Chrometophobia should not be confused with chromophobia (the fear of colors) or other bizarre celebrity phobias, such as Megan Fox’s fear of dry paper or Oprah’s fear of chewing gum!
In the series The Mentalist the serial killer Red John also has a phobia! Hopefully you do not have the PHOBIA of not knowing the ending!
Anyway coming to Chrometophobia.
The iconic British comedian Benny Hill despite an estimated net worth of millions, famously lived like a pauper, refusing to buy a home or car, patching his old clothes, gluing his shoe soles back on, and walking miles to avoid taxi fares!
In fact he died surrounded by uncashed checks!
Then you have the celebrity Ellen DeGeneres who also has this!
Hope you got it!
Chrometophobia is the extreme, irrational fear of spending or handling money. It often stems from past financial trauma or childhood instability.
Sufferers experience intense anxiety, physical symptoms like panic attacks, and avoidance behaviors—often neglecting necessities or isolating themselves to prevent any transactions!
They typically include refuse to check bank accounts, open mail, or touch physical cash/cards!
They even experience a racing heart, sweating, or panic attacks when faced with purchases!
Of course until now it is more or less normal but when they go for self deprivation then it is a problem!
Denying yourself necessities (like medical care or proper home maintenance) even when financially stable and then skipping vacations or social gatherings out of fear of spending.
Finally obsession! Constantly counting money or ruminating over hypothetical financial disaster is a prime symptom!
Most common cause is the trauma of childhood and history of poverty.
Experiencing severe poverty, job loss, or bankruptcy and growing up in a household with extreme financial conflict or food/housing scarcity.
Of course many may even have a pre-existing predisposition to anxiety or related conditions like OCD.
Now before you start branding people having Chrometophobia; do think a while and try to see the whole picture from a distance or a height! Unless of course like me you have acrophobia then you can simply mind your own…Phobia! Their money their Phobia!
You just hope that you do not have cinephobia! Yeah that’s the fear of watching movies! Catch something nice by say Adoor Gopalakrishnan!
Do you know (it is so irritating when someone starts a blog with this I know!); that there are only three people in the entire world who DO NOT have a passport!?
By the way passport has a fascinating history!
The earliest recorded documents granting safe passage are found in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Indian text Arthashastra.
The term “passport” itself dates to medieval Europe, derived from the Latin passer (to pass) and portus (harbor/gateway) to allow travelers through city walls.
In 1540, the English Privy Council began issuing early travel documents under King Henry VIII. Later, in 1641, King Charles I issued one of the earliest recorded British passports!
As global tensions rose, European nations used World War I to strictly monitor borders and restrict the movement of people.
In 1914, the British government issued the very first iteration of the modern passport booklet, which was a single page folded into eight and held within a cardboard cover.
Finally you have the Global Standardization!
Following World War I, border controls were made permanent. The League of Nations held a conference in 1920 that established a universal size, shape, and content standard for passports, which resulted in the famous 32-page “Old Blue” passport!
Which brings us to the DID YOU KNOW that started it all!
Who are the three individuals with no passport?!
Apparently there are only three specific people in the world who do not need or hold passports: King Charles III of the United Kingdom and Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan!
Because all British passports are issued officially in the King’s name, he cannot issue one to himself. Instead, he carries a special document requesting unhindered passage! Now who WROTE that document is anyone’s guess!
Then you have the Rulers of Japan! Emperor and Empress of Japan operate under a 1971 government ruling stating it is highly inappropriate to subject the imperial couple to ordinary immigration and visa processes!
So unless you are a King (or a Queen for that matter!); and an important one; better have a passport!
Ideally though artists must not be required to have a passport! Art has no border! Like the singer Amit Kumar!
Now, now I am telling you that you do not take bath everyday which leads to the usage of perfume to cover the TRACKS so to speak! But do you use STUFF to smell nice!?
If you do then let me ask if you use COLOGNE!?
If you do then you if you were at some point transported in history and state that you use COLOGNE then people would ask; Why are you using a city!?
Surprised!? Me too! Or maybe you do not get surprised by things which smell!
