Satyamev Jayate and the great Indian ‘cynical’ middle class

Having grown up watching the serials of the kinds of Vyomkesh Bakshi, Malgudi days, Chanakya, Surbhi, Bharat – ek khoj, etc., the quality of today’s tv shows (barring a few) makes me vomit, to the extent that I’ve stopped watching tv for quite some time now. Gone are the days when we used to wake up to the tunes of mile-sur-mera-tumhara and all the family members used to be glued to the tv for watching 7pm news. (Well, the less said about today’s news channels, the better. Another topic, another day…). 

This spirit was rekindled when Amir Khan launched his much awaited tv serial – Satyamev Jayate. The concept is so simple, yet so catchy. Behind the glory of ‘shining’ India, lies a bitter truth which no one is daring to unearth. The idea has been very well conceptualized, thoroughly studied, and perfectly executed in a way that it touches a wide range of audience. Having seen the deteriorating conditions in villages (which constitutes more than 70% of the population in India) first hand, the so called glories of a handful of city population doesn't impress me much. The show has thrown some light on a number of critical issues that are plaguing Indian society today. While a major section of the society has welcomed this initiative with open arms, a certain section of the society (the cribbers) is cribbing about certain things such as Amir Khan using this as a platform to promote himself, the show showing India in a bad light, etc. While I certainly feel that the show has its own shortcomings, I still think it's a very good beginning towards a great cause. If Amir Khan is able to promote himself with this show, so be it. As long as the show is spreading awareness about the problems that the society is facing, I think it's a well spent hour of the week. More importantly, it's bringing back some value to the television. 

I've observed that most of these cribbers belong to the great Indian middle class. This is the same middle class which has always been finding some way or the other to be unhappy in whatever situation they are in. Having been through a lot of hardships throughout their lives, some of us have become so much cynical that we have lost hope. Seeing a myriad of issues surrounding us, we've lost faith that this situation could ever be reversed. The bad is when we lose faith that we can do something good to the society, but the worst is when we try to pull back people who haven't lost faith yet. In my humble opinion, we have no right to question someone's intentions, when we ourselves have done zilch towards such a cause. I think it's high time we stop throwing mud on each and everyone, and at least appreciate the good things being done by a handful, if not contribute towards it.

When should we drink water?

We all know that water is good for our health. It helps in cleansing the body of toxins, helps digestion, increases metabolism and so on. The most common question I've seen people asking about water drinking habits is: how much water should one drink in a day? And there are various standard answers available to this question. Some go by the "8 by 8" rule - drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day, while some customize it further depending upon the body weight. In a nutshell, we do have some concrete answer to this commonly asked question.

However, I haven't seen many people bothered about when one should drink water throughout the day. And perhaps due to this lack of interest in this question, I'm yet to see a concrete answer to this question either. I've seen people recommending drinking/not-drinking water at all the possible times throughout the day: before the meal, during the meal, after the meal, before the workout, during the workout, after the workout, so on and so forth. People have proposed various theories supporting their claims on when one should drink/not-drink water. Out of those, I'm convinced about the following two things so far: Drink water the first thing in the morning and Drink water some time before the meal.

For the remaining timings, I'm still searching for the right answers...

Brown Rice

Having started exercising on a regular basis, I've also started keeping an eye on the food that we eat. Through one of my friends, I came to know about the benefits of brown rice. I did some research about brown rice on the internet and here's a succinct summary of my findings:

§ What is Brown Rice?

Brown rice is also called 'unpolished rice' and is brown in color. It is actually how the rice would look before it goes through the entire process of polishing. Every rice grain has an outer layer of a slightly stiff cover called the 'hull' or husk. The husk is always removed from the seed for both white and brown rice. Under this layer is a thin brownish layer called the 'bran' layer. This brownish layer on the rice seed clings to the seed and is removed through a polishing process. In the case of brown rice, the brownish bran layer is left intact and only the top stiff cover is removed. 

