Short tutorial on SIR (Special Intensive Revision) form filling

The Special Intensive Revision is conducted to verify and revise electoral rolls to ensure that the data is accurate. It was conducted in 2002 in Karnataka, and voters of 2026 are expected to find their 2002 data or their relative's 2002 data and mention it in the 2026 form. I decided to create a short tutorial. This is primarily to resolve confusion of how to fill the form.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on this topic. I'm not writing this in any official capacity. Make sure you verify the information provided here and consult your BLO (Booth Level Officer) or ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) for accurate and updated info. 

The short version

1. Find your existing voter details: Search for your voter id number on the electoralsearch.eci.gov.in website or from the voter helpline app, and your detailed voter information page will show you who your BLO and ERO is. Or you can call the helpline to find out. Save their phone numbers and also note down your "Part serial number" and "Part number".

2. Get your form from BLO: Tell your BLO your Part number to confirm if it is the correct BLO. Ask your BLO when and where you can get your enumeration form. When you meet your BLO, mention your Part serial number and take both copies of your enumeration form from your BLO. Also ask the BLO for a blue/purple sticker which you need to stick on/near your house door. Sign on the BLO's register to confirm you got your form (you can collect your family member's forms on their behalf).

3. Find the 2002 data: Use the ECINET app or the voters.eci.gov.in website to search for your 2002 SIR data and your relative's 2002 SIR data. It's easier to search via the website on a laptop/desktop computer than on a phone. Select the state, district and assembly constituency you are most likely to find your data (you can ask an AI which district and assembly constituency your address might have been under in 2002). Type your name or your relative's name in "Elector full name in last SIR in 2002" and try variations of the name and surname. Type the captcha and search. If any list of names is shown, notice that at the top of the table there's a search bar and a translate button you can use. Once you find the relevant data, take a screenshot of it and copy the exact text of the Elector full name, Relative full name, Relative type, District, State, AC Name (AC is Assembly Constituency), AC Number, Part No. (Polling station No.), Part Sr No. It is important that you copy all this data exactly as it is given in the 2002 data even if there are spelling mistakes. Do not make changes to it.

4. Fill the forms: In the enumeration form, fill the "Details of the Elector in the Electoral Roll of the last SIR" section only if you found your data in the 2002 SIR data. You are supposed to enter the data exactly as it was in the 2002 data. The section for "Details of the relative whose name is given in the previous column in the last SIR" is to enter the data of your relative (father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt or sibling regardless of where they registered for the 2002 SIR in India), and even in this section you should enter the data exactly as it is in the 2002 list. Then fill the compulsory section where you type your date of birth, mobile number, parent's name, etc. Fill both forms. Then if you want to update your photo, stick a passport size photo in one form and sign it.

5. Submit forms: Show both forms to the BLO. Take a photo of both forms for your reference. Submit one form to the BLO. Make sure you get the BLO's signature as an acknowledgement on the second form. You can keep the second form with you as proof of what you submitted.

More details

The English version of the form is provided here as part of the SIR resources materials. 

Top column

Option to update your photo

Here even if your name and address is printed wrong, you cannot immediately correct it. I remember reading somewhere that the BLO can correct it for you. The other option might be to submit the SIR form and later submit form 8 for corrections. You should ask your BLO for how to proceed. For now you can at least update your photo by pasting a new passport size photo in the "Paste Current Photo" column (I remember reading somewhere that the background of the photo should be white).

Your 2002 data section 

Write your 2002 SIR details only if you could find it

If you could find your data in the 2002 SIR list and if you are alive, only then you should enter this data. Otherwise do not guess or assume any info and write it. It could very likely be a punishable offence. It does not matter which part of India you were in for the 2002 SIR. If you can find that data, you can enter it in this section. This is called "Self mapping", where you are mapping your old data to your new data. 

• Elector Name: Your name exactly as it is written in the 2002 list. Even if there is a spelling mistake do not make any corrections to the spelling. No need to write the correct spelling in brackets either because this data is only for connecting to old data. Your new data for future use will be taken from "Your correct data section" (mentioned below).
• EPIC No.: If the EPIC number is available in your 2002 data, write it exactly as it is in the 2002 data. I have seen cases where the EPIC number is mentioned wrong, so in such cases I think it might be better to avoid writing it since it is optional. Ask your BLO for clarifications.
• Relative's name: If you had mentioned your relative's name in 2002, enter it exactly as it is in the 2002 list even if the spelling or initials are wrong.
• Relationship: Even if the relationship is written as "Other" in the 2002 list, write it exactly as it is.
• District: The name of the district mentioned in the 2002 list. 
• State: The name of the state mentioned in the 2002 list.
• AC name: The Assembly Constituency name as mentioned in the 2002 list. You'll have to sometimes provide an AI like Gemini or ChatGPT a list of the Districts and the AC's of each district (as mentioned in the 2002 search tool) and ask it which district your current location might have been part of in 2002, because sometimes AC's or districts are split into new AC's or districts. For example, Uttarahalli (Famous for being the largest constituency in India prior to 2008), later split into 8 separate segments like Padmanabhanagar, RR Nagar, and Bangalore South.
• AC number: Each assembly constituency has a number mentioned near its name. Write that number as it was in 2002.
• Part No: Enter your part number as shown in your 2002 data. It's unfortunately shown as "Polling station No." in the search tool. "Part" refers to a specific geographic area or neighborhood within an Assembly Constituency that is mapped directly to a single polling station. It's different from a polling booth which is simply a building where people go to vote. 
• Part Serial No.: This is your personal serial number (voter number) inside that specific Part's voter list. For example, if you are the 45th person listed in your neighborhood's roll, your Part Serial No. is 45.

Your relative's 2002 data section

Write your relative's 2002 details only if you could find it

This section is called "Progeny mapping", to link you to your blood relatives. If you could find your relative's data in the 2002 list (no matter where in India they were) and if you are alive, fill up this section. Else, leave it blank. Do not try to guess or assume any data. Your relative cannot be your in-laws. It has to be either your grandparent (maternal or paternal) or parent. Recently they also allowed uncle (maternal or paternal), aunt (maternal or paternal), sibling or spouse I don't know about adopted people (I think they are supposed to mention their adoptive parent's names, but it's better to confirm with the BLO). 

• Name: The name of your relative exactly as given in the 2002 list. Do not add "Late" or "Deceased" or "Expired" in brackets if they died.
• EPIC No: If mentioned in the 2002 list, and if wrongly mentioned, then perhaps skip it (ask your BLO for confirmation)
• Relative's name: The relative's name which your relative mentioned in the 2002 list. Do not add "Late" or "Deceased" or "Expired" in brackets if they died.
• Relationship: This is not about your relationship to that relative. It's the "Relative type" as mentioned in the 2002 list. If they've written "other" instead of "Father" etc., you are supposed to write "other". It has to match the 2002 data exactly.
• District, State, AC Name, AC Number, Part No., Sr.No: As written in the 2002 list, and as I explained in the section above. 

