Fishy Story

Thanks to my friend Veena for this one!


How Japanese get fresh fish everyday

The Japanese love fresh fish. However, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. Therefore, to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever.

The farther the anglers went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed big freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. That was a great solution and they thought that the problem is solved for ever. They celebrated their invention.

They were very disheartened to know that the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. They were not ready to buy them. The frozen fish brought a lower price. Their was again a question of survival of the fishing industry.

After deep discussions, many sleepless nights, again a solution came into their minds. They were doubtful but still they thought that's its worth working. A genius suggested installing fishing tanks so that fishes must get the natural environment to live. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. They thought that the problem is fixed now

However, the fishes displayed a different nature. Since the size of tanks had their own limitations after a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive.

Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan ? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. However, with a management solution, real life solution, now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state.
The reason, the fish were challenged.

The moral of the story is......
Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game.
If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize.

Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.

If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group, the society, even mankind.

Don't create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference.
Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

Sister Sabeena Remembered

SISTER SABEENA IN SASARAM PARISH COMPOUND

I sit here on this November afternonn, trying to make sense of the news that Sister Sabeena is no more. She died in a tragic accident in Sasaram, where she had spent many years with the poor and the disadvantaged women. Sister Sabeena was the director of the state run Mahila Samakhya programme in Bihar till 2009. She has the unique distinction of being a catholic nun, heading a government run women's programme.

I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Sister Sabeena for several years, sometimes helping out with the annual reports of the Mahila Samakhya, at other times as a resource person for MS programmes. We were planning a documentation exercise for the village level workers of the Nav Jeevan Community Centre in Rohtas (where she was serving as director) after Christmas. And now this news of her sudden death.

Her love for the Dalits and the poorest of the poor was well known and documented through several anecdotes that the women and workers of the Mahila Samakhya programme repeat at the mention of her name. All this afternoon, I have been receiving calls from several of her former colleagues, many of whom were stunned and shocked at the news, that she is no more.

Her loss will be felt and she will be mourned, not only by us, but by several thousand women and their families throughout the length and breadth of Bihar.

An Irish Holliday

This year, we’re throwing a small Halloween get-together in Patna, Bihar. Just a few kids and grown ups. It’s a tiny fundraising event, an excuse really, for all of us to have some fun..

Halloween was, in reality, a pagan holiday that was born from the Celtic celebration of the dark season. This specific festival is also known as “Samhain”.

In those times, Gallic people used to observe a similar  type of celebration, known as “Samonios”; however, the Gallic day has been replaced with Christian festivals; which is the reason why Halloween hasn’t remained a traditional festival for most of Europeans.

Celts observed Samhain three days before and three days after the 1st of November. Although there were no carved pumpkins or trick or treating, people used to walk holding a lantern made out of a turnip and the celebration was stricly observed by the entire pagan society. Naturally, Samhain festival was also the occasion for Barbarians to eat, drink and have lots of fun.

Through the centuries, while Continental Europeans converted to Christianity and stopped to celebrate Samonios; which was replaced with All Saints Day, Celts turned Samhain into All Hallow’s Eve.

You might wonder why I keep writing about the former Gallic pagan festival and here’s why: although All Saints Day and Halloween may appear as totally different holidays, they’re strongly linked in that “All Hallow’s Eve” means “The night before the fest of all saints” and that it was supposed to be followed by “All Hallow’s Day”; which translates into the Christian “All Saints Day” on the Continent.

As you can see, although the festivities and activities are different, the meaning of both holidays is the same.

All Hallow’s Eve evolved through the centuries and crossed the Atlantic Sea when European colonists and, more particularly, Irish emigrants, brought the festival with them to their new home country.

A Quieter Diwali

It's going to be a quieter  Diwali with less fireworks than last year, thanks to the District Administration and the Patna Police who are finally doing their duty, that is... making sure that only those shops with firecracker trade licenses operate this festive season.

Now, knowing that Bihar was basically known as the Wild East, and that the Patna City area was notorious for illegal and temporary vendors openly selling gigantic volumes of things that go whizz and bang in the dark, the order is being actively resented. The vendors are despondent, and the buyers, who would come here for cheap crackers-- never mind if the place was a disaster waiting to explode --- these buyers feel that they're victims. They want to have a bang up on Diwali, and say hang the law, and licences!

Beautiful People

Rummaging through some files on my computer, I came across some of these photographs that I took while on the move... these depict the life of ordinary people... working men series