Author: Archana

Once a Physiotherapist now a Wordsmith. Field Botanist. Bonsai. Proud Indian. Fauji Wife. Doting Mother and Mother-in-law. Devoted Grandmother. Reluctant Cook. Happiest on a road less travelled. Enjoying the middle ages!
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Have we really evolved?

After my
daily tussle with completing home chores, the maid, telecallers and other
invisible forces, I zoomed out of the house to make it to work on time. As my
car idled in the choc-a-bloc traffic, my mind was in a spin. Though totally
unrelated to the IT industry, current developments at Satyam had disturbed me thoroughly. What was worse was
that it seemed only to be the tip of the iceberg of a widespread rot.
I
remembered a proverb: “Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men”.
The current incident is
certainly not the first but for whatever reason we simply shrug off and move
on. Some call it resilience or is it that we just don’t care? We are so
preoccupied with our own needs and wants that nobody wants to learn.
We go about
stoically as terror/scams/ Nature’s fury unfold in some distant place affecting
somebody else. Why bother, I am not affected… What it is that must drive such
attitude, such apathy?

We are
totally engrossed in reaching our own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
come what may. Stopping for an accident victim or going that extra bit to save
the environment or even help in safety of our neighbourhoods seem to be a
hindrance and burden. Trust – that is the basic premise for any transaction
including business or social is fast becoming extinct.
Greed
(whether for tangible or intangible assets) fuels unethical / unlawful
behaviour and always leads to disastrous results. How much is enough? All said
and done irrespective of our earnings, one needs only six feet by three feet
space to sleep on and one can eat only about 250 gms of food at one time and
that too judiciously. Any more and it brings along uninvited guests like
diabetes, heart ailments.
Man claims
to be at the top of the evolutionary chain with his wrinkled grey matter and
mastery over baser instincts. Yet do we not display the same animalistic
characteristics that remain coated in a thin garb of so called urbanity? In the
perennial rat race we call a career, we search for a better position and better
pay packet but the winner still remains a rat. In his letter to
regulatory authorities, the outcast IT czar too likened his position to that
of, “riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”
So
complacent are we about our superiority that we go about plundering and
destroying nature. We pride in keeping our homes spick and span but dump all
refuse outside. Atrocities on and exploitation of women continue across all
economic strata and communities. Road rage, intolerance and disputes among
communities for trivial reasons often end up hurting everyone and the issue
remains just there- unresolved. If it ever existed that is….
A round of
horn blaring jolted me out of my reverie. My daydreaming had insulated me
partially from words being showered on me for delaying cars behind me. Hastily
I shifted to first and moved on, my mind a whirlpool of thoughts. Are we just
animals in urban jungles, some selfish uncaring creatures morphed from Homo-
sapiens? Have we evolved at all?
Think about it…
Have a good day!
Archana
This was first published on 17 Jan 2009 on 4indianwoman. That site is not available online anymore.
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Of Trees and Tree Hunters..

Recently I participated in an interesting event- A Tree Hunt organised by the Pune Muinicipal organisation along with some organisations and noted tree expert Shrikant Ingalhalikar. Rest assured this is not another post describing trees. Its about how people reacted to the trees around them.

Instead of wasting time, lets get straight to the point.  Most Tree Hunters were ladies of the baby boomer category. Hardly any men participated and I did not spot any youth- If some did take part, I have missed them.

Our task was to travel along a given route and identify and write down the trees we see on both sides of the road or those in people’s homes/gardens but visible from the road. Simple right?
Wrong!

We were given a list of common trees that would not be counted in the final tally! Now this complicated the situation as Buccha, Khaya, Gulmohor, etc were the most obvious ones and more populous. One could write number of each species thereby getting more points but that gave the event a tinge of being a Tree Census rather than a Tree Hunt. Any way. That is not the point.

