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Measure for measure

In 1550, a certain Andreas Ryff wrote a letter to his wife before returning to his home in Baden. More than travel weariness and saddle burn bothered the merchant, who had visited 30 markets near his town. In the area around Baden, he recorded 112 different measures of length, 65 dry measures, 113 measures for cereals, 123 for liquids, and — hic! — 63 special measures for liquor. Things have of course become more streamlined since then but even amidst the push towards unification, old habits die hard. The decimal metric system, introduced in France in 1790, may have been accepted in most parts of the world. But countries such as the United States, Britain, and some of its former colonies are still holding out. After years of wrangling, frustrated European Union Commissioners have ruled that Britain can continue using imperial measurements such as pints, pounds, and miles at least for another couple of years. However, the push for metrication has thrown up a new breed of protestors: “metric martyrs.” Earlier this year, 63-year-old vegetable seller Janet Devers achieved celebrity status by refusing to sell her produce in kilogrammes. Slapped with 13 criminal charges for violating EU-inspired directives, the defiant Eastender snorted: “We have knifings. We have killings. And they are taking me to court for selling in pounds and ounces!”

Although Peter Piper will never pick 9092.18 cubic centimetres of pickled peppers, metrication has self-evident benefits. Some not so obvious ones too. For instance, being 11 kilogrammes overweight doesn’t sound half as bad as being 25 pounds heavier than you should. Also, since half a litre is more than half a pint, everybody gets to drink more beer under the metric system. India’s staggered conversion to the metric system took place as far back as 1955-1962. While we have forsaken miles for kilometres and given up pounds for kilogrammes without a fight, we do tend to think in terms of lakhs and crores, particularly when it comes to money. Even if one were to admit that ‘Kaun Banega Billionpati’ wouldn’t sound quite right, we are plagued by a plethora of standards, particularly when it comes to land — bighas, gunthas, acres, cents, grounds, chataks, roods, and much more. If measurement is defined as an observation that reduces uncertainty when expressed as a quantity, an agreed standard can only reduce this further. Indigenous systems of measurement were colourful and full of character. But we would reach neither consensus nor exactitude in an entire maha yuga (4,320,000 man-years) if we started quibbling over how many rajakhans (a Mauryan unit of measurement for a dust particle from a chariot wheel) added up to one liksha (egg of lice).

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