Food is a sensory experience that must be enjoyed with all of the senses, in fact it’s the only experience that makes extensive use of the taste buds. This being the case denying oneself the pleasure of touching one’s food is a profound denial.

Indian food is designed to maximize the sensory overload. With all of today’s technology it’s difficult to imagine a single manmade tool that can as effectively wrap a chappati around liquid dal, or smear a crunchy dosai in chutney while warning you if the chutney is too coarse or the dal too hot even before the food has hit your mouth.

For a long time now I’ve desired to improve upon the chopstick by drilling a lengthwise hole through it to help with the bowl of soup after the noodles are long gone, but I don’t think I can improve upon the human hand.

Shame is a characteristic trait of classical cultures, which employ shame and social ostracism as their primary tools of maintaining social order. World War II era Japan was famously depicted to be a shame and honor society that would never surrender to conventional military force.

Guilt societies rose predominantly on the shoulders of Christianity, though the idea of a society of individuals who fear their conscience and the consequence of their actions either here or in the hereafter is by itself not a Christian invention. Classical Greek tragedies figure shame prominently, but they also chart Greece’s evolution into a guilt society.

India – a shame and honor society

Shame and honor societies are common even today, especially so in the Indian sub-continent where caste, untouchability and honor killings are not uncommon. Rather tellingly it appears that guilt has entered the vocabulary of most Indian languages rather recently judging by the multi-syllable word constructions for the concept. Whereas shame universally is a single syllable construction drawn from either the Sanskrit `Lajja` or the Tamil `Avamanam`, classical languages, both. [0]

Guilt as a working concept is no doubt familiar in India for quite a while, but Indian society has traditionally chosen to rely heavily on shame to maintain social order and morality.

Western influence on Indian governance and institutional correctional practices

The modern Indian state is in large parts a British legacy that appeals to the conscience, and failing that the criminal justice system. The Indian justice system (perhaps rightly and progressively) ignores shame as a correctional or punitive practice [1] even though this flies in the face of historical tradition in India of shaming the guilty in public.

Founding Indian leaders – Nehru, Gandhi and others

An overwhelming majority of the Indian leaders involved in the struggle for Indian independence from colonial powers were Western educated. [2]

Filled with Western ideas and homegrown demands of equality the Indian leaders were of one mind in fighting the evils of the caste system and the existing exploitative social order and even wrote their intentions down in the Indian constitution by guaranteeing the right to equality [The Indian constitution: http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf]

The moral deficit of capitalist India [3]

The social mobility ball set in motion in the Gandhian age took new momentum in capitalistic India of the 1990s turning major Indian cities into social melting pots. In a globalized age where the world moves towards urban living India doesn’t appear to be that different at first glance despite a phenomenal increase in urban population in the last 20 years with concomitant problems [4].

In the absence of a strict social structure where everyone knows everyone, shame is rendered an ineffective means of social control. The laudable newly liberated upwardly mobile India has in its haste to shed centuries of poverty and social stagnation however also shed it’s ability to shame. Without a deep rooted culture of guilt, India faces a morality crisis where the only recourse is a weak and ineffective law and order system [5].

Rampant urban poverty despite ample opportunity (33% of India in cities generates 66% GDP), rising urban crimes rates due to aspirational greed, self granted affirmative action through crime, corruption at the highest levels are all indicators of a system that is in rapid moral decay.

Solving a crisis of social identity takes decades not years, I’m not sure how modern Indian leaders will solve this problem, but act they must.

Footnotes:

[0] To the Roma (an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent) though living as local minorities in mostly Christian or Islamic societies, the concept of lajav (“shame”) is important, while the concept of bezax (“sin”) does not have such significance. (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame_society)

[1] The exceptions I know of are in a few civil procedures such as evictions and insolvencies where a town crier is employed to announce the act.

Indian legal town crier in action: video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4AChxeF8C0&feature=player_detailpage#t=97s

[2] The popular opinion in Indian society is that Mahatma Gandhi shamed the British into leaving India through non-violence. One could argue whether this wasn’t the British Catholic guilt in action.

[3] Modern India grapples with the question of a leadership moral deficit in the aftermath of an unbelievable string of high profile cases of brazen corruption and theft by leading Indian politicians and businessmen. [The rotting of New India
- Pankaj Mishra, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/01/rotting-new-india-scandal] [Our moral universe is shrinking, Sonia Gandhi, http://www.deccanherald.com/content/114220/our-moral-universe-shrinking-sonia.html]

[4] http://www.slideshare.net/bmbks321/challenges-of-urban-growth-in-india-by-anumita-roychowdhury

Rural to Urban Migration: A District Level Analysis for India: http://ir.ide.go.jp/dspace/bitstream/2344/729/3/ARRIDE_Discussion_No.137_mitra.pdf

[5] The Indian criminal justice system is very effective on one level, it is for example one of the few countries in the world to allow citizens to access public records as a matter of right under the Right to Information act, 2005. However the larger reality is that it has a case backlog that is staggering, by some estimates as much as 320 years worth. This offers a daunting reality to most Indians that justice will not be served in their life time. Coupled with a prison shortage of equally staggering proportions [Overcrowded prisons in India are hell holes - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5116332.stm] institutional justice in India appears to be a weak medicine for maintaining social order.

