Cambodia and the Angkor

I had a week's trip to Singapore on work. While there, I made a quick weekend getaway to Cambodia to see the Angkor Wat. Here are a few pictures from the trip to Angkor.

[1]

[1 - The Angkor at a distance. A lovely walk through the moat to reach the complex ]

[2] [3]

[2,3 - Angkor is a Vishnu Temple. It has 3 levels. The first level has huge long halls (shown above) which have intricate carvings on Mahabahratha, Ramayana, Churning of the ocean episode from 'Kurma' Avatar of Vishnu and so on. The corridor shown above depicts the Churning of the Ocean of Milk to extract Nectar. The legend (shown above left) describes the churning of the Ocean episode, to the visitors.]

[4] [5]

[4,5 - The above picture (left) shows the steep climb one has to do to reach level 3. One climbs the stairs which is at 80 degree angle. It is almost vertical. Level 3 at the top contains the sanctum sanctorum. The logic given is that one has to put in effort to reach the divine abode (read : sanctum sanctorum). The picture (above right) is the view of the entrance from the top (Level 3) ]

[6] [7]

[6, 7 - The walls of the Angkor are carved with Apsaras (shown above). Apsaras are part of the Cambodian folklore and they represent the celestial dancers. The picture on the right is on the Lake Tonle Sap which has a floating village (villages comprising of people living in houseboats on the lake). This picture is of the sunset from one of the houseboats. ]

[8] [9] [10]

[8,9,10 - This is the Bayon Temple, which is a Buddhist Temple. The most interesting aspect of this temple is that it has 59 'faces' carved on to the walls of the temple. The faces (in pic 10) Do look similar right? :) ]

[11] [12]

[11,12 - This is the Ta Brohm Temple. This has been ravaged my nature and discovered by 'explorer Ravi' (pic 12) :). This is the temple where the movie Tomb Raider was shot.

Doctors and their handwriting

If there is a common joke universally about doctors, then it has got to be about their sloppy handwriting. And personally, I would tend to agree with the generalisation.

However, the bad handwriting actually causes trouble. Recent survey by National Academies of Science's Institute of Medicine reveals a shocking statistic. 7000 people die annually due to the doctor's sloppy handwriting skills and more than 1.5 million injure themselves due to medical mistakes. And this is in America alone. Whoa!

(http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1578074,00.html)

The aim is now to convert all prescription writing to electronic format so that there is no chance of error ( or atleast reduced chances). Big corporate houses are teaming up with insurance providers and hospitals to ensure that doctors in the US use electronic format for prescription.

This is definitely a plausible solution in the medium to long term in US, but across the world this just won't work.

The simplest solution I propose is to have handwriting classes for all medical students. The doctors should also pass a handwriting certification exam every alternate year to have a valid license to operate. They should also be taught calligraphy and all other artistic stuff, so that they may move from an unintelligible prescription to artistically decorated one. We could also have awards for the best written/ decorated prescription. The possibilities are endless :)

Cheaper by Haggling

' bachat mera adhikar hai.. ' goes a certain ad.

It taps into the Indian Psyche of value delivered through lower price and not necessarily superior (beyond base requirements) benefits.

Indians have mastered the art of bargaining. My professor in IIM Bangalore who is also an economist and member of trade panel representing India in the WTO forum, told me once that Indians are among the most despised souls in the forum, as they bargain and haggle to the hilt. Leaving the macro economic and trans national treaties and conundrums out of our radar, we all need to recognize that it is the Indian women who have kept this tradition, this heritage and habit alive. They have also ensured that they passed down this time honoured tradition, so that it does not get lost or forgotten.

The training is imparted to kids at a very early age. Make no mistake, when the mom drags the son or daughter along to the market. Nevermind that the son needs to play cricket and probably is the strike bowler in his 'mohallah' or if the girl needs to talk on the phone to catch up on the latest gossip of classmates, a trip to the market means that the son/daughter has to be there. In the market the kid witnesses his/her mother, live-in-action. She haggles with chappal waalahs, with sabzi waalahs and with all the other waalahs. Vegetables are always way too expensive, even if the prices have fallen by Rs 3 a kilo since the last visit. The kids are thus groomed to be our future negotiators at various levels from reducing grocery rates for homes to reducing trade percentage rates between nations.

Modus operandi of seasoned bargainers are many but have largely remained unchanged over years.First there is the simple, start with half / one fourth the quoted price and work towards the mutually agreeable price. The trick here is that you need to identify the right price point where the seller keeps stressing and is unwilling to go below that. Now you have reached the lowest point of seller. But you can take your prices further lower.

At this point, you can state that you are not interested at the current offered price and start a slow walk away from the shop. After a few steps, the seller calls you back with a new price.

The second part is where you buy, multiple goods. You negotiate the bottom most rates on individual items and then use an emotional blackmail when the final bill is made. You ask the seller to round it off to the lower 10,50,100 whatever the case may be.

There are, I am sure, many more methods, techniques and nuances to this art. However, I shall restrict myself on the 'gyaan' part.

I was out with my mom over the weekend and we were at Dadar market buying some stuff from the peddlars on the roads near the station. I never thought of myself as a great bargainer, but I thought I was decent enough. To learn from the expert, I let my mom go ahead and bargain and buy the first round of stuff. Pretty soon the seller realised that I was lost there and for the next item he looked at me and told me that I am offering this at 75. Just to prove that I could also bargain, I looked back with steely determination at the seller, and said, I ain't offering you anything more that 40 for that. Before he or I could react to anything, I received a punch in my abdomen that almost sent me reeling. My mom looked at me and was visibly shocked. She gave me a bag and said, go outside and leave the haggling to me. And without waiting for a reaction from me, she turned around to the seller and said, 25 bucks else I am not buying anything from you. I walked away from the shop dejected, like a kid in class 3 been punished by his favourite teacher.

Once outside, I became more sensitive to my surroudings. There were women everywhere haggling. They were haggling over junk jewellery, floor mats, bed sheets. They were all over the place - haggling. Thats when I realised that bargaining is a battle. Its a triumph of the never give up spirit, a big ego-kick. There is an immense sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when the buyer comes out victorius (or so she feels). It is immaterial whether one is arguing to reduce price by 100 or by 5, one just has to come out feeling victorius. I did not, but my mom was triumphant.