Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child!

Ever wondered what direction India’s education system is heading towards?

It would be good if all Indian parents hear Raghu Raman’s TEDx talk at IIT BHU published on 26^th June 2015 in YouTube. The talk is titled “Order in Chaos”! In one part Raghu categorically states “sweat in peace, sweat in peace, so that you don’t have to bleed in war”. Raghu talks eloquently about our young armed forces – a crop of courageous, brave, intelligent, self-less, die-hard, never compromising men. Compare this to the modern day graduates and under graduates (XII – Standard POF; pass or fail)…do they ever struggle in their 12, 15 or 16 years of their academic career these days?

As parents, we need to take a good percentage of blame for the evolution in upbringing that has slowly creeped in. With the new norm of nuclear families, DIOK – double income one kid we have become over protective to the point of stifling our children’s growth. We want them to have the best of every comfort so that they can live our dreams. Do we ever take a moment and reflect on the child’s likes and strengths and then propel them in a direction of their choice? Hardly! This doesn't in any way mean that all parents are uniformly alike, there are exceptions…and we only wish there were more such kind of parents around as a guide or a mentor. Then there families with no regular sources of income. Not knowing when or where the next family meal would come from, educating their young is never a priority.

In the same breadth, students too must stop blaming their parents for not having done enough. J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series in her graduation day speech at Harvard Business School has said this so nicely: “There has to be an expiry date to the blame you pile on your parents.” Wake up boys and girls, stop complaining about the decision your parents took on your behalf and instead, train yourselves hard to face the tough competitive world we live in today. There is no short cut to success!

A quick look at the metamorphosis in educating our young in the last 50 years. Back in my days in 60’s, 70’s and very early 80’s, each academic year used to be broken into three terms and it was made clear at the beginning what portions in each subject would be covered in each term. There was no question in not knowing what was in store during that one academic year. At the end of each week of class studies and associated home studies including homework, we used to have something called as unit test and this used to happen with clockwork regularity, every Friday. Performance in this unit tests would carry a weight-age in each of the three terms scorecard. It just meant that in order for a child to be promoted to the next higher standard, the scoring in the weekly unit tests and the three terms mattered. This was also a very good guide for the teachers to understand which child or student was falling back and what kind of support they required from the teachers. The parent-teachers meet would also be focussed on the score card – it served as a good measuring yardstick to check on the performance and rope in the parents when necessary. Besides the weekly unit tests, there would be surprise tests also – I suspect, teachers used this to get some free time to catch up on their own mounting paper work, not forgetting the time they had to spend on correcting test papers and homework. While they had their hands full, they never hesitated to give a free, frank and honest feedback to the parents regarding an erring child or a student lagging behind the average in the classroom. Some teachers were a terror; there was no hesitation to punish the wrong doers, but to be fair to them, we seldom saw a bias. In general, principals had no patience for complaints coming his or her way from any of their teachers. It would mean a solid rap on the knuckles of both hands or a kneel-down punishment just outside the classroom so that all other students of the school would get to see…you either felt publicly humiliated and became a rebel or learnt to rein in your ego and make corrections to never repeat your mistake.

Fast forward this to the modern day…it is a common sight to see parents lead their children to the front entrance of the schools. Had the principal been a bit lenient, these parents would lead their wards to their classrooms as well, and may be stay back for additional time until the school bell rang. A teachers role as an educator is indeed stressful these days as one cannot scold a child, let alone spank! The teachers cannot take the children to task if they do not complete their homework or project work. The unit tests, term and final exams at the end of each academic year are realms of the past. The grading system that has replaced the score card just does not say anything about the what the child / student has learned or what he / she has not learnt! To make it more liberal, we have done away with making students repeat the academic year for poor performance. With all the so called private schools and colleges charging exorbitant fees, the management I guess feels obligated to the parents donations and the first signs of complaint about a tough no-nonsense teacher, the principal gets rid of these educationists. It is a vicious circle, as all teachers are scared stiff about what they can or can’t do. An easy way out is to tolerate under-performance and just learn to look the other way, while it is time to promote them.

