The boxes of eggs in the supermarket all have the same special offer boldy printed: '5+1'. Don't you remember those days when you used to go and buy packs of 5 eggs, and at the end of the week you would have to make a sad-looking one-egg omelette. Problem solved, super economicos.
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
The traveler returns
After a brief trip through the best organised parts of India, I am back in England. Both the road to Indira Gandhi International and the airport itself are smart and efficient; foreign travellers aren't even required to complete an exit form any more, depriving them of this last dose of paperwork. This should be home, I am no longer a traveller, and with this it feels that my weak self-justification for writing has now disappeared. I could cite examples of great writers who have used this transition to see with fresh eyes, perhaps George Orwell or Aldous Huxley, but I'd sicken myself with the pretentious connection to greatness. Now I am in England, I am just one of the thousands of people shouting their own opinions about every-day events as loud as they can to anyone who will listen.
I didn't remember this much drinking in the streets. I did remember the deliberately-loud pseudo down-and-outs who frequented the parks and drank. This group, I feel, are acting a part. But this is about the only direct observation I can make on England, London at least. To talk about politics becomes abstract and media informed. Still, it's impossible not to be covered by the waves of politics after the council and Euro elections. Politics is full of complex culturally-weighted terms, but engineers see a far simpler world of systems which need to be fixed. UKIP stand against the influence of Brussels, so now a greater number of their representatives will inhabit Brussels (and Strasbourg, because the French government will waste money for their own vanity). But this anti-Europe sentiment isn't limited to the UK. The nationalist, far right, and anti-Europe parties, have been successful in many countries. In effect these parties, which find the control of Brussels so disagreeable, are in agreement. As these parties now form part of this parliament, it's decisions must be less disagreeable. In effect this diminishes UKIP's entire reason for being, it's strange how democracy works, when we stop considering dem foreigners as different to ourselves. If so many countries have turned on Europe in a time of economic weakness and rising anti-immigration sentiment, this is as strong a demonstration of common European mood as there ever was.
In England, the unions make the point best of all. No level of benefit cuts can press, by means of the stick, 2.2 million unemployed (March) into 650,000 vacant jobs (last year, UKCES), 146,000 of which are due to a shortage of skills. Any system where a man through no fault of his own is left idle must be considered unfair. Unemployment benefits, or as branded 'job-seekers allowance, are viewed as a temporary solution; but what if the consequence of economic development is efficiency and automation which continually decreases the need for unskilled labour. At the very least, recessions seem sufficiently frequent to appear inevitable. This surplus pool of labour must suffer unless the government takes the required ultimate step, not a guarantee of an unearned 'living dividend', but a guarantee of employment or training. All debates around the idleness of benefit claimants, and even responding to these, are designed to divert attention from this inevitable duty. Even with the admission by the Tory pretension to disinterest, 'Policy Exchange', that to encourage people into work the minimum wage might have to rise to 'make work pay', and not just cut benefits, avoids dealing with the mismatch. How could a government find employment for these people? The Cuban government loaned employees to private companies at fixed government wages. As a socialist capitalist this level of government control sounds a frightening idea, but what if it is in fact inevitable, even if differently named (Because in politics a shovel must be a self-empowering job-facilitator). If employment can't be found for unskilled labour which could pay sufficiently to meet the minimum wage, or better a living wage, then there are only two options: training or subsidy. In effect governments have chosen a mixture of denial and acceptance. Training without acknowledging this as a right, and short of what the CBI claims is required, and without human development of living standards which might be necessary for people in poverty to develop. And small steps which don't acknowledge the final goal. The conned libs have stated an aim to raise the minimum tax payment threshold, which reduces the tax burden, bringing the cost of a low paid employee and the money they receive slightly closer together. If, providing national insurance and income tax are merged, this threshold can be brought up to the minimum wage, then the government will have solved half of the problem (if the artificially separated 'employer contributions' are included in this merger). At this point the cost of an employee is only the living wage they need to receive. The next step is only significant artificially on the basis of the sign, when the government has to apply a positive subsidy to employment. The effect of this is to provide a wage closer to the living cost, without raising the obligations of companies and giving the incentive for further efficiency. I don't claim to know how far the cost of an employee would have to fall to achieve full employment, or whether Britain is already part of international agreements which prohibit subsidised labour, preserving the sacred free market system. Both Labour and the Conned Libs have attempted to decrease the importance of one of Britain's existing state-labour generators for disabled persons, Remploy. The idea of a state owned employer-of-last-resort seems unpopular, why? Am I alone in believing there are people who will never have anything to offer private industry.
