original kumbakonam filer coffee ~ ~ coffee on rise in China !

In recent past, on every highway in Tamilnadu, original Kumbakonam filter coffee shops have mushroomed. In South Indian culture, the visitor to a House is welcomed and offered a tumbler of coffee.  It is an energizer, many have the habit of taking a cup of coffee immediately after consuming their food, especially tiffin items.  It is common to see people walking to restaurants / hotels and orderonly  a cup of coffee.  For most Indians, especially South Indians, the day begins with a coffee in the morning and perhaps at least two more during the day.  At home,  it is not simply Coffee, but Filter coffee – made from decoction dripping down from  coffee powder made of  dark roasted coffee beans, chicory – the hot water percolates through the thick powder solely by gravity and not under pressure.  To this decoction, is added milk, enough not to change the colour and aura.  The fresh coffee beverage literally wakes you up and makes you open to the day’s realities. 

Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seeds, are produced by several species of a small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are also the most highly regarded Coffeaarabica, and the "robusta" form of the hardier Coffeacanephora. One Coffee advertisement used to ask  – how much you know about the person whom you love most….. similarly can you instantly list out at least 5 persons whom you love or list out 5 things your city is famous for….In good olden days, whenever people used to travel they used to travel with coffee contained in ‘kooja’ [a special coffee pot] and then with flask-load(s) of coffee… be it a traveller, or somebody making it at home – concocting coffee without spilling … spillage and perhaps liability is altogether a different issue, interesting one at that. 

All that is territorial ~ as one travel to North, in those parts of India, it is more of ‘chai’ than Coffee .. .. .. so what do you think, people of China drink ! – here is something interesting found in BBC.  In 2005, Richard Chien opened a coffee shop in northeastern China, where an assembly line of novice baristas dished out 900 cups a day for 6 yuan – or less than a $1 – a pop. A decade later, he runs a classy coffee school in Beijing, where trainees spend hours contemplating bean aromas and tasting techniques for $6 brews. Chinese coffee consumption has nearly tripled in the past four years !!

Coffee is elbowing its way into tea culture in China, with the potential to transform one of the world’s smallest markets into its largest. The Chinese drink less than 2% of the world’s coffee, but already they’re reshaping the industry. The country’s “economics have changed; people more and more understand a different living style,” said Chien. “It’s no longer just about tea.”Chinese coffee consumption has nearly tripled in the past four years, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, faster than any other major market the agency tracks. And that potential market is vast: China’s population nears 1.4 billion.

Starbucks is so confident it plans to open its first international roastery and tasting room next year in Shanghai, and believes the country could become its top market. The Seattle company, which already operates more than 2,000 stores in China, plans to add 500 shops annually for the next five years. Dunkin’ Donuts – another US chain known for its coffee – last year announced plans to add more than 1,400 locations over the next two decades, an increase of nearly 100-fold.Much of China’s younger generation is coming of age surrounded by Starbucks.

Java’s rise exemplifies China’s swing toward a consumer-driven economy, fuelled largely by changing desires of an expanding middle class. More Chinese are travelling abroad and have sipped espressos in Japan or finished term papers at US cafes. And unlike their parents, much of China’s younger generation is coming of age surrounded by coffee shops. The beverage still feels like an indulgence to many Chinese, he said, but it’s an accessible luxury.

Coffee is an outlier in China’s cooling economy, where demand for other commodities is declining. The country’s massive population and a largely untapped market present unprecedented opportunity.An average mainland Chinese person drinks about three cups of coffee a year, which puts China near the bottom of the pile, just above countries like Sudan and North Korea. By contrast, the US gulps 363 cups per person and the UK ingests 250 cups a year, according to research firm Euromonitor International.China’s thirst for coffee will “totally change supply chains globally,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. Growers will need to determine how to produce more coffee beans in response, he said, with flavours geared toward Chinese tastebuds. “This has happened in the past, where demand outpaces supply so the price of coffee beans skyrockets until farmers are able to plant more.”“I wouldn't be surprised if one day we have more stores in China than we do in the US,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultztold CNBC in May. Shanghai alone has about 1,000 stores, making it one of the world’s largest concentrations of Starbucks outlets.

Cafes with wi-fi and air-conditioning, where friends can gossip and entrepreneurs can hold meetings, are still more of a draw than what’s behind the counter. Nestle – maker of Nescafé instant coffee – dominates the market, and many Chinese who do drink coffee opt for instant packets that sell for less than a dollar in cramped corner stores. Coffee shops rarely open before 9am, and see much of their traffic later in the day. Even then, green tea lattes and frothy milk drinks proliferate.

