Handicapped by Technology

Over the weekend as I was trying to ward off the residual remnants of sleep and was making an attempt to salvage whatever was left of the weekend I heard the pleasing splatter of rain!

In the part of world where I stay the earth has been smouldering at 40 degree Celsius and any whiff of rain is a welcome relief. What I did next, sent me down the lane of self-assessment or discovery. What was I doing ? Now dont let your horses of imagination run wild. I was not doing indulging in anything spooky or something which might make the reader raise their eyebrows.

What is your first instinct when you hear the pit-pat of rain drops ? Yes right you run to window to check? That's the normal human reaction or reflex action . But what did I do - I was frantically trying to fish out my phone from the jumble of quilt and pillows?What for -to check the app for weather - if its raining in my city?

 SWAP SWAP 

Such dependence on Technology that too  me - what happened to running to the window to catch glimpse of the downpour? I then went on a path of self discovery. I realized there was a time when I remembered all the important numbers by heart, that is now delegated to the List called "important contacts ", "family" , etc ,etc ( some lists have cheesy names)

At that point in time a famous line by "Billy Cox" - the motivational speaker, trainer, mentor ,etc. started haunting me. It goes as below 

  

Come to think of it - technology is no doubt helping us but overuse / over-dependence is depleting our natural skills of memory and fast thinking -perhaps.

No I am not a Nay Sayer , I love technology and the wonders it does , but as advent of calculators has made us let go of our swift manual calculation acumen , I fear certain aspects of technology may lead to blunting of some of our skills. We should try and make an effort to reduce our over-dependence on technology such that our human thinking skills dont become rudimentary.

As a famous American historian has rightly said - 

 Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our Technology.

 The fog of Information can drive out knowledge.

I am signing off today hoping that I and others too would use technology judiciously and not in way that it undermines our natural reflexes and mental prowess.

A tale of two love stories

Today morning while sipping my morning concoction- news of two love stories caught my imagination. Both from different parts of the world. One was a testimony of “Triumph of personal freedom” while the other showed how executing one’s “right to freedom” may have a violent end.

One of the stories was from my beloved country while the other was from “Japan”. How badly I wanted the “Triumph of personal Freedom” story to be from my country (Though my country and its constitution ensures sweeping freedom to all its citizens so much so that there are people who can openly abuse the country and get away too- that’s another point of debate , lets drop it today!)

The story of princess Mako giving up her “royal status” to marry a commoner (as they call it) is heartening as it has the blessing of the Emperor, though one hopes she could have retained her royal status too. (I have a little bias towards Japan as people there are very gentle in their behavior ,peaceful and very proud citizens.Japan is a patriarchal society and surely they can improve a lot w.r.t. gender equality which I can talk about in another post.)

In contrast of the above story is the story below where a son-in-law is allegedly killed by his father-in-law. Obviously the alleged murderer is no king or emperor but has the audacity of sniffing out life from a human being. 

What caused him to do it:-

1. Failure to have control on his offspring’s life
2.  Just ego
3.  Lack of respect for human life
4.  Lack of compassion
5. Lack of respect for rule of law

It’s necessary to remind people that “right to life and right to freedom” are supreme and no nation can call itself modern if its citizens don’t recognize its importance. Also what surprises me is lack of outrage from the masses and general public. This incident should shock us and draw sweeping outrage and criticism from all quarters – aren’t we a secular, socialist country, etc, etc. or are they just words in the constitution. While "banning beef" stirs so much political noise why this incident is met with measured silence. Is human life is of lesser value.

I think an emperor should have have had much more at stake that the "nobody" who killed this son-in-law mercilessly and he doesn't realize he has scarred his own offspring for life- but I think those are all secondary to the alleged murderer.

I sign off with the hope that modern India showcases stories of personal liberty and its respect by fellow citizens and stories like these become a distant obscure memory

Barbarism of Crime – something endemically wrong with our society

Crime is a global phenomenon – its omnipotent and happens in varying degrees through-out the world. When one analyses crime in India and the barbarism involved in crimes against women one realizes there is something endemically wrong with our society. What can that be?

