My OperaTuesday, September 27, 2011 2:27:00 PM
Recently I went to Bombay. It wasn’t a pleasure trip entirely, but we tried to make it one. We humans want change from the same atmosphere; we feel a kind of fatigue, due to adhering to the same routine day in and day out. They go on wearing fatigue like coat .Just like one gets bored eating the same food at home that one craves for something different, the upshot of which takes you back longing for home made food. Humans are very strange that way.
So back on track on my subject the trip to Bombay, We were feeling a bit enervated and wanted a change of scene, at an opportune time the trip came, So we jumped at it. With it surfaced the hoary chestnut argument ‘’which is a better city Delhi or Bombay?’’As far as I am concerned I have love-hate relationship with the city Delhi. I love it having lived there better part of two decades. Even better than Bhopal a city where I grew up. I am not alone William Dalrymple ,Mark Tulliy, Tom Alter came from different country and made Delhi, in the case of Tom Alter son of Christian missionary he was in uttarakhand later made Bombay his home.
As someone has opined’’ Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.’
Somebody told me Delhi grows on you. At first you may not like it but you start to like it as time passes. Although we get bored and long for change but when we return we couldn’t stop grinning after all despite all the imperfections home is where heart is.
Delhi is the political capital of the country where as Bombay is the commercial capital.
As far as political apathy is concerned both are same, though as a political party instigates people against migrant workers in Bombay, I think that is neither possible nor advisable as Delhi is made by migrant workers, as it is the case with United states of America.
Delhi’s roads are much wider and clean. Public transport is excellent. On the question of which city is filthier I think Bombay is the clear winner. Although it is disputeable.
Boys and girls in Delhi are far trendier gone are the days of dressing like behanjis and Bhayyas as some Bollywood actress commented.
When we talk about night life ie night clubs, I am not a visitor, so I can’t comment on that, but I am told that Delhiites work harder even party harder.
Bottom line is ‘’There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home. ‘So jury is still out there.
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Monday, 26 September 2011
Almost as bad as T.V
It's (T.V) the menace that everyone loves to hate but can't seem to live without. ~Paddy Chayevsky
Television (TV) is’’ a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or colored, with accompanying sound’’. The etymology of the word has a mixed Latin and Greek origin, meaning "far sight": Greek tele (τῆλε), far, and Latin visio, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person)
Terrestrial television in India started with the experimental telecast starting in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio. The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio.
In our household there wasn’t a television set. We used to entertain by traditional means. We children used to play a lot. As soon as our home work got over we used to put our books in the bag and race to a nearest play ground. We would play all sorts of games, from hide and seek to gilli-danda. The idea was to entertain ourselves though we weren’t aware of the health aspect as it wasn’t harped upon unlike today. The by product was health. Other source of entertainment was cinema. We would plan for the theatre well in advance .At the appointed time, we would be dressed in the best bib and tucker, and there would be almost festival like atmosphere.
Books were our best childhood friends. During summer holidays our friends would set up informal library pooling all the books we had. Apart from that we would celebrate all the festival even going to the extent of arranging cultural programs, taking part in it.
Our encounter with television wasn’t until 1984. Though in India television came in 1959 but it was popularized during Asiad games, in 1982. I remember the programs ‘’The Lucy Show’’, Different Strokes, some of them.
Now there are so many channels and so many programs, which put one in predicament as to which program one should watch. Even now I watch English channels like Star World,ZCafe,B.B.C,CNN,etc.
If we discuss some of the programs on Star World like Bones which featured Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley and Eric Millegan. The story is about Forensic Anthropologist Kathy Rreichs, and a federal agent, both of whom together solve crimes with the help of their team, in the process they impart a lot of knowledge. Just concluded serial was Lie To Me. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth through applied psychology: interpreting micro expressions, through the Facial Action Coding System, and body language. The first season was spectacular, the second season not so but watchable. It would be a treason if I do not talk about Master Chef Australia, an award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British Master Chef. It is produced by Fremantle Media Australia. Restaurateur and Chef Gary Mehigan, Chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as the show's main judges. They set the competitors tough challenges, where as winning will give competitor a reward mostly a private class by a celebrated chef and losing will eliminate the competitor from the show. There is also a Master class in which one of the judges save Matt Preston as he is not a Chef but a food critic would demonstrate his culinary skills. Master Chef India was telecast last year in which two Chefs along with Akshay Kumar hosted the show, was a complete disaster. The show was dominated by Akshay Kumar while the two Chefs meekly stood. That was high drama which reflected Indian obsession of Bollywood actors.
