Mutual Distrust

Goa. This three-letter word takes our minds to a state of trance. Our minds create imagery which is utterly sublime. Sunburn, undoubtedly is the best time to be in Goa. All succumb to vocals, poignant sounds and ethereal soundscapes.

They have been to Goa many times but never during Sunburn. It was Dec’ 2009 and they were adamant in their decision to experience, one of the World’s best music festival. They eventually did make it to Sunburn but the memories of this trip are dreadful. They never in their dreams could think of such an incident. The electronic music dominated him and he became submissive to it. He lost his mind in the amalgamation of music, booze and DRUGS. The excitement being a part of Sunburn conquered him and he was enjoying the high which took away his soul from his body. Candolim – The beach were this music festival originated and it is the brainchild of Shailendra Singh of Percept, in partnership with Nikhil Chinappa. In a few hours, there would be pin drop silence in Candolim as it was the last day of Sunburn. The people still enjoyed the sounds of silence as drugs had altered their perception and consciousness. He wanted to be alone and planned to take a walk on the seashore. He couldn’t stop admiring the beauty of the water. The sounds of the waves were hypnotizing him. The sky was pitch black and he felt like flying away. The water touched his feet and it was so soothing. His mind controlled his body and he took a dip in the water. The cold and tranquil water was troubled by his presence. He thought he was flying and enjoyed the sense of being free. He felt something was not right. A blast of emotions from his past filled his heart as his breath slowed down. He was bordered by water as if it had engulfed him. And within a few minutes, all his senses stopped and he was liberated.

The water of Candolim has lost my friend’s trust. His brother like friend had gone forever. In his tearful eyes, I can see the black clouds of wrath wanting to rip the water apart, and steal his friend. He feels the water yelling that it didn’t trust his friend’s motives either. He never enjoys the water of Candolim Beach as there is some mutual distrust.

I, all the time think to myself, whether it is possible for him to forgive and overcome this mutual distrust?

This post has been written for picture it & write by ermilia.

A few Footsteps…

It was the month of December 2008 and he was undoubtedly a very happy man. This month proves to be really profitable for him as he sells sugarcane and cotton. He sells them to the factories around his locality which produce sugar. Due to power cuts in the morning hours, he works all night with his people. As the night ends and the motor stops working; it is time for him to get back home.

Walking back home is not easy as it is itching cold. He stays in a village named Talegaon – a part of Chalisgaon in the Jalgaon District in the state of Maharastra, India. His house is around 2 km from his farm and he enjoys the beauty around. Since it is early morning, the dense fog surrounds him and his friends.

He bids good-bye to his friends and heads towards his village. He has a fixed route that he follows because according to him it is the safest path. But that day, he was very excited and wanted to reach home as soon as possible. He chose a path not taken by him before.

His family had been waiting and since he didn’t arrive, they decided to go to the farm. They looked for him on their way to the farm. Eventually, they did reach the farm but he wasn’t there. His wife spoke to his friends and they said he had left for home. Many questions were coming in her mind but she didn’t want to acknowledge them. It was like he just disappeared. As if he got lost in the fog. She didn’t know what to do, where to go, whom to ask?

After a few hours, she heard a distant voice; a man was running towards her. For a moment she thought it was him. As the man came closer, he took her to the railway tracks and she sees her husband’s body in pieces. His wife was in a state of shock. The train had murdered him or was it a suicide? It was yet to be known.

After all the investigation, it was found that her husband had to cross two railway tracks on which the trains travel in opposite directions. He managed to cross one as he could hear the honk but unfortunately on the other side was another train coming towards him and sound of the honks overlapped and the fog obstructed his vision. In a flash before he even realized, his body was torn apart.

My colleague is from that district and we couldn’t stop blaming the train authorities and other people involved. He even said many animals and small kids die on the railway tracks.

Rural India has to be developed, helped and educated. Such kinds of incidents still happen even after so many are NGOs are working towards it. Let us do whatever we can to support them.

