Over-analysis

I learnt this the hard way

"Our hyper-consciousness often separates us from our surroundings. It erects a barrier that severs the pleasure and immediacy of visceral experience. Imagine the bird watcher who spots a rare woodpecker and immediately buries his nose in his bird ID handbook to confirm the find. The bird flies away. He gets to add a bird to his logbook, but he missed out on seeing a rare animal peck for grubs, stretch its glorious wings, and take flight in search of the next tree. Does a checkmark in a bird logbook compare to the memory of a majestic feathered beast? Ever take a literature course that was so chock full of analysis and essays that you were never able to actually enjoy the great books you were reading? Ever go to the movies with that guy who simply cannot suspend an ounce of disbelief and won’t shut up about the admittedly glaring plot hole the entire ride home? Seeking a deeper understanding of a fascinating and important subject is one thing; over-analysis is another entirely, and it can remove us from the enjoyment of a pleasurable pastime."

Decisions

If I could do it all over again I would, needless to say I would change something’s while leaving others the way they turned out. If I only had to worry about getting up in the morning, going to school, hanging out with friends, doing a few chores then homework and bed, that would be paradise right now. But we cannot stop growing up and as you grow up you would realize there are so many things to take care of and its not just ourselves. There are so many choices in life; we all make them, some good, others bad… Once you make them you can’t go back but you hope that you made the right one not just for us but for the people involved in our lives and if you didn’t you can learn from the bad choices and go on.

Life is a matter of happiness and sufferings. I didn't know whats happening in me and kept moving on in life without even realizing who I was last time. Am I changing? Lately, I've always look at the sky and gaze at the stars when night falls. Questions filled my mind. Life is definitely tough.

Making a decision to do something new usually involves giving up something else. That's what makes it hard—there's a loss to deal with as well as the uncertainly of the future. Our choices make us who we are. For me, many of the choices that I made were not easy and came at a cost. Some choices in my life didn’t work out as well as I thought. Some really hurt especially when it was done instinctively.

Life boils down to just one simple thing….Choices. Yet I always know that when tomorrow comes I will have the ability to do that one simple thing: make choices.

Preservation of Arecanut

Lately I'm working on a project for which we require fresh arecanut(Beetle-nut). As arecanut is seasonal we are working on how to preserve it for a period of 3 months. As there are no known techniques we are working on preservation from scratch. The best part about this R&D is meeting various people in the same field and documenting each and every method that is being tried. I'm just enjoying every part of it.

Recently I had a very interesting discussion with Prof. Maache of CFTRI pertaining to respiratory behavior of perishable fruits. A very interesting method used to preserve fruits is by restricting the rate of respiration which would eventually slow down the ripening process. Also it helps by storing the fruits at very low temperature which slows down the chemical reactions. Its very much similar to hibernation in animals. Prof explained that the same technique is being used by sadhus in Himalaya who just learn to control their breathing in very cold temperatures which helps them to live a little longer. Slower an animal breaths, longer it lives. This in fact helped me relate to few things and incidents that are mentioned in a book "Living with the Himalayan Masters" by Swami Rama that I'm reading. All of a sudden the content and the authors experiences made so much sense.

Still working on various technique to preserve the last harvest of the season. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the nuts will last a little longer then the previous batch.

Ettina bhuja

After a very long gap went for a trek near Dharmastala. Its a beautiful hill called ettina bhuja and just loved the experience

There is so much to write about the trek. Every thing was just right and a swim in crystal clear river Kapila at the foothills was out of the world experience. Will be back with more.

Life Updates

I just wish peace and happiness for everyone around. This post is for myself to remind me to work hard, very very hard

I just wish I could wake up in the morning and find out that all of this was just a bad, terrible dream! Its been 5 days now and am disturbed. It is an unnerving experience. There is a growing numbness in my heart... and am gasping for breathe. Was I not ready to face the world or was I not ready for responsibility that comes veiled along with it. Was I not ready to fight for what I deserve. Either way things have turned out very badly. I have taken a fairly well-thought-out, mature decision, based on the factors in our lives right now. Moments of elation and moments of despair that are so much a part of everyone's life, have been my regular visitors. Much as I have tried to keep my composure maintained during these days, I have oft broken down beyond any comprehension.

World without war

Lately I saw Distric 9 and must say it's a fantastic movie. This is unlike any sci-fi we have seen in years. While watching I realised, thou aliens are intelligent they were not violent even when situation demands them to be aggressive. On the other hand, humans were highly aggressive and violent in nature.

Well almost every day we get to see humans in action either in Afganistan or in Isreal. But the violence level has come down significatly since world war era. We were evolved from being animals to hunters to present generation civilised lot. Yet our animal insticts are being displayed in form of war, formation of boundaries & countries, fight for land, compitation to find a suitable mate and in almost every thing apart from being dressed up. My guess is, if we survive another 500/1000 years I'm sure we would have evolved more and will not constrain ourselves to fight on things that are not necessary. We may see a day where there are no boundaries and restriction with peace prvailing every where. We can then say that we are finally & fully evolved. What do you think ?

