WORLD NO. 1 AT 43

A Tribute to Rohan Bopanna 

To achieve this level of greatness,

In a field that is ruled by the young,

Is the stuff that dreams are made of - 

One wonders, is age but a number? 

Time takes its toll on all of us - 

It is good to gracefully accept,

The graying hair and the balding patch,

But not let go of what you dreamt! 

The prize is not in the laurels,

Or the money or even fame;

They may or may not come in due course,

What counts is to stay in the game! 

The dreams may change and the  goals may shift,

For nothing is static in this world;

But to have none and to retire,

Is the beginning of the end! 

At any stage in life I'm but half done,

The more exciting half yet to come; 

Let me not rest on my laurels,

But keep chasing dreams, and have them! 

Dinesh Gopalan,

31 January, 2024

Experts are of the opinion that ...

Check out this article on how a UN body has been infiltrated by terrorists: 

https://x.com/HillelNeuer/status/1751955667035025729?t=QGcOfrSpyUKWml0IsJW9BQ&s=08

The UN is infiltrated by terrorists, and their sympathisers.

Just like the WHO is infiltrated by the Pharma Lobby.

And we blindly believe these jokers.

In fact , whenever I am reading something, the biggest red flag is when the article says 

" Experts are of the opinion that..." 

"Experts" are those who study from the official curriculum and get "recognised" certifications. 

The "official bodies" that certify them peddle an "official" curriculum. 

The official curriculum is made by "accredited" and "reputed" organisations. 

Which in turn are infiltrated by Jihadists, Terrorists, Pro Vaccine disease mongers, and the like. 

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. 

And be not swayed by the hundreds of people who quote the "experts" to you.

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.

All systems work for their own benefit, and the consumer is merely the fodder to ensure their sustenance!

The decline of Bollywood

So,

Ricky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani sweeps the Filmfare awards! 

I remember liking the movie when I watched it in August ( link to my review: 

https://www.dineshgopalan.com/2023/08/karan-johar-ki-prem-kahani.html

However, at no point did I feel that it was a "great" movie, worthy of winning awards. 

Best Actress to Alia Bhat and Shabana Azmi, Best Dialogue to Ishita Moitra, best choreography to Ganesh Acharya...

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! 

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.

Time for the Bollywood directors and script writers to take classes from the South Indian movie industry. 

A lot of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam movies released in 2023  beat these two movies hollow. 

Move over Bollywood, tumhaara time khatm ho gaya! 

Guest at a Parsi wedding

I have had the privilege of attending many Parsi weddings / Navjots due to my stint in Godrej early in my career. 

Each pangat used to take one hour and ten minutes ( yes, I timed it). 

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? 

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.

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. 

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.

This is followed by a Chicken course, say Tangdi Kabab, followed by another round of Tangdi Kabab.

Then follows the Mutton Biryani followed by another round of Mutton Biryani.

Then comes the dessert, a top favourite used to be Kulfi from Parsi Dairy. 

The whole thing takes a little more than an hour. The others don't mind waiting, since the bar is always open. 

There is always provision  made for the vegetarians, and it's nice food too.

But who in his right mind would eat vegetarian food at a Parsi wedding? 

It's been years since I have attended a Parsi wedding. I quit Godrej in 1994, and after that have not had the opportunity. 

Now is the time in life when all my contemporaries are inviting me for their children's weddings. 

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. 

Yes! The more I think about it, the more appetising that seems!

( Posted to my blog; 

https://www.dineshgopalan.com/

Nutrients, where art thou

Check out this link on how quality of agricultural produce is depleting: 

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/food/silent-famine-has-india-weakened-its-own-nutritional-security--93956

**********

Summary: ceteris paribus, new "high yielding" varieties have less ability to extract nutrients from the soil.

The soils are getting poorer in nutrients.

The concentration of toxic elements in food is increasing.

So we are getting less nutrients, more poisons. 

*****************

Not surprising.

Solution? 

Go organic. 

Eat a handful of seeds every day. 

Use only raw sea salt and / or  senda namak. They are nutrient dense. 

It is preferable to soak seeds in water for a few hours before having them. 

Apart from the usual other things you should do, like: 

Use only cold pressed oils, avoid refined oils. 

Avoid processed foods - they are not even food, even whatever there is,  is denuded. 

Buy whole foods. And cook them at home. And eat food within hours of being cooked.  

Have some supplements, preferably Ayurvedic. Allopathic "multi vitamins" are mostly useless.

( posted to my blog: 

http://www.dineshgopalan.com )