Both taste and cost pose threats to China’s developing coffee market, particularly outside affluent urban areas.

Makes an interesting read !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st July 2016.

News of China coffee ~ source BBC

Madurai bench imposes fine of Rs.50000/- on school - Justice to HM after 39 years !!

‘Justice delayed is Justice denied’ – is an oft repeated cliché. Everyone talks about stress and so did the Supreme Court Chief Justice at a Conference. The current judges-to-population ratio in India is estimated at 17 judges for every million citizens –far lower than most developed and even developing countries in the world. Not sure, whether this aptly replies the pendency and delayed verdicts.

A small school at Rameswaram ~ file photo

In my school days remember this short story in English lesson ~ one by the eminent Russian –Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1872.  Titled - "God Sees the Truth, But Waits" – it  is a story of a man sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit ~ the brilliant narrative took the form of a parable of forgiveness.This short story is of  Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov, a merchant living in a town in Russia, Vladimir. One day he decides to go to a fair as a business venture, but his wife pleads for him not to go because of a nightmare she had the previous night. Aksionov doesn't consider his wife's dream and leaves for the fair. Aksionov meets another merchant on his way, and the two decide to travel together. They check into an inn and have a good time drinking, then they retire separately.

Next morning Aksionov wakes up early  and leaves soon to be stopped and arrested by Police of murdering the other merchant ~ evidence being a blood stained knife found in the bag of Aksinov; he is sentenced and sent to Siberia. Resigned to his fate, Aksionov spends twenty-six years in Siberia, becoming  a mediator of sorts in the prison, and he is well respected by the other prisoners and also guards alike. One day some new prisoners, one of them being MakarSemyonich, are transferred to the prison. After overhearing several conversations, Aksionov is convinced that MakarSemyonich is the man who committed the murder for which Aksionov was blamed. Eventually Aksionov confronts MakarSemyonich, but he denies committing the murder.Later he stays put in not telling the authorities of an  escape attempt of Makar – eventually the killer admits his wrong deed.  Aksionov forgives Semyonich, and feels as if a terrible weight had been lifted. MakarSemyonich confesses to the authorities, and the process for Aksionov to be cleared is begun. Unfortunately, Aksionov dies before he can reach home, but he dies in peace.  This story was adapted into television series, Katha Sagar (1986) directed by ShyamBenegal. It was adapted into a CBS Radio Mystery Theatre program, All Things Are Possible (1978) directed by Himan Brown. Simple, yet a resounding story which will make the readers feel bad for the hero.

Now read this newsitem in today’s New Indian Express titled

 “39 years on, Namakkal school fined Rs 50K for forcing HM out.

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 on a government-aided school for victimising a woman who had earlier served as the Headmistress there, but suspended and terminated from employment for not promoting two “ineligible” students, even after an Appellate Authority (AA) gave an order in her favour.The order, in which the court here said the government officials “danced to the tunes of the school management”, brought relief to the 74-year-old woman after about 39 years since she was suspended from the service.

Petitioner M Jegajothi said she was appointed as HM of National Girls HSS at Rasipuram in Namakkal district in 1967. But when she refused to promote two “ineligible” students, the daughters of highly-influential government officials, she was placed under suspension in 1977 and subsequently terminated from service.Her appeal to the AA against the termination order was dismissed. But Namakkal sub-court allowed her appeal and also remanded the matter to the AA for fresh disposal. Following this, the AA directed the school management to reinstate her in 1983.But the school management appealed against the order before the AA. While the appeal was still pending, the management submitted an application before the joint director of the School Education requesting to allow appointment of a new HM. After instructing Jegajothi to join the service within a prescribed date, the joint director gave permission to appoint a new HM if she did not join the service within the given time.As the petitioner could not join duty within the date fixed by the school management, the latter appointed a different person as HM. Meanwhile, the AA also dismissed the appeal filed by the school management.

But without challenging the dismissal order, the school management appealed before the HC against the AA’s order of directing it to reinstate Jegajothi in service in 1984. The same year, Jegajothi also appealed before the HC, seeking a direction to pay her salary arrears based on the order passed by the AA. Jegajothi’s petition was dismissed by the court, which in 1990 also dismissed the school management’s appeal. Jegajothi then appealed against the single judge’s order. When the case was being heard, Jegajothi, appearing as party-in-person, contended that the letter sent by the joint director of School Education could be received only two days before the cut-off date for joining and the school management refused to extend the time for joining.

“This is a classic case of victimisation of the HM— a spinster — even at the age of 74. Almost 16 years after retirement, this elderly person is forced to enter the corridors of the court fighting against the mighty government and a highly-influential school management,” said a Division Bench of Justices K K Sasidharan and B Gokuldas.So the school management should pay the arrears with 14 per cent interest per annum along with the fine of `50,000 before July 18, the Bench said.

