Zandu Balm or Jhandu balm ?

Zandu Balm or Jhandu balm ?

Many of us have heard the Zandu Balm jingle on TV/ radio… Zandu Balm, Zandu Balm , peeda hari balm (peeda hari is pain relieving) . Till some years ago, whenever I heard this jingle, there would be a dissonance in my mind . The spelling of the product in English was Zandu whereas the jingle was pronouncing the word as Jhandu . For years I lived with this dissonance. Jhandu by the way is derived from Jhanda or flag.

Now Zandu is a Mumbai based company. So one day I mentioned this to a marathi colleague. To my surprise she found nothing wrong, no mis-match in it. On discussing with her, here is what I discovered.

It appears that in Maharashtra the English letter Z is pronounced as Jhed ( actually it is closer to Jhade as in Shade) and not as Zed elsewhere. I will repeat this in Devnagari script . In Hindi Z= ज़ेड (zed) . In Marathi Z= झेड ( jhade). SO quite obviously for a Mumbai company the English spelling of the product as Zandu was correct. So while Zandu might read as ज़ंडू to Hindi speaking people , it is झंडू (Jhandu) to Marathi speaking people.

Some of this confusion can also be seen in Gujarat which adjoins Maharashtra. There is a clan of Kshatriyas known as Jhala Rajputs ( in Hindi झाला ) . They live in Rajasthan and Gujarat. When they spell their name in English, the Rajasthan guys will write Jhala and the Gujarat guys will write Zala.

Purely random things

Purely random things

Below are 2 groups of vegetables/ spices etc. Can someone tell me what is common or different about the 2 groups ? Please leave your answers in comments

1. Potato, tomato, green chillies, cauliflower, cabbage, apple, onion, garlic
2. Sugarcane, karela/ bitter gourd, mango, pepper, banana,  ginger, tamarind, gooseberry/ amla.

When taking a flight do you feel drowsy for a few minutes just after take –off ? I do and so do a lot of people whom I have asked this . The reason is that shortly after take off , the plane makes a very rapid ascent. This drains the blood from the brain and towards the lower part of the body causing a very short period of  black-out or unconsciousness. As the plane levels off (usually 25 to 30 thousand feet) , normal blood flow resumes to the brain and we wake up. Fighter pilots and astronauts face the same problem but in a much more severe degree.

The english media in India refers to the BJP and its associated  groups (RSS , VHP etc) as Saffron parties. The reference to the colour is taken from the Hindutva cause and the   colour saffron which is considered to be the holy colour for Hindus. This is incorrect or at least inexact. The holy colour of Hinduism is known as “Bhagwa” (derived from Bhagwan) and is closer to brick red than saffron. If you see  pictures from the Kumbh Mela , you can see a lot of sadhus in this Bhagwa colour. Saffron is considered auspicious in hindusim but it is not the holy colour.

We have all heard of the Bhagwad Geeta. Ever wondered what this word Bhagwad means ? It’s made of 2 parts Bhag (from Bhagwan) and Vad ("said" . Vad is the Sanskrit root for the verb “to say” ).. So the literal translation of Bhagwad Geeta is the Song that the Lord (Krishna )  sang. In some English translations one can sometimes see the phrase “The Celestial Song” .

Cause and effect: No sneezing matter !

Cause and effect: No sneezing matter

I am one of nature’s logical types. I have a strong belief that anything that happens has a cause, a reason , a logic behind it. And sometimes it is funny.

As a part of my MBA I had to do a summer internship in a different city. I was staying in a hostel which was  a very old bungalow. It had a number of rooms, large and small and a huge drawing room. The doors were at least 7 feet high. It was a typical colonial/ Raj era bungalow, some of which still survive with the railways and the army.

 I shared my room with another MBA student from  a local school. Since he was a local , he had many friends and would return very late at night and go straight to bed. Now in those days there were no mosquito coils and repellants. Each bed was provided with a mosquito net.

After a few days, I noticed a peculiar routine with my room mate, Ramesh. He would come late, quickly change into night clothes and go to bed. The bed would creak a bit as he got in and lay down. After about a minute he would sneeze twice and then go off to sleep. This was an unfailing routine. Always 2 sneezes, not one or three. Always a minute or so after he got into bed. Needless to say, it was very intriguing.

