care?

Reading tell me why!

Making the most of infancy

IPL - Aren't we pushing it?

I love cricket. Not as much now as I used to earlier. But I still love it. But the upcoming IPL fills me up with mixed feelings. Multiple rounds between around 10 teams for about two months in all-day-night events during the summer when power cuts are more prevalent than mosquito-bites. This year there are already places where there are 10 hours of power cut per day (Trichy for example). Entertainment is necessary. Aren't we pushing it?

Accountability in water usage

In urban bangalore, where water is getting scarcer by the day, seeing someone cleaning the the road in front of his house with a water hose connected to a tap sends a chill through your spine. I think the fact that one pays with currency for a natural resource shouldn't give one the right to waste it. Not so obviously anyway. Its about time some sort of accountability is built into water usage. I only hope it isn't too late.

Special dedication to Sharmi

First week of March 2011 was a week with a unique feeling of insecurity, that I would never like to experience again. This week last year, Sharmila was unconscious, fighting the bacterial meningitis to which she succumbed on March 6th. I promised to myself that I will continue the good work I did in the social sector, in which she took an active interest during her days of well-being. After about a year marked by struggle with work, family-related developments and not to forget the plain laziness that is ingrained in me, I finally organized a short, but sweet science demo in which I took a friend's help in demonstrating the working of a simple DC motor to a bunch of school kids supported by the company I work for. I write this post to officially dedicate this to my departed friend, albeit with a sense of embarrassment for not having done this earlier. A special thanks to the dude who took to the stage and help me bridge the language barrier, and not to forget Arvind Gupta who had shared the know-how in arvindguptatoys.com.

Starring down the barrel.

For once l don't mind starring down the barrel :-)

Colloquy in Media is disconcerting

The fact that the media is including colloquy in its content is disconcerting! I wouldn't bother if it appears in Times of India's Page 3 section (That is assuming that they have any other page at all!) But that is not the case. Why would someone like P.Sainath say "...largest producer of rice for some years" rather than "...a few years"? Why would a newspaper as serious about its purpose as Mint say "China accounts for something like 30-60% of the global demand for most commodities". 

It is a recognized fact that the general quality of English usage has gone down over the last couple of decades. This is only supported by the fact that competitive exams like CAT and GRE use this as an effective tool of elimination. Media plays an important role in ensuring that the general standard doesn't deteriorate if not improve. But I feel that this role is fast being forgotten!

SAD!

"Dengue that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"

My brother was hospitalized because of Dengue last week and he was there for about 4 days. That was the first time when I had a first hand experience of having a member of my family's "first circle" to be hospitalized for some condition other than the likes of pregnancy or a cataract... for something life threatening. There was a twenty minute window when the possibility of losing my brother was clear and present. I can spend the next one hour walking through it second by second. But that is neither the point of this post, nor would that be rewarding emotionally or intellectually. I would rather use this space and the rarely available time to write a blog post to analyze what lessons I can learn and remember to use going forward.

1. Dengue is one of the many diseases caused by virus. With whatever I have seen so far, a viral gives us one good head start with its classic symptom that should be perceivable without a degree in medicine. Fever and body ache. When we have this symptom, I think it would be a good idea to directly go to a diagnostic centre first and get all the diagnostic test done, and then go the doctor for consultations. I don't think we need to wait for the doctor's advice on this since his/her advice is not a prerequisite. And we are advised to be taking such tests on an annual basis.
2. Dengue is going to decrease the platelet and WBC count. Platelets work to clot blood while WBC, as we all know, provide immunity. Once detected for dengue, doctor would advice platelet count checks on a daily basis through blood tests.At least in India, it take about two hours for the results to come in. For a healthy person the count should 2.5lakhs though, I have seen normal people with counts as low as 1.5Lakhs. Dengue has no vaccine and don't have a direct medicine for cure. 
3. The way to combat dengue is to ensure that the platelet counts don't decrease to a dangerous level while simultaneously addressing the fever by taking paracetamol advised by the doctor. To keep the platelet count from decreasing, one has to have a lot of fluid intake like fruit juice (esp. those rich in vitamin C that improves immunity) and eating well. But eating well was a problem at least in my brother's case since there was a fluid accumulation in his abdomen that messed with his appetite. Papaya fruit and leaves is widely spoken-of for being very good at helping in platelet count increase since papaya has a lot of vitamin C and other anti-microbial properties that purges the microbes from the body. 
4. Just to put the above discussions in context using my brother as an example, he was hospitalized with a platelet count as low as 11,000. He had to take about 6 "packets" of blood platelets. He took two teaspoons of papaya leaves crushed in a mixer, twice a day. He emptied about 300ml of papaya juice once. In addition he emptied about three litres of water. His diet usually contained a bowl of tomato soup, Spinach, dahl and mixed fruits. All this with the IV of saline solution dripping into his blood stream almost 24 hours a day, he took about three days to recover from 11,000 to 1.15 lakhs in terms of platelets. 
5. The hospital is going to puncture the patient with needles for a twice a day platelet checks. It is usually a progressively painful routine. But an increase of  8000 to 10000 in platelet count is a very good sign. The worry is when it is decreasing and goes back to 20000 or lesser.
6. After discharge he is at home taking rest for at least one more week, taking normal diet and medicine prescribed by the doctor.  It would be a good idea to do another platelet check after may be a week to be sure that the count isn't going down

