“Let them eat brioche” penchant and a prodigal world

Scene # 1:

Lazy Saturday morning. I was attending my friend’s wedding. Ustad Bismillahs Khan’s shehnai in Malkauns raga, that is now synonymous with such occasions was reverberating in the atmosphere of the wedding hall.

After wedding rituals were over, we all were making a beeline to plunge into the sumptuous lunch. The lunch spread had almost all the types of cuisines that we could think of like Maharastrian, Punjabi, South Indian, Continental, Chinese in both vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian options…..

I was flanked by two septuagenarian gentlemen in the queue; that was waiting to take a plunge into the sea of food.

Well, we moved towards the lunch spread and I had my dish filled with many items. I was successful in finding the suitable table where I could sit and enjoy my lunch. As luck would have it I was again flanked by the same septuagenarians, Appa and Anna; we were standing long enough in the queue to know the names!!!

Even one cursory look at the dishes was enough to indicate growing body needs more calories and growing mind has a tendency to indulge!!!I

“It’s not your fault. The choice of too many has confused you. You are trying to satisfy each taste bud” said Appa looking at my platter. Rather than reacting; I chose to concentrate on the most loved task that I had in my hand.

“What a waste of food. We need only small quantity of food to satiate our body calorie requirement, rest all is indulgence. Unfortunately your generation will not understand this now, but very soon you will realize your mistake.”

“It’s not just about food, look at the young girls especially those wearing Salwar Kameez, they wear dupatta as if its necklace!!! Cloth used to manufacture all dupattas in India could clad so many poor and needy. It’s said the waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity”

Having already engaged myself in gastronomic assignment; scarcity and such clairvoyance had no place in my platter!!! I was not at all in a condition to either accept or refuse or argue; I just nodded, even managed to let slip a smile and continued my own merry way to finish the lunch.

Scene # 2:

Few days ago I was reading a piece of news where our minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar has gone on record to say that due to lack of adequate storage infrastructure, fruits, grains and vegetables worth Rs 44,000 crore goes waste every year.

This news instantly reminded me of the discussions that we had on that foodie day. As I began to ponder over the discussions, I started to agree with Anna and Appa’s comments. The waste of plenty could really be the resource of scarcity, some day. I could instantly recollect numerous instances where our behavior is absolutely profligate to say the least. Such incidences of wasting are fast becoming a common thing. The penchant for ostentatious wastage or to show off our status is so very strong that it has reached a level where it is accepted as a custom.

Customs….yeah…that reminds me of two well known customs. While one is clear waste of food the other is case of water pollution and environmental waste.

Custom 1: La Tomatina Festival at Bunol, Spain

This event was 1^st held 1945. However few hiccups and bans/prohibitions later, has become an important event in the world calendar, since 1957.

It is said, that in La Tomatina festival; around 150,000 i.e. over 40 metric tons of tomatoes are used (wasted!!!???). Once the fight is over, men and women drenched in tomato paste and roads are then washed away with several millions of liters of water!!! 

With growing popularity, more people must be thronging in for the festival to have fun; leading to increased waste of tomatoes and water.

Source: (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2204597/La-Tomatina-Bu-ol-worlds-famous-food-fight--makes-fun.html)

Custom 2: Kumbh Mela, India

The Kumbh Mela, the Hindu religious festival that has been described as the largest congregation of mankind in history, pollutes the holiest river in Hindu mythology, the Ganges.  It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik, Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. Ardha ("Half") Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges at Haridwar, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godavari at Nashik and Shipra at Ujjain.

When you have around 100 million people bathing in the river, one can imagine the level of pollution of river water!!!.

As per the report, Tests carried out by Uttar Pradesh's state pollution control board found levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which measures organic pollution, were at more than seven milligrams per liter – double the maximum acceptable level – after the first day of the Mela. On that day an estimated 10 million bathed in theGanges.

It’s often said, customs are wisdom of centuries.  If these are our customs, then our wisdom needs to be questioned for sure. I am sure the future generations will definitely question our wisdom. Well the opposition is not for the customs/traditions or religion, but with passage of time, we need to be smart enough to amend the ways to practice it.

As I started to dissect the situation further, I realized that in addition to the well chronicled, types of wastes viz. biological, solid, chemical etc. one can also classify the waste in two other categories like Tangible Waste and Intangible Waste.   

