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In the novel Made in America by Bill Bryson; he tells about this amazing assembly line food production!

Raymond Albert Kroc was a bussinessman who recognized the true worth of this  small outlet , was a consummate seller of franchises.


Then again, this outlet did not need anyone’s intervention! They had already invented an assembly line of food! It was being run by two Brothers!

By 1961, the year Kroc bought the brothers out for $2.7 million, there were two hundred such restaurants, and the company was on its way to becoming a national institution!

Kroc achieved this success in large part by making sure that the formula of the original was followed everywhere with the most exacting fidelity.

His obsession with detail became legendary!

He dictated that outlet’s burgers must be exactly 3.875 inches!

It must weigh 1.6 ounces and contain precisely 19 per cent fat!

Big buns should have an average of 178 sesame seeds!

He even specified, after much experimentation, how much wax should be on the wax paper that separated one hamburger patty from another!

Such obsessiveness made the outlet an international success!

As of late 2023, there are approximately 41,800 such locations in over 100 countries and territories worldwide. The company operates on every continent except Antarctica, with the highest concentration of restaurants in the United States, followed by China and Japan!

The company owns a significant portion of its restaurant land and buildings, totaling $37.7 billion in assets!

All over the world, a single Assembly Line Process Flow is followed to the t!

The process begins with the bun (crown and heel) being toasted then you have the Condiments added! On the crown (top bun), one shot of mustard, followed by ketchup, is applied!

Then you have the toppings! Dehydrated onions and pickles are added to the condiments on the crown!
Then the Protein! A 10:1 (10-to-1) patty is placed on top of the pickles!
And finally the closure!

The heel (bottom bun) is placed on top, and the burger is wrapped!

Even the sauces and mustard or mayonaise are ‘ejected’ in precise quantity!

Which is why you get the same taste everywhere!

Am sure you got the outlets’s name? You will get it once you know the Brother’s names!

The brothers were Richard and Maurice McDonald who founded the first outlet in 1940 in San Bernardino, California!

Yes! McDonald!

Don’t you feel like having one right now!?

Have one and smile! Like Satish Kaushik used to do! Smile that is!

Subh ratri!

The first law in the book 48 laws of power is that you must always treat your master (or boss!) as superior! Never show him or her that you are better than him or her!

Just because he or she is leading you, does not make him or her a Leader!

Bosses guide through authority, while leaders guide through influence and example. Focus: A boss focuses on the process and “how,” while a leader focuses on the “why” and long-term goals.
A boss often stands above the team and directs. A leader works alongside the team, fostering inclusion and growth.

Finally the blame game is how you get to know a leader or a boss!

When issues arise, a boss might assign blame (points fingers), whereas a leader takes responsibility and finds solutions (looks in the mirror).

For all practical purposes, we all have only Bosses!

So make sure that his or her inflated ego is not punctured at least by you!

Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the finance in charge to King Louis XXIV.

He once threw an extravagant party for his King with a lavish buffet and performances to show that he wants to pamper his King at the opening of his new home and castle!
The pomp and grandeur would have made anyone glow! However it had the opposite effect!
The next day he was arrested on charges of financial misappropriation and sentenced to life imprisonment!

Sometimes it’s better to act innocently to let your boss or master or teacher so that he or she gets his or her way!

That’s because real talent will shine even if it takes time…

Like Asha Tai… There would not be another like her …
But what a life!

She will be missed but never forgotten!
Om shanti…

Love, Anatomy and Coconut Chutney by Priya Mary Jacob and Sajna V M Kutty

E Book

Book Review

Fictional novel inspired by True stories!

Rating 5/5!

It was always a pleasure to read blogs written by the two authors and now a full-fledged novel would obviously be great!

Since it is a collaboration, it is understood that there was days and days of research and analysis to finally come up with a consensus!

Nostalgia is definitely a one word summary of the whole novel!

Priya and Sajna have made us reminisce those amazing days when we were all Medical students and house surgeons!

Not to mention the fact that our Batch was the one with juicy stories, which could fill the Script of many soap operas for ages! 

As, you go through the pages and read the amazing stories and incidents which seem unbelievable Take it from me; Most of the stories were known to our Batch in one way or the other!

