Tuesday, May 16, 2017

How to Take Green Steps!

You may often have wondered what going green means to you. Based on one's interest and dedication, the green living mantra can vary for individuals. For me, the journey started a few years back, but I know there is more to do before I can say that I live in complete alignment with Nature!
In this article, I have listed the steps that one can take at the individual level to reduce/minimize their carbon footprint. Let us not depend on community or official initiatives to do what we can and should!

  1. Stop subscription to newspaper. Switch to e-news. Or if required, encourage family members to visit the community library.
  2. Switch to e-bills. Say no to paper bills.
  3. Always carry cloth/jute bags in your hand bag or vehicle. Do not use plastic bags.
  4. When shopping in malls or other places, insist on carrying the purchased material in your own bags. This may involve a bit of coaxing or cajoling, but it is worth the effort to not accept the polythene that they want to pack you off with.
  5. SEGREGATE and RECYCLE WASTE AT HOME. You can use earthen pots and soil to compost kitchen waste. Pack off the dry waste for recycling by the municipal authorities. Save e-waste for collection drives in your housing society or work place.
  6. Always carry a water bottle with you. Do not buy mineral water bottles. Or at least, minimize!
  7. Buy vegetables from the vendors, not the supermarket. This way, you avoid plastic used for pre-packaging vegetables. And then you need to follow step 4 too here!
  8. Reuse water, wherever possible. For example, if you collect the water that you use to clean rice, pulses, or vegetables, you can use this to water your plants.
  9. Use cotton for clothes and accessories. Avoid synthetic material. Or at least, minimize!
  10. Use solar/wind energy to dry clothes/linen. Use the dryer in the washing machine only when urgent.
  11. Avoid packaging gifts. This helps preempt the use of paper, adhesive, and a lot of other glitzy non-biodegradable material. You would have realized this from your online shopping deliveries!
  12. For home decor, switch to natural artefacts. Ceramic pots, jute wall hangings, et al not only look aesthetic but are easier to recycle/decompose after use.
  13. Switch to cane for home furniture. A plush Italian leather sofa may reek of prosperity but spells doom for the environment.
  14. Switch to wooden and natural toys. The plastic ones are harmful for the child too!
  15. Avoid use-and-throw plastic/Styrofoam cutlery. When you do not want to carry steel cutlery, say on a picnic, a good alternative is to use plates made of banana leaves. The latest is EDIBLE CUTLERY. Try it out!
  16. Avoid lining cupboards with paper. You can replace this with cloth or other alternatives.
  17. Use good old steel stuff in the kitchen. Be it storage containers, lunch boxes, or water bottles - it is doable!
  18. Switch to (natural) perfumes, throw the deodorant away!

This is not an exhaustive list! Will keep adding more.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

All Work, No Play?!

Was listening to a radio program today on Swachh Bharat, while at my Swachh Ghar (aka spring-cleaning) tasks. While it is heartening to hear of how many people are doing their best, one part was quite annoying. All speeches referred to certain officials who had not availed a day off in the entire year. Kuch toh gadbad hai! Is this our idea of commitment to work? Work like machines? Even machines need rest!
On a lighter note, I remember an incident in school. The monsoon was in full force. One morning, the downpour was pretty unrelenting. I decided to stay put at home and revise some lessons and have some fun. Turned out that the whole batch did that. Except one guy! The next day, our class teacher blasted all of us for not making it to school the previous day. And praised the lone guy who had turned up, come rain or hail (literally!). I had mixed feelings about the praise. Was it school that made him brave the rain? Or something else? Was it not accidental that he alone made it that day? Did the rest of us deserve such a harsh rebuke? Tricky, tricky!
Coming back to the officials who worked all through the year. Are they real? If they are, is it correct to put them on a pedestal? Is the concept of a good work-life balance not applicable to them? Over years, such 'committed' folks may need expensive (read foreign) vacations to recover from the burn out!!! :D

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Interesting Conversations on the Way to Work!

[Gosh! It has been a while since I have posted any scribbles here. Recycling one of my recent Facebook posts - because it is food for thought at many levels. Will perhaps start a series of blogs on random conversations: with strangers, service providers, et al! :-)]

I overheard my cab driver asking on the phone "did he hit you?" The speaker was on, so I could hear a woman's voice from the other end. Gist of the story - she was hit, she kept quiet, and locked herself up in her room. The driver mumbled some sympathy and told her he would call her back in a few.

