Plastics 'R Us

I spent a lovely Saturday evening looking for some toys for my grand-kids.

I wanted a Buzz Lightyear toy. That was easy- I headed to Takashimaya and visited the Disney section. The second one was extremely hard. You see, I was looking for something totally out of this world - a simple baby doll. Soft and human looking. My idea of a great toy for a small girl to play with: a true "puppen" toy, and something  many cultures are proud of is their doll-making. Something that costs a bit but is a feast of timeless delight to everyone in the family. And such a gift idea seems totally far out in Singapore this day and age.
 
Wikipedia informs me:

Archaeological evidence places dolls as foremost candidate for oldest known toy, having been found in Egyptian tombs which date to as early as 2000 BCE. Roman doll-makers continued to use technology developed by the Egyptians and Greeks, but in line with the artistic sensibilities of their culture, they were constantly trying to make dolls more elegant and beautiful. One doll, found near Prati in Rome, was made of ivory and lay beside her owner who had died at the age of eighteen. Next to the doll was a small box, also made of ivory, containing tiny combs and a silver mirror. The doll had rings on her fingers and held a tiny key, which unlocked the box. Like children today, the younger members of Roman civilization would have dressed and undressed their dolls, and decorated their hair and fingers according to the latest fashions.

And in today's stores, you see shelves lined with odd-sized yellow, pink and coffee-coloured  bears, cats and dragons. Also odd-looking dolls. But not a human-looking baby doll.

If you ask any girl or woman what is her favourite toy, would she name a green monster, or a lizard, or a weird sabre-wielding laser-fitted robot? I am not referring to Buzz Lightyear. He is human enough albeit a nerd, and has been given a lovely persona and voice. But I am talking of all those hundreds and hundreds of plastic boxed toys that line the alleys of today's toy stores.
There are pink bimbo sections for girls, with hard plastic-smiling impossibly curvy stiletto-heeled Barbies, and uncountable speed-and-kill toys for boys. They are black, pointy, ugly, and even the large plastic packages have a huge clutter of markings and blurbs in so many languages including bar codes and other machine-ready markings.
The whole thing looks so far from humans and what humans may like unless we are dealing with totally clueless programmed nitwits reared on the Telly that can think of only plastic joys and toys. Like I saw this Seinfeld episode where the guy wants to buy the game parlour machine on which he once scored the highest score ever and it comes up on the screen as the Top Score with his name... and he wants it moved from the parlour to his home WITHOUT resetting in which case it would wipe out that display of the Top Scorer's name.....

Happy Ending: I did get my soft cuddly doll toy. Finally, after visiting so many stores and rummaging through shelves.

PS: I also found the sales assistants at these toy stores quite mystified when I asked for a soft, non-plasticky human-looking doll. They had not seen or heard of one. Maybe I should scout for "doll" stores.

PPS: Here is my video from the American Girl Place. America! The land which invented all things plastic. But they also make the kind of toys I wanted for a small girl to play with.

Elephantine Diet

The Seaworld website states that

1. Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) of vegetation daily.
2. Sixteen to eighteen hours, or nearly 80% of an elephant’s day is spent feeding. Elephants consume grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots.
3. Tree bark is a favorite food source for elephants. It contains calcium and roughage, which aids digestion. Tusks are used to carve into the trunk and tear off strips of bark.
4. Elephants require about 68.4 to 98.8 L (18 to 26 gal.) of water daily, but may consume up to 152 L (40 gal.). An adult male elephant can drink up to 212 L (55 gal.) of water in less than five minutes.
5. To supplement the diet, elephants will dig up earth to obtain salt and minerals. The tusks are used to churn the ground. The elephant then places dislodged pieces of soil into its mouth, to obtain nutrients. Frequently these areas result in holes that are several feet deep and vital minerals are made accessible to other animals. Ex: Over time, African elephants have hollowed out deep caverns in a volcano mountainside on the Ugandan border, to obtain salt licks and minerals. Hills have been carved by Asian elephants in India and Sumatra searching for salt and minerals. These carved areas in the landscape provide valuable food and shelter resources for a diverse array of native wildlife.
   
