Fishing for life

I was sure that she could see behind my forced smile! I could hardly bring myself to touch the woman whose hand I was shaking.  I was staring at her face, taking in every little detail so that I could recognise her when I saw her again. To most people, she was normal. Like many others, she had sold two of her children and sent them to work on the Volta lake.

 

The Volta lake in Ghana is the biggest man-made lake in the world, the kind that makes tourists gush about its beauty. The lake joins the sea and also boasts about an economy that thrives on unbelievable abuse of orphaned or trafficked children. These children are as young as 4-5 years and are sold by their parents to fishing businessmen for as less as 8 Ghana Cedis ($4). They are paid nothing but given food everyday. They toil endlessly and sleep on the sea in their boats. They are required to engage in the notorious deep-sea fishing throughout the day and night.  Deep-sea fishing is a risk to your life.

 

According to my field surveyor who did a study on this - “Every blessed day at least one child is lost to the sea”!

 

These children are subjected to terrible abuse by their “owners”. They are beaten and starved if they don’t work. They are robbed of their childhood for absolutely no fault of theirs. It doesn’t matter if they die, the “owner” would just buy another!

 

The organisation I work with does wonderful work in preventing this type of trafficking and rescuing these children!

 

Parents who are unable to take care of their children or are in urgent need of money sell their kids to this cause. Many do it just because they don’t want the responsibility of taking care of the child. Like the woman I was talking about. She didn’t look particularly poor. She was sitting across from me, talking and laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world. I wonder how she sleeps at night!

 

Sometimes, I hate that my job exists!

Life's Haircut?

I havent eaten in days. The choices on the menu are rabbits, dogs and peacocks. Yes, I did say peacocks.

Arunkulam is a tiny hamlet – its a really remote village in the Ottapidaram block of Tamil Nadu. The population of this hamlet is around 30 households. Everyone looks the same. The same! You will believe it only if you see it. You too will look like them if you stay here long enough.

People actually hunt for food. Each house has atleast 4 blood hounds. They are used for hunting rabbit. The dogs get to keep the limbs and people eat the rest. A convinient arrangement. If no rabbits are available, people eat dogs. Miles and miles of land stretch all around the village. Dry as dust land! Not a soul or a building or a shop in sight but a peacock calls to you every now and then.

You’d rather not eat becuase it is easier that way. The food is taken from another plate.You’d rather not sleep becuase its safer that way. The wolves might take your life away. You’d rather not bathe because its cleaner that way. The water is liquid plague.

The people here are resigned to fate. They neither know nor care what goes on in the rest of the world. Their life’s aim is to stay alive. Disease and poverty are their inseparable companions. They dont even own their time. Someone decided, someone they never met, generations ago, that their life will be somebody else’s labor.

Your cellphone mocks the village by getting signal at one particular spot on one particluar hillock at one particular angle. It hurts to think or feel in this place. It physically hurts!

I haven’t eaten in days. But thats my only problem. How did I get so lucky?

Man in the mirror

I really dont want to say it - but I think I am falling out of love with villages and more so, the people. See, Ive always loved field travel. Not just because its my work or because the countryside is pretty, but also because it puts things in perspective and gives me a sense of purpose. It was the one thing in my life which was steady.

Yesterday I had gone to this place called Arupukottai in Tamil Nadu - I dunno if we can find it on a map..it seemed like a hell-hole in the middle of nowhere...and for the first time ever, I felt claustrophobic.. the atmosphere was too suffocating...and I wanted to just run away from there...why?..because the people there thrived in their poverty...they were perfectly happy with living in penury....I know its a pretty harsh thing to say, but thats what it was...

They were content with working for nothing, they just shrugged and put it down to misfortune when their people died of diseases...they  were perfectly ok with the lack of amenities...spent most of their lives caste-politicking and street-fighting...and generally didnt even bother to dream of a better life...

