World Without Borders

My blog has seen visitors from Canada, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, UAE, UK, Ukraine, and the US.

We truly live in a world without borders :-)

Update: Also Chile.

Kuwait.

Germany.

Moldova.

This is not Science

A few months ago, my then 7 year old signed up for the Grade 2 "Science" Olympiad and came home with an NSO "Workbook".

Flipping through the workbook, I was hard pressed to find any "Science" in it. It was a mish-mash of topics ranging from "Occasions, Festivals" and "Family" to "House, Housemakers" and "Occupation". As I watched him work through it, some of the questions left me wondering exactly *who* created the material and what the motivation behind it was.

One question was "Who cooks food in a family?", with the options being Aunt, Mother, Sister and All of These. "Who is called the head of family?" asked another. The options were Father, Brother, Mother and Cousin. No prizes for guessing what the right answers were. Now, even if the correct answers to these questions are "Family Dog", not only do I fail to understand how this can be called Science, I am also completely amazed that we choose to thrust gender stereotypes down the throats of impressionable young minds in this day and age, without *any* thought to how the world has changed and how each family may be unique in its own way.

To me it seems that the "Science" Olympiad, although run by a not-for-profit organization, is really a way of making a pretty packet for the organizers, science and sensitivity be damned!

As someone who has her degrees in pure Science, I find it hard to stomach this brutal misuse of the term "Science" to make a quick buck.

Earth Hour

It's Earth Hour today and the chairman of Western Australia's largest sustainability program says Earth Hour is tokenistic and a waste of time.

For the most part, I agree. I see "preparations" on for Earth Hour around me; it strikes me as a way to "get involved" without making any real lifestyle changes that have lasting impact and yet feel good about having "done one's bit".

How many folks that enthusiastically ready for "get-togethers" really plan to make ANY change to reduce their carbon footprint? Mostly, discussions veer to how *others* should make sacrifices to sustain the carbon footprint-heavy lifestyles of the elite.

The only possible advantage of Earth Hour will be to light the flame of inquiry and then concern in young minds who may then be spurred to do something to save their planet...

Recent Reads

It's been a while since I updated recent reads. The pace of reading has slowed down considerably owing to being very busy, however, I've managed to read:

• How Much Should a Person Consume -- Ramchandra Guha. A history of the environmental movement across the world, and the ways in which it plays out in different countries. I found details of the Indian environment movement very gripping. Although the book turned out to be quite different from what the title leads one to believe, it was a thought-provoking read, and has definitely forced me to be aware of the consequences of each lifestyle choice that we constantly make.
• Banker to the Poor -- Muhammad Yunus. The autobiography of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winning pioneer of micro-credit. A very powerful, very inspiring read. The author makes a compelling case for lending to the poor.  
• Shogun -- James Clavell. Very interesting read -- a fictionalized account of Japanese (and European) culture at the time of the Japanese Shogunate.
• The Lord of The Rings -- J. R. R. Tolkien. Good read, and it certainly seems like the Harry Potter series has been very liberally "inspired" by this epic. I would have liked to get to know the dark lord Sauron a bit better :-P
• Emperors of the Peacock Throne -- Abraham Eraly. *Very* gripping read about the life and times of the Mughal era. Highly recommended.

I am currently reading:

• The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Life of Business -- Alice Schroeder. I almost two thirds done with the official biography of Warren Buffet. Reading it along with "How Much Should a Person Consume" has been interesting -- the life of a guru of the capitalist way, read alongside with what naked corporate greed unleashes on the native population of a country.
• Fast Food Nation -- Eric Schlosser. I've just started this book about the history of fast food in America. So far, it's a good read.

I've also read aloud the first six books of the Will Solvit series (trashy IMO), books of the Mr Men/Little Miss series (funny), At Least a Fish by Anoushka Ravishankar (very nuanced and a good read), Tales of Danger by Ruskin Bond (vividly written -- the words paint pictures), and am currently reading aloud Tales and Legends from India -- also by Ruskin Bond.

Light Indicators

Of late, the Bangalore traffic police have been aggressively adding indicators at signals. These indicators count down the number of seconds to the next light change. While they work well when you are stopped at a red light, the effect they have while counting down from green to red is something else altogether. They unleash a paranoia among drivers who look at the reducing amount of time and honk continually while trying their best to speed in bumper-to-bumper traffic!

I wouldn't be surprised if the frenzied psyche of the drivers at a green light counting down to red actually leads to accidents!