Song of the waves - Parayil A. Tharakan Blog

Friday, June 5, 2009

Blogging: Legal and other problems of ‘anonymous’ comments

This is in continuation to my earlier post, Bloggers, beware of legal implications.

Every blogger normally welcomes comments on what he writes. These comments are something more personal than letters to the Editor in the print media. Blog comments generate active interaction between the writer and the reader. Sometimes there is severe criticism of what is written; if objective, they should be appreciated. Occasionally mistakes are pointed out. For that too one has to be grateful. Most of the comments are of an appreciative nature.

Vast majority of the commenters prefer to use an identity. That is how it should be. Sometimes, however, there are valid reasons to assume anonymity – for instance, a government servant commenting on a controversial subject.

Anonymous comments could also be from a person trying to be helpful but prefers to remain unknown. One of the sweetest moments in my blogging life was when an anonymous commenter saved me from a faux pas. While writing about a VVIP, I wrongly gave his father’s name instead of his. Shortly after the piece was published I received an alert from the anonymous benefactor and the mistake was rectified.

On the other hand there are people who consider that anonymity grants them the license to state any rubbish that they want. Sometimes this happens when a person gets emotionally upset over views that are contrary to his own. In such cases the reader shifts gear from objectivity to subjectivity. I had this experience on my posts about the Sr. Abhaya Case.

The worst type of commenters are the ones who are just being cantankerous, speak without any basis, assume an air of infallibility, and take long paragraphs to state what could be said in a few sentences. They forget that a good comment should be succinct and rational.

I attracted such an anonymous character with my post J.J. Murphy: An Irish Jewel on the South Indian High Ranges. I was writing about a man who was a family friend and about whom I have done extensive research; it is an ongoing project.

Enter Mr. Anonymous (according to the information that I have, a retired teacher from S. India who now lives in London). For some reason, he wants to establish, without an iota of evidence, that the Murphy family might have escaped to Scotland during the Potato Famine in mid 19c. They were very much in Dublin at that time.

That I responded to those comments was my mistake. But there is a legal angle to it. The descendants of Mr. Murphy (some of them are in touch with me) could claim that I allowed the commenter to use my blog to discredit the family. I hope they don’t take this as a prompt.

Recently, an Anonymous (the same one I assume; I did not check the IP code) had the temerity to ask for third party information!

I have these suggestions to bloggers who receive ‘Anonymous’ comments:

1. Reject the comment straight away if it seems suspicious

2. Note down the IP number of the commenter.

How I write Blog posts

Blogday thoughts

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Australia: Curry bashing and ‘convict stains’

Australia’s original image as ‘Penal Colony’ slowly faded away after the World War II. People had forgotten that once it was a country of offenders shipped out from Great Britain, the so called ‘debris of British convictism’. Perhaps only the Barmy Army tried to keep that image alive with taunts like the song,

‘We are a convict colony,
We carry balls and chains’

Today Australia is a respected country in the world. One of the major factors behind this transformation was the revised immigration policy which changed the demographic pattern. Australia now has the largest immigrant population in the world.

The unfortunate ‘curry bashing’ (attack on Indian students) that is going on Down Under reminds one again of the ‘convict stain’. The veil of respectability that Australia has acquired is wearing thin.

The relationship between Australia and India has been good. Except of course on the cricket field, and when that country refused to sell uranium to us in the wake of the Indo-US Nuclear Pact.

Two explanations the Australian sources give for the attacks on Indian students are: 1. such acts are not racist but of a criminal nature, and 2. many Indian students take up part-time jobs which require them to use the public transport system late at night, exposing them to the miscreants. Both indicate insufficient or inefficient policing.

Of course, the Australian Government is keen to stop the dastardly attacks. For one thing, it sullies the country’s image internationally. But more than that, it is a matter of economics. Education is Australia’s third largest export commodity. Estimates of money spent by Indians to study in that country vary from half a billion to two billion USD per year. No country would like to discard that kind of business.

The State of Victoria, where most of the recent attacks took place, is planning to enact stricter laws to deal with the situation. That would be time consuming. And other states with such legislation have their share of curry bashing nevertheless.

The Government of India (GOI) has the clear responsibility to protect Indians abroad. What should it do? Hot lines and diplomatic pow-wows are fine, but how long would these take to fructify?

GOI has three options: 1. Continue with the diplomatic efforts, 2. Issue an advisory against studies Down Under, and 3. Ban students from going to Australia.

There is another alternative, in the long term. With an outlay of 2b USD an year, India can establish sufficient world class educational facilities. Study at home can be the slogan.

What do you think?

Monday, June 1, 2009

New photos of Ixora coccinea

Photos from Olavipe by Rejo. Copyright reserved.

Read about it at

Ixora coccinea (Rubiaceae) - flowers that gods and men love

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Vanilla, the flavouring the world loves

Vanilla ice cream? Cool! Cakes, chocolates, biscuits, drinks using vanilla? Yummy! Perfume with vanilla fragrance? Wow!

Well, vanilla is the world’s most preferred flavouring. It accounts for a whopping 29% among all food flavourings, according to a 2006 study by the International Ice Cream Association.

Vanilla is an orchid, a climbing terrestrial one. Originally it grew only in Mexico. The natives used it for medicinal purposes, for making certain brews and also as an aphrodisiac. The Spanish brought vanilla to Europe in the early 16c.

Here I am reminded of a story about a former Maharaja of Travancore. His spies reported that the Western traders were planning to smuggle some pepper cultivars to their country. His Highness laughed and said, “They can’t take away our climate,” meaning that pepper wouldn’t grow in Europe.

But in the case of vanilla the problem the white men faced was different. The plant grew, but wouldn’t pollinate. They were to find out rather late that this critical function was carried out by Melipona bee. These insects were found only in South America.

So the vanilla languished, away from its homeland. In the 1830s Charles François Antoine Morren, a Belgian botanist discovered a method to artificially pollinate vanilla. But it was not cost effective. A break came about five years later, when a 12-year-old slave in France, Edmond Albius, found a way to hand pollinate vanilla.

Today three major cultivars of vanilla are grown in many tropical countries including India (Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu). It can survive up to altitudes of 1500 above sea level. The vanilla orchid thrives in loose, well-drained soil with high organic content. 50% shade is required. Being a creeper, it requires support plants. Stem cutting or tissue culture can be used for planting.

The following photos from Olavipe shows different stages of the vanilla’s growth:

Once the pods mature, they are handpicked. Unless this is done at the proper time the quality would be badly affected and the commercial value would tumble drastically. Incidentally, other things being equal, the grading of vanilla is done according to length of the pods.

The plucked vanilla pods are cured and conditioned. Sun drying is a major factor in this process.

After the entire procedure is over, the vanilla is finally made available in the market mainly in three forms: whole pod, powder and extract.

And that’s the story behind vanilla, the ageless flavour.

Ends.

Photos: TP, me. Copyright reserved. Click to enlarge.

An orchid from Olavipe