The 'Purple' of Life!

Never thought I will start writing about something that happned in a toilet few hundred  kilometers from civilization in the forest of Tadoba, which is so relevant to all those civilized  Homo sapiens, that can use computers and read some (??) blogs. But nevertheless, I am sure you can ignore the 'spatial' part and keep the thought-string.

So, there I was using the toilet as one would use except that it had no artificial illumination -a tube light-instead it had a semi transparent roof. It was transparent enough to allow direct light from the Sun, burning above in the mid March Indian clear skies. Not only it was transparent but it was Green. Outside temperature flirting with the thermometer around 37-42*C. It was really difficult to even just spend an hour out in the open and  windy fields without dehydrating and here I was incubating in this toilet oven and also, off course, dehydrating.

I have been dehydrated before and I know how disgusting the feeling is. You can't think, your head starts swirling, legs start shaking and your body shifts to high alert and starts protecting the vitals, which you don't actually feel, but then what you can feel is your visual reception shifting to tunnel vision. 

As I started feeling dehydrated, the tension was rising about the dinner plans. Well to tell you the truth, I don't normally eat spicy hot food, rather I can't. And last night's oily and spicy curry was making its presence felt really aggressively :).

All of a sudden in this mess, I was losing my colour vision. My hands were grey; my t-shirt was no longer red but some dark, grey mixed-colour for which I have no name. I was looking around and the only colour I could see now was grey and shades of grey. The Green roof was also going grey now.

In desperation I finished my business immediately in the toilet and came out. Finally, a breeze of cool-fresh air. And what I see is again indescribable yet I will try. Now everything around me was Purple. The sand, the parked Jeepsy, the trees, the fields beyond the compound and the grass; all was Purple or of the colour closest to it. I mean what the hell?

I will let the experts conclude about what I experienced; was it because of my retinal malfunction or my brain interpreting wrong signals or, like muscle memory there is now retinal memory too. The point is, a simple filter, unseen, unexpected can change what you perceive.

It is a scary thought. The world around is limited to our stimuli and response. The limits that our parents, siblings, teachers and our society decides. Conditioning from the childhood of an individual to see things in a manner that is not inherent but acquired is a part of involvement of society in our evolution. But the cost we normally pay for it very high. The cost, if recognised, that is.

After getting back to the Tadoba wilderness, I was enjoying the solitude that I was experiencing away from the city, mobile phones and internet. For the record, that is what normally (?) normal (?) people do when they travel miles in this hot Indian summer; in a metal box rolling on a meter gauge; oscillating with a very considerable irritation; to go to a declared National park.

The funny part was, the majority of, with whom I came, were behaving like fish out of the water. Every night many would go to the edge of the circle of light created by the Halogen lamp. The place I named as 'call center' and they used to keep talking on the phone for hours. As if then only they were able to sleep and live. As if, the only change occurred was that the backdrop has swiftly changed the city lights to deciduous forest. Who cares then?!

Was it the 'Purple' effect? Somebody put a filter for them so that they did not know there was a difference now. Or they were waiting for someone to remove the filter and tell them they can talk to and read the forest too.

This is really global.

Who? What? How the Purple effect comes?

Who decides morality? Who follows? Who builds the rules? Who always need to borrow? 

Why should one get married? Why should one not? Why can't there be a 'househusband'? And why can't I call line a dot? Why..........?

Staying barefooted is common in India but very offending in Italy, egg is strictly non-vegetarian and taboo in India but cow’s milk is sacred. Praising a God with an elephant head (at the first place, a God decapitated a child's head and then replaced it by killing an elephant baby and taking its head) is divine but  a couple in lovers hanging out before "marriage" is a sin.

You will find many such Purple examples around you and I am sure those will be even more serious than I have mentioned. But these raise many questions. Its difficult now to end as I have started it.

My friend's T-shirt says 'I was born intelligent but education ruined me'- and I can't agree more. What about you?

