ಬರೇ 83 ರೂಪಾಯಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಈ ಸ್ಟೂಲಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಯಾ೦ತರ ಬೆಲೆ, ಯಾಕೆ ಗೊತ್ತೇ? This stool costed me only Rs. 83, but it is worth millions! Do you know why?

(ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿ)

Yes, this boring and ugly simple plastic stool costs only Rs. 83, but it is worth millions. How?  

In life, usually when we seek one thing, we tend to miss out on other thing. When we long for both, we are stuck in a catch-22, most of the times we will struggle to hold on to one of them, and sometimes miss on both things. But innovation is one vehicle which sometimes can get the best of both and free us from the catch-22. Hence  we need to be tuned to innovations wherever we seek to raise above the catch-22.  This story is one such success.

For an Indian, the world is divided into two, the world of Indian commode and the world of western commode, when it comes to the big job at the toilet. The western commode offers the comfort of sitting and the Indian commode offers the right way of sitting suitable for the process of shitting. Many old people cant even sit in the squatting position demanded by the Indian commodes. Some homes may offer both the options, but many homes and establishments offer only one type of commode.

With the dominant western culture globally, the western commode is taking over the world. But the western commode, while offering comfort of sitting, has a serious disadvantage. It tends to block the passage of shit due to the bend of the canal in sitting positing. The shitting process becomes not so smooth and stressful. Applying pressure to get the shit out causes inflammations and gradual development of more serious problems like piles, pistula and what not. The joy of life is lost for many in this world for the simple reason that getting the shit out is a mountainous effort.

So, someone in the west, keenly studying the benefits of age old wisdom, arrived at an innovation which combines the best of the both worlds.

If one can use a small stool in front of the western commode, the raised legs now simulate the squatting position of the Indian commode, the bend in the shit passage is corrected, the shit passes smoothly and completely, the joy of shitting returns, for every day and for every time. The cumulative development of serious issues down there will be avoided or can be cured eventually.

Talk to anyone who has serious issues with shitting, they will value this comfort at more than millions.

(Picture courtesy: the video link given below)

So, if you are using a western toilet, one who regularly uses the Indian toilet could have called you a fool, but not any more, if you can add this small adage to your toilet, and use this stool to raise your leg.

In the US, one company has designed a contoured stool, patented it, and is selling them in millions and making money in billions. Since this contoured product is patented, no one should copy it and commercialize it. Such an imported stool is available on e-commerce and costs thousand rupees or so.

But, if you are the smart one, you will use a small stool like this for now.

There is no more excuse to sit in a squatting position when it comes to the big job.

Now onwards, anyone using a western toilet and not raising the leg to get squatting position should be called a fool. Why? Try it yourself and see the difference.  Catch your new joy in the mirror hidden in the corner of the constant smile on your face for the rest of the day after your daily big job.

Some Indian toilets are quite cramped and there is no space to keep a stool in the front or store it by the side. In such cases, do not lose the heart, look for the wedges on the door like the one below, or create a wedge by adding a strip of wood on the door at the right height.

The big job of the day is now reduced to small and fun!

The joy of shitting can now return for the billions world over.

(This blog was inspired by such a joy, and hope will help in spreading it to billions more!)

Sitting vs Squatting - What Is The Proper Way To Poop? - Video

New definition for foolishness: Using western toilet without raising the feet with the help of a simple stool like this. 

Bonus:

For those who suffer the process of shitting for whatever reason, here is a secret balm. When you are cleaning down there, the inflammations down there do not give you the feeling that it is all over and you struggle to complete the job with more stress and attempts. Here is a simple technique that helps. Massage the plateau like area spread between your private part and the anus, and you will quickly notice that the inflammations will retract, the bowel returns to peace, as a result any pending shit passes easily, saving one stress, pain, time and further complications. This is a simple secret not shared easily, I stumbled on it on the Internet, tried it and confirm its magic. 

(ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ)

ಬರೇ ೮೩ ರೂಪಾಯಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ತ೦ದ ಈ ಸ್ಟೂಲಿಗೆ ಕೋಟಿ ಮೀರಿದ ಬೆಲೆ ಹೇಗೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯ? ಮು೦ದೆ ಓದಿ.

ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುವ ವಿಷಯ ಏನೆ೦ದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಶೈಲಿಯ ಕಮೋಡು ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರವೆ೦ದು. ಆದರೂ, ಆಧುನಿಕತೆಯ ಸುಖ ಮತ್ತು ಅನುಕೂಲಕ್ಕೆ, ಹಾಗೂ ಮುದಿತನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲು ಮಡಚಿ ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗದವರಿಗೆ ಪಾಶ್ಚಾತ್ಯ ಶೈಲಿಯ ಕಮೋಡು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ. 

(Picture courtesy: the video link given below)

ಪಾಶ್ಚಾತ್ಯ ಶೈಲಿಯ ಕಮೋಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒ೦ದು ದೊಡ್ದ ತೊ೦ದರೆ ಇದೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಭ೦ಗಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇರ್ಣಾ೦ಗನಾಳದ ಕೊನೆಯ ಭಾಗವು ಬಗ್ಗಿ ಹೇಲು ಸರಾಗವಾಗಿ ಹೋಗುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರಿ೦ದಾಗಿ, ಮಲಬದ್ಧತೆ, ಪೈಲ್ಸ್, ಪಿಸ್ತೂಲಾ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ಭಯಾನಕ ತೊ೦ದರೆಗಳು ಅನಾವಶ್ಯಕ ಉದಿಸಿ ಬದುಕು ಭಾರವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

ಈಗ ಈ ನ್ಯುನತೆಗೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದೆ. ನೀವು ಪಾಶ್ಚಾತ್ಯ ಕಮೋಡಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳುವಾಗ,  ಒ೦ದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಸ್ಟೂಲನ್ನು ಮು೦ದಿಟ್ಟು ಅದರ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಾಲಿನ ಪಾದಗಳನ್ನಿಡಿ. ಆಗ, ನಿಮಗೆ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಶೈಲಿಯ ಕಮೋಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತ ಲಾಭ ಸಿಕ್ಕು, ಹೇಲು ಸರಾಗವಾಗಿ ಸಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರತೀ ದಿನ ಗಿ೦ಡಿ ಮುಖದ ಮೇಲೆ ಪಡೆದ ಸುಕ್ಕು ಮತ್ತು ದುಃಖಗಳು ಕ್ರಮೇಣ ಮರೆಯಾಗಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತಲಿನ ಜನ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಎ೦ದಿನ ಹೊಸ ಸ೦ತೋಷದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸದಾ ಗುಸುಗುಸುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪಾಯಿಖಾನೆಯು ಚಿಕ್ಕದಿದ್ದು ಈ  ರೀತಿಯ ಸ್ಟೂಲ್ ಇಡಲು ಜಾಗ ಇಲ್ಲದಿರೆ, ಗಾಬರಿ ಬೇಡ, ಬಾಗಿಲಿನ ಅ೦ಚಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಪಾದದ ಬೆರಳುಗಳನ್ನಿತ್ತು ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ, ಅದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲದಿರೆ, ಹಾಗೆ ಕಾಲು ಇಡಲು ಒ೦ದು ಮರದ ಪಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ಬಾಗಿಲಿಗೆ ಒಳಗಿನಿ೦ದ ಹೊಡೆಯಿರಿ.

ಬದುಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒ೦ದು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದರೆ ಇನ್ನೊ೦ದು ಸಿಗದೇ ಹೋಗುವುದೇ ನಿಯಮ, ಅಪರೂಪಕ್ಕೆ ಎರಡೂ ಸಿಕ್ಕರೆ ಅದು ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಗ್ಯ. ಪಾಶ್ಚಾತ್ಯ ಕಮೋಡು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸುವಾಗ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಸ್ಟೂಲ್ ಸೇರಿದಾಗ ಆ ರೀತಿಯ ಭಾಗ್ಯ ನಿಮ್ಮದಾಗುತ್ತದೆ, ಸ೦ಶಯ ಇದ್ದರೆ, ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿ, ಕೂಡಲೇ ಕನ್ನಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ ಅರಳಿದುದನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಿ. ಬರೆ 83 ರೂಪಾಯಿಗೆ ಸಿಗುವ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಕುರೂಪದ ಕನಿಷ್ಟ ಸ್ತೂಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೋಟ್ಯಾ೦ತರ ಬೆಲೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ದನ್ನು ನೀವು ಟಾಮ್ ಟಾಮ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ, ಸುತ್ತಲಿನ ಜನ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹೊಸ ನಗೆಯ ಬಗೆ ಏನೆ೦ದು ಕೇಳಿದಾಗ ಈ ಗುಟ್ಟನ್ನು ಹೇಳದೇ ಇರಬೇಡಿ, ಈ ಹೊಸ ಭಾಗ್ಯ ಕೋಟ್ಯಾ೦ತರ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಬೇಗ ಬರುವತ್ತ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಅಳಿಲು ಸೇವೆಯೂ ಇರಲಿ.