Anyway after that SMELLY joke lemme tell you that the word cologne comes from the name of a city!
NYT crossword sometimes does improve your knowledge!
So the word “cologne” has two meanings: the city in Germany and the fragrance. Both share the exact same root!
The city ROOT; The Roman Emperor Claudius founded the settlement in 50 CE. He named it Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium to honor his wife, Agrippina, who was born there! Now am sure except the emperor, no one will be stimulated enough to call her or the city by that long name so people shortened this long name to Colonia (which means “colony” in Latin).
Over time, “Colonia” changed into the modern German word Köln! Finally the French and English versions of this word became Cologne!
Then you have the perfume or the Fragrance! An Italian perfumer named Johann Maria Farina moved to the city of Cologne in 1709. He created a light, refreshing citrus perfume. He named his new creation Eau de Cologne, which is French for “water from Cologne,” to honor his new home. Over time, people even shortened this French phrase to simply “cologne”!
Today, “cologne” is a general term for any light scent or men’s perfume! Now that is not SMELLY!
Since I am allergic to most stuff including and not restricted to DUST; one of the commonest triggers for allergy prone individuals apart from cold or warm air and water are the chemical triggers which start the ALLERGIC reaction!
Foremost are the perfumes! Which is why I avoid them as much as possible! Till someone discreetly tells me to visit or try a city in Germany perhaps!
Or be cheerful and you may smell nice! Watch a movie perhaps! Like mayabazaar starring S V Ranga Rao!
Yesterday’s mini crossword by NYT inspired this one!
Read this ‘POEM’
There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, “It is just as I feared!— Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!”
Something caught your attention?
How about this one? This is much more popular and may be called the prototype of this type of poem!
There once was a man from Nantucket, Who kept all his cash in a bucket. But his daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man, And as for the bucket, Nantucket!
These are called! Limericks!
You can see the RHYME pattern! By the way did you know that LIMERICK is the name of a place!?
Haven’t I always told that history is an ocean and what we know is a drop! (Ok ok! That was Baba and it was about knowledge!)
So anyway coming back to LIMERICKS!
Limericks are short, funny poems with five lines and an AABBA rhyme scheme! Which means that the lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme AAA and lines 3 and 4 rhyme or BB! Which is why they are called the AABBA scheme! Nothing to do with one of my group the ABBAs!
It is understood that they likely started in 18th-century English taverns as impromptu drinking songs.
The name comes from an Irish chorus, “Will you come up to Limerick?”
Irish Roots: In the 1700s, Gaelic poets in County Limerick, Ireland, wrote drinking songs using this rhythm. The chorus often invited listeners to visit the city of Limerick!
The style crossed the sea to English taverns and pubs.
Artist Edward Lear made limericks famous with his 1846 book, A Book of Nonsense. He wrote silly poems that usually started and ended with a place name!
Now remember that since it has origins in a bar and after a DRINK or two; Limericks are often NAUGHTY (read vulgar!) and Mature (read adult and dirty!)! Then again nothing stops you from writing a clean one!
There once was a man from Bangalore! Who had love and patience Galore! He progressed at a steady rate! Now staying in Kuwait! You know who I am sure!
Make your own and send me! We can have a Limerick laugh!
Then you can listen to the two best songs in kannada starring Golden star Ganesh; anisutide and Dwapara!
No! That is not the time it takes for your wife to get ready in your dreams! I don’t have that complaint since I know it takes time for a DIAMOND to form!
It is related to the doctor patient relationship!
The other day one patient had an issue with one ear; so I asked from how many days she has the issue; she then started talking about another issue!
That is when the 11 secod rule comes!
Studies show that doctors let patients speak for an average of just 11 seconds before interrupting them!
You may find it rude! But it is not so! I have often told that your doctor does not have the solutions for all your problems! Even he or she is under the watch! There is a sword of litigation hanging over him for every case!
In about 67% of medical visits, the doctor interjects to steer the conversation!
Meanwhile, the average appointment lasts about 15 to 18 minutes but then that is mixed with examination and other aspects of the consultation.