The only difference is that both Priya and Sajna have taken those stories and crafted a beautiful page turner!

I was hesitant to start the novel because I knew that once I start reading it I would have to finish it since it would be unputdownable! 

The use of Malayalam words along with a few medical terminology here and there, and the setting of our college makes it a complete experience!

Boy, what a ride it was! 

A little chutney, some anatomy and lots of love!

After every major difficulty for the body or for the country all you need at the end of the day is a restart!

A clean slate to start all over again, better and more productive!

Just like how most of the electronic devices can get back to normal by a simple restart, won’t it be amazing if we can do the same with ourselves after a major challenge??…

Then again, have you ever wondered as to how most of the problems in your phone or computer gets solved when you restart them!?

That’s literally the first thing you do when your computer or phone and now the smart TV or the Fire stick in your TV! They start acting odd or get stuck or freeze, the first solution which is often the best is to restart!

There is this nifty little device called the amazon echo auto which gets nutty sometimes! You scream at it and it does not work! Even the troubleshooting wizard in the guide book says; switch off your device for ten seconds and restart! And lo! Like magic it works most of the time!

The same principle in some way works in your heart when it’s defibrillated and restarted!

Now as far as electronics are concerned the restart works because of so many reasons…

Components like DRAM lose their electrical charge so a restart helps in clearing out temporary files and buggy background processes, which helps the device run faster and removes software “cruft”.

By restarting, the system resets its hardware and software to a clean, working state, which allows it to get rid of errors.

A restart can also re-establish network connections, Wi-Fi channels, and can clear hardware-related malfunctions.

It is similar for the human heart too!

When someone suffers cardiac arrest, the heart often quivers uncontrollably (ventricular fibrillation) instead of pumping blood.

The shock depolarizes the heart muscle, ending this chaotic, useless rhythm.

It acts like rebooting a computer, providing a pause that gives the heart a chance to reestablish a healthy sinus rhythm!

A literal SECOND CHANCE! That is restart! Of course machines can get many such chances; your body may get maybe one or two! Make them count…

Have fun but within limits! Like movies with Kovai Sarala!

Now get ready for a new day!

Subh ratri…

The other day I had a patient who had a diagnosis of Otomycosis. Now it sounds technical, but it’s simply fungus in the ear!

Then again, it’s not so simple. It’s a very painful condition and very irritating to say the least!

Also inpatient with immuno compromised status like severe diabetes it can turn out to be quite dangerous!

You need to go on cleaning the ears and maintaining a very strict hygiene!

Then again did you know that there was a fungus which actually almost destroyed a whole country?

The culprit was Phytophthora infestans, a water mold (oomycete) that acts like a fungus, which causes potato blight!

It was the year 1845–1852 and Ireland was dangerously dependent on a single variety of potato (the “lumper”) for food.

When the pathogen arrived, the entire crop was susceptible.

The blight turned potatoes into inedible, rotten sludge in days, destroying almost half the crop in the first year and three-quarters in the next!

The famine resulted in the deaths of roughly one million people due to starvation and disease, and caused another million to emigrate, drastically reducing the country’s population!

If you thought that it was only history even now fungus can wreck havoc!

Banana Panama Disease (Latin America/Asia): Fusarium oxysporum has nearly wiped out banana plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia and is now threatening banana production in Colombia.

Wheat Rust (Ug99): A deadly variant of Puccinia graminis that originated in East Africa is capable of destroying up to 70% of wheat crops and is spreading globally, threatening food supplies for billions!

Cryphonectria parasitica destroyed an estimated 4 billion sweet chestnut trees in the eastern United States!

More recently hope everyone remembers the black fungus and COVID!

Now even that was scary!

Rest assured, though the fungus, what we normally see in your ears can just be cleaned, and you can be fine!

Control, your sugars, though; avoid too much potatoes in your diet, maybe!

A little is fine though! Maybe make a tasty recipe of potatoes by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor!

Subh ratri…

The Bhopa people are the priest-singers of the folk deities in the state of Rajasthan, India.

They perform in front of a scroll, known as phad (par in the Rajasthani language) that depicts the episodes of the narrative of the folk deity and functions as a portable temple!