The experience was traumatic at least for the 20 minutes, and it was one of those rare "it can happen to me too" moments. But, bitter as it may be, I should acknowledge the fact that it was a very valuable experience during which we have lost nothing more than a few tens of thousands of money, a few tear drops, but gained a lot of knowledge, more strength to take on an unexpected emergency, and last but not least, the realization that when you or your loved one is down, there are a lot of friends, relatives and colleagues who would respond to your call for help with urgency. I have heard of a saying "Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger". At least in this case, it sure was true.

Lessons from cooking

My wife has been gone for her maternity and is not due to return until early next year. As a result I had an opportunity to cook for myself. Here are what I learnt from the experience

• Cooking has always been a source of fun. It is a great stress-buster especially when combined with good music, but only if you start early to have enough time. Me being me, I think of cooking only when I start feeling hungry. Till then, how Jake Sully saves Pandora from the dream walkers and wins back Neytiri's love this time around in Star Movies seems more important.
• Once you start cooking, it is important to list and line-up the raw-materials first. I have been cooking on and off for about 10 years now, with about a gap of a year or so between two bursts of cooking. But even now, I first put the vessel and light the burner before I think of the vegetable oil!
• A little less salt and spice is always better than a little too much. But the problem is less and more are relative. As long as you are cooking for yourself, less or more doesn't matter, of course. You screw up, you eat and don't tell anyone. Or your throw it out, have the ever-reliable bread-butter-jam combo.. and shut-up again. But the problem comes when you cook for others. A few people can take when the salt is a bit too high, but not when it is a bit too low. For a few dishes, adding the salt later works, but for a few, it doesn't. But from my experience, if salt is way to low, adding some salt helps to a certain extent. But if the salt is way too high, you can do nothing but feel bad about it!

So  far I find that there are four big challenges in cooking

• Finding the difference between toor dhal, moong dhal, urad dhal and when to use what. 
• Finding the difference between, gingeli oil and ground nut oil

Again, after over 10 years of part-time cooking, I am not able to sleep-walk through this

• Judging the correct quantity of rice and vegetables to use to achieve the correct quantity of the dish by the time cooking is done. Sometimes, I choose to prepare a dish that I plan to use for over a couple of days (like tomato chutney). I take four tomatoes and come up with a real tasty one after about 45 minutes. But I find  that it wouldn't last after the first meal. I wonder "Wasn't four enough?". Then it strikes. "Not when the tomatoes are as small as lemons!"
• Maintaining consistency in taste. All the challenges I have mentioned earlier, I have got over at some point of time or the other. But consistency is still too high a bar for me to jump over. I remember that, as a kid, during family occasions my mom and aunts come together and cook for the extended family. I used to have each dish and by their taste, I would be able to say who cooked what with a fair degree of accuracy. THAT is consistency! 

Cooking is easy if you think of it as an isolated task on just one particular day. But if you consider cooking as churning out multiple dishes in correct proportions each day, maintaining consistency in taste over multiple days and maintaining variety over any given week. Then you really see how tough it is and how easy your parents have made it look for you.

Choice between currency and coin

When I was in high school, it dawned on me that money with higher denominations are all currencies (made of paper) and the one with lower denominations are all coins (made of metal). I had time and again wondered the reasoning behind the counter intuitive choice of transitioning from the higher valued metal to the lower valued paper as the denomination goes up.

Recently my uncle gave me an explanation for that. The choice of using metal or paper to represent a particular denomination is made based on the frequency of transaction as cash. One rupee denomination pass hands more often than say a hundred rupee denomination. So, if we make the one rupee denomination as a currency, it would soil faster and would significantly increase the recycling effort. So, it is made as a coin thus increasing its life. Since a hundred rupee denomination is likely to be transacted with lesser frequency, it would soil slower. So, a currency would suffice. After listening to the explanation, I suppose it isn't so counter-intuitive after all. But with the inflation shooting up, I think it is about time to consider a hundred rupee coin :)