This raises two important questions:

1. Who are we to decide what is good or bad for them? What makes us think that our lifestyle is superior? They may be happier than us, for all we know.. Why are we so hell-bent on bringing them into the "mainstream"? What gives us the right anyway, just because we have the money?

2. Arent we all like that, albeit in bigger things? For example, havent we accepted that we have to give bribes everywhere to get work done? Dont we pay fine to the traffic cop for no fault of ours? These are the things we've learnt to live with, just like them..

Lets now reverse the roles...(oh yes, we live on the "other side" most of our lives...didnt you know????)

We are all sentimental beings, are we not? Sentiments mean a lot to us, usually more than money...we see hundreds of examples of it around the world everyday...for instance, how else do we explain the most expensive naming rights of the world's tallest building being given in lieu of debt bailout???? That something symbolic is worth more than something concrete?? Seriously, how does it matter who names it what...why give a damn???? But we do!! Then arent we the same people who register absolutely no sentiment when we see that careers of  millions of people are ostensibly dedicated to making our lives better? Seriously, HOW can we sleep knowing that we are subjects of research and projects and patronages, that we are specimens, that someone in intently observing us, someone who thinks our life should be better and makes decisions to that effect? That our life is reduced to numbers and statistics and someone takes the liberty to actually  think for us??? Why have we never questioned this intrusion? Why have we never asked them what right they have?? The icing on the cake is that when we (or should I say we the people) are seen to be making mileage out of this or taking advantage of their "noble" intentions, they crib...yes, they the patrons of mankind get disillusioned and decide we dont deserve to be helped...now we dont remember asking them for help, do we?

And this goes for all of us, we are on both sides, think about it......the only difference is that we probably dont realise it when we are the subjects ...but people in the field, they do, its in their damn face and they dont care...but for all else, the oceans of sentiments come pouring in....sheesh !!! 

 Really want to write more, but whats the point??? 

The heart of India

I think one of the surest signs of a developed country is that manual and menial labor would be very highly valued, the simple logic being when something is not easily available, it will be expensive. True? What do you think? In India, somehow people who exert themselves the most are paid the least. And under no circumstances will I accept that the work we do provides more value than that of say, a carpenter. Generate more money for our firms, probably yes! But provide more value...huh, no! There seems to be this gross misplacement between value and price.

Anyways, I am in MP finally...FI..NA..LEEEEEEE :) ...and theres an outside chance that my next project could be based out of here..I now really understand why people say that India is multicultural or diverse or whatever...truly, the different states are so incomparable that it almost feels like another world...

Ive been here for a few days now and its very cold...too cold to even blog :(....and I dislike dressing up in layers and layers, though its fun to pretend I'm in London and wear coats and boots :)..but my brain works really slowly in winter and I fall ill easily...but the great food here almost makes up for it....its poha and roasted cashews with milk for breakfast....and I maintain that poha is one of our biggest achievements ever :P....and then there are these spiced cucumber and cabbage soups they sell round every corner which I can never get enough of...not to mention huge pans of flavored hot milk in every street...see the pic.....and you can choose your spicing too, my fave currently is cinnamon with brown sugar...it beats coffee anyday!!

One of the brightest things about winters are the colors...seriously, this place is so colorful and its so is hugely uplifting...wherever you go, people are brightly dressed, shops are festive  and full of activity and the whole atmosphere is so alive....and you can imagine by the pics how much of shopping I mustve done :)...and even the walls here seem jolly - full of murals and paintings...this is a very happy place really :)...and on every street corner you have bonfires too, conjured up by no one but open to all...and all the people are really friendly and everyone is full of smiles:)..the winter sure brings about a characteristic bonhomie, I guess :P....