Your correct data section 

This section is necessary to fill with accurate data

 

This is simple enough to fill in. Mention your date of birth, Aadhaar number (optional), mobile number. If it is a pre-printed form of a person who already died, do not fill in this section. Speak to the BLO about what needs to be done.

When filling parent's names into this section, if they have already passed away I think their names can be prefixed with "Late" or mention "(expired)" after their name. As your BLO for clarifications. As for spouse, if you are a widow or widower, I think you are supposed to omit the spouse name. Again, ask the BLO to be sure.

Resources

• Official site to find existing voter info. 
• Official tool to search for 2002 SIR data. The earlier official link to the 2002 voter lists is no longer active but the lists are still there and accessible via some of the unofficial sites mentioned below. It helps to have access to the voter lists because when ordinary name searches often do not match, but you can still find names by looking through the lists. Often if you find one family member you can find other family members listed close to those rows even if you couldn't find their name via a text match search. 
• Official Bangalore Rural site that has a video guide and an English and Kannada version of the 2026 SIR enumeration form (oddly they decided to keep it on a public Google Drive folder).
• Unofficial site that provides guides on filling SIR.  
• Unofficial links to the 2002 voter list PDF's. 
• Perhaps official electoral roll 2002 for Kerala and another unofficial list for 2002.
• Somebody provided another list for Karnataka which appears to be an unofficial source of polling station lists and voter lists. 
• Github versioned unofficial electoral list (looks like data beyond 2010). 
• More unofficial explanations from CitizenMatters. 
• More unofficial explanations from NammaGuide. They've mentioned details about Aadhaar e-signing and how to update the mobile number using form 8. 

FAQ

What are the consequences if I missed the SIR? 

I think your name may not be included in the updated electoral rolls. I think you would need to go to the voter services portal and submit form 6 so that you are re-included into the electoral roll. I'm not sure of this. You need to consult your BLO or ERO.

What if you could not find your 2002 data or entered it wrong?

As per this post you might be marked "unmapped" and be considered a new voter. From August 5th 2026 onward (in Karnataka) the ERO may issue a notice for you to submit documents to establish your eligibility to vote. The list of documents is given in the back side of the form.

Should I fill form 8 to make corrections to my pre-printed name before submitting the enumeration form?

Probably not. The form 8 submission and SIR submission follow different workflows, and it's probably only after the draft electoral rolls are published that the officers might take a look at the form 8 submissions. There's a guide for how to fill form 8.

Contaminants in our food

Chemical contaminants in our food have been a major concern in recent times, and there are a massive number of educated and uneducated people who are blissfully ignorant of it and aren't able to correlate their various pains, rashes, urination issues, inflammation, pimples, fungal infections, kidney pain, intestinal pain, burning sensation, chills, dental issues, ADHD, lethargy, brain fog, cancer, Parkinsons, and various other issues, to the food contaminants. Even when these cause various health issues, many doctors aren't suggesting anything about switching to safer foods. Moreover, the high costs of organic foods are prohibitive enough that even people severely affected are not buying safer foods. I found it even more appalling that not all organic food is actually organic. Whenever I tell people why I cannot eat certain foods at their homes or functions, it became hard to just say "allergy", because it isn't just an allergy, and there is much that they need to understand about how it affects me and others. So I decided to list out various contaminants and how they affect health.

https://nav9.github.io/contaminants/

 

Health effects of various contaminants

Disclaimer: I told an AI to search through research papers and list the contaminants, so there may or may not be errors. 

• Organophosphates and organochlorines could disrupt the function of the thymus, potentially leading to autoimmune disruption. It could also disrupt the autonomic nervous system which controls heart rate and rhythm, potentially leading to arrhythmias and sudden death. Also linked to hearing loss, the development of atherosclerosis and increased risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack). They alter lipid metabolism and increase fibrinogen, which makes blood thicker and more likely to form a 100% blockage (clot) on top of an existing plaque.
• Aflatoxins being linked to immune suppression and liver cancer. Can weaken vein and artery walls, causing internal hemorrhages and heart failure.
• Dioxins causing skin lesions, patchy darkening of the skin, reproductive issues, interference with hormones and damage to the immune system.
• Aminoglycosides which can cause hearing loss, gaze instability (oscillopsia) and balance impairments.
• Tetracyclines which can cause skin photosensitivity, fatty liver, tinnitus, abdominal pain, breathing issues, and cause drug-induced lupus. 
• Heavy metal poisoning: 
• Mercury causing central nervous system (CNS) injury, renal dysfunction, gastro intestinal ulceration, promotes thrombosis (clot formation) and inactivates protective enzymes that usually keep arteries healthy.  Foods rich in selenium and zinc (found in organic seeds and nuts) act as natural antagonists to heavy metals like mercury and lead, helping the body slowly process these toxins. Foods high in iron (red meat, beans, iron fortified cereals can compete with lead for absorbtion, calcium can block lead from entering cells, vitamin B1 can accelerate lead removal, vitamin C can help remove free radicals created by lead)
• Lead (sometimes present in rice) causing CNS injury, lung dysfunction, anemia, liver damage, cardiovascular dysfunction (can impair nitric oxide production, which is essential for blood vessel relaxation). Contaminants like lead and cadmium make plaques "unstable" or "vulnerable." This means a smaller blockage can suddenly "burst" and form a blood clot that completes the 90-100% obstruction, leading to a sudden heart attack in someone who appeared healthy.
• Chromium causing kidney dysfunction, gastro intestinal (GI) disorders, skin diseases, increasing incidence of various cancers. 
• Cadmium (found in industrial fertilizers) poisoning causing degenerative bone disease, kidney dysfunction, liver damage, accumulates in arterial walls, promoting atherosclerosis and increasing the risk of heart failure, GI disorders, lung injuries, impacting metabolism of zinc and copper, causing cancer. 
• Arsenic causing cardiovascular dysfunction (associated with carotid artery thickening in children and peripheral vascular disease), skin and hair changes, CNS injury, GI discomfort and liver damage. There are some precautions to be aware of when considering chelation. 

Guides: 

• There's a lot more mentioned in Thankamma Jacob's book: Poisons in our food (which is oddly the exact same title I wanted to write an article with). 
• More information on tips and tests here.
• A guide from the Voluntary Health Association of India too. 
• A guide to plan out nutrition, budgeting and mentions contaminants too. 

How much do our farmers and fishermen know about all this, and how much do they care about safe food. Even if they do care, how many of these chemicals are finding their way into fields via various environmental effects and even via companies run by educated people? A survey by the government found that even some organic veggies had heavy metal contamination at some places. The bodies of various people are struggling, supposedly from the autoimmune effects and various other effects of chemicals, and doctors aren't doing much to help identify these issues and come up with solutions.

