The Barber Theory Of Our Life

My brother has a way of elevating stories to the level of life defining theories. A few of those are so popular between us that these have become part of our life. I would like to share a few of those in the coming weeks will start with the Barber Theory.

Barber Theory: One can do lots of things if he does not have complete knowledge.

Once upon a time there was a barber in a village. He was also the de-facto local surgeon who took care of all the surgical needs of the village. Operating seamlessly through any boils, tumors any other ailment that came across and his hand never trembled. So cheap and efficient was his service that professionally trained surgeon of the area started to get affected as no patients went to see him. He was sad and complained to his peers and friends. One of his doctor friends told him, “Don’t you worry! I will fix it for you tomorrow.”

The very next day the physician went and witnessed the barber in action. Once ther surgery was completed, he asked the barber” how could you perform with so much confidence?”

The barber said “what is the big deal. I do this regularly!”

The Physician explained “if you had cut a little bit extra on the right it would have severed the vein that supplies blood to the right side of the brain. The blood circulation to the brain would have stopped leaving the patient paralyzed.” And he went on to explain exactly where each vein and nerve and tissues and muscles and all the other body components were. He also described in detail what the risks and consequences were if something gone a little wrong.

When the barber went to perform the next surgery, his hand was trembling and he was not sure anymore where to cut and how much to cut. He was worried about the consequences as he was aware of the possibilities and the dangers.

Knowledge makes a big difference! (May be at times, if not always!)

This is in response to Shekhar Kapur’s blog post “A Blackberry addict discovers grassroots enterprise in India” (http://shekharkapur.com/blog/2010/07/a-blackberry-addict-discovers-grassroots-enterprise-in-india/)

Indian Rupee finally gets its symbol

I will start with this news excerpt from News channel and it says it all. Following this is a set of instructions that shows a way to use the symbol in our PC.

Indian Rupee finally gets its symbol
NDTV Correspondent, 15 July, 2010

Finally, the Rupee will have a symbol like the Dollar ($) or the Euro (€) or the Pound (£). The Cabinet today finalised the design for the Rupee.
IIT post-graduate Uday kumar's entry has been selected out of five shortlisted designs as the new symbol for the Indian Rupee.
The government had organised a symbol design competition with a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh. Five designs were shortlisted from a competition and all new notes will bear the design finally approved.
The growing influence of the Indian economy in the global space is said to have prompted this move that will result in the Indian rupee joining the select club of global currencies like the US dollar, the British Pound, European Euro and Japanese Yen that have unique symbols.
The abbreviation for the Indian Rupee, 'Re' or 'Rs' is also used by India's neighbours Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 
You can start using the font straight away in your PC. Thanks to Foradian Technologies. Following are the steps.

Go to  http://blog.foradian.com/font-with-indian-rupee-symbol-download-and-us
Down load the font file. It is by the name “Rupee.ttf”
Copy it to your computer's font folder. This is C: /Windows/Fonts
Open a word file. Type the first character left of 1 (the key just above "tab" button in your keyboard) Just select "Rupee" font from the drop down list of your fonts in your application It will display our new rupee symbol.

Try it. It will have its limitations, but it’s definitely a very good starting. Lets celebrate another entry to another very exclusive club.

Information obtained with thanks from NDTV and Foradian Technologies websites.

A thought for Collectors

People say that every good action of a man comes back to him multiplied several times more. Something similar happened to me last week. I used to collect postage stamps as a hobby when I was a kid. When time came to leave home for college, I somewhat detached myself form my worldly possessions and handed them over the stamp album to my kid brother. Soon it was his turn to leave home he handed them over to one of his juniors and thus the collection left our home.

Old habits die hard- that’s what they say! A decade later I restarted my hobby of stamp collection. Not as actively as before but as passionately as ever. One close friend of mine recently decided to hang up his gloves and give up hobby as well as his collection. This doesn’t interest my son and daughter, he said. So he asked me if I would take it over. I was overwhelmed and more than eager to give his collection a new home. Last week I received the first batch of his lovely collection and it made me smile to say the least. I put all my work and papers aside as I gazed through those lovely pieces of paper like a kid!

I belong to a generation where there were many things to collect. We had the craving to collect stuff partly because the abundance of today was not to be seen during those days and nor were everything for sale in the mart. Alongside postage stamps, I also collected currency notes, coins and calling cards.

I wonder what will the new generation collect. What will be their hobbies and what will they exchange. How can they learn that there are certain things that one cannot buy form the super market? They have to trade something they have extra to get something that they want to add to his collection.

As it stands today, even emails are considered backdated with the popularity of social networking rising with each passing moment. So getting a letter by general post is nothing less than a dream come true. I will not blame my friend’s children if they stamp collection does not interest them. With everyone having a mobile in his hand, even calling cards are now rare and invisible. Currency notes and coins are still an option even though European Union had a big dent in the number.

But what will the new generation collect? Digital imageries and programs! or to create some postage stamps of your own like I did....

If you are a collector of Artworks, Antiques & Collectibles, a collection of vintage cars would be a great idea  if one could afford!

What about The Common Man!