Some key facts of an average doctor patient interactions are:
The 11-Second Rule: A Journal of General Internal Medicine study found doctors interrupt patients in the first 11 seconds as stated above!
Family Doctors: Family doctors listen a little longer, an average of 19 seconds.
So what about specialists!? The more SPECIALZED you are the lesser is the time to INTERRUPT!
Specialists: Specialists interrupt even faster, usually within just a few seconds! A specialist may interrupt in less than 10 seconds! A super specialist even less! Now do not ask about the super duper specialist!
Then again what happens when you DO NOT interrupt?
Research published in BMJ shows that if patients are not interrupted, 78% finish explaining their main concerns within just two minutes!
So do we wait for two minutes! Many times we do WAIT! But that purely depends on the patience of the doctor and the number of PATIENTS in the waiting room!
Then again please do understand that doctors are not trying to be rude!
They are often pressured by heavy daily patient schedules and need to gather specific facts to make a diagnosis quickly. They also spend a large portion of their time typing notes into the computer since the maintenance of electronic records are more important than even diagnosis!
All in between the by stander trying to steer his or her symptoms in between for a PARALEL consultation and the complaints going from head to the TOE!
Any miss or mistype here can be more dangerous so at this point it is paramount not to INTERRUPT the doctor here!
What everyone needs to understand is that our BODY is our responsibility! Also our body is not a machine! You cannot do a regular SERVICING and assume that you are good to go for the next 10000 KMs!
So the next time you get interrupted; don’t worry! The GPS in the doctor’s voice will guide you safely to the required destination!
So wishing all my brothers and sisters and friends a very happy doctors day with a sketch of the legendary Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy!
Did you forget something! That’s normal! But you should not forget that you forgot! There is a bird which does that!
Then again you have animals who have memory as low as three seconds! Felt better already? Or did you forget what we were writing about!?
One of the most pets are the Hamsters! their short-term memory span lasts only up to 3 seconds! They can even forget what they were doing mid-action!
Then you have your cousins from your wife’s side! (He he!) The chimpanzees! Despite their high intelligence, chimpanzees have a remarkably poor short-term memory. Studies show their retention span is roughly 20 seconds, which is shorter than that of rats!
Then you have the most precious species in the world the bees! While bees have exceptional navigational and spatial memories for finding flowers, their broader memory capabilities are incredibly limited, ranking as some of the shortest among tested species!
Finally you have the Dogs! In cognitive testing, dogs typically forget the details of a specific event or action within two minutes, though they retain long-term, routine-based memories!
Even the forgetful fish in the movie series of Finding Nemo is closer to the truth than you think or forgot!
In all these though you must know this really funny bird!
This was observed by author Douglas Adams.
He famously described the critically endangered, flightless New Zealand parrot (the kākāpō) by saying it had not only forgotten how to fly, but it had “forgotten that it had forgotten how to fly”.
Now these it evolved in isolation on predator-free islands, the kākāpō lost its need to fly and became a giant, ground-dwelling bird. Basically it could fly but since that was due to the protection against predators there was no need now to fly! Also flying is like exercise; it takes work! Then again if you used to work out a lot before and you stop then you will get FAT! Which is what happened to these birds!
BUT they forgot! Especially when stressed like humans! So the result is rather clumsy!
When panic sets in a scared kākāpō will sometimes run up a tree and jump! It will then stretch out its wings and try to FLY! Then it does not matter that it has forgotten to fly or remembered that it has forgotten to fly or forgotten that it has forgotten to fly! In any case it will fall down like a brick! If the distance is not much it would then gather all of what is left of its self respect and WALK!
So next time you forget; just do not be a KAKAPO!
Then again you may not forget so often if you are a brilliant scientist like Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao!
Now remember to not to forget to turning off the gas and light before you sleep!
This was a song made by an Indian composer sung in Russia and used to identify an American Spy!
Sounds like a Ken Follet novel in the tune of the Man from St Petersberg!?
First we must know if you know the song or not!
More importantly the second line!
One of the first major hits of Mithun Da; this movie song picturised on him did not even have him singing or dancing!