There are other chemicals causing bone loss and pyrethroid poisoning which can cause itching, burning, muscle twitching. 

Chlorpyriphos, dimethoate, phosalone, mancozeb and captan causing malignant brain tumors (glioblastoma multiforme, medulloblastomas, astrocytomas, anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, ependymomas, choroid plexus papillomas, etc.).

Organophosphates like chlorpyrifos, malathion, acephate, dimethoate, edifenphos, carbendazim and mancozeb potentially being ototoxic (causing hearing loss). Some of these may have been used in sugarcane cultivation.

Methyl bromide and perhaps even phosphine being used to fumigate stored grains to kill insects, possibly causing unstable gait, vertigo, polyneuropathy, optic neuropathy, depletion of glutathione (antioxidant which protects cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species) in several tissues, such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, and brain. 

Argemone oil contamination in mustard oil resulting in edema and tenderness of the abdomen, fluid retention (edema) in the upper and lower limbs (dropsy).

Microplastics (polyacrylamide, polyacetylene, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyamide (nylon)) in shellfish and other fishes. Toxins leaching from microplastics can percolate into the GI tract and be transported to the edible tissue. Consumption of such seafood could lead to alteration in chromosomes, which can lead to infertility, obesity and cancer. Nanoplastics could cause cardiopulmonary issues, alterations of endogenous metabolites, genotoxicity, inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, effects on nutrient absorption and gut microflora.

Trans Fats: Often found in adulterated or low-quality frying oils, trans fats are the most direct cause of arterial "clogging" by simultaneously raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol.

Bisphenol A (BPA): Leached from the linings of metal food cans, BPA is associated with angina (chest pain from blockages) and accelerated atherosclerosis.  

Nitrofurans, chloramphenicol, and other antibiotics in aquaculture, heavy metal and insecticide contamination in fish farms. Mercury, zinc, lead, copper, cadmium in large open water fishes. Dried fish from fishing villages showed an accumulation order of Zinc > Lead > Copper > Chromium > Cadmium.

Formalin (high risk of stomach, lung, and nasopharyngeal cancers) or sodium benzoate (can cause allergies, oxidative stress in cells, damage the immune system, and increase DNA damage in human cells, interfere with protein digestion in the human gut, hyperactivity, anxiety, and potentially decreased memory) used to extend the shelf life of fish, ammonia added to ice to slow down the melting process (can cause gastric irritation and damage to intestinal tissues).

Alum (fitkari) possibly deceptively being used to make herbs look fresher. It's also used in gardening. It could potentially cause kidney and GI damage. 

Soapstone/talc used for polishing dal may contain forms of asbestos (carcinogen) and soapstone can also impair the functioning of the GI system.  

Mixed Exposure: Research indicates that "mixtures" of various pesticides (sometimes called a "pesticide cocktail") can have a linear, positive association with a 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. 

Bacterial Endotoxins (LPS): These can contaminate meat and dairy, triggering systemic inflammation that depresses heart function and increases the risk of heart failure. 

Aflatoxins: These can weaken vein and artery walls, causing internal hemorrhages and heart failure. Case studies include a 15-year-old boy whose sudden death was linked to aflatoxin-induced heart failure.

Citreoviridin: Found in mouldy rice, it has been historically linked to "cardiac beriberi," causing sudden cardiac arrest.

T-2 Toxin: This mold toxin can cause hypertension and damage heart tissue directly through oxidative stress.  

Acrolein: Formed during high-heat frying of oils or found as a pollutant in crops near heavy traffic, it is a potent irritant to the endothelium and can trigger myocardial infarction.

Acrylamide: Produced in starchy foods (like potato chips or bread) during high-temperature cooking, it is associated with platelet activation and increased cardiovascular risk. It is also a cancer risk.

Artificial Sweeteners: Recent studies have linked high intake of erythritol, aspartame, and sucralose to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack by enhancing platelet responsiveness and clot formation.  

Metanil Yellow: This food colourant (sometimes used to give jaggery its yellow color) can inhibit gastrointestinal transit, is known to have carcinogenic and mutagenic properties and affecting the Purkinje cells which impairs how the brain perceives sound

Sodium benzoate: Used as a preservative in acidic foods and soft drinks, can  trigger acute urticaria and angioneurotic edema. 

Tartrazine and Carmine: Used as artificial food colouring can trigger deep tissue swelling, rashes, and even full anaphylaxis.

Penicillin residues in milk or meat, can act as haptens which bind to carrier proteins in the body to form a complete antigen, causing chronic or acute IgE-mediated angioedema in highly sensitive individuals.

Healthy food is not meant only for the rich. It's a basic necessity of life.   

I create a little visual graph for my reference. There are many more adulterants and contaminants and various ways of figuring out if they are present. Hopefully devices like Macof would make it easier to detect contaminants. I've been noting down various safe sources of foods, which aren't good and which of them are affordable and trustworthy. Am still struggling to find reliable meat and dairy though. If you have helpful knowledge to share, please do comment.

How to set Google search as the default in Chromium

 

Somebody either had something against Google or the Chromium team could have benefited from some training on UI/UX, because it left people frustrated at not being able to add Google as the default search engine on Chromium. This is all you need to do:

Under Search engine > Site Search, you'll find an Add button. Click it and add Google by adding the following in the fields:

• Name: Google
• Shortcut: @google
• URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s 

Then it appears in the Site Search section. Click the overflow menu (the three dots in a vertical line) and click "Make default". 

That's it. From now on Google will be the default search engine. Try not to just leave it at this. Try convincing the programmers to make the interface simpler. I might have posted a request on some forum long back, but they didn't bother fixing it.

Tool for easily creating an AppImage on Linux for a Flutter app

When I created my Simple Notes Android app, I not only created APK files for it, I also built it to run on Linux. So it ended up having an executable file which would not run unless there were some extra supporting folders. This was messy, and I wanted a single file. I found that creating an AppImage was a good way to do this. There are a bunch of developer tools for the purpose. I chose the appimage tool to convert app directories to appImages.

Downloaded the appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage file from here. 

Made it executable: 

chmod +x appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage 

You can see available options via:

./appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage --help 

Get your application files into a folder. In my case I had to create a `simple_notes` folder and pasted the `simple_notes` linux executable and the `lib` and `data` folders there. I also copied a `note.png` application icon for my Simple Notes application to have a unique icon. In the `simple_notes` folder I also had to create a `SimpleNotes.desktop` file containing:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Simple Notes 3
Exec=simple_notes
Icon=note
Categories=Utility;

But it showed errors like .

So I simply asked Grok to create a Python program which can automatically create the AppImage for me. It worked flawlessly. The code is here.

I know the GUI does not look too good and has a few flaws like not displaying the flutter executable when browsing for it (thus requiring manually typing the name), but it was not something that I wanted to spend more time on for now. My SimpleNotes AppImage was built and it works on typing ./SimpleNotes.AppImage. 