There are of course other options, I'm not an economist. Perhaps the economy will again grow to full employment, and a solution will be found which prevents future recessions. (I would then argue that the minimum wage should be linked to the absolute GDP, to really make growth inclusive). A shorter working week is sometimes suggested, which according to the proponents would increase the demand for workers to achieve the same output and solve the supply and demand problem. I would love to live in a world where rising productivity results in greater free time, for holidays, or to leave work earlier. But in a way, this strategy has already been considered. The EU mandated the maximum number of hours in a working week, but we have each added exceptions to the point where excepting from this rule is a formality. They have reason, unless any strategy to improve working conditions is global it fails in the race-to-the-bottom world of competition.
I didn't remember this much drinking in the streets. I did remember the deliberately-loud pseudo down-and-outs who frequented the parks and drank. This group, I feel, are acting a part. But this is about the only direct observation I can make on England, London at least. To talk about politics becomes abstract and media informed. Still, it's impossible not to be covered by the waves of politics after the council and Euro elections. Politics is full of complex culturally-weighted terms, but engineers see a far simpler world of systems which need to be fixed. UKIP stand against the influence of Brussels, so now a greater number of their representatives will inhabit Brussels (and Strasbourg, because the French government will waste money for their own vanity). But this anti-Europe sentiment isn't limited to the UK. The nationalist, far right, and anti-Europe parties, have been successful in many countries. In effect these parties, which find the control of Brussels so disagreeable, are in agreement. As these parties now form part of this parliament, it's decisions must be less disagreeable. In effect this diminishes UKIP's entire reason for being, it's strange how democracy works, when we stop considering dem foreigners as different to ourselves. If so many countries have turned on Europe in a time of economic weakness and rising anti-immigration sentiment, this is as strong a demonstration of common European mood as there ever was.
In England, the unions make the point best of all. No level of benefit cuts can press, by means of the stick, 2.2 million unemployed (March) into 650,000 vacant jobs (last year, UKCES), 146,000 of which are due to a shortage of skills. Any system where a man through no fault of his own is left idle must be considered unfair. Unemployment benefits, or as branded 'job-seekers allowance, are viewed as a temporary solution; but what if the consequence of economic development is efficiency and automation which continually decreases the need for unskilled labour. At the very least, recessions seem sufficiently frequent to appear inevitable. This surplus pool of labour must suffer unless the government takes the required ultimate step, not a guarantee of an unearned 'living dividend', but a guarantee of employment or training. All debates around the idleness of benefit claimants, and even responding to these, are designed to divert attention from this inevitable duty. Even with the admission by the Tory pretension to disinterest, 'Policy Exchange', that to encourage people into work the minimum wage might have to rise to 'make work pay', and not just cut benefits, avoids dealing with the mismatch. How could a government find employment for these people? The Cuban government loaned employees to private companies at fixed government wages. As a socialist capitalist this level of government control sounds a frightening idea, but what if it is in fact inevitable, even if differently named (Because in politics a shovel must be a self-empowering job-facilitator). If employment can't be found for unskilled labour which could pay sufficiently to meet the minimum wage, or better a living wage, then there are only two options: training or subsidy. In effect governments have chosen a mixture of denial and acceptance. Training without acknowledging this as a right, and short of what the CBI claims is required, and without human development of living standards which might be necessary for people in poverty to develop. And small steps which don't acknowledge the final goal. The conned libs have stated an aim to raise the minimum tax payment threshold, which reduces the tax burden, bringing the cost of a low paid employee and the money they receive slightly closer together. If, providing national insurance and income tax are merged, this threshold can be brought up to the minimum wage, then the government will have solved half of the problem (if the artificially separated 'employer contributions' are included in this merger). At this point the cost of an employee is only the living wage they need to receive. The next step is only significant artificially on the basis of the sign, when the government has to apply a positive subsidy to employment. The effect of this is to provide a wage closer to the living cost, without raising the obligations of companies and giving the incentive for further efficiency. I don't claim to know how far the cost of an employee would have to fall to achieve full employment, or whether Britain is already part of international agreements which prohibit subsidised labour, preserving the sacred free market system. Both Labour and the Conned Libs have attempted to decrease the importance of one of Britain's existing state-labour generators for disabled persons, Remploy. The idea of a state owned employer-of-last-resort seems unpopular, why? Am I alone in believing there are people who will never have anything to offer private industry.