You know, though its bad to generalize, people say that every state has an aura...I guess its the same that makes you detest it when you are there but long for it when you are not...Im yet to find MP though :), which is a good sign or maybe I need to stay longer to know or travel a bit more.....dunno if you are getting what I am saying, but I'll leave it here for now...Anyways, all said and done, this is really a good break and it couldn't be more welcome and I feel so much better for it :)

Oh and another thing...I stumbled upon this extraordinary pricing strategy followed by certain airlines...consider this...if you were given a choice between something that costs 600 bucks on a regular basis and something that is claimed to actually cost a 1000 bucks but is available to you at 600 after a 40% rebate, which would you choose??? Most people would choose the latter, thinking they are getting more for less...when it need not be the case at all!! Its all about presentation...What a sham! Devious na?? But then, these airlines should do a bit more research because not everything can be acquired by playing on the consumer's mindset.....for instance, certain customers always choose only the airline that provides for a live camera on the wheels :P

And who shall I say is calling?

I don’t want the dust to settle down. Where do you see yourself in the next five years would invite some interesting answers now :) Ever got the feeling that everything is pre-planned and it would’ve been more prudent to trust your instincts from the start? It’s a lot like traffic – random, tedious and mostly unnecessary.  

Speaking of which, Ive been traveling a lot over the last week - I went to Ramnagara, Chennai and Hyderabad, and in that order. 

Ramnagara is called the Silk Town, where Sholay was supposedly shot and is quite a beautiful place. Doesn’t quite have the small-town charm but it was a good break. I was there only for a day. We ate the famous ragimudhe, drank lots of sugarcane juice, learnt about silk reeling, met loadsa people and generally chilled out.

Ironically, I met a Kannur Muslim family – they were three sisters who were married to three brothers (why do people do this) from Karnataka and they hated it here. They missed mallu food, mallu people, mallu weather…..well, mallu life. They were pretty happy to be able to talk to me, though my Malayalam is quite shaky. They spoke nineteen to dozen about everything under the sun and while I was leaving they asked “Chaya edukatte?” (shall I make some tea?). I was really delighted, Kerela chaya is definitely my cup of tea:)

Left to myself, I would have never gone to Chennai or Hyderabad again simply because it’s trouble handed on a silver platter, complete with garnishing and side-orders. Chennai, I had to go for a meeting. Only it didn’t feel like Chennai at all. Even the auto-drivers seemed tame, the weather was nice and seeing the pre-paid counter at the railway station did not make my insides flip. Ditto Galloping Gooseberries, TDS and even the Taj Coromondel.  But once, I had to cross my old house to meet one of my friends who also stayed in the same building, but I resolutely looked away. I feel a vague sort of disconnect these days that is quite hard to shake off. I would say it’s some sort of an acquired nonchalance, difficult to put in words.    

Hyderabad, unlike Chennai was different since I didn’t quite know where the places to avoid were located. And it is bearable, if you go by train and avoid the airport. I met three of my really good friends, and felt more like myself again though the feeling was short-lived. Me meeting them after a good year-and-a-half, but we could easily pick up from where we left off. That’s very important I feel, because drifting apart is one thing, but moving on to speak different languages is another. Many a times, when I talk to people who've been my friend for years, I suddenly find that we don’t get the other anymore. It’s a sinking feeling, that…and then from there on, you remain friends only for old times’ sake, and talk only about mundane stuff and wish each other on birthdays and New Years…

Anyways, we hung out – talked for eons about nothing, cooked over silly jokes (made awesome poha, tomato pasta and cheese & pineapple sticks), listened to music in the dark, smoked up, went on mall-marathons and even tried the famous fish spa, where “doctor fish” are your masseurs. Twas quite freaky at first, and then pretty ticklish, not to mention ridiculously overpriced. My phone cam gave out and therefore I don’t have ready pics to post.

I ended up doing a lot of stuff against my better judgment though. I actually lunched at Waterfront; never thought I could go back there. It didn’t seem quite so scary in the afternoon, though I am not sure I would’ve survived a dinner there. And I did feel a pang when I saw the Cinema Paradiso and the W showroom :(. But why does it seem like from another life sometimes and so painfully sad at others?? :(           

And while we're on that, when will I meet John Galt?           