So one weekend I set about trying to solve this mystery of the double sneeze and it did not take long. The mosquito net over Ramesh’s bed had acquired a lot of dust. As he got into bed , the bed got a little jolted and some of this fine dust rained down on Ramesh. This dust spray caused him to sneeze. Once he was already in bed no more jolting , no more dust spray and no more sneezing. That in any case was my deduction.

Now how does one confirm a deduction ? I this case I did it by the inverse route. I took out the mosquito net and dusted it thoroughly and I put it back. That night Ramesh came late as usual and immediately went to bed. But no sneezing !! Not even one. Voila !!

And the same thing happened on subsequent nights… no sneezing !! So after a week of the no-sneeze period I asked Ramesh if he had noticed that he had stopped sneezing. He had not noticed but when I asked him he agreed that he had indeed stopped. I then explained the cause-effect scenario to him.

The amazing Swiss

The amazing Swiss

I spent a few months in Geneva some years back. Among the lesser known facts about the Swiss and Switzerland.
The principal social concepts are cleanliness, neatness and order. Switzerland is squeaky clean ..much cleaner than neighboring Germany or France. Most of this adherence to cleanliness and order is self-regulated.
You will rarely find littering anywhere .. be it city or countryside. Residential areas follow strict waste segregation with as many as 5 categories of waste.. all wonderfully colour coded. In every office you will find a box where people drop used batteries (dry cells/ flashlight batteries). The Swiss claim that they re-cycle 70 % of batteries… and I utterly believe them.
The Swiss love their quietness. Windows in Swiss houses have “shutters” mostly in steel ..in addition to the normal glass windows. These are called “Store” in Switzerland and are like the rolling steel shutters we see for shops in India. Some may be hand cranked and some motorized. Come 10 pm , by some unwritten but inviolable law, millions of windows across all Swiss homes get Store-d. After that no loud music or talking. Most apartment complexes also advise you not to run the washing machine after 8 pm , in order to not disturb the neighbors. If you hear anyone talking loudly on the mobile phone, you can be sure it will NOT be a Swiss citizen.
Dogs: In keeping with the Swiss social concepts, dogs in Switzerland do not bark. They are trained to be non-barking . If you have a dog that barks and do not send it to an obedience school, the neighbors are most likely to complain to the civic authorities who will then fine you and force you to send the dog to an obedience school. Of course , in true Swiss fashion, an obedience school has to be certified by the government and the dog-trainers have to receive a diploma recognized by the government. Trains allow small dogs free and for half-fare for larger dogs.
Nuclear shelters: Swiss law requires that all residential building should have nuclear shelters. Buildings that did not have shelters when the law was passed are required to contribute to building community shelters. Typically the shelters are in the basement of houses and apartment complexes. In many cases the basement also has the apartment’s common washing machine and clothes drying lines (no where in Switzerland will you see laundry hung out to dry in public view.) Now here is the clincher. In the event of a nuclear attack , while the rest of the world will be getting fried, the Swiss will be walking around in clean, freshly laundered clothes !!
Neutrality.The principal of political neutrality , especially in case of wars , is enshrined in the Swiss constitution. It has served the Swiss well. They managed to stay out of the 2 world wars and also gained handsomely with lot of money (legal and illegal) flowing into Swiss banks. Switzerland is one of the very few countries which still requires 2 years of compulsory military service for all adult males above 18… and then one month every alternate year till the age of 40. The one months service is paid for by the employer. There s a joke going around. What is the standard issue weapon for the Swiss Army ..? The Swiss Knife !
For many years Switzerland did not join the Schengen scheme (an alliance of 20 plus European countries that allows free movement of people on a single visa) . Then in 2008 or so the Swiss joined Schengen. Ever since there have been complaints of rising crime rates across the country, especially theft and burglary. It has been attributed to the people coming in from east European countries like Poland and Romania. And the Swiss police have no experience in dealing with crimes. All they had been doing till 2008 was managing traffic !!

IPL 2013 and the Theatre of the Absurd

IPL and the Theatre of the Absurd

Mr Tawde of BJP in Mumbai has opposed the holding of matches in Pune and Mumbai. He says that since the state is currently facing the worst draught in 30 years, the use of water to maintain the pitch/ ground is wasteful.

He has a point, but coming from the MLA of a party whose President Mr Gadkari was recently exposed in a series of murky deals, some of them allegedly involving illegal exploitation of community water resources, it looks like a political stunt to get brownie points.