By the way, did I mention that in India, teachers in private schools and the government law enforcers are the most poorly paid? It would be incorrect to make a sweeping generalization, because there are still good and honest teachers around who take their work very seriously and perhaps we can apply the Pareto’s principle to state with some degree of confidence that 20% of our teachers make a positive mark in their student’s lives and we owe the country’s progress to these 20% of the teacher’s population.

The question is, if all are in agreement with the deteriorated education standards and have kind off accepted it as a way of life, then who is complaining? No marks for guessing this correctly!! It is the employment industry; and I am not specifying any one type…it includes just about all! Having spent the last 15 years in the ITES industry in various capacities, I can say this for sure that the quality of graduates who walk in to these organizations is a far cry from what these companies would like to hire, especially now. Could the situation have been different? I would say one hundred percent! It now makes sense to state what Raghu Raman has said in his TEDx talk: “Sweat in peace, sweat in peace, so that you don’t have to bleed in war!” His TEDx talk can be viewed from the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ-IBRGfJyY

Can we go back to our educational institutions and provide them with the right platform and freedom to educate our GenY so that they learn that nothing in life is a cake-walk. Studying and training hard, so hard that employment opportunities would be for their taking and not the other way around. Consider this, for every 100 graduates who walk in for an employment opportunity roughly 5 to 7% succeed and they succeed not because they are way above the rest, but because somewhere someone in these organizations took a decision that these are trainable folks. Companies spend a good 2 to 6 months training these new hires to help them reach a level from where they perhaps can be on their own, albeit with small ongoing support and encouragement. While the organizations can take comfort from the fact they are indirectly helping GenY  and brand this as a CSR activity, our successive governments must become aware that the “Chalega” or “Casual” approach to everything, starting from educational institutions is a retrograde step. A close analogy could be found in our airports in India. From the time a person enters the main terminal of any airport in India, he or she is subjected to 4 or 5 levels of security checks before finally being cleared to board the aeroplane. It is because the first security check at the entry takes it cool thinking that there are four ahead of me and If I miss anything, heavens are not going to fall down – let the others also take their job seriously! This is a sure shot way to mediocrity and pretty much, our education system has also followed on these footsteps. Is it a surprise then that none of India's 700 universities and 35,539 colleges has made it to the top 100 list?

The final question: By being over protective have we made the GenY too soft and sensitive to travel the turbulent roads in work life? I would once again say a one hundred percent! From the day of joining, the question on top of their mind is, “What’s in it for me?” The work environment has to be to their liking, as they come in with big expectations. Not finding those immediately leads to disappointment. God forbid, if one of the monthly feedback discussions goes a bit hard because of under-performance! It wouldn't surprise many in the organization, if this person did not return to work the following morning. Grow up boys and girls – a positive attitude, a willingness to learn new skills and a thirst for knowledge are the fundamentals that will help you flourish in your chosen field.

While we are pushing for “Make in India”, if we do not “Make it right, in India” the hopes of our politicians can at best remain a pipe dream to push growth to double digit figures. Brahmagupta or Aryabhata may have introduced “Zero” in mathematics or the concept of nothingness, on a different context, there is a danger in us being branded as a country of Zeros and not Hero’s!!       

Don't Burn your Bridges!

The phrase “Burning your Bridges” can be traced to military action of burning a bridge you have just crossed to prevent your enemy from crossing it after you. It also meant that it stops you from the thought of retreat and forces you to advance. In businesses today, ‘burning bridges’ could mean that there is no way of going back to the previous ways of doing things. It is a ‘push’ to enforce ‘change’ - a deliberate way to help people concentrate their minds on moving forward.

However and at a personal level, it is probably prudent not to burn your bridges as you progress in your career. Should you do a Google search on ‘Manpower Attrition’, invariably the top reason that comes up is that people don’t leave good organizations, they leave poor managers. The question that immediately pops up in the mind, “How could we not burn bridges, while leaving poor managers?” While there may not be a quick fix solution or a ready-made answer, it would still be wise to look back or reflect on the past incidence or incidences that culminated in the tearing need for a hasty departure.