Anyways, I was talking about traffic. Yes, traffic really !!! I mean, REALLY, come to think of it. Wow, the time each person has on his hands to reach wherever he must, the resources at his disposal - vehicles and all that, and where he has to go and why…wow…aint it perfectly symbolic??? My respect for traffic just leapfrogged :)  It even captures things like the divide, which is irrelevant since emotions aint relative. No, they are not, which is not fair, since we tend to pretend they are and try to count blessings. Atleast I do. Well, that’s a different debate, so lets leave that on the side for a bit.

Anyways, everything sort of blends and sorts itself and you eventually begin to believe it couldn’t have been any other way because if there was any better, it would’ve happened. I am not there yet, but the subscribers to this theory can do no better than place all their bets on the future :) The other extreme must be the sorts who claim to know precisely which side of their bread is buttered at any given point of time :)          

True no? What do you say??     

P.S: Forever is a stupid word.

A Grassroots' View

Some pics I took in the field recently...

They seemed like a pair of  super-aggressive, persistent and really pesky kids who keep trying to ask you for stuff. But if you think about it, its really sad to see kids so small fighting so hard for everything when they should be playing around....

Unfortunately, I was given the un-accomplishable task of getting taluk maps from a local Government office. This office was a very huge building with lots of people but it had no windows, brick-thick dust lined the walls, did not have electricity, the officials used handfans if you please, 7'o'clock blades to tear papers and slide rulers to draw lines....The pic shows their neat and organised filing cabinet. 

Women going to work at a garment factory. If you read the reports on their working conditions, the indignity and hardships they endure is truly horrible. It also makes me very uncomfortable to see people herded in trucks like this. Dunno why...

Who needs that penthouse when you can live here :)

It was so hot that I couldnt even bear to stand there...But this is their life...day after day after day after day....

This man is 34 years old. He has not gone to school, he works as a wage labourer for 35 rupees a day. He lives off Govt schemes and says he cant remember when he last saw a 100 rupee note.

Tender coconuts the size of helmets :) 4 rupees each :)

A group of children waiting at a Govt school for their "mid-day meal". The food they serve is half cooked and the rice is full of stones. But still, kids fight over their share for it.

This kid doesnt mind working while her friends play. She makes 150 rupees a month, washing vessels.

Mind-boggling superstition. Your caste is your identity. The "difference" between the two dominant castes in this village was that one did not wear a nose-ring because decades ago, when someone went to get a nose-ring for a person from the other caste, he did not return. The two sects have been at logger-heads ever since and are bitter enemies.

 

Every morning, women queue up to take water from the  pipe which is there only for 3 hours in a day. Each family is allowed to take only two pots.

Ragi roti and chutney :) The famous staple food...Impossible to eat, atleast for me. Half the pic was lost but you get the idea?

Why on earth does man do this???

I want to live here :(...fix a tyre on this tree and swing away to glory :(.be lost to the world :(

Well, these were just a few things that caught my eye but I really wished I could capture and freeze every little detail. Because, you know what - its actually true... India really lives in her villages !

Strikes, strokes and death rows

A really harrowing experience :(

We had to go on a field trip to Kolar on work. We had to be there at 11 am which meant that we had to leave early in the morning. So at 6.45 am, I was trying to find an auto to get to office but surprisingly no one would come.

Finally one guy agreed but demanded five times the usual price. It transpired that there is an auto strike. I didnt know about it, neither did I care, I only wanted to be in time for work...big mistake...

Anyhow I had to agree to his terms for lack of options. He made one stop to deliver flowers at a shop and we were on our way again. I really didnt think the strike was a big deal, it didnt even register in my mind....

Unfortunately for the guy, around 100 auto drivers were lying in wait on the way to catch people who disobeyed the strike. Ive never really seen a mob at work before, and its really scary.