How many hours do you have ?

I don’t know if you encounter the same problem as I, but I keep on receiving complaints from my family and friends that I don't spend time with them. I however do like (friends, family, etc). You know, the kind of awfully nice people that nonetheless strangely feels that I do not go out with them often. This gets tough when you are working 6 days a week as I do and I'm in a manufacturing domain where working six days a week is "NORMAL". I get only one day for myself and my parents insists me to be at home. It seems I'm ruining running my life at a crazy pace. We may think of people, then something comes up and we never meet them. The month ends, another comes along, and again that trip we decided to go is never made. I'm fortunate to have some really good set of friends but I wish I had more time to spend with every one of them.

The shoes that never really was

If there is one brand of shoes that is over hyped, that must be woodlands. The brand showcases its product under "extreme condition usage category" and fails to live up to its hype. It weighs a ton and by no means suitable for trekking. There is no logic in wearing a shoes that weighs 1 to 2 kg on an hike to a mountain. To add to the misery its not flexible and its as if your ankles are attached to a concrete block. I think buying a pair of woodlands shoes was the worst decision that I 've made.

After a long hiatus, yesterday I finally decided that I need to pick a pair of shoes. After wearing a very hard slippers & a pair of woodlands for as long as two months, it was about time I did something before I permanently damage my heels. Well I brought my self a light weight Adidas Outdoors and must say its simply superb. It gently wraps around my foot and the right amount of cushion feels so good to wear. Its good that my legs are not aching anymore.

I've tried Bata, Lotto, Woodlands, Reebok & now Adidas. Out of which Lotto was good value for money. It was a running shoes and I loved the pair. Woodlands and Reebok can easily be written off, not much of a punch in them. Adidas looks promising and I will have wait till I arrive at a conclusion. My next buy will be a Nike. So people, I think now you know what you can gift me ;)

Civet Coffee aka kopi Luwak

I was able to get hold of some Civet coffee beans and was able to produce some 600 grams of coffee powder. Can you believe 600 grams when a kg of this exotic beans are priced $ 350 and above (US$33.00) per cup. The beans were painstakingly collected over a span of 1 year. The worst part is, the beans are not available throughout the year, You get it when it rains. And secondly thou coffee is extensively grown in chikamaglur, civets are more common in coorg. A very good friend of mine has an estate in coorg and thanks to them that they collected the beans for me.

This rare coffee has the distinction of being consumed before the connoisseur has even taken a sip. The palm civet (Kaadu bekhu/Mungusi), a cat-like animal also called a luwak, ingests fresh coffee cherries but doesn't digest the beans inside. The civet smells & eats the ripest and tastiest of the berries. After the beans pass through the civet's digestive system, The dung is collected and bean are washed and dried. Supposedly, the civet's digestive enzymes make the beans less acidic, improving the coffee's flavor. Most of the beans that are collected in Indonesia are exported and in India the beans are never bothered.

Well getting it roasted is a difficult job, it should not be microwaved. And there is also a risk of civet powder getting mixed with other powder if you get it done outside. My mom hand roasted the beans in a vessel with sand in it to get the right color. Once done it was grinded in a Mixer. We did not mix any chicory and the coffee was prepared the way a filter coffee is prepared.

I thought a civet coffee party (Coffee with Chandan) would be a good reason to invite people home and the party was yesterday. It was fun and everyone loved the coffee. It is very smooth and the aroma was heady. The flavor remains on your tounge for hours if you dont eat anything in between. Its not just me, everyone had some really good opinion about it. I still have some powder left, any coffee lover in Bangalore can drop in and have a cup for free. Do E Mail me before 03.07.09 and you 'll hav to give me one good reason for why I should invite you.

P.S. My mom told me lately that my granddad had a coffee farm long back and those were the days when money was hard to come by. All the produce were sold. However they were using civet beans at their place as they were considered to be of the lowest quality and did not hav any market value then. Just imagine, my mom and uncles grew up drinking civet coffee every day. The beans are called hanuklu in kannada

Right to live

Lately I watched the movie Transformers for the nth time and the following dilogue from the movie kept me thinking.

Ironhide: Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race.

Optimus Prime: Were we so different? They're a young species. They have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

So true, Every living being has the right to live. We human beings, the dominant species are suppressing other species. We are disrupting the evolutionary cycle or controlling the evolution to some extent. If other animals are given an opportunity to evolve, they may be of some benefit to us. I'll talk about the benefits later. We know south America is sparsely populated as compared to other continents and at the same time it has Amazon jungle where flora and fauna is diverse. We will have to relocate existing human population and spread them across the world. Thou relocation to a new place in short notice is a bad idea south Americans will benefit from being upgraded to a developed nation. Now South America will have to be declared neutral continent and should not even be visited by researchers. From then on we should let the continent evolve. The biggest issue will be relocation of tribes who are leaving in jungles. We will have to select suitable evergreen rain forest across the world and hav to relocate them there. Some people may perish or may not be able to survive, It'll be a small sacrifice as we are promoting something bigger.