Sitting vs Squatting - What Is The Proper Way To Poop? - Video

ಮೂರ್ಖತನಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊಸ ಉದಾಹರಣೆ: ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಸ್ಟೂಲ್ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸದೇ, ಪಾಶ್ಚಾತ್ಯ ಕಮೋಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳುವವ.

ಕೊನೆಗೊ೦ದು ಬೋನಸ್: ಮಲಬದ್ಧತೆ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ಮಲಕ್ಕೆ ಸ೦ಬ೦ಧಿಸಿದ ಖಾಯಿಲೆಯವರಿಗೆ, ಮಲವೇ ಶತ್ರು. ಪ್ರತೀ ಭಾರಿ ಮಲ ಹೊರಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಬೀಗುವುದು ಹಿ೦ಸೆ. ಇಲ್ಲೊ೦ದು ಉಪಶಮನ ಇದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗುಪ್ತಾ೦ಗ ಮತ್ತು ಗುದದ್ವಾರದ ಮಧ್ಯದ ಜಾಗವನ್ನು ಮಸಾಜ್ ಮಾಡಿಕೊ೦ಡಾಗ ಈ ಬೀಗು ನೀಗುತ್ತದೆ, ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸ ಸುಲಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಗಿಯುತ್ತದೆ.

   

Made in India Recliner is a perfect guillotine for a curious cat/kitten or a toddler!

The bottom view of a made in India Recliner, the folding mechanism from right to left can cause serious accident for a cat/kitten or even a toddler drawn into it out of curiosity

I almost killed our kitten today, while trying to fold the stretched recliner. I dint know that our kitten was under it, it got choked in the process, fortunately I had the presence of mind to quickly reopen the folded portion, the kitten was struggling to breathe and had vomit all over. It was a miracle that it survived.

When I reversed the recliner, it was a nightmare scene. All the mechanism meant to fold, open and stretch is totally exposed and can easily hurt any being who accidentally come in between these while using, it could be a cat or kitten or a puppy or even a curious toddler.

I sacrificed a good lungi to cover the exposed area below

 I am used to give a low tech ugly finish to any high tech gadget made in India, as the safety factors are quite rare. So, I decided to sacrifice a old but still quite useful lungi for the sfety measure operation. I am not patient to sew the cloth all around, so quickly placed the cloth, ensured stretchability of the cloth for expansion, taped the whole thing at all openings. Had to cut the lungi at the four pivots where the weight of the recliner transfers to the ground.

Made holes for the four corners, kept the lungi in place with safety pins, kept front portion bit lose to allow folding and stretching, taped all the sides to close

Had to use the recliner couple of times, struggled to close it or stretch it couple of times, had to patch up the new openings resulting, and finally it was all done.

Used couple of times and closed the residual openings below with tape, the accident survivor is back on the seat, can not go under the seat until the tapes hold.

In the mean time, the kitten seem to have forgotten the ugly accident, returned to the favorite spot, so I assume it has minimal internal injuries to endure, touch woood, hope no complication in the days ahead.

This blog is a safety warning for all the recliners out there, primarily to safeguard cat/kitten, puppies and toddlers.

Thank you!

Thunbergia Haircut - Topic of Mid Night Comedy by two rouge teen age cows on their night out!

Ashrama Gardens has been quite a nightmare for the wandering cows these days as the lush green attracting them from a distance leaves them high and dry as the idiot who maintains the greens has shut them out by having no suitable plant for their palate. The disappointed cows leave the space in slow pace, only revenge they can take is to leave no cow shit behind for our garden use.

Yesterday night was special for the two teenager cows (could not check their gender), it looks like the night belonged to them, They went on a night out campaign, the cow shit they left behind at our gate is the proof that they got to eat some good healthy street food much before arriving here.  For a change, these teenagers decided to say no to the usual disappointment waiting for them at our fence and road side gardens. They decided to turn the situation into a mid night stand up comedy. They said, "let us carefully shave off this fellow's fence ornamentation with Thunbergia, and then let us shit all around, drink all the water kept for the pathetic street dogs, and also eat all that yummy glucose biscuits left for these lowly animals and make some merry, rest here for a while to digest and shit, and then slowly drag our feet to wherever next we need to go.

