Ukraine & Sy Hersh

 It is now one year since the Russia-Ukraine war began.

All through the murder and mayhem, the wanton destruction of cities and displacement of people that has been happening since 24 February, 2022, one thing has become increasingly clear - the whole thing is what we suspected it to be: a set-up. It is the people of Ukraine who are getting played by its 'friends and allies'. 

The current situation reminds us of the African proverb  - 'When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled'. The trampling is happening not only in Ukraine but also on the rest of continental Europe. And yet, the amazing thing is that not one newspaper or magazine from the so-called 'free-world' had the guts to speak truth to power, and provide a platform to the most celebrated investigative journalist of our times, Seymour Hersh. 

A few years ago the New Yorker had refused to carry Hersh's story on the truth behind the killing of Osama Bin Laden - it was picked up by the London Review of Books. This time even the LRB chickened out out, so he had to publish it as a blog-post titled, "How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline".

Thanks to this one journalist we now have a better understanding of how this whole tragedy played out. How the US ignored its own tacit agreement with Russia while expanding NATO; how it positioned nuclear missiles closer and closer to Russian cities until it created a situation for an 'unproved aggression'; how it resented Europe's closer economic ties with a rival to a point where it ganged up with Norway to blow up under-sea gas pipelines that belonged to its own close allies! 

Now USA is in a happy situation where it (along with Norway) can sell overpriced fuel to its hapless European allies while at the same time, ramping up its own arms export export industry. Sell energy, sell guns, and go laughing all the way to the bank. So what if a few million Ukrainians and Russians die in the bargain?

Ever since this story came out I have been poring over articles, YouTube videos - anything to understand more about the life and work of Seymour Hersh. What an amazing life!

The United States of America redeems itself - to some extent - by not harming this journalist, and by letting him carry on with his work.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

Substack blog - How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline (2023) - https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream

NY Public Library (2018) - https://youtu.be/JRvXx-H0b-Y

The Killing of OBL (2016) - https://youtu.be/yyISsqHShlM

LRB Interview (2016) - https://youtu.be/R_zk5b7v9M0

Buddhism in Bhutan

 

What is the difference between Tibetan and Bhutanese practice of Buddhism?

Most of the sights , sounds and smells of Bhutan are familiar to those who have travelled to Tibetan settlements across India. The meticulously hand-painted temples, fluttering prayer flags, the steaming hot momos and thukpa, monks in deep maroon, and the distinct smell of incense. One thing that is missing in Bhutan are the "Free Tibet!" stickers and t-shirts, and photos of HH the Dalai Lama. Why so?

It seems there are four main schools of Mahayana Buddhism practiced in the upper Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau -  Nyingma (8th century), Kagyu (11th century), Sakya (1073), and Gelug (1409).

Padmasambhāva (aka Guru Rinpoche - 'Precious Master', Circa 700 CE) and Śāntarakṣita (725–788), are considered the founders of Nyingma ('The Ancient Ones'), the oldest tradition. A couple of centuries later Tilopa (988–1069) and his students, notably Naropa and Marpa, laid the foundations of the Kagyu ('Whispered Transmission') tradition, which focuses on the practices of Mahamudra. The great 11th century mystic, Miralepa, belonged to the Kagyu school. 

The third school, Sakya ('Pale earth') derives its name from the landscape near Shigatse, where Sakya Monastery, the first monastery of this tradition was established. This time the founder was not a monk who travelled from India across the Himalayas but one who travelled the opposite way, from Tibet to Vikramshila university in present-day northern Bihar.

The first three sects are also referred as the 'Red Hat' schools because its monks wear red head gear.

The fourth and last major school, Gelug ('Virtuous'), emerged after the Mongol invasions of Tibet in the 1200s. Also known as the Yellow Hat sect, they aligned themselves with the Mongol Khans and became the dominant sect in Tibet and Mongolia by the 16th century. The present (14th) Dalai Lama belongs to this sect.

Most of the Buddhists in Bhutan belong to the second-oldest Vajrayana sect - Kagyu - one of the red-hat schools. This sect is perhaps more closely aligned with the traditions set by the earliest monks who introduced Buddhism to the areas beyond the Himalayas. 

Maybe this also explains why the Dalai Lama is not so popular in Bhutan.

The Alerce Trees of Pumalin

 A man goes looking for the oldest living trees on the planet. He finds them in Chilean Patagonia and gradually buys up the area around these trees. Over the years this private property covers an area covering of over 3000 square km!

Initially it was a private nature reserve of Doug Tompkins, the founder of North Face, and his wife, Kris, the former CEO of Patagonia brand of hiking gear. Following Doug's death in 2015, the entire property (and a bit more) was donated to the Chilean government. This is is now the largest national park in South America.

And the tree that the Tompkins were trying to protect? It is called the Alerce in Chile. A conifer of the cypress family, some of them are over 4000 years old! 

This amazing amazing nugget turned up in a DW documentary titled, "Carretera Austral" about the ambitious road that Chile has been trying to build across the length of the country, connecting a swathe of fjords and islands that line up on its western coastline facing the Pacific Ocean.

Some DW documentaries are quite amazing. The first one I saw was titled, "Iran from Above - In the Mountains", and provided a glimpse into a beautiful country that gets in the current political milieu. Highly recommended! :)

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REFERENCES & LINKS

• Alerce - Patagonian Cypress
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carretera_Austral

A Matter of Fermions and Bosons

 

What is the world made up of? 

We all remember something about this from our school days: All matter is made up of atoms, which in turn are made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. We also learnt over the years that things are not so simple..

This engaging video presents one of the best explanations I have come across so far, of what the latest scientific research tells us, as well the things it just cannot explain.

It tells you about the universe made up of energy fields made up of Fermions and Bosons. Fermions are made up Electrons, the Up-quark (Uq) and the Down-quark (Dq). The familiar protons and neutrons each contains three quarks...all the beauty and complexity we see in the world around us is made up us these three components, over and over again..