Being a sunny winter day, there were many people grouped around trees on the roads. At one particular site, I just could not identify a particular tree and kept going round and round it trying to look for any flowers or fruit. The leaves were too high to be able to touch them so I had to make do with what I could see. A couple of youth had parked their bikes and were busy chatting. They just couldnt figure out what I was doing. One of them finally came and stood beside me and peeked into my papers. Now both of us were peering up at the tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree” I asked.
“No, I am trying to find out!”
Not much help there, so I turned to a shopkeeper with premises right under that tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree? Does it flower and what do they look like”
“I dont know,” he said, “I have never seen flowers in so many years!”

How could anyone ignore such majestic greenery growing above them? If this is the situation with mute living trees, then it explains people’s apathy to reacting to any accident or misdeeds around us….

A little ahead, a tree grew right along side a hutment. It had an interesting flaky grey bark and plenty of legumes hanging amid its leaves. Again this was a stranger to me. Inquires with people there yielded nothing. They did not know the name, if at all the tree flowered or bore fruit (yes, there are some trees in Pune that do not flower or fruit). The tree had grown such that it was almost stuck between two homes. A staircase went up to a home, right along the huge trunk but obviously people gave it as much attention as a stone lying on the wayside. A friend of mine later told me that it was a Phansi (Dalbergia lanceolaria var paniculata). I plan to go back and properly see the tree in April when it is supposed be flowering!!

Across the road was a huge tree with a massive trunk. By now I had no hesitation in asking people around about its name. I still hoped someone would give me an answer; not to ‘help’ my answer sheet but just to reinforce my faith that people paid attention to trees around them. I was not disappointed. Yeah!! There was some hope after all… The gentleman sitting under the tree pointed out a paper pinned high on the bark that listed various trees and this one’s identity was ticked off… Waval… His next question totally floored me:
“Are you going to cut this tree?”
It took me quite some time to explain that I was not any ‘tree authority’ and did not have any such nefarious intentions. I was only trying to identify the tree.

The people living there must obviously be proud of their tree and concerned about its survival. I do hope it is not axed down as part of any development plans.

Trees give us shade, oxygen, flowers and fruit besides being home to some other fauna or at times plants. Like us they are a part of Nature. They are necessary for our healthy existence. Plenty of trees have been cut down in our city for various reasons- some avoidable some not.
Its not too late. Wake up. Look around. Take care of your trees and they will take care of you…
Cheers!
Archana

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Music Festivals: Dos and Dont

Winter is a beautiful season in Pune. Besides lovely weather, excellent veggies (I refer to their quality not price!), sales and exhibition galore, there are usually several cultural programs as well. Despite several artists performing throughout the year, the period following Divali is particularly busy. Music festivals both small and big mean a virtual auditory feast for music lovers! And these are not simple three hour affairs, but are spread over a period of 3-5 days.

Since 2003 I have attended several such ‘utsav‘ because that is what they are – music festivals!  The audience obviously largely comprises die hard music lovers. However there is a small percentage of people who are present there simply to accompany their loved one who loves that particular music genre/artist or to
merely ‘log’ their presence at the event or youngsters (a rising number of them seen these days) who tag along with their ‘group’. Prestigious events like the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen (the last name added from this year) attract Hindustani music aficionados from across the seven seas!


I like music. I enjoy music but for me it has to be in small doses in relative comfortable seating. A full music therapy dose comprising five hours daily for five days is not something that I can tolerate. After a while, the back and neck start complaining and the mind begins to drift as the eyelids droop …
I have now developed a strategy to make the experience more enjoyable.
Those in such a position will benefit from this post. 

