Mentabolism

Yellow, Yellow dirty fellow

mentabolism — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:48:25 +0000

A recent trip to New Delhi, the Capitol of the second and latest member of the Billion plus club, India, had me wondering. What is the motivation behind releiving ones self, by answering the call of nature in the middle of the street or on the side of the highway in plain view of passersby, both pedestrian as well as motorists. What is this primal urge that still resides in Indians, that is common with animals, that has not been discarded along the path of evolution.
From Moraji Desai, former PM, famed to have consumed his own urine, ayurvedic treatments that prescribe mixing herbal concoctions with cow urine to bumper stickers which proudly proclaim ‘Maruti ne SUSU ki’, the Indians fascination with golden showers are evident.
I bear witness to this act of public display of excreta in other cities in India too, where the sanitation network leaves a lot to be desired. To see this in a city built a 100 years ago, developed to house the rulers of the colonies and then the colonial houses of the rulers, leaves me wondering, why can’t one wait till they reach a toilet.
Twice daily, every day for three days, that was the frequency, and at one point the driver of my cab stopped on the highway for a ‘pit stop’ and then zipped away, like it was the right thing to do.
Paintball, so far, has been a game of warfare and strategy, where plastic pouches of brightly colored paint are shot from high powered pneumatic pistols, to mark the opponent as killed in action, rendering them disqualified and ineligible to continue. It leaves a slight sting and a big splotch of paint.
An army of sharp shooters, trained in stealth tactics, roaming the streets and manning highways, creeping up behind these offenders who have their backs turned to decency and shame, and marking them as offenders with a shot of paint. Yellow, Yellow, dirty fellow…thats the color! Shock and awe, shame and maim. This might solve the problem or at least intimidate them.

I want to decide where I shop

mentabolism — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 04:50:40 +0000

The opposition must realize that more FDI means more jobs for Indians. Big chains are not going to destroy the small retailer. If anything, it presses them, to improve their quality of service, and perhaps this is what they are against. To provide a low standard of service and choice which we will be forced to accept. At the end of the day, its the customer who decides where he should spend his money. No one, no party or no government and definitely not the small retailer should oppose giving the customer a choice of goods or where he should purchase his needs from.

Established local retail chains such as Westside, Reliance or Big Bazar, dont seem to have an opposition to more competition and they have definitely not wiped out any of the pop and mom stores. Or is the opposition dancing to the tunes of these local chains by opposing more international competition which would up the ante forthe former and force them to improve their standards. This bill only presents more opportunities for these local chains so that theory can be dispelled.

It would seem that there are no Chinese goods in India now. Look around your own house, take 10 items, 7 will be made in China. The Chinese have moved ahead and dominated ouur homes, while India struggles to dominate its own. Lets stop blaming China for all pur woes.
They are ahead of the curve, we are not and need’nt catch up. We should develop our own curve.

If the opposition is against the bill, perhaps they should come up with an alternate idea which could develop as many jobs, the infrastructure and rejuvenate spending in the biggest middle class in the world. This FDI bill will result in leaner supply chains and better quality, which will be evident in the agricultural sector also.

The opposition is being irresponsible by blocking development, so that they can pass this bill, if and when they come to power and claim they did it.
Its time to look beyond partisan politics and work towards a better India.

Sunshades

mentabolism — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:38:37 +0000

My search for a pair of Rx-able sunglasses got over when I visited the Mont Blanc service center to have my wife’s sunglasses fixed. They showed me the Liberty range from Liberty Sport, which was the closes to a pair of sporty looking glasses as a semi-visually impaired person can get.

Being Rx-able means that you can have prescription lens fit into the frames without it looking awkward and actually looking like they are a pair of sunglasses. They also have a range of magnetic accessories which make these glasses fit for a wide range of sports and hobbies like golf or biking. Standard equipment includes a semi hard carry case, a band and magnetic side covers which provide extra protection depending on the model you choose.

They have a cool range which is currently available at Kefan Optics and International Optique in Kuwait.

What if it wasn’t….

mentabolism — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:56:04 +0000

The Emperor of all maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee makes for a more interesting read than just an addition to the nowreading hash tag on Twitter.

I am now half way through the book, and it seems to be the guide to cancer for non-medical professionals or perhaps the dummy’s guide to cancer. The writing style is simple and lucid. The book presents a hassle free look at cancer, making it sound so good that you wish you would get cancer, because it is largely curable, or at least that is the feeling you get as you go through the book. I am not going to attempt to review the book any further.

What struck me as very interesting was the fact that cancer which is perceived as death and destruction is shown as the anti-thesis of disease, in that it is an uncontrolled proliferation of cells. Cancer is actually a growth of cells and not the destruction of cells. No one has been able to find out how it starts or why it does so.

