Photos: Snow clad mountains

Photos by KO Isaac. Copyright reserved.

Click on images for enlarged view.

Also see:
Photos: pristine mountain streams

Shortchanged by ATM? Here’s what to do.

An automatic teller machine is a man made contraption. It can malfunction sometimes. The first rule in such situations is – Don’t panic.

I had a bad experience at the friendly neighborhood ATM three weeks back. Around 7 PM I punched in the amount to be withdrawn and a request for a printout. Promptly the printout came showing debit for the amount to my account, but no money. Momentarily I was a bit confused about what to do. The worry was whether I would loose the money.

Then I called the guard who was outside ad explained to him what happened. Using the telephone inside the booth he tried to contact whoever was to be contacted in such an eventuality. But – I’m sure you guessed it – the telephone didn’t work. The guard was apologetic. He suggested that I go to the branch under which the ATM came and report the matter.

I did that. Fortunately the manager (a new one and not the same official mentioned in Personal Banking: Non-service without a smile) was still there and was very cooperative, with a warm smile on his face. He told me not to worry and that the debit would be corrected. He had an assist call the customer care department and explain the problem to them. Then ‘Complaints’ asked me to answer one verification question (in this instance, my birth date). I was given a complaint number and assured that the rectification would be done within seven days.

Yesterday I found that debit entry was reversed, but on the 9^th day. Good enough. At least I didn’t lose the money. I dropped in at the bank and thanked the manager. He was all smiles and said, “Any time, sir.”

I am sure that he didn’t mean another problem at the ATM.

Thank you Manager, and keep smiling. That makes a great difference to the customers.

Ends.

Also see: ATM Service

Photos: Lilies that grow in Kerala

Spider lily. Photo: AK Kepler. Public Domain

Creeping lily (Gloriosa)
Photo: AK Kepler. Public Domain

What lily is this? Looks like Easter lily, which is white.
Photo: KO Isaac. Copyright Reserved

Water lilly buds. Photo KO Isaac. Copyright Reserved.

Lotus bud. Photo: KO Isaac. Copyright Reserved.
Click on photos for enlarged view.

The photos by Kepler are actually from the Polynesian Islands. But
they grow in Kerala as well.
There are several other types of lily also in Kerala. Unfortunately

I do not have pictures of them.

Also see:

Kerala Flowers?

Karthiki captures some Olavipe flowers

The Rubaiyat: Omar Khayyam revisited

Millions of words have been written about Omar Khayyam, the great Persian poet. So, what is new? Nothing, except that I came across an interesting review of the book Omar Khayyam: Poet, Rebel, Astronomer by Hazhir Teimourian (Sutton, £20, pp.384). The review by Justin Marozzi was originally published in the Spectator and reproduced in the Deccan Chronicle.

Marozzi starts with a statement that what most people know about Omar Khayyam could be summed up in two words – the Rubaiyat. This is true in my case. My love affair with the Rubaiyat started in the early 1950s during college days in Bangalore. Someone presented me a clothbound book containing the famous translation of the Rubaiyat by Edward Fitzgerald and a Kasida (qasida).

Rubaiyat means a pentameter quatrain. Kasida is a poetic form which has pre-Islamic origin. It has been nurtured over the centuries and is still popular. Many have been translated beautifully into English.

Kasida also means a kind of Arab needlework imported into India in the 9thc AD and practiced by the women of Bengal and Bihar. I think there is a breed of Arab horses too with that name.

I loved the collection that was presented to me and read it many times over. But I never bothered to find out more about Omar Khayyam. Now, from the book review I understand that Khayyam, born at Nishapur in the north-eastern Iran in 1032, learned music, cosmology, astronomy, and logic, among other things. He created a calendar which was more accurate than Gregorian calendar.

Justin Marozzi also says that Fitzgerald’s translations of the Rubaiyat have enriched the English language with more phrases than the Bible and Shakespeare together. The review has kindled my interest in the poet and his life. I must get hold of the book by Hazhir Teimourian.

One quote from the Rubaiyat given in the review is:

Today I will shed my robe of restraint;

Let trails of red wine my white beard taint.

No more piety; I am seventy

If not dance now, when might it then be?

Well, I am seventy-four. But it is difficult to follow Khayyam’s advice about wine. Though India exports sparkling white to France and produces fairly good wines for foreign and home markets (top makes: Grover Wineyard in association with Michel Rolland of Bordeaux, Indage, Sula), for some reason the Chennai shops do not seem to stock them.

Returning to the Rubaiyat, one of my favorite stanzas is:

Oh, Thou, who didst with Pitfall and with Gin

Beset the road I was to wander in,

Thou wilt not with Predestination round

Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin?

TAMAM SHUD (It is completed.)

Also see: Book review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

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

Have you heard of Noni or Indian Mulberry that is US$3 billion business? Common names of this plant include great morinda, beach mulberry, nono, nonu, mengkudu and ach.

The plant which belongs to the Rubiaceae family is a native to India and South East Asia. It spread to Polynesian islands centuries back.