Classification of Wastes 

In my opinion; needless to say, I stand corrected; Intangible waste by its very nature (incapable of being perceived by the senses) is more hazardous than the tangible waste. Just like visible iceberg is a mere 1/9^th part of the entire iceberg, Tangible/ measurable waste is a fraction of entire waste.     

Let me give you a blow by blow account of what I mean by dissecting a live example.

The delay by Pune Municipal Corporation in approving the city's Metro has increased the estimated cost of the project by over Rs 2,000 crore and as a result, the minimum fare is now projected to be Rs 13, up from Rs 8 in the earlier estimate while the maximum, fare is Rs 45 up from Rs 27.

Tangible Waste:

• Obviously the rise in minimum fare from Rs 8 to Rs 13, leading waste of public money

Intangible Waste

• Till this metro, a public transport service, is commissioned to use, people will continue to use their private vehicles. The traffic congestion at the metro rail site and bumper to bumper traffic would lead to some serious loss of petrol/diesel.
• Such ‘slow as snail’ traffic, may also lead one to lose temper and reach home irritated, tired and could disrupt the sanity, peace at home; affecting the quantity and quality of family time 

Can anything be done to avert such kind of wastages? Yes of course.

Germany has launched an initiative to reduce such wastage. 

I could instantly recollect on the real life incidences that have gone viral on the internet about how a group of young men were charged extra amount for wasting the food. The group of young men was actually given a stern warning by Social Security officer “Order what you can consume, the money is yours, but resources belong to the society. There are many others in the world, who are facing shortage of resources. You have no right to waste the nation’s resources”.

Closer home, as early as 2009, the Association of Hotel and Restaurant (AHAR) owners in Mumbai, has launched a campaign to save food in 7,000 restaurants across the city. As per this campaign, diners in the city of Mumbai have now been warned that they will be charged an additional fine on their bill if they are seen wasting food. But alas the lack of implementation of this rule is limited to the realms of law and remains on the paper…..What a waste!!!!

We can do our bit to conserve resources and minimize the waste. Few behavioral changes in our day to day life can bring about the changes, without waiting for governments to take any lead.

It’s believed that ‘Marie Antoinette’ had famously ordered "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" (Let them eat cake) when she learnt that the peasants had no bread. We are suffering from the same kind of penchant, and we are as callous as Mary Antoinette. If we are to break away from such illustrated company

• We will have to do away with our thinking that “Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness (George Bernard Shaw had said this long back)”. 
• We would have to practice some austerity ourselves so as to not waste precious natural resources. Rain Water harvesting, effective use of solar energy, wind energy should be exercised in earnest. 
• Ensure that you do not waste food, do not keep the tap running while shaving, Switch off fan, lights, air conditioners, when not needed. Such conscious little efforts in our day to day behavior would go a long way in reducing wastage.   

Hope if at least one person makes that conscious effort to reduce wastage and be less prodigal I will consider this post will not be a ‘Waste’!!!!!

Intel Inside!!!!!!

Another chip war is about to begin in next 1- 2 years and it is going to be 'memorable’, to say the least!!!!

A group of U.S. researchers believe that a microchip that will help create memories in damaged brains could be implanted into human volunteers in the next two years. 

  

This brain device is used to treat to paralysis but a team of researches believe
they might soon be able to produce, an implant that helps create memories.
(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321081/Scientists-hope-implant-microchips-generate-memories-human-brains-2-years.html)



The scientists from the University of Southern California, Wake Forest University, and others, have been looking into the hippocampus - the part of the brain that is vital in forming long-term memories - for around a decade.

Hippocampus: The scientists have been into this vital component,

a part of the brain that is vital in forming long-term memories for around a decade

(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2321081/Scientists-hope-implant-microchips-generate-memories-human-brains-2-years.html) 

They believe that they have worked out how memories are made, enabling the production of an implant that could aid people with localized brain injuries, stroke victims and, ultimately, Alzheimer's.

As reported by CNN, the researchers have already experimented on rat and monkey brains, proving that brain messages can be replicated by electrical signals from a silicon chip.

The scientists admit that electronics work is needed to create a device but are buoyed by an increasing acceptance of electrode implants in humans for treating conditions like epilepsy.

(Source: http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=11&edcode=820009&eddate=2013-05-13)

The group is excited by their discoveries and think that a memory device that could reproduce memory processes will be available to patients in five to ten years.

Looking at Ramgarh’s girls, the great Gabbar Singh wondered “ Ye Ramgarhwale apni choriyon ko kaun si Chakki kaa aata khilate hai, badi karari hoti hain”

The days are not too far when people would ask each other:

“Kaunsi chip lagayi hai, bahut yaad rakhte ho” (Which chip have you installed, you have a razor sharp memory!!!)