It wouldn't be incorrect to say that building a relationship, whether at a personal or professional level requires sheer hard work, grit and determination, not discounting the element of investment on time! But for a small percentage, for a majority of entrants as salaried employees, their future is etched on the first job or profession they get into, whatever be their academic background. A Banker always remains a Banker! In the career spanning 30 years, he/she may hop around different banking organizations or choose to navigate within the various departments in a branch or move to other branches of the same banking institution, but this person remains firmly grounded in a bank. Likewise, it is the same for Life or Health Insurance folks, or engineers working in a particular type of Industry viz. Cement, Fertilizer, Steel. The more recent additions to this list would be IT and ITES/BPO with personnel movement being similar to the earlier examples in traditional Industries. Then there are professions which seemingly do not have an alternative – Doctors and Lawyers. So we thought, until the ITES/BPO came along with their need of people from these two professions to cater to the ever increasing need of the outsourcing industry. It is a rarity that folks from a particular industry change over to a completely different one without a compelling reason. I would certainly fall into this odd category since I moved from the engineering industry in air & water pollution control to the ITES/BPO sector – a distant cousin of the IT industry, twice or thrice removed!! Finally, the question all should be asking is, “What connection does the above have with burning bridges?”

While young, and fresh in the work environment, it isn't possible to fathom the 30 year career span ahead of us – it is but natural to take it one day at a time. With a single minded focus on ‘income’ we wait for the salary to be credited to our account at the end of each month and watch it quickly disappear with dismay. In the beginning, the new found financial independence but impatience written all over the DNA, emotions could be mercurial and erratic! What could complicate things further is the foolhardy thought that ‘nothing could be worse than the present situation’ and at the first signs of heated discussion with an immediate senior – ‘Quit’ is the thought that races across the mind. Young and temperamentally immature, the first casualty is ‘reasoning skills’ when your own mind is playing games. Before long you are fighting your way out of the organization and your manager.

Now, didn't I say that “It’s a small world!”

A couple of years later, and after hopping across a few organizations, there is a good chance that you will bump into the same first person you had an argument with and quit. While you can talk your way into this organization because of your added experience and a specific skill or knowledge gathered over time, the chances of building the bridge that you destroyed to say the least, would be uphill task and that too, on a very steep incline. Your situation would be much like the mythological story of the Greek “The myth of Sisyphus” – This King of Ephyra was condemned to an eternity of rolling a bolder uphill then watching it roll back down again. Could your situation have been different? If only you had played your cards smartly and made a smooth exit in an amicable manner, the situation may have been totally different, after all. It is also quite likely that you would have been welcomed at the new organization with open arms and you would have hit the ground running! Perhaps, the future too would have held immense promise.

While at war, it is a fight to finish, it absolutely isn't in professional life…paths between a subordinate and senior will cross multiple times, given the scenario that we tend to remain within the industry vertical we started our career with. A close analogy is Gmail’s tag line: “Why delete messages when you can archive and use later!” It is the emotional maturity that we display at each crossroad that determines each time, whether we make it or lose it! It only makes sense to strengthen your bridges and create for yourselves a lifetime of opportunities. Don’t Burn your Bridges!!

JyothirLinga Temple at Omkar Ashrama

For a few months, my wife and I had been planning to visit the Dwadasha Jyothirlinga’s in Omkar ashrama…and we finally made it yesterday, 29^th March 2015. About 9 KM’s from where we live, this ahsrama is situated on the Uttarahalli – Mysore road (Kengeri - connector). This location is more familiarly known as Srinivasapura.

