When you look at what's happening around the world, you start wondering if the age of reason is past. On social media, your instagrams, tiktoks, etc, almost everybody seems to be a producer of random vapid content, and there must be as many consumers of such stuff. The popular meme which shows the world on fire and the cartoon man/dog peering into a screen saying, 'I am fine, everything is fine' or something like that comes to mind. 

But I am starting to think our age isn't peculiar. It might feel so because of all these new-fangled technologies. But is it that different from what was captured ages ago in Plato's Allegory of the Cave? People imprisoned in the cave mistake the shadows in front of them, projected by the fire and activities behind them, as reality. When one of them is released and goes out into broad daylight, he can't believe his eyes. When he gets back down to report on what he saw, no one believes him. The released prisoner is worse off in a way because he has seen light and cannot participate in their concerns around the shadows anymore. The prisoners don't want to be in his position. They do not want to be released. They continue to be invested in the world of shadows, of appearances, which are most real to them. Their minds cannot accept anything other than the evidence of their own limited senses. The analogies to our current world are fairly obvious, I guess. 

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On a lighter note, I made my favourite 'godd narl pou' (jaggery-coconut-flattened rice) after a very long time. I feel a lot more settled into my new home now, so I am slowly starting to bring back some of my favourite foods and activities. The biggest challenge with making this dish or any other that requires coconut is the actual breaking it into half. This dish tastes best with freshly grated coconut and not the frozen variety. Breaking it requires a certain amount of strength and a certain technique and perhaps a bit of immunity to the loud sound that happens. Not my thing at all. But somehow I managed it and the result, dear reader, is here :)