Literary Safari

On yesterday’s episode of Morning Edition, Philip Reeves filed a report about traffic in India. The piece, “A Sweet Ride for India’s Teeming Streets” [listen to the full story here] began with Reeves talking about his “new car” – a five-year old Ambassador that he recently bought from a member of Parliament. The Ambassador is, he says, “one of those sturdy, round shouldered affairs cars you see lumbering through vintage B&W movies. If it were footwear, an Ambassador would be a walking boot.” I liked that description. It reminded me of the slow drives we used to take around the back streets of Pune when I was a child. The wind barely made it in through the windows!

Reeves went on to describe his Ambassador as being in a class of its own — it is a politician’s car. Used to belong to a member of Parliament from Maharashtra:

“Two small fans cool you as you lounge in the back seat behind tinted windows perusing your papers, illuminated by a personal lamp. … “

What seemed to strike Reeves most about the car were the curtains:

“The car has white, lace curtains. God forbid a politician should actually see the sometimes squalid and chaotic streets he passes through, or indeed, that the inhabitants of those streets should be allowed to gaze upon him.”

Reeves ended by talking about a young, Indian colleague of his who just bought a new car. Her first journey was to the temple for a puja, where the priest sprinkled some water, tied a cloth to the rear view mirror, and broke a coconut over the car. His conclusion:

“The priests of this booming capital must have run through a lot of coconuts in recent months. The number of private cars is skyrocketing. … According to an environmental lobby group, the number of private cars in New Delhi are increasing by 1,000 a day. 1,000 cars a day in an already polluted and congested city. This is a statistic that should cause Indian politicians some alarm … if they bother to look beyond their lace curtains.”

And, so, the piece ended. I have to admit: I was disappointed. Somehow, I expected more, for a couple of reasons:

1) Reeves was overlooking the fact that politicians all over the world ride around in privacy-coated cars. Come on … really – do politicians in the US not ride in huge SUVs with tinted windows?

2) I wondered why Reeves didn’t mention that though the Indian roads may be congested, most of the cars are not huge monstrosities, but actually pretty compact. That was definitely one thing I noticed while I was there. In fact, K. and I repeatedly observed that the only cars who actually get anywhere on the crowded Indian roads are the smaller cars. Huge cars are doomed to sit in traffic blocks. Survival of the smallest, we called it.

3) Finally, in a piece about the growing number of Indian cars, wasn’t it worth also mentioning that Indian manufacturer Tata just launched a $2500 car, the Nano – a tiny little car that has great mileage and barely takes up any space on the road? Listeners who are not familiar with this recent news would probably have walked away from this story with a more nuanced understanding of the developments on the Indian roads, something we don’t get enough of … See: Related: A much-discussed post on sepia mutiny a few weeks ago, in response to a NYT article by Somini Sengupta.

K. and I bought so many books in India. We had to distribute the weight by layering them between our clothes in our three suitcases. This book satchel by Manhattan luggage maker T. Anthony, which author Tom Stoppard owns and uses, would certainly have come in handy.

Made of leather, wood and steel, the satchel is “no bigger than a breadbox” and carries a small shelf of books. ““If I am on a journey where I only have time to read one-and-a-half books, I never know which one-and-a-half I’ll feel like reading,” Stoppard told David Coleman of the NYT. “So I bring eight.” [Read the complete article.]

Too bad this bag is out of production. I would definitely look into getting me one of those. But, maybe some ingenious entrepreneur will read the NYT Styles article and come up with a knock off?

… I can dream.

Earlier this month, at Well, the New York Times health blog, Tara Parker-Pope invited readers to “dispense wisdom in seven words,” using 3-2-3 word sequences.The contest was inspired by Michael Pollan’s new book, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” which has the simple edict “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (Times Book Review editor Dwight Garner rightly pointed out that this slogan has a “haiku-like resonance.”)

Over 1,000 readers submitted entries to the Well contest and the winners, selected by Michael Pollan, were posted here. (Incidentally, Tara PP’s pick was Emma, a seven and a half year old who wrote: Be nice. Love your mom. And dad. )

Because I was in India, then subsequently recovering from jet lag during this cool contest’s duration, it completely slipped past me. No matter the past deadline, I thought it would be fun to engage in a bit of wordplay, which is always a good stretch of one’s writing muscles.Without further ado, here’s my take on the question: “How much advice can you distill down to seven words?” I didn’t mean for it to be a little poem, but that’s how it turned out, which is just fine since that means I get to post my first original for Poetry Friday …

Take it. Or Leave It. My Two Cents.