Sammaan Foundation – http://www.sammaan.org/

Goonj – http://goonj.org/

Akshaya Trust – http://akshayatrust.org/akshaya_home.php

Smile Foundation – http://smilefoundationindia.org/

Udaan Welfare Foundation – http://www.udaanwelfare.org/

Pratham – http://www.pratham.org/

Lepra Society – http://www.leprasociety.org/whatwedo.htm

Deepalaya – http://www.deepalaya.org/

Uday Foundation – http://www.udayfoundationindia.org/

HelpAge India – http://www.helpageindia.org/

Only urban development is not enough for the prosperity of the country.

New Era – Green Economy

The purpose of my blog is to create an awareness among people who don’t know; today the 5^th Of June is World Environment Day. Even I didn’t know until I received a mail from my colleague.

The theme for 2012 is climatic change and broader consequences of environmental change and what we should to in response. People generally think; there are NGOs, community and youth groups, individuals etc working towards this cause but believe me, every small effort can contribute to the sustainable development of our economies and communities around the World. World Environment Day is a people’s event and loads of interesting activities happen all around the World. Activities like street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essays and poster competitions in schools, tree planting as well as recycling and clean-up campaigns.

I understand the people who work have a really packed schedule. Still there are many little things we can absolutely do –

1. We can reduce the amount of print-outs and work smart.
2. In offices, all the A/Cs are switched on, I’m sure for today we can switch off half of them and still the temperature remains comfortable.
3. For today, let us just walk down small distances instead of using our vehicles.
4. We can use recycled paper for all the rough work we do.
5. We can water a few plants in and around our locality.
6. We can use the stairs and leave the lifts alone to save power.

Above are just a few things, I would be doing today. There are other things you can do which suit you.

 

If we protect nature, it surely will enhance our health.

Minus One

Today was another typical day; I land at work and be seated before my system interpreting the mails on Microsoft Outlook for my action. As I was going through the enormous list, one with a very peculiar subject came to my notice. It said Minus One Project.

Since it was sent by one of my trainee friends at Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Limited, I didn’t really bother opening it. The mails send by my Boss were still to be understood. After doing my work for the morning, I eventually had some time. I was just waiting for this moment where I end all tasks and read that mail.

This mail had a presentation attached to it and spoke about the amount of print-outs we take which is leading to deforestation. It asked; are those print-outs really important? Could we stop printing or at least reduce them? I felt like the Earth was yelling at me. I thought to myself and I knew the answer is NO. As I moved ahead, it said that what if we take print-outs and also save the forests. I murmured to myself, Is it possible?

And finally, it gave a really simple solution. It appealed to all of us that we reduce the original font size by one before printing and it leads to 18% reduction in paper.

At this rate we can save 20.70 sheets of paper every year.

Minus One Project is a simple, one-step, easy to-do green initiative intended to slow down the deforestation rate across the world by Samsung Printers.

Please join by visiting – http://minusoneproject.com/joinus.php.

Being Human to Greenpeace.

In today’s times our life is so eventful that we are forgetting that we share our planet with other living things. Not many do something for society, which has given us so much. If not for the people, then let’s do something for the environment. If we take care of our surroundings then people are taken care of automatically.

Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental issues. Its international coordinating body is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. If we cannot nurture earth at least we can support Greenpeace and help them achieve their motives. It’s very easy, you have to just sign up on their website www.greenpeace.org and you will receive their emails which inform about their immediate cause. This will make you more aware of what’s wrong for nature. Clicking the support button makes you so valuable for them. And I’m sure the causes for which they are fighting are something beyond our thinking.

This is their most recent and active campaign against KFC which uses paper made by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). APP is one of the world’s most notorious forest destroyers and a company recently found using illegal timber. KFC thinks turning the tigers’ home into trash is timber rippin’ good. With only 400 tigers left in the Indonesian forests – they stand little chance of survival unless fast food companies like KFC stop boxing their food with rain forest packaging. A revolt is in the air and thousands of people like you need to join it. Join this revolt by asking KFC to stop using packaging that destroys precious rain forests.

http://www.kfc-secretrecipe.com/en_in/

They just need support and they ask for no money. They don’t take money from any corporation, government or political party! They never have, and never will. Do help them remain fiercely and proudly independent. They also send you an organic-cotton grocery bag as a thank you for your contribution. I’ve been participating in their digital support campaigns for four years now but they are working for mother earth since last forty years. All the other information you will find on their website.