I was in the middle of touching my make-up - it would have sounded very arrogant or flippant or even comical to chat about such a issue then! So I waited till I was done, and then asked him if there was a problem. He waived my question with a "nothing, minor things happen in marriages." I gently stated that hitting is not a minor thing; it amounts to domestic violence. He lamented that people like me would not understand. And according to him, domestic violence is about "drinking and hitting"! Whoa! He then steered the conversation towards his wife, who he said becomes defensive when she is wrong and thus, instigates him. So he slaps her hard. She calms down. And the cycle repeats. Hmm! He hits his children once in a while when they misbehave, so that they know what fear is. Hmm! What logic!
Coming back to the woman on the phone: his sister. Spends most of her free time on Facebook, talking to strangers (read men), much to the dismay of her husband. He repeatedly warns her of the perils associated with such virtual connections. But she is hooked, and gets on to these chats the moment he steps out for work. Yesterday she had done the same thing. Chatted with a young guy from an interior city, who then sent her his pics and asked her to find him a wife. She chirped about this chat to her husband when he came back from work. And whack!

Moral of the story - Not my monkey, not my circus! :D

P.S: This post does not mean that I support either of the men here in the way they handle their situations/spouses. It is meant to be a grim reminder of the reality of our society. More on this soon.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Dream Boulevard

(This is an old write-up on my army interview experience. What an enriching and fun experience it was!)

It was way back in 1999. I was enamored with the idea of working in the Indian Army. I had applied for a specialist entry in the Women's Special Entry Scheme in January 2000 and was shortlisted for the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview to be held in December 2000. Was so excited with the news of my shortlisting that I resigned from my three-month old content writing job, only because I was not allowed a week's leave! It was my first job and happened after a long wait but I did not think twice before quitting. After all, it was the SSB in question. That the dotcom firm crumbled within a couple of months is another story!

My elder brother volunteered to escort me to the venue, Allahabad. On November 29, we arrived at the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). It was quite a cold and windy night. While waiting for the train to depart, we saw other girls who were headed to the same place. Got talking and made friends with a few (Reema Sobty*, Neha, Pratibha, and Pratima).

When we reached Allahabad in the wee hours of the next morning, officials informed us that the army unit bus would arrive at 13:30 hrs to take us to the army campus. I got talking to more girls, and very soon, we were a self-organized group of girls, with my brother as our guardian. We checked in at a nice hotel, washed up, had a good breakfast, and were back at the station before 13:30 hrs.

As I boarded the bus, my heartbeat raced up. I saw girls of different age groups and from different states, all preparing for the challenge ahead, in their own way. Some looked like they had been there before because it was obvious in the way they gave tips (both solicited and unsolicited) to freshers. Some others also looked like they were there before, but probably did not want to share any information ;-). Interestingly, Reema volunteered to help place our bags on the top of the bus, along with my brother. Someone in the bus quipped that she would surely fetch some brownie points for demonstrating initiative power. From then on, I knew that we were watched, every single step!

As we drove through the city, I watched Allahabad from up-close. The narrow two-way roads, lots of cycle-rickshaws, ancient buildings, and simple people - it was a world apart from the metro I lived in. But the winter blooms were just as amazing as in Delhi.

We reached the campus in less than half an hour. The first thing we received was an apron with a 'number'. From then on, for all official purposes, our names were obliterated by these numbers (I was number 24 :-)
). We had instructions for the day and in general. After the attending Captain addressed us and spoke about a lot of mighty and inspiring things, we were finally allotted our dormitory. It had nice beds, a full-length mirror, a common cupboard, a side-table, and windows that looked out to a verdant area of the campus.

We settled down in the place and geared up for the next day, when the tests would commence. I spent all evening preparing for the written test and then visited the club area. In the mess hall, finally saw some men! It was a strange sight for me - men and women dining in separate sections of the hall. The warm food was simple but great and more than made up for the extra civil atmosphere. After dinner, when I played table-tennis with a group of men and came back to the girls, one girl asked me if I had made the first move to talk to the men. I did not even think about it! I realized then that even the girls were watching every step of other girls! :-)

Went back to the dorm, snuggled into my bed, went through my notes for the test and called it a day. But slumber did not come immediately. Some voices from a neighboring room, regular peals of laughter, Shahrukh Khan, Tom Cruise, lipstick shades, boyfriends …

Day 1- Woke up to a cold but bright morning. Everyone queued up for using the washrooms. The hot water system was tricky. You had to wait for a long time but when you turned on the tap, the water was boiling hot. And not much of cold water to mix! Despite such glitches, got ready to hit the mess at 5:45 hrs (it would close after 6:00 AM!). After breakfast and some exploration of the campus, sat down for the written test. It was a quite a lengthy one. The results were announced before lunch. The first day was through. I was into the next round. The ones who could not make it to the next round went back the same day.