I was distracted with my own work and stayed late into the night, when I came out for the dinner dish out for the dogs before it is my time to sleep, I saw these two teenager guests resting right in front of my gate. Though they were bit startled by me, their siesta slumber laziness post fiesta did not have them quick, and my body language of carefully opening the gate and stretching my ugly legs around them sounded no threat to them, so they carried on their post comedy chillout party with their wildly wagging tongue.  Being busy with my own affairs and due to darkness, I had missed all their comedy and went to bed.

This morning I get up and come out to pick the morning news paper, my first surprise is the Thunbergia haircut on our gates.

 It was done craft-fully, the creepers as such were not pulled out from the gate, but all the leaves, old and new are almost gone. Looked very funny. Came out and saw that good amount of greenery on the fence too is gone. There is quite a mess on their stage, they shat all around as part of their stand up comedy.

The sign board on the compound wall which usually is obscured by the thunbergia,  not helping the hapless strangers looking for the name of the house while searching the address, is quite visible this morning, thanks to their comedy act.

Further funny thing was that the effect of their comedy persisted beyond their night. I was already filled with laughter looking at the funny looks of the gate and the fence with this surprise haircut, so meticulously done with no noise and permanent root damage to the Thunbergia scalp of our compound wall, appreciating their  stealthy stand-up comedy act as a fitting revenge to my unkindly and miserly act of leaving no food for their thoughts around our compound wall, I could not help splitting into loud laughter when I saw the dancing dog (who is very early this morning, meaning I got up quite late), and was very busy making a breakfast out of the comedy shit they had left behind on their stage upon rare performance, also no residual food from previous night's dish out was a major push for this dog to force into celebrating the joke much after the time it was delivered.

Drinking water left for the dogs is quite low here, meaning the cows got hungry and helped themselves with some water to digest the food.

I knew, the final laugh will be mine when we clean up the mess here and take all the shit into our garden games.  Left a huge pile of breakfast treat for the stray dogs, and crashed into the bed for some more sleep I deserved.

But the act of this mid night comedy lingered in my heart and mind, I could not sleep as a result, came out to take pictures, could not help noticing the  agony of this dog, wondering whether to enjoy the delicious glucose biscuits I had left for his kind, or give into the primal instinct of making merry with the cow shit left behind.

As I came in with my camera in hand, noticed that keeping up with the appearances took over on the primal, the same dog pulled the packet of biscuits to the other side, had its share for the morning and walked out.

The official dog food too I leave behind, was kept untouched as usual, as there street dogs, well fed, have become social eaters, so they help themselves for the more tasty but less healthy glucose biscuits, leaving the biscuits feeding bag empty in no time, asking for more. But this official dog food helps me in lowering my guilt, as the real hungry and hopeless dogs wandering for the whole day and accidentally hitting upon this spot with the help of food aroma, helps themselves with the meal of the day and vanish in no time before the territory owners could pounce upon them with loud barks.

Instead of cleaning the stage mess of this mid night comedy quickly, I allowed the disgusting street flies to have their merry with their comedy, as I decided to extend this to you all through this quick write up.

The cows mid night comedy had an useful message too to the eager gardening audience. It seems that even a hungry and adventurous teenage cow  does not want visually tempting Mexican Sunflower leaves as its food fetish for the lustful night.  This is good news for planting Mexican Sunflower by the roadside!

Look forward for more such comedies, day and night, around our urban jungle, Ashrama Gardens!  You will not miss a glimpse of such, will at least report them as an after event recount!


Thank You!

Finally broke the jinx against using commercial cooking oil at home

It is more than three years now since I learned that the commercial cooking oil we buy in the super market is quite adulterated, and it happens under the very nose of government oversight.

The logic is simple to confirm this, the cost of the oil is much less than the actual cost of the raw material (seeds) needed to extract the oil. There are two types of adulteration, the mild one is to add the low cost vegetable oil, but the more harmful one is to add the paraffin oil (the petrolium byproduct).

We use coconut oil and groundnut oil for cooking at present. We used to use the cheaper oil (like sunflower oil) before, but after this knowledge, the first reaction was to throw the cheap oil out, because now we know the source of this cheapness. So, upgraded the cooking oil for frying to groundnut oil (which costs at least 50% more), and there too stuck to one brand (Saffola - not that it is the best, at least the government agency needs to maintain some sanity in its adulteration).

