tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56326517234216007242024-03-16T06:40:09.774+05:30Personal Finance, Investments, and other thingsmainly on personal finance, a bit on other subjects... a lot of prose, and some poems... all views here are personal, I welcome you to leave your commentsDinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.comBlogger404125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-67389764074176913462024-03-02T08:24:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:45:30.330+05:301000 WAYS TO GET SICK, ONE WAY TO STAY HEALTHY <div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The spread of Diabetes, what is the reason? It all boils down to nutrition and lack of vital minerals in the body. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Ah well. There are 1000 different ways that the body can get sick, and diabetes is just one of them. The medical industry focuses on the 1000 different ways in which you are sick since that is how they make their money. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In your case, all you need to do is to focus on the one way which will keep you well, and ignore the 1000 sicknesses entirely. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And what is that one way? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food. Yes food. Not processed mash made in factories where the manufacturing process strips out the minerals from the food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food, yes food, not from chain restaurants with a "supply chain", which could not care less about your nutrition, they care only about their profit. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food, yes food, not from cloud kitchens, which are anonymous cost cutting mass producing factories.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food, yes food, made from good ingredients, not from "refined" oil, "manufactured" salt, "analogue" cheese substitutes or white sugar.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food, yes food, which has not been doused in pesticides. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food, yes food, which you can trace to the source. So that you know who grows it, and how. And you buy what grows. And cook it. At home. And eat it when it is still fresh. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Yes, it is that simple. You want to be healthy? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat food.</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-33768214432068020932024-02-28T14:56:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:47:20.122+05:30THE MODERN STOCK PICKER<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The latest missive from the Old Man of Nebraska talks about how the stock markets are becoming more and more like a casino.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Link: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-says-stock-market-212445057.html">https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-says-stock-market-212445057.html</a></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Old Man, as always, is right. It pays to listen to Old Man Buffett. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">My thoughts on why this is happening: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">If you apply the logical DCF methodology to stock picking - pick any Nifty or Sensex stock - you will most likely end up concluding that the stock is overpriced, however optimistic your assumptions. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">At the core, investment is all about buying assets at lower than their "intrinsic" value. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Intrinsic value is the discounted value of expected future cash flows, discounted at a rate appropriate to the risk profile of the particular stock. On which value you give a margin of safety. That, in summary, is the Benjamin Graham approach. Benjamin Graham was Buffet's professor and teacher. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Buffett and Munger added their own insights on what a "good company" looks like. Just a few parameters, which all investment gurus will agree to, are: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"> 1. Adequate "moats " like brand strength, pricing power, independence from regulatory interference, patent protections, distribution strength... A moat is anything that enables the company to sustain its competitive advantage for the foreseeable future. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">2. Pricing power</div><div dir="auto">3. A business that is not easily comoditisable or capable of being swamped by "china imports" </div><div dir="auto">4. Growth prospects of the industry in which the company operates. For example, with the rise of disintermediation and alternate financing options, pure play credit card companies may not be a good bet today </div><div dir="auto">5. Management with long term vision</div><div dir="auto">6. Good ROE and ROCE</div><div dir="auto">7. Low Capex needs</div><div dir="auto">8. High replication possibility at close to zero cost </div><div dir="auto">9. Consistent sales and profit growth </div><div dir="auto">10. Something in the DNA that will make the Company extract a greater premium from its customers over a sustained period of time </div><div dir="auto">Etc etc </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But are the markets purely driven by fundamentals? The logical fundamental investor certainly hopes so, but that is less and less the case.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">As more and more people enter the market, and as stock trading becomes easier than buying groceries with 15 minute deliveries, the market, to use the term introduced I think by Soros, becomes more and more "reflexive", finally adhering to the financial equivalent of the definition of a Socialite, a person who is famous because she is famous. The stock price goes up because it is going up and everyone expects it to go up, and the reverse on the way down.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Whatever the trendline may be, prices yo yo wildly around it. Computerised algorithmic trading, now aided by AI and machine learning algorithms, magnify this tendency a hundred fold. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Add to this cross border money flows searching for cross country arbitrage, and the availability of easy money due to extreme monetary "easing" policies, and it becomes a perfect madhouse.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Sense and logic, where art thou, cries the fundamental investor, as he looks on with bewilderment. Stock prices seem to have a mind of their own - and they do, it is an independent mind beyond human control driven by algorithms- and all ups and downs are much faster and extremely magnified. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In such a situation, sticking to fundamentals alone may not be the right strategy. At the very least, for a long only investor, setting a strict stop loss when entering any stock is absolutely mandatory. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And the old old adage of Buffett, I don't care if I don't see the market for a year, for I have picked fundamentally good stocks, may no longer hold true. If like Buffett, you decide to retire to the metaphorical hills of Omaha, Nebraska, and come down to the plains only once a year to check on your stocks, you are likely to find, like Rip Van Winkle did, that the world has left you behind and moved on in your absence, leaving you with nothing.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Can you catch the trend? </div><div dir="auto">Can you Intuit the future? </div><div dir="auto">Can you second guess the crowd? </div><div dir="auto">All while being dependent on them! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Can you get in before them,</div><div dir="auto">Can you bale out in time? </div><div dir="auto">Do you have balls of Steel,</div><div dir="auto">And a heart that is as strong? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">For those are the qualities needed,</div><div dir="auto">In today's crazy world,</div><div dir="auto">To succeed in the markets,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Or for that matter,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In anything at all! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">( Posted to my blog </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://www.dineshgopalan.com">https://www.dineshgopalan.com</a> )</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-80380422346399647592024-02-26T14:40:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:45:59.606+05:30HOLISTIC EATING<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">When it comes to Food, *what* you eat is more important than the parts. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">When you eat organically grown whole foods, freshly cooked, without adding chemicals and preservatives, without a long shelf life, the effect on the body is on many dimensions, and the interrelationships between the parts is beyond "scientific" measurement. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">When it comes to food, in general : </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Avoid Grains, or, minimise them in your diet which is more practical; avoiding grains entirely in today's context of tough. Grains are a comparatively recent addition to the human diet. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Use natural salt, not manufactured table salt. Manufactured table salt is a chemical called NaCl and it is not food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Use cold pressed oils, not refined oils. Til oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil, mustard oil, are all traditionally used in India and good for health, of course , when used in moderation. Palm oil is not good, period. Rice Bran oil is not even oil. I am not sure about Sunflower Oil and am still to form a view on it. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Sweets should be sparingly eaten, during festivals, etc, and make them using gud , not manufactured white sugar. There are many varieties of gud traditionally used in India.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Milk is not strictly necessary for the human body and can be easily avoided. BUT Ghee is extremely healthy. So is butter. Even vegans would be well advised to not skip ghee. So is buttermilk. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So that takes care of salt, sugar and fat, which are the primary building blocks. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">What about protein? Dals and light protein are good if you also have grains in your diet. Grains are carbohydrates and the laws of food combination state that carbs and heavy protein don't go together. If you have meat, can you make sure they are freshly killed, not heavily processed, and come from free range animals fed on a natural diet? If you can, go ahead and eat meat, but in moderation. As affordability increases, the quantity of meat in the diet goes up, which is a mistake. If you can't ensure this kind of meat, and buy meat from animals raised and fed on industrial farms, then it is better to avoid meat entirely. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Within foods itself, you have "super foods" , like spices; spices are a store house of micro nutrients. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The food industry does not like this simple, common sense approach. None of their products are even edible, or in other words, food, if we follow the above approach. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So what do they do? They divide food into various nutrients, and minerals, and vitamins, and give labels on all their processed foods listing all that. Their manufacturing process does the following: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It strips the food of all that is good,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It adds chemicals and preservatives, </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It uses all the wrong ingredients that are bad for health in the first place,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It makes things that don't spoil with a long shelf life. Anything that does not spoil, is by definition, not food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It diverts us into the useless exercise of "label reading", and debates on the "nutrient profile" of foods, which is among the most useless exercises you can ever indulge in.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then it adds the template called "hygiene". And "good manufacturing practice". And converts us into a bundle of nerves afraid of the very food we eat. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And introduces abominations like milk powder into the culture itself. The office coffee machine of course has only milk powder, and so does the tray that is kept in your five star hotel for the morning chai. A dip dip tea bag with dairy whitener is the most pathetic way to start the day.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Slowly, we are converted into a bunch of people who believe in "science" , read nutritional labels on packaged foods; a walking talking abomination of inedible chemicals we shove into ourselves in the name of Food, all the time wondering where is that vitality, where is that positive health, where is that well being that we lost somewhere along the way. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The medical industry then steps in to address our woes. The medical industry calls itself the health industry, but they have nothing to do with health, the apt description would be "disease industry". But more about the medical industry in another post.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And thus the system traps us. A bunch of people with more and more knowledge but less and less wisdom who are insistent on harming themselves... </div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-67288548190461238792024-02-23T08:33:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:46:08.896+05:30On Mc Donald's and Fake Food<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Maharashtra FDA cracks down on McDonald's because none of their cheese items are made of cheese. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">This is food we are talking about. It is considered acceptable to replace food items with a chemical cocktail and call it "analogue", in this case "cheese analogue". </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Not surprising at all. The moment food gets into industrial production mode, this is bound to happen. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Trace all your food to the source. Buy only what grows, and cook at home. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The more the layers between you the consumer and the producer, the more the profit motive as opposed to genuine love at any part of the chain, the more the food becomes just another commodity - the less it remains food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Our ancients treated the cooking process at home itself as something sacred. There are prescriptions for how the lady of the house should approach cooking, including the mental attitude while doing it. Any mental disturbance while cooking gets transmitted to the food as bad vibrations and thereon to the family members who are eating the food. Food is called "Prasad" and treated as such. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">At the other extreme you have chains like McDonald's, and you have Cloud Kitchens. You can be sure that anything coming from these places will not be fit for human consumption. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Humans have a capacity for debasing the sacred to the profane in no time at all. And what are profane, like Swiggy, Zomato, and industrial fast food chains, are glorified by popular culture. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Things have reached such a state now that anyone who says that one should eat only freshly cooked food made at home, is viewed at best as a quaint anachronism, and at worst as a disruptor of the social order! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-8856639777767799152024-02-08T20:01:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:46:41.262+05:30THE RIVER OF TIME<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The thing that strikes you today, </div><div dir="auto">That monument that is grand,</div><div dir="auto">Is here for a moment's stay,</div><div dir="auto">Then Time swallows it and it's gone! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The thing that you just achieved,</div><div dir="auto">When you thought you bested the world,</div><div dir="auto">Is even more short lived,</div><div dir="auto">For such are the memories of men! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The recognition for which you crave,</div><div dir="auto">That fleeting validation - </div><div dir="auto">Who is it saying you are great?</div><div dir="auto">For their sojourn is just as brief! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We hurtle from the day we are born,</div><div dir="auto">Caught as if in a strong current;</div><div dir="auto">The river of Time sweeps us all,</div><div dir="auto">Inexorably to our deaths!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-85881451550010878312024-02-07T13:18:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:47:06.643+05:30AT IKEA<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Thoughts while walking through Bengaluru's IKEA store </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Lovely design,</div><div dir="auto">Lovely finish,</div><div dir="auto">Flimsy material,</div><div dir="auto">Make today's things! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">All things ersatz,</div><div dir="auto">All things compact,</div><div dir="auto">Not made to last, </div><div dir="auto">Are today's things! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Movable stackable,</div><div dir="auto">Assemble it yourself,</div><div dir="auto">How weak and fluffy,</div><div dir="auto">Are today's things! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Good to see, nice to hold,</div><div dir="auto">Nothing is permanent,</div><div dir="auto">Who wants things to last,</div><div dir="auto">In today's world!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-46702166200299396412024-02-07T06:46:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:47:37.345+05:30APOTHEOSIS<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We spend our time chasing money,</div><div dir="auto">And all that money can buy us;</div><div dir="auto">By their trinkets do we define,</div><div dir="auto">Value the worth of those around us! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We spend our time chasing degrees,</div><div dir="auto">That confers on us validation,</div><div dir="auto">By those whom we seek to impress; </div><div dir="auto">Knowledge is not a consideration! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We spend our time praising freedom,</div><div dir="auto">And all that lip service entails; </div><div dir="auto">While imprisoned by the baubles,</div><div dir="auto">That keep us captive and enthralled!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We spend our time on our gadgets,</div><div dir="auto">Whose feed is controlled by someone else;</div><div dir="auto">We feed our brains with all that junk,</div><div dir="auto">Which is designed to keep us entrapped!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We spend our days, our entire lives,</div><div dir="auto">In this state, hypnotised, held in thrall; </div><div dir="auto">A collective brain controls our fates, </div><div dir="auto">And that brain is certainly not ours!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">What we focus on is religion;</div><div dir="auto">What we pray to are our Gods;</div><div dir="auto">What we chase all our lives we become;</div><div dir="auto">Man makes his Gods, and they in turn make Him! </div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-32592776091825323632024-02-05T08:26:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:47:54.218+05:30REFLECTIONS ON THE EVOLUTION OF FOOD<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Jains ate only a vegetarian diet, and a severely constrained one at that due to additional rules.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Eskimos ate predominantly raw seafood. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The pastoral herders consumed milk and milk products.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In regions with no cows, people not only consumed no milk; over generations they became lactose intolerant </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Kshatriyas ate meat </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Those staying in hot regions added more spices to their food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Those staying in cold climes ate bland food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And so on. The variety in human diet is astonishing. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Yet, most societies remained healthy. Those who follow a traditional diet continue to remain healthy.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But any society which gets influenced by "western" culture, read "modern western food habits ", again US is the biggest culprit here, loses its health within two generations, in fifty years or so. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Obesity, Diabetes, BP, ADHD, inability to focus, stress... The list of incurable diseases can go on. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Pharma companies then step in to provide life long medication for these incurable conditions, making huge profits, and ensuring future profits, since the patients only end up getting worse requiring more and more medication </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Actually, the term "incurable" is not true. The clue to "curing" these conditions lies in the realisation that these are mostly problems created in the last fifty years or so. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In which case, the answer will dawn by itself. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Provided you are willing to accept the conclusions that common sense tells you must be true. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-77283381067657910172024-02-05T07:34:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:48:11.240+05:30Gobi Manchurian<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Check out this article below on Goa banning Gobi Manchurian.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/culinary-public-enemy-no-1-goa-declares-war-on-gobi-manchurian/articleshow/107391233.cms">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/culinary-public-enemy-no-1-goa-declares-war-on-gobi-manchurian/articleshow/107391233.cms</a></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It is not the Gobi Manchurian, but the garbled reasons for the ban that should be more worrying.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Chemicals and powder used in the batter. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Additives to lend it crispiness, or whatever quality you want in it. Arrificial colours. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Veering away from Gobi Manchurian: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The highly processed foods that we eat contain dozens of additives to enhance various "qualities" of the food. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The swiggy / Zomato food that we are habituated to, mostly comes from "cloud kitchens" which will care less about your health than the average stall owner in Goa.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">There is a mistaken perception, also touched upon in the article, that paying more ensures better quality. Usually, I have found the reverse to be true when it comes to food. The food at your local Darshini / Udupi is by and large far healthier than what is served in star hotels, for a variety of reasons. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Moral of the story? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Trace everything to the source. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Buying your own provisions and cooking at home ensures that you are in control of the whole cooking process.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then, go one step back. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Trace the food that you buy to the source. Do you know how and where it is grown? If possible, buy organic. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You are too busy to do all that? Because of your job? You order only from Swiggy and eat at McD and KFC? Oh! What is the job you do? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You work in the health and sustainability field, earning a fat salary advising organisations on health and sustainability? Good for you!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Oh, the ironies of life!</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-23844648369377817962024-02-02T17:33:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:48:51.050+05:30Review of Fighter<div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">Just saw Fighter on an IMAX 3D screen. It's a kind of Bollywood Top Gun, all about pilots and the air force. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">Top Gun meets patriotism meets Armed Forces meets India vs Pakistan… all ingredients were there for the script writer to turn it into a heady mix or a pathetic kitsch. This film is neither. It is definitely not kitschy, but the story somehow lacks any layers and also fails to elicit an emotional connect at any point. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">The story is simple enough. Hrithik and Deepika are pilots, and the best of the best in the IAF. Pulwama happens, and then Balakot. The arch villain is a terrorist on whom the Pakistani army, who are his handlers, seems to have no control. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">Starting with the villain, almost every character in the movie is uni-dimensional. The villain is villainish; Hrithik is, well, Hrithikish, and Deepika and Anil Kapoor also lack any layering to their characters. The story is also quite simplistic, ending in a dishum dishum fight between Hrithik and the villain deep inside Pakistan while all around them everyone is blazing away with their machine guns. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">The flying scenes are extremely well shot – the technical standards of Bollywood are definitely improving – this film throughout has a Hollywood feel to it in terms of technical excellence. The backdrop of Kashmir in the aerial shots are a treat to watch. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">Hrithik and Deepika are both very likeable, and very watchable. To her credit, Deepika even manages to match Hrithik on the dance floor, not many would be able to do that. They are a wonderful on-screen pair. Anil Kapoor, as their Commanding Officer, is good too. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB">Definitely a good watch on the big screen, if possible on an IMAX 3D. Shorn of the big screen and the 3D, on Netflix, I doubt if this movie will be worth watching. I would recommend watching it on the big screen before it is taken off, you will certainly like it. </span></p></div></div></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-51825463249571919402024-01-31T15:04:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:49:08.565+05:30WORLD NO. 1 AT 43<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">A Tribute to Rohan Bopanna </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">To achieve this level of greatness,</div><div dir="auto">In a field that is ruled by the young,</div><div dir="auto">Is the stuff that dreams are made of - </div><div dir="auto">One wonders, is age but a number? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Time takes its toll on all of us - </div><div dir="auto">It is good to gracefully accept,</div><div dir="auto">The graying hair and the balding patch,</div><div dir="auto">But not let go of what you dreamt! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The prize is not in the laurels,</div><div dir="auto">Or the money or even fame;</div><div dir="auto">They may or may not come in due course,</div><div dir="auto">What counts is to stay in the game! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The dreams may change and the goals may shift,</div><div dir="auto">For nothing is static in this world;</div><div dir="auto">But to have none and to retire,</div><div dir="auto">Is the beginning of the end! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">At any stage in life I'm but half done,</div><div dir="auto">The more exciting half yet to come; </div><div dir="auto">Let me not rest on my laurels,</div><div dir="auto">But keep chasing dreams, and have them! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Dinesh Gopalan,</div><div dir="auto">31 January, 2024</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-36881395142381872922024-01-30T10:25:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:49:38.419+05:30Experts are of the opinion that ...<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Check out this article on how a UN body has been infiltrated by terrorists: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><a href="https://x.com/HillelNeuer/status/1751955667035025729?t=QGcOfrSpyUKWml0IsJW9BQ&s=08" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://x.com/HillelNeuer/status/1751955667035025729?t=QGcOfrSpyUKWml0IsJW9BQ&s=08</a><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">The UN is infiltrated by terrorists, and their sympathisers.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Just like the WHO is infiltrated by the Pharma Lobby.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And we blindly believe these jokers.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In fact , whenever I am reading something, the biggest red flag is when the article says </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">" Experts are of the opinion that..." </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">"Experts" are those who study from the official curriculum and get "recognised" certifications. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The "official bodies" that certify them peddle an "official" curriculum. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The official curriculum is made by "accredited" and "reputed" organisations. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Which in turn are infiltrated by Jihadists, Terrorists, Pro Vaccine disease mongers, and the like. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The only way to survive is to make your own conclusions based on first principles. Go back to the source / the genesis, and trace things from there. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And be not swayed by the hundreds of people who quote the "experts" to you.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Every apex organisation is suspect, and there are a few which are definitely compromised. The top of the list of compromised organisations is US FDA, closely followed by every UN organisation. The "educational" bodies like ICSE, CBSE, etc are also total rubbish - if you think they are working for your child's education, you are mistaken.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">All systems work for their own benefit, and the consumer is merely the fodder to ensure their sustenance!</div></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-44029804007975932782024-01-29T09:10:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:49:57.413+05:30The decline of Bollywood<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">So,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Ricky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani sweeps the Filmfare awards! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I remember liking the movie when I watched it in August ( link to my review: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2023/08/karan-johar-ki-prem-kahani.html">https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2023/08/karan-johar-ki-prem-kahani.html</a></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">However, at no point did I feel that it was a "great" movie, worthy of winning awards. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Best Actress to Alia Bhat and Shabana Azmi, Best Dialogue to Ishita Moitra, best choreography to Ganesh Acharya...