§ Health Benefits

The most important benefit of brown rice is that it is rich in fiber, which is present in the brown bran layer of the grains. The health benefits of a high fiber diet are being stressed by medical experts and this alone is a very good reason why you should eat brown rice instead of the regular white rice. The health benefits of high fiber content foods are numerous, it reduces the possibility of heart diseases, helps avoid abrupt spikes in sugar levels, helps digestion and reduces constipation etc. Some medical tests have indicated that the health benefits of brown rice could include controlling high blood pressure. Besides high fiber content, brown rice also contains other nutrients like, B vitamins, manganese, selenium and iron. By eating brown rice, you will also get the health benefits that such nutrients give the human body. 

§ Pricing

If you thought that brown rice would be cheaper than white rice as it is only partially processed, you are wrong. You will find that in most shops and grocery stores, brown rice costs much more than white rice. This is primarily due to the shorter shelf life as comapred to the whote rice. Brown rice develops a rancid flavour if stored unrefrigerated for more than 5 to 6 months. This is due to the natural oils in the bran layer becoming stale with time. Another reason could be that brown rice despite its growing popularity, has a total consumption that is less than white rice. The economies of larger production scale work in favour of white rice as far as pricing is concerned.

§ Storage

If you look at the brown rice grains, you will notice the brownish bran layer that clings to the grain. In the normal process used to get white rice, this bran layer would be taken off in a polishing process. It is this bran layer that can be affected by prolonged storage and give the brown rice a rancid flavour if stored for more than four to five months. The rancid flavour of brown rice when stored for long periods, is due the natural oils in the bran layer of the rice grains becoming stale. You can increase the shelf life of brown rice by refrigerating the (uncooked) rice. However if you make a direct comparison, white rice has a longer shelf life as compared to brown rice. When you shop for your brown rice, check the manufacturing date on the packet and choose a store that has a high customer turnaround. 

§ Taste

If you compare the texture of brown rice and white rice after cooking, the brown rice will have a much firmer texture than white rice. It is this nutty kind of flavour that makes people love brown rice once they have tried it. White rice on the other hand gets a little more soft when cooked. Brown rice has an appetising flavour of it's own, on the other hand white rice is often enhanced with other flavours. Some Asian countries have become experts in adding flavour and fragrance to white rice. This is very rarely done in the case of brown rice and the natural flavour of this rice is one of the reasons for it's growing popularity. 

§ Cooking

Most of us are quite used to cooking white rice and the basic concept remains the same when cooking brown rice too. However, when you make brown rice make sure that you allow the rice to soak in the water for around 25 to 30 minutes before turning on the heat. This is the right way to cook brown rice as the grains are a bit more tough and stiff. Soaking in water before cooking the brown rice helps to soften the grains. Cooking the brown rice with too much of water makes the grains stick together and feel like a paste. On the other hand using too little water to cook brown rice will, make the grains too stiff and will also not bring out the full flavour of brown rice. Many cooks would offer advise on how to cook brown rice, but it is best for you to learn the basics and then do the fine tuning to suit your taste. When working out the proportion of water to be added to cook brown rice, start out with a 1:2 ratio. This means that you add 2 cups of water to 1 cup of brown rice. Complete the brown rice cooking and check the texture of the rice by eating a few cooked grains (allow to cool sufficiently before trying this). This will give you a starting parameter to work with and you can then make subtle changes to the time that the rice is soaked (before cooking) and also the proportion of water and brown rice. 

§ Suggestions

If you have never eaten brown rice before and would like to make a start, a good idea would be to mix one portion of white rice and one portion of brown rice when cooking. Gradually reduce the proportion of white rice and allow the brown rice to be the major portion in your rice consumption. You will soon start liking the full, rich nut like flavour and texture of brown rice. Continue with your brown rice diet and if you ever try white rice again, you will immediately feel that it has a bland and starchy flavour that does not impress you. Few people change back to eating white rice after having eaten brown rice for a couple of months. 