  • First and foremost, scrutinise the program and identify the artist that you like. The trick is to arrive late or leave early so one can catch this performance.  
  • Watch the interactions between the supporting artists and other musicians on the stage. I firmly maintain that a live performance demands excellent team work and good leadership as they deftly share the limelight, let others lead and combine their efforts to have the audience eating out of their hands and asking for more—which is what the program is all about! 
  • Next up, carry a book or newspaper or better still, your iPad or Kindle. Dont we read and listen to music at home then why not here?? Do ensure your neighbours are not disturbed.
  • The by now ubiquitous smartphones are a good way to be physically present but mentally absent. There is lots you can do: for starters…update your twitter or facebook status, update your blog…
  • For the tech-averse- look around and watch expressions of people around you, admire sarees of other ladies in the audience (yes, some of them really do turn up in wonderful outfits, exotic bindis and earrings-whether its their normal way of dressing or customised for the event is something I wouldn’t know).
  • Explore the variety of food stalls outside- a must for foodie Punekars (one needs nourishment to appreciate music after all) or stalls selling music CDs etc. Usually one can find relatively uncommon recordings and artists at such stalls. Irrespective of your seating (the elite sofas or the down to earth ‘bharatiya baithak’ all stand in the queue and partake from similar plastic cups/paper plates. After their performance, some artists are often spotted checking out the fare on offer!
  • Scan the people thronging these stalls or the audience rows to identify any one whom you know. This is vital particularly for those who wish to be ‘seen’ at the right places.
  • Carry along a pillow/bolster (especially if your seating is in the ‘bharatiya baithak‘). they are very useful for a quick nap or to support that aching low back! 

As far as don’ts are concerned (ref title post): Those who cannot or will not tolerate music, should best stay away from such events.

We would welcome more innovative ideas. Till then, enjoy!
Archana
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Arranged Marriages and Astrology

Recently I attended a very interesting lecture organised by a prominent Marriage Bureau that was meant to throw some light on ‘horoscope matching’ that is almost always done prior to arranged marriages. The auditorium was full– with people standing in the aisles and corridors outside to hear what the expert (a famous astrologer appearing on TV shows) had to say.
The aim was to get answers to some questions like:
What exactly is horoscope matching? Is simply counting the गूण (loosely translated as ‘points’) sufficient? Is it sufficient to match the moon sign, नकक्षत्र (nakshatra– constellation ) नाडी (nadi) ? What about the dreaded मंगळ (Manglik) or सगोत्र (sagotra- same gotra)?