</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Have also watched 12th Fail, again, a decent enough movie, but at no point did one feel that it deserved any awards. And that is the other movie that has swept up a bunch of awards! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I think it's a telling indicator of the decline of Bollywood, if you have to hand out awards to such at best above average films.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Time for the Bollywood directors and script writers to take classes from the South Indian movie industry. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">A lot of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam movies released in 2023 beat these two movies hollow. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Move over Bollywood, tumhaara time khatm ho gaya! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-90154853612366170302024-01-26T12:58:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:50:05.911+05:30Guest at a Parsi wedding<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">I have had the privilege of attending many Parsi weddings / Navjots due to my stint in Godrej early in my career. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Each pangat used to take one hour and ten minutes ( yes, I timed it). </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But let's start from the beginning. The weddings / Navjots ( thread ceremony, for both boys and girls) are held only in the evening. Guests flow in and usually head for the Bar. The bride and groom are left alone on the dais; why do they need anyone except the priest? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The bar pours only Parsi pegs, which is the equivalent of a Patiala peg. The Parsis can outdo the Punjabis in drinking, and cursing. Not being called BC / MC by a Parsi friend means he doesn't love you. By the way, there is no water in the bar, or anywhere else. The wife wanted water once, and after much consultation, they directed her to the backside of the kitchen, and I am not making this up.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">A typical Parsi Pangat is served on banana leaves - talking of which by the way, this modern tendency to have a "buffet" is complete nonsense - the only real meal is the sit-down meal. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The guests would all head for the meal with their drinks in hand. You are first served "lagan nu achar", a special sweet and tangy pickle made just for weddings", and then it starts. The first course is always fish, Patra nu Machli used to be my favourite, followed by one more course of fish.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">This is followed by a Chicken course, say Tangdi Kabab, followed by another round of Tangdi Kabab.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then follows the Mutton Biryani followed by another round of Mutton Biryani.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then comes the dessert, a top favourite used to be Kulfi from Parsi Dairy. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The whole thing takes a little more than an hour. The others don't mind waiting, since the bar is always open. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">There is always provision made for the vegetarians, and it's nice food too.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But who in his right mind would eat vegetarian food at a Parsi wedding? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It's been years since I have attended a Parsi wedding. I quit Godrej in 1994, and after that have not had the opportunity. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Now is the time in life when all my contemporaries are inviting me for their children's weddings. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I think I need to call all my Parsi colleagues of Godrej and renew the friendship, in order to wrangle an invite for their children's wedding. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Yes! The more I think about it, the more appetising that seems!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">( Posted to my blog; </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://www.dineshgopalan.com/">https://www.dineshgopalan.com/</a></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-38033608127741662582024-01-23T14:53:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:50:14.131+05:30Nutrients, where art thou<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Check out this link on how quality of agricultural produce is depleting: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/food/silent-famine-has-india-weakened-its-own-nutritional-security--93956">https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/food/silent-famine-has-india-weakened-its-own-nutritional-security--93956</a><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">**********</div><div dir="auto">Summary: ceteris paribus, new "high yielding" varieties have less ability to extract nutrients from the soil.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The soils are getting poorer in nutrients.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The concentration of toxic elements in food is increasing.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So we are getting less nutrients, more poisons. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">*****************</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Not surprising.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Solution? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Go organic. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Eat a handful of seeds every day. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Use only raw sea salt and / or senda namak. They are nutrient dense. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It is preferable to soak seeds in water for a few hours before having them. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Apart from the usual other things you should do, like: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Use only cold pressed oils, avoid refined oils. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Avoid processed foods - they are not even food, even whatever there is, is denuded. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Buy whole foods. And cook them at home. And eat food within hours of being cooked. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Have some supplements, preferably Ayurvedic. Allopathic "multi vitamins" are mostly useless.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">( posted to my blog: </div><div dir="auto"><a href="http://www.dineshgopalan.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">http://www.dineshgopalan.com</a> )</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-78550665046693030512024-01-22T06:54:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:50:33.230+05:30PRAN PRATISHTHA<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In the continuum of life and events,</div><div dir="auto">We need milestones, markers placed on the way;</div><div dir="auto">Some of them stand out as more significant,</div><div dir="auto">Marking a new beginning or change of course!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">A nation needs to shift consciousness,</div><div dir="auto">A people need to shed their diffidence,</div><div dir="auto">For too long have we all been held ransom,</div><div dir="auto">To conspiracy of enfeeblement!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Only the assertive are respected,</div><div dir="auto">Only the aggressive not trifled with;</div><div dir="auto">We are by very nature pacifist,</div><div dir="auto">But to exist in the world one needs to fight!</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Hindu is at last waking up,</div><div dir="auto">To the perverted nature of things;</div><div dir="auto">The euphoria around Ram in Ayodhya,</div><div dir="auto">Is not just about Him or a Temple! </div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-21308394755341010112024-01-20T08:45:00.000+05:302024-03-06T21:50:42.964+05:30High end villa in Bangalore<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">I am just sending a front page ad in the TOI for a villa in Whitefield, from Total Environment, for 13 plus crores. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">How to add price without really adding value.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Bangalore builders Total Environment are masters at that.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Modus Operandi: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Or: how to extract money from the Bangalore software crowd. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Buy piece of land on outskirts. Build a good quality house. So far so good. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But how do you extract three times the price from the techie? The typical Bangalore software senior executive, is, as we know, earning a lot of money and waiting to hand it over if you use the right approach.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Create a "natural" / "earthy" / "environmentally conscious" image around the brand.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Grow grass on the roof, keep exposed brick, make it rustic. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">From the picture I suspect these are row houses sharing common walls , which is distinctly not upmarket. I may be mistaken but it looks like that. So, you call it "V 40" ( for a moment I thought it was a BMW engine), " earth sheltered" ( what does that mean??), " courtyard homes" ( make up your mind, is it a home or a courtyard?), and , "exclusive access to your rear garden ( oh thank God. I always like access to my rear to be exclusive!) </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Next step is to choose a name. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Total Environment excels in this department. Their names are like: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Opera of a Symphonic Synchrony </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Vistas of a Jungle Epiphany </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Ninth Orgasm in Seventh Heaven,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And so on </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Next, how to extract more money: let's have grades, like silver, gold.. how about green grade and then upgrade to purple, which is the colour of royalty. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It's very funny, but the more exclusive and rich people become, the more gradations they want to prove that they are more exclusive and rich than their neighbour. Your typical middle class fellow buying a flat at Puttanna Afrahara will never be impressed by such distinctions. "Adhella bitbidi, rate heli ashte", he will say. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But, please to remember, the target market is the Bangalore MNC executive. So, green and purple it is.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And then, it strikes them. These people have so much money, they don't know what to do with it. So, what to do? How to take it from them? Offer early payment plan. Pay 12 crores ( small change for the Bangalore IT MNC executive, as we all know) up front and get ten percent discount. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It is another funny human trait that, we chase after products that are priced three times ( 300 percent) of what they should be, and then get suckered to get a ten percent discount. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And then you throw in a "dedicated design manager" , and "personalised architect", really valuable to the techie, who knows only software. For everything else in life, including stepping out into the street, he needs a dedicated manager. Contrast that with our fellow in Puttanna Afrahara who, when he builds a house, his contractor does everything for him. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And thus the price for a row house near a remote Lake in a Whitefield suburb reaches 13 crores * . The * of course means there are several extras over and above that. To put that in perspective, for Bombay people, this is like selling a flat in Dombivili at Upper Worli rates. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It does not matter to the IT Executive since he will plonk down the money by selling one percent of his stock options.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So the techie executive does that. He is happy. His family is happy, Total Environment is happy. Bangalore has a way of making everyone happy.</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-58844290309229796352024-01-19T10:55:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:50:51.194+05:30On "preventive" medical check ups<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">How do you make a healthy person sick? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Start with "evidence based" medicine. Define a 100 parameters, each of which has a normal range, and each of which has, say, five percent outliers. Outliers are defined as "sick" people.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">If you have a 100 parameters, in each of which 5 percent of the population will be held to be "sick", what is the probability that you will be sick if a hundred such parameters are measured? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Get 100 perfectly healthy people into a free health check up camp. There is a one hundred percent probability that more than ninety percent of them will be declared sick. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The health check ups are the front desk marketing people for the Pharma lobby.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You will be "advised" to take medication based on the contents of your reports. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The medicines will make you sick, both physically and mentally. Physically, since they are poisons being shoved into your system, and mentally, since you become dependent on medications to even feel healthy. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Slowly, you get addicted to the medicines. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And then your real problems start. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">More problems, more tests, more medicines, more sickness. More bakras ( sacrificial goats) for the medical system. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And of course the prognosis is always dire. If you don't take the medicines you will get BP, diabetes, ulcers, cancer... You who are now completely brainwashed, take more medicines.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And surprise surprise, it all turns out true! You do get sicker. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But what you don't realise is that the the reason why you get sicker is the medicines themselves. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Preventive medical check-ups are a way to keep the hospital and Pharma assembly lines continuously fed with patients. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I have followed a simple rule in life ( among the many simple rules I follow, this is an important one). </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Never go for preventive medical check-ups.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Never, ever.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">( posted to my blog : </div><div dir="auto"><a href="http://www.dineshgopalan.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.dineshgopalan.com</a>)</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-21588520802309625662024-01-19T08:37:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:51:01.782+05:30Koffee with Orry<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">I don't watch Karan Johar, in fact he puts me off.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But I happened to watch the latest episode, the first half of which features Orry, since the wife, who is a Koffee fan ( don't ask me why, I think it is a form of escapism, anything serves to escape from the rest of the family), was watching it. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Now you don't know who Orry is? Poor poor you. You are an antediluvian junk piece who has lost their relevance in this world. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Orry is the thing. He is the goods. Everyone talks about Orry. He is everywhere. Since he is everywhere, everyone talks about him, and vice versa. What exactly did he do to achieve fame? I already told you just now! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">That twenty minute Karan interview of Orrie is one of the best I have seen. You can't make out whether he is misguided, delusional, or just off his rocker. Then you realise that it is the others who are misguided, delusional and off their rockers and he is merely taking advantage of it. And he makes no bones about it. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">After watching the twenty minutes, you don't know whether to pity Orrie, pity the rest of the world, or both. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Watch it, it's worth it </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The balance part of the episode features four well known comedians who are supposed to be roasting Karan. Very cringey, avoidable.</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-38426308182738045782024-01-15T23:37:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:51:23.654+05:30A ZOMBIE WALK<div dir="auto">A Palki Sharma video on how weight loss drugs are becoming the New Nirmal. <div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://youtu.be/HNiJ8Tho3Fs?si=YTBdMPKC4kBGj4fU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://youtu.be/HNiJ8Tho3Fs?si=YTBdMPKC4kBGj4fU</a><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Everyone is barking up the wrong tree.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Obesity and associated lifestyle illnesses are rising. Rather than attack the root cause of the problem, which , by the way, common sense will tell you and so called doctors won't, you introduce weight loss drugs. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Screw up your body with bad food, lack of exercise, and bad lifestyles. Then screw it up further by taking medication which directly interferes with the body's metabolism. Need we mention, these drugs are expensive, and they have to be taken life long. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The holy grail for the Pharma companies: life long medication that is patented and that ensures that you never get cured. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And what is it that people want ? They want these drugs to become cheaper and more accessible. Under the assumption that all lifestyle diseases will rise , that they are the new normal. Of course. The food corporations will ensure that. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And we accept all of this as normal. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">As an individual you and I need to take that call to return to sanity. It starts by rejecting all that the medical industry and their handmaidens, the doctors and scientists are telling us. And getting back to common sense. Following the basic rules of healthy living. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">But we won't do that, will we? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Oh no, we won't. It's far easier to just pop the pills, and reduce ourselves to an unthinking zombie state. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We human beings are unbelievably self destructive creatures.</div></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-23786271338055847642024-01-13T08:26:00.000+05:302024-03-06T21:51:33.195+05:30The rise and fall of Byju's<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">👆 Byju Ravindran even today can crack a CAT or similar exam with a 99 plus percentile score - he routinely does it in fact. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">He started by taking CAT classes and was very good at it. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then he expanded into school, college etc education. With excellent course material. And he scaled up. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Then ambition, and VC funding took over. The money came by the truckload. Now, a VC who gives you money wants you to expand, and expand fast. The focus is mainly on the topline. The entrepreneur who is drunk with all that easy money goes bar hopping, with a string of drinkers in tow, and at every place he visits, announces that drinks are on the house. The top line skyrockets, based on which the VC's increase the valuation of the company in the subsequent rounds.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">When the VC's increase the valuation at which the new round raises money, the value of the investment is marked upwards in all the funds that invested in the company. Now the VC's get drunk on euphoria. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The entrepreneur meanwhile is under severe pressure to expand, expand, expand. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Byju's has received 5 billion dollars, that is 40000 crores , in 28 rounds of funding so far. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The pressure to increase the topline was so high that Ravindran's army of sales people started mis-selling the products, and the accountants engaged in questionable accounting practices to inflate the topline. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Obviously, this was not going to last for long. The backlash started, and everything started winding down, correcting. </div><div dir="auto">Our man Ravindran, I believe, has run off to Dubai. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And now, the company, into which 5 billion dollars have been pumped in, is worth 1 billion. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The perils of excess. The perils of debt. The perils of unchecked ambition. The sin of greed. Every scripture has earned us about it, and said it will bring ruin. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The scriptures are right, but with a slight twist. In today's times, it does bring ruin, to everyone but the promoter. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">He is partying in Dubai, while everyone else is cleaning up the debris.</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-78071960993624151392024-01-10T09:44:00.000+05:302024-03-06T21:51:43.157+05:30Why is aging associated with ill health?<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">This automatic assumption that one will be always "sick" when one crosses 50, 60, or whatever and , and will need medication ... Where does that come from? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The "modern" medical system has effectively ensured that. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Medicines are meant to be taken when you are not well. Being "not well" is not a continuous condition. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The human body is designed in such a way that we will always be well. There will be brief periods of illness when we need to pull back on activities, give the body some rest, maybe take some medicines, and allow it to recover. This is irrespective of age. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The default condition for the human body is wellness, not illness. Modern lifestyles, food lobbies, and Pharma mafias have ensured that the reverse is the case</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-48527973114024765442023-12-12T17:00:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:51:51.667+05:30Review of Archies<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Just saw Archies on Netflix.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">An OTT only movie directed by Zoya Akhtar, it is surprisingly watchable. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The three leading characters , Archie, Veronica and Betty are played respectively by: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Agastya Nanda, grandson of Big B, </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Suhana Khan daughter of SRK, </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Khushi Kapoor, daughter of Sridevi </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Nepotism anyone? </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">They all play 18 year olds in Riverdale, a fictional town in the hills of North India. Conveniently, they are all Anglo Indians, something that suits their upbringing and accents. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">For posh mamas and papas providing a launching pad to their laadlas and laadlis - the Archies brand, story and settings are ideal.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Like in the Archie comics, which people of my generation have read a lot of, the problems these kids face are not real world problems. They have their small little world and their small little problems, consisting of things like what to wear for the next party and why did Archie kiss that girl and not me.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The picture could as well have been titled Barbie World, for that is what the whole set ( the whole film is shot on a set which is Riverdale village) looks like. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Given that background, the kids fit right into their roles. It is unlikely they had to practice much to be the fun loving, anglicised, detached from reality kind of teenagers that they are playing. A lot of current generation teenagers from SoBo and such areas will identify with them. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The kids, being star kids, have obviously been through a lot of training in acting and dancing, especially dancing. They can really dance! The movie is made in the form of a Western musical, not very usual for an Indian movie.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The script is fairly trite, but when was the storyline ever important in an Archie comic? The director has done a good job of taking these kids through their paces, and keeping the screenplay fairly engaging throughout, with just that little bit of suspense about what will happen next. The sinister plot of Mr Lodge, conspiring with a local wannabe politician, to tear down the town's Central Park and to build a hotel there is thwarted by the kids, and they endear themselves to the whole town in that process. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I don't know if these kids have it in them to make it big - very difficult to tell with this movie - but they all have done a fairly good job. Of the three, Suhana Khan is the most impressive. Khushi is kind of damp, and Agastya is good, like Abhishek, but also like Abhishek, seems to lack that extra something that say, a Big B has. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In terms of acting, Mihir Ahuja who plays Jughead is good. Vedang Raina playing Reggie is eye candy material, I can imagine all the girls watching the movie swooning over him. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">On the whole the movie is a nice, light, entertainer. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Worth a watch</div></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-49283212207020422262023-11-14T09:10:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:52:00.949+05:30<div>See link below on side effects of vaccines, one of many such :</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://x.com/robinmonotti/status/1724195084051038576?t=KlPOD5Z4D184MpzcT_MDXQ&s=08">https://x.com/robinmonotti/status/1724195084051038576?t=KlPOD5Z4D184MpzcT_MDXQ&s=08</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><div>👆 this is just one of thousands of similar articles. Of a spate of side effects including sudden death caused by the vaccines. Even in India, which did not use mRNA. </div><div><br></div><div>The conclusion is not that boosters are bad. </div><div><br></div><div>The conclusion is not that mRNA vaccines are bad. </div><div><br></div><div>The conclusion is not that we should believe these latest "medical" findings more than earlier ones. </div><div><br></div><div>The conclusion is : </div><div><br></div><div>All vaccines are bad.</div><div><br></div><div>The medical system is not to be trusted. </div><div><br></div><div>Add to that, masking too. </div><div><br></div><div>Not only are vaccinations and masking not effective, they are extremely harmful. </div><div><br></div><div>Where is the medical evidence for this you say? Even after all that has happened? The best way to spoil your health is by listening to the medical system.</div><div><br></div><div>And these conclusions are not based on hindsight, they are based on pure common sense, and proper understanding of health, both of which the medical system lack. </div><div><br></div><div>Here is the link to my article in July 2020, even before the vaccines came on the scene.</div><div><br></div><div>I do not feel the need to change a single word even now</div></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2020/07/corona-to-shelter-or-not-to-shelter_16.html">https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2020/07/corona-to-shelter-or-not-to-shelter_16.html</a><br></div><br><br>-- <br>Dinesh Gopalan<div>mob: 9845257313; blog: <a href="http://www.dineshgopalan.com" target="_blank">http://www.dineshgopalan.com</a></div><div><br></div><br> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5632651723421600724.post-59008868206063234372023-11-08T15:23:00.001+05:302024-03-06T21:52:22.206+05:30On "experts" and their ilk<div dir="auto"><div style="font-size:12.8px" dir="auto"><div style="width:328px;margin:16px 0px"><div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">This link full of advice from HR experts is interesting: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/hr-experts-warn-of-coffee-badging-as-employees-return-to-offices-11683761.html" style="text-decoration-line:none;color:rgb(66,133,244)">https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/hr-experts-warn-of-coffee-badging-as-employees-return-to-offices-11683761.html</a><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">It is interesting because it is a whole load of crap. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Experts are of the opinion that...</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Whenever I read that I switch off. Whatever subject the so called experts opine on, they will mess up. They will come up with a shit load of fancy sounding jargon, designed to show off their erudition and expertise; but the end result is that they invariably showcase their shallowness and vacuity.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The sole objective of "experts" is to confuse and confound, complicate and dissimulate, using a haze of words which leaves the reader in a daze. Which is precisely the effect that they are striving for. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The net result of listening to experts in all areas of life is,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You spoil your health by listening to nutrition experts,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You never regain it by listening to doctors,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You complicate your work life by listening to HR,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You screw up your peace of mind by following what HR says,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You compromise on your fitness by listening to fitness experts,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Your relationships deteriorate further after following the counsellors' advice, </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">You buy into toxic investments after listening to personal finance experts ... </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The list goes on. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">There is no substitute to common sense,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And there is no substitute to taking charge of your own life.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">More and more it appears to me that if you want to lead a good life, you must stop listening to experts.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">And why should you believe what I am saying?</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Because I am not an expert, that's why. I proudly claim lack of expertise in every subject!</div></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div></div></div><div style="height:0px"></div></div><br></div> Dinesh Gopalanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05044929811034638632noreply@blogger.com0