Is the Consumer the King?

 The other day I was at the Grahak Peth. I feel it is always better to buy at a store run by the consumers and for the consumers. That was the way Grahak Peth began in the mid-1970's. I am not very sure, but, I think, due to one of the severest draughts, both the prices and the quality of the goods were in an inverse ratio with each other. As a result, the most abused was the common man.

Papa bought shares of the movement on principle. I added to these in Aai's name. I have also invested in their  f.d. scheme. Moreover, many items are sold there below the MRP, given the contractual agreements, I suppose. As the sum total of all such parameters, every consumer gets good returns for sure, and every which way. In the process, the concept/the movement continues to grow as well. An absolute win-win situation/solution, right?

Otherwise, in the fmg market(place), actually in every market related area, the consumer is at the receiver's end. Let us look at the "within minutes" Swiggy/Zomato, et al, kind of b2c business. Given the city/metro traffic (and distances), more than ten minutes would be necessary for the transport itself. When then is the item cooked? Obviously it must be pre-cooked, and processed with all sorts of harmful preservatives! Most people, addicted to such 'modernity', instead of the fresh food cooked at home, are thus consuming harmful health hazards! Who cares though in that craze to appear 'cool'? No wonder, all sorts of ailments and illnesses are on the rise!

From food to all possible fads, the gullible consumer is deceived and duped through seductive advertisements that never tell the truth. Whatever be the business brand/mode, including the 'gully' to google, the end customer is the one who pays, and in more than one way.  There indeed is no free lunch. Hence the need for consumer rights, consumer courts, consumer concerns. Hence the relevance of the consumer rights day, recently celebrated on March 15.

Pratima@Given the subtle monopoly marketeering, the typical consumer is like the proverbial emperor, without clothes but supposedly grand! Hence the need for awareness raising movements. 

Let us not discuss in this brief piece how the middleman mentality 'manages' both the producer and the consumer. This praxis is  fully operational, whatever be the product. Minimum governance with maximum properly placed, thoroughly debated laws and regulations could be the solution. However, petty politicking could kill the consumer in the final analysis!

The Seven Tastes

 Happy Gudhi Padwa! A new year awaits us. Let us embellish it with wonderful unique experiences. How can these experiences be? Let me explain these through the metaphor of the "gudhi padhwa chutney", a mix with which the day would begin during my parents' days. I follow the tradition.

What is it made of? It has the fresh neem leaves, tamarind pulp/extract (you can use the raw mango slices as well), a little salt, a pinch of asafoetida, cumin seeds and sugar/jaggery as its ingredients. Like Aai, I, too, use just a drop or two of water to make it a smooth paste.

Now let us look at the taste of each one of these ingredients, extremely healthy. The tender neem leaves taste bitter, tamarind is tangy, salt has the salty feel without which food cannot be swallowed, asafoetida is pungent, while cumin seeds taste warm, earthy, while sugar/jaggery makes it sweet, and just the right amount of water binds it all together.

Is not that the recipe of our daily lived lives, too? Our experiences, too, are often bitter, sometimes pungent, rarely astringent, even bitter, unavoidably salty n sour. Happiness and  joy add sweetness to life, while a teardrop or two enriches the humane awareness, right? 

Well, let us throughout this year, and beyond, enjoy this unique mix with verve and vivacity. Happy Padwa! Happy New Year!

Pratima@ The seven tastes remind me of the 'seven seas' tablets which Papa made the staple diet alongwith our morning milk, warm, glassful, and enriched with the powdered wheat essence that Aai prepared  so painstakingly.

Blue Fo(x)es

 Reading is one of my passions. Luckily, my parents encouraged it. Our childhood was full of books. Why, Papa had even got us the annual membership of the famous 'Reader's Digest'. 

One of my favourite reads then was, and even today is, Aesop's "Fables". In fact, as we grow older, we realise the subtleties of these succinct (ending with) moral stories. They are indeed like the kaleidoscope we used to make with the pieces of Aai's glass bangles. Change the angle just a little, and an absolutely new design emerges.

'The Blue Fox' is one such 'moral' story. Once a fox foraging food falls in to a trough filled with blue colour. Every inch he is true blue now. Being wily, shrewd and deceitful by nature, he decides to take advantage of the situation. He convinces every animal in the jungle that he is an altogether unique, special species. 

Having never seen such a creature ever, the straightforward animals are first beguiled totally. Lions to monkeys, all serve him devotedly. The wily fox loves this comfy life at others' expense. One full moon night, His  Lordship, the Fox, is relaxing. From afar hears he a skulk of foxes barking and screaming. Unable to control himself, he joins in. You can imagine what must have happened next.

What is the moral of the story? In my opinion, this small little story warns us that, in our lifetime, we are going to meet all sorts of and any number of blue foxes. As they are hyper manipulative, it is compulsory to learn the art of locating them, and still better, from afar. It IS very important that we do not allow the wily trickster to use us for her/his purpose.