I am not fond of watching Hindi serials, mostly because the story line hasn’t moved from Saas-Bahu topics. What buggers me is that like Hindi serials who wears heavy ornaments and zari saris ? These serials tend to continue for years and years. Why can’t they make serials which have some substance?
B.B.C Entertainment channel is very informative specially Earth in which they tell us about wild life. Sir David Frederick Attenborough a British broadcaster and naturalist hosts the show, which is a real treat. One Hindi serial I liked which is on Sab channel, F.I.R. It’s a comedy gone awry. Half an hour program enjoyable though after some time fatigue sets in.
If I have given the impression that I sit in front of TV whole day its not true. In my childhood there wasn’t T.V, so we have to rely on different types of things to keep us entertained, in which books, games, and other activities played a big part which reflect in our personalities. Today T.V , Video Games, computers occupy our children’s attention. Books, games are losing out. If T.V programs captivate children then it’s better for them to watch such program which impart knowledge as well as entertain them. We lack those programs. Apparently we don’t have enough money to produce those kinds of program, but we somehow have enough “budget” to buy those outlandish jewellery and costumes.
The bottom line is it takes a lot for a child to grow healthy and for his all round development, and today’s atmosphere is found wanting on so many accounts.
The reality is like every powerful source ie fire, water, technology is both a friend and foe, it’s a powerful tool which can be used to mould one’s personality and can be used for greater good for humanity
books
Books are very important for those who value them. This is fast becoming a lost cause, as now days children do not read them. They argue that they have much more advanced technology to keep up with the world, if one thinks that’s the usefulness of books, like computers with the access to World Wide Web. Actually, if we say that the computers have taken over old charm of books, that’s not an exaggeration, as computers fulfill every need we expect from books, they entertain, give knowledge, so much so children of gen y do not go out to play, they play on computers. It’s not the same as going to the field and playing the actual game, watching game or any entertainment is watching it vicariously. As someone has said “TV: If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book.” My thought exactly. As Bern William said ‘’Books had instant replay long before televised sports.’’
‘’Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.’’
I love books. I have been reading since I was a small girl. I and my two siblings would devour books during breakfast, lunch and dinner; our exasperated mother could not persuade us to be part with the books, at least during meals, but we have none of it. I am happy that I was able to inculcate reading habit in my child; her appetite for books is voracious. We read all kinds of books, but we adore crime thrillers better. Our favorite writers are Val Mcdermid, Ian Rankin, Sheila Quigley, Jonathan Kellermen, Alex Gray, Tim Weaver, Jeffery Deaver John Chase, and Fiona Walker. Right now I am reading R.J.Ellory’s A Simple Act of Violence, it is almost over and I liked it very much. The book has about six hundred pages, but, its very captivating. There is never a dull moment. Otherwise what generally happens is that the story rambles on and on and you long for the story to get over. I even enjoy children’s books. My favorite is Enid Blyton. She believed that writers have duty to impart some lessons in morality, especially writers of children’s books.
Technology is so improved that we can read books on Kindl ,a cell phone like thingy. It is being said that that on kindl you can store lots of books. I prefer paper books. The joy of buying a new book and reading it sitting in a comfortable chair and having a cup of coffee, my kind of heaven. I believe that books tell a lot of the reader. I consider it an insult to the book if it is not read. There can be and will be fair weather friends but books are always faithful to its readers. As Confucius said “you cannot open a book without learning something”.
In the words of Oscar Wilde, If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all”. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. There is no friend as loyal as a book.
Ernest Hemingway
A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.
There is no denying that books are important. A child is introduced to books when he or she is barely two or three years old, and books are with him for rest of his life one way or the other, so is it any wonder that they influence us so much?
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Friday, 5 August 2011
fat stigma
Linnaeus, that great classifier of living things, gave us our biological name Homo sapiens (meaning "wise man") the human life is supposed to be very beautiful and the most superior of all the lives on the earth. We are blessed with beauty, and superior brains. Our forefathers were hunter-gatherers, nomads, who went from one place to another in search of food, unsure, whether or not they would get their next meal. They were accustomed to doing hard work.
