Birdbrained

This was on Page 9 of today's Sunday Times (25th Oct 2009) in Hyderabad.


Don't think the newspaper allowed it to be placed in the obituary section so the "Family & Friends" must have bought this advertising space instead.

Tales of Heads

The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati, India is the richest and the most visited temple in the world. Devotees from far and wide make the pilgrimage and the folklore of the temple is well known throughout India. Although insignificant in comparison to its religious importance yet there is one other reason for temple town's fame - Tirupati is the world's largest producer of human hair, infact enough to make India the world's largest exporter of hair.

One of the traditions at the temple is the tonsuring of millions of devotees' heads as an offering to the Gods. The hair thus donated finds great value in the international market. The temple's trust - Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is charged with the management of the shrine and consequently also auctioning the tonnes of hair to generate revenue for the temple.

The current accepted notion of beautiful hair is very close to the Indian variety. The average Indian woman's head is not accustomed to the cosmetic torture that the western woman puts herself through and hence the quality of the export is better. Therefore the hair goes into making hair extensions, wigs and other cosmetic products consumed in a culture very different from the producer's. Here is an example of harmonious trade among nations where everyone comes out a winner, well almost. Although there are no complaints about the trade practices but it escapes most of us that the business is based on a uniquely uneasy issue - beauty.

Both beauty and the beholder's eye are functions of culture. The dominant culture or race in a society dictates the standards of beauty which generally resemble their own physiology. Therefore in the US where African-American women are a minority in all respects, it becomes harder to sustain their idea of beauty against the onslaught of the establishment's ideas, especially regarding African hair. This is the subject of a recent movie/documentary by the acclaimed African-American comedian Chris Rock - "Good Hair", he even came down to Tiruapti to follow the fake hair trail to its origins.

While the devotees in Tirupati are oblivious to the role their hair plays in the psychological battle overseas, at home they are subject to a very similar barrage with regard to skin colour. The cosmetic industry in India has been steadily picking up on the idea of fairness of skin as a desirable trait and has been eating away at the minds of Indians for years in order to sell their products. The harm that such ideas do to a population is inexcusable and the effects of such campaigns on children are especially horrendous. Ultimately though such ideas only survive because of our tacit support no matter how harebrained they may seem.

Update - Chris Rock's visit to Tirupati:

Interesting Readings:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,536349,00.html
http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/movies/09hair.html?scp=1&sq=good%20hair&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/world/a-religious-tangle-over-the-hair-of-pious-hindus.html?pagewanted=all
http://seedofdevotion.blogspot.com/2008/12/liberation-at-21.html
http://www.godammit.com/2009/03/14/the-ethics-of-hair-extensions/

Diwali Dilemma

As Diwali approaches, so do the campaigns and calls for a "Clean", "Green" and "Humane" celebration. They say we are to avoid crackers which are polluting and noise making, curtail excessive consumption & spending and even try and understand the plight of the animals on the night.

All of these calls are very noble except this sensitive side of some sections of the population seem not just naive but also misplaced expressions of political opinion in the marketplace, as this article explains: Boycott Minus the Pain by Anand Giridharadas. The use of consumption as a political platform is not new in India - the swadeshi movement of the pre-independence era was a forerunner of a lot of the boycott movements of today.

But the trend of limited-liability politics currently seen, although new is not totally desirable. Campaigns like the Lights-Off campaigns at the designated "Earth Hour" which are token environmentalist movements only end up obstructing the achievement of their own objectives by using up the public goodwill in meaninglessly trivializing their cause. Therefore just as there is a dip in the grid consumption of electricity for the hour, at the end of the hour there is also a massive spike in the consumption while the production remains constant. Everyone feels a little more saintly but as an employee of the electricity distribution board will tell you - electricity is not petrol.

There is no "saving" of electricity through non utilization, only thing saved is the bill amount. Electricity is like rainwater which ends up in the drain if unused. In reality the only way to save power is by planning out consumption patterns and coordinate with various players in a complex jigsaw operation to have optimum utility. Surely too many details for the instantly gratified do-gooder.

The fact is that India being a poor country, we have to pollute more to develop. Pollution is the pound of flesh to be paid for progress and there is no getting around that. It will not be pretty or morally justifiable. And it is not out of ignorance that we deny climate change and other environmental concerns but through our knowledge of greater concerns. The sacrifice we make is that future generations might not get the best possible environment but these sacrifices are made with the hope that we can avoid passing on to them the miseries of our lives.

To Follow an Ambulance

To have it easy in life is the stated objective of many. To this end can be attributed a lot of tribulations that people go through. But sometimes, very briefly one gets to experience the "easy" part of life even in the most uncomfortable of situations.


And so it was that I was the beneficiary of some soul's misfortune as I slotted into the slipstream behind an ambulance yesterday at Lakdi-ka-pul, Hyderabad. The ambulance tore through the traffic clog and I happened to be right behind the emergency vehicle and made a journey of 20 minutes in 5. Must admit to feeling guilty for this providence as it was in all probability not serendipitous for all parties involved. Admittedly though I saw my impending moral hassles beforehand and therefore this picture. Besides I suspect there might also exist some traffic directive against following an ambulance in traffic but I didn't seek out the ambulance and had no choice in that jam but to follow.