Is this 'domestication' of many humans by few other humans for profit or ease in running the world? 

I must tell you how ironic the situation was highlighting the 'domestication' situation in the wild. It was the last evening in the forest and as Hitchcock film climax can happen, it was last 20 minutes left of our time in the forest and we started returning to the gates with no tiger sightings.
Suddenly we heard Langoor and Chital alarm calls on the back road and we turned to see the four footed, clawed, feline reason of the excitement. A male Leopard crossed the road in front of us going up the valley. On the same road we also saw a Neelgai male standing indifferent to the commotion, chewing his feed (picture if you have seen Alan Border at 1st sleep chewing a gum). The story was that the Neelgai was, actually, raised in captivity and brought in the forest for... well I don't know. It was ironic wasn't it? A big, gorgeous animal who is evolved for hundreds of years to avoid and survive the only two predators-Tiger & Leopard- was totally in a Purple zone. Had no idea what was an alarm call? And what to do about it?

Having said all this, the end of the trip seemed to be a beginning too. On the way back we visited Anandban, the Karmabhumi of a great, humble and real activist Baba Amte. His son was explaining baba's life journey with very vivid and catching way. And there..there was the Purple again. The Purple that Baba used to start his lifelong work of poor and needy empowerment. The Purple was Potassium permanganate that Baba and his team used to treat ill, leprosy infected patients as a primary aid. To disinfect and cleanse the body (& soul). It’s more than a metaphor. Certainly more than the Rashtra Bhuashan, Templeton prize or Gandhi peace prize. 

Perhaps the 'Purple of life' completed.

 Misa.

Dial ' T ' for the Bird !

     It was almost dark outside and a bit cold. I suddenly got up, took my jacket & keys, did not even care to see if I am wearing the same pair of sandals and walked down the stairs to the parking. As I was walking towards my bike the coldness of air was diffusing inside me. I had not talked to anyone before leaving. This was there in the back of my mind but it was not enough to keep me in the house. I reached my bike, opened the handle lock and turned on the fuel knob. So impatient I was that half a minute it took me to take my bike out from the parking to the road was enough to stop my breath and make me aware that there is something, in my chest, which if I wait any longer, would burst out and disappear in the darkness surrounded. The palpitation suddenly stopped as I started the cold, shiny engine, as if because the firing at the center of the bike roared even louder. I put the bike in the gear and looked at the road aimlessly, I wanted to go, perhaps, into the unknown.

Have you ever done this? Have you ever experienced the emptiness in you, so strong, void flowing into the unknown force that is pulling it with all its might? There was not stopping to this. 
     I was driving, music plugged in, shuffled, ignoring the road, the living, moving, non living things, everything. The trans was so fast and was climbing up from the throttling engine on to the fuel tank and through the handle bar up and in. Like after gaining consciousness, I found myself on wide, empty, shadowy cantonment roads and it was blissful to drive,consciously, on these roads. The pictures that I have seen of the old British Raj days, of soldiers and officers  riding and posing with their Royal Enfield's. The sepia period was so evident on these road with the T-bird.
     It was like entering a new world altogether, which was already there,  in front of me but the doors could only open when you are ready for it. The feeling was mixed; I was feeling that I was weightless at the same time I was handling a mustang,who was ready to unleash the wind  within, and I was also feeling that at this point of earth time, no one right now knows where I am, what I am doing and importantly, where I was going. There was no reference point for me now. The void that started all this tonight, was now going more and more deep.  Like some one (?) has unpinned me from the soft board of Time. The world was intangible or was I?
     The distinction,as if, between the beating heart and the roaring engine was blurred. It was like when a solo guitarist is singing and playing at the same time and you feel that the song and the cords co evolved into a single beautiful piece of artistry. Any one, alone, could not create the same effect as the duo. The resonance just created was even more emphasized with the open road.
     This was the time when I realized that it was the Hidalgo or the Pegasus that I have owned now. And it is 'it', that is  making me glow, as the wrought iron glows in the burning furnace, but once taken out goes back to the original dullness. 
And as I was thinking this I was back in my parking lot.