There are of course other options, I'm not an economist. Perhaps the economy will again grow to full employment, and a solution will be found which prevents future recessions. (I would then argue that the minimum wage should be linked to the absolute GDP, to really make growth inclusive). A shorter working week is sometimes suggested, which according to the proponents would increase the demand for workers to achieve the same output and solve the supply and demand problem. I would love to live in a world where rising productivity results in greater free time, for holidays, or to leave work earlier. But in a way, this strategy has already been considered. The EU mandated the maximum number of hours in a working week, but we have each added exceptions to the point where excepting from this rule is a formality. They have reason, unless any strategy to improve working conditions is global it fails in the race-to-the-bottom world of competition.
The animated TV series Futurama deals with the subject best, on the improvements in efficiency introduced by a bureaucrat in a forced labour camp. In this case unemployment thankfully resulted in release of the characters, a far cry from our world.
"My Hermes got that hellhole running so efficiently that all the physical labor is now done by a single Australian man"
Myself
I get excited when I see parts of my own nature described in books, as if this counts as proof that the thoughts I suffer are not unique. As it turns out I have found myself in books rarely read, and I am scarcely more able to describe myself to others. On discovering the despicable character of Gordon Comstock, the centre of George Orwell's 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying', I fancied I saw too much of myself. This is a man who is trapped in a self-inflicted world of middle class poverty, resenting the world dominated by money, and treating his friends and girlfriend awfully. I'll keep it in my library of books to recommend, for this reason, and it's description of the suppression of creativity by a certain type of working life. But perhaps, I am part another foolish fool. The romantic, but clueless, Alyosha, from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 'The Insulted and Humiliated'. This fool spreads suffering through his fanciful idealism and belief that everyone should ultimately love each other and get along. He is perhaps some sort of male Catherine Linton, with politics not far from my own.
Friday, 16 May 2014
One cup of scams, then I'll go
Also in the news: 'India Today' - "how to get 'brighter' skin in 10 minutes". Single quotes around 'brighter' added for effect. Picture, naturally, is of a woman.
The elections are nearly over; it looks like Modi is going to win. I can hear a BJP spokesperson loudly proclaiming that the party won't promote religious fanaticism, and will represent all Indians. I wont pretend to know the history of Indian politics, but I can see enough to know I don't like it. Narendra Modi is championing 'economic development', combined through his party alliances with Hindu nationalism. He champions his apparent success in Gujurat, not in reducing poverty [1,2,3], but in encouraging business. Who doesn't want to be rich, and have a higher GDP, even if this is not equally distributed. When people talk about economic growth they picture themselves richer, but the results don't always follow the imagination. In the West economic growth in the last 40 years has disproportionately benefited those earning above the median wage, there is a very important graph to see on this if you haven't seen it before [4,5]. The incumbent Congress, with a reputation destroyed by a history of corruption scandals, and Indian racism, didn't really stand a chance. (Some of the corruption is so notorious it has even become modern art, I remember one multimedia piece in the National Gallery of Modern Art (Delhi) based on the Radia tapes of the India 2G spectrum scandal). It's populist schemes aimed at the rural poor were in the end dogged by corruption, even if with good intent. But many Indian's will gladly tell you the big secret why Congress is so terrible is that Sonia Gandhi was not even Indian, she was born Italian! Apparently European girls are only the most precious objects when they are young and pretty (see 6).
Rahul Gandhi has clearly failed to sell the same policies which won the last election. Many of the schemes initiated or continued under Congress could be dismissed as influence buying, but they had real results. One, which is on display frequently in Meghalaya is MGNREGS. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which allocates 100 days of paid work every year to one person in each household in rural areas. To find something to do in the jungle this scheme seems to be primarily involved with constructing community halls (which are too small), and concrete steps between the villages. While the original stone steps through the forest were beautiful and romantic, sadly I understand they were nearly unwalkable in the rainy season and the welfare of the local people is at stake. The other visible schemes are heavily subsidised rice, rural health and empowerment schemes.