Then there is the fourth one, a peculiar cosmic ghost flowing through us all the time - the Neurtino.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* https://www.quantamagazine.org/theories-of-everything-mapped-20150803/

* https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-video-tour-of-the-standard-model-20210716/

Invisible Demons

 

I have often wondered - if global warming and climate change is really a ticking time-bomb, why does it not bother most of us?

A part the answer to this question was found in an event I attended last week at the Max Muller Bhavan in New Delhi. 

MMB is the German cultural centre in the heart of of the city. In the pre-internet days it used to be considered a cool hangout for its cafe, library and cultural events. This particular event was in two parts - screening ofa documentary titled, "Invisible Demons" directed by Rahul Jain, followed by a panel discussion on Art, Activism and Climate Change. 

This is essentially about environmental pollution in north India, especially Delhi. The film starts in an arty format with a guy slowly fogging a DDA park in Delhi. This set the tone for the rest of the documentary - long lingering shots of the worst sights in the city: drains emptying into the Yamuna, turning its waters black and foamy; mountains of garbage dotted with rag-picking children; destitute families living on the streets of Delhi; endless traffic jams interspersed with shots of fishes packed in tanks and cattle crowded in pens; patients wheezing into a nebuliser and an endoscopic view of blackened lungs.

The film is meant to evoke disgust, and it does so quite effectively. The director too was glad to tell us that at every pre-screening event, the audience rushed to open the windows to let in some fresh air. The only hint of optimism in the the whole documentary is footage of an un-named young man showing the little forests he had created on the Yamuna floodplains. He is the well known Miyawaki forester, Shubhendu Sharma, but for 'artistic reasons' he remains un-named in the film.

I have seen plenty of poverty-porn coming from media houses sponsored by Western entities - the ones that find great delight in highlighting the worst from developing countries, without offering any viable solutions. This must be a new genre called environment-porn.

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LINKS & REFERENCES

- 18 Jan 2023 - Panel discussion on Art, Activism and Climate Change - Rahul Jain, movie director | Helene Bukowski, writer | Dr. Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador | Philo Magdelene, Protect our Planet (PoP) movement

- Miyawaki Forests - https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/they-grow-fast-and-easy-but-do-miyawaki-forests-meet-the-fundamental-principles-of-ecological-restoration/article65258901.ece

- Shubhendu Sharma, Forester, founder - Afforestt - https://blog.ted.com/shubhendusharma/

- Judith Chevalier, Env Law, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Chevalier

Starting with Murakami

 

My first book for 2023 is a book Haruki Murakami wrote a few years ago - "Killing Commendatore" ((Japanese: 騎士団長殺し, Hepburn: Kishidanchō-goroshi).

One issue with eBooks - for better or worse - is the fact that it does not give you a let you get discouraged by the size of a book. This one has over 700 pages - not the regular, non-serial, Murakami but certainly not the sort I would pick up in a hardcopy format. Yet it is just the sort or engaging, fluid prose that keeps you flicking from one chapter to another, until you reach a point when it all seems to end rather abruptly, as though the author himself got bored of stretching the narrative for so long.

I have not yet reached the end though. Like a piece of chocolate that you keep in your pocket,  and keep nibbling on it every now and then, to make it last long, I read Murakami's to slowly discover perspectives I am not too familiar with - food, classical music, and, this time, the world of painters and paintings.

It is worth it. 

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Commendatore

* Review - WP 2018 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Commendatore

* Discussion - https://sevencircumstances.com/2019/05/17/an-idea-that-asks-to-be-murdered-killing-commendatore-by-haruki-murakami/

Phobjika's Reeds and Cranes

 

Phobjika Valley is quite unlike the Himalayan Valleys I had seen so far. Located almost on the same latitude as Kathmandu and a lot lower than Kashmir, what struck me at first is the absence of intensive agriculture. This seemed like an indulgence in a mountainous country that imports a lot of its food.

The valley has bee left in its original form for a good reason. Except for patches of isolated potato fields a large part of it has been declared a Ramsar Site - one of the 2000 sites across the world that has been marked as wetland of international importance.  Here the marshland attracts numerous migratory birds, especially the black-necked crane.

Hundreds of black-necked cranes glide into the valley every autumn. Always in pairs, these large birds are often heard before they are actually seen - especially early in the morning when the whole valley is covered by a blanket of mist. In the pre-dawn silence the birds sound like a bunch of children practicing their pipes and trumpets.  

When these cranes fly over the snow-peaks, from the plateau of Tibet, it is said that they first circle the Gangtey Monastry thrice before settling down to roost in the sprawling Phobjika valley. The monastery itself looks like a bird in flight with its broad, layered roofs, intricately painted balcony's, windows, and perfectly symmetrical form.

Yet what lingers in my mind is not the form of the building or the broad sunlit courtyard in front of it, but the sounds that emerge from the rooms and corridors that ring the monastery. Sounds of the reed pipes being played by young boys dressed in maroon robes.

The reeds are tiny but the tunes from them seem to fill out the broad courtyards and echo far into the misty valleys below.

How does such a tiny reed make so loud a sound? I wanted to try out one of these reeds but this did not seem the right thing to do in post-Covid times, and they were also not for sale anywhere. Just as I was about to return a bit disappointed, one of the older monks at the reception handed me a piece lying on his table. "It is damaged", he said simply, " - no proper sound".

I am familiar with bamboo flutes  especially the bansuri but this one was totally different. It had six largish holes cut along its length, one end was closed by the reed knot, and the other was, of course open. Unlike the lateral flutes, this one was played straight but the trick was to figure out the right way to blow.