   
   
   Now what happens when elephants become playthings for humankind? They will be manipulated. Man will feed them, overfeed them, and also force them to take diet medicines! And also give them ayurveda, because it is healthier and alternative to animal-tested, toxic, western medicine! Read this  PTI clipping from my friend Sundar:
   

   

   
   

   Fortynine elephants were fed at the annual ‘anayoottu’ (feeding of elephants) ceremony of Sree Vadakkunnathan temple here this morning with a large number of people turning up to watch the visual treat.

   The ceremony was held as part of ‘Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Homam’, offering of holy materials in sacrificial fire to propitiate Lord Ganesa. About 1,000 kg rice flakes, 10,000 coconuts, 2,000 kg of jaggery, 200 kg of ghee and 50 kg honey were used for the ‘homam’.

   Temple Melsanthi (Chief priest) Kottampilly Narayanan Namboodiri inaugurated the ‘anayoottu’ by giving the feed to the youngest elephant of the lot “Kuttumukku Kannan”.

   The elephants were given rice mixed with jaggery, ghee and turmeric powder. They were also fed coconut, sugarcane, pineapple, bananas and cucumber.

   In a bid to ensure the elephants did not suffer due to overeating, a herbal digestive powder, ‘Ashta Churnam’ was also given at the end of the jumbo feast.

   
   
   

Symbolism of the Rupee

Saw The Symbol an hour ago. Hmm. It has come a full circle.. The Indus civilization started having coinage, and now the Indian Rupee is only the fifth currency after $, £, ¥,  and €. Of course each of these currencies has a wealth an order of magnitude bigger than the Rupee, and in fact Obama has spent MORE THAN INDIA'S GNP on just the stimulus package.

But so what. We have our own Currency Symbol. Symbolism... that set me thinking. What does this symbol make me think of?

1. 
   
   The king, or Raja...Doesn't it look like an elaborate princely headgear? We are still feudalistic.
2. 
   
   RUpya, in Sanskrit, was the original word. It meant a silver or gold mint coin with the king's insignia.
3. 
   
   Did you see how top heavy the symbol is? So is our economy.
4. 
   
   India has lofty ideas of equality. Look at the equal sign on top.
5. 
   
   But it remains a concept. The money is all sandwiched by the richest.
6. 
   
   There is an aspiring middle class, upwardly mobile, but soon those blokes will hit a ceiling.. a barrier to the top.
7. 
   
   The symbol looks like a plough. No wonder, since the humble yokeman represents the vast majority.
8. 
   
   The poor in India are stuck in the mud... no move upwards. Only a slide down.
9. 
   
   India is shamelessly enamoured of the west.. see the way we stare at the west and ape the Euro.
10. 
    
    But all is not lost. India is producing the largest pool of graduates..did you see the convocation headgear?
11. 
    
    All other currency symbols have a roundness and modesty to them, but India seems to be flying a kite!
12. 
    
    The symbol does not stand on itself. It needs a stronger base... as does the Indian minimum wage need some bolstering.

I am sure you can think of more. Come on!

How good can life be?

How good can life be?

Today is my tenth day in Singapore. Got my EP, signed up for my rental home - it's located  in near-perfect settings, and am all set to move in once my effects land soon.

And today, I wake up thinking I should perhaps get an internet radio to listen to HiFi music not readily available on AM/FM bands here. I go out, and within a couple of hours, I manage to land an April 2010 release called Squeezebox Touch. It is rated a 5/5 on Amazon.com by most reviewers. When I open it and connect it to my hotel's not-so-broad band, it runs exquisitely. I am able to tune in to sunaada.com, a recent station from Bangalore, and listen to some great SSI+MSS, Parameshwara Hegde+Vishwamohan Bhat, and Lalgudi+Raghu!

In the evening, intent on some curry, I head to Boat Quay. I land up at Punjab da Dhaba, situated on a terrace 7 stories high, affording a perfect view of the waterway, the famed Fullerton and the Marina Bay. And then starts a magnificent display of fireworks in the sky -happens every weekend I am told! The food is perfect too. I top off a perfect meal with masala chai in a lovely little Lalloo pot!

And here I am - am I still thinking Life shortchanged me!!!!???

For one so blind and deaf and mindless about reality.....Hope God doesn't give up on me.