A Time pass post

These are very hot this summer days here in Doha. The mercury has been soaring very high. I have recorded 50 degrees twice during the last two months or so.

Since my Mitsubishi is carrying me without any complaint in this rough weather, I thought she was due for some well deserved therapeutic treatment this morning.

This morning I took my mate for a bath. There are not many places around here where you have this facility. Not many that we am aware of. I am probably right as even on the unholy hour of 7:30 am in a weekend morning I had to queue up behind 2 cars to have my turn. Even after reaching my turn, it is a considerable amount of time to wait as it is quite a task to get her cleaned inside out.

It reminded me of my days as a regular smoker when we used to light a cigarette on every occasion. When I had nothing else to do I would light one. I would have smoked 4 - 5 cigarettes this morning. I should have had brought something along to read even though it was quite difficult to sit in the heat and read a book. Instead I am pounding or rather pinching on my phone keyboard typing this nonsensical blog post and clicking some pictures keep me engaged while some guys are working so hard on my car. A rather unproductive timepass!

But I am not convinced that I was missing those smoking days .............. anyways!

My 2 Minutes

Time is always at a high premium for all of us! But these days I feel it more than ever before. Not because I have reached that part of life when one graduated from “growing up” to “getting old” but for the unique reason of not being able to manage my time too well. I have started to realize that it does not belong to me anymore and life is getting over between rushing to work and hurrying back home.

The most irritating moment of the life on the road is perhaps when you are approaching a crossroad with the traffic light green but the car in front of you is moving with a very slow speed or has decided to slow down. It was one of those days when I was about to lose another 2 minutes of my life just after having lost once in the previous signal. The car ahead of me was moving at an irritable slow speed with no intention of dashing for the green light. She finally reached the signal and stopped as the light was changing to amber. Usually motorist in this part of the world don't stop even when the light is changing to RED.

Having stopped at the signal and see 2 minutes of my life disappear in vain, I had one option of either being grumpy and take my frustration out on my car horn. But instead of that a new realization dawned on me and I became a bit philosophical. So much so that this made me jump within my mind and I will never be the same on roads again when I am driving alone. In fact I would be looking forward to more of those 2 minutes.

After all, the only moments that I can truly claim as mine is when I am driving to or from office. At either end of the destination, my time is either sold off or belongs to someone else!

Maa Tripureswari

A couple of weeks back I took a break of 10 days and went to Kolkata. It was a great feeling to be back and spend some time with the family after a solitary stint here. We took a step to further enhance the experience and made a dash to Agartala, the place where we spend our childhood days. It was an indescribable feeling to be back in the places which meant so much to life there after more than 15 years. Those were the places like my school, the streets, the play grounds, and above everything our home where I lived for so many years. I will not go into describing that aspect in this post. I wish to introduce two temples from my childhood land. The first one is the Tripureswari Temple the temple of the Mother Goddess of Tripura who protects all her children. The other is the Bhubaneswari temple immortalized by the great Rabindranath Tagore in his novel 'Rajarshi'.

Agartala is the state capital of Tripura an erstwhile princely state now an undisputed and integral part of India. It is one of the seven North Eastern States of the country. Today, while India no longer recognizes any princely states or royalty, the 186th successive king of Tripura, “Maharaja” Pradyot Bikram Kishore Manikya Deb Burman is a common man. But the fact remains that he belongs to one of the oldest surviving dynasties in the world. The Tripura dynasty is one of the longest unbroken dynasties in the world today (as recorded in Rajmala) and surpassed only by the Mikado dynasty in Japan.

According to the Hindu Mythology once, Prajapati Daksha (The great King of God) had arranged for a 'Mahayagna' (great sacrificial rite). All Gods except Shiva were invited. Sati turned up in her father's home without any invitation. Suddenly, Daksha started condemning Shiva and Goddess Sati unable to bear the insult of her husband gave up her life at the yagna. When Shiva heard this, he assumed a destructive mood and plundered the Yagna and took up the life-less body of Sati on his shoulders and began 'Tandava-Nritya' or a frantic annihilation dance which threatened the whole creation with extinction. After all ways to stop the 'Tandava' failed, Lord Vishnu used his spinning weapon, 'The Sudarshan Chakra' and that severed the body into pieces and relieved Shiva of this fatal obsession. The 51 fragments of the body fell on to various parts of the Sub-continent, which were later, referred to as Maha-Pithas and developed into places of pilgrimage. In Udaipur, Tripura there is one such place where the right toe of the goddess is believed to have fallen. In 1501 A. D. (1423 Saka Era) Maharaja Dhanya Manikya built the Tripura Sundari Temple, which is also known as Mata Bari (Mother’s abode) or Tripureswari Temple. According to the Rajmala (the recorded historical document of the Royal family), the King had planned for a Vishnu Temple but received divine instructions in his dreams from Devi Bhagavati to fetch the idol of the Goddess from Chittagong and install at the present temple site.

This is also known as Kurma Pith because the shape of the temple premises resembles to that of "Kurma", a tortoise. Alongside the idol of Goddess Kali inside the temple is an idol of smaller size of Maa Kali called 'Chotto Maa ' which used to be taken by Maharajas during "Mrigaya" (hunting) and to battle fronts. Choto Maa is always worshipped first and there is also an idol of Lord Vishnu inside the temple.

