A geographer par excellence

Searching on internet with a search engine has become a routine task these days. All of us use the search engine almost every day to find out about things we do not know or things that we know but do not remember precisely.  All of us have now become used to the exhaustive search results that these search engine spiders present to us that are interspersed with advertisements cleverly. Yet sometimes, the search spiders come up with an odd find of a gem that simply baffles you and makes you think, Hey! How did I never know that?

It happened with me a couple of days ago.  I was searching for an obscure place in south Uzbekistan; very near the Afghan border. This place was described in old books as a mountain pass and only two writers gave a detailed description of it. The first writer was the famed 7^th century Chines traveler, Xuan Zhang, who calls it as Iron Gate and goes on to describe it as; “ The pass so called is bordered on the right and left by mountains. These mountains are of prodigious height. The road is narrow, which adds to difficulty and danger. On both sides there is a rocky wall of an iron colour. Here there are set up double wooden doors, strengthened with iron and furnished with many bells hung up. Because of the protection afforded to the pass by these doors, when closed, the name of Iron gates is given.” 

The second description comes from the travelogue of one “ Ruy Gonzalez De Clavijo,” who was ambassador of Henry III. of Castile, to the court of Timur in 1404. He describes this pass as ;” This hill is very high and there is a pass leading up by a ravine, which looks as if it has been artificially cut, and the hills rise to a great height on either side, and the pass is smooth and very deep. In the center of the pass there is a village, and the mountain rises to a great height behind. This pass is called the great gates of iron.”

 

Among the hundreds of links thrown up by the search engine on my computer screen, there was one link of a book that looked most uninteresting because of its old fashioned long name; “The universal geography: the earth and its inhabitants; edited by E.G. Ravenstein and A.H. Keane.” Since I was not able to find any further details from any of the other web sites, I thought of downloading the book and did it. When I opened the book, I found that the author of the book was actually someone else. It was written by a person known as Elisee Reclus. 

This book surprisingly not only gave full details of the place, but had also included a line sketch of the place. It described the pass as;” One of the southern branches of the Kashka rises in a highland district formerly famous for containing one of the " wonders of the world. This is a defile 40 to 65 feet broad, and nearly 2 miles long, traversed by the route leading from Balkh to Samarkand by the Shirabad River, Shehi'-i-sebs, and the Samarkand tau range. When visited by the pilgrim Hwen-T'sang this defile was closed by folding gates, strengthened with bolts and adorned with belfries. Eight centuries afterwards Clavijo, Spanish envoy to the court of Tamerlane, also passed through the "Iron Gate," but the artificial structure had disappeared, and the place is now called Buzgola-khana, or the "Goat Hut." But the nearest town retains the significant name of Derbent,"

I really got interested in this book and its author, after finding detailed information about such an obscure spot, in it. To my utmost surprise, the book turned out to be a giant; by any standards. “The universal geography: the earth and its inhabitants” is a masterwork that has been published in 19 volumes, originally in French. Each volume is dedicated to a different part of the world. The author,  Élisée Reclus or Jacques Élisée Reclus (15 March 1830 – 4 July 1905) was a renowned French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced this 19-volume masterwork, originally titled as “La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes” over a period of nearly 20 years (1875–1894.)

Reclus was born in the French town of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, as a second son of a of a Protestant pastor and his wife. The couple had fourteen children, quite a few of which achieved renown as men of letters, politicians or members of learned professions. His two brothers Onésime and Élie Reclus, actually also became like him geographers. Reclus began his education in Rhine province of nearby Prussia and later continued it at Protestant college of Montauban in southern France.  He completed his studies with an exhaustive course in geography under famous German geographer, Karl Ritter (1779 – 1859), considered as one of the founders of modern geography at University of Berlin.

