Reconciling Myth and Science

The Hindu is joining the discussion about laughable claims made nowadays in regard to mind-blowing scientific and technological progress in ancient India. Authors who ought to remain buried are being given a voice to mouth inanities about the need to be rational and scientific.
Read this:
Scientists debunk ancient spacecraft claims

Now I think even I have something to say on this:

1. Old Indian mythology is full of inventions that compare well with man's latest and greatest inventions. Rama's arrow that he diverted from drying up the ocean before the Setu was built is supposed to have created a desert when it struck northwest India. Pushpaka Vimana, miraculous multiple births etc. are commonplace.
2. Our rishis had astounding observations on astronomy and pathbreaking contributions to mathematics.
3. Nobody in his mind will dispute 1 and 2.
4. That ancient Indians made spacecraft and head transplant etc. are only a part of legend. They cannot be extrapolated to actual scientific and technological constructions because ancient India was not so keen on developing experimental set-ups, the rishis were basically thought leaders.
5. Ayurveda, metallurgical marvels, and our progress in areas like food cultivation, textiles and jewellery are actual achievements from ancient times we can verify and be proud of.
6. If we believe ancient Indians were scientific, we also have to understand they would not make fabulous and unprovable claims. They would welcome the evolution of science in the west eagerly as AN EXPERIMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THEIR THOUGHTS AND CONCEPTS. The resultant inventions and discoveries would be welcomed by ancient Indians as much as by the western scientific community.
7. In any age and time there are charlatans, progagandists and crazy scientists. Being an ancient civilisation, India would have had its due share of them.

Let us celebrate the Iron pillar. Mohenjadaro and Harappa. Dwaraka. Taxila and Nalanda. Brihadeeshwara temple. The Taj Mahal. These are more than enough to show how great ancient Indians were. Our languages, our cuisine, our yoga, our music, our dance, our festivals, our clothes and adornments, are all proof that we belong to a fabulous and glorious tradition of science and culture. We don't need to fly kites or launch spacecraft 7000 years ago. Or indulge in head transplant to show how great we are.

Finally, let us understand human civilization, science and technology is still a works in progress.

Get an MBA, right in your kitchen.

I think you needn't go to a fancy business school and get an MBA. Let me show you how you can get an MBA right in your kitchen. I give a list of 10 points, nowhere near exhaustive. Happy to discuss this further.

1. Your kitchen exists only for your family,ie those who eat with you - your consumers or customers. If it doesn't serve their purpose, it is dead. 

2. What you give has to have value - cost and price are immaterial. Value is as perceived by the client or consumer or here, family. I may cook the meanest pasta this side of the Mediterranean but if my son wants Idli and Rasam, I need to give him THAT. And no bragging please about Virgin Olive oil for all my cooking or that I use Naati Badami and Spanish Kesar in the Halwa. The value perception overrules all brag about ingradients.

3. Want To learn about just-in-time inventory? No place better than the kitchen. The best run kitchen optimises everything, and no wasted bags of rice or tons of pickle. Everything fresh, everything now, everything flavoursome. But this just-in-time principle means one has to be extra-efficient and remember to get things at the right time, or you run out of what you need the most...

By the same token, woe be to the kitchens with deep-frozen vegetables and dishes excavated like mummies after months.

4. Every MBA learns how to be efficient in terms of time, energy and process. A streamlined kitchen has less noise and more aroma. Less shelf space and more inviting dishes on the table. Less show and more action.

5. Everyone has to have pride in their skill. Talk to a home-maker. She will tell you what her people love, and how she has preserved their love for her cooking. Innovation is to be measured in terms of longevity of your consumer base!

6. Want to experiment with new cuisine? With new TV recipes? Answer the key question: why? Do your people want novelty? Variety? Give them what they want. That way, you deliver value and avoid disasters.

7. How do you celebrate success? Simple. That's why you have festivals. When people all eat together and celebrate what the family has enjoyed thus far, that is celebration. 

8. Ecology begins in your kitchen. Anyone who understands the sustainability of resources in the kitchen will easily translate this to the outside world. Do you know how dishes can be made with jackfruit seeds, orange peels, leaves of vegetables which we tend to throw away...so many  dishes without wasting valuable resources.

Long ago, people were making natural manure with kitchen waste in their backyard. 

9. It's funny how many electrical gadgets we use today in the kitchen. If one works with the hand, and manages the preparations by close supervision, you can be sure of the results. It improves efficiency and reduces waste. Of course intelligent use of efficiency multipliers like cookers and grinders reduces manual work. But one always should strike a balance.

10. How many servants do you employ in your kitchen? Does your cooking top have an Italian finish? Do you have the world's largest fridge? Each of these is a valuable resource and has to do something to produce more value. Otherwise it is a waste and you will regret it later!

Postscript: how about cleaning up and doing the dishes? Glad you asked. That's the unglamorous part..just like EHS. If you don't do it, sooner than later, you will shut down:-)