I wonder why the AppImage team did not create this kind of a simple way of building an AppImage. 

Common Flutter commands that can be run from the commandline

Creating a Flutter project via Android Studio is so cumbersome. The various views of project files that make it difficult to find files, the various buttons and dropdown options that need to be found and clicked for every simple little thing. So I decided to stop using Android Studio and switched to VS Code and the commandline when I realized that even the emulator could be run from the commandline. I'm creating this blog post as a quick reference for myself.

To disable reporting of telemetry:

• flutter config --no-analytics; flutter --disable-analytics

To run various checks on Flutter:

• flutter doctor
• flutter doctor -v 
• flutter doctor --android-licenses 

Create a new app:

• flutter create my_new_app_name

Run a Flutter app to try it out as a Linux application:

This command enables Linux as a target platform for building Flutter applications.

• flutter config --enable-linux-desktop  
• flutter run
• flutter run --debug 

This command builds a release version in Linux:

• flutter build linux --release     

Clean the build:

• flutter clean

Add dependencies to pubspec.yaml:

• flutter pub add <package_name> 

Add development dependencies: 

• flutter pub add <package_name> --dev

Download all the dependencies specified in pubspec.yaml:

• flutter pub get

Build an APK for Android with multiple APK's for different platforms bundled into one APK:

This command ends up creating a much bigger APK than necessary.

• flutter build apk

Build separate APK files for each platform:

• flutter build apk --split-per-abi --release

View what emulated devices are available:

• flutter emulators

Start an emulated device:

Search for the names with underscores. Those are the ones you can use to run a specific emulator. For example, a name like Large_Desktop_API_33 or Medium_Tablet_Edited_API_34 or Pixel_3a_API_34 

• flutter emulators --launch <emulated device name>

View what emulated devices are running now:

Search for emulated device id's which look like emulator-5554 as an example. Those are the device id's which you can use to install an APK or shutdown the emulator etc.

• flutter devices
• adb devices 

View which architecture the emulated device has:

• adb devices -l 

Install the APK into a device and run:

This is for installing and running the APK which has multiple APK's bundled into it. This command will uninstall any older APK that was present in the device and 

• flutter install -d <emulated device id> --release

This is for installing and running the APK's which were created using the `split-per-abi` command:

• adb install path/to/file/<filename>.apk
• adb -s <emulated device id> install path/to/file/<filename>.apk

Shutdown an emulated device:

• adb -s <emulated device id> emu kill

 

 

Using ROCm on an AMD APU/GPU in Linux Mint 21 (Ubuntu 22)

ROCm was originally meant to be the acronym for Radeon Open Compute platform. It's a software stack for GPU programming. Sometimes, GPU's are available along with the CPU on the same chip, and are called APU's (Accelerated Processing Unit). Sadly, AMD does not seem to be providing support for lower end GPU's and APU's now. So one is stuck with the older versions.

Installation 

The older versions are available here. Download the appropriate deb file and run:

sudo dpkg -i amdgpu-install_5.4.50403-1_all.deb

sudo amdgpu-install --list-usecase
sudo amdgpu-install --usecase=hiplibsdk,rocm,dkms,graphics
sudo reboot
rocm-smi
sudo rocminfo

You have to run this after installing:
sudo usermod -a -G video <username>
sudo usermod -a -G render <username>

You can use radeontop to view the GPU utilization. 
sudo apt-get install -y radeontop
radeontop -c 

Check the RoCm version with:
apt show rocm-libs -a 

The Maintainers are: ROCm Libs Support <rocm-libs.support@amd.com>.

Only after installing ROCm should PyTorch be installed.

pip install torch==2.0.1 torchvision==0.15.2 torchaudio==2.0.2 --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/rocm5.4.2 

Test it

It's named CUDA here, but is basically checking if the program is able to detect the APU/GPU via ROCm.

import torch.cuda
print(f'CUDA available? : {torch.cuda.is_available()}')

If successful, the output should look like this: 

CUDA available? : True
 

Also try this program:

import torch, grp, pwd, os, subprocess
devices = []
try:
    print("\n\nChecking ROCM support...")
    result = subprocess.run(['rocminfo'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
    cmd_str = result.stdout.decode('utf-8')
    cmd_split = cmd_str.split('Agent ')
    for part in cmd_split:
        item_single = part[0:1]
        item_double = part[0:2]
        if item_single.isnumeric() or item_double.isnumeric():
            new_split = cmd_str.split('Agent '+item_double)
            device = new_split[1].split('Marketing Name:')[0].replace('  Name:                    ', '').replace('\n','').replace('                  ','').split('Uuid:')[0].split('*******')[1]
            devices.append(device)
    if len(devices) > 0:
        print('GOOD: ROCM devices found: ', len(devices))
    else:
        print('BAD: No ROCM devices found.')

    print("Checking PyTorch...")
    x = torch.rand(5, 3)
    has_torch = False
    len_x = len(x)
    if len_x == 5:
        has_torch = True
        for i in x:
            if len(i) == 3:
                has_torch = True
            else:
                has_torch = False
    if has_torch:
        print('GOOD: PyTorch is working fine.')
    else:
        print('BAD: PyTorch is NOT working.')


    print("Checking user groups...")
    user = os.getlogin()
    groups = [g.gr_name for g in grp.getgrall() if user in g.gr_mem]
    gid = pwd.getpwnam(user).pw_gid
    groups.append(grp.getgrgid(gid).gr_name)
    if 'render' in groups and 'video' in groups:
        print('GOOD: The user', user, 'is in RENDER and VIDEO groups.')
    else:
        print('BAD: The user', user, 'is NOT in RENDER and VIDEO groups. This is necessary in order to PyTorch use HIP resources')

    if torch.cuda.is_available():
        print("GOOD: PyTorch ROCM support found.")
        t = torch.tensor([5, 5, 5], dtype=torch.int64, device='cuda')
        print('Testing PyTorch ROCM support...')
        if str(t) == "tensor([5, 5, 5], device='cuda:0')":
            print('Everything fine! You can run PyTorch code inside of: ')
            for device in devices:
                print('---> ', device)
    else:
        print("BAD: PyTorch ROCM support NOT found.")
except:
    print('Cannot find rocminfo command information. Unable to determine if AMDGPU drivers with ROCM support were installed.')

The output should look like this:

Checking ROCM support...
GOOD: ROCM devices found:  2
Checking PyTorch...
GOOD: PyTorch is working fine.
Checking user groups...
GOOD: The user nav is in RENDER and VIDEO groups.
GOOD: PyTorch ROCM support found.
Testing PyTorch ROCM support...
Everything fine! You can run PyTorch code inside of: 
--->  AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics  
--->  gfx90c  

That's it. All the best with your GPU programming. Also take a look at the Mojo language for GPU programming. 