One hopes that there is no further appeal on this.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st July 2016.

Camera mechanic Sekar ~ struggle with cameras and feeding green parrots !!

Until a couple of decades ago, photography was a costly affair practised only by those who can afford…… there were famous names such as – Agfa, Kodak, Konica – which all sold film rolls.  Anybody returning from a foreign trip used to gift film rolls of 24 or 36 to friends and relatives. There were some manual cameras where you had to move everytime a photo was taken and some automatic –  .. one was unsure  of the results and one had to wait with bated breath after giving the roll – expecting some good items captured do turn out well ! – there was the standard instruction of Only Good prints (OGP)’ whence the shop will print only those which had come out well.  The developing might take a couple of days and another annoying thing was that the result of the capture would never be known until the entire roll was complete ! – all story of past !!

The name Kodak has been synonymous with the world of cameras since the firm was founded by George Eastman in the 19th Century.  His vision to keep Kodak at the forefront of photography by the masses has seen its peaks and troughs.  George Eastman saw Kodak take off after pioneering roll film in 1886 - an alternative to cumbersome photographic plates normally only developed by chemists and specialists. The opaque backing paper allowed roll film to be loaded in daylight. It is typically printed with frame number markings which can be viewed through a small red window at the rear of the camera. Big fish eating small fish often happens in market and sometimes even smaller fish takes over the much bigger one – but the death of Kotak was not by any of its competitor in Camera selling.  It was the technology of digital cameras, whose existence also is now challenged by …………… again not cameras, but smartphones, as it is reported that the sale of ordinary device has plummetted 30% in five years.. .. .. the selfie culture and the popularity of smartphones having  cameras built in, meant familie -  no longer buying separate cameras. 

Photography is the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. Typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the light-sensitive surface inside a camera during a timed exposure. A negative image on film is traditionally used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print, either by using an enlarger or by contact printing.  World over, 29^th June is Camera day ~ and read this interesting article that appeared in New Indian Express, Chennai edition of date.

Over 1,000 eyes look at us as we enter the humble home of C Sekar on Pycrofts Road.  Eyes here, refer to the lens of the vintage cameras that have been mounted in every nook and corner of his ‘camera house’.  Some packed in covers and some kept in the corners just waiting for it to be recognized, every camera has a story to tell. As we settle amid the cameras, Sekar who now owns over 4,500 cameras of different size, shapes, brands and nationality narrates his passion for these vintage beauties. “I am from Dharmapuri and I settled in Chennai 35 years ago. With a diploma in electronics, I had the knowledge on how to handle electronic gadgets,” he narrates as he dusts an Ikoflex.

New Indian Express photo

With only a handful of camera mechanics, Sekar became a sought after technician back in the 80’s. “All the technicians here were only trained to repair and fix manual cameras. Since I had a brief knowledge about it I was able to adapt to the changing mechanism in cameras and I became aware of every single equipment.” he goes on, “I always had the passion to have a vintage collection of something like cars, stamps or coins. But, I decided to collect something I was familiar with... Cameras!” he smiles. He not only owns the camera bodies but also camera essentials like old bulbs, cells, films and even the smallest wires!

A German camera with 100 feet film, a 160-year-old camera which is half-the-size of the room, cameras that work with keys, old pocket and foldable cameras in different sizes, wooden cameras, a camera which once took pictures of Gandhi and a 16-mm movie camera which has the footage of the Indo-Chinese war (1962) are some of his possessions. The 16-mm movie camera owned by L V Prasad, R Krishnan of SudesiMitran and MGR's Hasselblad and Guernica are other notable assets in his collection. With a major evolution in cameras from steel lenses to digitised screens, Sekar has seen and owns it all. “Cameras have evolved so much from the old bulb ones. Pocket cameras back then were the size of a big DSLR today!” he laughs.

Shedding light on how disk and floppy cameras were the first digitised cameras, he shares that he is proud of housing and preserving everything in one place. “I have history that is valuable to the country. But, there has been no recognition. People from Germany and other foreign countries visit me to see the collection. But, there hasn’t been much local support,” he shares.  As we head back to his office, a room filled with cameras and space just for two, he says, “I am planning to sell my cameras. I would love to give it to schools and universities if they're willing to buy.” Why? “I feed 4000 parrots every day and this is the place they fly to. The owners of this building have decided to sell this property and the tenants have been asked to move out. I want to buy this building with the money I get from selling the cameras. I want the parrots to have their home intact. Otherwise where will they go?” he asks.