Situated on a hillock, this temple has been conceptualized and constructed under the directions of Sri Sri Shivapuri Mahaswamiji, who founded the Omkara Ashrama Mahasamsthana in the year 1992 – some 23 years back in Bengaluru! Construction of this temple started in the year 2002 and the consecration was conducted on 16^th February 2011. This temple complex houses a replica of the 12 Jyothirlingas across India. The Jyothiralinga shrines are places where Lord Shiva is believed to have appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally believed to be 64 in number,  12 of them are considered to be the most auspicious and holy. These are at Somnath (Gujarat), Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleshwara at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwara in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Vishwanath at Kashi (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh, Triyamabakeshwara in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath in Deogharh at Jharkhand, Aundha Naganath in Maharashtra, Rameshwara at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, and Grishneshwara near Aurangabad at Maharashtra. These are listed in the order that they must be visited during pilgrimage.

What is unique about this temple complex:

The gopuram at the main entrance door to the temple complex is built under the traditional Dravadian style. Traditionally the gopurams are a dominant feature of a temple’s outer appearance and even overshadows the temples inner sanctum with its colossal size. Rectangular at its base, a gopuram is geometrically similar to the frustum of a pyramid. Gopurams are exquisitely decorated with sculpture and carvings and painted with a variety of themes from the Hindu mythology. And so is the one at the main entrance to this temple complex. However, the similarity ends here.

The two areas where temple architecture developed most markedly were the Deccan and Orissa style. In the Orissa style the temple tower over the main shrine, also called Vimana, is tall and cylindrical constructed on a square base and is situated right above the Garbha Griha (Gudi), unlike the southern style Gopuram which is a glorified entrance gate. The architect perhaps, wanted to give prominence to the God’s abode over all other buildings in the immediate vicinity and surrounding neighbourhood. The Orissan spire proclaims the presence of God far and wide, from its lofty and imposing structure. It is this style that has been adopted at Bengaluru’s dwadasha Jyothirlinga temple. Taking advantage of the natural elevation at Srinivasapura, this architecture style combined with a cluster of miniature towers gives it a distinct look that catches the eye while travelling on the Uttarahalli road.

Considering that 2 out 12 Jyothir Lingas are in the south, namely Srisaila and Rameshwara, the Vimana Gopurams above these two Garbha Griha (Gudi) is built in the Dravidian style, while the remaining 10 have Vimana Gopurams or spire, built in the Orissan style.

The devotee’s path while inside the temple premises is guided in the same order as the 12 Jyothirlingas across the country and this is what makes it unique. While laying the foundation of each of these 12 replicas, another 1008 smaller size Lingas have been embedded below 11 of the Jyotir Lingas and 2008 under Omkareshwara Linga. This means that one pradakshina of the entire temple followed with a Namaskara would mean that the devotee has the blessings of more than 13,000 Lingas! Sri Sri Shivapuri Swamiji’s grace and benevolence has enabled the common man undertake darshan of the 12 Jyothir Lingas, bask in the auspicious air surrounding them, which brings happiness, peace and harmony. Incidentally, all the Lingas have been carved out of stones obtained from River Narmada, considered to be the most auspicious.

Just behind this recently completed Dwadasha Jyothir Linga temple is a banyan tree and this is at the peak point of the hillock. The area surrounded by this banyan tree is named Sarvadharma Samanvaya Peetha and at the base of the main trunk is the idol of Mother Goddess Vana Durga, which is the Sthana-Devata of Omkara hills. While one corner houses the temple of Sri Matsya Narayana, there are 8 mini shrines to pay respect to other religions and sages/prophets built surrounding the banyan tree. Shrines have been built for Lord Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavira, Sri Shankaracharya, Sri Madhavacharya and Sri Ramanujacharya. 

Bhagwan Sri Matsya Narayana is the first of the Dashavatar of Lord Vishnu. In this avatar, Lord MahaVishnu takes the form of a fish to protect the creation from great deluge. By worshipping Lord MahaVishnu in his avatar as Sri Matsya Narayana, one could obtain good health, peace, prosperity besides cure from rare skin disorders.

A massive bronze bell weighing 1200 kilograms and a giant tower clock (bigger than the Big Ben of London) are the other attractions at this temple. Do make time to visit this temple and be blessed!!

An Unforgettable Experience

Most of you are aware that Facebook has a Timeline and one can trace back to the date you started sharing and receiving information of friends and relatives. You can also ruminate through the various anecdotes and photographs you would have uploaded and I am sure these bring back nostalgic memories.