Given that certain cancers still remain incurable, I am forced to think that Cancer may be just an other evolutionary process in the progress of man. We may be trying to stop the unstoppable in trying to find a cure, and stop the evolution of mankind.

What if it wasn’t meant to be cured? What if we are playing havoc with our evolutionary process? What if we are throwing a spanner in the works?

Queues

mentabolism — Sun, 15 May 2011 17:14:22 +0000

Queues. Its a funny word. Even more funnier that this word is used to denote a straight line. The spelling is all over the place and starts with the most funniest letter in the English alphabet Q. I found myself stuck in one, the kind you’d find in any Indian government office or embassy abroad!!
The queue was already formed by some first comers, at the counter and I joined cause with the other bi-pedals.
Theres not much to do en-queue. The obvious thing is to stare at the nape of the neck of the chap in front of you or count the moles on the back of his head. Perhaps study the beard of the person from the Bohra community or admire the intricate design work of gold and white thread on the cap he wears. Your head automatically turns to watch people moving around the queue. Curiosity can get the better of you and you carefully tune into the conversations happening around you.
Suddenly, you realize that the gap in between the person in front of yourself and you has widened, not because the queue has started moving, but because the persons in front of you have moved to the side.
Why did they do that?? They were peering over the shoulder of the person In front of them and and they just kept moving aside to get a better view of the action happening in the window ahead of them. The Qers were just curious. The same quality of curiosity that lead to the invention of the crescograph or same language subtitling; all Indian inventions.
I turned around to see if the queue was any better behind me, only to accept the fact that this was just a queue in action. Thats just how it was gong to be. Its never going to be straight.

Lunch and a show!

mentabolism — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:53:51 +0000

In between meetings, and being at the Avenues, we walked into Benihana to have lunch. We, as in my colleague who had flown in from France and moi.
Benihana, this particular outlet, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late, and enough has been said about it, but I guess I was curious to find out myself. I was expecting the place to be empty, but it soon began filling up. I guess any publicity is good publicity.
What this restaurant provides, is not just Japanese food, its a whole show!
In the video above, the chef arranged onion rings in to a pyramid, poured in oil and water and had a smoking volcano..cum train!!
From the beginning till the end, I had an experience, i am sure not too many places have to offer. The food, was palatable and I’d say more so because of the fact that it is prepared (atleast 75% of it) right in front of you.
It takes a lot of skill for those chefs to do what they do, with all the twirling and tossing of sharp instruments and a good dose of spontaneous humor. For those willing to try their hands at cooking, you could even learn a couple of things.
Besides the regular ala carte and the kids menu They have a set menu which includes a main course, a soup, a salad, steamed rice and green tea. I did shoot some videos but I guess they don’t do justice to the skill of the chef.
The music was mostly remixed Indian though I think they should play Japanese music, to complete the Japanese experience, though it might clash with the high thrill experience of having flippers and salt shakers twirled right in front of you.

The Evidence

mentabolism — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:22:19 +0000

I came up on this site in an email in my spam folder. The site is called, Kuwait Invasion: The Evidence. It contains photographs from the dastardly invasion carried out on Kuwait and its people, and the destruction left in its wake. For those who lived through it, these photos are bound to invoke memories, and for those who have only heard of it, these photos will bear witness to crimes carried out.
The site is well laid out and divided into sections, with search and even a comparison feature.
According to the site, which is created by a Kuwaiti businessman Adel Al Yousifi who took over 15,000 photos after he returned to liberated Kuwait.
Clearly, a tribute to those who lost their lives and loved ones, to those who bore the atrocities of the invasion, and a reference for future generations and all, lest they forget.
I have applied for permission to post one of the photographs and shall do so when it comes through! This pic is not from the site.

Please remain seated

mentabolism — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:37:25 +0000

This is an animated video created by an Indian company called Rocket Science Animation. For those of us who fly, please remember this visual, when the crew asks you to remain seated till the aircraft has come to a complete halt.

Imperial March

mentabolism — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:23:24 +0000

Ancient art

mentabolism — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:39:57 +0000

Cave paintings from an era gone by have been useful in understanding lives of people who lived at that time, their customs, way of life etc. While it is not clearly understood why those paintings were made, they have communicated a lot and helped us understand a lot.
I came upon two pictures, one from the paleolithic era, and one more recent. The more recent drawing was a rare display of graffiti, in these times of digital art. While the ancient drawings, which are numerous, showed life as it was then, I keep wondering, if in the event of nuclear disaster, where only the concrete walls and roaches would remain, is this what we want to leave behind? Is this the era that we live in, the legacy that we leave for those who come after us? Does this not display an evil mindset, one fraught with destruction.
The second picture is graffiti left behind by Taliban discovered in Afghanistan before their base was taken over by the allied forces. Source: Gily Gily