Hopes for AI in 2026

Andrew Ng's team recently asked what people's highest hopes for artificial intelligence is for 2026. Given that the year 2025 is widely considered the year that AI really started being adopted by the industry, and with even Sam Altman saying that he isn't sure what direction AI would take, the responses to the question asked by Andrew's team showcased a small snippet of what people expect to see. 

I was honored that one published response was mine.

My thoughts were composed of three major points:

1. Inspiring new directions of thought, to take technology beyond what the Transformer architecture is capable of. Although people are impressed with GPT, the fact remains that many people don't really understand how it works. It is necessary for students to build AI from scratch and build tools to observe how "intelligence" emerges as the AI is trained with more data. Even if working with a smaller amount of training data, such efforts (when built with proper experimental tools) could help people understand the basics of how the pseudo-intelligence manifests itself, and how to improve it. This is crucial not just for designing better architecture, but also for designing better primitives. VL JEPA is one thought process in the direction of change, similar to my thesis proposal of the universal event model. Chronos 2 is another technique, which is very similar to my thesis proposal of partial contexts.

2. Fundamental changes in academia: The way academia encourages research, needs to be modified to help scholars truly explore and innovate/invent new technology. This requires better decisions on stipends, a focus on quality over quantity (paper publishing), and access to good computing power. It is crucial to connect researchers from various fields so that they can brainstorm and ideate, based on the various innovations each of them created in their respective fields of hardware, biological research, and software. It would help to incentivize innovation in more directions. Not all of it may be fruitful, but the exploration of ideas is necessary.

3. Corporations and governments creating leisure: While competition is good, the way it is currently being done is ending up creating burnouts instead of fostering healthy work environments. The manner in which the economy is designed itself may need a fundamental change, to enable countries to cooperate and take civilization forward. 

Humans have achieved a civilizational leap in technology with the current advancement of AI. I hope the magnanimity of people among us would propel AI to a level that can help us create a heaven on Earth and beyond the solar system. To do that, we need to build a healthy foundation that is very different from the existing local optima that evolution is stuck at. Perhaps one way to progress would be to incorporate artificial intelligence and machines into the human body and create super-humans.

There were more opinions shared in part 2 of the hopes for AI.

For now, let us see what 2026 has to offer! 

How to auto adjust the volume across audio of multiple media files while it is being played?

It's not called "normalization" or "equalization". It's actually called Dynamic Range Compression (DRC). This is the setting to choose in VLC, as I understood from the Geekality blog. 

DRC in VLC 

To enable it in VLC, go to Tools >  Effects and filters > Compressor. Click the "Enable" checkbox and adjust the values to the following: 

• RMS/peak: 0
• Attack: 50 ms
• Release: 300 ms
• Threshold: -20 dB
• Ratio: 20:1
• Knee radius: 1 dB    
• Makeup gain: 12 dB 

These are the values from Geekality which worked well, but although a cursory explanation is provided on the blog, the explanation was not good enough to be able to understand the what and why to know how changing those values would affect the ability of VLC to adjust the volume. This is where I asked Grok and found out:

What the terms mean

• RMS/Peak: Uses peak level (fastest reaction)
• Attack: How fast it clamps loud spikes
• Release: How fast it lets the volume back up
• Threshold: Anything louder than –20 dB gets squashed
• Ratio: Turns 20 dB over threshold into 1 dB 
• Knee: Very sharp bend (hard knee)
• Makeup gain: Boosts everything after squashing

So for the values given above, loud peaks are crushed instantly, quiet parts stay quiet, then the whole track is boosted 12 dB. This makes music/video feel flat and loud, but pumping (volume breathing) can be heard on songs with big dynamic swings.

• Pumping / Breathing: Volume drops after loud parts, then slowly rises again.
• Spikes slipping: Short loud bangs escape and surprise your ears. 
• Transients: The sharp “crack” at the start of drums or claps. 
• Dynamic swings: Natural loud-quiet changes in music or speech. 
• Constancy: Everything stays at the same volume. 
• Hard knee: Compression kicks in suddenly (sharp bend). 
• Soft knee: Compression fades in gently (smooth curve). 
• Peak: The single loudest instant. 
• RMS: The average loudness over a moment.
• Squashing: Forcing loud parts down to match quiet ones. 
• Makeup gain: Boosting the whole sound after squashing it flat. 
• Fast attack: catches transients (no spikes slip).
• Slow release: avoids pumping.
• High ratio + low threshold: maximum squashing = maximum constancy.
• Soft knee + some RMS: sounds natural, less robotic.

How changing the values affects volume

• Threshold ↑ (e.g. –12 dB) : Less of the track is compressed → dynamic swings remain → worse constancy. 
• Threshold ↓ (e.g. –30 dB) : More of the track is compressed → everything flattened → better constancy (but can sound dead). 
• Ratio ↑ (e.g. 30:1) : Stronger squash → better constancy, but risk of lifeless sound. 
• Attack ↑ (slower, 200 ms) : Misses fast peaks → sudden loud spikes slip through → worse constancy. 
• Attack ↓ (faster, 5 ms) : Catches every spike → better constancy, but can distort transients (drum hits). 
• Release ↑ (slower, 800 ms) : Volume stays low for longer after a loud bit → quiet parts after loud parts sound muffled → worse. 
• Release ↓ (faster, 100 ms) : Volume recovers quickly → can cause pumping (breathing) → worse if too fast. 
• RMS/Peak → 1 (full RMS) : Ignores clicks/spikes, reacts to average → smoother, less pumping, slightly less perfect peak control.
• Knee ↑ (softer, 6–10 dB) : Compression eases in → more natural, slightly less perfect constancy. 
• Makeup gain ↑ : Whole track louder → helps quiet parts match, but can clip if too high. 

Recommended Presets 

Podcast / Speech: Maximum constancy, no pumping

• RMS/Peak: 0.7 (mostly RMS, ignores clicks)
• Attack: 15 ms
• Release: 150 ms
• Threshold: -24 dB
• Ratio: 12:1
• Knee: 6 dB
• Makeup gain: 10 dB

Pop / YouTube Mix: Loud but still musical

• RMS/Peak: 0.4
• Attack: 25 ms
• Release: 200 ms
• Threshold: -18 dB
• Ratio: 8:1
• Knee: 4 dB
• Makeup gain: 8 dB

Movies / Drama: Preserve dynamics, just tame peak

• RMS/Peak: 0.2
• Attack: 50 ms
• Release: 400 ms
• Threshold: -14 dB
• Ratio: 4:1
• Knee: 8 dB
• Makeup gain: 6 dB

Classical / Jazz: Light touch, almost no squash

• RMS/Peak: 0.1
• Attack: 80 ms
• Release: 600 ms
• Threshold: -10 dB
• Ratio: 3:1
• Knee: 10 dB
• Makeup gain: 4 dB

Bottom Line

• Want radio-loud constancy? Lower threshold, high ratio, fast attack, medium release, add makeup.  
• Want music to breathe? Raise threshold, lower ratio, slower attack/release, softer knee.  