The net take away for me was as follows:
  • First and foremost, people match horoscopes to eliminate ‘risks’. 
Does this mean those with perfectly matching horoscopes face zero troubles in life with smooth sailing all around? I have not got an answer to this question… Further, people with who do not believe in horoscopes or do not want to match them are suspected to have ‘something’ to hide! 
  • Verify if the horoscope has been ‘made’ correctly. Currently available computer-generated horoscopes are acceptable. For this one has to provide date, time and place of birth.
This raises some more doubts. Often people ‘manage’ horoscopes so that they match with the one of the desirable bride or groom. The expert at the above event said that it is possible to do so and very difficult to spot the ‘managed’ (hence fraud) horoscope. 
We depend on the hospital staff to tell us the time of birth. A doctor has told me that no staff in a delivery room has their eyes fixed on the clock at the critical period of the child’s birth. They obviously have better things to do… 
Hence what we consider as the precise time of birth, may be slightly different by a few minutes. Further what can be defined as the precise time: the time when the head is delivered or when the baby cries or when the umbilical cord is cut?
Often clashes between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can cause marriages to break. Then should their horoscopes be matched as well? 
The expert did not shed light on these vital points.
  • Parents (its usually them who insist on matching horoscopes) fall into three categories: 1) Do not believe in horoscopes hence do not match (very very few in number), 2) Get horoscopes matched from a astrologer and 3) those who do a जुजबी (loosely translated as cursory) matching. 
Its the third category that is most dangerous. Using a ready reckoner or simply focusing on a few elements to ‘decide’ weather or not to go ahead with a proposal is like losing out on a diamond!
Like most sciences, in astrology too, there are things beyond tallying points which only experienced experts can interpret. Even an unfavourable or less favourable position of a star or planet may be offset by other star/planet positions in that horoscope or in the one to be matched. There is nothing to fear in the मंगळ or other so called dreaded नाडी provided one ‘studies’ the horoscope in its totality and practically.
The expert gave practical explainations and solutions to some of these misconceptions.
  • Those who do wish to match horoscopes must consult an experienced astrologer for the same. Of course it means paying his/her fees which can be a barrier. To save this money, people resort to half-baked, self-taught, haphazard matching with insufficient knowledge that cause them to ‘miss’ out on a perfectly suitable groom or bride or worse still: end up overlooking some vital ‘mismatches’…
One of the speakers at the above lecture gave some very practical advice when seeking a bride or groom. Go ahead and match horoscopes if you believe in them but do consider the following:
Values, Lifestyles and Financial background of the two families and the children.
Its absolutely vital that these match or are compatible for a successful marriage. The young couple must have similar aspirations and values. As he said, being against corruption does not simply mean going on a candlelight march and then submitting a falsely inflated travel bill in the office!
Further, these days, parents are extra sensitive about their children (हळवे). Let us remember that if our upbringing has been correct, our children should be able to take decisions independently and take responsibility for their decisions.
There are several programs on TV or even print articles about matching horoscopes for marriage. In this case one size does not fit all. If horoscopes do match one cannot simply sit back and behave as one wills. The concerned couple and their families must understand that making their marriage succeed is an ongoing process that needs constant efforts.
In cases of so called ‘love’ marriages or intercaste, intercommunity marriages, parents do forgo matching horoscopes and yet we do find that these are happy successful families contributing to society and economy.
In these modern times, the final decision must be based on scientific and practical grounds and solutions found and acted upon accordingly. Laboratories like Golwilkar Metropolis in Pune offer Pre-Marital Blood tests (for HIV, Rh compatibility, Hepatitis, Thalassemia etc). Would this be a more scientific approach to pre-maritial screening? (I do not hold any stake in the mentioned Path lab. I just happened to see their brochure hence this mention. Others may offer the same as well!!)

This post will not change a person’s attitude, its not meant to. However if it can stimulate the reader to honestly assess their reasons to match horoscopes, I have succeeded!

Take care!
Archana
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Setting dahi in Fossil stone: Experiment 2

Continuing from an earlier post, here is an account of what happened when I subjected my glass made of fossil stone (from Jaisalmer) to some treatments!

Research showed that the porous stone may hold spore of bacteria that regrow under ideal conditions. So I put boiling water in the cup for about half an hour, changing the water when it cooled. Then washed the glass as usual. Thereafter I immersed the glass in butter milk for about four hours and again washed it clean.

The next day, I again poured about 50 ml of warm milk and waited for it to set. Though it took longer than usual, the milk did turn into curd and this time it tasted like our usual curd. Its texture, colour was normal.

Does this confirm claims that its fossil stone (from Jaisalmer) can curdle/set milk into dahi without a starter medium? These amateur trials at home certainly cannot prove anything but the fact remains that despite taking a longer time, my experiment did end with ‘dahi’ in the glass.

Dahi for thought?
Cheers!

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Setting dahi in Fossil stone: an experiment

I was stunned by claims that its possible to set dahi (curd) in a bowl made of Fossil stone from Jaisalmer without adding any starter culture. Ask any local guide or local vendors and they will vouch for this amazing property but it had instantly inspired doubt instead of awe!

Fossil stone a.k.a Habur limestone can be seen as part of the flooring in the Jain Temples @ the Golden Fort at Jaisalmer. Its a lovely reddish
brown with interesting dark patterns on it. Apparently the only other site its found is @ Fatehpur Sikri.

Naturally
I purchased a tiny glass (was left poorer by Rs 300 for it) just to
test this fantastic property.. Some vendors sold small pieces of stone that they
claimed when kept in plain milk would convert it to dahi…If dahi is not your forte then simply drink water stored in this glass as it is said to impart medicinal properties.