A major political upheaval tormented France in December 1951, when the then president, Louis Bonaparte proclaimed himself the Emperor Napoleon III. Fed up with the developments, Reclus left France and spent next six years travelling and working in Great Britain and United states. He settled down as a tutor in 1853 at a plantation, about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans in Louisiana. He published two books,’ impressions of antebellum New Orleans’ and ‘Fragment d'un voyage á Louisiane,’ in 1855.

He returned to Paris and was attracted to the anarchist movement. He was arrested in 1871 for anti-national activities and sentenced to deportation for life. Because of intervention by supporters from England, the sentence was commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment from France.

Reclus settled in Clarens, Switzerland, where he wrote his masterwork ‘La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes.’ An English edition also was published simultaneously, also in 19 volumes, the first four by E. G. Ravenstein, the rest by A. H. Keane. This masterwork examined every continent and country on earth in terms of the effects that geographic features like rivers and mountains had on human populations. Reclus’ books were profusely illustrated with maps, plans, and engravings.

For their extreme accuracy and brilliant exposition, which gave them permanent literary and scientific value, Reclus’ writings were awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1892. He was also awarded the 1894 Patron's Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in London.Reclus was appointed chair of comparative geography at the University of Brussels, in 1894, and moved with his family to Belgium, where he stayed till his death in 1905.

An independent scholar and author, Kirkpatrick Sale has this to say about Reclus’s writing.” His geographical work, thoroughly researched and unflinchingly scientific, laid out a picture of human-nature interaction that we today would call bioregionalism. It showed, with more detail than anyone but a dedicated geographer could possibly absorb, how the ecology of a place determined the kinds of lives and livelihoods its denizens would have and thus how people could properly live in self-regarding and self-determined bioregions without the interference of large and centralized governments that always try to homogenize diverse geographical areas.”

 

Fortunately for us, most of the volumes of “The universal geography: the earth and its inhabitants” are available on net and can be downloaded. It may be worthwhile to download them and keep them in our library. 

19^th December 2015

Patients admitted to hospitals in Pune, loose a true friend

This morning's newspaper brought a very sad and untimely news of demise of Mr. Kondujkar, a person; who has done yeoman service  for last so many years for patients admitted to Pune Hospitals; which he has been doing since 1998. He was only 66 years old. Like soldier giving up his life in a battlefield, Mr. Kondujkar collapsed with a massive heart attack, when he was in a hospital; doing what he liked best; to help patients. I thought that it would be the most appropriate homage to him to reprint an article that I wrote about him several years ago.


A True Angel

Few days back, I went to attend one meeting in an evening. I never really expected it to be anything but a drab and routine affair. As I was exchanging pleasantries with few people around, I was introduced to the guest speaker of the evening. My first impressions of the man were not very favourable. He was small and very thinly built and had a kind of coarse voice. I said ‘Hello’ to him as curtsey and protocol demanded. However, I was pretty sure, that an hour of boredom certainly awaited me next.

After initial formalities, the microphone was handed over to the speaker, one Mr. Kondujkar. Just after a few words told by him, everyone in the audience, including me, suddenly realized that we were not listening to some humdrum character but to a person, who after braving and overcoming a terrible personal tragedy, was doing something that our society needs so badly. All of us have experienced the trauma and the frustration faced, when one of our close dear ones has to be admitted to a hospital. Anyone under such conditions is under tremendous stress and is scared. We normally feel that the hospital staff does not show adequate empathy and compassion towards the patient and we feel annoyed. Mr. Kondujkar, during his daily rounds of many hospitals in Pune, just helps such patients and their relatives to make their stay in the nursing home, comfortable and smooth. I am sure that for many of the patients, he must be a true angel, helping them during despair, misery and desolation. During his speech, he narrated few cases to us, which were so tragic that I almost felt like crying.

A twelve-year-old girl from nearby ‘Zopadpatti’( slum colony), who was admitted to the hospital for leukemia, was very lonely. Mr. Kondujkar found out while talking to her that she could draw really beautiful sketches. He encouraged her to draw and she made some fifty or sixty beautiful sketches. These were shown to a magazine editor, who gladly printed those on the front cover. Unfortunately, before this girl could see her art being published, she left this world. For Mr. Kondujkar, the realization that he was instrumental in making last few days very happy for this unfortunate girl was the greatest award.