Make sure that you see the packing date on when you buy brown rice. You should ideally consume the brown rice within 3 to 4 months from the packing date. Refrigerating it in a tightly sealed plastic bag can increase the shelf life to around 5 to 6 months. Storing brown rice beyond this period gives the rice a stale rancid flavour. 

You might find that some brown rice seeds are very brown while others look like they have been partly stripped of the bran (brown layer). This is because the polish process may be completely left off (fully brown seeds) or partially done. In cases where the brown rice is partially polished, the seeds could appear to have a lighter shade of brown or even appear a bit patchy with brown and white patches. The cooking time and soaking time for the rice might differ based on the extent to which the rice is polished. A little practice would enable you to work out the right amounts of soaking time and the right quantity of water to be added when cooking your brown rice. 

Rat Race

I finally found out the perfect definition of Rat Race in the book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki. Here's an excerpt from the book:

"If you look at the life of the average-educated, hard-working person, there is a similar path. The child is born and goes to school. The proud parents are excited because the child excels, gets fair to good grades, and is accepted into a college. The child graduates, maybe goes on to graduate school and then does exactly as programmed: looks for a safe, secure job or career. The child finds that job, maybe as a doctor or a lawyer, or joins the Army or works for the government. Generally, the child begins to make money, credit cards start to arrive in mass, and the shopping begins, if it already hasn't.

"Having money to burn, the child goes to places where other young people just like them hang out, and they meet people, they date, and sometimes they get married. Life is wonderful now, because today, both men and women work. Two incomes are bliss. They feel successful, their future is bright, and they decide to buy a house, a car, a television, take vacations and have children. The happy bundle arrives. The demand for cash is enormous. The happy couple decides that their careers are vitally important and begin to work harder, seeking promotions and raises. The raises come, and so does another child and the need for a bigger house. They work harder, become better employees, even more dedicated. They go back to school to get more specialized skills so they can earn more money. Maybe they take a second job. Their incomes go up, but so does the tax bracket they're in and the real estate taxes on their new large home, and their Social Security taxes, and all the other taxes. They get their large paycheck and wonder where all the money went. They buy some mutual funds and buy groceries with their credit card. The children reach 5 or 6 years of age, and the need to save for college increases as well as the need to save for their retirement. .

"That happy couple, born 35 years ago, is now trapped in the Rat Race for the rest of their working days. They work for the owners of their company, for the government paying taxes, and for the bank paying off a mortgage and credit cards.

"Then, they advise their own children to `study hard, get good grades, and find a safe job or career.' They learn nothing about money, except from those who profit from their naïveté, and work hard all their lives. The process repeats into another hard-working generation. This is the `Rat Race'."

Things to remember while riding a motorbike

Here are some of the lessons I’ve learnt while riding motorbikes in various parts of India:

·         Choose a bike with wide tyres. Bikes with wider tyres are stabler and have a lesser tendency to skid.

·         Don’t overuse the clutch. Use it only while changing the gears or coming to a complete stop. Don’t use it while riding downhill. Excessive use of clutch wastes fuel and also reduces engine life.

·         Switch off the engine while waiting at the traffic signal. Avoid excessive throttling while waiting at the signal.

·         Slow down on the speed-breakers. Speeding on the speed-breakers can cause severe back pain.

·         Always keep an eye on the tyre pressure and stick to the recommended settings. Insufficient tyre pressure not only reduces the life of the tyres, but also increases fuel consumption.

·         Refuel the bike only at the selected and trusted fuel stations. Constant variation in the fuel quality might affect the performance of the bike.

·         If you are riding in a group, keep the headlights on even during the day. Makes it easier for your fellow riders to track you.

·         A simple rule to check whether a person driving ahead of you is able to locate you (especially for the trucks that don’t have the center rear-view mirror) - if you can't see the driver in his rear-view mirrors, then he can't see you.

·         If you are being chased by a dog while riding (very common in India), don’t try to speed away in panic. Just stop for a while. Most of the times, the dog will stop chasing once you stop. Dogs have a tendency to chase moving objects.

·         Enjoy the scenic views, the gushing wind, and the adrenaline rush while riding!

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