AS HUMANS migrated out of Africa around 50,000 years ago and moved across the planet, evolution may have latched onto a gene linked to risk-taking and adventurousness. According to Chris Stringer forty years ago, no one believed that modern humans could have originated in Africa, until the paper "Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution", was published by Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking and Allan Wilson, for it showed that a tiny and peculiar part of our genome, inherited only through mothers and daughters was derived from an African ancestor about 200,000 years ago..
Linnaeus said of Homo sapiens "know thyself". Knowing ourselves means a recognition that becoming modern is the path we perceive when looking back on our own evolutionary history. That history seems special to us, of course, because we owe our very existence to it.
In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the cleverest brains survived. They had to struggle day and night against cold and hunger. They were forced to invent tools. They learned how to sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers. They were obliged to put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the rays of the sun. And so the glacial period, which had threatened to destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced man to use his brain. As we, by ‘’we ‘’I mean the humans, walked towards modernity, they didn’t have to hunt their food, technology assured, that they lived in comfort. But they had to face different kinds of problems; one of them is becoming fat. Reasons for it are plenty, change in life style, eating habits, lack of exercise, etc,
Along with these there are other reasons like genes and some people have trouble with the signalling system which tells them when to eat, is broken down. They feel hunger, say two Philadelphia researchers, and is. They feel hunger pangs, but they fail to get the message to take in food. As a paradoxical result, they eat more and more often.
During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. Figures are not available for India, but I am guessing they would be high as well. Fat people are harming the planet by contributing to climate change, according to Sir Jonathan Porritt, the Government's chief green adviser. He pointed out overweight people eat more protein-rich food such as beef or lamb, which is responsible for producing greenhouse gases because of the toxic methane livestock emits. He also said obese people are more likely to use cars rather than walk or cycle, therefore producing more carbon emission, besides, those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
Fat stigma existed everywhere, but was highest in Paraguay, researchers found, followed by American Samoa, a place where big used to be considered beautiful. Negative attitudes were also found in Puerto Rico, another culture that once celebrated rotundity. Surprisingly, the U.S. rated among the lowest for fat stigma .In my opinion one should be healthy, irrespective of the fact, one is fat or thin. It is a misconception that thin people are healthy. “Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat,” said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat. According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major
Deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council. These results confirm the observations.
Skinny models are affecting our perception of the size. Impressionable girls like to be like those models, and they do everything in their power to imitate them, which lead to many diseases like eating disorders, bulimia etc. In countries like Spain, Italy zero sized models are forbidden from fashion shows, this attitude should be followed here in our country.
In the end it all boils down to the lessons we impart our children, and how well they are imbibed by them, otherwise, it will come to naught.
The fair skinned myth
Why are Indians obsessed with fair skin? We will systematically search for answers, first the definition of fair according to Oxford dictionary. Fair means of pleasing appearance, of light complexion: fair skin especially because of a pure or fresh quality: comely. The origin of it is from Middle English word “fager” fair,
“Human skin pigmentation is the product of two clines produced by natural selection to adjust levels of constitutive pigmentation to levels of UV radiation (UVR)”. What does it means, is that pigmentation in human skin is the result of two factors
According to Smithsonian Museum of Natural history, people moved from one place to another, in search of food. To those who moved to hot and humid (tropical) places, keeping themselves cool was a big challenge. Their preferred adaptation was an increase in sweat glands coupled with a relatively hairless body because on hairless body perspiration dries easily. But since they have to face the strong Sun, especially near the equator, and since harsh sun damages the body, the solution was to evolve a darker skin, as a defence against the harsh sun. Melanin, the brown pigment, is a natural sun screen, which protects tropical people from the sun’s ultra violet rays for example; ultra violet rays strip away folic acid, a very important nutrient. Still a certain amount of UV rays are necessary for our body to absorb and use vitamin D. The darker skin is necessary for the people living in tropical areas for them to overcome folate deficiency.
Since India is a tropical country, its people are dark, especially south Indians
It is human nature to desire what we don’t have, we, Indians, are obsessed with fair coloured skin. Prof Shallini Bharat, a socio-psychologist with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, believes this complex is a result of the country's history. India's rulers have always been fair, be it the Aryans in the early centuries or Europeans in later years. Fairness is equated with superiority, power and influence, therefore the preference for lighter skin. Indian mothers tell their off springs especially their daughters not to go out in sun, lest they will get darker and will have difficulty in getting married as no one desires dark skinned bride. Matrimonial advertisements are a testimony to the mind set of people, they advertise for “fair skinned brides”, which they equate with beauty.