Modi recently gave a speech in Varanasi. This was a wave to Hindus, it couldn't be more so, landing at a Hindu university, surrounded by Hindu figures, in a city holy to the Hindus. Among his promises of restoring the city to greatness (a bit too dramatic), and including a hedge of promising to help the cities Muslim weavers, was to increase tourism (through some unclear effect). While I can't argue that cleaning the Ganga is a great goal, what infrastructure benefits tourism? I haven't been to Varanasi, but I have heard that what it is, reportedly crowded, chaotic and dirty, contributes to the effect. Still, people have to live in this place, I don't condemn people to live in a museum, but myself I get a very hollow effect. I will make you rich, and you, and you are not forgotten either. Glory to the Hindu, cough I mean, Indian state.
I hear some business owners in Tapovan (Rishikesh) talking about Modi. Maybe they can get richer now the economy is the prime focus. These are the same people breaking the law by charging over MRP (Maximum Retail Price) (it seems that this scam is particularly concentrated on Rishikesh), perhaps instead they will be the ones squeezed. Perhaps instead of fighting high level corruption (AAP fought entirely on this stand) advancement means more inspectors to enforce the Indian act on Standards and Measures which mandates an MRP. Again the superficial denial is present, who is being kidded by a scratched off MRP, at a roadside cafe on the way back to Delhi. Denial is painful. Who asks, am I part of what destroys the country. India is Great. How do I get into your country?
Notes:
Some stories on poverty reduction, taking their numbers from other sources. It's worth noting that 'poverty' as it is defined in India is far worse than poverty, it is abject poverty. The poverty line is set so low that it could be misleading to use this as a measure of progress. The goal should be more than a plate of rice and the 0.1GBP to pay for a consultation at a government hospital.
1 http://www.indiaspend.com/states/west/deciphering-the-gujarat-growth-paradigm
2 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Faster-growth-not-leading-to-fast-poverty-reduction-Study/articleshow/16961096.cms
3 http://www.theweekendleader.com/Headlines/2103/tamil-nadu-has-outperformed-gujarat:-study.html
The wiki is worth reading for this image which perfectly illustrates the concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Productivity_and_Real_Median_Family_Income_Growth_1947-2009.png
The full article on wikipedia for the United States.
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
A more complicated report which tracks the correlation between GDP and wage growth over multiple countries, principally related to the UK.
5 http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Painful_Separation_1.pdf
6 This frustrated outburst is triggered by the standards of beauty held by too many people in India. White girls are admired for the superficial fact that they are white, and to many people considered beautiful. "You're so beautiful", or something similar, I've overheard before now. I had an awkward responding conversation with a man on a train, I think I understand it as follows. You see my wife, what colour is my wife. See she is dark. In Europe, the women are white, yes... at first this might seem a trivial comment, but his skin matches that of his wife, why does he ask about his wife?
The elections are nearly over; it looks like Modi is going to win. I can hear a BJP spokesperson loudly proclaiming that the party won't promote religious fanaticism, and will represent all Indians. I wont pretend to know the history of Indian politics, but I can see enough to know I don't like it. Narendra Modi is championing 'economic development', combined through his party alliances with Hindu nationalism. He champions his apparent success in Gujurat, not in reducing poverty [1,2,3], but in encouraging business. Who doesn't want to be rich, and have a higher GDP, even if this is not equally distributed. When people talk about economic growth they picture themselves richer, but the results don't always follow the imagination. In the West economic growth in the last 40 years has disproportionately benefited those earning above the median wage, there is a very important graph to see on this if you haven't seen it before [4,5]. The incumbent Congress, with a reputation destroyed by a history of corruption scandals, and Indian racism, didn't really stand a chance. (Some of the corruption is so notorious it has even become modern art, I remember one multimedia piece in the National Gallery of Modern Art (Delhi) based on the Radia tapes of the India 2G spectrum scandal). It's populist schemes aimed at the rural poor were in the end dogged by corruption, even if with good intent. But many Indian's will gladly tell you the big secret why Congress is so terrible is that Sonia Gandhi was not even Indian, she was born Italian! Apparently European girls are only the most precious objects when they are young and pretty (see 6).