Once back home, the first thing I did was to pour a small quantity of milk in
this glass. This was at about 3PM. It was pretty cool in Pune hence I did not
observe any change for about 8 hours. I decided to wait overnight not
really knowing what to expect. I gave it the usual treatment I administer to set dahi in winter (warm surroundings).

Come
morning, I was absolutely stunned to see that the milk had thickened
and there was a bit of what looked like whey on the sides. On dipping a spoon I could pick up firmly set milk which had the texture
and colour of regular dahi. The taste however was neither sour nor
sweet and had a peculiar ‘earthy’ flavour. On leaving it at room temperature for more time, the ‘dahi‘ did not turn sour.

Have you tried to set dahi in a fossil stone (Habur limestone) container? What happened? Do tell us!

Our
research showed that this is the Habur limestone. Here are some links to
published research by Indian scientists on claims to its property of curdling milk.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:dTiE5qLTCvQJ:www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102005/729.pdf+jaisalmer+fossil+stone+curd&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjpXT6XwwLEtjqeKNSnhtq3jEEGRSVJUaPCKH4kvfGgOxGbBP822FllVCKd1JJ3Zs1KbUUUEV3hrk9hPvokSGW2t_LHB76t72VfkI-2Dwo8SMW0V3WJJmjMSAvd_GYy6KKDg1Lr&sig=AHIEtbQL7k14rvA7Daw7-Vg50P33qfxMrw


http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:17VQoyridn8J:www.ias.ac.in/currsci/nov252005/1647.pdf+jaisalmer+fossil+stone+curd&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjSP7UylYPAKlrbRAT5FlSopSuEhedoOvvkdQRS6OgD_7n9JpijoqeilBe4hjfmNYMBn-RZf969PRAfOvtTuFzrGgJkY8z5y5tSNGPfbxJl7qLXZ0z9rNE9-XBswZzgqZv52qBZ&sig=AHIEtbT9d-dgdjpsGMiCuldDqBmw7wlEcw


I am not a
scientist so I cant say it these are million year old bacteria at work!
However my experiment did yield part of the claimed result.

Amazing aint’ it?
Cheers!

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Embroidery: Then and Now

Its been ages since I picked up a needle and thread for something other than sewing buttons or repairing hemlines… With strong motivation to ‘personalise’ and ‘add value’ to a recently purchased kudta, I decided that it needed embroidering…

My tryst with embroidery goes back several decades to when I just about started secondary schooling. I still remember my once-a-week aftternoon class at Chembur. I was about the only young girl among my peer students who were mostly housewives— the word home maker had not been coined then…

We traced designs using a red carbon paper (yellow for dark fabrics) choosing from what seemed like thousands of them that lay strewn on our teachers dining table.. waiting to be traced onto table cloths, cushion covers, wall frames etc… The Jacobian designs were my favourite and still are…

She taught us the nuances of embroidery, what made a piece beautiful and noteworthy. Satin or Herringbone, the stitches had to be even and fine and regular not only on the right side but the wrong one as well. To this day, whenever presented with an embroidered piece (sari or anything else) I always turn it over. The wrong side must be as beautiful as the right side, with inconspicuous knots and minimal hanging threads. I may have achieved such proficiency for probably only one odd piece of work – that’s all.

Threads were always stored by cutting and stringing them on bangles number-wise and then braiding them into a plait. This way we could pull off the exact length. Some made elaborate ‘files’ out of satin with elastic holders for the threads. Bottom line, no dumping coloured skeins into one bag. Needles, scissors were  stored in empty boxes…

But lets come to the present… I was pleasantly surprised to find that most Anchor embroidery threads still had the same ‘numbers’. (All Anchor embroidery threads are number coded so 267 is a lovely moss green or pinks are in the 052 range…) I still had all my designs but tracing was more difficult. I used iron-on transfers which made life simpler…

Battling submission deadlines, my errant spectacles and truant maids I finally did complete my work. Its not one of my best, but I enjoyed a trip back to my childhood… Will I take up another piece? That’s a difficult one…

Cheers!