Audio volume adjustments on other software

• Audacity: It has a compressor and a limiter. 
• EasyEffects: It appears to be able to adjust various input and output sources. 
• Other options on Ubuntu: There's pacmd, swh-plugins and Dyson compressor. 

Disclaimer: A lot of the information about the meaning of the audio terms were generated by Grok, so do take it with a pinch of salt.

Ever Heard of Urinary Diarrhea?

How many young people experience excess urination, pain at the kidney areas, urine pushed out involuntarily just five minutes after fully emptying the bladder, urinating in small quantities more than twenty times a day, extreme exhaustion immediately after urinating, double voiding, waking multiple times at night to urinate, loss of appetite, muscles around one or both kidneys cramping, a feeling of soreness at the muscles around the kidneys and the lower back, a brief rubbing or pulsing feeling at the kidney, excess thirst and the pain at the kidney area stopping only on consuming water? The problems disappear two weeks after stopping consumption of the trigger food (or rather, the suspected contaminant in the food).

 

(edited) photo attribution: John Medlicott on Unsplash

Surprisingly, urologists have not heard of such a phenomenon. I've had long discussions with some of them, and they say such issues happen only to old people. Renal function tests, blood tests, urine tests, prostate exam, urinary tract infection tests, ultrasounds were all normal since 2018, when such issues became prominent in my case (though I believe these may have started much earlier and I didn't notice it since it was not prominent). Some doctors and acquaintances tried to blame it on the kidneys being unable to handle excess protein, lack of exercise, urea, acidic food, spicy food, water contamination, excess salt, mental stress or it just being psychological. Nope. I know it's none of these. I don't have diabetes or thyroid issues either. I've maintained a symptom diary and found that there were some purchases of certain foods that caused these issues and some purchases of the same type of foods that did not cause any issues. This led me to the assumption that certain food producers may be following good practices and some of them may not be.

I'm of the opinion that such symptoms of excess urination and slight bits of urine being pushed out involuntarily, may be important warning signals of the body "screaming" about food contaminants. I wonder if people who ended up with severe health issues remember such early warning signs which they ignored. Such symptoms might be accompanied by skin problems and gastric problems too.

After consuming the problematic foods, it's like as though the body enters state of eliminating toxins, and the manner in which it happens is similar to diarrhea. Therefore, I'm naming it "urinary diarrhea". I know I'll be mocked for this, but instead of focusing on the phrase, it'd help to focus on the fact that people are suffering through this, and even doctors don't know what it is, or how to solve it. I've even come across newspaper articles about a "mystery kidney disease" which presents none of the usual symptoms of kidney failure, but biopsies show damage to the tubules in the kidneys. Online forums on kidney disease, MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome), hEDS and various other such strange diseases are very active with discussions about the struggles of misdiagnosis, no diagnosis and gaslighting, while the diseases cripple people's lives and their potential to earn a living. 

What worked for me

This is by no means a solution to the problem. I'm only mentioning how I temporarily managed the symptoms, in case it'd help anyone suffering from the same issues. These were attempted only after doctors ruled out other possibilities, so the first step is to consult doctors and do the necessary medical tests.

• Drank water whenever necessary: The pain at the kidney areas reduced only when I drank water. Only as much water as my body demanded via thirst. Even during the worst phases, I did not need perhaps not more than 3.5 litres of water per day. Trying to hold the urine in is never a good idea. When the body needs to eliminate wastes, it should be eliminated, not matter how frequently it happens.
• Started an elimination diet: Finding out which foods contained the suspected contaminant was necessary, and maintaining a symptom diary was crucial because it's easy to get confused when relying purely on memory, since the symptoms can persist for two weeks, and the recovery of the body could take even upto a month and a half. One by one I had to figure out which foods were safe and which were not, by eliminating those from my diet and finding alternate sources of nutrition. Sometimes I even verified it by placing the problematic food in the freezer and after recovering when I took it out and ate it, the symptoms would re-appear, confirming that I narrowed down on the correct source.
• Reduced food consumption: It helped a little to reduce each meal portion by half or less than half because I assume it reduced the load on the body's filtration system. There were also mornings when I had no appetite (after a severe night of excess urination and exhaustion). I did not force myself to eat anything, because I assumed my body needed some rest, and it was ok not to eat (but drinking water was perfectly fine even then). Whenever feasible, a bit of fasting also helped (but never stopping consumption of water).
• Switched to foods that were easy on the kidneys: During these symptoms, I noticed that temporarily switching to properly cooked semolina and vegetables were a bit less strenuous on the kidney. It seemed to help reducing starchy foods and foods high in potassium.
• Avoided purchased food: As much as possible I consumed only food that I cooked/baked myself. 

The problems resolved on their own within a week or two without requiring any medication. I tried "organic" produce too, but so far I've had bad experiences with few purchases. Finding trustworthy sources truly is a struggle, because it's hard to find people with integrity. 

A cocktail of possible contaminants

When a person died this year from a brain tumor that killed her within a fortnight, I found it very surprising that doctors said they had no idea what could have caused the glioblastoma. When I did a simple Google search, I came across multiple research papers that tied glioblastoma to pesticides and fungicides. Urologists were not even aware of the recent discovery that Parkinson's disease may originate at the kidney. Why were these doctors not even referring scientific research papers in their field of expertise? A simple search showed me more research papers where so much was already well known. 

Then I came across articles about waste water contaminated with heavy metals being used to irrigate some farms, oxytocin injected into fruits and vegetables, farmers being mocked for traditional farming, various kinds of medication being used on livestock, and more. I considered doing tests on the foods that gave me health issues, but realized that I'd have to test every single purchase I made, and it was economically impractical while not having a source of income. Besides, even if I found specific contaminants, the next logical step was to find safe food, and that's what I tried.  

When people tell me that certain foods are causing the health issues, I correct them by saying that it's not the food. It's the contaminant(s) in the food. Perhaps medical textbooks need dedicated chapters added about how multiple contaminants individually weaken specific functions in the body, leading to a potential cascade of disruptions over a period of time. It is leaving doctors puzzled at what the cause and cure might be. Where is Dr.House when we need him? :-)

I created a spreadsheet of various organic foods from organic brands and was surprised at how much the prices varied, how less some of the owners were willing to reveal about what stage of conversion the farms were at (farms need to undergo a few years of “conversion” before being certified full organic), how some organic farms got blacklisted during surprise checks, how some owners didn’t care much about going into details, and sometimes refusing to reveal which farms the produce came from. One brand expected customers to compulsorily purchase a certain amount of vegetables and fruits each week and were unwilling to reveal the prices of individual produce. Meat and dairy were unreliable too, which probably meant that despite their promises, they were either missing out on some detail that was affecting my health, or there may be some other source of contamination that I missed noting. I often envy the quality of meat that people like Vilhjalmur Stefansson had access to.

