Lucknow Chikan: truly "Gramudyog"

The "chikan" work based apparels are a speciality of Lucknow city. I was in the city last week with my mother. Since we had travelled all the way to Lucknow, and there would be no one travelling in the near future, everybody whom we knew asked us to buy chikan wear for them. Since the "orders" were large in number, we went to the wholesale market of chikan wear to purchase the stuff. Since most of the stuff to be bought was ladies' wear, I was trying to kill time in the city of Nawabs. So, I struck a conversation with the shopkeeper and tried to extract some history about the chikan work. This is an account of what he told me.

The art of chikan work was born out of the Nawabs' and their kins' desire to wear clothes that had exquisite designs in the form of embroidery. The First war of Independence in 1857 saw the end of the Nawabs of Lucknow. But the legacy of chikan embroidery left behind by them still lives on and is strongly thriving. And this is perhaps one of those industries which truly works on the idea of "gramudyog" or employment at village level. All the embroidery is done by hand and there is no automation involved. Automated equipment is probably not possible for such intricate designs.

This is how the making of a chikan apparel works. The cloth for the apparel comes into Lucknow from various cloth mills across India. The wholesaler who purchases the cloth is the one who sells the end product. A design of the embroidery is etched upon the cloth according to its end use (say ladies' wear or gents' wear). The pieces of cloth are then distributed, by an agent, to women in various villages in a radius of 100 km from Lucknow. All these women who do the embroidery, work from their homes. Each woman is given a fixed number of pieces of cloth for embroidering. The work of embroidery goes on for around four months. All this embroidery is carried out by the women in the premises of their homes, using their hands to sew the intricate patterns. After the embroidery is over, the agent comes and collects the clothes from the women. The agent has a fixed frequency of touring the villages to collect all the clothes. The wages depend on the amount of embroidery work that goes onto the cloth. The more the embroidery, the more is the wage paid to the woman doing it. These wages are paid when the clothes are collected by the agent. The agent then brings back all the clothes to the wholesaler, who then gets them washed by washermen before putting them out for sale. In the entire process, only manufacturing of the cloth is mechanised. In the remaining process it is the humans who rule the roost.

Shameless Symonds

So, Mr. Andrew Symonds is "shattered" after Judge Hansen delivered his verdict in the "monkey" incident. He says that his "blood boils" if anyone questions his integrity!! These are the words coming from the batsman who stood his ground despite nicking an edge to the 'keeper in Sydney. In the post-match interview, he said that he is out only if the umpire says so. And, in the next match at WACA, he showed his bat to the umpire, indicating that he had nicked the ball and hence, not LBW.

So, what integrity is Symonds talking about? His integrity stands shattered by these two incidents. In the Sydney test, he says that the umpire should judge whether he is out or not, and in the Perth test, once the umpire decided he is out, he questions the decision by showing his bat to the umpire. Here is a man who is not ready to stand by his own statement. And he is talking about integrity.

Let's go through the incidents of Sydney. Harbhajan pats Bret Lee on his bottom and acknowledges the delivery bowled. Symonds, who had no business for what transpired between Harbhajan and Lee, walks in and says something to Harbhajan. Harbhajan, being irritated by Symonds comments responds in a manner, which the Aussies treat as their fiefdom. Symonds misinterprets the response (well, it just goes to justify that he has a brain, no larger than a monkey's) and then suddenly Hayden and Ponting have heard everything that transpired between the two. But in their testimony before Hansen, neither can recall the exact words used!! So much so for the integrity of the Aussie cricketers.

Symonds admitted during the testimony that he went to Harbhajan and said something first. So, Harbhajan rightly retorted back to the Aussie, which Symonds didn't expect at all. Therefore, judge Hansen was right in saying that Symonds started the entire incident. Now, where is the issue of "questioning" Symonds integrity(?) when he himself has admitted to being the initiator of the conversation.

The Aussies used the legal process laid down by the ICC to have Harbhajan punished. But, couldn't come up with the evidence to nail Harbhajan. So, the legal process which the Aussies took shelter under, itself dumped their claims. Then, why is Symonds sulking? And in this entire incident, has Bret Lee got to say anything on whether he felt it appropriate for being acknowledged by the opposition on the field? If he was okay with that, then Symonds had no business at all to say anything to Harbhajan. And if he said that, then he should be ready to face the consequences.

P.S. Symonds should not be too worried about the words "teri maa ki c*****". The Aussies themselves say that the word "bastard" is a term of endearment for them. The term sticks to a person only after some incidents that occur in that part of the body!!