Misa.

Adam and Eve had many advantages, but they never had a Dentist!

Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond.

~Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605

We, as you will agree, are obsessed with many unworthy (subjective to the reader) things in life. Some spend their entire life to care for others, some spend their entire fortune to get 4 wheels that they can only enjoy on good roads, which are hard to find here; some get their entire body  tattooed & pierced and some get their nose fixed, some get their butt insured for 1 billion$, some get their wrinkles reduced and some get their teeth fixed.

Everyone have their own reasons and explanations and I am not at all, at this point, concerned with all that except my TEETH!

If I dare say, the teeth that we naturally got, are not just for biting and chewing food - they are not just the first step in the digestion of food, but they are the reason - that average human life span has increased in the 20th century, than it was at any other time period, in human history,- that we need them for getting close to proving the theory of evolution,-that developing countries are sinking their teeth in the world economy,-that all vertebrates share this common link,-that Hyenas are better at what they do than a pride of Lion; what would you say?!

Well, technically they are obedient workers, some long, sharp canine teeth to tear up food; some wide, flat molars to grind and mash up food and some, to our surprise also helping us say certain sounds that are important in any language. People have two sets of teeth in their lives, the primary teeth i.e. our milk teeth and the permanent teeth i.e. our secondary 32 teeth, pair of them are supposed to give us wisdom after the age of 20 (?).

As we evolved from the cave dwelling, savannah hunting bipedal ape to the civilized (?), culinary art learning, automotive passaging retro humans, many things changed; and with that certainly our oral hygiene standards. From the studies of human fossils and enamel we now know that average life span of ape humans was around 35-40 years; off course because of many weighting factors. One of the important factors is certainly teeth health.

Emory University anthropologist George Armelagos has published his work in Evolutionary Anthropology stating that ancient human teeth are telling secrets that may relate to modern-day health: Some stressful events that occurred early in development are linked to shorter life spans. The study is based on enamel analysis. Disruptions in the formation of the enamel, which can be caused by disease, poor diet or psychological stress, show up as grooves on the tooth surface, ultimately projecting themselves as "snapshots" of the ancient human health.

Dental hygiene practices, pioneered by Dr. Hal Harrison Ramsey in 1880, are now household rituals to clean our teeth, use tooth pastes, dental floss, wash teeth after eating etc. The technology that modern dentists used will certainly be magical or out of this world if any of Dr. Ramsey lineage saw it now.

W. Shakespeare was right in his 'Much Ado about Nothing' when he said-

"For there was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently".

Ultimately all the efforts by all dentists, did lead humans to eat ice cream or chew on delicious meat balls with spaghetti even after the age of 55yrs and restricting infections & applying teeth replacements; resulting in, along with other factors (thanks to Alexander Fleming, John Kellogg & others), increase in average human life span from 35-40 yrs to 67.3 years in last 200 years.

In animal world, oral hygiene is still a no-concept but never the less they are not far behind in realizing the importance of dental evolution and survival, off course not in literal terms. Elephants & related mammals have some teeth outside their mouths used for intemedation & not for chewing food.

 Bite strength is of great importance to carnivores, as their jaws must produce forces of sufficient magnitude to kill and consume their prey. Spotted hyenas, well known for crushing and consuming bones, were studied to determine how tooth and jaw growth affect bite strength and feeding behaviour. It’s shown that their teeth are evolved in such a way that they get sharpened with each bite unlike elephants, which cannot help their degenerating teeth and die off for a cheap reason that they cannot chew their food.