Rahul Gandhi has clearly failed to sell the same policies which won the last election. Many of the schemes initiated or continued under Congress could be dismissed as influence buying, but they had real results. One, which is on display frequently in Meghalaya is MGNREGS. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which allocates 100 days of paid work every year to one person in each household in rural areas. To find something to do in the jungle this scheme seems to be primarily involved with constructing community halls (which are too small), and concrete steps between the villages. While the original stone steps through the forest were beautiful and romantic, sadly I understand they were nearly unwalkable in the rainy season and the welfare of the local people is at stake. The other visible schemes are heavily subsidised rice, rural health and empowerment schemes.
Modi recently gave a speech in Varanasi. This was a wave to Hindus, it couldn't be more so, landing at a Hindu university, surrounded by Hindu figures, in a city holy to the Hindus. Among his promises of restoring the city to greatness (a bit too dramatic), and including a hedge of promising to help the cities Muslim weavers, was to increase tourism (through some unclear effect). While I can't argue that cleaning the Ganga is a great goal, what infrastructure benefits tourism? I haven't been to Varanasi, but I have heard that what it is, reportedly crowded, chaotic and dirty, contributes to the effect. Still, people have to live in this place, I don't condemn people to live in a museum, but myself I get a very hollow effect. I will make you rich, and you, and you are not forgotten either. Glory to the Hindu, cough I mean, Indian state.
I hear some business owners in Tapovan (Rishikesh) talking about Modi. Maybe they can get richer now the economy is the prime focus. These are the same people breaking the law by charging over MRP (Maximum Retail Price) (it seems that this scam is particularly concentrated on Rishikesh), perhaps instead they will be the ones squeezed. Perhaps instead of fighting high level corruption (AAP fought entirely on this stand) advancement means more inspectors to enforce the Indian act on Standards and Measures which mandates an MRP. Again the superficial denial is present, who is being kidded by a scratched off MRP, at a roadside cafe on the way back to Delhi. Denial is painful. Who asks, am I part of what destroys the country. India is Great. How do I get into your country?
Notes:
Some stories on poverty reduction, taking their numbers from other sources. It's worth noting that 'poverty' as it is defined in India is far worse than poverty, it is abject poverty. The poverty line is set so low that it could be misleading to use this as a measure of progress. The goal should be more than a plate of rice and the 0.1GBP to pay for a consultation at a government hospital.
1 http://www.indiaspend.com/states/west/deciphering-the-gujarat-growth-paradigm
2 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Faster-growth-not-leading-to-fast-poverty-reduction-Study/articleshow/16961096.cms
3 http://www.theweekendleader.com/Headlines/2103/tamil-nadu-has-outperformed-gujarat:-study.html
The wiki is worth reading for this image which perfectly illustrates the concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Productivity_and_Real_Median_Family_Income_Growth_1947-2009.png
The full article on wikipedia for the United States.
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
A more complicated report which tracks the correlation between GDP and wage growth over multiple countries, principally related to the UK.
5 http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Painful_Separation_1.pdf
6 This frustrated outburst is triggered by the standards of beauty held by too many people in India. White girls are admired for the superficial fact that they are white, and to many people considered beautiful. "You're so beautiful", or something similar, I've overheard before now. I had an awkward responding conversation with a man on a train, I think I understand it as follows. You see my wife, what colour is my wife. See she is dark. In Europe, the women are white, yes... at first this might seem a trivial comment, but his skin matches that of his wife, why does he ask about his wife?
Monday, 12 May 2014
India Travel
Sometimes in India you need to learn the local terminology just to get around, each route seems to have it's own favoured vehicle. A taxi is fairly unambiguous, but without the right word other methods of travel are unintelligible. For example, a 'jeep' (manufacturer Mahindra) as it is known in most of India, is replaced by a 'Sumo' (manufacturer Tata) in Meghalaya. A 'ricksha' is a 'tuktuk', and if petrol powered is strictly an autorickshaw, leading to the esoteric Andhra shortened name of 'auto'. The overgrown rickshaws used as small bus services go sometimes by the name 'Tempo' or alternatively 'Vikram'. A passenger train is a painfully slow method of transport, a 'mail train' is the way to travel. A bus could mean a minibus, or a delux government bus. But if it is no longer painful to ride it ceases to be a bus and becomes a Volvo.