There was no problem with the coconut oil, as I could continue to source the coconut oil from the mills at our native place, where the process is known to be cold pressed.  So, 80% of our oil consumption was unadulterated. I stopped buying commercial coconut oil off the shelf of supermarkets.

I also made virgin coconut oil at home, starting from the scratch. The results were very encouraging, but it is a laborious process and I could not commit time to repeat this process every 15 days.  My attempt to make virgin groundnut oil dint succeed as the oil extracted dint justify the cost economics.

2018 Jan - Dr. Mythri Shankar, one of our OTG friends had arranged a Sankranthi Get Together at her beautiful garden, my instincts told me not to miss. So, I attended. She had arranged a demo of oil extractor from Seed 2 Oil. Very effective demo. Very sleek device, but the asking price was Rs. 22K, felt it bit steep. Also, came up with a logic that the market should throw better options if I wait for another 6 months. So, decision was to wait out for 6 months.

Six months passed, nothing ground shaking changes emerged from the market. Therefore, I decided to use Amazon.in offering as the benchmark as here the customer satisfaction can be tracked. I started tracking, but could not come to any conclusion as there was no convincing review as such either on Amazon or Quora or elsewhere. As I could see, the consumer market around it  is still nascent, and therefore we will be forced to pay a premium to buy now.

I went back to kitchen, looked at our current oil supply, the supply said that you can procrastinate for another three months easily as we will take that much time easily to last. So, I decided to do so hoping for breakthroughs in the market for the right buy.

I had been browsing Amazon for the last four months, but nothing changed. One clarity emerged: there are three well known brands, two from Surat and one from Coimbatore. EPS and Vishwas are the Surat brands and Seed2Oil is the Coimbatore brand.  All had similar prices, but the Seed2Oil had more sophistication and sleek design. So, as a city slicker, the decision should have been with Seed2Oil.  But, I had a feeling, I may need to go against my first instincts here.  So, started working on the logic.

The first logic was how much sleek and automation I needed. Not much, as the sleekness in my kitchen will be stressful for me as I will be forced to redesign my kitchen to match this new crisp outlook. My mindset was similar to the HawkEye (Dr. Pierce) of the famed MASH series who had serious complaints against someone cleaning his swamp (living quarters), I have allowed my life style to come to appreciate this, not just as humor, but also as higher wisdom.

Second point was about the whole demo. The sales person started his story as a recovering individual from serious cancer, and he wanted to do something good for the humanity, and therefore now dedicating his life to promote this Seed2Oil. Sounded nice, but too cheesy. If someone is so impacted, one is likely to go for charity or social service. So, felt this is a perfect sales pitch, in fact, sounding too perfect to trust.  So, started questioning the other claims. 1. It is cold pressed. I notice that all offerings use similar technology, but other two vendors mum about cold press. I could see some weird logic that the heat is to extract the left overs smoothly, and as long as one is below 70 degree Celsius, one can claim to be cold pressed. I agreed with the logic, but decided to give the benefit of doubt to all vendors on this. In fact, I am not such a purist on this issue, I would say, as long as the oil does not reach the boiling point, we are good to go.  Then I looked at other two advantages of Seed2Oil, sophisticated automation and display, sleek design. I decided to write off these two advantages for two reasons: One the capacity of the Seed2Oil machine is bit less, so long term reliability is a question, also the points of failures to service are higher. Therefore, I said the benefits even out with the risks associated. Also, was bit miffed that Seed2Oil had lesser number of review comments when compared to others, while all the three vendors maintained a healthy four star rating of customer satisfaction. (Do not know whether other two vendors had more number supporters to submit positive review, as a conspiracy theory, this can happen you see, therefore, more the number of reviews is a critical measure for me, Seed2Oil came last on this, so this helped me against the guilt of not siding with Seed2Oil).

In the mean time, the market showed no clear polarization on pricing or clarity of objective review. So, I decided to open myself for the price competition. I knew, I had to wait for the sales dhamaka of Dassara or Deepawali, and I knew I will be buying it on Amazon for sure.

Yesterday, one particular brand popped with a discount of sudden 2k discount on the price. Over and above, Amazon threw in 1K cashback, and the SBI card threw its hat too with 10% cashback. Effectively now I have a window now to buy one oil extractor for Rs. 17K instead of 22K, this was good enough for me to close my long pending decision. I placed the order for an EPS 400W machine, quite an ugly and heavy beast (13KG), but my kitchen counter can take this monster.  Went to bed and had a deep good sleep.