“The fair maiden of myth” appears to have a basis in scientific reality, according to new research. Scientists looking into attractiveness in men and women suggest that men of all races are subconsciously attracted to fairer-skinned women, while women are more drawn to dark-complexioned men.
Men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin because of its association with “innocence, purity, modesty, virginity, vulnerability and goodness”, according to researchers at the University of Toronto.
“What the research shows is that our aesthetic preferences operate to reflect moral preferences. Within our cultures we have a set of ideals about how women should look and behave. Lightness and darkness have particular meanings attached to them and we subconsciously relate those moral preferences to women," said Dr Shyon Baumann, a sociologist at the University of Toronto’’. Though women seem to favour tall, dark and handsome men, in India it is generally fair (which is equated with handsome) men are desired. So men too are becoming conscience of the fact and have started using fairness creams. Most advertisements for the creams tend to portray that dark skin will hold a person back, whereas fair skin will mean social acceptance and even success in the chosen profession, as well as among the opposite sex.
According to experts, a fair skinned person is considered attractive regardless of whether that person has a symmetrical face or a healthy figure.
"People are generally obsessed with a thing which they adore but do not have”, explains Dr. Anup Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon at New Delhi's Apollo Hospital" Markets too are loaded with fairness creams that promise to turn your complexion fair.
Psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh agrees and says the craze for fair skin has been aggressively marketed.
"Over the years many Indians have been programmed to equate fair skin with beauty, success and happiness. This craze for white skin has been aggressively marketed. In advertisements, it is always shown that in order to be successful, liked and approved by others, one needs to have fair skin," Chugh told IANS.
Markets too are loaded with fairness creams that promise to turn your complexion fair. "Unfortunately, people are only concerned about surface level beauty and pay little attention to a person's character, intelligence and other essential personality traits that make people complete as individuals," he added .
So, agreed, we Indians have a problem, only most don’t think they have. It is not going to go away any time soon. In the South India the problem is more severe.
There, even in film industry, North Indians who are relatively fair skinned, rule the roost. This phenomenon, which I call a problem, will go away if people are made aware that life is beyond fair skin and other things also matter like character. Habits ,education, ethics etc .Our only hope is our younger generation, who is very intelligent, if it can be rid of this obsession, then there is no limit to their moral and ethical as well as an all round success.
So back on track on my subject the trip to Bombay, We were feeling a bit enervated and wanted a change of scene, at an opportune time the trip came, So we jumped at it. With it surfaced the hoary chestnut argument ‘’which is a better city Delhi or Bombay?’’As far as I am concerned I have love-hate relationship with the city Delhi. I love it having lived there better part of two decades. Even better than Bhopal a city where I grew up. I am not alone William Dalrymple ,Mark Tulliy, Tom Alter came from different country and made Delhi, in the case of Tom Alter son of Christian missionary he was in uttarakhand later made Bombay his home.
As someone has opined’’ Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.’
Somebody told me Delhi grows on you. At first you may not like it but you start to like it as time passes. Although we get bored and long for change but when we return we couldn’t stop grinning after all despite all the imperfections home is where heart is.
Delhi is the political capital of the country where as Bombay is the commercial capital.
As far as political apathy is concerned both are same, though as a political party instigates people against migrant workers in Bombay, I think that is neither possible nor advisable as Delhi is made by migrant workers, as it is the case with United states of America.
Delhi’s roads are much wider and clean. Public transport is excellent. On the question of which city is filthier I think Bombay is the clear winner. Although it is disputeable.
Boys and girls in Delhi are far trendier gone are the days of dressing like behanjis and Bhayyas as some Bollywood actress commented.
When we talk about night life ie night clubs, I am not a visitor, so I can’t comment on that, but I am told that Delhiites work harder even party harder.
Bottom line is ‘’There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home. ‘So jury is still out there.
Posted by periwinkle at 02:52 0 comments
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Monday, 26 September 2011
Almost as bad as T.V
It's (T.V) the menace that everyone loves to hate but can't seem to live without. ~Paddy Chayevsky
Television (TV) is’’ a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or colored, with accompanying sound’’. The etymology of the word has a mixed Latin and Greek origin, meaning "far sight": Greek tele (τῆλε), far, and Latin visio, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person)
Terrestrial television in India started with the experimental telecast starting in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio. The regular daily transmission started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio.