Though bidding farewell to his cameras is tough, Sekar says, “I want these parrots to be safe. I want my cameras to be safe as well. There are people who say that they’ll take the cameras for free. I spent my life in procuring them and they’re asking it for free! What a weird world,” he smiles bleakly.

The man at start, Mr Sekar is known to me, has repaired my digital camera, more than that, everytime I pass around Pycrofts Road, I turn to look for his presence and if found, would chat a word or two happily.  I had earlier on a couple of occasions posted on the winged visitors [green parrots] flocking to his house also.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

30^th June 2016.

remembering battle of Somme where UK lost thousands on day 1 : 100 years ago !

Many a civilizations prospered around river basins, sadly there have been bloody wars too on the river front ~ and today 1^st July is a day, World would want to forget.‘Somme’  is a river in Picardy, northern France.  Strangely, name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning “tranquility”.The river is 245 km (152 mi) long, from its source to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. Horses carrying ammunition through knee-deep mud, Péronne in ruins, soldiers walking across the frozen Somme, Gordon Highlanders marching to the trenches – 100 years after the Battle of the Somme, people are remembering its sordid details.

Exactly,hundred years ago, the war began on 1^st July 1916 and was fought along a 15-mile front near the River Somme in northern France. 19,240 British soldiers died on the first day - the bloodiest day in the history of the British army. The British captured just three square miles of territory on the first day.  It is reported that in total,  there were more than a million dead and wounded on all sides, including 420,000 British, about 200,000 from France and an estimated 465,000 from Germany.  It was a bloody battle in the history of Nations, especially for the British and French.  Now UK fell silent to mark the moment on 1 July 1916 when the battle began and the start of the bloodiest day in British military history.  BBC reports that a ceremony at the Lochnagar crater on the battlefield was held and on Thursday night the Queen attended a vigil at Westminster Abbey.

More than a million men were killed and wounded on all sides in the WW1 battle.The Battle of the Somme, one of World War One's bloodiest, was fought in northern France and lasted five months, with the British suffering almost 60,000 casualties on the first day alone.At a vigil in France, the Duke of Cambridge paid tribute to the fallen soldiers, saying "we lost the flower of a generation".The British and French armies fought the Germans in a brutal battle of attrition on a 15-mile front.

At the ceremony at the Lochnagar crater, which was created by an explosion at the start of the battle in La Boiselle, France, a rocket was fired to simulate the artillery fire.This was followed by whistles to symbolise those that were blown 100 years ago as men scrambled from the trenches.Ahead of the two-minute silence in the UK, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired guns from Parliament Square for 100 seconds to mark the 100 years since the battle began.Across the country and at the vigil sites at Westminster Abbey, Edinburgh Castle, the Somme Heritage Centre in County Down, the Welsh National War Memorial in Cardiff, as well as in France, the silence was observed.

At the cross of remembrance, a carpet of wreaths was laid, by representatives from Britain, France and Germany, along with families and local children.In the base of the crater, beside a giant poppy, a lone bugler sounded the last post as clouds of poppies fluttered down on the breeze.  Reports state that later, there will be another ceremony at the Thiepval memorial, near the battlefield in northern France, attended by 10,000 people including the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry and hundreds of descendants of the those who fought in the battle.Leaders from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will attend a service at the Ulster Tower, a memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division in Thiepval, at 13:30 BST.At the preserved trenches at Newfoundland Park Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel, France, there will be a ceremony to mark the Canadians' part in the battle at 15:30 BST.

And the 100^th anniversary will be marked by Germany in Fricourt, France, where 40,000 Germans are buried.  The Battle of the Somme was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of upper reaches of the River Somme in France. It was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front; more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. The Allies agreed upon a strategy of combined offensives against the Central Powers in 1916, by the French, Russian, British and Italian armies, with the Somme offensive as the Franco-British contribution. The first day on the Somme (1 July) saw a serious defeat for the German Second Army,  it was also the worst day in the history of the British army for its high casualties.  The battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 6 miles (9.7 km) into German-occupied territory, taking more ground than in any of their offensives since the Battle of the Marne in 1914.

When President Hollande attends the centenary on Friday, he will be the first French head of state at a Somme commemoration in more than 80 years.President De Gaulle did not attend the 50th anniversary in 1966. Nor have his successors been at any subsequent event.1916 Battle of the Somme was not just a British battle - it was a French battle too.German attack on Verdun in February that year forced the French to divert resources to the east. In the end their share in the Somme was about one-third, to the British two-thirds.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st July 2016.

Bibliography : Guardian, BBC & Wikipedia