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“Pune Queen of the Deccan”

After our recent Heritage walk, we have been in an overdrive to locate this particular book. Sadly its not easily available but happily we did manage to borrow a copy. “Pune Queen of the Deccan” is a coffee table book by Jayamala Diddee and Samita Gupta that explores origins, development and growth of Pune as a city. It would have been so easy to digress into India’s history etc but the authors have stayed true to this theme.

The book covers most of what I have described in my earlier post but in greater detail and accompanied by photographs and sketches and maps. That the authors’ love this city is evident in their painstaking research and attention to detail. Kasba Peth was among the first inhabited areas and the book deals with its changing face over the years. It goes on to describe development and layout of the Peths, the Cantonment and how the Colonial City metamorphosed into a Metropolis.

Interestingly all images in the book are in black and white (even those captured in modern times!) which lends it an interesting look.Some are especially eyecatching:

  • Class in progress in a girls school: probably Huzur Paga: the girl students are wearing sarees!!
  • A collage of late Nineteen century faces of Pune citizens
  • The Flood of 1961
  • A priest getting ready to drive a two wheeler
  • The photograph showing a famous drug store on MG Road (Main Street). This building is almost the same even now if you can ignore the crowd…

The simple matter of fact style of writing grips your attention and does what it is meant to- take you back several hundred years to the Peshwa era and before. The accompanying maps make it easy to visualise route taken by invaders or those who fled.

However this is not a book to be read by the bedside. Being of a healthy weight and dimensions, make sure you are comfortably seated to avoid damaging the book or yourself!!

Look around your favourite bookstore or you can look for it on Flipcart. This is one book that is a must have for those brought up in Pune and those who have chosen to make their home here…

Cheers!
Archana

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Heart Truths

Todays TOI (Pune) features an article wherein cardiologists have reiterated that children born with certain types of heart defects can be cured.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Congenital-heart-disease-in-children-is-curable-says-cardio-expert/articleshow/10360714.cms

Heart defects are of different types and this is not the place to go into their details. Suffice to say that timely diagnosis and treatment (usually surgery) can cure the child of his or her congenital heart defect (CHD). Modern diagnostic tests are highly advanced and new surgical techniques mean small babies can be cured of their problems. Indian hospitals and doctors now have necessary skills to treat our kids, there is no need to go abroad. There may be a minor residual scar but then kids often have scarred knees and elbows throughout their childhood. Financial aid is available as well for the needy.

The children go on to live perfectly normal healthy lives contributing actively to society, industry. No more medications are required. The only thing they have to be careful about is not to let their teeth fall prey to caries. If this does happen timely dental treatment is a must.

Madhubala is a famous Indian personality whose heart had a defect at birth but was not treated for a long time.
14 February is celebrated as World Congenital Heart Defects Day worldwide.

This is a good website for detailed information.
http://tchin.org/

 This is horrific story describing parents attitude towards their children who have CHD: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Indian+girls+denied+heart+surgery+parents/5444230/story.html

There are several organisations in India that counsel parents of children with CHD.
Best wishes,
Archana

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Garland Competition for London 2012 Olympics

This is an interesting news that I must share with you all….
For Details, click here  (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15204357) and here (http://www.bgci.org/education/fairchild-challengebgciglobalcompetition2011/ ).

This BBC article talks about botanic gardens around the world who have a competition for children aged 11-19 years to design a wreath made of indigenous (native) species for the 2012 Summer Olympics at London. The aim is the get children to learn about their native plants while creating something beautiful. Photos of the winning entries will be displayed during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Considering the huge number of beautiful fragrant blooms in our country I do hope there are some entries from India.
Good Luck!
Archana

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