Nobel Prize for Elocution

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today. I guess being the President of the Untied States is a gift that keeps giving. Only, with this prize there is the small matter of the $1.4 million prize money. I am not sure if the President is allowed to keep the sum under their constitution but that is a different matter. What every news report did harp on is that the committee has this year used the prize as a carrot thrown at the world's most powerful man and what remains to be seen is if the bite is as strong as the bark (in matters of peace, ofcourse).

The use of persuasion is not alien to Mr. Obama (see previous post: 'The Spoken Word'), indeed he arguably is the most persuasive man on the planet. And therefore he surely understands the intention of the world through this prize to hold some form of minute influence over his country's actions through him. America being the sole superpower, the world needs to be reassured that reason does prevail in Washington. Indeed, the president has acknowledged that the honor is an encouragement for his stated international policies - implying that it is more a 'Thank God!' for the end of the Bush Doctrine and not so much a nod to his own achievements.

As America debates a very domestic issue of Healthcare Reforms, where the president seems to be on the ropes, this prize has come as a welcome relief to his credibility. And although it may have no bearing on the outcome of the Healthcare reforms, Mr. Barack Obama could yet realize the goals of the Peace Prize through these reforms too. Any change in Healthcare delivery system in US will have knock on effect on similar systems around the globe. The world is in need of cheaper drugs which is possible when some of the drug patents are relaxed in the US. Also the USFDA is the standard bearer for new drug developments worldwide and hence any sharing of expertise and knowledge with emerging nations can only help saving lives.

Often though the public fails to see in times of change, the things that remain the same. On the ground therefore the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize of the year remains the head of the army which is at war in two foreign nations. Picking holes in the choice almost seems too easy. Yet, what the award this year succeeds in doing is shedding light on the kind of leadership to be desired from heads of state. To world leaders, this announcement hopes to show that the power they hold can be used for more than simply furthering narrow national interests and asks of them to be true statesmen of wisdom if not merely the right words.

More Reading:
1.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wallechinsky/obama-awarded-nobel-peace_b_315111.html
2.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6284763/Barack-Obama-surprised-and-humbled-by-Nobel-Peace-Prize.html
3.http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-year-grad-student-wins-nobel.html

Recession Time Jobs

The huge Billboard over the Khairatabad Junction in Hyderabad, presumably one of many around the country on the night functioned through the duration of the Champions Trophy final (cricket) between Australia and New Zealand on the 5th of October.

This version of the analog scoreboard was manned by 3 guys - 1st guy was constantly running to and fro 50 feet above the ground changing the digits as the 2nd guy was relaying the score to him (source: his Airtel mobile?) while the 3rd guy was apparently busy laying back and taking in the view.

Full Scorecard: http://www.cricinfo.com/iccct2009/engine/current/match/415287.html

The Games We Play

"Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned" - It was in all probability a nasty political statement to destabilize the emperor’s grip on power but it is also an important indicator of people’s expectations of their leader. A Man of Action is sought and all the shortcomings of the leader are forgiven when this singular expectation is met. To be such a man, certain traits are considered vital. One such trait is excellence.

Every sphere of human activity is a quest for mastery. The ancients realized that the attainment of the ultimate in any pursuit is a mark of an individual’s character. Indeed some activities have been designed with the sole purpose of identifying human excellence. Before the Romans used sports for amusement, the Greeks had come up with the Olympic Sports not as a mere means of recreation but as a scientific process of identifying the best among us. Competitive sport was therefore meant to segregate and distinguish potential - A potential to be tapped for greater deeds.

Sport is a proving ground to hone one's skills to face life. Yet today sport is slotted either next to or made part of public entertainment. For some a sport is a career, for others sport is an escape – a place to hide from life. The Satyajit Ray movie based on a Premchand short story - “Shatranj Ke Khilari” depicts the sport of chess as a source of trance that numbs the decadent protagonists into inaction resulting in their inevitable doom. There is refuge in the fairness of sport, the rules are known and applied uniformly. The arbitrary nature of human existence does not creep into sport and hence true justice seems possible.


Therefore it is understandable that once most people taste this offering of sport, they do not ever completely participate in life. But from time to time the ultimate objective of sports is deciphered by a few. These few, after reaching the pinnacle of sporting nirvana realize the futility of their pursuits and focus their attention on grander endeavors. A few years ago Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov retired from chess to get into the murky waters of Russian politics. Then there is the tragic tale of the young American footballer Pat Tillman who gave up a $3.6 million dollar contract and fame to enlist in the US army post 9-11 only to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Closer to home, the late Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy who recently died in a helicopter accident, is said to have been a weightlifter and an outstanding NCC cadet in his youth. And all the hyperbole of the elegies aside even his detractors would agree that he was definitely a natural leader of men, atleast in the primeval sense. Sports might not have been the secret of his political prowess but if he had found bliss in mere sporting achievements then there would have been one more entertainer and one less leader.