In our household there wasn’t a television set. We used to entertain by traditional means. We children used to play a lot. As soon as our home work got over we used to put our books in the bag and race to a nearest play ground. We would play all sorts of games, from hide and seek to gilli-danda. The idea was to entertain ourselves though we weren’t aware of the health aspect as it wasn’t harped upon unlike today. The by product was health. Other source of entertainment was cinema. We would plan for the theatre well in advance .At the appointed time, we would be dressed in the best bib and tucker, and there would be almost festival like atmosphere.
Books were our best childhood friends. During summer holidays our friends would set up informal library pooling all the books we had. Apart from that we would celebrate all the festival even going to the extent of arranging cultural programs, taking part in it.
Our encounter with television wasn’t until 1984. Though in India television came in 1959 but it was popularized during Asiad games, in 1982. I remember the programs ‘’The Lucy Show’’, Different Strokes, some of them.
Now there are so many channels and so many programs, which put one in predicament as to which program one should watch. Even now I watch English channels like Star World,ZCafe,B.B.C,CNN,etc.
If we discuss some of the programs on Star World like Bones which featured Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley and Eric Millegan. The story is about Forensic Anthropologist Kathy Rreichs, and a federal agent, both of whom together solve crimes with the help of their team, in the process they impart a lot of knowledge. Just concluded serial was Lie To Me. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth through applied psychology: interpreting micro expressions, through the Facial Action Coding System, and body language. The first season was spectacular, the second season not so but watchable. It would be a treason if I do not talk about Master Chef Australia, an award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British Master Chef. It is produced by Fremantle Media Australia. Restaurateur and Chef Gary Mehigan, Chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as the show's main judges. They set the competitors tough challenges, where as winning will give competitor a reward mostly a private class by a celebrated chef and losing will eliminate the competitor from the show. There is also a Master class in which one of the judges save Matt Preston as he is not a Chef but a food critic would demonstrate his culinary skills. Master Chef India was telecast last year in which two Chefs along with Akshay Kumar hosted the show, was a complete disaster. The show was dominated by Akshay Kumar while the two Chefs meekly stood. That was high drama which reflected Indian obsession of Bollywood actors.
I am not fond of watching Hindi serials, mostly because the story line hasn’t moved from Saas-Bahu topics. What buggers me is that like Hindi serials who wears heavy ornaments and zari saris ? These serials tend to continue for years and years. Why can’t they make serials which have some substance?
B.B.C Entertainment channel is very informative specially Earth in which they tell us about wild life. Sir David Frederick Attenborough a British broadcaster and naturalist hosts the show, which is a real treat. One Hindi serial I liked which is on Sab channel, F.I.R. It’s a comedy gone awry. Half an hour program enjoyable though after some time fatigue sets in.
If I have given the impression that I sit in front of TV whole day its not true. In my childhood there wasn’t T.V, so we have to rely on different types of things to keep us entertained, in which books, games, and other activities played a big part which reflect in our personalities. Today T.V , Video Games, computers occupy our children’s attention. Books, games are losing out. If T.V programs captivate children then it’s better for them to watch such program which impart knowledge as well as entertain them. We lack those programs. Apparently we don’t have enough money to produce those kinds of program, but we somehow have enough “budget” to buy those outlandish jewellery and costumes.
The bottom line is it takes a lot for a child to grow healthy and for his all round development, and today’s atmosphere is found wanting on so many accounts.
The reality is like every powerful source ie fire, water, technology is both a friend and foe, it’s a powerful tool which can be used to mould one’s personality and can be used for greater good for humanity
books
Books are very important for those who value them. This is fast becoming a lost cause, as now days children do not read them. They argue that they have much more advanced technology to keep up with the world, if one thinks that’s the usefulness of books, like computers with the access to World Wide Web. Actually, if we say that the computers have taken over old charm of books, that’s not an exaggeration, as computers fulfill every need we expect from books, they entertain, give knowledge, so much so children of gen y do not go out to play, they play on computers. It’s not the same as going to the field and playing the actual game, watching game or any entertainment is watching it vicariously. As someone has said “TV: If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book.” My thought exactly. As Bern William said ‘’Books had instant replay long before televised sports.’’
‘’Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.’’