More recently I happened to lay my hands on my passport and while leafing through the first booklet issued to me in the year 1993 my eyes fell on the German Visa issued for a month long stay in that country. Incidentally, a passport can be compared to Facebook's Timeline, albeit a hard-copy one, with a time stamp of our international visits in a chronological order. Anyway, this was the first Visa stamp on my passport and I distinctly remember that it felt great to travel out of home country at a point in time when there were many travel restrictions imposed on Indians by our Government. It meant travelling to an alien land and resorting to sign language to make ourselves understood. You see, the Germans in smaller towns and villages did not have any need for knowing English. My travel to Germany was organized by BMD Industries Ltd. – I had joined this company when I stepped into Bangalore after my 10 year long stay at Kolkata. BMD was known for its Foundry Machinery Manufacturing expertise and as part of forward integration, they had tied up with a small entity ‘BMD-Garant’ to manufacture air pollution control equipments. My assignment was to learn and transition the technology to BMD India. How did I do this and how long it took to transition, is an entirely different story and something that is not in the scope of this short essay.

What I set out to talk about was a comical episode that still brings a smile on my face whenever I recall that incident. The manufacturing unit of Garant was situated in a small village Friesenheim, tucked in the southern tip of unified Germany and close to the Swiss border of Basel. After landing in Frankfurt, we took the underground metro to Frankfurt Central. We were scheduled to board an express train operated by Deutsch Bahn or German Railways that would take an hour and half to reach the nearby town, Offenberg. None of the express trains halt at Friesenheim as it is truly a tiny village with a population not exceeding 10,000 people in the early 90’s. Thankfully we were informed that a gentleman would receive us at Offenberg station and take us to Friesenheim – the final destination being hotel Gasthof Krone. Typically like most Indians who take pride in weathering any storm in scant warm clothing, my colleague Ramkumar and I travelled wearing just a simple cardigan and a wind cheater. Although the weather was biting cold at minus 4^o one does not get exposed to this extreme temperature while changing from planes, trains and buses. We got our taste of the cold atmosphere, the moment we landed at Offenberg – the station is designed similar to our small town stations in India, not enclosed and open to general atmospheric conditions. The temperature was a couple of degrees lower than in Frankfurt and we just got frozen the moment we set foot on the platform. Being the only two Asians around, it wasn't difficult for our host to spot us and quickly usher us into his car with heater turned to its peak! For a pretty long time we could not utter a single word as the lower jaws were uncontrollably chattering…

Having had a taste of the extreme cold conditions, the following morning we set out by foot to BMD Garant from out hotel which was just half-a-kilometre away. This time we were careful and had completely en-caged ourselves in layers and layers of warm clothing, mufflers, monkey caps et al. Being a tiny hamlet, the town is built around the National Highway,called Autobahn. Our hotel Gasthof Krone was situated very close to the Autobahn and we had to negotiate a signal crossing to cross over to the opposite side and walk towards the factory. So far so good…both Ramkumar and I came to our end of the zebra crossing waiting for the signal to turn green. Being a highway, cars are restricted to 40 MPH within village limits, but it is still a tad too fast for us to attempt bolting across in the typical Indian style. Wanting to place our best foot forward and show these Germans how disciplined we Indians are, we decided to wait for the signal to turn green. And unbelievably, it remained red. We were dumbstruck and were mentally cursing the German traffic engineers for having provided a zebra crossing but no opportunity to use it! Between the two of us, we even tracked the pattern of traffic lights to see how traffic flow was regulated and at what time intervals the signals turned red or green. While we were oblivious, a young kid from his room in upper floor of his home on the opposite side was watching us from the glass window and was equally puzzled why we were standing at the same spot for such a long time. The smart kid however guessed that we were not aware about the pedestrian override button provided at the signal post and started waving his hands wildly trying to convey a message that we had to press the green switch provided.