Now if something bad happens and the entire human population is wiped out from the face of planet; We will hav an entire continent which is set in a state of evolutionary process devoid of humans. This may sound crazy but imagine, instead of things starting from scratch, we will have it start from say 5% or 20% of completed evolution. You may also say that existing forest are sufficient. But I strongly feel that the constant human interaction with forest has made it useless and we are shaping the living organisms to our benefits and the evolution is not happening the way nature wants it to happen. So we require an uninterrupted evolution somewhere out there in south America.

Now the advantage part, How many times do you think someone from a different planet has landed on earth and tried to bring back dinosaur to life ? Well I don't think that has ever happened. However we are very close to bring back woolly mammoth to life and are even capable of bringing back dinosaur if we get the right set of DNA from right set of fossils. Its a know fact that its much easier for a life form from earth to bring back life to an old life form of earth. So in an event of catastrophe we can expect a faster evolution in the neutral continent of south America and animals there may one day dig out fossil of humans and inject life to extinct homosapeians. Its something like we helping other species who may help us out in an event of disaster.

Its just a far fetched concept of mine. There may be better ideas floating around. But at the end of the day as optimus prime tells, Freedom is the right of all sentient beings

The Book of Family Records

Being born into a big family has its own advantage or rather disadvantage for people like me. There is a not so interesting game that is regularly played in our family circle. The game is called "who has got how much marks". The rules of game is very simple, compare your marks or to be more precise your academic performance with that of your cousins, friends and siblings. Well there is no prize for winners. The game becomes tough when you have really good performers as competetors. Since I was the eldest of the lot there was a huge expectation of what target I would set, but ironically after few years I was declared retired from the game and now I'm a mere spectator. As you can see, 70% average marks will not make you eligible in the game. So getting in is also tough. But I do hav a set of record that will remain intact for years to come, i.e. " Maximum number of flunk in Math Tests". Well the game has a very dark side, wish there was a better way of recognising talent.

Solitude

I just don't get it. Some people, for no apparant reason stops talking to you. Its just like a chineese puzzle inside a brain twister. I may be bit paranoid, as they might be really busy with something more important then a casual talk. Nevertheless no matter whome you are with, you are as alone as you were on the day you were born. When you most need them, they are not there. Its good not to expect any thing from any one which I feel is a more practical thing a person can do in his life. But strangly, I've started enjoying doing things alone. I don't mind going out for movies alone or having a dinner in solitude or even go shopping. Never confuse feeling alone with being alone. They two are at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. At times solitude is bliss. Well today I need to vote for a candidate whome I feel is best among the worst. Anyways, I'm not sure Advani is the right person. But given the political chaos, if I had to choose between Manmohan (aka Sonia with beard), Advani and Mayawati (or the entire breed), I think I'd go with Advani. Well in my constituency I'm unable to find a single candidate whome I could look upto.

Life Update

Friends around me are dropping like flies, of course - the girlfriend pandemic or its more serious complication - marriage - has been busy “getting” practically everyone I know. There goes another, I tell myself everyday. Fare thee well, friend. To be more precise, friends are getting farer and fewer everyday. Most of the conversations i have recently are about inquiries about my woman-less life and in their minds life-less existence..The question of marriage & girlfriends, I find, is a bit like non-vegetarianism. Meat-eaters and pro-marriage freaks both seem to think that it’s all a question of finding that perfect chicken, and once you’ve had it, you’ll never go back to your old ways - conveniently ignoring the fact that there are millions of people who lead perfectly content lives that are chicken-free in every possible way. Well yet to update my blog about my trek to Amdhikal and a 10 day trip across India. Till then ciao.

Levis rules

My most uncomfortable Levis is more comfortable then the costliest wrangler I have. I've tried many brands including Pepe, Lee. Somehow they are not as comfortable. In btwn, I wonder why people buy button fly over a zipper. Wont it take more time to answer the natures call. What exactly do people find so compelling about button flies, anyway?

Culture Shock

I have witnessed a fair share of champagne moments in a grand prix, a cricket match and with friends. This new year I was with my family & close relatives and it was fun, but i had never expected a champagne to be popped in front of family and in front of my granny. It was a culture shock to me. Wat's more interesting is, every one was fine with it including my granny. The shock was due to difficulties in accepting the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not, as alcohol was a taboo in an bram community like ours. But must say I'm not against it altogether. Well did I raise a Glass ? I still haven’t raised the glass. I'm still waiting for the right moment, and tell myself how tasty it will be if I ever accomplish something special in my life. All in all when I look back, 2008 was very gloomy and I could have done much better in whatever I did. Looking forward to a new year with new hopes.

Love, Peace and Harmony

WOW...who would have thought it would happen so soon. It is hard to believe that she is old enough to be getting married... My sister got married yesterday. But I think that I can safely say that it was a great time to reunite with my family, and watch our lovely bride step into married life. It was a beautiful day for Chaya and Ramu and all those who came to help celebrate their marriage together.