Don’t honk. Loud is obnoxious. And pointless.
Walk slowly. Really see things. Beauty abounds.
Spot butterflies. Watch them dance. Stop sulking.
Don’t shout. Throats get sore. Joy buried.
Eat chocolate. Lick your fingers. Make love.
Whisper softly. Hug for long. Fall asleep.
Wake up. Watch the sunrise. Say thanks.

Check out today’s Poetry Friday round up here.

I just finished judging entries in the second round of the Scenarios USA “What’s the Real Deal?” contest. Wow. What a wonderful set of stories by teen writers between 12 and 22. I’m blown away by the depth and insights. This was a really great way to start my day,

About the Brooklyn-based Scenarios USA:

Scenarios USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that that uses writing and filmmaking to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in under-served teens. Scenarios USA asks teens to write about the issues that shape their lives for the annual “What’s the REAL DEAL?” writing contest, and thousands have responded with their raw and revealing insights.

The winning writers are partnered with some of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers to transform their stories into award-winning short films. 15 million people a year watch the Scenarios USA films at film festivals, on television and in high schools nationwide. Scenarios USA believes that by valuing youth and listening to their opinions we can have an impact on promoting healthy relationships and lowering the rate of HIV, STDs and pregnancy among teens.

As I was reading my set of entries, I had no idea how old the writers were. I was also asked to not pay attention to spelling or formatting. It’s the story and its accessibility to teens that most counts, and since the winning entry will be developed by the teen writer and a professional scriptwriter and director (well known Hollywood types), there’s time yet to fine tune things. Given that I spend so much time thinking about the correctness of language and grammar, spelling, etc. in my day job, it was refreshing to look at the work of teens purely for the qualities of storytelling, depth of emotion, and impact.

If you have a minute, take it to watch one of the past winning films at their website. And, and if work by teen writers interests you, this is a wonderful and not too time-consuming way to get involved with a fantastic organization in the future.

Note: I just returned from three weeks in India. Here is the third in a series of non-sequential travel logs, purely based on what I feel like writing about at this particular time. Read the other installments here and here.

No trip to India is complete without a series of battles with those irritating, little gnats we call mosquitoes (a word of North African origin that made its way to English from the Spanish musketas, meaning “little fly”).

Over the years, I’ve seen my family use many methods to prevent their pesky night time bites; everything from mosquito coils to the ayurvedic skin ointment Odomos and the plug-in repellent Good Knight! [Incidentally, you can watch a great ad for Good Knight, featuring Bollywood diva Rani Mukherjee, here!]

By far, the most innovative approach to combating mosquitoes, however, is the “rechargeable mosquito-hitting swatter.” I discovered this latest addition to the Indian household’s mosquito-fighting arsenal  soon after we arrived in Coimbatore when my father-in-law reached for a shelf and pulled out a badminton racket.

“Oh, you’ve started playing badminton?” I asked.

“No,” he smiled. “This is a bat … for the mosquitoes.” He then proceeded to demonstrate.

I need not tell you that I was blown away and at the same time, mildly horrified, by the demo. This seemingly harmless badminton racket delivers death to mosquitoes by electric shock. Sparks actually fly when the racket hits a mosquito.

Here’s how it works: On the side of the bat is an on-off switch. If you want to rid yourself of the evening rush of mosquitoes, all you have to do is turn the bat on and press down on the red button on the racket handle while taking a hearty whack at the mosquito in question. When the metal racket comes in contact with the insect, there’s an instant electrical connection and the mosquito … ahem … gets electrocuted. When you’re done with your job, you slide a switch and the plug pops out. Voila, the bat is ready to be recharged!

I am always fascinated by the packaging of products and with the language that is used to market it. Here, for your reading pleasure, is the original text (no edits made) that appears on the shiny, green, metallic sleeve in which the original “Rechargeable Mosquito-hitting Swatter” is sold:

Electric Mosquito-hitting swatter
Size: 51*21
Frequence: 50HZ
Voltage: 100–240V
Power: 1W
60pcs/ctn
Main character
1. Rechargeable type: It furnishes 2 pcs of 1.2V high quality rechargeable batteries which can by recharged in recycle for more than 600 times,it is quite practical and economic.
2. Twice-speed discharge: It adopts an innovative twice speed discharge circuit which can output 2500V in a moment,so it has the best result for forhitting mosquito
3. Electric shockproof net: It can kill mosquito which is sucking blood on humen bodiesbut it is harmless to humen.when touching the net on flat surface,without any feeling of electric shock,so it is safe for use.
4. Leakproof Net: It consists on a special 3-layer net which can easily catch insect and never leak out.