The kids frantic gestures caught our eye no doubt, but we mistook that to be an enthusiastic greeting and waved back in acknowledgement, wearing a guarded smile. You can imagine the frustration of the kid when we failed to follow what he intended to convey. Looking at our sad plight, the kid came down from his home, walked to his end of the pedestrian signal and pressed the green switch meant for the pedestrian ‘override’. Only then did we realize what the kid was trying to convey through his frenetic gestures.

We thanked him profusely, waited for the signal to turn green for us to ‘Walk’ and walk we did, into our future…

Chai-Tea

Dear Friends,

I bet all of you know the origins of the humble cup of “Chai” or “Tea” happened around 1500 BCE (Before the Christian Era). It was more used as a medicinal drink than as a refreshing drink or a stimulant. The earliest credible record of tea drinking happened around 3^rd century AD. Thanks to the British for making it a popular drink somewhere around 17^th century AD and also, let us give the British the credit for having brought it to India in order to counter the monopoly China had over Tea.

Today, the top 4 nations produce 3.3 Million Tons per annum, with China at 1.6, India at 1.0, Kenya at 0.35 and Sri Lanka at 0.35. This accounts for almost 75% of world production of 4.4 Million Tons. The word “Chai” in Hindi comes originally from Cantonese “Cha” and Persian “Chai”. What is less known is that the leaf size is the chief criterion for classification of tea plants. The three primary classifications are Assam type characterized by its largest leaves; China type with its smallest leaves and Cambodian type with its intermediate size. Blended tea can be done from plants in the same area of cultivation or with teas from different areas. The aim of blending is to get a superior flavor of the expensive variety with inferior taste of tea that is less expensive. With additives and special processing, these days one can find endless range of scented and flavoured variants.

Tea is the second most consumed liquid on earth after water. In India tea is one of the most popular hot beverage and is made with milk and sugar, with or without spices. Most often referred to as “doses” it is generally served with biscuits and people love eating their biscuits dipped in chai before consuming the brew. In the northern regions of India the piping hot tea is poured into the saucer provided with the cup and slurped directly from the saucer – sort of instant gratification as the larger surface area of the saucer allows the chai to cool down to acceptable levels of the tongue. In the eastern region, tea is served in small earthen pots called “Khullad”. The taste of Chai served in Khullad is truly heavenly – this reminds me of the 2 hour train journey between Howrah (Kolkata) and Durgapur in the evening rush hours. People (myself included!) would eagerly wait for the Coalfield Express to make its 2 minute halt at Panagarh station, just two stations away from Durgapur. A middle aged gentleman would enter with his freshly made Chai in a shining aluminum kettle and a shoulder bag with Khullads. In the late 70’s a Khullad of this heavenly brew would cost half-a-rupee and I would end up making the person linger for a few minutes more to have at least three helpings. Of late the tea bags, plastic and paper cups seems to have robbed the Chai of its original taste. What we get in the name of tea is sanitized hot water with the flavor of tea which can certainly fool the nose but not the tongue which is better hard-wired to the brain and its memory block!!

Hence, when my good friend Ganesh Prasad offered to take me to a small chai shop called “Chai Point” in Ulsoor, I was a bit skeptical not knowing what to expect, although he promised me that the experience would be pleasant. It turned out to be pretty elegant – the shop, a 10-by-10 square feet space was splashed with yellow all around, set with modern day equipment’s that churned out a variety of chai. This being my first visit, I settled for the most common version “normal” Chai (with milk & sugar but without spices) and surprisingly, it reminded me of the same taste that I used to enjoy in my regular weekly trips to Durgapur by Coalfield Express at Panagarh station. The only difference was the chai here was served in a glass made from real glass, much like the ones used in Mumbai and the rest of west. The piping hot tea went very well with small snacks (masala cookies) that is sold in these Chai Point stores. The biggest surprise however was not in the taste of Chai but the use of modern day technology for making the payment as well as the cost of a glass of Chai! While a glass cost Rs. 15, certainly much-much-more affordable than the coffee at Café Coffee Day, Chai Point has provided its customers with a MobileApp and the bar-code reader at the shop recognizes the bar-code on your cellphone and deducts the billed amount from your deposit amount. Depending on your drinking habit, you can charge Rupees one hundred or in multiples thereof through a few clicks using your link to the personal bank account. With Chai Points dotted across the city, drinking your favorite hot beverage will never be a problem again – definitely affordable and with a hassle free payment facility.