I love books. I have been reading since I was a small girl. I and my two siblings would devour books during breakfast, lunch and dinner; our exasperated mother could not persuade us to be part with the books, at least during meals, but we have none of it. I am happy that I was able to inculcate reading habit in my child; her appetite for books is voracious. We read all kinds of books, but we adore crime thrillers better. Our favorite writers are Val Mcdermid, Ian Rankin, Sheila Quigley, Jonathan Kellermen, Alex Gray, Tim Weaver, Jeffery Deaver John Chase, and Fiona Walker. Right now I am reading R.J.Ellory’s A Simple Act of Violence, it is almost over and I liked it very much. The book has about six hundred pages, but, its very captivating. There is never a dull moment. Otherwise what generally happens is that the story rambles on and on and you long for the story to get over. I even enjoy children’s books. My favorite is Enid Blyton. She believed that writers have duty to impart some lessons in morality, especially writers of children’s books.
Technology is so improved that we can read books on Kindl ,a cell phone like thingy. It is being said that that on kindl you can store lots of books. I prefer paper books. The joy of buying a new book and reading it sitting in a comfortable chair and having a cup of coffee, my kind of heaven. I believe that books tell a lot of the reader. I consider it an insult to the book if it is not read. There can be and will be fair weather friends but books are always faithful to its readers. As Confucius said “you cannot open a book without learning something”.
In the words of Oscar Wilde, If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all”. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. There is no friend as loyal as a book.
Ernest Hemingway
A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.
There is no denying that books are important. A child is introduced to books when he or she is barely two or three years old, and books are with him for rest of his life one way or the other, so is it any wonder that they influence us so much?
Posted by periwinkle at 01:33 0 comments
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook
Friday, 5 August 2011
fat stigma
Linnaeus, that great classifier of living things, gave us our biological name Homo sapiens (meaning "wise man") the human life is supposed to be very beautiful and the most superior of all the lives on the earth. We are blessed with beauty, and superior brains. Our forefathers were hunter-gatherers, nomads, who went from one place to another in search of food, unsure, whether or not they would get their next meal. They were accustomed to doing hard work.
AS HUMANS migrated out of Africa around 50,000 years ago and moved across the planet, evolution may have latched onto a gene linked to risk-taking and adventurousness. According to Chris Stringer forty years ago, no one believed that modern humans could have originated in Africa, until the paper "Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution", was published by Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking and Allan Wilson, for it showed that a tiny and peculiar part of our genome, inherited only through mothers and daughters was derived from an African ancestor about 200,000 years ago..
Linnaeus said of Homo sapiens "know thyself". Knowing ourselves means a recognition that becoming modern is the path we perceive when looking back on our own evolutionary history. That history seems special to us, of course, because we owe our very existence to it.
In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the cleverest brains survived. They had to struggle day and night against cold and hunger. They were forced to invent tools. They learned how to sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers. They were obliged to put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the rays of the sun. And so the glacial period, which had threatened to destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced man to use his brain. As we, by ‘’we ‘’I mean the humans, walked towards modernity, they didn’t have to hunt their food, technology assured, that they lived in comfort. But they had to face different kinds of problems; one of them is becoming fat. Reasons for it are plenty, change in life style, eating habits, lack of exercise, etc,
Along with these there are other reasons like genes and some people have trouble with the signalling system which tells them when to eat, is broken down. They feel hunger, say two Philadelphia researchers, and is. They feel hunger pangs, but they fail to get the message to take in food. As a paradoxical result, they eat more and more often.
During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. Figures are not available for India, but I am guessing they would be high as well. Fat people are harming the planet by contributing to climate change, according to Sir Jonathan Porritt, the Government's chief green adviser. He pointed out overweight people eat more protein-rich food such as beef or lamb, which is responsible for producing greenhouse gases because of the toxic methane livestock emits. He also said obese people are more likely to use cars rather than walk or cycle, therefore producing more carbon emission, besides, those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
Fat stigma existed everywhere, but was highest in Paraguay, researchers found, followed by American Samoa, a place where big used to be considered beautiful. Negative attitudes were also found in Puerto Rico, another culture that once celebrated rotundity. Surprisingly, the U.S. rated among the lowest for fat stigma .In my opinion one should be healthy, irrespective of the fact, one is fat or thin. It is a misconception that thin people are healthy. “Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat,” said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat. According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major
Deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council. These results confirm the observations.
Skinny models are affecting our perception of the size. Impressionable girls like to be like those models, and they do everything in their power to imitate them, which lead to many diseases like eating disorders, bulimia etc. In countries like Spain, Italy zero sized models are forbidden from fashion shows, this attitude should be followed here in our country.