They just didnt allow him a chance to even talk. In his desire to avoid a beating, he said I was his sister. Now this is a stupid thing to say, it can be easily invalidated...and thats just what happened when he couldnt tell them my name...I think he shouldve told them the truth or atleast kept quiet....

Well, I guess I too disrespected the strike but I couldnt really tell them that I didnt give a damn. But they went really easy on me and asked me to go. In fact they were really polite and said "Madam, please go, we dont want you to see him being beaten up"...I really didnt know what to do.

And the WORST thing is that I couldn't even get a chance to pay him in all the confusion. Everyone was screaming on top of their lungs and I couldn't even see that auto driver anymore in the crowd. I had no option but to leave...I didnt dare look back. I thought of calling the police, but I didn't think it would work, especially since the traffic police were already there and watching the scene...so I just left....

I just cant get this incident out of my mind...everyone tries to comfort me saying that the guy deserved it since he was being greedy and wanted five times the fare....but it doesnt help...I really hope nothing happened to him :(

I have to take courage in my hands and go to that shop where he delivered the flowers in the morning to see if I can find him. I should apologise and should also pay him something for going through the trauma (like how the Govt thinks that money is good "compensation") but I don't think any amount of money can make the incident go away....

Can there be only sunshine?

Just got back this evening from a field visit to Mysore - never thought I would, but I miss it. The best thing about visiting small towns for me is that it makes me feel really happy about life in general...like as if I ganied time, you know? And this time, I was really determined not to think and brood and reflect like I usually do during fieldwork.. So I had a really nice trip.

Fieldwork also makes you restless and want to DO stuff....It was in this enthusiasm that I decided to try on my new roller-skates today.  I really don't know what it is with me & skates. For some reason, learning how to skate features quite high on my "To do before I die" list. I am pretty sure that if someone tells me that today was my last day on Earth, I would spend it roller-skating. I had got my new pair last week after a fair amount of hunting at sport shops. It was pretty embarrassing, I tell you because it seems like only kids do it now-a-days; I didnt know that. The shop keeper would ask benevolently how old the kid is, and my friend would gleefully point at me. The shop guy would then smirk and visibly refrain from commenting.. To top it off, my friend insisted that I buy the accompanying head gear and the elbow, wrist and knee protection with a patronizing "Women's bones are weak you know" and  lines like "better be safe than be sorry" to the shop guy's knowing smiles...Anyways, I finally tried them on tonight...I should really post pictures, I looked like a clown, I am sure it would be a good laugh...I had to do it sneakily on my terrace and try not to fall flat on my face. My mom was most amused and my bro even held my hand and led me on, like how you teach kids to walk...Its going to take some doing to learn it I know, but I am drawn to it like crazy...Ive always dreamt of skating for miles preferably on a lonely road or hill, all alone...sigh !!! There really is something magical about solitude....

Speaking of solitude, I always had one companion whom I have dumped recently - coffee. Its always been some crazy twisted love-hate relationship I've had with coffee.. it made me feel happy and sad and ecstatic and helpless at the same time. I never had a time or place to drink it...I used to even punish myself by drinking coffee even when I didnt feel like it.  It made me feel ugly, incompetent, out of control, hopeless..yet I would drink cups and cups of it...in fact I started drinking it when I was just a year old......never thought I could overcome it, and it always gave me lots of doubts about self-control....but suddenly, out of the blue, I have fallen out of love with it....and wouldnt drink it even if someone paid me....almost a feeling like breaking free from jail...I may sound a tad dramatic now, but it befits my infinite attempts at giving it up before - I would have these cycles of starting to give up and giving in...which meant countless struggles with  surging  hope and hopelessness....like a smoker trying to quit...

Oh God, did I just say struggle? And that too against coffee??? Take a look at this pic of this girl - I probably shouldn't put this up on a public forum, but she was one tenacious little thing, who kept coming up to us to ask for food, despite getting harshly scolded each time by the onlookers in the village.  I couldnt bring myself to even watch her getting shouted at each time, and there was really nothing we could do...because irrespective of how much we gave her, she would come back after five minutes and beg for more...No matter how rude they were to her, or how roughly they brushed her off, no matter what they said to her, she persisted with her begging till she got what she wanted....now that is a better example of struggle.......

