Recently, I've been stanning @krishashok's fabulous threads and videos on the science of cooking. Practical tips, not just theory. For Indian as well as non-Indian food.
In a completely different way @prachi_ has been cooking and instagramming heartwarming stories of dishes-with-memories-attached shared by her friends and readers over at instagram.com/via_dil/
Follow if you like food, feel-good, feel-bad, feel-better all rolled into one
But /2
But all this has been reminding me of an incident shared by my mom about 45 years ago
My dad was a building contractor in Malegaon, and for some reason, my parents were temporarily staying in a shed on the site. Some of the construction workers were also staying there /3
One day, my mom ran into one of the workers and asked him if he had eaten. He said yes. And she asked him what he had eaten. He replied "तेल मीठ मिरची चा पाणी नि भाकरी"
(water flavored with salt, chilli powder, and oil with bhakri (basically roti made from bajra)) /4
Apparently, he did not have enough money to spend on vegetables, so was eating bhakri with spiced water.
I heard that story only once, 45 years ago, and it as stayed with me.
And the oil is a luxury. Usually it's just salt and chilli powder. And if you're very lucky, you might get an onion to crush with your hands and add to the feast /6
And these people are eating bhakri with spiced water on the good days, when they have the bhakri. /7
I love experimenting with various cuisines, trying out new restaurants (take-out now), and cooking, but as Faiz says: "lauT jaatī hai udhar ko bhī nazar kyā kiije" (my gaze gets drawn towards those other things, what can I do...) rekhta.org/nazms/mujh-se-… /8
We live normal, what-feels-to-us-like-middle-class lives. But as I discussed in another thread, we don't realize that we are all in the top 0.5% of India. And we have little idea of what the rest of India looks like. /end
Don't get me wrong. I love Krish's cooking tips, and Prachi's via_dil stories and I plan to continue enjoying them. And comparing this behavior to my other threads, I do see the contradiction. And not see it too.
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Ever wondered why "sin" (of trigonometry) is called "sin"? Today, I decided to find out, and the history is fascinating. It comes from the Sanskrit word for bowstring which somehow got translated to the Latin word for the "pallu" of a toga.
Follow me down this rabbit hole 🧵
Let's start with this wonderful image I received from a friend on WhatsApp (source unknown). Here, you can clearly see why "tan" is called "tan". But what about "sin"?
If you think of the solid yellow arc as a bow, then the solid blue line (sine) is the bowstring 🧵
jīvá (जीवा) the Sanskrit word for bowstring is the name given to sin by Aryabhata the inventor¹ of the sine and cosine functions.
How do you get from there to a toga? A series of interesting accidents
Good HBR article (by @TylerCowen et al) on reducing wastage and useless bureaucratic overhead from your hiring process.
Quick overview: /1
Do not have more than 4 or 5 "rounds" of interviews/interactions with a candidate. A study (at Google) showed that the first 4 gave 86% of the value. After that, the value diminished rapidly. /2
For each role, have one person who is the primary decision-maker. Unnecessary democracy and consensus results in worse hires.
A committee will hire a camel when a horse is required. /3
Voluntary student participation in your classes is higher if you're known as a teacher who randomly picks students to answer questions even if their hands aren't raised.
Did you know that a lot of hotels in India refuse to let a couple rent a hotel room if they don't look married? (i.e. if last name on Aadhaar card doesn't match).
The problem appears to be widespread enough that a couple of hotel chains have made it their primary marketing pitch that they have no problems renting to unmarried couples. (Even OYO was using this line for a while)
Y'all follow me because I tweet important and relevant information like this, right?