Advertising taglines line like "Bhala tumhari memory meri memory se jyaada acchhi kaise….kyon na ho…ABC chip jo installed hai!!!!" could soon be on everybody's lips. 

Well, Chip chip ki baat hai (It's all about a chip)……

.....So rush and find out the most suitable chip for your brain….to get that 'Intelligence Inside' your brain....

Frail is the nature of Fame

I walked upon the sand at ebb-tide.

And bending down, I wrote a line upon the sand.

And in that line I wrote what my mind thought

And what my soul desired.
 

And when the tide was high,

I returned to that very shore,

And of that which I had written I found naught.

I found only the staff-marks of one who had walked blindly.

Source: http://www.ronedmondson.com/2012/04/reflection-on-the-poem-footprints.html

How True!!! The prophet that he is Kahlil Gibran wrote this about fame long back and people like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius, Britney Spears, Ben Johnson experienced this very frail nature of fame themselves.

Worst part is that the list seems to be getting updated thick and fast…..

Will Vijender Singh, the Indian pugilist, be latest entrant in the list? I hope not…For Indian Boxing needs such ‘Pin-Up Boys’ to make the sport popular in India.

I started to ponder over the etiology of ‘Celebrity Today-Zero Tomorrow’ syndrome. In my opinion the drowning reason, contributing reason to this syndrome is ‘handling fame’ or the lack of it!!!

Only those celebrities who are successful in understanding and maintaining success metamorphose themselves into Role Models/Heroes. Following is blow by blow analysis of why celebrities fall from the pedestal. (Note: These are my own opinions and I stand to be corrected, moderated or even vindicated!!!!)

• Once they taste a little success, once they become a little famous, ‘I don’t give a damn’, ‘Devil may care’ attitude becomes second skin of these celebrities and the focus on the job at hand is lost.
• The world for them begins with ‘I’, flows with ‘Me’ and ends with ‘Myself’. They start to believe that ‘I am the king of the world’. The transition from….

-   God fearing to hardened atheist: For they believe they are God

 - Grateful to ungrateful: Disrespecting, sometimes even disowning the very people who had helped them reach this far

-   Humble to haughty

….happens so quickly that even they do not realize when they have crossed the Rubicon.

In such a ‘high’ they indulge in activities, which they otherwise would not have, and one such small mistake leads to shattering of the glass house, knocking them off the pedestal…..

Samuel Smiles had said “The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted”.

How true is that!!!. Today celebrities do not reach the ‘shore’ exhausted; but they reach ‘in a high’. Nowadays getting famous is not as painstaking it was earlier. Thanks to the media…. celebrities are created in a jiffy and felled overnight. Singing Superstars, Acting Greats, Dance Kings/ Queens, Idols, Master Chefs are created every six-eight months. Such quick fame follows the universal rule ‘What goes up quick; comes down even quicker’. Within no time such ‘neo celebrities’ become ‘no celebrities’ and continue to live that ‘semi celebrity-semi commoner’, confused life.

Well; do not get me wrong, I am not saying that these celebrities have not done the hard work.. Yes they have worked hard to reach where they have reached…but many fail to maintain the success, fail to cross the chasm to reach the next level…Role Models.

Living peaceful life atop Mount Everest is even harder than scaling it!!!! In order to sustain at that stage once needs to understand that:

- Fame/ Celebrity status is quicksilver, Fame is like vapor….difficult to hold

- Fame is blind and noisy applause

- With fame comes the responsibility

- One needs to be really dogged, down to earth, humble and really passionate enough  to guard the celebrity status.

A case in point is Vinod Kambli. In my opinion he could not handle success that he achieved. He and Sachin Tendulkar created history by amassing 664 runs together, Kambli scoring 349 of those. There was a time when cricket connoisseurs rated Kambli better talent than Sachin. But 24 years after this record breaking partnership, the comparison ceases to exist completely. He will certainly not be counted when the list of cricketing greats is being drawn up.

As Richard Lord writes “Kambli, represents one of the greatest wastes of talent the game has seen. What his story really shows is that at the top level, talent only gets you so far. Because even if Kambli wasn't more naturally talented than Tendulkar, he certainly seemed more talented than just-retired Rahul Dravid. The latter, almost exactly a year younger than Kambli, was bolstered by a temperament of steel, and went on to an average of 53 in 157 Tests and the second-highest number of runs in the history of the game.”