There is an important message, I believe,  for the blue fo(x)es, too. Just because people are straightforward, better not take for granted that they are fools. They can see through all sorts of foxiness-es. Vixens are truly the ones to be guarded against. Vixens, however, must remember for their own good that none can fool all the people all the time!

Pratima@ Animals who inhabit the pages of story books are much less malevolent than those horrors walking on two legs, and sweet talking glibly!

Water, water everywhere

" Water, water everywhere", that famous quote from Coleridge's great poem entitled "The Ancient Mariner" is ideally suited to the theme of the blog today. Indeed, as befits the praxis of many a so-called 're-search' scholars, it may appear partially quoted. Surely though, it is not out of context, unlike many a theses and/or research papers!

Well, these prefatory remarks should have indicated that the theme of the blog today deals with water as befitting the world water day  celebrated exactly a week ago. No, discussing water woes is never late. Yes, like so many scarcities which, moreover, affect the environment and the very quality of life in  major ways, the scarcity of potable water is a world wide worry. In fact, as in interior parts of Maharashtra, such as Marathwada, water, whether potable, or for daily use or for farming purposes, is scarce, and not only during scorching summers.

If such are the water woes in those parts of Maharashtra, other parts of Maharashtra such as the coastal Konkan or the upland Sangli-Kolhapur face inundation every monsoon. In other words, water, water is the issue everywhere. Sure, the Chief Minister did reveal a grand plan of regional river linking programme. Hope it materialises fast, and soon.

Circa 2016, Amir Khan's Paani Foundation  had mobilised a unique movement through  community participation which made people responsible for 're-storing' the water table with monsoon water in unique ways such as, during the summer months, digging, desilting water reservoirs in and near farmlands, building bunds, unlike the bitterly contested dams, and so on.

Similar attempts have been reported in rural Rajasthan as well. As water bodies invite the migratory birds and help both big and small wild animals during the harsh summers, such attempts, often initiated by committed individuals, such as Anil Bishnoi and Prem Bishnoi, are most welcome.

Water, one of the natural resources absolutely essential for life itself, is a worry the world over. As water bodies as diverse as rivers and the seas, too, are suffering pollution in various ways, the attempts to save them from deterioration are in full swing, too, and the  world over. Hence the drives for re-forestation!

If water woes are not to result in tears or in riots, addressing the worrisome water problem everywhere is the need of the hour. 

Pratima@ Anand Malligavad, known as the "Lake Man of India," is a Bengaluru-based mechanical engineer who has dedicated his life to reviving and restoring water bodies, particularly lakes, using ancient and easy to maintain water management techniques from the Chola dynasty.

 He has successfully revived numerous lakes in and around Bengaluru, using techniques that include desilting, rainwater harvesting, and creating natural ecosystems. His techniques replicated in many places across India would indeed ensure "water, water, everywhere".

Teeth Trouble

 Each and every one of our body parts matters much. Yet, of all our organs, some sure get sidelined. Let me give you a concrete example. Just a little of my eye drops, the best ones, great against any infection, was the residue in the bottle. 

My ear was itching badly. Well, my feel was that anything that can be good for an organ as delicate as the eye cannot hurt/harm any other organ. So I used the last few of the eye drops for the itching ear. When the ENT specialist heard it, did I get an earful!

Teeth, in my opinion, happen to be yet another part of our body that we tend to ignore, right? Sure we do take care of the basic dental hygiene and oral care, we brush regularly, we rinse the mouth often, and all.

But! Imagine a visit to the dentist's! The teeth matters then become truly troublesome! The very teeth chatter then! Personally I avoid a visit to the dentist as much as possible. When it comes to teeth, the follower of allopathy in me suddenly transmogorifies  in to a firm faithful of naturopathy. Camphor, cloves, sensodyne toothpaste, anything is okay, but not the dentist's drill.

The very thought of the dentist's chair gives me horrific visions of the electrocution chair. Imagine sitting there, mouth wide open. Well, you are not Lord Krishna, providing Yashoda Mata the vision of the whole universe. 

The only sight the poor(!!?!!) dentist may site is your awful teeth in horrible shapes, given the cavities in them. All along, you are sitting on that wonder of a chair, mouth wide open. You feel as if you are a gaping crater on the moon, or at least on any Pune road, especially during the monsoon, given the then over active salivating process which can make any of Pavlov's dogs blush beet root red.

True, they say that if you ever want to know how awful you look, the best alibi would be your Aadhar Card photo or the pic on the I/T Card. In my opinion, however, neither can beat your visage while you are perched atop a dentist's chair.

Then your hear that dreadful sound of that drill. While you are silently willing the dentist not to use it, he is ready with yet another weapon, that injection in the gums! The momentary pain is nothing in comparison with the later numbed swollen feel that lasts for four hours at least. 