Simple online actions to do :

• Got Instagram? Star in their next video.
• Donate a Tweet a day.
• Add this to your blog.

And remember, fragile earth needs a voice. It needs action. It needs a solution.

With great BHP comes great responsibility!!

I’m sure the above topic will remind you of Spiderman’s Uncle. Ha-ha! Believe me, he was extremely right. I won’t discuss much on that but, I’ll shift the matter from power to brake horse power.

Expectantly, you all know what BHP is and as BHP increases so does vehicle size, its power and SPEED but what people have overlooked is – their duty on roads. Larger vehicle you own, enormous responsibility you have of the people around you. There are many riders and drivers who constantly take care but some of them just get stressed out and drive poorly. I mean, how can they do that? Don’t they value human life?

I’ve seen below happening quite a few times.

1. Bikers ride as fast as they can in residential areas, collide into bicycles, even scare the people walking and break every possible road rule. If not for yourself, then for others around you, please ride with some consideration.

2. As the roads are small with increasing traffic, the car drivers get frustrated and drive ridiculously. They don’t bother at all about the bikers or the bicycle riders or people walking. There is no point removing rage on roads and driving rash. The problem with the infrastructure will be solved gradually and steadily. Till then we have to be tolerant.

3. At times I feel, the people walking on roads also are casual. All have seen the advertisement which says “The streets are filled with idiots.” and it’s a fact. I understand there aren’t footpaths in many places but you can’t keep complaining. You have to protect yourself and accept that there are vehicles and bear in mind that your family is waiting at home.

4. The PMT bus and rickshaws drivers are merciless. People need to explain and make them realize that they have people inside and outside their vehicle. If I had to give an advice, then it would be “Give way and don’t mess with them.”

I know many things will be going on in your mind like time complexities, amount of work to be completed; catering to others demands, drinking and driving issues etc etc. Nothing values above human beings. I’m not interested in telling how to find equilibrium; I guess each one is smart enough to find their way out.

Sometimes, all what a community needs is just a push and everything falls in place.

Reasons against wearing helmets!

As I’ve described myself as person who will do everything best needed for humanity, so this is my second blog. 

Now, doesn’t this topic look a bit weird?

Yes, you have no idea what reasons people come up with against helmets. Haha.Sounds lame, isn’t it?

In today’s world, all kinds of helmets are available. You ask for it and it’s already designed. Different kinds of helmets are available– light, any size, bold colors, for men, for women, sporty ones, simple etc. I guess, the designers will be tired coming up with convincing designs for us.

Now comes the funny part, how much ever we try understanding human psychology, it’s always unexplained. I’ll sight some reasons which people give me for not wearing helmets:

1. Top of the list is – “My hairstyle gets ruined”. Aaaaargh! Girls and even many guys give this reason. Haha!I’ve something to say to all the people who have this reason, what is more important, head or hair? I hope you have got your answer. If I had to psychologically find a solution to this problem, it would be – don’t waste so much time setting your hair then. Beauty is skin deep, remember?

2. Now this is like really stupid – “I can’t see to my extreme sides.”Hmmmph. C’mon what are the mirrors for huh?! Are the mechanical engineers fools to design a bike with mirrors? I understand, it requires practice to use them but eventually you will. Always be open to learning new things.

3. Now this gets on my nerves – “I can’t hear the honks” LOL.These days most people listen to music while riding. So, where is the question for honks man? Helmets protect the head and don’t shut our ears. If you try then you’ll know, so stop fooling yourself.

4. Some also say – “I find helmets heavy!” What?!I guess you will not mind, not partying a few weekends and getting a good light helmet for yourself. I know, it’ll be expensive but still your life is at stake man. Respect the people who work hard and design light weight helmets.

Even after knowing the statistics by heart that how many dear ones die or get handicapped for life because of no helmets while riding still we won’t give a damn. We will be overly optimistic thinking that nothing will ever happen to us by yelling “we ride very safely”. But how can you trust others who ride along with you? Have you ever thought that when you leave the house without a helmet on your head, the people who care for you get an instant stress to handle? This stress is always remaining in their mind till you get back home. Anyway, people are stressed enough. If not for yourself, at least for those people who love you, I appeal to all of you – PLEASE WEAR HELMETS.