Curry Stotra

The Curry Stotra
सिन्धूरारुणविग्रहां त्रिरुचिरां सामीप्यघ्राणस्फुरत्

शाकापाचकरूपितां दधिसखीं आपीतमूर्धन्यगाम् ।

पाणिभ्यां सुस्वादखाद्यचशकं तिक्तोत्पलं बिभ्रतीम्

रस्यां रत्न-घटस्त-रक्तचरणां ध्यायेत् करीं शंकरीम् ॥

 

 

I have been thinking, ever since my recent post about curry-bashers. Now come on. As one who lives and breathes curries, I am at a loss to understand how others, who have no civilised taste for curries, fuss about the Indian's obsession. 

Curry not only defines Indian culture, but it is India's biggest food export (MTR curry exports did half a billion dollars last year.) I read the other day that curry is the most common take-out food in England. I also suspect that the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola is a curry extract. And someone published a study that the reason why curry grows on you is that it causes addiction in the deep brain.

India lured Alexander, Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama, Robert Clive and Mountbatten with its spices and curries. In fact we poison every visiting cricket team with extra-strong curry so we can face their fast bowling a bit more easily. And do you know why the vedas and upanishads extol fire worship? It is a metaphor for the curry! And finally, do you know what is the significance of the Indian Tricolour? Don't you listen to Mahatma Gandhi or Kanchi Acharya. They give you esoteric interpretations involving trinity, holy sacrifice and peace. Nothing of the sort. It is a symbol of the Indian curry. Three types... the green variety, full of palak, keerai, beans and bhindi. And the red one, involving the fiery varieties from sambar to kadai and shashlik. Finally the white one... full of coconut and curd.. like kadi, aviyal and so on. And what shines in the centre? A pristine piece of pickle.... lemon in the south and lotus stem in the north.
That is the flag that flies high... and brings tears to one and all at the very thought. At the FIFA World Cup, you saw many a star shed a tear as he stood to attention when his flag was unfurled and his anthem played. And every Indian thinks of curry, and goes all sentimental. So, my friend, lets go and conquer... all we need is some curry power.I have therefore rewritten the dhyana sloka of the sacred hymn to Devi. The Curry Goddess indeed.

sindhUrAruNavigrahAM triruchirAM sAmIpyaghrANasphurat
SAkApAcakarUpitAM dadhisakhIM ApItamUrdhanyagAm
pANibhyAM susvAdakhAdyachashakaM tiktotpalaM bibhratIm
rasyAM ratna-ghaTasta-raktacharaNAM dhyAyet karIM SaMkarIm

Oh vermilion-red goddess, whose proximity stimulates my olfactory senses, born as you are from the cooking of vegetables, you go well with curd - because your taste rises straight to the top of my head. You hold in your two hands a pot of delicious curry and hot pepper plant. You are indeed tasty, and worthily placed on a jewel-studded pedastal. I bow down to you, oh Curry Goddess, who bestow good fortune on all your devotees!

My Own Private India

My Own Private India (Click to read the Time article)

("Why can't they ridicule Indians' elephant nose?")

Meant to be humorous, there is this article in Time by Joel Stein on how the famous Menlo Park, where Edison invented the light bulb, is now culturally decayed beyond repair, swarming as it is with curry-eating Indian traders and their witless cousins. All the haunts of the author from his teens - like restaurants, pubs and movie halls - have now been indianised. The author, living in Manhattan with its hookers and mistresses, is lamenting how his home town has been lost culturally.

Imperialism is funny. It cuts all ways. It upsets them when they come to dusty India and brown Babus serve them ineptly. It upsets them when the wars don't go the way they started them between Pakis and Indians and Afghans and so on. It makes them unhappy that Indians come to America as doctors, engineers and traders, with their curry and crowding. Indians should crawl around quietly like termite, doing their bit in the ecological cycle but unnoticed and unsmelled. These folks like to see Slumdog Millionaire, which shows a pathetic slum called India. But they don't like to lose their cultural trademarks to the Indian onslaught. In any case they are clueless how to run this world their way.

They are clueless no doubt. Edison's light bulb, the computer chip, and the Internet seem to be the lasting contributions of America to the world. Also wars, atom bombs, and debt crises and large scale economic ills that no one can correct. They are happy they voted a Black President...but it will take another big war for them to really prove how they can run this world. This guy is trying to do just that, and won a Nobel Prize for his efforts already.

Meanwhile Indians like me will migrate and crowd other countries with our curries and colourful if dotty culture. My friend, that is why some people say this world is flat. The water, or oil, or Indians, can spill and flow any which way.