In our KV days the name called out in the song was one of the most common name for a pet dog! We used to tease that the lead actress was calling out to Mithun da like we call a pet!
It was such a famous song that even those who do not know hindi knew the song! At least that was the case in KV! That too at least the first two lines!
The movie is Disco Dancer and no! The song is not Disco dancer which is also a famous peppy number though!
The song you have to think of is “Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja” by the legendary Indian composer Bappi Lahiri (affectionately known as Bappi Da).
Everyone know’s Jimmy Jimmy! I think! Of at least heard of it!
But you may not know that the song became a cult in Russia in the 1980s! If you were in Russia during that time then you will know the song! It was actually a cultural phenomenon!
The song, sung by Parvati Khan for the 1982 Bollywood movie Disco Dancer, became a massive sensation in the Soviet Union after the film was released there in 1984. It sold over 120 million tickets, and virtually everyone in the country knew the track by heart!
Now comes the very interesting SPY TEST!
According to a famous piece of cultural folklore, locals and guards would allegedly use the song to spot American or foreign spies!
Because the song was so ubiquitous, if someone sang out “Jimmy Jimmy” to a stranger, a native Soviet citizen would instinctively know to respond with “Aaja Aaja”.
If a person failed to respond or looked confused, it was used as a clue that they had not grown up in the USSR!
So if you want to know if someone is a SPY; simply say JIMMY JIMMY!
He or she has to reply aja aja by the way… Made you smile! Just like how Jatin Kanakia used to!
In any case you can listen to songs from Disco dancer! Your sleep may not come though!
The novel Greatest show by Richard Dawkins tells about how in spite of being an animal in the ocean; the dolphin is actually more related to the human being!
It is all in the walk!
Not catwalk! The again when you talk about catwalk!
The term “catwalk” combines physical structure and feline grace: it refers to both the physical narrowness of the elevated stage—originally modeled after precarious industrial or maritime bridges—and the smooth, precise “foot-after-foot” walk models use to showcase clothing on it!
But here the focus is not on the ramp but the walk!
The Dolphins actually do not SWIM in the conventional sense! They actually Gallop in the water!
Unfortunately they do not have land so they use the water!
They also do it for Energy Efficiency! Leaping out of the water and diving back is called “porpoising and is actually easier and faster than swimming entirely underwater when going at high speeds, because air creates less drag than water!
Dolphins also use this motion to cover long distances quickly. Also since they are actually Mammals it also helps them in ‘breathing’! Breaking the surface allows them to easily grab a breath of air while moving at top speed!
Then you have an animal which does not have water so it uses the land!
The snake!
A snake does not gallop or walk on land, in fact it remembers it’s ancestor in water and actually swims on land! So the water snake or the sea snake is not an exception! They are actually aquatic creatures! They later LAND snakes arrived on land but did not FORGET to swim! Which is what they do even now!
Then again they have developed so many modifications of the swim!
The first is the Serpentine or Lateral Undulation movement where the snake curves its body into an S-shape. It pushes off objects (like rocks or branches) to propel itself forward! Then you also have the Concertina or the Accordion like movement, the Rectilinear or Straight Line movement and finally the Sidewinding which is used primarily by desert snakes to travel on loose, slippery sand!
Then you have those who mix and match!
Like the crocodile which mostly swims or walks like a lizard but sometimes it apparently gallops and it does it fast! And then you have an amalgamation of all the walks!
It is all in the walk!
Swimming is thus an act! And a necessary skill! So if a snake is chasing you (it is unlikely though!); try SWIMMING on land!
Like how your tongue swims in the oral cavity! Speaking of tongues reminds me of the polyglot PV N Rao who could speak over 17 languages!
Then again it’s better to walk the talk!
Just getting the WALK in the last line that’s all! Hope you don’t get a dream of a swimming snake!
You of course know that women are cool while men are; no no! Not fool! But hot; ok ok, warm!
Then again I am not writing about the human species!
Apparently the chief thing which determines whether this species would be a male or female is the temperature of incubation!
