Salt and salt riNa

Posted above is the picture of a grocery shop near our house in Bengaluru.

Shop is closed. Picture was taken early in the morning. I am intrigued by

the fact that the shop owner has not bothered to shift some of the sacks

inside, before closing the shop at night. On close inspection I found that

they contained packets of salt. And that's why the owner never bothered

to shift them inside !  This is all that I had to say. But I have said much

more and made a story out of it. If you are interested in the story, please

continue reading. If not, you may shift your attention to other people

clogging your screen and calling for your attention !  

During my childhood in Bangalore, we had a very cordial relationship with

almost all our neighbours. We are especially indebted to one particular family,

the Reddys, for their affection towards us and also for various favours we

received from them. We used their phone, their water, their car and other

facilities as if they were our own. During my half-hearted and short lived

dental practice at our out house in Bangalore, my waiting room furniture

was from their house.  In my tight budget I did not have enough funds to

buy them. I was about six years old when they built their house opposite

ours and started staying there. I left Bangalore when I was twenty six. It

has been forty years since I shifted from Bangalore. But the good relations

with the Reddy’s family has remained. They continue to live in the same place. 

There were no grocery shops near our house and it was quite common for

members of both families to cross the street with a box or bowl in hand to

borrow some Sugar, dal, oil or flour when there was an urgency. This give

and take extended to cooked food too when some relative arrived without

notice at lunch time !

On one such give and take occasion their boy came to our house with a small

bowl in hand and he placed a 25 paise coin in my hand before asking for some

salt. (This was before the onset of packed/ iodised salt. Coarse salt used to be

brought in a hand cart and sold on the street. The vendor used to come about

once a week calling out ‘uppooo, uppu’ - uppu is salt in kannada - we bought

salt from him and stored it) I did not understand why he was giving me money

but my mother took it smilingly and she handed over some salt to the boy.

Later she explained to me that while we can request for a loan of any item that

we may need, one should never take a loan of salt. Salt should always be paid for !

I don't know how to explain the meaning of the kannada/sanskrit word ‘riNa’. You

may simply call it a debt, but it is something more than that. I may say that it is

owing someone something and the compulsion to return/repay the same. This

something could be cash, kind, goodwill, gesture or favour. There are many

types of ‘riNas’ - Anna riNa, Dhana riNa, Pitru riNa, Guru riNa, Deva riNa, so

on and so forth and there are various ways to repay/clear the riNas. Our

philosophy believes in cycles of birth and death till one attains salvation or

‘Moksha’ - and I think (apart from other requirements) one will not be eligible

for ‘moksha’ unless all the ‘riNas’ are cleared. You keep being born again and

again till it is done. “Punarapi jananam, punarapi maraNam, Punarapi janani

jathare shayanam” - be born again, die again and lay in the mother’s stomach

yet again. While the concerned authorities may waive off some ‘riNa’ if they so

wish, the ‘rina of salt’ is never waived and one has to clear it by taking another

birth or many more births if necessary ! Well, that is the belief. 

That is the reason why people are always very wary of getting into the ‘salt rina’.

I was under the impression that during these modern days, we have gotten over

the unfounded beliefs but the sentiment seems to be very deep and prevailing. 

That's why the grocer near my house never bothers to shift his sacks of salt inside

when he closes shop every night. He keeps piles of sacks containing rice, dal

and salt as well as boxes containing bottles of oil on the sides of his front steps

during the day.  And, while he shifts all other items inside when he closes at night,

he never bothers to shift the sacks containing packets of salt because he is sure

that no one will take a packet of salt without payment !! 

I had attached an extra length of plastic drainage pipe to the drainage outlet we

have at the bottom of our compound wall and it was stolen two days after I

fixed it. It cost three hundred rupees. But nobody touches packets of salt

costing more than five thousand rupees, lying outside the shop day and night,

and the salt remains safe!

My story is almost over except for a short ‘upakathe’ - a side story on salt. 

A group of thieves decided to burgle a nobleman’s house and wanted to get the

inside information about the layout of the house etc. They joined the crowd of

hundreds of strangers who thronged the nobleman’s house every afternoon for

free lunch. Someone connected to the household got the information about the

group of burglars operating in the vicinity and their modus operandi. But it was

a tough task to identify the burglars amongst hundreds of strangers. The cook

got a bright idea. He purposefully avoided putting salt to the dishes and served

some salt to every guest separately. People serving the dishes were asked to

keep an eye on those who did not touch the salt. Everyone added the separately

served salt to the dishes but the burglars stuck to the adage -“ಉಪ್ಪು ತಿಂದಮನೆಗೆ

ಎರಡು ಬಗೆಯಬೇಡ”  “don’t harm those whose salt you have consumed” and they

ate what was served without mixing salt to it. They were noted, watched

carefully and were caught when they attempted the burglary. I had heard this

story a long long time back.