I am in no way trying to belittle Kambli’s achievements, but just trying to drive the point that steely resolve could help you to reach the level of Role Model.

Cases of Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and Oscar Pistorius show that, our belief in these role models can come crashing down at any time, thus from now on, we need to be super selective while tagging a celebrity as ‘Role Model/Hero/Idol’.

In my opinion, only those celebrities whose achievements stand the ‘Time Test’: 25 years of untainted working/professional/personal life or minimum of 5 years post retirement; should be considered Role Model…       

Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Rod Laver, Ratan Tata are all legends, ‘Role Models’ for they have stood the “Time Test”.

Yes we already have few souls like V. Anand, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, Rahul Dravid who can be treated as role models.

Humans are only fallible, but I hope these souls do not falter even once and remain role models for all their life,  because in today’s ever shrinking, secular world we need such role models to look up to. As now famous lines from Spiderman go “Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer”.

Not how many.....but how....

“Who is Mark Zuckerberg?”

I am sure all of you would be surprised at my naivety, my absolute lack of general knowledge. But hold on, this is not my question, in fact I was asked this question by friend’s grandfather, Dada, who just turned 90 few months back. After hearing this question, even I was surprised; first because at the age of 90 he knew that certain Mark Zuckerberg exists in this world; on other hand I was surprised that somebody would actually ask this question in this internet era.

“Where did you come across Mark Zuckerberg?” I asked him.

“I was reading an article about wealthy people and according to the article; this 23 year old boy is listed as one of the billionaires in the world. I am 90, he is not even one third of my age but he is already a billionaire whereas I have not seen this much of money in my entire life. People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet.”

Leaving me speechless, he left room and went to sleep, while I and my friend started to discuss current trending topics. 

While returning from my friend’s place, a sentence from Dada, kept buzzing in my ears “People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet”. This comment led me to believe that what matters is really not how many years you have lived, but how???!!!

The man in question, Mark Zuckerberg, was just 23 when he became billionaire; Bill Gates was around 20 when he founded Microsoft along with Paul Allen.  

The great saint Dnyaneshwar was just 18 when he wrote Dnyaneshwari; his commentary on Bhagvat Geeta.

Vijay Mallya and Kumar Managalam Birla took control of their respective business empires at the age of 28, when most of us are finding their bearing on life.    

And that’s precisely the point, ask yourself, not how many, but how……

Just being old does not guarantee that one knows everything. Because if you do not enrich yourself in terms of knowledge, experience as you grow; age is just a number!!  

This reminds me of one of the famous anecdotes from cricket. Monty Panesar, spin bowler from England, began his career as a very good bowler and showed a lot of promise. However after 33 test he could not achieve what he could have or people thought he could. This prompted, Shane Warne to proclaim that rather than having played 33 Tests, he (Monty Panesar) had merely played his first one 33 times!!, indicating that it was proverbial case of ‘Wisdom does not always come with age - sometimes age comes alone???!!!!  

But, Monthy Panesar showed that if you learn from your mistakes and previous experiences, you can really make a difference, and how!!! He made Shane Warne eat his own words, with his stellar performance against India in Mumbai test in Nov. 2012. Shane Warne incidentally was a spectator from close quarters to this very ‘Full Monty’ performance, as he is part of ESPN-Star’s commentary team!!!! Shane Warne must also be thinking….But How?????? 

One should follow Aufbau principle in life. As the orbitals of our life i.e. age increases, one should be able to fill up more electrons i.e. experiences, wisdom in ones life.

Now question comes how you can enrich your life with various experiences, well the solution would vary from individual to individual, but here are some suggestions:   

1. Rekindle any of your old/lost hobby. You will cherish the immense happiness it brings to you. 
2. Read to educate yourself on various different topics 
3. Get yourself associated with that one or more causes you are passionate about may be as a volunteer or member and work for that cause throughout the year and beyond. 

Well such tiny steps taken by you would enrich your noosphere which should eventually lead you to enrich somebody else’s…Remember what Emily Dickinson said...... 

If I can stop one heart from breaking

I shall not live in vain

If I can ease one life the aching

Or cool one pain

Or help one fainting Robin

Unto his nest again

I shall not live in vain.

 

It is that time of the year when many decide to start afresh with new zeal, new resolutions and I believe it is certainly not the bad thought to start by helping one heart from breaking.

Not 'How Many', but 'How' is the question.......