I absolutely admire people who can visit the dentist to get a great smile. Orthodentistry is the name. Must have heard it! I was the co-producer of two EMRC programmes on this then emerging branch. That determined the conviction rate as far as I was concerned!

Dentists sure are artists. Yet this is the only art form I cannot follow faithfully. Teeth are trouble indeed, both in our babydom and during late teens. Dumb you can just not be when molars choose to play hide and seek with the gums, especially in our early twenties!  What to say of the teething trouble when senior citizens go for dentures that take a few years (off), while fitting! Teeth truly trouble!

Pratima@Yes, I am reminded of that execution chamber called the dentist's chair because recently was celebrated the oral hygiene day!

The Societal Jungles

 Yesterday our blog talked of the sparrow, a tiny bird. In this era of wars waging world wide, who cares for the flight of a fragile entity, obsessed as we are with space odyssey-s? No, nothing wrong surely about the exploration of the space. Sure it shows human ingenuity, the power of human imagination and human creativity.

Yet there is a lurking fear that wonders/worries if we want to escape the earth because life hereabouts is nasty, short, brutish, et al, a Hobbesian hell where all are fighting against all! Neither is hidden the lust for expansionist colonisation, and the resultant loot of natural resources, as on terra firma 1492 onwards.

In other words, whether in big cities or even in villages where old parents are left alone to till the small piece of land, much divided after family feuds, life is a jungle. A jungle is a threatening place where roam wild beasts, right?

The need of the hour is to make the feral jungle in to a friendly forest where the natural cycle of life co-exists. Rivers flow un-damm/n-ed, and trees, insects, birds, beasts stay here in their natural habitats, and in their own  normal ways. Human beings do not encroach. They may not go there like the yesteryear "Sanyasi" or during the "wanprasthashram", but rather as tourists who marvel at the alternative way of life.

Such a symbiotic communion is indeed necessary if our earth is to survive at all. When a species is extinct, it disturbs the entire eco system. If bees were to die, for instance, the whole world would collapse in a few days! Let us look at a rather lesser known example, the mangroves.

Mangroves protect the sea coast from erosion. Storms become less deadly due to the mangroves.  They desalinate the sea water. They are the greatest source of security and feed for the marine life,  Yet for the aquaculture industry and for sea-facing hotels and villas loved by both, the richie-rich and the tourism industry, this natural coastal cover is depleted, and severe are the consequences.

How one wishes the traditional practice of "devrai", the sacred groves which allowed the rich resources of woodlands flourish unhindered and untampered, gets resurrected! Only then would the routine ritual of the namesake observing of the World Forest Day be truly meaningful.

Pratima@ True, the "Jungle Book" existence, so lovingly presented by Rudyard Kipling, is a fantasy. Yet such fiction of togetherness must be-and-become the reality, if we all are to survive.

Titanic imprints of a tiny one

 Initial clarifications first. The titular 'titanic' has nothing to do either with the fated ship or the feted film. The term 'titanic', if you were to look at it etymologically, refers to Greek deities, absolutely huge; gigantic, in fact. In other words, out title refers to the tremendous effect of a tiny bird, and its disappearance.

Yes, we are going to talk of the sparrow. A sparrow is an omnivorous bird who eats grains to insects that might infect the grains. A sparrow may not have a gorgeous nest that shows its weaving capabilities. Hers is a simple nest, but it is always close to the human habitat.

A sparrow is a chatterbox. No wonder, she is an integral part of our childhoods. She used to love our feed as babies. Aai would have to feed us literally all around the home. The sparrow would be happy with the tiny share that would unmistakably drop hither thither everywhere in that entire lovable process.

Happily, in brief, lived the sparrow with human beings. This people's bird is now noteworthy by extinction. As homes have become high-rises, sparrows have flown away. Whereto, none knows. The cities are full of crows and pigeons, even bats! The tiny, tawny sparrow is rarely seen though.

They say that the fall of a sparrow bodes not well. True it is absolutely. Titanic are the implications of this tiny bird literally vanishing in to thin air. It shows how non-natural is human existence now. Hi-fi horizons we sure do crave, but for togetherness no spaces we have! This small bird that for centuries built its nest in a happy co-existence with human beings is, no wonder,  almost extinct, surely in metros, in cities of the three-tier variety, too.

A sparrow must learn to be a hawk, they say, if she is to survive at all. Well, but then, she would not be that teenie weenie birdie we all loved as babies and kids. In other words, somewhere somehow it is OUR responsibility, at least for our own good,  to see to it that the sparrow survives!

Pratima@Not exactly a very happy sparrow day that flew away on tiny wings on March 20 without many not even knowing it! 

Sparrow, dear, do not to the unknown fly away/To the modern world, you have fallen a prey/Grey is life with problems huge in the fray/Stay, stay, with us, oh, dear, I do pray!