Mind blown!?
It is not science fiction but a common observation!
Only if Poghat sir had known about this then he would have tried to be cool or warm to get a son! May not work for humans though!
The phenomenon is seen in the GECKOS!
This process is called Temperature-dependent Sex Determination (TSD). The moment you have a fancy ‘scientific’ name to a phenomenon then you have a GUT feeling that it may be true!
So apparently the ambient temperature the egg experiences during its incubation window dictates whether the hatchling develops as a male or a female!
So if you are ‘incubating’ your pet GECKO you may start taking notes!
For popular pet geckos, like Leopard Geckos, the breakdown is as follows:
Cool Temperatures (26 degrees – 30 degrees ) produces predominantly females. In fact if you manage to maintain a temperature of 26 degrees, you will get nearly 100\% females!
Then you have the Warm Temperatures which is between 32 degrees to 32.5 degrees which produce mostly males!
Like I said before Males are warm! If you go above this temperature then it is HOT and that is again; FEMALES!
Which means that High Temperatures (34 degrees – 35 degrees) producea mostly females (often referred to as the “high-temperature females”)! You can also call them the super hot models of the Lizard community!
The ‘Scientific’ research from the Tokyo University of Science shows that during a specific developmental window, temperature activates either male-linked or female-linked genes within the embryo!
This is the reason for the embryo to develop into males or females which in this case is dependent on the temperature!
However, temperature isn’t the only factor for all geckos; some species rely on genetic sex determination, and hormones can sometimes override incubation temperatures!
So even if Males can be cool or Hot while females can be just warm! Gecko ones of course!
Then you have the extremely WARM and story rich movies directed by Krishnaswamy Bhagyaraj! It was a pleasure to watch them though sometimes you cannot watch them with the whole family! Story was the key point and how!
Like how Thalaiva Rajni told in some function about the Three ‘Rajas’ who redefined the Tamil Movie industry in the 1980-90s! Bharathiraja, Ilayaraja and Bhagyaraj!
We lost Bharathiraja recently and the loss of Bhagyaraj is a big one indeed. He will me missed. Heartfelt condolences to the legend
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Dr. Robert Sapolsky
Audiobook
Self help book
A landmark book to say the least!
The biological differences in how humans and wild animals experience and process stress determine why humans suffer from stress-related illnesses like stomach ulcers, while zebras generally do not.
A zebra only experiences short-term physical emergencies. When a lion attacks, the zebra’s fight-or-flight response activates immediately. This floods its body with glucose and raises its blood pressure to help it run away. Once the danger is gone, the zebra immediately calms down and returns to eating grass. Its stress response shuts off completely.
Humans can activate the exact same physiological stress response simply by thinking or worrying. Psychological stressors—like job insecurity, paying bills, traffic, or relationship conflicts—persist for months or years. Humans live with sustained, low-to-mid-level panic that rarely shuts off completely
When the fight-or-flight system is constantly activated by psychological worries, the human body suffers severe physical wear and tear!
During emergency stress, the body stops digesting food to conserve energy for running or fighting. If you are constantly stressed, your stomach’s natural defense mechanisms and tissue repair functions remain paused.
The stomach lining continuously defends itself against corrosive gastric acids. Prolonged stress diminishes the stomach’s ability to secrete protective mucus and maintain healthy blood flow, making the lining vulnerable to eroding and forming an ulcer.
Chronic stress releases hormones like glucocorticoids (cortisol) that suppress the immune system over time. This makes it incredibly difficult for the human body to fight off Helicobacter pylori, the primary ulcer-causing bacteria!
Ultimately, the evolutionary stress response was designed to save an animal’s life during a 5-minute chase on the savanna. Humans make themselves sick by keeping that emergency system running continuously for purely psychological reason!
This is the short summary!
Then if you have follwed or listened or read his ealier books or rather later books like Behave or heard his lecture you would know the effect of stress!
The Robert takes about control which is more important than the stress itself!
Now imagine this situation;
You are placed in a room and presented with a sound at a particular loudness which is supposed to induce stress!
By default it would induce stress!