At first, the only sound i could get were by pulling in air from the open end but these were feeble, so unlike the solid notes that the boys were playing. After a while i realised that the almost invisible slit near the blocked was they key. With a very fine blade, a cut and a wedge had been created on the underside of the reed!

What I had initially thought to be the 'damage' that the monk referred to was the very thing that gave life to this wind instrument! As we drove out of the valley via Lawa La, Trongsa to Tang and Bunthang, I wondered if it is the sounds of these reeds that attracted the black-necked cranes into Phobjika Valley.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* Ramsar Sites - https://rsis.ramsar.org/ 

* Gangtey Monastery - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangteng_Monastery 

Credit Cards in Bhutan

In the age of digital payments it feels strange to carry around wads of currency notes. 

This is exactly what happened to me last week in Bhutan. For the entire duration of the trip that covered about 800km, from Paro to Thimpu, Punakha, Phobji Valley, Trongsa and onward to Bumthang and back, I was unable to use any of my credit or debit cards, let along e-payment apps like PayTM, GPay or Bhim-UPI. At all hotels and shops, my attention was drawn to the fine-print behind every card issued in India - "Not valid for payment in foreign exchange in Nepal and Bhutan".

The question is why would any Indian want to make a payment in foreign exchange? India and Bhutan share open borders, and Indian currency is freely accepted everywhere, but the use of anything other than cash is quite difficult.  While it is possible to withdraw cash from the Bank of Bhutan (BoB) ATMs in the capital city, Thimphu, a steep fee of N300 is charged for each transaction.

How did this strange situation come to pass? How much of tourist income is Bhutan losing due to these rules?

Explanations available online point to apprehensions at the central banks that these steps are in place to prevent Hawala transactions and money laundering across the open borders...yet, things do not seem to add up. 

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REFERENCES & LINKS

• Hawala transactions - https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2002/12/elqorchi.htm#:~:text=The%20hawala%20system%20refers%20to,transaction%20and%20the%20countries%20involved.
• RBI Rules - https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=66
• Hindi YT - https://youtu.be/zAdIYHdO7VU

Numbers in Perspective - II: Wages & Taxes

 

I was struck by this chart which appeared in a report published last week, titled, "The New India", by Morgan Stanley Research. 

The tapering bars represent manufacturing wages inAsia, and India figures at the right extreme, with a wage-rate per employee that is among the lowest in the world. At US$0.8/hour, India's wage-rate was lower lower than Indonesia at US$1, China at US$7.1 and South Korea at US$22.3. 

These might seem like random numbers until your place them in perspective. An hourly wage of USD 0.8/hour is about INR 64/hour. For an eight-hour work-day, the wage is just INR 512, or INR 13,412 for a 26-day-month. This leads us to an annual income of about  INR 1,60,944 for the whole year (~USD 2,000)! 

So the average manufacturing wage in India is not far from its latest per-capita GDP, which according to the World Bank, is now USD 2277 , or INR 1.82 lakhs. One just has to remember the average wages of a semi-skilled worker in Delhi NCR to realise that these depressing numbers are factual - a housemaid earns about INR 12,000 a month, a security guard about INR 15,000, and the sweepers & cleaners, or those employed by the unorganised sector, far, far lesser.

This also holds the answer to a related question - Why are the direct taxes collected by the Government of India so disproportionate to the population of the country?

Consider these facts:

• The largest employer of wage-earners is the farming sector, and agricultural income is tax-exempt in India
• A measly 5% of Indians actually pay tax. A maximum of around 80 million people out of 1.30 billion Indians (6.1%)
• India has only seven income taxpayers for every 100 voters, among the lowest of all G20 democracies
• Only about 40% of India’s population is currently employed or looking for work. So that cuts the 1.3 billion figure by more than half
• Only 3% of Indians take home an annual salary of more than ₹ 500,000 -  the government exempts all those who earn less than this.
• The threshold of ₹ 500,000 is actually over three times the per capita GDP of the country. For context, it’s just 1.1x in Indonesia, 0.9x in Mexico, and 0.4x in the Philippines.

It is possible for the government to capture more people in its tax net, if it really wants to, but it may not be the humane or even politically expedient option, given the current state of affairs of the average wage-earner in New India.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* India - GDP per capita - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=IN- USD 2277 = INR 1.82 L

* * (15Mar2022) - https://www.livemint.com/news/india/how-many-indians-pay-tax-in-a-country-of-1-3-billion-govt-answers-11647352021053.html

* (20Feb2017) - Decoding India’s Low Tax Base Conundrum - BQ Prime- https://www.bqprime.com/opinion/decoding-indias-low-tax-base-conundrum

Numbers in Perspective - I: Capital Markets

The stock market in USA tanked a few days ago after Elon Musk finally decided to take over Twitter. 

While it is the dharma of markets to swing and sway wildly to various sentiments, one data-point stood out - the loss of market-cap suffered by seven top companies of USA was bigger than the entire capitalisation of the Indian market!

Only a few months ago the newspaper headlines had announced that India's equity market had broken into the Top Five Club in terms of capitalisation for the first time. At  $3.21 trillion, India was now UK ($3.19 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($3.18 trillion), and Canada ($3.18 trillion). 

All is is small change compared to the total market-cap of USA which is over $47 trillion...We have a long, long way to go!

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* (12 March 2022) - India breaks into world's top five club in terms of market capitalisation - https://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/india-breaks-into-world-s-top-five-club-in-terms-of-market-capitalisation-122031200004_1.html

* Visualising market capitalisation - https://howmuch.net/articles/all-stocks-capitalization-around-the-world

* Pearls of wisdom on investing in India - mostly from Mohandas Pai at a @TheRepublic event - https://youtu.be/Vtitg-o-8FI 

Dutch Doors, English Windows

Is there anything in common between Dutch doors and English windows?

One interesting thing I learnt last week was the way in which taxation has a lasting impact on the way in which societies behave and evolve. 

