Global Warming

I don't know if this is a common phenomenon around the globe but in India there are all sorts of people peddling all kinds of stuff at busy traffic intersections. You can find the craziest things at such places. In addition to the usual suspects you can find some real smart alecs with excellent sales pitch.

The other day a young boy was selling magazines. He offered me Time Out and I just told him that I don't 'want' to spend thirty bucks on it. With further ado he offered me the same magazine at twenty bucks. He reasoned that at thirty he earns ten rupees on every sale and at twenty it'd be five. He was willing to make five rather than nothing. Impressed I bought the magazine. At thirty rupees, what were you thinking!

Some times these people sell face wipes for the car. It'd a popular notion that in a box of fifty you' only find thirty. On other occasions they will sell knick-knacks such as string wound helicopters, cheap Chinese LED torches, bandannas and what have you. I always observe them as I'm curious as to what'd be the next thing they try and market at a traffic light. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw the other. I thought I'd seen it all. There was a dude dressed in denims and he had a cowboy hat on him.

A fellow was selling cowboy hats at Defence Colony flyover.


He was carrying twenty pieces in his hand. Twenty cowboy hats. He was selling cowboy hats. people were buying cowboy hats. The sight felt like this was the very evidence which prompted Dr. Manmohan Singh to tell GeorgeW. that India loves him.

Could it be that global warming melted some part of Texas and it floated away, only to resurface in the heart of New Delhi?

Or could it be the financial meltdown that did this?

What next?

Food Crisis

Some things don't change. Or should I say the more they change, the more they remain same. In spite of traveling on a regular basis and possessing excellent packing skills, which can rival any super hero on various accounts, in addition to an elephantine memory, I forgot to stock up one of the essentials while shooting outdoors- Sunblock.

I was shooting in the sun for five days which included so much traveling that I felt like bad news visiting villages across Uttarakhand. The lack of protection from sun ensured that the protective layer...wait this is my skin we are talking about...

There isn't any protective layer!

There is just a layer and may I add it's not as resilient as you'd believe it to be. The entire skin peeled off. First it stung. Then it started resembling cling film on some sandwich. Slowly but surely the skin came off. First there were small but significant eruptions. what followed was a bloodbath, which can't be described here. Like some S&M freak I self clicked and have photographic evidence. Don't worry I shan't torture you. But you get the idea. Hence forth either I'm going to cap myself up or go bonkers on industrial strength sunblock.

But things do change. The one change that I saw on this shoot wasn't anything short of a marvel. This documentary that I was shooting for is about an innovative method of cultivating rice and it's called System of Rice Intensification. Under this a farmer needs lesser water, lesser grains and the produce is almost 60-80% more. what's fantastic is that the work required- sowing, water, weeding- is all 80% less than the conventional method in addition to the grain being bigger as well as insecticide free! Rather than planting a handful of saplings the farmer just plants ONE seed in a place and yet the produce is better and the yield is more.

The process is rather simple- soak seeds in water for a day. Then sprout them before sowing them in a nursery. While transplanting use a marker to mark sqaures on the field which has very little water; sow one sapling rather than a handful at each intersection of the square. The farmer just needs to weed the field every 10 days over a period of 30 days. After this you just watch the rice grow. Scientists believe that SRI could actually be the solution for the food shortage in the world. Eat your heart out George W! Read this article from New York Times to get more information on SRI. India is adopting this method for wheat and other grains as well and it's being done by the people from People's Science Institute.

The shoot was really tough but it all seems worthwhile keeping the subject in mind. Also got an opportunity to cross the (in)famous Tehri Dam. I really don't know what the hell the dam is used for- the reservoir is far from full, there is no movie like water-gushing-out scene happening...nothing. Bu it's a scary sight to say the least. Imagine there used to be a entire town that got submerged; what you see above the water was formerly the highest building of the town.