A design for life
Haven't most people at some time looked at the back of an electronic product or manual and seen the FCC compliance statement.
"Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation."
This helps translates abstract concepts such as morality into a form that engineers can comprehend. I find it far snapper than the similar sentiment expressed in the Lord's prayer.
"And Forgive us Our Trespasses, as we Forgive those who Trespass against Us"
As an atheist engineer it warms me that such a statement of philosophy, independent of religion, should persist hidden in plain sight after the bibles have largely disappeared.
Saturday, 10 May 2014
The couple opposite
A cockroach walks over the floor of the train carriage, pausing to inspect the plastic-jewel encrusted shoe of the woman in black. I presume she is the wife of the man sitting beside her, but I see little love. She is wearing black, with a black scarf over her head, but it's not a dark garment. The scarf and dress are embroidered with lines of beads and flowers. She wears bracelets and anklets and an expression of defiant resentment, staring ahead at the children of the Hindu family opposite and responding to her husband without looking. When she wants something from the bag beneath the bench she is pushed back into place by her husband without a word. This gets my attention and I stare intently at the man but he wont acknowledge my gaze. She isn't allowed to go to the bathroom alone, and when necessary receives a sharp push. The husband has a black thread tied around the big toe of his right foot. There is nothing in his appearance to tie him to any religion, he is but one of the legion of Indian men wearing a check-pattern shirt and grey trousers. His moustache is short but present and his rough chin is covered with a few days stubble. He looks older than the wife, probably over 40. The wife is harder to place, she could be 30, but I suspect she has aged in fewer years. His dark skin shines in the light, it's nearly 40C and at times the train stops and the air is still. I hope he waters her well.
But he doesn't. Later, when the train briefly halts at nowhere, the vendor from the sleeper-class coaches climbs into general with bottles of cold water. The man buys a bottle, and instead of drinking water poured from a bottle held above his lips, as is the Indian custom, he takes a small metal cup from his bag. He fills the cup, and drinks it slowly. The wife is watching, he pours another glass, and drinks this. A few minutes pass, he packs the cup away. His wife picks up the bottle, but he takes this away from her with a sharp movement and places it back on the seat. The wife doesn't struggle, it's some form of communication, implicit, a routine. He gets up and walks towards the doorway, pausing at the open door to the general coach as the train rumbles along. The wife takes the bottle and begins to drink, encouraged by the Hindu family. He is watching but doesn't react. She drinks about a third of a litre. In this way one trains a dog to understand the master.
I think she feels ashamed, she looks older now. She is still watching the noisy brightly coloured Hindu wives and children. She might be Hindu herself, but without the brilliant clothing it appears as a very different religion. South Indian Hindus cast menstruating women out of houses, temples or food places with a greater warmth than this man eventually allows his wife when she leans her head on his shoulder.
But he doesn't. Later, when the train briefly halts at nowhere, the vendor from the sleeper-class coaches climbs into general with bottles of cold water. The man buys a bottle, and instead of drinking water poured from a bottle held above his lips, as is the Indian custom, he takes a small metal cup from his bag. He fills the cup, and drinks it slowly. The wife is watching, he pours another glass, and drinks this. A few minutes pass, he packs the cup away. His wife picks up the bottle, but he takes this away from her with a sharp movement and places it back on the seat. The wife doesn't struggle, it's some form of communication, implicit, a routine. He gets up and walks towards the doorway, pausing at the open door to the general coach as the train rumbles along. The wife takes the bottle and begins to drink, encouraged by the Hindu family. He is watching but doesn't react. She drinks about a third of a litre. In this way one trains a dog to understand the master.
I think she feels ashamed, she looks older now. She is still watching the noisy brightly coloured Hindu wives and children. She might be Hindu herself, but without the brilliant clothing it appears as a very different religion. South Indian Hindus cast menstruating women out of houses, temples or food places with a greater warmth than this man eventually allows his wife when she leans her head on his shoulder.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Khasi fooding
The small Khasi restaurants have their own food delicacies including pig brains, intestines and blood rice. You'll have to imagine these yourself as it's not my sort of thing, but to me it suggests that little is wasted in the jungle. Frogs, the Khasi divide into two classes, 'edible' and 'non-edible'. On asking about whether the Khasi people like to eat monkey, they inform me that there are no monkeys here. I'll take that as a yes.
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