A quick look at the people who started this chain in Bangalore in 2011: Amuleek Singh Bijral is the Founder and CEO of Mountain Trail Foods Pvt. Ltd., and the owner of the brand “Chai Point”. With an MBA from Harvard Business School, he found in Mr. Tarun Khanna a mentor and funding investor in Chai Point. Tarun currently teaches at the Harvard Business School and is also the Faculty Chair for HBS activities in India. Presently Chai Point has 19 outlets in Bangalore and 3 in NCR of New Delhi. If Café Coffee Day caught the imagination of Indians with its catchy slogan – “A lot can happen over a cup of coffee”, Chai Point states in a matter of fact manner: “India Runs on Chai”!! Perhaps the only two beverages in the world today that can unequivocally state: “Drink and Drive”!!

Go ahead folks…try it…you might love it!!

Cheers!!

The Coffee Bean

Coffee: 

The art of roasting it right, grinding it to the right consistency and then using a drip filter to prepare the decoction, strong with an aroma that is so typical of coffee and lastly using freshly heated milk to get the correct brown color in your cuppa...one has to give it to the Public Sector Enterprises in India way back in the 60's to have created mini India's in small unknown towns like Durgapur, Bokaro, Rourkela and Bhilai. East India wasn't known for coffee consumption - Tea was THE primary invigorating drink of the masses.

My father, who hails from Chikkamagalur district in Karnataka, known for its premium coffee estates - it was but natural that he bring along with him the art of making the perfect cuppa when he moved from Kalasapura in Chikkamagalure district of Karnataka to Durgapur in West Bengal to build his engineering career in the Steel City. As a kid, I learnt through observation, how the two principle varieties of coffee beans - Plantation 'A' and Peaberry were roasted separately. The two seeds roast at different rates and if you mix the two raw beans and try and roast them together to save on time, the decoction is sure to have a burnt smell with absolutely disastrous results. If roasted right; when the beans begin to cool down, the roasted beans begin to sweat, basically the oils and fragrances are released at this time. The trick of the perfect cuppa is indeed in roasting!! Thanks to my dad's penchant for 'quality', we as a family had perfected the art of roasting, so much so my dad's neighborhood friends visiting us would look forward to a cup of the rich and legendary brew.

The next step in the process was to grind the beans - through trial and error my dad had hit on a 70:30 ratio of plantation 'A' to Peaberry roasted seeds. Plantation 'A' gives the liquid decoction its strength and Peaberry, the wonderful and heavenly aroma, thus creating a rich blend. We had a table top mechanical dry grinder and we would grind just the quantity required for the morning cuppa for the family. The process would repeat once again in the evening for the 2nd cup of the day!! Being an early bird since childhood, this responsibility of grinding the seeds, boiling water and using the drip filter to prepare the rich strong decoction was entirely mine. By the time others woke up, the freshly supplied and boiled milk and the decoction would be ready for mom to prepare that heavenly cup!!

Thanks to the East, then not having been exposed to the taste of coffee, we were introduced to the finer nuances of coffee making and I must give it to my dad for having kept alive the taste of the "perfect" coffee to this day!!

While we don't roast the seeds at home anymore, we give instructions to the roasters & grinders on the mix and consistency to get the taste we are so familiar with since childhood. The Gen 'Y' these days know their coffee only through the branded ones: Cafe Coffee Day, Starbucks and the likes...or the friendly neighborhood 'Darshini' hotels and their typical by-two coffee!!

