Or why I will not buy Everest brand spices any more.
I buy spices sold in cuboid boxes, so that I can store them in my freezer (yes I *really* do -- they stay wonderfully fresh that way :-P). The boxes are stored in the freezer door, with the narrow edge of the box visible to me. Other brands (MDH, Catch) make sure that the NAME of the spice is mentioned on the narrow edge, making it easy for me to get the one I need out quickly.
*Older* designs of Everest also had the name of the spice (along with a different color/picture on each box), making it easy for me to get what I wanted quickly. Not any more. This brand now has fancy black boxes with colorful pictures ONLY on the broad side of the box, with just the company name on the narrow edge. So the only way to get *a* particular spice from the line of boxes is by lifting EACH box till I get to the one I want.
No way! I don't have that kind of time to waste.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Motorcyclist -- heal thyself!
Just the other day I was at a red light when an ambulance came up behind me with its lights flashing. There was some place to my left, but even as I tried turning my car, the place was quickly taken up by motorcyclists in a tearing hurry to get to their destination -- the ambulance be damned. The ambulance was left with no choice but to wait for the light to turn green, let the traffic in front clear and then head onwards.
On another occasion when I was heading out to drop my son to school, my view was blocked by parked buses. Since I had to turn right, I inched the nose of my car ahead in order to be able to see the oncoming traffic. Sure enough there was a motorcyclist who seemed to be late for his date with the devil. He was speeding away, and when he saw me, got a little startled and swerved (not that he would have collided into my car). And promptly mouthed a few swear words before heading on. It was MORNING -- a new day was just about beginning -- what a way to start it by swearing at a mom trying to drop her child to school.
Finally, some days ago I saw a motorcyclist stopped for hurrying on the wrong way on a *well-marked* one way road. I was THRILLED to see him pay a fine. If I had been the cop, I would have gone one step further and made him turn back, i.e., go the right way (even thought that would have been the longer route) to get where he was going instead of being allowed to break the one-way rule after paying the fine!
It almost seems as if motorcyclists are the only ones who need to reach on time. There have been umpteen occasions where I have seen them cause traffic jams by getting their bikes on the wrong side of the road if the traffic is moving a little slowly.
As for their life and safety, if they care about it it any way at all, they certainly don't let it show! The way they drive makes me believe that motorcyclists are either super-religious (there is really no other reason I can see for them coming out alive on the road with the driving "skills" and road "sense" that they exhibit), or genuinely have no fear of death!
On another occasion when I was heading out to drop my son to school, my view was blocked by parked buses. Since I had to turn right, I inched the nose of my car ahead in order to be able to see the oncoming traffic. Sure enough there was a motorcyclist who seemed to be late for his date with the devil. He was speeding away, and when he saw me, got a little startled and swerved (not that he would have collided into my car). And promptly mouthed a few swear words before heading on. It was MORNING -- a new day was just about beginning -- what a way to start it by swearing at a mom trying to drop her child to school.
Finally, some days ago I saw a motorcyclist stopped for hurrying on the wrong way on a *well-marked* one way road. I was THRILLED to see him pay a fine. If I had been the cop, I would have gone one step further and made him turn back, i.e., go the right way (even thought that would have been the longer route) to get where he was going instead of being allowed to break the one-way rule after paying the fine!
It almost seems as if motorcyclists are the only ones who need to reach on time. There have been umpteen occasions where I have seen them cause traffic jams by getting their bikes on the wrong side of the road if the traffic is moving a little slowly.
As for their life and safety, if they care about it it any way at all, they certainly don't let it show! The way they drive makes me believe that motorcyclists are either super-religious (there is really no other reason I can see for them coming out alive on the road with the driving "skills" and road "sense" that they exhibit), or genuinely have no fear of death!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Google Maps speak "Indian"
A lifetime ago when I lived in the US, I was always flummoxed by driving directions that online websites gave: Turn right on Cherry Blossom Avenue and head North North West for 10 meters. Okay, okay, I am exaggerating a *bit*, but honestly, without a compass, driving directions in terms of NSEW were pretty meaningless to me and I often got lost and missed destinations.