The health claims about noni are amazing. It is supposed to be good in preventing/managing diabetes, cardio-vascular problems, skin blemishes, arthritis, asthma, bone ailments, BP, migraines, AIDS, viruses and infections, impotency, malignancies, pain and hair loss. Several nations have been using noni medically for centuries.

But none of the claims have been proved scientifically so far. One reason for this could be that only in the early 1990s the West became aware of the ‘miracle’ plant. Marketing noni pulp powder in capsule form started in 1992. This was followed by noni juice which is fast gaining popularity in USA and Europe. It appears that certain herbal products do not require Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) clearance in the US. The European Union has approved noni juice as a ‘novel food’ in 2002 without endorsing the health claims.

While the US manufactures most of noni products the major portion of the raw materials come from Polynesia. Now other countries including India are also taking up noni cultivation.

Noni is a shrub that can grow to 20 feet height. Stem cutting is the normal method of propagation though seed germination is also possible. The planting distance is 10-15 feet, say, about 300 plants per acre. Grows well in sunny moist/dry sandy soil and tolerates salinity (hence perhaps the name beach mulberry), and drought. It thrives even in secondary soil.

Noni starts fruiting in 18 months and has a productive life span of 30 to 40 years. The average output is 4 to 8 kg of fruit per month per plant. Other parts of the plant are also useful. But the cultivation is mainly for the potato-sized fruits. The shrub is also effective in protecting beaches and as windbreakers. Noni farming is reportedly a highly profitable venture.

The case of noni in India presents a paradox. The natural growth has been widely destroyed because of the foul smell while the fruits ripen, and for other cultivation. So much so it is on the endangered list now. I have seen this plant in Kerala; nobody bothers about it. Now there is a concentrated effort to popularize noni planting in the country.

I believe that there are agencies that furnish free project reports and offer buy back arrangement. More details about noni planting can be obtained from:

Indian Noni Research Foundation
Research Centre
19 & 20 Bharath Nagar Annex, Medavakkam Road
Sholinganallur, Chennai - 600 119 India
e-mail : info@inrf.org Visit : www.inrf.org

Or you can visit the website of the World Noni Research Foundation : www.worldnoni.org

Ends.

Also see:

Noni the medicinal plant, a thriving business

Emu farming in India

Photos: Bananas

Polynasian banana
Photo: AK Kepler. (Public domain)

Spider on a banana.
Photo: KO Isaac. Copyright reserved

This one grows upward. (I don't think it is edible.)
Photo: KO Isaac. Copyright reserved.

A bunch from Olavipe
Photo: Karthiki. Copyright reserved.

Ends.
Also see:

Photos: pristine mountain streams

Communication: Interesting jokes

We used spend holidays at mother’s house during student days. The place is on the foothills of Kerala’s High Ranges. Almost everyone in that area was into farming. Very few were educated.

Once during the Sunday sermon in the church there, the priest said that reaching heaven was like going to Kashmir. One has to struggle up a difficult path full of sharp thorns and stones and arrive at the top. Then one sees the most beautiful valley and descend, to live there. Forever.

I was bemused and a little irritated. Back home I told Appan. He smiled and said that the priest did right by presenting the point in a manner that even the least educated in the congregation could understand the concept. That was a lesson to me.

A boy on the ground in a remote African forest saw Air India’s inaugural Bombay-Lagos flight, decades back. He asked his mother what it was. The woman, who was brought up in the best cannibalistic tradition explained, ‘Son, it’s something like a lobster. You throw away the skin and eat what is inside.’ The child understood that it carried people.

Here is another illustration. In the 1960s, the ambassador of European country to a newly independent African nation was much admired and envied by the locals for his wisdom and expertise in many fields. They wished their leaders could be like the diplomat.

At a meeting of the tribal chiefs an idea was mooted that they catch hold of the ambassador and eat his brains so that they would also become wise like him. This was agreed to and promptly done.

The European country was shocked when the news reached. A cable (this was before the advent of the Internet) was immediately sent to the African nation expressing shock and threatening retaliation.

The chiefs met again. Realizing the seriousness of the situation they sent a reply cable presenting their apology and proposing ‘we suggest that if you wish to retliate, you may kindly take the brain of our ambassador to your esteemed country and eat it.’

Communication is a two way street. The listener too has a responsibility to pay careful attention to what is said and clarify doubts. Here is one about that. A journalist was filling gas on a long distance drive when he noticed an elderly Red Indian sitting in a corner. He was told that the man had incredible memory, and powers of the mind.

The journalist went to him and asked, ‘What did I have for breakfast on December 1, 1948?’ The prompt reply was, ‘Eggs’. The reporter scorned saying ‘everybody has eggs for breakfast’ and drove away.

Ten years later the journalist was passing that way again and saw the same Indian. He stopped, walked over and greeted, ‘How!’ The response came immediately, ‘Scrambled’.

The story about the sermon is true. I read the jokes somewhere, long ago.

Ends.

Also see: A Tyreseller.