Realities: The smell of Joseph

She cannot escape the smell of Joseph. They are not married but she spends every night in his room, sleeps on his bed. There is no sex between them though. It is only an arrangement to save money.

Joseph is the night watchman at the wedding center where she works. He does not need his room at night. She models expensive saris and fabulous jewelry till the shop closes - dressed up all day, continuously smiling at potential customers, turning and twisting all the time to show off the wares from different angles.

She needs a place to sleep. Joseph and she come to an arrangement of convenience. He would be on duty before she wraps up for the day. She would be out of the room and on her way to work before he returns in the morning. She pays Joseph an amount which is much less than what she would have had to pay for separate accommodation. And the man gains some extra cash.

But she cannot escape the smell of Joseph that hangs heavily in the room.

This is the theme of the well-written short story ‘The smell of Joseph’ by a first year engineering student, Ashwati Sashikumar. It was chosen for the first prize in the recent Sree – Malayala Manorama Short Story Competition by an eminent jury consisting of T. Padmanabhan, P. Valsala and CV Balakrishnan.

I am highly impressed and at the same time somewhat disturbed by this nicely crafted piece of fiction. As the jury mentions in its citation, it is different, and contemporary. To me, it brings to light certain realities of life, which, in the normal course, most people would not have been aware of.

Why does the heroine of the story go in for this highly susceptible but nevertheless basically honorable arrangement? Back home in a remote village there is an aging and sickly mother who needs medicines, younger siblings who have to be educated. That may sound mundane, but truth is sometimes so. It is a value system that is still found in Kerala and perhaps in other parts of India as well.

That is something noble – a silent sacrifice unknown to the world.

Next time I see a pleasant sales girl in a shop attending to the customers, I would wonder whether she too suffers from the smell of Joseph.

Thank you, Ashwati and Malayala Manorama for bringing us this story.

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Also see: Short Stories By Abraham Tharakan

Noni the medicinal plant, a thriving business

In my post Medicinal Plants: Noni (Morinda citrifolia) planting for profit? I mentioned that I had seen noni plants in Kerala. Recently I came across a plant beside a pond in Olavipe.

The photos of the plant I took (copyright reserved) are reproduced below. Click on them to enlarge.

Also see:

Medicinal Plants: Noni (Morinda citrifolia) planting for profit?

How dare you lecture me!!

I received this story from Mr. K. Narayanan Thampi of Cochin today and decided to share it with you. I am not sure whether it is one of the dervish stories of the Sufi master, Mullah Nasreddin (Nasreddin Hoca):

It is no disgrace for a man to fall, but to lie there and grunt is.

Once upon a time Nasrudin and his master went hunting in the forest. The master cut his thumb while shooting his bow and arrow because he held it incorrectly. Nasrudin stopped the bleeding and bandaged the deep wound as his master moaned in pain.

In an attempt to console his master, Nasrudin said. "Sir, there are no mistakes, only lessons, and we can learn from them if we're willing."

The master became enraged. "How dare you lecture me!" he barked. And with that he threw Nasrudin into a deserted well and continued on without his devoted servant.

A little further on, a group of forest people captured the master and took him to their chief for human sacrifice. The fire was roasting hot, and the master was about to be thrown into it when the chief noticed his bandaged thumb and set him free. It was a rule that all sacrificial victims had to be perfect specimens.

Realizing how right Nasrudin had been, the master rushed back to the well to rescue his faithful servant. Acknowledging his unjust actions, the master pulled Nasrudin out and asked him to forgive him for the terrible mistake.

Nasrudin assured him that he had not made a mistake at all. On the contrary, he insisted that there was another lesson concealed here. Nasrudin told his master that he had done Nasrudin a great service by throwing him into the well. He thanked his master for saving his life explaining that if he had continued with him into the forest, the forest people would have taken him for sacrifice and surely he would had died.

"You see," Nasrudin ventured, "there are no mistakes, only lessons to learn. What we call our mistakes can be blessings in disguise, if we're willing to learn from them." This time the master smiled and nodded in agreement.

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Also see: Communication: Interesting jokes

Photography: The Photographic Society of Madras, capturing images for 150 years

I was traveling and missed the photography extravaganza, All India Salon of Photography – 2008. The event was held at the Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai, from September 17 to 21 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Photographic Society of Madras (PSM). About 2500 photographs by 1500 cameramen including renowned professionals and promising amateurs were on display.

What is a photograph? It is a moment in time, an event in life, captured forever. When this is done with imagination, the resulting image rises above a mundane record to a work of art. Padma Shri Raghu Rai, the doyen of Indian photographers who was the Chief Guest at the valedictory function of the Salon said that the preserved photographic treasures enrich viewers on how photography has grown as an art form.

The PSM was started in 1857 by Dr. Alexander Hunter and the Honorable Walter Elliot. It survived the vicissitudes of time and is a premier organization that promotes photography in the country. During its one and a half centuries of existence the PSM developed affiliations with photographic communities all over the world. These include the Royal Photographic Society, London and the Photographic Society of America.

