Modernize!

I've been reading translations of Satyajit Ray's Feluda detective series with my eight year old. While the mysteries are interesting enough, what sticks out as a sore thumb is the fact that they have not been "modernized".

Let me explain.

Feluda thinks nothing of lighting a cigarette as he mulls over his case. At the time the story was originally written, smoking probably wasn't considered a health hazard and Satyajit Ray wrote what he did. Fast forward to the present where we now know all about the evil health effect of smoking, and guide our children away from the concept. Naturally the eight year old wants to know why Feluda is indulging in a smoke when we "all" know that's it's not good for health!

It would have made the books so much more acceptable if the translator had eliminated the bits around "puffed at his cigarette".

It isn't as if this has never been done before. In the Noddy series' created by Enid Blyton, the naughty black golliwog has been replaced by nice sweet Dinah Doll who is also black.

Why can't we do the same?

A Climber will not Creep

I've lived in a typical urban environment all my life, without much real contact with flora and fauna. The closest I ever came to nature while growing up was when I grew bean seeds for school. Of course, I studied botany in school and learnt about creepers and climbers, all the while scratching my head trying to figure out the difference by looking at grainy pictures in text books.

Fast forward to the present day, where I decided to grow a kitchen "garden". I planted beans and with the help of sticks, tried to get the plant to cover a grill. The bean plant was smart, it got the idea pretty quickly and latched onto the grill -- and kept climbing. It climbed till it reached the top end of the grill. That's when I thought it would start to grow sideways (you know, be a grown up and all that ;-)). Instead the plant, climbed all the way down and then back up again! Surely a climber, not a creeper.

That's when I really understood the difference between climbers and creepers.

Mint, on the other hand, never grew more than six inches tall; but began invading space horizontally. A creeper perhaps?

I'm looking forward to more such revelations as I get to be one with nature via my kitchen "garden"...

I Too Had a Dream

I've just finished reading "I Too Had a Dream" -- by Dr. Verghese Kurien; autobiography of the man who put India on the map as the world's largest producer of milk. The person who was responsible for Operation Flood, for our favorite Amul and Dhara brands.

Dr. Kurien has come in for a fair amount of criticism during the course of his work. He takes on the criticism head-on -- he did what he thought was in the best interest of the task at hand. Some decisions obviously came out better than others, since it is only hindsight that is 20/20.

Which brings me to my point.

In today's world, apart from the silent majority, there are two classes of people. One is the evil, corrupt lot that feeds off the silent majority. The other comprises of good *human beings*. By virtue of being *human*, they make do mistakes but basically have their hearts in the right place and want to do the right thing for the silent majority.

It is this "human" element of the good class of society that the evil class successfully exploits in order to (very successfully) deflect attention from their own evil deeds, and thus to continue to prey on the silent majority.

In movement after movement for social change, the human beings at the helm of trying to bring about good get viciously attacked over issues ranging from petty and frivolous to downright false.

And yet, tragically, each time, the evil class succeeds in "winning over" the silent majority and  halting the very change that would have been good for them.

Flipkart, Too, is a Cheat?

Update (11/11/2011): Flipkart customer service called saying it was an error and the book is now listed at Rs 295, with a discounted price of Rs 221. I was offered either store credit or a refund. I opted for the former and have received it. 

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I am extremely disappointed to be writing this blogpost.

I ordered the book "I Too Had a Dream" from flipkart.com. It was advertised at Rs 395, and marked down to Rs 296. I dutifully paid Rs 296, and waited for the book to arrive.

The MRP printed on the book delivered by flipkart was Rs 295.I feel terribly cheated by this underhand way of marking up and then marking down a book. It is a book I wanted to read; I would I have bought it *anyway*. Why this charade of offering a discount?

Also, isn't it downright illegal to sell it for MORE than it costs (even by a rupee)?

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More Flipkart horror here.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Finally, Anna Hazare has decided to call off his 12-day old satyagraha; the Indian Parliament has passed a unanimous resolution on three basic issues of Lok Pal.

Chetan Bhagat summed up the situation well (on Times NOW): this way of getting the government to act is not comfortable; however if this is the ONLY way to get the government to move, so be it.

If my choices are corruption-galore with the current structure and way of legislating v/s a satyagraha to bring attention to the anti-corruption movement, I will choose the latter any day.

This is only the beginning. I can bet that the political class is waiting for all the outraged citizens to get back into their lives and allow the movement to die a quiet death. It is now upto we-the-people to keep up the pressure and ensure that strong anti-corruption legislation gets passed and then implemented.