On the other extreme where oral hygiene has become a technology and an industry, here are some facts that surprised (?) me- In India, oral care market offers huge potential as penetration and per capita consumption of oral care products is very low. However, rising per capita income and increasing awareness is driving demand of oral care products. The 58,000-tonne tooth-paste industry in India is worth Rs1,000 crore. Around two-thirds of the market is accounted by the standard white tooth-paste and the rest by gel tooth- paste. In the last few years, the industry has grown at the rate of 7-8 percent due to lower excise duties. The rural market is growing by 12 percent per annum. It has the potential to account for two- third share of the total market. In the saturated urban market, the gel segment grew by more than 15 percent annually in the last 8 years and now accounts for one-third of the total tooth-paste market. Now, the overall growth in the tooth-paste industry is around 11 percent, with the rural market estimated to grow by 14 percent per annum. The major players in this segment are Colgate and Hindustan Lever Ltd. Colgate has monopolised the rural market. In urban India, it is facing a tough competition from HLL. This competition is expected to intensify further with Dabur intending to re-launch the Binaca brand.

Still WHO is running Skills for Health program: Skills-based health education including life skills: An important component of a Child-Friendly/Health-Promoting School where they emphasize on oral health & development of 3rd world countries. Other such example is of The World Oral Health Report 2003: continuous improvement of oral health in the 21st century – the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme.

But let us not bother about the economics and politics, the most interesting part now is that a new paper in PLoS Genetics continues the search for predicted dead genes — this time for genes that once made tooth enamel. The evidence they have shown is solving the puzzle of evolution as from other evidence, including fossils and comparative morphology, scientists have confidently predicted that every one of mammalian species descended from ancestors that had enameled teeth.

All in all-I need to go now-its my bed time and I need to brush my teeth!
chao!

THE GARDEN OF CHILDREN

(On the occasion of 25th Birthday of Garware Balbhavan.............)

The smell of fresh green grass; stuck traffic outside honking horns, other kids are congregating at our group, where at the background I hear cheers & whistles; sweat making the face wet, dropping from the forehead blurring my vision; thirst diverting the attention but no one can afford to lose focus or leave the amazing game of ‘Round Runs’ that is going on under the beautiful Gulmohor tree. This is not any ordinary game at hands; it’s a game between girls versus boys; and we are falling behind the girls. Game is full of high spirits. At the end, girls win and we boys, after everyone finished pointing fingers at each other, finally settle and congratulate the girls. The war of the Titans was over, for a day!

I have written down what comes to my mind when I think of Balbhavan, but it is not limited to this beginning.

There are so many such memories that I have in store which I can share now. Some of which are typically ordinary and some are way beyond ordinary. They involve places, people, friends, activities & games. I am sure the picture above is very common to any one’s childhood, with few replacements - like Football or Cricket or dabba aispais in place of ‘Round Runs’ - like game is played on a society road or school ground instead of Garware Balbhavan.

And here, the place mentioned, does no longer makes this childhood experience of mine, ordinary or common. Garware Balbhavan was a second home to me, a place to go and have fun, play with friends, learn art & enjoy creativity, participate in activities & explore the natural world in field trips.

Well, the primary reason I am calling Balbhavan my second home is because my mother was part of Balbhavan right from the beginning when Shobha Tai started it. She was a Tai in Balbhavan and I started coming to Balbhavan because of her. After the school I used to go to Balbhavan to her and that’s how I got enrolled in Balbhavan. Fortunately (?), I was never in her group but, her being there always, was an advantage as she used to be there right from the opening hours till Balbhavan closed for the day. She was my passport to wait till late hours in the campus, read books, play in the huge hall of Balbhavan and listen to all Tai in a meeting.

Ultimately, as I realized later, she was the main reason I got to know the most beautiful, everlasting gift that Balbhavan gave me, and for that matter, many other people also. It was the time when I was in the senior group, enjoying the participation in all Balbhavan activities that I could not do as a junior pupil. And a part of that was learning different games and compete with others, especially girls. One day, I had a big fight with couple of girls and I don’t remember over what? You see, fighting and learning along the way, was a part of Balbhavan experience. The great experience that I referred as extra ordinary.