With this I end my salt story. Sorry for testing your patience.  Have a good day. 

My toe and the girl without legs.

For the last few months I have been feeling a mild pain at the joint of my second

toe with my foot. Left leg. I feel it only when I walk fast or walk for a long distance.

I am used to walking 7- 8 kms every day and sometimes I cross 10 kms. Now,

this pain is annoying. I enjoy my morning walk and am worried that I may have

to reduce my walking. This situation is bothering me a bit. I am considering

seeing an orthopaedician. 

I was in the market this morning. My wife was looking for an exact match for

her saree (It seems like god is yet to create that. He created the saree and

forgot about the matching blouse piece) and I was standing outside the shop

observing the happenings around me. In between the ever hasty and rash two

wheelers, three wheelers and cars, I saw an unusual three wheeler being ridden

by a girl. It was a tricycle. It had a basket in the front and one at the back and

two slots on the handle in which were inserted two crutches. The girl, a teenager,

was pedaling it confidently without bothering about the zooming motor vehicles

around her. 

The girl came close to where I was standing, stopped in front of a hand cart, selected

some vegetables while sitting on her tricycle, put the vegetables in the basket in front

of her and paid for them. Next, she stopped in front of the bakery close by and shouted

out her order. The bakery owner wrapped her order and requested a customer who

was in front of the counter to hand it over to the girl. The parcel was placed in the

basket behind her seat and cash was collected from the girl. The girl then rode

ahead a little more, parked her tricycle next to the footpath, took out the crutches

and hopped into the shopping center nearby. In no time she came back with a bag

hanging on her hand, placed it in the basket, got onto her bike, placed the crutches

back in their slot and rode away. 

I was impressed with the confidence and the seeming ease with which she attended

to her chores. At no time there was any indication of her being handicapped and

different from others. There never was any indication of her being at the mercy of

someone even when she was being helped by others. She took things in her stride

and it looked as if she never felt that she was different from others. I was about to go

near her and say a word of appreciation but I held myself back. By doing that, I would

be pointing out that she was different. Within my heart I wished her well, expressed

my appreciation in front of my wife and we continued with our shopping. 

Now, the pain in my toe seems trivial and inconsequential. It isn’t bothering me much !

Lesser Cuckoo

I had asked a laborer to remove the weeds and undergrowth around the house

and was checking his work the next morning. It was the day before yesterday.

I saw this bird on the ground a few feet away from the steps of my clinic.

Since it remained in place even when I went closer, I thought that it was a very

young one or an injured bird. It looked like a pigeon or a cuckoo but slightly smaller.

I could not leave the bird there as it would soon be on the breakfast menu of the

cat which keeps roaming around the house. I tried to pick it up but when I touched it,

it attempted to get away. But it could not go far. I did not want to cause much

distress to the bird and I wasn’t sure what I would do with it after picking it up.

So, I covered it up with a big cardboard box and called the animal rescue

volunteer, Madhuraj, whose number was with me. 

I knew that the group of young volunteers who respond to the calls from people

like me are sincere and caring. I had sought their help before, once to handle a

Rufous treepie which was very keen on sharing our bedroom and before that, a

Sand Boa, which had liked our car park for an evening stroll. Madhuraj said that

he would arrange to pick the bird up through one of his friends. A volunteer called

me sometime later, got the details of the animal in need of help, and said that they

are attending to another call but would reach me after that. I spent two anxious

hours and then a young fellow, who identified himself as Vishwam, arrived. He

picked the bird up with ease, placed it in a smaller box, said that he would get

it checked by a veterinarian and then decide the future course.  I felt relieved

and returned to my other activities. 

I was curious about the fate of the bird and was considering calling Vishwam,

when I received the message, which I have  posted along with the pictures of

the bird. It was from my son and he had found it on FB. I felt bad to hear that the

bird did not survive. It is not a common species and it is a migratory bird. It is

unfortunate that it could not return back to its home.  Anyway I am happy that an

effort was made to see that the bird remained in this world longer and that I did

what I could. 

The reason for writing this is to express my appreciation of the efforts of the

Animal rescue volunteers. They are occupied otherwise but find time for these

rescue activities which is not an income generating one. They may even have

to spend from their pockets. In the present case they had to take the bird to an

expert twenty kilometers away. It would easily take two hours and the fuel cost

itself would be two hundred rupees ! They don't seek any financial assistance

but gratefully accept if some help is offered. In the stifling atmosphere of this

world where indifference and greed seems to be the ruling sentiments, these

people come along as a fresh breath of air and help people like me, retain the

hope in humanity. I have named only the two with whom I came in contact but

there are many like them working silently. My sincere thanks to all of them.