First Frontier conquered

I ran the half-marathon at Mumbai. Yes, I ran it. Most of it. Walked at some part, especially along the torturous climb at Peddar Road. And at Girgaum Chowpatty. But, I completed it in 2 hr 43 min. Two minutes less than what I had aimed for!! I was insincere in my practice and hence the result. Had I been more sincere and systematic, I think 2 hr 30 min is achievable. But, I have conquered the first frontier. I have completed the half marathon. Something which seemed impossible for me a few months ago. Something which some felt is impossible for me, considering my bulky physique. But, I proved myself wrong!! Now, I want to improve on the timing. It is going to be more training for the next marathon. More systematic than it has been. I intend to complete the next edition in 2 hr 30 min. That's the equivalent of Ratan Tata's "Nano" for me!!

Lest, I forget, I must thank all those unknown people who were there to cheer me and lift my spirits till the end. Thanks to those two little kids on Peddar road who gave me Glucose biscuits, which were a boost of energy for me. God bless them all. Finally, a very big and personal thanks to the Mumbai Police, for staying on vigil and keeping the track clear for all runners.

Senseless FM

What do FM channels use to play songs throughout the night, when there is no RJ? I guess they have something like Winamp with a play list of over thousand songs, with the "shuffle" toggled. That's because, this automated song player springs up songs which are completely out of sync with the time at which they are played.

Today morning at 5:45 AM, I tuned into Red FM, a popular FM channel in Mumbai. It was the automated song player that was in charge, as no jockey was heard blabbering for the next 15 mins. And at exactly 6:00 AM, the automated song player started playing- "Dekho, d, yeh shaam badi diwani", from the movie Om Shanti Om. Come on, the first song of a morning show, shouldn't be from an opposite end of the day. As it is, in the morning, people would prefer light music as they are just readying up for the day or just setting out for the day's chores. And here, the station plays a disco-like song that too describing the atmosphere in a party at evening. God bless the radio channel's wisdom.

This is where I prefer Akashvani (All India Radio). They are in-sync with the time of the day. Their first programme is generally devotional songs, before they switch on to old melodious songs and then move on to the contemporary songs, which have a lot of beats. I do not know, if private radio channels take feedback and act upon them, but if they do, they will find a fairly large audience that would like this kind of start for the day. Even contemporary songs with slow music and low beats would be preferred over disco as the first song of the day. Till then, enjoy evening disco at morning 6:00 AM !!

Ratan "Nano" Tata leaves US critics gasping for arguments

After launch of the Nano, most of the US print media (and other media) spared nothing to criticize the car. From calling it all sorts of names, such as "a crossover between a jelly bean and golf cart", or a car "made of plastic and glue instead of welded steel" to calling it an environmental disaster, all attempts are being made to tell the people in US, that this Made-in-India car is nothing but only a cheap car. The problem with US and the scribes there is that for them, there is no concept such as "world" outside the USA. For them, people just do not exist in other continents and in environments that are not like the one in US. For them, what is made by the Big-Three and the Japanese is the best. No matter whether it costs a fortune. It doesn't matter to them if the gas guzzling SUV is three time bigger than the need of the family. But, it is a "technological revolution" for the Yanks.

Wake up Yankees!!! Remember, there is a world outside your own land, which has very different needs than you have. The needs are different, the solutions have to be different. Have you ever seen the way a family of four would travel on a two wheeler? Have you ever driven through the streets of India? The answer to both your questions is NO. So, sitting in your air conditioned homes and offices, you cannot judge the requirement of an ordinary Indian who cannot afford a car priced at Rs. 2 lakh. This family of four, will mostly use its vehicle to travel in a radius of 10km from its home. Most of its drive will be for utilitarian reasons, such as grocery shopping, visiting people/relatives in the nearby areas (socialising, which you Yanks desist a lot) and probably once in three months a Sunday picnic. For this kind of utility, Nano fits the bill. So, why are you cribbing? Is it just because it wasn't invented by your guys? Or is it because the Big-Three feel threatened by the fact that there would exist a market in Yankee-land which would be ready to purchase a car priced at around $3000?

The Nano is built not only around technological innovations, but also around supply chain innovations. Not many of the technology changes were earth-shattering. Simple, but previously not thought changes have helped Tata come out with Nano. Changes were pretty simple- use of aluminium engine instead of cast iron, fitting the engine in the rear, a single wiper instead of two, single tail lamp, slight change in the outer body design and many such small things that added up to big savings. Innovations in the supply chain has been the back bone of your Wal-Mart. Tata Motors has just picked up these things from you guys.

My advice to you guys is, stop cribbing. Just think of the reasons for which this car was developed. It is not for people who want to experience the pleasure of driving. It is for those people who want a comfortable ride while doing their routine tasks, but could not afford a car previously. So, keeping that in mind, Nano is a pretty good invention. If you are true gentlemen (on gentle-ladies), you would join me in applauding the Tatas for manufacturing the Nano.