Apparently in the Netherlands property taxes were linked to the size of the main-doors facing the streets or or waterfronts. So, in order to minimise their tax liability, houses began to be built with narrow doors and large windows. So large pieces of furniture would either be lifted into the house through the windows, or custom-made inside the house!

If the taxman overlooked the windows in the Netherlands, the situation was quite the opposite in England where, at one time, property taxes were levied on the basis of the size and number of windows that a house had. Here too the response of the aggrieved taxpayers was rather predictable - houses began to be built with fewer, smaller windows. It seems this had an unhappy ending for the families living inside because the lack of ventilation and sunlight led to a sharp increase in the medical cases relate to smoke inhalation and deaths due to lung infections. 

It took more than 150 years (1696-1851) for the government to realise that the 'window tax' was not a very bright idea. This of course did not stop the government from trying out to squeeze revenue for the state from a wide range of other option - beards, hearths, wallpaper, or even playing cards!

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* Hirsute Pursuit - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35997919

* Window Tax - England, Scotland and France - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax 

* Window tax in the Hague - https://ikgidsudoordenhaag.nl/en/window-tax-the-hague/

DW News: Cynical Green

I was listening to this news-video on my way to work, and it had me laughing out loud. Here was a fine sample of the Western media being exposed for its slant, bias and bare-faced hypocrisy.

The title is, of course, misleading - "Does the World Want a Greener India? - International investors view India as both risky and vulnerable". At a time when the words 'risky' and 'vulnerable' would best describe the condition of the West which is confronting a multi-layered crisis emerging from the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Germany's official news agency, DW News, turns its focus on solar energy initiatives in India.

DW Asia Today has a byte from Kartik Sachdeva of Energific Solar,  company that is unable to keep up with the demand for rooftop solar systems in Delhi; it talks of government subsidies to get rural areas to adopt solar energy, and then, and interview with Chandra Bhushan, CEO of iForest. It is this interview that takes the cake :)

The interviewer wants to know - "Does India have the financial responsibility, the transparency and viability...to convince international investors that it is the place to invest?"

Do listen.

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LINKS & REFERENCES

* Solar Park, Gujarat - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat_Solar_Park-1

* Charanka Solar Park - 700MW - https://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-solar-power-capacity-at-charanka-solar-park-to-touch-790-mw-2607133

* Chandra Bhushan, iFOREST - https://iforest.global/people/governing-council/chandra-bhushan/

 

Booze for a Balanced Budget

 

I have been trying to figure out the relationship between booze and state revenues for a while now.  

States in India seem to have a whole spectrum of different approaches to alcohol sales. On one end of this spectrum you have states like Gujarat that have had an official ban on alcohol sales for decades, and at the other end, there are states like Kerala that actually depend on taxes from alcohol sales for a major chunk of their revenue. The extent of this dependence is not something I had understood until I reeled in a thread on Twitter a few days ago.

On 23 Sep., 2022, @thekaipullai mocked the communist-led coalition government in Kerala for their dependence on alcohol sales and the sale of lottery tickets. Out of Kerala's total state revenue last year, which amounted to INR 1.03 lakh cr (USD 13,733 million @INR75/$), more than 60% came from:

• Central Govt grants contributed to INR 36,000 cr (USD 4800 m)
• Alcohol sales contributed INR 13,000 cr (USD 1730 m)
• Lottery sales, INR 9000 Cr (USD 1200 m)

The point being made here was that the much touted "Kerala Model" is a sham since it stands on state revenues that feeds on the desperation and addiction of its people.

While there can be a debate on the way in which excise revenue is being calculated (or window-dressed), Kerala just happens to be just one of the many states that have turned alcohol sales into a state monopoly, and, in turn, driven up the levels of addiction. 

 

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LINKS & REFERENCES

* 13 Jun 2022 - https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/lottery-sales-in-last-six-years-kerala-govt-added-more-than-rs-56-000-cr-to-its-kitty-1.7602280

* 17 Mar 2022 - https://prsindia.org/files/budget/budget_state/kerala/2022/Kerala%20Budget%20Analysis%202022-23.pdf

* 14 Jan., 2022 - https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/covid-and-lockdowns-chill-liquor-sales-in-kerala-7938201.html

* Karala Govt - Revenue Collection - http://www.statelottery.kerala.gov.in/index.php/revenue-collection

* 5 May 2020 - https://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/minting-money-states-earned-rs-1-75-trillion-from-sale-of-alcohol-in-fy20-120050500053_1.html

Codling Moth - True or False?

 There is an insect called the False Codling Moth - true or false?

True!

An insect that goes by this name is now at the centre of an an international trade dispute between South Africa and the European Union. The False Codling Moth (henceforth FCM) infects a range of fruits, especially citrus and is perfectly adapted itself to Global Warming (unlike the original Codling Moth) and a range of climatic zones.  It is the fear of FCM infestation that has recently driven the EU to put up stricter measures to prevent its spread into Europe.

About 3.2 million cartons of citrus worth about 605 million rand ($36 million) is now rotting in European ports because of a change in rules that happened even while the fruit containers were on their way to the northern hemisphere. In face of a growing apprehension that its own horticulture may be affected by this moth, EU wants all citrus consignments from South Africa to go through a freeze treatment - an expensive add-on in the supply chain that makes the exports more expensive, and perhaps economically unviable for the African farmers. 

This is not very different from the dilemma faced by Indian mango exporters. Different  countries demand different post-harvest treatments before they allow imports of mangos - hot water treatment, vapour heat treatment or irradiation. Japan, UK and EU countries do not allow import of mango without vapour heat treatment - again an expensive process for small farmers. 