Will write objectively after my experience with the machine that is coming in a few days. In the mean time, my cooking oil supply at home is sufficient for another two months. I hope, I will never have to buy oil for kitchen purpose again. Let us see!

I believed all along that all of us deserve an oil extractor in our kitchen for Rs. 8K investment, and I hoped the market would catch up to do so, it is still too early on such a development, I am glad my waiting helped me to save at least Rs. 5K, agree, it is more of a male ego satisfaction than anything else. For me, all capital investments are serious games to achieve best possible wins, I took 10 months to play this game towards closure, hope I will not be proved a jackass again on this investment!

Best regards

Incredible Case of Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia Diversifolia) for Tropical Urban Greening!

Mexican Sunflower is an amazing plant that will serve effectively to increase the urban green content.

Because there is a superstition that the greenery goes against the development mindset, people are made to believe that greenery is an anti-development concept. This is unfortunate. It is possible to maintain perfect harmony between nature and the expensive real estate in urban context, it is an insult to the human ingenuity to do it otherwise.

Of course, it is practically difficult (still possible though) to go for a pupil tree in the middle of the downtown, but it is very important that the civilization needs to take up the question of maximizing green in the urban context by harmonizing both the concrete content and the plant content together for optimal harmony, space leverage, utility, aesthetics and green content (lung space).

Urban forestry is one such concept that needs more attention in urban planning and management. Urban gardening is another important concept. While there is a dire need to expand these concepts for more practical and impacting innovations in urban design, there is a need for one to go opportunistic and leverage easy solutions for maximum impact in the mean time.

Mexican Sunflower is one such plant crying for urban exploitation. This note is to highlight this case.

The Incredible case of Mexican Sunflower:

1. The Mexican Sunflower is well suited for tropical conditions, and is quite native to tropical countries including India. One can see natural vegetation of this plant in natural forests even under shaded / semi-shaded conditions.

2. Mexican Sunflower can be grown both as a trimmed bush or as a wild mini bush tree (Can go up to 25 feet high). So, it is ideal substitute for rearing optimal plant presence instead of having a massive tree which needs more space or maintenance.

3. Mexican Sunflower is soft wood, it can be pruned with bare hands. So, the maintenance of the plant against urban sophistication is easy.

4. Mexican Sunflower is beautiful, both with plenty of lush green leaves and potentially close to hundred sunflower like flowers on one plant in ideal conditions.

5. Mexican Sunflower is convenient to grow, it can be easily propagated with stem cuttings (can also propagate through seeds, less effective though), it grows even in the most neglected areas and has the ability to survive purely on water fed through the rains.  They are also known to be drought tolerant.

6. While the plant thrives better in the sunny condition, it survives and serves its purpose in the shady and semi shady areas too, but with lesser spectacle.

7. Mexican Sunflower leaves and soft stem portions are confirmed to be an effective feed for goats and sheep.  (Its viability as a feed to cows is pending confirmation from the writer's end.)  Therefore, there is a leverage in the animal husbandry too.

8. Because the Mexican Sunflower is of soft wood, when pruned, it serves as an effective urban composting raw material.

9. Mexican Sunflowers do attract certain bees, butterflies, and certain nectar loving birds. Therefore they help to enhance the vibrancy of the eco space it is growing in.

10. It is easy to create an urban jungle with the Mexican Sunflower as it splits into multiple and nested branches. Also it is possible to grow them closely next to each other creating a thick yet easily managable (for pruning) matrix of green. In fact, growing them closer helps them to survive heavy winds otherwise the soft stem could give away and break.

11. Mexican Sunflower plan is suitable for the container gardening too! It may be less spectacular in the containers due to limited space for the roots and nutrition, but it tends to make the best out of the given conditions.  It is a weed in that sense, but quite an useful and beautiful weed though.

12. While there is resistance or ignorance or capability gap on the part of citizens in a community towards greening the locality, Mexican Sunflower is an ideal bet, as even a dummy can grow it with no stress or effort, one needs to just plant a stem cutting. Therefore, it is ideal to extend the green on the road side, vacant sites, neglected parks, schools and other public institutions with lot of empty space and no readiness for enhancing the green, and of course the domestic spaces crying for green but with no readiness for gardening.
 
Other pertinent details:

1. There are different varieties of Mexican Sunflower, the color of the flower varying in different shades of red to orange to yellow.