Its all about money, honey

"Why is India able to survive the recession? Because most of the economy runs on black money."

"The Sales Tax officials always tell us that if everyone starts paying taxes, the Government will not know what to do with all the money. So they say give the money to us instead." 

Pearls of wisdom from a 22-year old granite quarry owner I met yesterday on the train. True, he was managing his family business, but he clearly knew the ropes. I was literally hanging on to his every word while he described what its like to start and run a business in India.

"I paid a bribe of five lac rupees to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board to start my business in Mysore" he says matter-of-factly.

Wow, that is a lot of money, I mused...

"Well, its not all that much", he shrugs. "My uncle pays a bribe of one crore a year to the Congress Account. That way they keep the sales tax officials off his back"

Why not just pay the sales tax instead, I ask.

"No way !!! Its so much easier to just bribe people. My uncle mines in an area called Thanti in MP. Actually, mining there is illegal and it is full of Naxals. We bribe the Congress to escape tax, get police protection, keep us off the firing range, get our export licenses, a host of things. If anything goes wrong, all we need to do it make one phone call to them and remind them of our bribe".

Wow...grim scheme of things there. Why are you in Bangalore, I ask.

"I came to meet the Karnataka Land Revenue Department. They were asking me for a bribe of 50,000 rupees for one signature, but I paid only 7,000", he grins.

Good work, I say sarcastically.

"Oh come on, you live by the books. Look at you, you look as if you come from a very protected background. Have you ever seen a village?"

I decided to pass that question, theres no point, moreover I was eager to hear more.

"My turnover is around 3 crores a year, on paper I show only 1 crore. My land is worth 70 lacs today, but the records show 7 lacs".

Even better.

"Do you know, my friend arranged for special courtesies and special "private secretaries" for Lungi when he went abroad last month supposedly for a conference on the Economy?

Ok, I leave it to you to figure out who he meant.  I must say, I really was disappointed, because 'Lungi' was one gentleman I really looked up to and always thought he was too well-bred for such things :(

There was more, it wasnt over.

"You know, the Chinese dig our quarries because it is cheap raw material for them. To win our co-operation, they send only women laborers. It really makes things a lot more nicer for our laborers. That is their way of bribing us to get discounts".

Ok, Ive had enough, I tell him. He gives me his number since I mentioned we are building a house in Mysore.  

"I'll get you great discounts for your flooring.  In case I  cant recall when you call, just say that you are the girl who taught me what micro finance was", he laughs.

Whatever !!!

"You just cant get ahead in life without bribes. Take that from me".

FINE... As an acknowledgment of that, I save you as "Briber Abhishek" on my phone.

"Haha, you are very innocent. You may be the only exception to my rule".

Pray, what rule is that?

"Aadmi jitna sherif dhiktha hai, uthna badmaash hota hai...aur jitna badmaash diktha hai, uthna hi sherif hota hai".

Thanks for the heads up... Good night!!!

Mysore Express, 11th Aug 2009

On my train ride from Thanjavur, I groaned inwardly when I saw the HUGE, noisy, talkative Goan family with screaming kids I had to endure for 13 hours. To top it off, they insisted on playing Bryan Adams, Elton John and the like on full volume. Anyone who knows me even remotely will know that right now I am not in a place in my life to appreciate such stuff, and every song brought tears to my eyes, much as I tried to control it. Oblivious to my grief, they continued to sing along and play cards.

Soon we started talking - they were first-time tourists to Bangalore, and were full of questions about the city. Their enthusiasm knew no bounds. For some strange reason, the first place they wanted to visit was Big Bazaar and they were super excited about it. They had nowhere specific to go in Bangalore and knew no one there. Their plan was to ask the cab guy for a decent hotel, if you please. Now I dont know whether they were willfully stupid or plain innocent but I felt I just couldnt let that happen. So we called up a bunch of hotels and zeroed in on Kormangala Residency, and they invited me to tour the city with them..