So ultimately, the irony - countries that produces that produce the best variety of citrus or mangos are unable to export it to the very markets that pay the best rates.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* SA oranges to EU  - https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/tonnes-of-fruit-stranded-in-eu-south-africa-battle-of-oranges/ 

* Constraints in mango exports from India -  http://indianecologicalsociety.com/society/wp-content/themes/ecology/volume_pdfs/1651904681.pdf

* https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/agri/conservation-ecology/ipm/Documents/FCM%20fact%20sheet%20ENG.pdf

* https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/managing-fruit-fly-in-mango/article7130611.ece

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_codling_moth

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codling_moth

A Calculus of Crystals

The word "calculus", I discovered last month, has two meanings. The first is of course what we learn at school - a branch of mathematics that deals with variable quantities. The second one is common only in the world of pathology - "a stone-like concretion of minerals and salts found in ducts or hollow organs of the body".

It is shards of the second calculus that we see in the picture above, the 'concretion' that caused me much pain and discomfort last month. It was apparently a set of two minerals attached to each other, calcium oxalate and uric acid, one smooth and layered while the other one with its typical radial spikes. 

Whatever be its composition and size, one first-hand lesson was that the degree of pain and discomfort depends primarily on where the stone is lodged. Mine was 6.4mm wide, and stuck at a bend on the ureter, just before it empties into the urinary bladder.

This was not a recent development. Call it carelessness or apathy but I had been carrying this one in my system for at least the past 15 years, and it used to show up with clockwork regularity during the annual medical check-ups. The radiologist would stop at a particular point on my belly and say, "There seems to be an obstruction here...do you feel any pain?...No? Well, then, drink lots of water, and maybe it will get flushed out on its own." 

Years rolled by. I started every morning with a few glasses of water, I continued with my regular distance-running, trekking and traveling. At some point the annual check-ups ceased, and I all but forgot about the the radiologist's word of caution...until last month.

On a hot, humid July afternoon, I developed a niggling pain under my left ribs. Initially I assumed it was due to a particularly heavy lunch I had that weekend - rajma-rice followed by a double helping of ice-cream. I thought it would clear up on its own but the pain just doubled up, even after a bout of vomiting.

For the next few days, there was no let up on the pain, just the intensity varied during the day. Sometimes dull and deep, then sharp and persistent, there was no posture that eased it - sitting, walking or lying down. Even taking a deep breath seemed to take some effort; the elastic on pyjamas hurt, and a complete loss of appetite meant that that I was consuming only liquids.

At a nearby hospital the GP too read the symptoms wrong - it was misdiagnosed it as acute Gastritis. When three days of medication did not provide any relief from the sharp, persistent pain that kept me awake all night, an ultrasound test gave the first clue that the doctor was trying to solve the wrong problem. The stomach was perfectly fine but there was a significant swelling of the left kidney - "Left distal uretic calculus with moderate hydroureteronephrosis, and mild perinehpritic soft tissue stranding". 

Translated from doctor-ese this simply meant that a stone in my left ureter had blocked the plumbing.  The old 'obstruction' had travelled down the ureter to a point where it had got completely stuck at a bend. Fluid trapped in my kidney had not only inflamed it but the tissues had also started getting damage. Something had to be done immediately to remove the blockage, before the rot spread into other complications.

I was actually quite relieved to hear this. It is a blessing to have an 'ordinary' problem, one that has a handy acronym, KSD (kidney stone disease), and something that affects 12 percent of the population. This also meant that there were SoPs for dealing with this in almost every hospital with minimum of hassles from the health insurance companies. So the course of action was also quite straightforward  - find a suitable hospital, and get the stone out ASAP.

We zeroed in on a hospital recommended by a friend, one that had an unusual name for an institution based in Delhi - Tirupati Stone Centre (TSC). Even though it was located at one of the busiest crossings I have seen in East Delhi (Karkadi Mor, Gagan Vihar), the hospital itself was an island of quiet efficiency, staffed by sensitive folks and a set of supremely competent nurses from Kerala.

At TSC, Dr. Ajay Agarwal took a look at the ultrasound and CT scans and concluded that immediate action was required. The very next day afternoon I was on an operation table for a spinal anaesthesia followed by a procedure that blasted my kidney stones with a laser-beam, and propped up my urethra with a temporary stent.  The procedure took about 40 minutes but it took about four hours for the anaesthesia to wear off, and for the gradual return of sensation to my limbs - little toes, ankles, knees, hips, and then the big toes!

I feel perfectly fine now - only the stent needs to be removed later this month. As in the case of high-school mathematics, it is quite a relief to be spared of the pain and discomfort that emerges from an unresolved calculus problem!

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For those who may find themselves among the 12 percent of the population facing the same ailment, here is a checklist of precautions, tests and drugs that you too may encounter - 

Precautions:

• Get a second opinion on the initial diagnosis - tests are important. In my case it was the ultrasound that led us to discover that the problem was with the kidney, not the stomach.
• At private hospitals that are run like Yatharth Hospital Noida, doctors can get their diagnosis wrong
• Hospital admin & accounting rules are such that the emergency services the staff is very hesitant about using their own stock of drugs  and disposables. Even in a critical situation be prepared to see your 'attendant' being sent off to buy injections and syringes!
• Telemedicine may be the in thing but insurance companies want prescriptions on paper! On a Sunday the doctor sent us a message on WhatsApp recommending a CT scan but this became s sticking point for the mediclaim company (NIAC) and caused considerable delay in approvals.