In the end it all boils down to the lessons we impart our children, and how well they are imbibed by them, otherwise, it will come to naught.
The fair skinned myth
Why are Indians obsessed with fair skin? We will systematically search for answers, first the definition of fair according to Oxford dictionary. Fair means of pleasing appearance, of light complexion: fair skin especially because of a pure or fresh quality: comely. The origin of it is from Middle English word “fager” fair,
“Human skin pigmentation is the product of two clines produced by natural selection to adjust levels of constitutive pigmentation to levels of UV radiation (UVR)”. What does it means, is that pigmentation in human skin is the result of two factors
According to Smithsonian Museum of Natural history, people moved from one place to another, in search of food. To those who moved to hot and humid (tropical) places, keeping themselves cool was a big challenge. Their preferred adaptation was an increase in sweat glands coupled with a relatively hairless body because on hairless body perspiration dries easily. But since they have to face the strong Sun, especially near the equator, and since harsh sun damages the body, the solution was to evolve a darker skin, as a defence against the harsh sun. Melanin, the brown pigment, is a natural sun screen, which protects tropical people from the sun’s ultra violet rays for example; ultra violet rays strip away folic acid, a very important nutrient. Still a certain amount of UV rays are necessary for our body to absorb and use vitamin D. The darker skin is necessary for the people living in tropical areas for them to overcome folate deficiency.
Since India is a tropical country, its people are dark, especially south Indians
It is human nature to desire what we don’t have, we, Indians, are obsessed with fair coloured skin. Prof Shallini Bharat, a socio-psychologist with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, believes this complex is a result of the country's history. India's rulers have always been fair, be it the Aryans in the early centuries or Europeans in later years. Fairness is equated with superiority, power and influence, therefore the preference for lighter skin. Indian mothers tell their off springs especially their daughters not to go out in sun, lest they will get darker and will have difficulty in getting married as no one desires dark skinned bride. Matrimonial advertisements are a testimony to the mind set of people, they advertise for “fair skinned brides”, which they equate with beauty.
“The fair maiden of myth” appears to have a basis in scientific reality, according to new research. Scientists looking into attractiveness in men and women suggest that men of all races are subconsciously attracted to fairer-skinned women, while women are more drawn to dark-complexioned men.
Men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin because of its association with “innocence, purity, modesty, virginity, vulnerability and goodness”, according to researchers at the University of Toronto.
“What the research shows is that our aesthetic preferences operate to reflect moral preferences. Within our cultures we have a set of ideals about how women should look and behave. Lightness and darkness have particular meanings attached to them and we subconsciously relate those moral preferences to women," said Dr Shyon Baumann, a sociologist at the University of Toronto’’. Though women seem to favour tall, dark and handsome men, in India it is generally fair (which is equated with handsome) men are desired. So men too are becoming conscience of the fact and have started using fairness creams. Most advertisements for the creams tend to portray that dark skin will hold a person back, whereas fair skin will mean social acceptance and even success in the chosen profession, as well as among the opposite sex.
According to experts, a fair skinned person is considered attractive regardless of whether that person has a symmetrical face or a healthy figure.
"People are generally obsessed with a thing which they adore but do not have”, explains Dr. Anup Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon at New Delhi's Apollo Hospital" Markets too are loaded with fairness creams that promise to turn your complexion fair.
Psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh agrees and says the craze for fair skin has been aggressively marketed.
"Over the years many Indians have been programmed to equate fair skin with beauty, success and happiness. This craze for white skin has been aggressively marketed. In advertisements, it is always shown that in order to be successful, liked and approved by others, one needs to have fair skin," Chugh told IANS.
Markets too are loaded with fairness creams that promise to turn your complexion fair. "Unfortunately, people are only concerned about surface level beauty and pay little attention to a person's character, intelligence and other essential personality traits that make people complete as individuals," he added .
So, agreed, we Indians have a problem, only most don’t think they have. It is not going to go away any time soon. In the South India the problem is more severe.
There, even in film industry, North Indians who are relatively fair skinned, rule the roost. This phenomenon, which I call a problem, will go away if people are made aware that life is beyond fair skin and other things also matter like character. Habits ,education, ethics etc .Our only hope is our younger generation, who is very intelligent, if it can be rid of this obsession, then there is no limit to their moral and ethical as well as an all round success.