Is there hope?

The issues are grave enough that it actually is sending people to their graves. I wrote to various people, asking for ways of economically testing foods on a daily basis, or having a portable method of using spectroscopy to check foods for contaminants before purchasing them. I even wrote to the researcher of the “mystery kidney disease”. No replies from anyone. Meanwhile, I keep hearing of people I know succumbing to cancer, kidney disease, Parkinson's disease, cardiac arrests, stroke, sporadic skin issues, autoimmune diseases and various other serious health issues that appear to have become far too common in recent times. Ask around. Many hide the fact that they are suffering.

As an advanced civilization, we really should have established a well regulated chain of food supply across the world, with algorithms that estimate demand and supply, transparency of where the food comes from, what checks it has undergone at each stage, effective cold storage, effective utilization of organic and indoor farming knowledge, having honest and knowledgeable people managing operations. I hoped to build something like that, coupled with a trust network, but realized that it requires far more resources and cooperation from people than what I anticipated. Still, we need to start somewhere, so if there are like-minded people, please let me know via this form. I’m happy that there are groups of people growing food on their terraces. I’m happy there are educated organic farmers and groups who are doing what is right. However, these are scattered voices that are merely the tip of the food supply chain iceberg. If “bad guys” can be so well coordinated, shouldn’t there be some way to unite the “good guys” to find solutions?

Wishing you good health

My heart goes out to those struggling with such health issues or those caring for family members suffering through it. I’ve seen how it reduces peoples lives to a skeleton of what it once was. I salute the numerous angels who visit online forums everyday, helping people struggling with issues that doctors could not help with. A decision I’m happy about is that I refused to bring my children into a world where I would be unable to give them something so basic as healthy food to eat, clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.

Meanwhile, pay attention to your kidney screaming at you by means of a urinary version of loose motion. Avoid food contaminants!

Where to find an old version of Firefox for using on Android 7 and below

Firefox no longer supports Android 7, so Google Playstore no longer displays Firefox. No worries. It's possible to obtain an older APK of Firefox from the Firefox archives itself instead of downloading it from any other dubious source. 

I found version 143.0.4 here: https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/fenix/releases/143.0.4/android/

• Version fenix-143.0.4-android-arm64-v8a: 112MB. This is for 64-bit ARM CPUs (ARMv8 architecture).
• fenix-143.0.4-android-armeabi-v7a: 109MB. This is the application compiled for 32-bit ARM CPUs. This is the Android Application Binary Interface (ABI) that corresponds to the ARMv7 architecture.
• fenix-143.0.4-android-x86: 121MB. This APK is for 32-bit x86 architecture, which is used by processors from companies like Intel and AMD. This is not compatible with an ARM processor.  
• fenix-143.0.4-android-x86_64: 116MB. This is for 64-bit x86 processors. An ARM device cannot run this APK.     
• fenix-143.0.4-android: 342MB. This directory likely contains a "universal" APK or an Android App Bundle (.aab) which contains all the APK files. If you were installing through the Google Play Store, it would deliver the correct file for your device, but for a manual installation, the specific armeabi-v7a file is the safest and most direct option.

Google's AI said that although there are technically no issues with using an old APK, there are some security considerations. It will be missing the most recent security patches and bug fixes. This can expose you to security vulnerabilities that have since been discovered and fixed in newer versions of Firefox.

It's sad that Android was built like this. There should have been an option available for upgrading to a newer version of Android even on older devices. I was hoping that Pine phone would come to the fore, but it looks unlikely. 

As per what I've heard recently, Android 10 onward supports the updation of core system components. Google is also possibly making it a reality to run the mainline Linux kernel which would make it easier to upgrade the kernel.

Organic terrace gardening (OTG): Oota from your Thota (food from your garden)

The Times of India had an article about an Oota from your Thota (OFYT) meetup at St.Johns road on 7th September. I heard of such events happening in Electronic city in 2013, but since this was close enough I decided to attend. Oota is the Kannada word for food and Thota is the word for garden. What surprised me is that as per this article there were more than fifty thousand mini farms on people's terraces in Bangalore in 2020. An initiative that was begun by Dr. B. N. Vishwanath who created an NGO named Garden City Farmers way back in 1995. Unfortunately they seem to have stopped publishing on their website and switched over to Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, none of which I use. Particularly after reading this security warning. Anyway, OFYT organizes frequent meets where they even share seeds, so the seeds eventually become a Thota from somebody else's Oota :-) which then grows into an Oota from your Thota. Somebody even created a nice cheatsheet for home gardeners.

At the event what surprised me was the drive everyone had. They were very courteous, eager to help and made sure they proactively asked questions to figure out what problems people were facing with their terrace garden and readily offered suggestions and options on how to tackle the problems. There were various types of stalls put up around B.M. English school along the footpath. I heard there was even a workshop held inside the school regarding composting, but I missed it because one of the scouts told me there was no stall inside the school, and because there was no announcement about it other than a tiny sign that pointed to the school saying "workshop".

An encouraging glimpse into the world of various terrace farmers in Bengaluru.

 

These grow bags seemed quite sturdy. The small ones cost Rs.65.

Natural chemical free products from Little Silk (I believe this is different from another brand named The Little Silk)

 

Natural soaps. I felt they could have improved the appeal a bit more by using mounds with smoother edges and they could have also put up a poster explaining exactly how these natural soaps are better than the commercial soaps we use. Also about how the commercial soaps may be affecting health if it does. 

 

Natural lipsticks using beetroot, rose and perhaps natural oils.

 

Chocolate wax to remove tan, natural facials, etc.

 

Various food powders.

 

Organic honey, ghee, nuts, etc.

 

A green kitchen whose people are willing to teach you how to reuse or recycle things in such a way that you reduce waste significantly.

Ananth plate bank provides free steel plates, spoons, tumblers and bowls for any event you organize. You have to collect it from them, use it for your event, wash it and return it at your expense. There's also a security deposit. But otherwise it's free to use and return. Their objective is to reduce waste by allowing you to use the utensils for free.

A mixture of powdered pre-cooked organic millets etc which can be dissolved in water or milk and consumed

A stall by sunshine enterprises

Various gardening tools

Decomposting agents 

Compost and manure

Rooting aid

A stall showcasing items which I understand was supported by the ministry of tribal affairs. 

These are lanterns made from actual vegetables. An electric bulb can be placed inside, creating beautiful light patterns. 

Sound tubes used by tribals to communicate during hunting. The bamboo tubes have zig zag channels inside and seeds flow down them when you turn the tubes upside down, creating a unique flowing noise.