As William Darlymple narrates in his book called ‘nine lives’; (if you simply ignore the abysmal Indian diction that is!) Bout the most famous Bhopa artist called Mohan Bhopa who used to perform continuously and even over night!

His narrative is continuous and absolutely flawless! He does not forget his lines and there are no prompts! What is so great about that you say!?

He used to remember his lines when in fact he was illiterate!

This type of memory is called Shruthi! In fact you can find this all over our local traditions and art including the most important ones! Another form of memory is called the Smriti.

Shruti (“that which is heard”) and Smriti (“that which is remembered”) are the two primary pillars of indian scriptural authority.

Shruti refers to eternal, infallible divine revelations (Vedas, Upanishads), while Smriti consists of traditional, human-authored texts (Epics, Puranas, Dharmashastras) that interpret and apply these truths to daily life.

Shruti is “that which is heard” by the ancient sages (rishis) directly from the divine source while Smriti is “that which is remembered” or recorded by sages based on their understanding of the revelations.

Since here also source is important; Shruti is considered the highest, absolute authority (canonical) while Smriti holds a secondary authority, deriving its validity from its alignment with Shruti.

Shruti is believed to be eternal and impersonal (authorless) while Smriti is considered authored, flexible, and evolving with time!

Even in your examinations, you have an interplay of Shruti and Smriti! What your teacher tells you and you repeat is Shruti and what you read and understand is Smriti! Here, also, what the teacher tells has authority!

Then again when it comes to dance and direction; for authority you have Remo Gopi D’Souza!

Now remember what your teachers says!

Shubh Ratri!

Made in America is a novel by Bill Bryson where in one of the chapters he talks about the contribution of war!

Practically, the war is a big waste of money, time, resources, and humanity!

But did you know the term blockbuster was actually used in a war first?

By the mid-1950s, the term transitioned into Hollywood jargon to describe films that were massively successful, figuratively “busting the block” with long ticket lines and high revenue!

The latest ‘blockbuster’ Dhurandhar has actually rewritten indian movie returns and how!

To use a term used in war first, well seems almost prophetic!

It actually has wartime Origins from the second world war; 1942–1945. The term was used in media reports to describe high-explosive, large-capacity bombs used by Allied forces!

These massive Royal Air Force bombs were literally capable of destroying an entire city BLOCK!

The term slowly began to be used figuratively for anything with massive impact. By 1954, it was commonly used by film industry trade publications and executives, such as United Artists’ Max E. Youngstein, to describe high-budget, high-grossing movies.

Early usage in film was highlighted in 1944 when Variety predicted the film Brazil would be a “block-buster at the wickets” (theater ticket offices).

The term gained its final modern and solidified meaning in the 1970s, particularly following the massive success of JAWS!

Some early interpretations suggested the term referred to long lines of moviegoers that stretched around the block!

In the 1950s, the term was also used to describe block-busting in real estate, where brokers would prompt an exodus from a neighborhood!

I sincerely thank heavens and God that the recent major conflict did not introduce any new term like citybuster or country buster!

Humanity did not get BUSTED!


Better always to watch a movie blockbuster like Pusha though I would prefer Allu Arjun’s Arya anyday!


Praying for a blockbuster peace!

Subh ratri!

Have you heard of “The Gospel of Wealth”?

Now there are a lot of books which will tell you on how to get rich like the ‘rich dad, poor dad’ or ‘how to win friends and influence people’ and of course many many more!
The gospel of wealth is for people who are already rich, and it was written by a person who at that time was one of the world’s richest human!


“The Gospel of Wealth” is a foundational essay written by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie in 1889.

In it, Carnegie argues that extremely wealthy individuals have a moral obligation to use their fortunes for the “general good” of society rather than hoarding them or passing them down as inheritance

His most famous quote from the essay is, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced”. He believed surplus wealth should be distributed during one’s lifetime to ensure it is used wisely!

Carnegie viewed the wealthy not as owners of their money, but as “trustees” for the poor. He believed that those with the talent to accumulate wealth also possessed the superior “wisdom, experience, and ability” to administer it for the public’s benefit.

He strongly criticized leaving large fortunes to children! arguing that it often leads to squandered wealth and does not benefit the state or the recipients.