The Congress and NCP which are joint partners in the ruling coalition have predictably come with a response. They say that the grounds have to be anyway maintained (which is true) and that Mumbai and Pune have no water shortage, which is also true. But there is a problem here. Mumbai and Pune indeed have no water shortage.


What is not widely known however is that water for these 2 cities is piped in from dams built in surrounding areas. These dams have displaced tribals from their lands and they have yet to receive any rehabilitation support from the government. So the Pune and Mumbai aam aadmi showers at the expense of the tribals who have now become non aadmi s. (In a recent TV debate I saw Amartya Sen make this point. In India , the aam aadmi tag has been hijacked by the urban middle class from its rightful owners i.e. the poor in rual and urban areas.)

Please also remember, the NCP (through Mr Pawar) , has a huge stake in the IPL and he always has available the services of the pot-bellied Rajiv Shukla Congress Rajya Sabha MP.

Not to be outdone , the Sena (I don t know which one, Shiv Sena or MNS) has demanded than IPL should donate Rs 500 cr to Maharashtra for the draught. After all why should the Sena be left out when everyone is having a (cricket) ball !! I am sure this idea is receiving serious consideration from NCP. It has 2 advantages. The IPL can ask for (and will surely get) tax exemption and the money when allotted for irrigation can be pocketed by Congress/ NCP leaders. Even BJP might get a share considering the cordial relations between the heads of the 2 parties. Only the Sena will not directly receive any monetary compensation

Then there is the Srilankan player mess. People are saying don t mix politics with sports. Come on guys , be realistic. The successive heads of BCCI in the last 20 years have been all politicians& and the same for many other apex sports bodies ( remember Kalmadi ?). So how can one NOT mix politics with sports !!

The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

The price of Indifference and an example from Karnataka.

Trashing politicians as corrupt and selfish is now a national past time for the Indian middle class. Not that our politicians are shining examples of honesty and competence. They are not. They are among the worst people you can ever think of.  But whining and complaining will not wish them away. But that’s what we do.. even result oriented  corporate go-getters become paralysed when it comes to doing something about politics.

Some of the best brains in India are trying to look for solutions, but no success so far… and no hope even remotely visible in the future. The way our political system has evolved it is now nearly impossible to get rid of the corrupt political class. Even a 100 well meaning Raul Gandhi’s and/ or  Narendra Modi’s will not be able to change the system. I may sound pessimistic, but if someone can tell me a way out I will be overjoyed and support that cause. The Lokpal Bill had some promise but when you ask a thief to pass the law , what can one expect !

So what  can one see happening for the next 25 to 30 years in India ?

• an annual GDP growth of 5% which will generate just enough surplus (which politicians will dole out ) to keep the poor from starvation and revolt.
• The BPL population, as currently defined ( income of Rs 30 approx per person per day) may shrink by 2 % per year.
• We will still be a “poor country” , nowhere near even middle income countries.
• this rate of growth will also provide huge monetary rewards to the political class and bureaucracy.
• Inflation in near double digits… the middle class / urban poor will get squeezed.
• Infrastructure improvement will move at a snails pace. Our large cities will become increasingly difficult and unsafe to live in.
• India will have the world’s third largest number of billionaires, most of them as a result of crony capitalism. If the “black money” billionaires are included (read politicians), we  may be second largest.

And all this will happen while we keep chanting “India is the World’s largest democracy.”

The only one thing that can upset the above scenario (it is a very low probability, but nevertheless good wishful thinking) is that the growing middle class may create a new , less corrupt political order. I give this event a probability of 5 % or less.

So clearly the  middle class will suffer a great deal. Now let us look inward. What have we actually done to change things. Have we encouraged our children to join politics ? No. Have we ourselves done it ? No. So, clearly ,  bad governance/ corrupt politicians  is the price we pay for indifference.

On the other hand look at the people who are in politics, an example form Karnataka. The Congress (and other parties too ) is distributing tickets for the upcoming assembly elections. . The crowd outside the Congress office is so large that the police has to be called in to control it. Ticket aspirants have hired people to shout slogans in their support. Existing  and aspiring MLAs who have been denied tickets are threatening to turn rebel. In short these people are very focused and very motivated. The rewards maybe uncertain but can often be huge, and that’s what drives these people.