 

The rhino on the right is said to be made from Assam tea plant wood

Bows used by fishermen in Andaman. The actual arrows used by fishermen would have metal heads. The arrows are shot through a hole in the middle of the bow so the arrows have no fletching. The arrows are said to be able to fly as far as 100m. The bow costs around Rs.450, and two arrows (with wooden arrow heads) are given with it.

 

Various homemade snacks made with organic oil and organic raw materials, prepared by a brand called "Tasty Crunchy Products" at Kammanahalli. They even make Kerala pappadam and appalam. 

Various organic pickles

Eco urban farms provide elevated garden growing containers on rent. They also help with growing the veggies by coming to your house and doing the work every month. Total cost of the rental and maintenance is Rs.5000 per month. Else, you can purchase these containers. The container slightly larger than what's in the picture cost Rs.6500. It's made of fiberglass (though it looks like aluminum) and they have other types of containers of other materials too. The weight matters, because a roof can only safely support around 200kg per square meter. Although this initially seemed ok to me, I later found large rectangular geo fabric grow bags which were far cheaper and seemed to offer more breathability (with the disadvantage that some of the bags didn't seem to be designed to hold their structure well).

Various saplings, grow bags and garden tools available for reasonably cheap prices. The saplings on the right were just at Rs.5 each.

 

Various kinds of rice and millets from JivaBhumi. There is actually something different about these food items. Although I was skeptical at first, I found it to be somewhat reliable (though I need to consume a bit more to confirm). There are specific instructions on how long to cook these rice varieties and how much extra water to use. Some can even be soaked for long to germinate them, which increases nutritional value. I had a conversation with the co-founder who seemed to be a genuine person.

Organic sugar, jaggery, dal, ancient variety of wheat.

Cold pressed oils

Various other snacks and pickles created from organic produce...

 

Products from Quantum Leap (they have a vertical named Quantum Leaf) for terrace gardening.

Various seeds available at reasonable rates. They'll send it to you via speedpost when you order.

Various products from Akshayakalpa. It's worth watching their Good Food Movement videos https://www.youtube.com/@goodfoodmovement

 

Products from Biological Research Innovation Centre and Solutions  (BRICS)

 

MycoDim is a broad spectrum, contact foliar fungicide that prevents a variety of diseases on ornamentals, trees, potted plants, fruits, vegetables and turfs. SasyaRakshak is a water-soluble plant protectant, carefully designed to contain all good constituents derived from select botanicals of known pesticidal properties. The combination of active ingredients from these plant sources provides excellent protection to the crop plants against sucking (Aphids, thrips, mites, mealybugs, hoppers, and bugs) as well as biting ( leafminers, caterpillars, beetles, weevils) insects.

 

Natural shampoos, hand wash and face wash

 

The stalls were put up on an actual footpath

Oota from my thota

In around 2014, I purchased a few grow bags and tried growing some veggies on my terrace. 

Tomato, curry leaf, coriander, pudina, mustard, green chillies and even an apple sapling grew.

The first tomato harvest had a worm/caterpillar enter one of the tomatoes. I soon found that a butterfly or moth was laying tiny yellow eggs on the leaf and those were becoming the caterpillars that ate the tomato. Removing the eggs early helped avoid that issue. I didn't purchase any seeds. I used the seeds from whatever veggies I purchased  from stores. I did face issues of the soil getting very soggy during rains, the water at the base of the grow bag accumulating at the bottom without draining off sufficiently from the drainage holes, earthworms slithering away during rains, fungus at the roots and those white flies infesting the green chilly plants. I was pleasantly surprised to see small honeybees visiting the plants, preying mantis, lady bugs and even dragonflies. There were also times I saw some plants squashed, which I assumed was because a feral cat either walked over it or used the place as a bed. I have some reason to believe it even used the soil as its private restroom. 

I mentioned some of these issues I faced, to the people at OFYT and they gave me some nice solutions like collecting the leachate using a container below the grow bag and reusing it for watering the plants after diluting it. 

There are things that can be improved with such initiatives in terms of being able to make people aware of what is available, visualizing where organic farms are nearby on a map, using tools like what3words or digipin, a trained LLM that can explain things for people instead of them having to connect with a person and worrying if one would be disturbing them, using a website or a dedicated organic farming app instead of third party tools like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Since organic food is expensive, there is much to be done to ensure that people have better access to organic food from reliable sources. 

How can we trust the organic produce? 

As for the organic produce, one of my main concerns has always been whether the farmers were honest. I was told that Aditi organic certification and India Organic certification ensures that farmers are compliant, but there is also the fact that those whose turnover does not exceed Rs.12 lakh do not have to go through the verification of compliance. Even for those who comply, there are residual limits of insecticides, other contaminants, heavy metals and toxins measured by the certification agency. This makes me worried about whether at least some farmers may use diluted insecticides etc thinking that nobody would find out. Whether the certification agencies are honest/thorough. Whether adulteration happens. Whether PFAS contamination from rain could be an issue even in remote areas. These contaminants can apparently cause kidney cancer, testicular cancer and thyroid issues and remain in the bloodstream for long. 

If you thought teflon coated pans are safe, the video below shows why it is not. If cooking with stainless steel makes food stick to the pan, the video also explains how to overcome the issue by proper pre-heating and using a drop of gliding water to check.

Then one wonders how many farmers in India know of the effects of the herbicides they use. Shockingly, even after a ban on glyphosate in 2022, there is a 2023 article that says farmers are allowed to use it, and is probably still being used in tea plantations (I wonder if that's what gave me immediate stomach discomfort on consuming green tea). Glyphosate is said to be one of the reasons for non hodgkins lymphoma as per the video below.

Then there's the issue of price. Most of the organic produce is priced at double the market rate or more. An organic farmer named Naveen in Mysore says that organic food could be priced 10% or 15% higher than other food. This seemed reasonable to me. However, I need to find out the realities of organic farming to understand the actual costs involved. Whether they get subsidies, what their actual costs are with respect to getting the soil ready for safe farming, what the FPO's (farmer producer organization) or investors take as their share, and any other realities.

Healthy food is not meant only for the rich. It's a basic necessity of life.  

I also noticed that there is a National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCOF) and a Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGSI). It looks like the nudge for organic farming is slowly gaining pace. Long ago Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri had created a slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan" to boost the morale of soldiers and to motivate farmers to address the food shortage in the country. At least now that we aren't in such dire situations, I would like to say "Jai Kisaan" to those farmers who care about the health of the end consumer and also to the people in the supply chain who ensure that the food is not contaminated by the time it reaches the consumer. 

Technology needs to be utilized well to match demand and supply. One thing I liked about Farmizen is how for some products they show the time left for expiry of the product and also show how many units have been sold and how many remain (but I felt that like some other stores, the pricing was too high). There is much more that can be done to improve the analytics and predictability of consumption of organic food using algorithms.

When is anyone going to say "Jai Software Engineer"? :-)