In another case, an old man of eighty-six was admitted to the hospital for hipbone fracture. While admitting, his son made a payment of a large sum of money to take care of the expenses. The patient was operated and was taken care off. Mr. Kondujkar met him daily and spent some time with him to make him feel better and less lonely. After two weeks, this old man requested Mr. Kondujkar to call his son and ask him to visit the hospital. Surprisingly, this old man’s son, was very much irritated by this call, but agreed to visit the hospital in the evening. When he met Mr. kondujkar in the evening he was peeved and annoyed and was in a bad mood. When Mr. kondujkar tried to counsel him he remarked that why should he and his family waste their time for this old man.(his father). He left the hospital after giving piece of his mind to the old man. Mr. Kondujkar was aghast at the apathy shown by this man towards his own father and had to make extra efforts to calm down the old man.

Yet in another case of an old man, who had telephoned Mr. Kondujkar to visit him in his house and help him. This man was living in a big family but was alone and lonely. The family had earlier fixed up a nurse for him. This particular nurse had found a better job and the old man; thinking that why should he come in the way of this nurse if she was advancing her career, had let her go. His family as well as the agency, through which this girl was sent to this old man, became very angry with this old man and refused to give him a replacement. Old man was now in a desperate situation. Mr. Kodujkar had to make lot of efforts to get him another nurse.

Senior citizens, in particular, face too many difficulties and obstacles during their hospital stay. Similar is the case of small children who’s both parents work.

May be, they are slightly less miserable, at least in Pune, because of this great man.

3rd November 2015

Waves

I was taught in my Physics classes that light displays dual properties. It behaves like a ray as well as like a wave. Let me explain. If we stand in front of a light bulb, we see our shadow on the wall. This shows that the light rays falling on us are stopped by our bodies and create a shadow.  Yet, light also behaves like a wave, when it creates Fresnel zones or interference patterns created by two independent light waves crashing into each other. Light Waves also have their crescendos and nadirs (the highest and lowest points).

Unlike light and its dual nature, humans seem to prefer to behave in ways  that can be compared to waves. Take fashions, as an example.  If a particular attire is in vogue, humans of every possible shape, height and weight,  try their best to adjust and squeeze themselves in that attire of latest fashion; in vogue at that  point of time;  irrespective of the fact, whether it really suits them or not. 

About 50 years ago, a dress called Safari suit was in vogue. At its crescendo, it was the main stay of every businessman, when out on a business related visit. It was also the staple garment of all Government officials from top to bottom. Slowly, the Safari wave subsided and reached its nadir. First, the businessmen gave it up. After that, for some more time, Government officers continued to wear them but then they also gave up. These days, only chauffeurs and drivers prefer to use it, perhaps because the wear has many pockets. 

Another fashion that was in vogue was known as bell bottom trousers. I have yet to see a more horrendous creation than this, where the trousers would be tight fitted near the knees and would be stupidly loose fitting, near the ankles, creating a circus joker type look. Yet bell bottom trousers were in great fashion and vogue. We even had safari suits with bell bottoms; a stupidest garment ever created.  Luckily for humans of male kind, the wave was gone and since reached its nadir. Then came the narrow bottoms, which were so tight on the lower legs that a super human effort was required, even to remove the trousers. Narrow bottoms wave subsided too and we were back at good old trousers once again. About fashions of the fair sex, less said is better. I leave them to enjoy their fashions.