Tests: 

- Blood tests

- Urine tests + culture

- Ultra sound

- Kidney function test (KFT)

- Liver function test (LFT)

- CT - KUB - kidney, ureter and bladder

Medicines:

For Gastritis (mis-diagnosis at Yatharth Hospital)

- Pan 40 (Alkem) - Pantoprazole Gastro-resistant tabs: It's used for heartburn, acid reflux and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)...proton pump inhibitor (PPI), reduces acid in stomach --- https://www.1mg.com/generics/pantoprazole-210457

- Lesuride  (Sun pharma) - Levosulpiride tabs: atypical antipsychotic. It works by increasing the release of acetylcholine (a chemical messenger). This increases the movement of stomach and intestines, and prevents reflux (acid going up to the food pipe) --- https://www.1mg.com/generics/levosulpiride-210137

- Drotin DS (Walter-Bushell) - Drotaverine Hy: an antispasmodic medicine which relaxes the muscle gives and effective relief from pain, spasm or twitches of the smooth muscles in the stomach and heart --- https://www.practo.com/medicine-info/drotin-80-mg-tablet-20225

- Mucaine Gel (Pfyzer) --- https://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=14808

For Kidney inflammation (on WA)

- Ceftum 500 (GSK) - Cefuroxime Axetil - an antibiotic medicine used to treat bacterial infections --- https://www.1mg.com/drugs/ceftum-500mg-tablet-58680

- Enzoflam (Alkem) - Paracetamol Diclofenac: pain relief - Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and Paracetamol is an antipyretic (fever reducer) --- https://www.1mg.com/drugs/enzoflam-tablet-64343

Post-Op:

- Exfaro 300 (Intas) - Faropenem Sodium ER: Anti-bacterial...can cause diarrhea as a side-effect

- Tab A to Z (Alkem) - multi-vitamin capsules

- Rablet-D (Lupin) - Rabeprazol sodium: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) used to treat stomach problems (acid redux, ulcers, etc) by decreasing the amount of acid  --- https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-17504/rabeprazole-oral/details

- Roliflo 4mg (Sun pharma) - Tamsulosin + Tolterodine: to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia...to relax the muscles of the bladder and prostate gland...to control urge to urinate https://www.1mg.com/drugs/roliflo-od-4-capsule-er-123224

- Drolgan for SOS only (Ipca labs) - Drotaverine (80mg) + Aceclofenac (100mg): to reduce abdominal pain and bloating...relaxing muscles of stomach and gut by blocking certain chemical messengers --- https://www.1mg.com/drugs/drolgan-tablet-64223

- Alkastone syrup (Corona remedies) - Potassium Citrate + Magnesium Citrate + Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine): makes urine less acidic, gets rid of uric acid, dissolves stones...B6 prevents stone formation --- https://www.1mg.com/drugs/alkashot-b6-oral-solution-delicious-pineapple-sugar-free-636244

- Amiject 500 (Alkem labs) - Amikacin sulphate injection recco by Nurse Jasmine @Tirupati: class of drugs known as aminoflycoside antibiotic...stops growth of bacteria --- https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-3889/amikacin-injection/details 

Prior to Removal of Stent:

- Niftran 100mg (Swiss Garnier Biotech India PL) - anti-bacterial UTI, once daily until removal of stent two weeks later - https://www.1mg.com/drugs/niftran-100mg-capsule-150942

- 2 Dulcoflex (Sanofi) tabs -  https://www.1mg.com/otc/dulcoflex-5mg-tablet-for-constipation-laxative-bowel-movement-regulator-otc131912  + + 4 R-Col (activated charcoal) - https://www.1mg.com/otc/healthvit-r-col-activated-charcoal-250mg-capsule-otc556663

 

Revisiting the Epics

I thought I knew a thing or two about Indian epics and classics.  Over the past months, two books and a podcast have undermined this notion, and reminded me that my knowledge is, at best, narrow and woefully shallow.

The two books were - S Jaishankar's "The India Way" and Roberto Calasso's "Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India" (Translated by Tim Parks), and the podcast series, "The Vatapi Curry Point" by Krish Ashok and Anirudh Kanisetti.

Jaishankar's book is mainly about the evolving global stance of the Indian state - the way it views itself, and the rest of the world. Much of the book reads like a guide for career diplomats, but still, what is of interest in this context is Chapter 3, titled "Krishna's Choice". In this he lays out observations on India as a civilisational entity trying to fit itself into a narrower idea of a nation state, a concept born from the Peace of Westphalia - 'an international society of sovereign state entities possessing the monopoly of force within their mutually recognised territories'.

He begins with a quote (or admonition!) from Goethe -  "A nation that doesn't honour its past has no future", and discusses the importance of dissimulation in statecraft. While most of us may be familiar with Kautilya's 'Sama, Dana, Danda, Bheda' (alliance, compensation, force and trickery), as ways of approaching political challenges, the role of specific characters in the Mahabharata was something I did not know.

Take for instance, the role of Susarma. He was the chief of the Trigarta warriors from a kingdom around present day Punjab:

"Traditional allies of the Kurus, they conceived a special enmity towards Arjuna, who defeated them while preparing the ground for Yudhistira's coronation ceremony....their single-minded hostility proved very dear to the Pandavas. Constantly pouring oil into the Kaurava fire, they collaborated in the effort to smoke the Pandavas from the Virata kingdom during their period of exile...their challenge to Arjuna of a fight to the death diverted him away from the main battle, leading to the capture of his brother Yudhistira alive by the Kauravas...The moral here is of the danger of smaller adversaries whose single-mindedness goes to the extent of destroying themselves to inflict damage."

Obviously the reference here is to Pakistan and the state's attitude towards India. Jaishankar presents other examples as well:  Shalya, the maternal uncle of Pandavas, who is tricked by a false flag operation into committing to the Kaurava side; Krishna's brother Balarama, is genuinely neutral as he has taught warfare to both sides and opts out of the conflict by taking a long pilgrimage during the war; and Rukmi of Vidharba, another notable warrior who stays out of the war, by overestimating his own value to both sides and ends up accepted by neither.