1. A dis-passionate society which is continuously running in pursuit of material achievements
2. A glaring divide between privileged and deprived citizens
3. The blatant eulogizing of material achievements
4. Lack of moral compass w.r.t. right and wrong
5. Survival and self-reliance are only priorities we learn as we grow up
6. An unequal education system where the rich will be spared as they take refuge in the private education system but the poor are left to mercy of government run schooling which varies in its quality from state to state.
   While states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have good public education system in other states its on the mercy of the people in charge.
7. Family and school are two places which infuse moral foundation in a human being if these are defunct then it all boils down to the individual. We Indians have to on a war footing ensure good basic schooling for all and a community structure which infuses the basic fabric of amiable human nature in one and all.
8. We don’t have time – I hear this from me and others as we go through the motions of life – this reminds me of a line in hindi -  “ Agar Hum waqt ko tavajoo nahi denge to ek din waqt hame chusi hui narangi ki tarah fek dega” – “If we don’t give value to time then one day time will discard us like a chewed waste” – similarly if we don’t realize today that we need to invest in a healthy society we will live to see and bear the unhealthy consequences.
9. We have to let go of the hypocrisy and provide healthy source of information to the society at large – people getting answers about their questions through movies and other non-educational sources is dangerous and detrimental to the growth of a healthy outlook.
10. 1.      We need to invest in society as a society – everything can’t be left to the government. Government can’t tell us be honorable in behavior to:-   

a.      Fellow females / males

b.      Foreign citizens

c.       Help foreign citizen

d.      Don’t fleece foreigners

e.      Keep the roads clean

      We need to salvage ourselves  from the mess or the hole we have dug ourselves into.

Nihon no yasai ga suki- Vegetables Japanese folks like

During my brief stay in Japan making jaunts to the "Super Market" and the local markets was something I loved ,though I was handicapped by not being fully aware of Japanese language. It never deterred me ,I used technology , sign language and limited stock of Japanese words to navigate my way through.
These trips helped me understand Japanese food habits and other facets of Japanese life-style. "Niku" or meat has a prominent place in Japanese food but I discovered gradually that Japanese love their vegetables or "yasai" too.
My trips to the local veggie market not only helped me buy relatively economical produce but I got valuable insight into the popular preferences of the Japanese taste buds.
I discovered "Hakusai"  or the chinese cabbage.
It is a relatively new vegetable introduced in Japan from China in the twentieth century  and now its one of the most consumed vegetables in Japan in winters. It forms an important ingredient of the popular Japanese winter comfort food -the "Hot Pot".I used hakusai in preparing soups,salads, stir fry , noodles and pasta. The next vegetable which was very popular was the "sweet potato". I found that in most Japanese fairs and handicraft bazaars the cups of fried sweet potato chips was a big hit. Thejapanese love their sweet potato both baked and fried. One should surely try the piping hot cup of fried sweet potato finger chips.

The poor man's meat or also called mushroom is the next "yasai" which I will dwell on.

Mushrooms in Japan have such an extensive variety. Though "Shitake" is the most revered of them all. The other varieties found in Japan are

• Maitake
• Bunashimeji
• Enoki
• Eringi

But among them Maitake,Bunashimeji and Enoki are easily found off the shelves of most super-markets or local vegetable shops.

Enoki

Bunashimeji

Shiitake

Maitake

Japan is a heaven for mushroom lovers as the variety is extensive and quality is exemplary. I started writing this blog to neutralize the drudgery of going through the technical documents of my next project , but it seems I have replenished my energy and its time to go back to vetting those documents , till I write my next one. 

Sugoi Japan - Images of Japan

A country which should be in every person’s itinerary is “Japan”. You might have heard about its ubiquitous vending machines, or state of art toilets and their Manga, but my images includes some other facets of Japan and Japanese lifestyle. As I used to walk down from the railway station to work I used to take my time to absorb what I saw around. The Japanese mothers riding the “Mamachari” bicycle and taking their kids to nursery or kindergarten, is an image which I recollect fondly. Japan should showcase the “Mamachari Bike” world-wide and they would be surprised by the response it gets!

The typical and smart school uniforms of school going kids was the next thing which captured my imagination.

The most striking feature of the school going kid’s attire is the hat. Also you will be surprised to see Japanese kids commuting alone in the metro from school to home and vice –versa. Perhaps the low crime rates and the Japanese culture is responsible for this phenomenon. It seems if a kids gets lost in Japan it will not be a problem to ask a stranger for directions as Japanese folks are very helpful by nature. The Japanese school bag – also called randoseru- also is pretty striking and very characteristic part of Japanese culture. It is said Grade schoolers across Japan carry leather backpacks or “randoseru” (ランドセル). Randoseru, which comes from the Dutch word “ransel” or “backpack”.

This is probably the first in the series of blogs I will write on Japan. Its an asian country which is very both modern and traditional at the same time . Its modernity is showcased in its ultra-modern infrastructure . The traditional aspect is showcased in the customs of the Japanese society, its handicrafts, customs and array of gardens and shrines.