Take cookery as another example. Four or five decades ago, people ate in their houses, only traditional dishes. No one complained or ventured to make nontraditional dishes like even simple Idli Sambhar or Dal Makhani, even when they were popular in other parts of the country. Such dishes used to be served only by specialty restaurants, where no one normally went. People (males) visited “Irani” restaurants for “Chai” and an occasional “Khari” at the most. For womenfolk, firstly they never would visit a restaurant themselves and if anyone from their families was seen eating out, it was considered as the ultimate insult to their culinary skills.  Then in 1970’s came a wave of making Idli sambhars and Dosas at home and suddenly every housewife seemed to be making the tasty south Indian dishes at their homes. Cookery classes came up and   special cooking apparatus for Idlis and Dosas became available in the market. Sometime in 1980’s, Chinese dishes came in vogue. Every housewife worth her salt jumped on the band wagon. New tuition classes came up which started training housewives in making chop suey, spring rolls and Manchurian rice. A new class of food called Indian Chinese (Chinese dishes to Indian tastes) was created. It was the turn of the Pastas and Pizzas to gain household popularity then followed later by Burritos, Nachos and Tachos, stuff of Mexican vintage. I often call these as food waves. If you ask me, what is the latest food wave?  The latest food wave is to eat out. Quality and cleanliness are no longer important. Even if the “Bhel” or Bombay mixture vendor is making it next to a garbage dump, it’s O.K. People drive their luxury saloons to the garbage dump and stand there in a queue to get the tasty “Bhel.”   Home cooked food is strictly “No-No” and out of fashion. 

Wave theory is not restricted only to things we do. It also holds true for diseases with which we are afflicted. In the middle of twentieth century, people fell ill and died, because of waves of diseases like typhoid, cholera, Malaria and simple straight forward Influenza.  Earlier to that it was the plague.  We used to call these as epidemics.  No one is dying with these deadly diseases any longer. Their place is now taken by waves of new diseases like diabetes, cancers and heart attacks. Only good old Malaria and Influenza seem to be still holding their forts now.  Influenza has given up its old simplicity and now comes in new, more deadly forms; such as Bird flu, HiN1 and Chikungunya.  Malaria also has a twin brother now called Dengue. One could perhaps explain, why waves or epidemics of diseases came up in yesteryear, because the diseases ware contagious. How can you explain, why so many cases of people now suffering with cancers, diabetes and heart failures, surface every day? 

When I was in school, I often used to find a particular sport, gaining popularity all of a sudden, when during recesses; every boy would be seen playing that game. Whenever a foreign cricket team came for a visit, it would be a cricket fever in school. Same used to happen with hockey. We used to call them sport seasons. Yet these seasons came like waves and disappeared like them. Waves for sports, like Tennis or Badminton, never reached their crescendo, as very few could afford the gear. The current wave in sports arena is that of cycling.  In Pune of yesteryear, a bicycle was a necessity. Everyone (at least all males) used to transport themselves to schools, colleges or work by a bicycle. I remember that in my factory, I had operators who came to work after riding their bicycles over ten or twelve Kilometers without any special gear, in ordinary day to day clothes, every day. Their bicycles also were reasonably priced. Sports bicycles of  today may cost between twenty five thousand and hundred thousand Rupees. A bicycle was a necessity then and not a fashion. These days, cycling is in vogue as a sport. On any morning, particularly on weekends, one can see droves of young and middle aged men and women wearing fancy headgear, shorts (also known as bicycle shorts) and special shoes, riding their bicycles for Kilometers and Kilometers. The bicycle wave is truly at its crescendo now.

Another activity wave that is sweeping across these days is called “jogging” which used to be called as running earlier. People no longer run in old fashioned way. They jog. I cannot say much about this new wave because I am not qualified to say so as I have never jogged in my life. But I believe that since it is a form of exercise, it must be good for health. It’s another question, whether overdoing it, is helpful for health? But at least it generates more business for X-ray clinics and orthopaedicians, where these middle aged joggers are often seen heading to.

Some people call these waves as a craze or a fever. I don’t think so. A craze or a fever is one time affair. A wave is a repetitive phenomenon. These waves that seem to hit us are bound to come again and again, may be after a half century or full. But they will come for sure. All we can do, dear readers, is to wait and see what wave hits us next!