At that time people insisted *very* confidently that as far as India was concerned, there was no question of dirving directions because:
*> Roads got added (and subtracted) dynamically
*> Road names changed at will (or with the elections ;-))
*> Road directions changed *all* the time!
Well, some time back I looked up driving directions using google maps. Guess what? Not only did I get directions, I got them Indian "ishtyle" :-D
"Turn left on 5th Main, pass Sweet Chariot on your right, keep going till you see the Ganesha temple, then take 3rd cross, and after passing the Masjid on your left, your destination will be on the right."
Notice that there is enough information that one doesn't need to try and decode and then measure "North North West for 10 meters". Such directions work (for me definitely ;-)) because there are enough visual clues that are *much* easier to follow.
No more getting lost for me :-D
At that time people insisted *very* confidently that as far as India was concerned, there was no question of dirving directions because:
*> Roads got added (and subtracted) dynamically
*> Road names changed at will (or with the elections ;-))
*> Road directions changed *all* the time!
Well, some time back I looked up driving directions using google maps. Guess what? Not only did I get directions, I got them Indian "ishtyle" :-D
"Turn left on 5th Main, pass Sweet Chariot on your right, keep going till you see the Ganesha temple, then take 3rd cross, and after passing the Masjid on your left, your destination will be on the right."
Notice that there is enough information that one doesn't need to try and decode and then measure "North North West for 10 meters". Such directions work (for me definitely ;-)) because there are enough visual clues that are *much* easier to follow.
No more getting lost for me :-D
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Green is the new Red
When I was growing up and in school -- the teacher's red pen was a weapon to be feared. The ticks, the crosses and even worse, the angular parallel lines below spelling mistakes struck fear in the bravest of hearts!
Then ... came the revolution. People decided -- no point scaring little children with red lines. Instead, let's hand over a benign green pen to teachers.
My sons work is corrected with a green pen. The same way. There are green ticks, green crosses, and green angular parallel lines below spelling mistakes.
What does he think about it? "Ma, it's wrong, no? It's a mistake, right?" He doesn't like the green crosses and angular parallel lines below spelling mistakes any more than I liked the red ones!
Then ... came the revolution. People decided -- no point scaring little children with red lines. Instead, let's hand over a benign green pen to teachers.
My sons work is corrected with a green pen. The same way. There are green ticks, green crosses, and green angular parallel lines below spelling mistakes.
What does he think about it? "Ma, it's wrong, no? It's a mistake, right?" He doesn't like the green crosses and angular parallel lines below spelling mistakes any more than I liked the red ones!
Friday, January 15, 2010
No I don't want to study!
Even as the world talks about the importance of educating children and organizations are dedicated to ensuring there are schools for them to attend, I encountered a girl in class 10 who told me she was done with education.
She is the daughter of my domestic help. She has declared that she does not want to study anymore, and is in fact even completing class 10 because she is being forced to! I spoke to her mother, who was resigned to the fact that the girl has a mind of her own because no amount of persuasion from family or friends was making her stay in school.
Why does the girl feel that it is enough to be semi-educated (that's what a class 10 education means in practical terms -- she can read and write the local language, knows some local history and can do some amount of math)?
Has her education been too full of rote learning that she can't bear any more? Has her education not shown her that studying further could mean a better future? What does a "better future" look like for her?
She is the daughter of my domestic help. She has declared that she does not want to study anymore, and is in fact even completing class 10 because she is being forced to! I spoke to her mother, who was resigned to the fact that the girl has a mind of her own because no amount of persuasion from family or friends was making her stay in school.
Why does the girl feel that it is enough to be semi-educated (that's what a class 10 education means in practical terms -- she can read and write the local language, knows some local history and can do some amount of math)?
Has her education been too full of rote learning that she can't bear any more? Has her education not shown her that studying further could mean a better future? What does a "better future" look like for her?
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