The temple structure appears to be a modified Buddhist Stupa at the first look. Though the influence of medieval Bengal “Char Chaala“(4 slanted roof) temple architecture is clearly visible, such a blend is unique to this place and Tripura could distinctly claim this as its own Architectural style. A stamp featuring the Tripureswari temple was released on September 2003 acknowledging this heritage. In the eastern side of the temple there lies Kalyan Sagar (a lake) where fishes and tortoises of huge size live undisturbed.

Bhubaneswari Temple

On the northern bank of the Gomati river was the palace of King Govinda Manikya. But that did not survive the test of time and now we only relics of its former self is visible. But what survived is the Bhueswari Temple. The temple is currently undergoing conservation and is one of the sites protected by the Archaeological Department. This temple was the backdrop of Rajasri, the famous novel by Tagore and the equally famous drama “Bisarjan”. In this temple human sacrifice were supposedly offered to appease the Goddess.
We get to see the same style of temple architecture in this temple too.

Tryst With Omani Driving License

Petrol... petrol... give (pronounced G-EVE) more petrol...

Do not hold the steering so hard... If you required so much of strength then no women would be driving a car...
Give indicator....... stop the indicator baba!
Do not look behind while taking a left or right turn... even if Sultan Qaboos is behind you, he will stop!
These are some of the dialogues that one has to get used to hearing if he has to take classes to get a Driving license in Oman.
Muscat is a friendly place and for me it was all the more friendly as it was full of old friends. The piece of inside news that I received after landing at Seeb International Airport was that having a driver’s license was like having another degree. I was quite excited at the idea of giving a test without having to study for long. I smiled to myself and said it must be as easy as a blood test! But the reality struck me quite soon.
Our family never owned a car but my father had a Government car at his disposal which it used to be parked at our house. I never saw him driving but mother told me that she has seen him on a rare occasion. When I was in junior school it was a Wyllys Jeep with a soft roof and I used to seat in the driver seat and play with the steering wheel which unlike present car would freely turn even if the engine was not running. Later on Wyllys made way for a brand new Red color Maruti Gypsy. Whenever he was going for a trip I used to see him off at the airport and it was much later he realized that it was me who was driving the car on the way back.

Unlike Dubai, the driving license industry in Muscat in those days was not an institution but was operated by licensed individual Omani instructors. One had to get into a contract with one instructor and get going with lessons and once the instructor was confident enough, he would let his student drive for the test. Now there were two type of agreement that was possible with the teacher. A lump sum amount for all classes till you obtain the license or on an hourly rate and you stop once you get that piece of plastic. The most respected and hence sought after instructor in our circle was a gentleman of Balouchi origin and his name was Ali. Once there was a slot vacant and I had the required money at my disposal, I had the opportunity to meet Ali. I expressed my interest to be his student if he was willing to take me in. He agreed but declined to quote a fee before he checked me out and as I could move the car he decided to charge me approximately 1000US$. Deal done and got started immediately.

In those days giving driving license test had a uncanny similarity with have whisky… after 3 you do not count! Its always the 4th. I have heard people giving as many as 17 tests before being successful. Now I could move the car but I could only do it in my way and that did not necessarily meet my teacher's expectations nor would have made the examiner happy. But I have a reason too. Firstly we drive on the other side of the road, right or wrong don’t count but it is different. The joystick in the middle that we call “a hand brake” was not available in our cars and if there was one visible it was never used. The two mirrors at either side of the front doors are thought to be part of the car decoration and only occasionally used by the local Romeo to fix hair and have a final glance at his sunglasses while he was trying to impress a girl. The owners of the car usually keep those mirrors folded. And who has used a indicator in the eighties and nineties in India?

But passing the test is never easy ... particularly when everyone around (who already have the license) advises you.... When you go for the test follow the following sequence... fasten your seat belt and then check the side mirrors and then the rearview mirror inside the car.

Someone warned me...

"Be vigilant. When the police man sits inside the car he might touch the mirror. You are supposed to set it right."

Another one of my friends warned....

Make sure the police man had fastened his seat belt before you move the car..."

Advises kept pouring in as the day of the exam drew closer. It happened so that my test was on a Wednesday and we had planned to go for a overnight camping at the Turtle beach on the next day. While there was a big meeting in our house planning minute details of the trip over glasses of scotches, I was nervous wreck thinking about the test the next morning. Finally I decided to say good night to all and hit the bed, hoping to wake up fresh in the morning. One of them taunted...

"You are off so early to bed tonight. Oh... You have a test tomorrow. Don't worry it a bit worrisome at the first time and you will get used to it!!"

That was some encouragement!

But it happened so that I passed the test at the very first attempt to the astonishment of the most and the many. And there I was behind the wheels of a land cruiser cruising towards Ras Al Hadd on the way to the Turtle beach. I did not get the plastic till next Saturday but that paper with the examiners signature was enough to negotiate with my other friends to get my share of time behind the wheels! A journey that I will not forget for a long time to come………..