So, I was sitting alone on the large slide in the backyard of the main building. These two girls came and asked me whether I am son of their beloved Meera tai? Well, as I was Meera tai’s son, they no longer were fighting and now, over 15 odd years we three have been best friends and soul mates for each other. My mom being in Balbhavan became a reason to introduce me to Balbhavan and the greatest gift in my life.

Through my journey in Balbhavan, the places and people attached to Balbhavan, made the experience priceless. An unintended beginning, as I never imagined, has put me on this path of nostalgia. As I think back, I realize the friendship, is in the way it is, mainly because of Balbhavan and things we learned there.

Balbhavan was never a compulsion; neither was it a part of childhood conditioning to me. Overall development of a child was at the centre of all Balbhavan activities & plans. The activities focused on physical development of a child were always there, Balbhavan was play ground for me; but also activities for mental development of a child were the core that I learnt in Balbhavan. Importance of crafts and arts in life, I learnt that in Balbhavan. Even today while teaching my students I give them examples and references I learnt in Balbhavan.

Nature camps and visits were also an integral part of my attachment to Balbhavan. Not just the guest experts but the variety that was there in Balbhavan’s Tai, guided me to different streams of arts and science. The first bird I saw or the first natural museum I visited or the first trail I walked was with Balbhavan group. The interest generated at Balbhavan, I try to pass it on to my students in the way I learnt them.

In Balbhavan it was not a typical class of school arts where one has to paint or draw, but it used to be exploration and experimentation. I still remember our group visited to Mahadji Shinde Monument at Wanawadi, as a field trip. One could assume that such trip would be a normal visit to the monument, listening to history, eating lunch and coming back. With Balbhavan it was different and, importantly, interesting. We experimented with tracing the stone patterns of the monument on normal paper with crayons. I still have those tracing with me.

The summer camp used to be another treat for me. All possible sports from football to athletics, from archery to roller skating were taught in Balbhavan. The famous ‘Camp Fire’ was another treat I remember boldly. This was the day when we were allowed to live overnight in Balbhavan. We used to bring our dinner with sleeping bags and blankets. The camp fire songs and late night talks and bonding with friends, none is forgettable.

Now through my work, I meet many young and old people, here & abroad, that are some way or the other attached to Balbhavan. People I met in my college days, who are my friends now, were a part of Balbhavan in their childhood. The biology experts & scientist I meet were there to take workshops in Balbhavan when I was there in Balbhavan as a pupil. It’s a small world, I feel, or Balbhavan is too big to enclose the world, I think the later must be right.

Over a cup of tea!

The first words in my first blog are typed here- they are special, on any achievement's scales, aren't they?

And what i chose to write is- about a drink?!a drink that i don't drink; a drink that, as i often wonder, why people drink?!

and still I am writing about it and inviting people to my 'blog' over the  cup of the same drink?!

Confusing it is indeed & here is some more , I am talking about a drink that some people drink over an evolved system of time perfected precise measurements of ingredients in the broth with dramatic rituals or some drink with a tray of cookies &  cakes chattering with a stiff upper lip or some drink to relax the stress of the day by ingesting the simpler yet potent astringents or some just drink it since they don't have a choice to come out of the addiction or some drink it to have a conversation.

A hot drink, originally, sometimes also served chilled; prepared from Camellia sinensis leaves which can have over 6 different coloured broths, over 10 different registered preparations & 100s of blends; which has a place in over 40 languages from Chai in Hindi to Tee in Afrikaans, from Thé in French to Thenīr in Tamil, which was produced over 805 tonnes in my country as dry powder last year; which, most significantly, has been a part of human history, civilization & culture.

Well please don't be confused. Ignore the part of what is there in the cup that we are holding, just focus on the last few words that makes the last line of the above para."Human history, civilization & culture" is what I want to discuss over a cup of Tea.The diversity of life and living that is just explained by a single cup filled with few sips of Tea.

Hence, any thing interestingly imaginable (or imaginably interesting) can be discussed and that is what i am looking forward to....

tkcr

misa.