Then you are given a Lever or a shown a button and informed that you can press the button and the sound will get better or less loud!
As expected the presence of the button reduced the stress levels!
The more interesting thing here is what is revealed next!
The button does nothing!
Even if the button does nothing; the mere thought that you have some control over your stress is ENOUGH to reduce your stress!
That is the crux of the matter!
We get stressed on things which we do not have control on or cannot control! But the moment we believe that we can control the situation; the stress reduces or goes away!
There has been similar experiments on rodents with similar results!
This reminds me of the famous flow chart of stress or problem where it was advised that if you CANNOT do anything about it then just let it go and STOP worrying about it!
Robert Sapolsky argues that the core driver of psychological stress is not the stressor itself, but the loss of control!
When we face difficult circumstances, the lack of predictability, outlets for frustration, and social support turns acute biological reactions into chronic, health-damaging stress.
Of course the most easiest non stressful job is to give advice to others! While the most difficult stressful task is to follow your own advice!
It is all in the control!
If you want to win in elections then you can use an aerosol version of this drug and people may be incined to vote for you!
Of course they have to like you in the first place!
The drug only gently NUDGES them in your direction!
The ‘drug’ is VASOPRESSIN!
He also mentions how this drug is responsible for Monogamy and also how it is oxytocin which is reponsible for stress!
Then he tells about the role of stress in the causation of Ulcer!
This story is famous among the GE of the world!
GE here stands for Gastroenterologists and not Genius though many may be!
Anytime you have an ulcer you know even your mother would tell you that you have STRESS!
That was the primary hypothesis till this bacteria came along!
No scientist would ever think an infection would cause ulcer! They would immediately tell how the strong acid would kill all the bacteria and no bacterium would ever survive that! Till there occured an accidental mistake!
So from the land down under you had Dr Barry Marshall successfully culturing this bacteria over an Easter weekend after ‘mistakenly’ leaving plates in the incubator, a fortuitous mistake that revealed the bacteria’s need for longer, specific growth conditions!
While pathologists had observed spiral bacteria in gastric tissues as early as 1893, it was thought to be contamination!
In 1982, Robin Warren observed the bacteria in gastric biopsies!
Officially then both Barry Marshall and Robin Warren speculated that Helicobacter pylori is the primary cause of stomach ulcers and gastritis!
Of course the GE community was not impressed! They dismissed the whole idea till Marshall made another BRAVE MISTAKE!
Due to skepticism from the medical community, Marshall drank a broth containing H. pylori to prove it caused illness! Many called it a STUPID MIstake! It could have been a GRAVE one for sure!
Then again LUCKILY he developed severe gastritis (vomiting, bad breath) within days!
This confirmed his hypothesis and validating the infectious cause of ulcers
Of course even this was not accepted soon by the GE community till many such reports got reported and an eradication of this Bacteria caused a cessation of ulcers!
It was a victory of persistence!
Now research shows H. pylori has existed in humans for at least 100,000 years, migrating out of Africa with its host, and is present in nearly half the human population, though not always causing disease.H. pylori is now understood to live in the harsh, acidic environment of the stomach by producing the enzyme urease, which neutralizes acid and allows it to colonize the mucus layer!
Their discovery overturned the long-held medical belief that ONLY stress and diet caused ulcers, proving instead they were also infections treatable with antibiotics which earned them the Nobel Prize in 2005.
This is ONE of the SEVERAL cause for your ulcers!
So even if it present it may not cause ulcers since like all infections it is an interplay of agent host and environment!
So he tells about the role of stress in the causation of ulcers, heart conditions, reduced immunity and in general a short life span!
Even in the case of diseases like cancer he tells how more stress is worse! The he tells about the famous Dutch winter in which the starvation among pregnant women produced children who were like sponge!
In the end he also tells how you can reduce stress! Medication and meditation being on the top of things!
An extensive analysis of stress and the glucocorticoids and also how the whole system was developed to protect you in the short term! But if it persists then you are in a world of strain or stress!
All in all a very non stressful book to handle stress!
ramadocblog 