Thanks to the Business Today article on the 15th Sep'13 issue - "Smelling the Coffee", I was reminded of the yester years, fond memories of my dad and the art of making "THAT" perfect Cuppa...read on and be enlightened:

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/start-ups-catering-to-connoisseur-seeking-freshly-roasted-coffee/1/198108.html  

Kalahalli Sri BhooVarahaswamy

Kalahalli – Sri BhooVarahaswamy

Kalahalli, also known as Varahanathana Kalahalli is a small hamlet in Mandya district and very near to village Bookenekere – hometown of earlier Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. It is here that the temple of Sri Varahanathaswamy - Protector of World, is situated.

This tiny hamlet of Kalahalli is situated on the right bank of river Hemavathi in Krishnarajapete taluka of Mandya district, and at a distance of 45 Km’s from Srirangapatna on Bangalore – Mysore state highway 17.

The records state that this temple was gifted to Parakala Mutt & Muzrai Department. It is believed that this Varaha Moorthy was the Samputa Moorthy of Kanva Rishi. Incidentally, Samputa Moorthy is a Moorthy that is carried by the Rishis in Palm leaves box.

The Sri Varahaswamy idol has an imposing height of 25 feet with 6 feet tall Bhoodevi or Mother Goddess sitting on his left lap. On the backside of the idol there is a Sudharshan Chakra engraved on Saligrama Shila. Shrines of Varahaswamy are very rare – 5 or 6 at best  in the entire south!

When Krishnarajasagara dam was being constructed, 24 villages were submerged. But, by the grace of Sri Varahaswamy this Village and Temple escaped from being inundated having been constructed on a high mound at the confluence of the three rivers – Cauvery, Hemavathi and  Lakshmana Theertha.

Historically speaking, this area was under the jurisdiction of the Ganga rulers of Talakadu and later this became a part of Hoysala Dynasty, followed by the empire of Vijayanagara, and finally under the Wodeyar Kingdom. The only ‘Shilashasna’ noticed at this village – now lying near the temple complex has Saka 1257 engraved on it. This period corresponds with the reign of Hoysala Veera Bhallala III.

The temple and the main idol faces east with a flight of steps leading to the main entrance. The superstructure has undergone a lot of changes from its original form. The rubble wall around the temple has functioned as a protective shield from the fiery and often flooding river Hemavathi. The temple consists of a garbhagruha (inner sanctum), Antardwara, Navaranga.

The main idol of Sri Varahaswamy with Bhoo Devi measures 25 feet. Sri Varahaswamy is seated in Sukhasana, with Goddess - Mother Earth seated on the left lap, holding a Lotus flower. Sri Varahaswamy’s left arm embraces the mother Goddess. His right lower hand is in Abhaya Mudra. The upper right and left arms hold the Chakra and Shanku (Conch) respectively. The Goddess sports the Nilothphala flower on her left arm with her right arm around the Lord’s waist. Sri Varahaswamy is seen wearing a Kirita-Mukhuta and Mother sports a Karanda-Mukhuta.

Those who wish to be married soon, pray to Mother Bhoo Devi and those who are afflicted by planet Rahu pray to the Lord and obtain freedom from Rahu Dhosha. Rahu is one of the navagrahas (nine planets) in Vedic astrology.  Astronomically, the Moon in its orbit, on a northerly course from South to North, crosses the ecliptic (apparent path of Sun). This point of intersection is known as Rahu or "Dragon's head". 180 degrees away from this point, the Moon on its southerly course crosses the ecliptic (apparent path of Sun). This point is called "the dragon’s tail" or Ketu. These are celestial occurrences; Rahu and Ketu are not real luminaries and are regarded as shadow planets. They do not have ability to cast aspects, as other planets do, they do not rule any zodiacal signs and hence are not characterized as male or female.

Interestingly, the Raja-Gopuram was built and consecrated by Parakala Mutt and Devotees of Sri Varahaswamy as recent as June, this year – 2013 AD. There are grand plans to build a spacious temple complex with a surrounding wall and a super-size door at the east entrance, in line with other Lord Vishnu temples in the south.

We, as a family visited this temple last weekend to seek the Lord’s Blessings at this picturesque place. We found this place to be historically and culturally very rich and hence recommend to one and all to pay a visit. At a distance of 170 KM’s from Bangalore, it could turn out to be a very interesting weekend getaway.