On fun, feasts, and fireworks

Finally, Divali's arrived this morning after much wonderin', waitin' and wishin'.

After a frenzied shopping spree for gold, sweets and fireworks, folks in town would be quickly working on the goodies.

The early morning hours ushered in some 'bang-bang' on the streets, and that's precisely when the neighboring dogs woke up from their slumber and ran for cover.

The evening's going to be, er, interesting. If it rains, the fireworks will fade away sooner than later. Then I can call it a silent night and grab some shut-eye.


I mean, if people have become even a bit more conscious of global warming and pollution, they'd take a green hint and simply light a few lamps to celebrate Divali.

But will they? Only time will tell.

I'm all for planting trees which is exactly what the project Mission Green Earth is trying to promote. But hey, we need to give trees some clean air to breathe. Else, we will only have pits where trees once stood proud.


Pic from the web

Speaking of pits, here's a real 'eco-tastrophe' from Pittsburgh. Straight out of the green zone. More due to steel plants actually, but fireworks also add to the smoke, apparently.

Had me thinking hard about fun, fireworks and a fiery future...

Different beats, this Divali!

Pic taken from the web

In just a few days' time in India, rockets will soar, bursting into tantalizing colors against the velvety backdrop of the night sky .

Heralding another dynamic Divali.

Earthen lamps decorating the porch of every household will lend the night a soft, ethereal look.

Clad in shimmering silks and shining in gold, it's a day when the average, well-to-do Indian woman strives to catch the attention of the Celestial Gods.

Divali's a day when blessings come in boxes lined with sweets and nuts and dry fruit.

A time when hitherto unseen neighbors emerge out of the woodwork to chat you up.

Dogs don't do Divali. It's actually a time of fear and frenzy for every cautious canine. For God's creatures are bright and beautiful, but with sensitive ears.

Like every year, I do hope that we have a light and bright Divali. And that the only sounds that I get to hear are the peals of temple bells and the sound of children's laughter.

Have a safe and wonderful Divali.

Sobha Developers takes a green foot forward

With all the 'tree hugging' I have been upto in my recent blogs, the Universe brought me into the (green) limelight last week.

Mission Green Earth- Stand Up and Take Action- is a global, joint endeavor of United Nations Environment Programme, and the Art of Living Foundation. The campaign comes under the broader 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of these goals is to END POVERTY by Yr 2015. Another goal is to save the planet by having global citizens plant one hundred million trees all around the world by Yr 2009. Other Millennium goals include bringing primary education, health and hygiene to the world's population.

I was asked to represent the Art of Living in a tree planting session undertaken by Sobha Developers, a leading, quality-conscious real estate developer group. I was so honored to represent Gurudev's Global, vast Vision, and braving the hot sun, I happily made my way to Devenahalli. The site was not too far off from the airport. That afternoon, under much fanfare, members of Sobha group planted 150 trees around their Villa project. The group also stood up and solemnly took the Millennium Pledge.

It was great fun. I really appreciate the energy of the entire group, under their charismatic leader, Mr Ravi Menon, the Vice Chairman of Sobha developers.

Here are a few pictures of the event:



The engineers and others gathered at the site before tree plantingMr Ravi Menon, Vice Chairman of Sobha Developers

The first Green Giant goes into the soil! More to come!

I for one plan to go the whole hog into the Tree planting drive, and us volunteers in Sanjaynagar, with our teacher Komalaji's untiring zeal, plan to meet up many schools, colleges and corporates to 'green up' the Earth, for our children and generations to come...

The Omnivore's dilemma

Being a strict vegetarian, I find myself at a bit o' a disadvantage when I go out to eat with other omnivorous colleagues. They get to eat food that I order but alas, it can never be the other way round. But I've no regrets, coz' although Al Gore never mentioned this, in his movie 'An Inconvenient Truth', being vegetarian actually helps control global warming.


Now Treehugger has an entry over a book called 'The Omnivore's dilemma', written by Michael Pollan, a New York Times journalist and fellow omnivore turned vegetarian.

To quote heavily from Treehugger:

'The Omnivore's dilemma is this: When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety. The Koala doesn't worry about food- he just chews eucalyptus leaves. Rats and humans have bigger issues. Pollan says that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. He is no vegan, but is a cook and appalled by modern industrial food production, and how it separates us from the sources of our food. Pollan looks at the three principal food chains : Industrial, Organic and Hunter/Gatherer and has a meal from each...'


Mike makes merry in his green garden- pic from Treehugger

In his book, Pollan confronts the question: What should we have for dinner?' with an enticing, thought-provoking and rib-tickling (pardon me for the pun) argument which covers the vast vistas of social, ethical, environmental fabric all rolled up to make it er, more palatable.

Well, after all these words of praise, I'll let you in on a secret. I haven't yet read the book! It's just the lingo-ism (a word I have concocted in order to have the same ring as ' jingoism') coursing through in my journalistic veins that made me describe the book even before I read it.

But hey, I'm all for the veggie cause. I let the cows graze gently in the green pastures, while I chew my carrots at t' table...

Trees make news, or do they?

From Treehugger

These days, trees seem to make news. And ironically speaking, they make the newspapers too.

Trees soothe, trees bind soil, trees clean the air. Bear fruit, bear shade, bear no grudge.

Bear with the lot of us.

But today I discovered one more thing about our sylvan friends.

I was sitting in my car, taking in the meandering traffic line, desperately trying to make song and dance of the old Art of Living punchline: Accept the situation, dum di dum...

Time passed and the traffic crawled along, while the tooting horns got louder as collective patience was dying down. It normally flowed faster than this on this road, and yet today, something was clearly blocking the line.

I looked around, and saw a motley line of cars, scooters, and a large bus which stood alongside, quite as helpless as the rest of the smaller vehicles. I still couldn't see the reason for the traffic block.

I inched a few meters ahead and that was when I saw this old, battered truck that stood bang in the middle of the lane. Ah, so that was the culprit, I thought to myself. One stupid truck that got stuck, slowing half the world's wheeled population, I thought, with a frown.

The choicest curse words were doing the cha-cha-cha in the ol' mind, threatening to create sound-bytes, when I happened to inadvertently get a closer look at the truck.

That was when I saw a tiny tree branch, stuck on one side of the truck. The truck stood still, but the branch was swaying merrily in the wind.

A corny looking truck, the butt of everyone's ridicule, taking in all the collective curses of drivers, strangely took on a bovine stance on a busy road. With a piece of green stuck clumsily on one side.

I could almost picture tomorrow's headlines: 'A bunch of leaves lend luster to a lopsided lorry.'

I couldn't stop giggling.