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 12:19 PM, Kingsly John <??????@kingsly.net> wrote:
> From
> http://profit.ndtv.com/2009/09/29213921/Nilekani-mulls-monetising-UID.html
>
> <cite>
> “Lets say there is a bank or a mobile company, which is opening a new
> account. Normally they use a KYC process and spend about Rs 100-200 crore. If
> we are able to reduce this cost then it’s reasonable they pay us something
> for that. So we will monetise this for agencies that use it for commercial
> purpose,” said Nilekani.
> </cite>
>
> So now we no longer have to worry about some low level employee being bribed
> to part with the data. They’ll officially be giving it away to the anyone
> that shows them the money.

Hang on there, it seems like we are throwing away the baby with the bath water.

a) I’d rather that this happen with official sanction and visibility than without oversight on the sly through a discreet GO (government order)
b) The government has been in the business of selling you your data for ages – caste certificates for jobs, BPL certificates for loans, land ownership deeds and such. Unfortunately one almost always spends more in bribes than the token government levies for the document
c) At least when the data sharing is electronic between institutions you are exempt from bribing and massaging the ego of the government clerk to get him to issue the certificate

It is important to understand how important this data sharing is at least for the banking, insurance and financial service (BIFS)sectors and more importantly for India and for you and me.

First, why is this important for you and me?

The financial sector is the lynch pin of the economy, and none of us can go about our lives without engaging with the financial industry. We routinely share data with them voluntarily and laboriously by filling forms in triplicate, submitting copies of documents attested by (almost always bribe taking) government sanctioned officers, and running from pillar to post to ensure the “formalities” are completed. Imagine instead a future where the bank can validate your identity by electronic means, and instantly. This would be impossible without planned data sharing.

Second, why is this important for the financial industry?

The overheads in collecting and managing the KYC (Know your customer) data isn’t small, as the OP quotes, it’s 100-200 Crores annually (US $200-400 mn.) at least. Because this is difficult to collect, and not to mention expensive in money and time lots of banks cut corners by winking at RBI guidelines on this subject, and water down the process. This results in bad debts, tax fraud, other financial fraud and overall systemic breakdowns that go on to hurt the industry as a whole, and burden the innocent customers with the costs; i.e. under the present system we are sacrificing the long term future, for near term gains.

Third, where does India come in?

India’s best investment in its future are the leaps it makes today in enriching the lives of the rural poor and bringing them out of the dark ages. Rural poor in India are routinely denied access to the financial infrastructure that you and me take for granted. There are no ATMs, banks, savings, insurance or loans for most of these people – this only serves to keep them locked away in misery. Their needs aren’t great, so for a loan of 100 -1000 Rupees, if the Bank has to spend almost an equal amount on KYC processing, that is a cruel joke. If we can drive down the transaction costs, the rural poor can hope of one day having access to the traditional BIFS sector and won’t have to rely on ubiquitous money lenders, and the rare micro finance agencies.

Therefore I urge you not to protest that data is shared, but to cry out for transparency and robust controls in the sharing of data, and a determined effort by the agencies involved to knock down the walls of red tape that surround us. Of course there are valid fears, and we must not fall asleep at the wheel for a moment, but I believe there is plenty to gain. I understand that we have been let down too many times, and seen much that gives us no reason to hope differently, but not fighting is the surest way of losing the war.

Cheeni

P.S. Not connected at all with this thread, but as a general comment – I am disheartened by the degraded signal / noise ratio on this list of late. It used to be a list for informed discussion, today it happens but rarely. I know most of the posters on this thread through a long history of online interactions, and a surprisingly decent number also in person, so I know there’s a lot of intellect, ideas and talent on the list – I hope I am over reacting, and that this list remains the intellectual forum that it has always been.

Heavily inspired by the first tomato chutney recipe that Google threw up: http://iyercooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/tomato-chutney.html

Ingredients:-

Tomato – 2 (chopped)
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Coriander seeds / powder – 1 tsp
Channa dhall – 1 tsp
Urad dhall – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Red chillies / powder – 2 / to-taste
Coconut flakes – 2 tsp
Asafetida – 0.5 tsp
Tamarind – tiny ball about 1 tsp
Garlic (chopped) – 2 pearls
Ginger (chopped) – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 1 tsp

Soak the tamarind pulp in a little hot water, just enough to soak it. Take a pan, pre heat oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters add urad dhall, channa dhall, coriander seeds, coconut and red chillies one by one and fry till golden brown. Change it to a small vessel. Now in the same pan, add onion and fry it till it becomes transperant. Add tomato, ginger, garlic, asafetida and salt to onion and saute for another 2 minutes. Let everything cool. Grind into fine paste adding required amount of water to adjust the consistency.

I call them the "god jukeboxes" – little pocket radio sized devices that are dedicated to play religious music. I saw some in the Mylapore area being hawked by the roadside vendors. They are made in China and play little audio clips of devotional songs presumably off a flash ROM. They have pictures of Hindu gods on all sides and there is a knob that you turn to get the desired song.