By the end of the journey, I felt like Ive known them forever. We spoke about every single possible thing - the recession, the IT sector, keeping pets at home, multiculturality, politics, cuisines, water sports, music, movies, books, marriage, my work, their work - their affection was really overwhelming. I really didnt need anything, but right from getting me coffee to carrying my bag to finding a spot to charge my laptop to giving me their spare blankets to leaving the lights on just for me to sharing their dinner.... Usually I avoid talking to strangers, but somehow with these people I felt I was at home. These people were really really kind.

They were a big family of around 15 and their dynamic was amazing. From what I could see, it was so easy, and everyone seemed to be perfectly at ease with all else. No snide remarks, no sarcasm, no spite, I loved it. Each one was really considerate of others. Tempers did fly at times thanks to the kids, but sorries always followed perfectly naturally. The rows abated as quickly as they arose. No grudges, no sulking. The men and women seemed somehow equal, you know? But the best part was the conversations - each seemed to be at a different level with one another but they always managed to find common ground. Now this is something not easy to spot or observe, but it was SO obvious in their case it was really hard to miss.

I know 13 hours is nothing and what seems to me to be the case need not be true, but still, it was something to see them joke and laugh throughout the journey. The amount they laughed (and made me laugh) was something you don't see too often. I was really sad to say goodbye and it would be great if on each train journey you meet such nice people.

I feel stupid when I remember how I had so quickly judged them and dismissed them as "noise" at first....Noise is not always bad I guess:)

The Elephant's Blessing

On a Saturday evening I had nothing better to do in this God-forsaken place other than go out with my colleague Dany (who is from the US) to all the temples and popular tourist spots in Tanjore. The places per se did not really hold my interest, but I got to see a lot of other things - for instance, elephants which are trained to accept coins and "bless" you with their trunk..oh yes, they will not "bless" you if you give them anything other than coins..Amusing no doubt, but so many of us don't eat meat supposedly cos we think killing animals is wrong, but we have no problems with things like this; this particular elephant is kept captive for its entire life (noble as its cause may be)..is it worse than killing it to eat it? I have no answer...

Dany asked me over dinner about how many people (who think killing animals to eat is wrong) would think twice before killing a cockroach? I admit cockroaches scare me like nothing else, and I would really love it if none of them existed...Does my fear of them justify me taking their life any more than me wanting to eat it, esp since my fear is not valid since it can do nothing whatsoever to me??

People keep telling me that we were all originally from the jungle and therefore, its only fair that the mightier animal kill others and we were originally cavemen who hunted for food...well, this is the most ridiculous argument I ever heard...if we had to behave like animals in a jungle, why then do we value human life if we were was prey to such basic instincts??? Why is it that I can kill a cow or a dog, but if I kill another fellow-human I am punished by law? Why not be animals all the way? And moreover, cavemen didn't have an option since it was a question of survival, but we do right? Isnt it funny that only in this case we should choose not to see beyond our noses?

We then took the cycle rickshaw ride because Dany wanted to have the experience. It was interesting to note that he was concerned he weighed a 100 kilos and said that he felt like a colonizer for that 10 mins of the ride, even though we paid the guy much more than what he asked...

Yes yes, it is natural that we have more sympathy towards humans than anything else...thats what is kinship I guess :)

'Top'notch

15 long years since I spun a top, the good ol top with the knotted rope , and not one of those "sophisticated" electronic fake ones ..Luckily I was able to buy one in the market even though it is off-season supposedly....The best 5 bucks I ever spent....Brings back such wonderful memories of childhood...Almost makes up for the lousy food, the non-company, the scorching heat and the depressing mood....

- Karambayam, Tanjavur