Says KO Isaac, President of the PSM, “As part of our commemorative programs celebrating 150 years of our Society's contributions to photography and fellowship, we have once again brought together hundreds of photographers together from across the length and breadth of our country, showcasing exemplary talent, unique perspectives and proving that an art such as photography unites people irrespective of caste, creed or religion; everyone coming together in celebration of their passion of photography.”

The PSM holds over thirty programs every year. These include discussions, guest lectures, expositions, travel, workshops, family fellowships and training sessions. There are special schemes for students. For details about the PSM, please visit http://www.photomadras.org/index.html

Incidentally, KO Isaac, the President of PSM, is an excellent photographer. Many of his creations have appeared on this blog. Some of them are reproduced here. Click on them for enlarged view. The copyright is reserved.

Also see:

Photos: African Tulip

Photos: Flowers from Peermade

Photographs: Patterns in the sky - concludes

Photographs: Patterns in the sky - I

Fruits and Vegetables: A picture of health

There is hardly any input by me in this post. The picture (click for enlarged view) is from Wikimedia Commons and the text material is mostly based on the website of the Harvard School of Public Health, which publishes articles to provide ‘timely information on diet and nutrition for clinicians, allied health professionals, and the public.’

Eating sufficient quantities of vegetables and fruits every day can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It can also provide protection against cancer and promote gastrointestinal health and better vision. The relevant article can be accessed at:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-full-story/index.html

A widely prevalent myth is that health food is bland and tasteless. This is blown in the article ‘Recipes The Bottom Line’. It starts with the statement ‘Healthy eating can be as delicious as it is nutritious—a feast for the senses as well as good for the body’.

You can read it at:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/recipes/

Another write up titled ‘Knowledge for Healthy Eating’ provides tips for healthy eating. It can be accessed at:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/index.html

There is much more useful information on related sites of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Healthy eating, happy living.

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Also see:

Photos: Vegetables for Onam

Kerala food: Peechappam, a forgotten item?

Personal Banking: Inefficient ATMs, vanishing ATMs

Last week the Deccan Chronicle carried a letter to the Editor about Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). The writer was pointing out that many of the ATMs in Chennai were either malfunctioning or were often out of cash. One can easily imagine the inconvenience such situations cause the customers.

On the 18^th of this month I went to an ATM belonging to a major new gen bank in Adayar. The purpose was to draw cash for a trip to Cochin. After I keyed in the details, a message flashed across the screen saying that my request could not be processed. I repeated the procedure to make sure and got the same result.

I had to search around for another ATM and found one belonging to the same bank in Beseant Nagar. Fortunately that one worked and I was able to collect cash. But there were avoidable tension and waste of time.

What happened to me earlier in the month is incredible. I was to leave for Bangalore by the early morning Shadapthi Express, and on the previous evening went to our ‘friendly’ neighborhood ATM to withdraw money. I had a real shock.

The ATM had vanished!

A shop man next to the erstwhile booth told me that the ATM had been closed down a few days earlier. Since the bank involved (the same as in the incident narrated earlier) is a leading one, I could not call it a fly by night operation.

I am a client of the said bank, but had no intimation of the closure of the ATM. May be they published a notice in the newspapers but I had not seen it.

Do the banks treat ATMs as a necessary evil and therefore do not pay sufficient attention to maintaining the machines and stocking them with enough money. They should be able to gather effective intelligence on the withdrawal pattern at the different outlets since they are computer operated. That should help them to keep adequate fund levels at each booth. In any case, there cannot be any excuse for the poor maintenance of the machines. The logical conclusion is that the banks do not pay adequate attention to this branch of their business.

Every client has the right to withdraw money from the available balance in his account during banking hours. Preventing an account holder from doing so can, I am sure, attract legal action against the bank concerned.

An ATM is a cash withdrawal facility that is meant to be available on 24x7 on basis.

Irrespective of what the small print says, the banks cannot escape the responsibility to keep the ATMs functional around the clock.

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Also see: ATM Service

Kerala photos: Butterflies of Olavipe

It is fascinating to watch butterflies. These insects of the order Lepidoptera are mostly day fliers. Their graceful but erratic flight and the brightly colored wings of different patterns attract immediate attention. They go from flower to flower, pollinating them. One could spend hours observing the butterflies.

But trying to photograph them is a different matter. It requires a great deal of patience and running around. You try to focus the camera on a butterfly which is about to settle on a flower. Suddenly it changes course and moves elsewhere and you chase it. The process could be repetitive and finally one gets tired and gives up.

Some of the photos I managed to take at Olavipe, are given here.

I read somewhere long ago that butterfly was originally called ‘flutter by’. Quite an appropriate name, I must say.

Also see:

Garden photos: Lantanas of Olavipe