2. Only care to take while growing is to ensure proper draining of water for the roots, and to prune out the spent branches (after completion of the flowering) to avoid decaying effect of such branches and leaves, and to induce new fresh shoot outs.

3. In conditions like Bengaluru, the plant takes 5-6 months to grow from a humble cutting to full flower bloom upon plantation.

4. Since the plant branches out at multi-level, it is easy to prune the plant and ensure endless propagation without having to lose out the effectiveness of the forestation it can influence. In fact, post flowering pruning of the branches can be directed to further propagation by cutting the branch into two 2-3 feet long stems and planting these stems one foot deep into the soil.  It helps to prune the leaves while planting the stems as the plant can quickly recover the shock and start blooming.

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Keeping the case of Mexican Sunflower for the urban greening in mind, the stem cuttings of these (yellow variety) will be made available in the upcoming OFYT event (Aug 25, 26 2018) in south Bengaluru. Approx. 100 cuttings will be placed in the organizers pavilion (Hall #02) on both the days, visitors could help themselves by picking up these cuttings and help the cause of urban greening by planting them at various urban spaces under their access.
 
Event info:

Added bonus:

As part of this main event, there will be free seeds (saplings and produces too if any) exchange among the garden enthusiasts at the same pavilion during 12.30 noon to 3 pm on the second day only (Sunday, 26th Aug 2018). Typically, this sub-event is quite a fun, like a noisy festival due to the cheers of dedicated gardeners, the spirit of their giving away the excess from their sacred gardens with nothing expected in return, the loving attention the newbees get, and the opportunity they have for networking with gardeners from all over the city corners with scope for lot of follow up help in support, guidance and mentoring through these individuals or the regular local meets organized by more than a dozen area based teams these gardeners are part of. These gardeners are quite active in the social networking space via forums like Facebook and Whatsapp, and a lot more goes on among them, not just gardening, there is a spirit of sustainable living prevalent among them, and also there are dedicated activists, entrepreneurs and merry makers who could help one to bring in newer inspirations, healing, energy, value and purpose in one's life.

Best Regards

From the team of "Paint Bengaluru Green and More"

(ಬೆ೦ಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಹಸಿರು ಓಕುಳಿ!)

Why I have not been shopping on FlipKart for almost the last two years!

It is because Flipkart does not allow me to do it so, and they are bit fishy about it. They have disabled my email ID in their database against making any purchases, and it is not quite apparent. I can fill the cart, but when I have to confirm the order, it will fail.

I wrote to them, they said to the effect that my email ID has been disabled. I am unable to get satisfactory answer from them, only evasive answers.

This is what actually happened. During Jan - Feb 2016, the MI 4 phones were on instant sale, and there was lot of demand, and I placed for two phones, paid by credit card. The credit card payment went through from the bank but failed at the Flipkart side, very unusual situation. So, I had to cancel the order as I did not get any satisfactory follow up on this issue from Flipkart as they simply said that I have to follow with the bank.

Since I badly needed those phones, as they were really good deal,  this time I placed an order again with cash on delivery, got the phones on cash on delivery.

In the mean time, I did follow up with the Flipkart to ensure proper refund on the failed payment. Since this was an unusual technical problem, nobody really owned it, giving only evasive answers, I did escalate it multiple levels as I was not getting ownership to own this problem and resolve it.

In the mean time, I called the bank people and asked them to withold the payment to protect my interests. I continued to escalate with Flipkart for resolution, but they had no grip on the issue, and I was not relenting on it.

I really do not know what actually happened, either the back office resolved the issue with the bank, or the bank people forced the refund, I will not know as the Flipkart never put me in the loop as to what really happened and how the fix was done. They only argued that everything is looking fine and there is no issue.  Basically, they were hiding the technical glitch, otherwise, probably that will cause some of them to answer to too many people.

I left the issue at that as my payment issue was resolved after a week or so, it was ok if I din't know how exactly.

After an year or so, when I attempted to make another purchase, I was getting an error message that order can not be placed. When I followed up with the service, I learned that my email ID is disabled in a database level, but that aspect is hidden.

What probably might have happened is that because I escalated the problem too many times and was relentless on resolution, some bigwig was getting negative exposure, and decided to screw me with a revenge, silently disabling my Id from further purchase.