30^th October 2015

Making Soya milk at home

Soya milk or milk made from Soya Beans is becoming more and more popular these days, because of many advantages over cow’s milk. A comparative chart of nutritional values of Soya Milk and Cow’s milk (Whole with 3.2% milkfats) makes an interesting reading. Some of the key components of both are given below for reader's ready reference.

Component	Soya Milk 200 ml	Cow’s Milk 244 ml
Energy	165 K Cal	150 K Cal
Total Fats	3.2 gm	7.9 gm
Cholesterol	0 mg	24.4 mg
Carbohydrates	3.6 gm	12.8 mg
Sugars	0 mg	12.8 mg
Proteins	6.4 gm	7.9 mg
Calcium	180 mg	276 mg

( Data sources: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/69/2. with values rounded off; for cow's milk; for soya milk, values as mentioned on commercial tetra packs containing soya milk)

 

Cow’s milk also contains lactose, a sugar derived from galactose and glucose that is found in milk. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk. Many people are lactose intolerant and find it difficult to digest milk. 

I changed over completely to Soya milk about six months ago. Initially I bought readymade Soya milk from market. It is available from local sources in bottles or in Tetra pack packing. I did not like the locally made, bottled milk, because of the taste and also due to fact that I found getting plain milk rather difficult with flavoured milk more easily available. I found Soya milk available in Tetra packs quite agreeable and good for daily consumption. However, it turned out to be much more expensive than cow’s milk with a liter of  Tetra pack Soya milk costing more than double that of Cow’s milk. I therefore investigated, whether we could make it home and after considerable research on net and help from my wife, we found the correct recipe. The milk, we make at home, is quite tasty and also much cheaper than Cow’s milk, which we used to buy earlier. I thought of sharing the recipe with the readers so that if someone is interested, he/she does not have to “reinvent the wheel”.

Soya beans are available from any grocery shop, cleaned and ready for consumption. Here is the detailed recipe. 

1. Take 1 cup of Soya beans in a bowl and pour water till the beans are covered. Add warm water till water level is about 2 inches higher than beans. Put a lid on the bowl and leave the beans overnight.

2. Next morning, add hot water and de-husk the beans by rubbing them between palms or by traditional way other lentils are de-husked.

3. Take 1.5 liter water in a jug.

4. Add de-husked beans to a grinder-mixer and add water from the jug till beans are covered. Grind beans to a thick smooth paste. Add little water and grind till the paste becomes homogeneous. Repeat this procedure till mixture in the mixer bowl becomes a homogeneous liquid.

5. Allow the homogeneous mixture to settle for 4 to 5 minutes and then remove the foam or cream on the top, with a spoon and throw the foam away.

6. Filter the mixture through a multilayered muslin cloth, simultaneously adding some water left over in the jug.

7. When all of the homogeneous mixture has been filtered, a thick white precipitate would remain on the cloth. Collect the cloth around this precipitate with hands and squeeze it till all milk flows out and what is left on the cloth is a semi-dried ball of  Soya flour. 

 

8. Add balance water, if left in jug, to the filtered Soya milk and mix thoroughly. Heat the milk on high flame to de-odourize it of Soya bean smell, stirring continuously.

9. Let the milk come to a good boil. Take care to stir as Soya milk also spills over like  cow’s milk, when on boil. Cut the flame and let the milk cool down slowly.

10. Pour the milk in glass bottles and store in a refrigerator. It helps to boil empty and washed  bottles in water for about 10 minutes, once in a while, to avoid splitting of the milk during storage, though there is no need to boil bottles regularly. The milk now is ready for use.

Soya milk can be used for any application, where we can use cow’s milk. The taste initially may feel different, if one is used to cow’s milk, but after some time, the milk is as good as drinking a glass of cow’s milk. The left over Soya flour can be mixed in vegetables. My wife  makes “Koftas” or even sweets from it. The sky is the limit.

Enjoy!

26^th October 2015