Seasons

They served us Aloo-Matar for lunch in the mess today. A perfectly fine meal, well cooked, tasty too. So what is the problem? The ‘problem’ is the matar (peas). Matar in summer/monsoons? I always thought that matar was a winter vegetable. But now matar (both of the ready to eat, frozen as well as the ‘fresh’ variety) is available all throughout the year. So are gobi and carrot and so many other vegetables that I had been told and knew to be available only in a particular season.

The same with fruits. I was in Bombay recently and there I came across ‘American’ apples. Huge, and brilliantly red (every last one of them, down to the very last speck). Now first of all, again, isn’t apple supposed to be a ‘winter’ fruit? And there it was sitting nice and pretty on the fruits vendor’s thela bang in the middle of the summer (and brilliantly red to boot!) Also, what was special about that apple apparently was that it didn’t rot at all… for days on end. It was always fresh and ready to eat and remained like that for atleast a week. Atleast that was how long I kept it to test his claim and nope, it hadn’t rotted at all…. Infact it wasn’t even over-ripe (ofcourse I had to keep it in the fridge – but still!)

Then ofcourse there is the curious incident of the litchis in Calcutta. For those of you not in the know, Litchis are extremely delicious fruits (my favourite). They are also very delicate (they rot very easily) and do not grow many parts of India. Infact, the best litchis are said to be available only in Bihar and Jharkhand and even if they are available in a few other eastern parts, they are not half as fresh or delicious (since they have already undertaken a long journey in their surprisingly short lives). Also, the true litchi skin is supposed to be thin (but not too thin) and red on the outside, colourless on the inside and the litchi itself is deliciously white and juicy. Now, till about two years ago, it used to break my heart to leave home and come to Calcutta in June since litchis were either not available in Calcutta, or even the small quantities that were, used to be exorbitantly priced, rotting and basically not a patch on the litchis available back home. Now suddenly, since the past two years, Calcutta is flush with bright (and deceptively) red litchis, whose skins are way too thin, and are pink! on the inside, and the litchi is not rotting, but is pretty tasteless and does not justify the bright red colour that the skin exhibits! Other fruits and vegetable too are available out of turn and out of place and season e.g. green grapes (they are now available at all times except the monsoons) and bhutta (corn). Others exist I’m sure, but they do not strike me at present.

So I ask… are these the fruits (quite literally) of plant biotechnology? In other words, are they the result of genetic tinkering? I do not presume to pass judgment on whether such use of technology is good or bad for human health etc etc. Lawyers will tell you that it is a sticky issue and I do not like sticky. All that I have a problem with is the fact that all this ‘development’ has robbed each season and each place of it’s unique speciality and personality. I like the fact that you get different vegetables at different times of the year, I like that some places have certain delicacies (of the fruit and vegetable kinds) that are not available elsewhere. I also like my fruits and vegetables to behave normally and ripen when they have to and rot when they ought to.

All else is like deceiving nature. It reminds me of what Wordsworth once said,
‘If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?’

- From ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’.

5th year

Tomorrow I begin my last year of college and there is an overwhelming sense of disbelief that I'm already in final year. It seriously seems like just a few months ago that I walked into college as a fresh faced first year, in awe of all those very intelligent looking seniors. Now I am one of the senior most in college and it seems very weird. Alongside also, there has already started nostalgia for the four wonderful years spent in college and for the fact that we only have one more year left! We will no doubt begin the backward counting almost immediately and acknowledge and relish a series of 'lasts'. The last monsoon semester, the last Independence day, the last football tournament... etc etc. BUT on the bright side, there is an entire year of college left which, I have no doubt, will be at least as enjoyable as, if not more than all the previous years of college.
Looking forward to the beginning of the end!

Review: 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell

Well, I just finished reading 'Blink' and what a FANTASTIC book it is! 'Trust my snap judgment, buy this book: you'll be delighted' says The New York Times, and I totally endorse them. I was a MG fan from the time I read 'Tipping Point' (his first book) which I loved, but with 'Blink', he's gone one better, and has (unbelievably) delivered an even better book to officially become my favourite non-fiction writer!
For those uninitiated, in 'Blink' MG tries to convince us of the power of our intuitions. How sometimes, our 'snap judgments' are far more reliable than decisions arrived at after analysing a whole lot of material. He delves deep into the human mind and it's functioning and proves, as much with scientific as with anecdotal illustrations, that a lot of times, extra information is not only unhelpful, it is also harmful!
So does that make this book some sort of an elongated medical article about the innards of the human brain, that only medial fraternity can understand? Not at all! The very fact that I (who last read biology in class 10 and that too only because I wanted to pass the damned subject) read it, understood it and relished every page of it shows that it is not. His inimitably, witty style of writing makes for an enormously interesting read while at the same time, evidence of the amount of research and analysis that has gone into this book leaves the reader floored. (Btw the 'Notes' section of the book is the MG version of a bibliography and only he could have turned a mundane listing of sources into a few more interesting pages worth reading!)
At the end of it all, you may agree with the author or you may not. But irrespective of your final conclusion, you will have loved the book. As the 'New Statesman' said, "...this wonderful book should be compulsory reading."

Part II: Wayanad

So I recently made a third trip to Kerala. I have now covered Cochin, Trivandrum, Kovalam, and Wayanad. And this time true to my earlier stated intentions, we (me and twelve other members of my Family) stayed for longer and did not crowd the trip. Such an itinerary left us free to explore Wayanad at will and leisure over a period of four days.

