Democracies Must Respect Citizens' Rights

India’s literate citizens have read reams, through November 2016, about the Prime Minister’s drive to demonetize all 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes. This initiative will supposedly flush out black money, halt corruption and put a stop to counterfeit money. These are all laudable objectives that are hard to object to, so what could be amiss?

From a personal perspective, it is galling that those of us who work hard and pay our taxes should be denied access to our own money, even for a day! No matter all the talk about cashless transactions, most middle class Indians require cash each day – to buy the milk for breakfast, to pay the three-wheeler rickshaw, to pay for small groceries at the corner store on the way home – and these demonetized notes are after all equivalent to approximately 7.5 and 15 US dollars respectively.

On another level, I object to supporters who dismiss the trials and tribulations, being suffered by those most in need, as a ‘temporary hardship’. No dear friends, this chaos is the direct result of poor preparation, inadequate foresight and abysmal implementation. There is no denying that the economically oppressed should have been cushioned from the dreadful impact of these overnight actions. A leader risen from humble origins should have guarded against this erosion of the daily earnings and small savings of countless Indians.

Finally, perhaps the most worrying concern is the unilateral and autocratic approach that has been employed through this whole exercise. I am not entirely surprised. Most thinking Indians cannot be unaware of our top man’s individualistic, macho, muscle-flexing approach. Should we then be surprised that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to have relinquished its autonomy as it toes the line drawn by the Finance Ministry? Did RBI ask Government for more time to print new currency, bolster the infrastructure and create the processes that would be needed to iron out the wrinkles in as mammoth an undertaking as was being embarked upon by our ambitious prime minister?

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/democracies-must-respect-citizens-rights/

Fall Weather

Autumn is an unknown season back home, across most of India. The North sees an abrupt change from blistering Summer to frosty Winter, perhaps with a few mild weeks in October (marred this year by an ugly pall of pollution that will likely change unnoticed into winter fog). India’s tropical South remains warm throughout the calendar and both our coasts unmindful of any winter chill. All the more why Alexandria’s glorious Fall colors take my breath away! Yesterday’s yellow is orange today and today’s orange will be the color of wine tomorrow – and as intoxicating…

There is something delicious about the Fall season, seasoned by the promise of approaching winter holidays, friendly gatherings and festive cheer. The chilly weather and gusty winds are all the more appealing, because we can anticipate the prospect of shutting them out and retreating to cozy interiors. I love that it is time to bring out the woolly throws and warm coats and tall boots. I love that it is time to indulge in hot soups and comfort foods that evoke nostalgic feelings. I love that it is time to give thanks!

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/fall-weather/

Another Kind of Freedom

Most of our lives are governed by the clock each day and, whether we like it or not, we become bound by our schedules from an early age. For three decades now, every hour of every weekday day has been regulated for me. While my life has been eventful and exciting and often surprising, the daily routine has generally been planned and deliberate and somewhat predictable.

There is nothing wrong with the predictable. Predictability can be wonderfully reassuring and it is, after all, intrinsic to design. We need the comfort of each season following the other in an unceasingly predictable pattern, just as we are reassured that the day must predictably follow the night.

Still, it is an exciting prospect to become liberated from the clock and it is a discovery of a sort, to follow where my mind takes me. I no longer set the alarm each night. I choose when I will read or write or call a friend. I decide if I will walk outside or curl up on the couch with a cup of tea to watch a favorite film. It is wonderful to buy groceries in the quiet of a Monday morning. It is delightful to savor a beloved book in the garden bathed in early afternoon sunshine. These would once have been guilty pleasures, but it is another kind of freedom now…

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/another-kind-of-freedom/

Forgiving a loved one for dying. Getting past the anger.

Even though the end of life is inevitable, oftentimes death is predictable and unsurprising. We all know people that consistently abuse their health and their bodies or fall prey to addictions and invite an early end. It is hard not to think – well he was asking for it and now he has brought it upon himself and what else could his life have resulted in. How then should one feel sympathy or sadness?

If this foolish person is a loved one, the initial anger supersedes the grief: anger at the senseless futility, the thoughtless waste and the uncaring selfishness. But feelings are not rational and one cannot plan not to grieve. Sorrow eventually finds its way to pushing aside the anger and occupying a place alongside it. I think that eventually both the anger and the grief are swept away by a combination of time and wisdom and the innate tendency for the positive to rise above the negative… 

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/forgiving-a-loved-one-for-dying-getting-past-the-anger/

Biotech Crops or Organic Food

This past summer, 110 Nobel Laureates put their signatures on a letter addressed to “the Leaders of Greenpeace, the United Nations and Governments around the world”. Noting that the global production of food, feed and fiber will need to double by 2050, to meet the needs of the world’s population, the Laureates urged opponents of genetic modification “to re-examine the experience of farmers and consumers worldwide with crops and foods improved through biotechnology, recognize the findings of authoritative scientific bodies and regulatory agencies, and abandon their campaign against GMOs …” https://www.biofortified.org/2016/07/110-nobel-laureates-greenpeace-gmos/

All of us know people who blindly oppose GM food or biotech innovation in agriculture, despite the fact that there has never been a single confirmed case of a negative health outcome for humans or animals from consuming GM crops, which are less damaging to the environment and a boon to global biodiversity. These same people often hold completely unfounded beliefs around organic crops. The truth is that organic farming is utterly unsustainable, because its low productivity requires far more land to produce the same amount of food. If the world were to be fed, just with organic farming, we’d have to cut down 10 million square miles of forest to grow our food.

Did you know: for a product to have USDA’s organic label, just 95% of its ingredients must be ‘organic’ and even these could be exposed to USDA-approved biological or botanical pest controls – or even chemicals from a list of allowable compounds, poisonous to weeds and bugs. Of course, the non-organic 5% could be sprayed with any amount of herbicides and pesticides. (It is noteworthy that about 200 non-organic substances can be added to food, without giving up the organic label!)

Finally, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that organic food tastes better or provides more nutrition or is healthier. What we all know is that it certainly costs a lot more…

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/biotech-crops-or-organic-food/

The World of Little Children

I am amazed by 10 year old Dhruv and five year old Sara. I’ve often wondered at the spectrum of the varied emotions these children express: unfettered laughter at a joke known just to them; angry tantrums when an unreasonable wish is unfulfilled; sullen long faces when an adult says ‘no’; and so many more…

I am struck with each little being’s supreme innocence, matched only by its supreme selfishness as it views life with a single world view – its own. I am curious and intrigued by how children’s minds process everyday events, which must assume a magnitude that is impossible for grownups to fathom. But then, who decides that our concerns are more important to us than theirs are to them?

Above all, I am fascinated by the thought process that often confounds!

(Yesterday as Sara was drinking her milk:)

Me: Sara, why is milk good for you?

Sara: Because it has protein.

Me: So, why is protein good for us?

Sara: Because it makes our bones strong.

Me: What are ‘bones’?

Sara: Bones are, like, in our skeletons. (After a pause) but they are different from dog bones. (After further thought) the bones in our skeletons are inside our bodies, but dogs’ bones are outside and can be in the garden…

Truly, out of the mouths of babes oft times come gems…

http://www.5oclockreflections.com/the-world-of-little-children/