Teach a man to fish.. Err, it’s complicated

Fisherman at the sea

Fisherman at the sea

Give a man a fish and he has food for a day, teach a man to fish and he has to buy bamboo rods, graphite reels, monofilament lines, neoprene waders, creels, tackle boxes, lures, flies, spinners, worm rigs, slip sinkers, offset hooks, gore-tex hats, 20 pocket vests, fish finders, depth sounders, radar, boats, trailers, global positioning systems, coolers, and six packs.

 

Yeah the quote has changed, to keep up with the changing time. Our necessities have changed dramatically.

 

This blog is for those simpler times when man could catch a fish with a worm a safety pin and a string.

 

Take for example the time time we had a radio, my father used to talk about it. People listening to songs on the radio for home entertainment, and being happy to occasionally listen to their favourite number.

 

Now for home entertainment I have

 

1. A LCD TV

2. A DTH connection providing me with 170 channels I dont want to watch

3. A receiver for audio/video system

4. 5.1 sound system

5. PS3

6. Bluray Movies/PS3 games

7. A PC connected to my TV and my audio system

8. Many external HDD to store my content.

9. A universal remote so that all can work with a single remote.

 

I need all this for the 1 hour I probably get during weekdays. 1 hour? A simple radio would do my dad would say for sure.

 

Just 2 days ago there was a long power cut at my area, My mobile battery was really low, and I got a call from my friend on some urgent matter, I told him my battery was low and that I don’t have any option, as it might go any min. I FORGOT I had a landline, a phone I could make use of. But of course by the time, I could remember I had, my mobile battery had drained, and I could not get my friends number from the contact list. Thinking about what shit situation I am in, I realised I could not remember a single number, of anyone, including my landline number! So much dependant I had become on technology.

 

My current phone, can read ISBN numbers printed at the back of the book, send it to the pc via bluetooth, where I have a software to which I paste this numbers which then fetches the information for all the books I have and catalogs it with name, authors, publisher, synopsis, which I can then export into an excel file. Why do I need it. Well, hmm its just cool, isn’t it. (Email me if you want to know how to do it!)

 

We always get facinated by technology. So it was no surprise when my friend told me how he was admiring a new LED TV which was so thin, much thinner than the LCD TV. As he was drooling over it, totally fascinated, his wife said a one liner which made him realise how advertisement makes a fool of us, and how we get fascinated with things that don’t matter. “Honey we don’t watch a TV sideways” she said. Yeah! She is totally right. We are MORONS, choosing technology which is costlier just because .. well its the latest! its LED .. that sounds better than LCD we have been hearing for so long. It’s a new term, it must be cool!

 

Home cooking is another area, my mom cooks with simple things. Few utensils, a stove with a gas connection, few vegetables, flour, spices.. and she had all she needed. The modern kitchen, well… let me not get started but lets talk about just one thing, microwave ovens. Convection microwave ovens, I was lost at understanding what it does in the first place, I needed something to warm my food, but the sales guy told me, that the basic one is just for heating you know, but this one the shiny new metallic black one, see how it shines, its a convection one. I seemed impressed already, the colour definitely looked good. So what’s the difference other than the triple costs I asked, proving that I am not just going to buy stuff just because he recommended it. Well you know this one can be used for baking and grilling, and works really well. I won’t ever bake and I wont every grill, yet it just seemed like a fancier choice, just incase I decide to in the future.. (the closest i have come to cooking is maggi noodles, and hold on, I meant the instant cup ones, where you add hot water, and wait for 4 mins and voila, am really good at this.)

 

I clicked this snap when I was at Palolem, early morning saw this fisherman trying to catch his take with a net.

 

Metadata: 1/400 sec at f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100.