I wish them well.

Borim - off roading !

If you are a person who looks at the surroundings instead of the mobile phone,

while commuting between Ponda and Margao, you would notice that a foot path

leads into the surrounding fields, after you cross the Borim bridge.

The fields are next to the Zuari river, swampy in nature and a place to find many

water birds. The track goes through the fields for about 2-3 kilometers in a

semi circle and comes back to touch the highway a bit later. It has been my

intention - which hadn’t been put into action of course - to walk through the fields

sometime and I decided to do it this morning.

I parked my car on the highway and started walking just after sunrise at 6am.

It was fine in the beginning but after entering the fields I found that the path has

been covered by overgrowth of grass and weeds, making it difficult to walk

through. I was scared of stepping on or close to a snake or a similar creature,

enjoying it’s beautysleep, annoying it and facing the consequences.And the

path was wet because of the rains during the last two days. So, I tried another

path which went closer to the river but that was muddy and a bit slippery at

places. Still, I managed to walk through some distance and found about

fifteen different kinds of birds. My phone could only capture  the Cormorant

and Brahmini kite, which are considerably bigger in size and also stay put

in a place for sometime. They live in the trees next to the path. These are

the pictures taken during my walk, which was certainly enjoyable, in spite

of the quality of the path. The following are the pictures taken during the walk.

Brahmini Kite - they nest in the trees next to the river

The muddy path next to the river - water seen here is not the river. It is on the other side 

Plenty of cormorants - drying their wings

Sun rise - seen through the foliage

Cormorant on a look out !

Path that I wasn't keen on taking 

Borim bridge  - as seen through the morning mist

weaver birds habitat the trees in the area - Nests. 

Kanheri Hills Near Thane

Kanheri Hills is a part of the Sanjay Gandhi National park and it houses an

important Airforce station. The entry is restricted and hence most of the forest

is devoid of human activity. Good for the fauna and flora. It is supposed to

contain more than fifty leopards and nine thousand deers and Nilgai. I had an

opportunity recently to accompany a group of defence personnel to the top

of the hills. 

We went up the hill in the jeep and it was a wonderful experience. It was raining

throughout the day but my luck held and there was a break of a few hours in

the afternoon when we went to the hills. There was no need to take out our

umbrellas. 

A commonly found plant on the hill 

The Air force means business. No prosecution. Intruders to be shot !!

A pond formed in the path of a stream. Supposed to be home for a few crocodiles. 

Path leading to the top of the hill

A view of the mist covered hill range

Clear water rock crab. Available in large numbers on the hill. I recorded its movement and feeding too but it is a pain posting video in the blog. 

Another very common plant 

Single lane track leading to the top of the hill

The stream 

It was a nice drive up the narrow, slippery path leading to the top and I rarely

get an opportunity to traverse through an area which has no human presence

whatsoever.

But it was a pity that though the forest is said to be consisting more than fifty

leopards and nine thousand deers and nilgai, all we got to see was a lot of mist,

foliage and plenty of rock crabs. One particular crab posed nicely for my camera

and demonstrated its moving and feeding. I think that it ate a piece of decaying

leaf but am not sure. 

During our return I managed to coax one of the officers of our group to walk with

me on the road for some distance and also take a detour to visit a small seasonal

waterfall. I have posted some pictures with captions, mostly to record my visit to

the hills. 

Vile Parle - A window view

 I have just had my lunch and am sitting on the swing in front of the window of

the third floor apartment of my host in Mumbai.

The window overlooks the busy traffic junction in the middle of Vile Parle, Mumbai

and while watching the scene outside my window, I am tempted to imitate my

favourite author Ruskin Bond describing the scene outside his famous window.

I am unaffected by the traffic, the hustle and bustle and also the drizzle ! Mini

trucks and cars wait for the signal to turn green and auto rickshaws and scooters

try to manoeuvre their vehicles to the front. A street dog tries to cross the road

but turns back after almost getting run over by an autorickshaw. In the process of

reaching the front of the crowd, a scooterist brushes a car and there seems to be

an argument. The other road users put the fire out and traffic snails it’s way

past the signal. 

The mini truck of the sandwich wala is covered by blue plastic protecting him and

his customers from the continuous drizzle. I am unable to see his activities -

which according to my hosts is worth watching.

Crows sit on the high electric wires un disturbed by the happenings underneath

and look out for a bite of lunch. I am lucky to be having a full stomach, thanks to

my excellent hosts and as I write this, my eyes are tending to close and I  prefer

to stop typing and doze !