Day 2 - All of us assembled in a ground and were briefed about our group activities. These were a combination of physical and mental exercises. In one activity, my team had to simulate crossing a ditch between two trees, using a rope. I volunteered to demonstrate how we could do a Tarzan jump. When I was ready to yell 'yohoooo', another team member pushed me from behind. And then the unexpected happened! Instead of swinging to the other side, I came sliding down to the ground, my fingertips bleeding profusely from grazing the thick coir of the rope. That was the end of my Tarzan’ing around! We completed the task without any other casualty. But I was incapacitated – could not lift a single thing or even brush my hair. Oh, the misery! Yet the pain was overshadowed by something else: I became a celebrity!! All interviewing officers were quite amused when I told them how I tried to do the Tarzan jump. J

Day 3 - More group activities. Involved group discussions, management and leadership skills.
(More on this some other time!)

Day 4 - Was the best of the lot for me. It was the day of the individual (timed) physical tasks. These tasks included:
  • A long jump
  • Walking across a 10-ft high by 10-ft long open plank without any support 
  • Balance-walking on a 3-ft high by 5-ft long rod
  • Parallel-walking on ropes between two trees
  • Jumping across a sand ditch
  • Crossing a Burma bridge
  • Crossing a length of barbed electric (simulated) wire
Every task would fetch a particular score, based on the degree of difficulty. Had to complete all the tasks in five minutes. I completed all tasks except the parallel-walking task. I scored the highest in my batch. :-) This was the only task where you could immediately judge and rate your performance with precision.

1:1 interviews were scheduled for the evening. There was a quite a flutter in the group. Everyone exchanged notes on their interviewing officers. The experienced ones knew all of them (and their idiosyncrasies) and tried to counsel the rest. But one thing was clear: this was the most important round.

My interview did not go too well. I goofed up on some questions. Captain of the Indian Cricket girls' team? Editor of Reader's Digest? Times of India? Indian Express? How do they differ in their ideologies? You would think these are simple questions but I had no clue then! The officer made sure that I spoke in length about my aspirations, core values, and my perceptions of the world. I loved this bit very much! And looked like he also enjoyed the conversation.
J

Day 5 - We were instructed to assemble in the volley ball ground. We were given a chance to meet all the interviewing officers in a board room and assess ourselves. This was the final chance. We figured that if we had done well and our self-assessment was also correct, it meant that we knew our strengths and weaknesses well. This would indicate clarity of thought and good analytical skills. But if we tried to be defensive in the assessment, it would indicate unrealistic thinking and stubbornness.

After meeting all of us, the officers were locked up in a room and consulted each other for the final chart. You can imagine the state of mind of all of us, waiting for the results with bated breath and seated comfortably in an adjacent hall. All of us were given our return train fare, just in case. And then the judgment was out: I was not in. I was furious and did not know how to handle it. Where did I go wrong? Oh, the agony! I stomped out of the campus with my comrades following me at a distance. They were somehow not disturbed. I understood the reasons later.

We took a rickshaw to the railway station and bought our return fare. In the cozy confines of the hotel that we checked into, we talked and attempted to analyze why we did not get in. I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that I was not meant to be in the army. And five years of bonded service? Seemed too long! And a natural acceptance prevailed, followed by “Oh no, not my cup of tea!” When I came back to Delhi, I started enjoying the break from work and looked forward to getting back to my 'content' world. And the joi de vivre was certainly enhanced by the SSB experience.

So ends the story of my Indian Army dream. I have no regrets. Instead, I am glad that I had an opportunity to experience a different world and to learn a lot by living with a bunch of girls for a week. And most importantly, I understood myself better. I will always cherish the memories of those days, as a dream that touched me and passed by.

*Reema did make it to the Officer’s Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. The last I time I spoke to her parents in Delhi, she was serving from a nice remote corner of the country. I somehow knew she would make it, from the moment I met her at NDLS.
:-)

Thursday, June 18, 2015

How Children Benefit from Trekking

Of all the adventures that one can think of for children, I feel that trekking is the most beneficial one. This experience helps children understand their self, better their interpersonal relationships, develop love and care for nature, and thus, make them better than before they started.

While preparing for a trek, a child can objectively learn to leverage their physical strengths and overcome their weaknesses. The fitness and endurance required for trekking gives them the basic lesson of the correlation between the mind and the body: a sound mind thrives in a sound body. A rigorous fitness regimen before the trek equips them for the rigors of trekking. Thus, during the trek, they will face less physical fitness issues and can enjoy the sights and sounds of the trek better.