Calasso's "Ka", on the other hand, examines the epics from a different dimension. While in Jaishankar's book we can connect to geographical locations that match places in India today, Calasso reminds us that the stars and constellations in their supra-human forms played an active role in the human drama, in this part of the world:

Daksha - "he who is skillful" - emerges from the thumb of the creator, Prajapati / Brahma's right hand. Over time, he becomes a king and weds Prasuti, and the couple have a whole bandwagon of daughters. 27 of these daughters marry Soma, the moon god, who places them in the heavens as dancing troop of 27 Nakshatras/stars. The most headstrong of his daughters is Sati who insists of marrying Shiva, the most reclusive and fiery-tempered of all gods; the one who traps the whole Milky Way (Akashaganga) in his tresses and brings it down to earth as the river Ganga!

The last one, a podcast, is delightfully irreverent. It is a freewheeling discussion on history, food, and science between two authors and social-media-stars, Krish Ashok and Anirudh Kanisetti on Instagram. It pokes fun at the prevailing dogmas, ridicules folks set on creating communal divisions while also asking interesting questions. 

Here is one: What is the similarity between Arjuna and Maradonna?

This question zapped me out for a while. How can there be anything in common between a hero of the epic Mahabharata and a modern football icon? Turns out that just like the tenuous but intriguing linkages brought out in the BBC series Connections 2 & 3,  the connection here too lies in something unexpected -  the metal Silver.

According to Krish Ashok, the Sanskrit name Arjuna is based on the Indo-European word for silver - "Argentum".  Arjuna - Argentum - Argentina - Maradonna!

There is certainly a lot more to the epics than meets the eye :)

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REFERENCES & LINKS

- Jaishankar, S (2021): The India Way

- Calasso, Roberto (): Ka - Stories of the Mind and Gods of India

- Vatapi Curry - Insta - https://www.instagram.com/_masalalab/?hl=en

Power Supply vs. Demand

A couple of days ago Delhi consumed more power in a single day than ever before. 

According to reports from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), the national capital recorded its highest ever peak power demand on Tuesday (29 June 2022) noon when it crossed 7,695MW. In the coming days this is expected to cross 8000MW - this is quite a jump from the previous recored of 7,409MW on 2 July, 2019.

The spike in demand has been attributed to the really hot and and humid summer this year with the city's Heat Index (HI) or 'real feel' temperature climbing up to 53C.

While such high temperatures are par for the course for summers in North India, what surprised many of us is near absence of power outages this year. Not once did an extended power cut knock out the inverters leaving us sleepless on sweltering, sweat-soaked bedsheets, seeking refuge on balconies teeming with mosquitos.

What explains this? 

A part of the answer comes from an oped written earlier this month by RK Singh, the current cabinet minister for power and renewable energy. Writing for the Hindustan Times, he presented some interesting numbers:

• India's capacity to generate power was 248,554 MW in 2014. in the last 8 years this has increased by 169,110MW, taking the total power generation capacity to over 400GW
• Maximum demand this year - 215 GW
• The country now has the world's largest integrated grid. Inter-regional transfer capacity has increased from 37,950MW to 112,250MW.
• At COP-21 India pledged to increase power generated from renewable energy sources to 40% by 2030. This goal has already been achieved in November 2021

What is puzzling here is the big gap between capacity and demand. Why are we ramping up power generation capacity when the actual demand is far less? 

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* SinghRK(2022): The Growth of the Energy Sector is Unparalleled, HT, 16Jun22 - https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/no-power-crisis-in-india-generation-capacity-more-than-peak-demand-govt-122031500831_1.html

* PTI (2022): No Power Crisis in India, Business Standard (15 Mar., 2022) - https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/no-power-crisis-in-india-generation-capacity-more-than-peak-demand-govt-122031500831_1.html

* GoI - Ministry for Power and Renewable Energy - https://powermin.gov.in/en/content/honble-cabinet-minister-power-new-renewable-energy

Kokoro

 

I like books that breathe life into familiar streets.

"Kokoro" by Natsume Sōseki begins with a brief description of the streets of Kamakura, Japan, as seen through the eyes of a young student in the early 1900s. Almost a century after the book was written I too made my way  from famous Buddha statue at Kōtoku-In, down from Hase to the road that leads to the main beach where the main protagonist of Kokoro records his first meeting with an older man who becomes his "Sensei", his mentor and guide.

The Sensei is a compulsive loner - a reticent man who prefers to keep to himself. Yet an equation develops between the old man and his persistent, and oftentimes insolent student, which bring up interesting discussion on the nature of life and relationships. I was struck in particular by this observation - 

"You seem to be under the impression that there is special breed of bad humans. There is no such thing as a stereotype bad man in this world. Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or, at least, ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men. One must always be on one's guard."

Toyota's Rogue Wipers

 Toyota has a flaw that has slipped through its famous production systems. A problem it chooses to ignore - or brazen it out - but the backstreet mechanics of Delhi are making the most of it, poking fun at the global auto giant and its much vaunted claim to high quality products.

The problem is with the switch assembly that controls a range of functions related to windscreen wipers, headlights and indicators.

Set yourself in this situation: You are driving down a busy expressway. It is rush hour traffic and there are vehicles of all shapes and sizes speeding alongside with their customary disregard for driving etiquette - jumping lanes, flashing high-beams, blasting away at their horns...you get the picture. Suddenly, for no apparent reason your windscreen wiper jumps to life, squeaking long arcs on the dry glass surface,  refusing to respond to any switches, distracting you from your focus on the road. Clearly a dangerous situation to be in.

The first time this happened on our Toyota Etios in 2018, the only way to stop the windscreen wipers was to pull off the road, to shut down the engine and restart. We took it immediately to the Toyota workshop and they said it was a 'rare malfunction' and that the only solution was to replace the entire switch assembly. At around INR8000 it was an expensive spare part to replace.

A few months into the Covid lockdown the new assembly unit developed exactly the same problem.  This had happened well within a year of replacement but the vehicle could not be taken to the workshop due to the lockdown restrictions, and the only consolation Toyota could offer was, "If you had sent us an email complaint during the lockdown we could have extended the warranty period...". 