When I asked as to what is the valid reason for this disablement, I was given the reason of cancelling an order, which in itself can not be the reason and that cancellation was due to their shortcoming and not mine,  and further follow up and escalation on this even to the CEO level resulted in no amicable resolution. Even I posted this issue publicly on Twitter, even then I did not get the resolution.

I tried to complain to the Consumer Care section of the government agency, the website refused to take my complaint sighting the reason that my complaint is too short in volume of words. I could then make out that there is a probable nexus between the government agency and these bigwigs towards minimizing formal complaints. I decide to let it go, and did not follow up further.

I accepted the fact that Flipkart does not want me as a customer, its business practices are hoax compared to global standards and its customer service is an eye wash.  I have been very happy with the Amazon relation, so I did not miss anything much.  The only regret I had was that I missed to support an Indian company against a foreign company, but I let that too go because Flipkart was adamant not to reform.  The culture of babugiri was very much in its bureaucracy, and that would not change in near future.

So, my aim now became to resist the arrogance of business people, the one prevalent was business people from the north forcing hindi on southern people, because they are considered meek. So, I started refusing to take any tele call from that point onwards, if it started in Hindi. I initially insisted to talk in English or Kannada, but some of them simply ignored the request and continued in Hindi. I started cutting the call on the very first Hindi word hence forth and blocking that number in the phone.

After blocking almost 50 numbers or so in my phone over the three months, the telecalls have gone down, now I need to block 1-3 numbers per month. I feel good about this. An ad agency attempts to call me over approx. twenty different numbers before giving up on it.

In the mean time, if there is any real deal on Flipkart, I can still use the ID of other folks at home, but that need is more of an exception than rule, so I am not missing much.

Now I am curious as to how the internal bureaucracy reforms will occur with the pending Walmart tie up. I will escalate the issue again post Walmart involvement and check whether the Walmart marriage brought any reform for the arrogant outlook of an Indian company, but I am not ready to bet on this reform yet!

Best Regards 

Our Aqua Guard water purifier is now more than 16 years old!

We had a new Aqua Guard water purifier installed 16 years back and it is still functioning!

We take annual contract for its maintenance, which has worked well. The contract includes replacing the filters inside (Carbon as well as the fiber thread based) and fixing it when occasionally its electronics inside fails or the plumbing outside to the filter tank fails.

Now a days, there is far more sophisticated water purifiers available, especially the ROH water purifiers which are not only bit expensive for purchase and maintenance, they waste a lot of water for filtering the metal content in the water. One should plan to reuse the water these filters waste, else it looks criminal for the Indian realities!

The Aqua Gurard water purifier is bit simple compared to today's offerings. It uses three times filter: One through a fiber filter, which needs to be cleaned once a while by changing the direction of flow of water into the separate tank it is kept in. This is a must if the water coming in is too muddy, else this filter can get clogged and water may not flow through it anymore. Second filtering is using carbon charcoal, which absorbs some toxic contents.  Both the filters need replacement once a year, the annual maintenance covers for it. The third filter is to send UV rays across the flowing water, that is why this apparatus needs some electronics and electric supply.

Since, due to grounding issues, the service person had to visit at least three times more than usual to fix the failing apparatus, I asked the service engineer how he rates this old model compared to recent offerings and should we upgrade. He gave an honest answer which I appreciated very much.

What he said is that the old filter is simple but effective. For our health reasons, we should not remove all the minerals from the water. Since ROH removes all the minerals, it is not favorable for long term health. Though this old filter does only 90% of the job compared to new offerings, it helps by retaining the minerals.

I felt that he was right, especially for those homes who are supplied with Kaveri water, which typically contains metal content anywhere between 170-220 ppm, when I tested last in this summer, it was 220 ppm, bit high due to summer (water sources drying).

But, if you are using ground water, you will need ROH filter as the ground water is likely to have 400-500 ppm or more metal content, and that is definitely harmful on longer term use.

When the Aqua Guard filter failed multiple times (fault was ours, the sensitive electronics failed due to grounding issues, which we eventually fixed), the service engineer was even thinking to get a replacement old model for us, and was telling that it is difficult to get such one. Since he could not isolate the reason for electronic failure multiple times, he was thinking this way, but his smarter supervisor caught on to the root cause.

Bottom line, if you have an old Aqua Guard purifier still working at your home and you are happy with it, there is no compulsion to replace it, at least until the company servicing refuses to service it through annual contract.

Our old Aqua Guard water filter now feels as sweet as the older spouse at home!

Viva Older Aqua Guard Old Water Purifiers!