Out there in the wilderness, with no family or friends around to fuss about or support them, with no distractions, with no mode of communication with the outside world, they soon realize that their self and the group is all they have. This helps them understand and act as one unit instead of disparate units. They understand the importance of sharing and caring for others. They learn to hone their communication skills and see how it helps build a good rapport with their fellow trekkers.

And last but not the least, a trek shows them the beauty of Creation like no movies or books can. This helps strengthen their love for nature and can inspire them to lead to a more sustainable lifestyle. It is very heartening to see children beaming back from treks and convincing their elders to go the green way.

Arjun Majumdar, of Indiahikes, avers that during and after a trek, the positive transformation in a child - from a feeling of insecurity and dependency to one of confidence and self-reliance - is quite palpable. Not to mention the glowing smile that spreads over these young faces - the face of hope and a better tomorrow for all of us. If you have already not planned a trek for your child(ren), plan one now!

For more information, see indiahikes' hiking club.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Freewill - Freedom to Fly High!

Freewill. liberum arbitrium. Does it exist? Or is it a delusion? This is a question that comes to all of us, at some point or the other. My endeavor now is to mull on this and attempt to find answers, as applicable for myself. And see if I am the captain of my ship, or am just an onlooker in my life.

If freewill is a delusion, are we puppets in the hands of destiny - dictated by the star we were born under, by planetary alignments at the time of our birth? Are we not accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions? Do we get no credit for strength of character – developed over time, after intense tribulations and suffering, and retained over the ravages of time? Do we then just dismiss the good or bad in our lives with one emphatic wave called Karma? How do we explain and deal with the dilemma of moral responsibility?

If all events in our life are predestined and if we have no control over them, then why do we need a conscience? Why the itch to judge others, based on their words or actions? Why then have a code of conduct? Why have etiquette, decorum, principles, et al?

Wise men say that only our birth and death are not in our hands. In between, we can steer the course of our lives the way we want to, by acting towards what we want or want to be. We can choose to not take action too, in which case, our lives are steered by the people around us and/or random events.

If we look at Science for help with this question, various studies have postulated some theories but none of these are definite. No matter which study you drawn from - Theology, Biology, Physics, Genetics, Neuroscience, Neurology, or Psychiatry - no study has decreed that we exercise freewill. I find that the only science that is closest to supporting the idea that freewill exists, is Neuroscience. I found the studies and arguments from neuroscientists interesting because I realized that my beliefs and arguments emerge and resonate from these. Interestingly, I found out that in Philospohical terms, my arguments are from a Classic Incompatibilist position than from a Determinist position.

Here is an excerpt from Wiki that I found very interesting. It comes closest to declaring that we are free birds!

It has become possible to study the living brain, and researchers can now watch the brain's decision-making process at work. A seminal experiment in this field was conducted by Benjamin Libet in the 1980s, in which he asked each subject to choose a random moment to flick her wrist while he measured the associated activity in her brain; in particular, the build-up of electrical signal called the readiness potential (after German Bereitschaftspotential). Although it was well known that the readiness potential caused and preceded the physical action, Libet asked whether it could be recorded before the conscious intention to move. To determine when subjects felt the intention to move, he asked them to watch the second hand of a clock. After making a movement, the volunteer reported the time on the clock when they first felt the conscious intention to move; this became known as Libet's W time.
Libet found that the unconscious brain activity of the readiness potential leading up to subjects' movements began approximately half a second before the subject was aware of a conscious intention to move.
These studies of the timing between actions and the conscious decision bear upon the role of the brain in understanding free will. A subject's declaration of intention to move a finger appears after the brain has begun to implement the action, suggesting to some that unconsciously the brain has made the decision before the conscious mental act to do so. Some believe the implication is that free will was not involved in the decision and is an illusion. The first of these experiments reported the brain registered activity related to the move about 0.2 s before movement onset. However, these authors also found that awareness of action was anticipatory to activity in the muscle underlying the movement; the entire process resulting in action involves more steps than just the onset of brain activity. The bearing of these results upon notions of free will appears complex.

This experiment was an attempt to dissect the conscious and unconscious functions of the brain, and how it ensues in substantial action. When we know that every thought, word, and action stems from a neuron, then it is not difficult to concede that we are what our minds make us. Which is to say that we think freely, we talk freely, and we act freely. Which, in turn, makes us free beings. Yes, there is no doubt that the laws that govern the universe apply to us. But that does not mean we are puppets of some external force. The force is within us and waiting to be conditioned, nurtured, channeled, explored, and lived!