So what was the solution? - "Sorry, but the only option is to replace the assembly unit once again...it is however not readily available, so once you confirm your order, we will get it for you in a month's time..". Then came the kicker - the cost of the unit had gone up - it was now over INR12,000!

We fretted about this for a while. Was it worth spending so much money for second replacement? Would we have to replace the assembly yet again a year later? What if the sudden activation of the zombie wiper led to an accident on the roads?

Ultimately we decided to get a second opinion from one of the numerous mechanics who hang around the tiny workshops at Sector 2, NOIDA. It was young Irshad who took up my case. He took one look at the car and said nonchalantly, "Since you don't want to get the assembly replaced again, I will solve this problem for INR300. It will take about 15 minutes."

Then, as I stood by watching in wonder and amazement, he deftly removed the steering wheel, pried out the assembly panel, and opened a plastic cap that exposed the electronic circuitry. He looked closely at the soldered points for a few minutes, turning it over, checking and re-checking, and then with a quick, sharp flick of the screwdriver, made a 3mm incision into the green plate.

Clearly this was nothing new for him - it was a practiced hand at work. "I have done this for scores of cars", he confirmed, "It is a common problem in Toyota cars as well as the Maruti Swift model...the assembly is too expensive so I get lots of business!"

As promised by Irshad the car wipers have never gone rogue after this 'operation'. The only downside is that the 'mist' and 'low' options on the switches do not work anymore but I am quite happy with the remaining two options, 'medium' and 'high', fully functional.  On the whole this was like having an appendicitis operation instead of suffering a sudden, painful rupture!

One important learning from this experience has been that the Japanese claim to high quality autos needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and loads of skepticism...so much for the acclaimed Toyota Production Systems.

Trek to Indrahar Jot

It had been more than two years since Covid-19 scuttled my annual treks into the Himalayas. So when a friend set up a new WA group titled, "Ab-ki-baar-Indrahar" (This time, Indrahar), the first thing I did was to look up the place on Google Maps. 

At an altitude of 4342m it did not seem like a big deal. After all, our last trek was to Kugti Pass on the Pir Panjal Range at 5050m. Indrahar Jot is further south within the Dhauladhar range, the first snowbound mountain ranges that you see as you approach the Himalayas from the  Punjab plains. I had imagined this to be be an easy trek. It was not.

This trek was a reminder - if any were needed - that each mountain range has its own personality and quirks. The most striking thing about this trail is that despite being located in an area that receives good rainfall, there are no natural streams along the entire route. Water is available for free at only one point near the snow-line, and that too from a PVC pipe carrying glacier meltwater!

Our trail started from Gallu Temple, just a few kilometres away from Mcleodganj, the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-exile. A few hours of walking through forest trails carpeted with rhododendron leaves brought us to the barren Triund ridge. Until this point you could see plenty of casual touristy visitors dressed in summer clothes, many accompanied by children, and a few with their jarring bluetooth speakers in full blast.

At this time of the year, mornings are nice and bright in Triund but the weather turns foul in the afternoon. Mountain peaks that are clearly visible in the morning light get enveloped in heavy clouds by noon. We did not know that the weather would change so suddenly, and so ended up losing half-a-day on this ridge, huddled in a stone cottage, sheltering from howling winds, hailstones and stinging raindrops sweeping down from the slopes of the Dhauladhar mountains.

Few venture beyond Triund to Laka glacier or Lahesh Cave, and even fewer go further on to Indrahar Jot, the pass located close to Moonpeak. We pitched our tents near the Snowline near the Laka glacier, removed non-essential stuff from our backpacks and carried on across the glacier towards the rocky steep slopes leading to the pass. Climbing is difficult on this stretch and descending even more so - especially when the stones turn slippery from fresh rain and sleet. 

One important thing to remember on this trail, apart from the dearth of spring-water, is that the climbing window here is rather small. We missed half a day stuck at Triund, so even though we started before 0600 and pitched our tents at Snowline by 0730 it was already past 0830 when we started the final leg. This was about three hours too late because by the time we reached close to the pass it was already past 1330 and heavy clouds were blocking the path ahead. Not wanting to get stuck in blinding fog and rain, we had to turn back about 500m away from the ridge. 

Perhaps the most memorable thing about treks like these are the amazing people you get to meet along the way. On our way to Triund we met Mr. A who was climbing on a prosthetic leg; At Snowline there were two cheerful 65+ year's old German ladies, both avid trekkers on their way back home to Auroville after spending a week in the mountains. Then there was Nitin Vashisht a sprightly young fellow from Dharamsala who cheerfully sped past us at Snowline, climbed up alone to the top of Indrahar, right through the cloud cover, and  met us a few hours later on his way back when we were still resting at Lehesh Cave!

The most unexpected meeting was with Santosh Babu, a Tamilian working as a government Revenue Inspector in Chennai who also served as a part-time instructor with the Bharat Scouts and Guides. A compulsive mountaineer, he had trained himself at the IISM Gulmarg and set aside two months every year to climb mountains. He had already crossed the Hanta Pass and Keliheni Pass. This year, Babu has set his sights on the Moonpeak (4750m), the highest point up the Indrahar Jot ridge. In 2023 he planned to scale the Manaslu in Nepal, and then hoped to get a sponsorship of about INR 3,000,000 required to climb Mt. Everest!

It is hard to believe that just a few days ago I was trudging across a Himalayan glacier, sweating from the strain, struggling to catch my breath...and here I am now, back on the hot, sultry plains, sitting in an apartment in Noida, and sweating profusely without doing anything! 

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REFERENCES / LINKS

* India Hikes - Indrahar Pass Trek -  https://indiahikes.com/documented-trek/indrahar-pass-trek

* Wiki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrahar_Pass