I know, though it’s making you laugh, it all sounds terribly violent, doesn’t it? I’m with you on this. But, still, I have to admit that this is one of the most effective methods I’ve ever seen of getting rid of the creatures that can really make you itch your skin until it bleeds.

In Coimbatore, which is a very green city, filled with coconut trees and lush backyards (and hence, a haven for mosquitoes), I used the bat every evening to clear out any mosquitoes that had sneaked into our room through the screens during the day. And, when we went out in the car in the evenings, K.’s parents always brought it along, to protect us against the onslaught of the evening predators who always know who the “foreign visitors” are!

My two cents: The mosquito bat (manufactured in China by Ningbo Zhensen Co.,Ltd), a relatively new arrival in India, is poised to be a major bestseller. On the streets of Pune and Coimbatore, at major traffic intersections and outside shopping centers, I saw hawkers standing poised to sell the mosquito bat. In their hands, they held a sample bat and a simple, metal paper clip. When they put the clip to the metal strings of the racket, zzzzzzzz … this is the sound effect of man gaining revenge on the insect that has sucked its blood. All this for only Rs. 110 (less than $3)!

Note: I just returned from three weeks in India. Though I originally started out wanting to make time to blog about my travels, it took very little time for me to decide to just take a break from all things electronic. So, here now is a completely non-sequential travel log, purely based on what I feel like writing about at this particular time. Read more here.

Coimbatore was our first stop in India. My husband grew up in this small industrial city in Tamil Nadu. Best known for its textile industry, the town is ideally situated near Kerala, is home to numerous colleges, and is at the foothills of many well known Indian hill stations, including Ooty.

Coimbatore used to be a sleepy town, K. tells me, but I didn’t see too many signs of that. Because of its year round pleasant weather, it is rapidly becoming a popular retirement and relocation destination. Read: real estate boom. Wherever we went in the city, I saw developments of all types sprouting up – houses, apartment buildings, and retirement communities.

Whenever I land in India, I can’t help but be struck by the sheer number of billboards. In Coimbatore, my amazement was no less. The roads were populated with all sizes of billboards advertising everything you can imagine– from silk saris and department stores to water pumps and cable TV services.

All the graphics, the text, and the colors, not to mention the sheer size of the billboards, can be dizzying. But, they never bore! In the case of India’s billboards, I’m not sure that my pictures can actually speak a 1,000 words. Nevertheless, here’s a little slideshow, with captions, of the Times Square moments I experienced in Coimbatore. (Click on the lower left corner, where the title is, if you want to view the slide show in full size at Picasa.)

Note: I just returned from three weeks in India. Though I originally started out wanting to make time to blog about my travels, it took very little time for me to decide to just take a break from all things electronic. So, here now is a completely non-sequential travel log, purely based on what I feel like writing about at this particular time. Read more here.

Since my mother and her immediate family grew up in French-speaking Morocco, cheese is one of their true culinary loves. As a kid growing up in Pune with my Meme (maternal grandmother) and Massi (maternal aunt), on a typical day, making a cheese sandwich meant opening a can of Amul processed cheese. When family came to visit from Casablanca, however, life got exciting because we knew that deep inside their suitcases would be wrapped a big, 2 kilo ball of Edam cheese, the kind with the bright red wax rind! The arrival of the “red cheese” as I called it, heralded a few weeks of unabashed cheesy adventures — Meme’s homemade pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, and even fondue!

On special occasions, we would also make trips to Pune’s very own A.B.C. Farms which has been producing 60 varieties of cheese using their own cultures since 1976. When my parents came to visit from Ghana, we would attend their annual cheese exhibition (i.e. a tasting) and drool over the extensive range of cheeses, especially the gruyere.

I can say with certainty that back in those days the demand for specialty cheeses was limited to restaurants and foreigners, not the Indian palate. Things have certainly changed. Cheese has come a long way in India. You can find at least a dozen varieties of cheese in a standard supermarket like Reliance Fresh. Now, even Amul has a line that features Emmental, Pizza Mozzarrella (shredded), and Gouda, all “100% vegetarian” (i.e. no rennett).

The Cheese Highlight of My Trip

All that said, the cheese that got me most excited during my recent trip to India was the line of handmade cheese produced by Auroville, the “township devoted to an experiment in human unity” which was founded in 1968 by the “mother,” a devotee of Sri Aurobindo. Auroville is located in the South Indian town of Pondicherry (now officially Puducheri, alas yet another city whose name India’s nationalistic politicians have sought to Hindufy in recent times). (more…)