Wayanad is a small but popular hill station in Kerala about 2,300 ft above sea level. Therefore, obviously, this place is a lot different from my earlier descriptions of the Kerala with the pristine sun kissed beaches, the unbroken line of coconut trees stretching for as far as the eye can see on one side, and the clear blue and green waters of the Indian Ocean or the Arabian Sea on the other. Wayanad brings forth and presents to us the other side of Kerala - the one which has Mountains, valleys, plantations and virgin evergreen forests, with beautiful lakes nestled in between them, again stretching as far as the eye (or even binoculars) can see. While the coastal side of Kerala is all about quality R&R, Wayanad gives you the option of either relaxing in one of the many beautiful resorts located here or choosing a more adventurous path and going on some truly challenging rock climbing and trekking expeditions to Edakkal caves, various waterfalls (we went to Meenmooty and were totally floored both by the trek as well as the indescribable beauty of the falls itself), Chembra peak (said to be the third highest peak in south India, this peak is always shrouded in mists and clouds and is a sight to behold!).

We chose the second option and hiked our way up to Edakkal caves and the rocks beyond and down a steep mountainside to the Meenmooty waterfalls. Unfortunately, we did all of this on the same day and thus had to suffer from mild to severe body ache (depending upon individual fitness levels) for the next day or two. That made up my mind for me and I decided to stick therein after to long walks on river islands and across tame looking rivers and the surrounding countryside and not attempt the 4 hour trek up Chembra Peak as did two of my more enthusiastic (and fitter???) cousins. My walks took me into plantations growing coffee, bananas, areka nuts, pepper and even some tea. Apart from all of this we also did the usual touristy stuff of visiting all the 'points' and 'views' around Wayanad. The whole experience was not only very rewarding but also strangely (in spite of the physical exhaustion of the first day) very relaxing.

My only disappointment was that because we went just when the tourist season in Wayanad was ending but had not quite ended, there were people and tourists at every spot we went to. I like the feeling of being alone and secluded and surrounded only by nature! This, was not always possible in all the 'touristy' spots of Wayanad. Of course, courtesy our always-ready-to-help resort owner, we also went to a few out of the way spots and they were fun, being all that I wanted them to be. But still, somehow I never felt 'away from civilisation' - if you know what I mean. Wherever we went there were either other tourists or locals living in quaint little cottages complete with electricity and telephone lines! Sure it denotes the development levels of Kerala, the fact that they have connected even the remote parts with electricity and phone lines, but somehow and for some reason it disappointed me!

But apart from that small almost forgettable bit, Wayanad was every bit as magical as it is said to be. I fall more and more in love with this state every time I visit it!

Part I: Toranagallu

I live in a Steel township. (for the uninitiated, a 'steel township' is not a township built out of steel, but a township meant for employees of steel companies) Have lived in Steel townships all my life, and I love steel townships. The peace, the calm, the well planned outlay of the colony/town/city, the cleanliness, abundance of greenery, the lack of population and pollution, excellent educational and social environment, and the friendliness and feeling of oneness among the residents all combine to make steel townships my favourite places to stay. These are the kind of places where you still get to see lots of sparrows (of the real and not the stuffed variety), squirrels chase each other from tree to tree, colourful butterflies flit from flower to flower (and by colourful I mean the actually multicoloured ones and not the mono coloured excuses for butterflies that we sometimes get to see in a few places) and the twittering of a wide variety of birds wakes one up every morning. They are, I believe, one of the best places for a kid to grow up and therefore consider myself extremely lucky.

I have seen (visited/ lived in) quite a few steel townships - Rourkela, Bokaro, the Ranchi Steel Colonies, Jamshedpur and Toranagallu. I have been very impressed with all of them but till I saw Toranagallu, Ranchi satellite township was my favourite and Jamshedpur was the ideal (the standards to which, I believed, all steel cities must aspire). Now, post-toranagallu, though ranchi still remains my favourite, Jamshedpur has given way to Toranagallu. My! the place is beautiful! A small and a relatively very new town, (just about 10 years old) Toranagallu (a village between Hospet and Bellary in Karnataka) houses the Jindal Steel Plant and the adjoining Jindal Steel Township/town. The motto of JSW is stated to be "one tree for every tonne of steel" and boy have they lived upto it!

Wide Roads, all possible facilities built in within an overall township radius of just about two kms, amazing huge lawns (amazing - esplly because the area sees temperatures around 45*C and is very dry), trees trees and more trees and all the aforesaid qualities of a typical steel township, all enhanced many times because of the sheer beauty of it all. The entire place looks like one big holiday resort and I'm not even exaggerating. Of course the place is small and as yet very new and of course Jamshedur, having the advantage of time has far more facilities etc but I say, give Toranagallu time, and certainly it seems set to give Jamshedpur a good run for its money!

Compare this setting to the noise, pollution, heat, traffic, the crowds and filth of places like Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi etc. and I know exactly where my loyalties and my affection lie. It is at times like this, when I know that I have no chance of working or living in townships like these anymore and will have to stay in cities such as those enumerated above, that I start questioning the soundness of my decision not to take up engineering. You might say, these Steel companies too hire legal professionals but then there is also such a thing as job satisfaction! Makes one wonder at what could have been. (~sigh and a shake of the head~)