I also saw this buddha machine today that’s similar – http://www.fm3buddhamachine.com

It’s a very convenient accessory for the religious I suppose – plug it in and twiddle the knob to get sweet religion flowing through your ears.

–
#1 – http://community.livejournal.com/cyberabad/149566.html?thread=2723390#t2723390
–

Dear , and ,

Can’t say I appreciate the spam. Your message just appeared multiple times in my friends view. Ever since LJ started the promotional spamming for LJ India with the shrill voice of a bazaar hawker I’ve been more and more tempted to leave.

You know LJ grew to be this big without any of this ‘savvy marketing’, and now all of this ‘community building’ is actually destroying the community. LJ doesn’t have much going for it by way of features currently other than the awesome community. Drive the LJ loyalists away, and (believe me, you are certainly trying very hard), you will have a shell of a website that won’t go very far.

If I wanted Bollywood gossip, India centric news or any of the other drivel that you are peddling I’d be blogging at rediff.com, seriously! You did start well with the caferati thing, but then you oversold it with over the top hype and promotion. I bet your signup stats look great from that campaign, but what you didn’t see, or didn’t bother to deem important was the frustration of the old timers.

If you must market LJ, at least hire someone who knows and understands LJ, not some marketroid like blogworks.in that’s can’t see beyond the instant ROI.

I want the old LJ back…

Cheeni

–
#2 – http://community.livejournal.com/lj_india/1531.html?thread=13051#t13051
–

Hi ,

You share some interesting information on your plans for LJ and LJ in India in general, thanks. I just left a ranting comment at a couple of posts [1], [2] where your minions from blogworks were messing about. And then I started taking a look at the LJ India community which I hadn’t bothered to visit till now, and yours is the first post from the SUP camp that sounds intelligent and sincere. Plus, you also have a blog that actually has more than a couple of posts, so I think you will understand what I am about to say. I am bothering to put some effort into detailing what’s wrong, I hope you listen.

First off, I appreciate the investment SUP is putting into LJ, hiring more programmers is good. I also understand that SUP has to make money. So far so good.

(Actually that contradicts with what I’ve read elsewhere about recent LJ layoffs, but your post is from a while back. In any case, you still seem to have money for stupid marketing tricks, ouch!).

However, hiring a marketing firm like Blogworks or any of the clueless bunch that are pimping LJ in India isn’t going to get you anywhere. You will get a bunch of clicks, your marketroids will collect their cash and be on their way and LJ will have deteriorated considerably.

For example, read any of the posts that the blogworks team has made so far on this community, they are full of fake sincerity and enthusiasm. Seriously, it’s not nice to see my LJ experience being ruined by a bunch of amateur shysters.

I count zero comments to most of the blogworks team’s posts. You on the other hand got a single very helpful comment, and you chose to ignore it. What’s the point of asking for feedback if you won’t even bother to acknowledge it publicly and act on it?

You are getting some really good advise from people like , (the other comment on this thread); you should think about implementing some of what he says, or hiring someone like him to help you with your marketing.

LJ has a dedicated band of followers in India, and they would definitely like more features and all that jazz, but they are here for one thing, and one thing only, the nice homey feel that LJ gives each of them. It’s a personal thing that wasn’t created by savvy marketing. It’s also an exclusive feeling, despite the millions of users. Be thankful for having a good thing on your hands, something that runs without much maintenance. If you insist on continuing down this path of turning LJ into a commodity blogging platform, you risk losing what you have and not gaining much in return.

I have no agenda here other than protecting an experience and a habit that I picked up in 2001. That’s right, it’s been nearly 8 years on LJ and it would be a shame if I left now because of a bunch of less than competent marketers and ham handed management from SUP. Stop wasting money on the marketing and hire back some of the good engineers you laid off recently.

Seriously now, do it.

Best,
Cheeni

–

On the other hand, most advertisements for electric shavers are about the shavers being better than the competition or the previous generation of shavers – look, I can be washed with water, no look I can also lube the skin while shaving, and no look I can run for 90 minutes without a recharge.

What I really care about is the closeness of the shave and the less irritable the experience the better.

No electric shaver ever seems to want to take on the traditional twin (multiple) blade system head on in a contest of smoothness or comfort. That must say something about the efficacy of these beasts. So why do people want electric shavers? I ask this because I have one, and I have no idea why I got it in the first place. Well, it was kinda cool and you know man toy like.

More pictures from my new G10 are here – http://cheeni.net/mypix/Bay%20Area,%20November%202008/index.html

Until I shell out for a pro flickr account, which I guess I should, I’ll be uploading most of my pictures to a non-flickr location to be under the 200 image limit.

It was October and the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was a Chief in a modern society he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.

But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, “Is the coming winter going to be cold?” “It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,” the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared.

A week later he called the National Weather Service again. “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?”

“Yes,” the man at National Weather Service again replied, “it’s going to be a very cold winter.”
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again. “Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”

“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.”

“How can you be so sure?” the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied,

“The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy.”