Carnegie also opposed “indiscriminate charity,” which he felt encouraged dependency. Instead, he advocated for providing “ladders upon which the aspiring can rise,” such as free public libraries, universities, and parks.

The “Gospel of Wealth” remains a blueprint for modern large-scale philanthropy, influencing figures like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett!

Like mentioned before, Carnegie was at one point, the richest man in the world! But he followed what he spoke!

Carnegie lived his philosophy by giving away roughly $350 million (about 90% of his fortune), funding over 2,500 public libraries and establishing institutions like Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Corporation of New York!

The practical key point here is that you must make sure that even if you have money, your children must learn the value of hard work and integrity

You must only give them a scaffolding or Support for their own success!

Once they get away from the shade of comfort, they would reach better and greater heights! Like Hariharan Anantha Subramani who did not need any support since he had ample talent!

Praying for peace and nothing else…

God bless…

Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will is a book by Robert Sapolsky where among other things, the author talks about how ants get food!

Actually, the numbers would shock you! Depending on the size of an average and colony, it would take 360,000 ways if there are 10 sites to get food.!

Do you know what happen if there are 15 sites!?
There is at least 80 billion ways of getting the food!

So how do ants get it?

They do and very effectively in fact! When this is used  to solve problems it is called swarm or ant optimisation!

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm used to solve complex computational problems by finding optimal paths through graphs.

It was introduced by Marco Dorigo in the early 1990s and is a key part of the broader field of swarm intelligence.

The algorithm mimics the foraging behavior of real ant colonies. When searching for food, ants initially wander randomly. Once food is found, they return to their nest while depositing a chemical substance called pheromone on the ground.

Other ants are attracted to these trails. Shorter paths allow ants to return faster, leading to a quicker buildup of pheromones, which in turn attracts more ants.

Over time, the pheromone trails evaporate. This “forgetting” mechanism prevents the colony from getting stuck on a single suboptimal path and encourages the discovery of new, potentially better route!

ACO translates these biological behaviors into a computational framework using “artificial ants”.

This actually has many common applications!

Like the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)! one can use Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) to find the shortest route to visit multiple cities and return home!

We can also use it for Network Routing by Optimizing data traffic and identifying the fastest paths in communication networks!

Another area is for Scheduling! You can assign tasks or resources efficiently (e.g., job-shop or hospital scheduling).

The Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) can also be used for vehicle Routing and to determine the best paths for a fleet of delivery vehicles!

See what a colony of ants can do? They can make sure your Amazon prime delivery comes on time!

Ok that may be a bad joke but if you want a good one then check Sreenivasan’s movies!

or watch how an ant finds food!

your choice!

Shubh ratri…

Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will is a book by Robert Sapolsky talks about CA!


Now CA doesn’t mean charted accountant at least this context!

It actually means cellular automata!

This whole concept was way over my head, but still is important to understand how replication occurs in machines!

Cellular automata (CA) were conceived in the 1940s by John von Neumann and Stanislaw Ulam at Los Alamos National Laboratory to model biological self-replication and complex systems.

Originally designed as discrete, 2D, multi-state systems, they evolved into simpler models like Conway’s “Game of Life” (1970) and 1D systems studied by Stephen Wolfram in the 1980s.

John von Neumann, prompted by Ulam, created the first cellular automaton to explore self-replicating machines. His model was a 2D grid with 29 states per cell, capable of universal computation.

In the 1960s; researchers began exploring CA as computational models of physical systems.

In the 1970s, John Horton Conway introduced Game of Life, a 2D, two-state automaton, which became incredibly popular because complex, life-like patterns could emerge from simple rules.

The original purpose was to understand how machines could build copies of themselves.

Simple local rules can lead to complex global patterns and it was seen that certain CA can simulate any computer algorithm!


The basic summary is that using simple rules, the patterns are estimated, but minor changes in the rules can lead to major changes later on!

It is like the butterfly effect, and this is the basis of chaos theory!

Then again, that also is something way over my head!

Though  no amount of theory can explain why humans do certain things!

Like war to the point of destruction! Then again if you have war then you must have Sam Bahadur as your chief and you will be ok!

Praying for peace…