March 23, 2010

Go green!!

The Copenhagen summit, global warming, changing climatic conditions have all been in the news for a while now and we all do the talk talk part about how the environment is going to dumps. And also crib about water shortage, incessant power cuts and rising temperatures. How many of us actually take a step further to inculcate habits into our life that would help our environment? It was when I was watching the NDTV greenathon that I thought harder about it.

Living in a city life Bangalore with matchbox like apartments, it would be too much to ask everyone to plant a tree and bring the greenery back to the city. But there are things that we could do on a daily basis, which if each and every one of us incorporated into our lives would go a long way in saving Mother Nature.

First thing would be to get rid of plastic bags. They clog drains, remain in the soil for a hundred years and harm the environment in every possible way. I use plastic bags in my house only to dispose of garbage. It is a necessary evil. Otherwise, I carry my own bag whenever I go out. Start saying no to plastic bags at your local grocery store and encourage the store owner to sell cloth bags which the customers can reuse for their shopping. Or else, pick up these really trendy bags from jute cottage and turn up hep for that shopping trip. Better still, get yourself a backpack that can hold possibly everything from your shopping trip and keep dumping stuff as you when you buy them into your bag. That’s what I do. I have an array of bags for different purposes.

Try and switch off the lights and fan when you don’t need them. Many a times we tend to leave the lights on despite coming out of a room. Be a little more thoughtful and remember to switch them off.

Learn to recognize the value of the water that runs in your tap. I tell you, you need to go through a day with dry taps to know it. I had the wakeup call when the overhead tank of the apartment I stay in became empty and I had to survive on water stored in buckets for almost a day. Go easy on the taps when you are using the water and maybe even try to reuse the water. Water used to clean veggies can be used to water your plants (if you have any, that is). The water from the last rinse of clothes can be used to give your vehicle that much needed wash.

I am sure that once the metro if functional, most of Bangalore is going to turn to it for transport. Until then, use the available public transport. The bus day is a good concept that the BMTC has started. I am sure that if I had my vehicle in Bangalore, I would be tempted to zip around the city on it. But let’s face the fact- with the kind of traffic and pollution in the city, it is far better to travel by Volvo- sans any tension or worry. You can switch off your mind, listen to music or even catch a few winks on the course of your travel. You also get respite from the scorching heat outside. And to top it, it is one vehicle less on the roads and that much less pollution.

This is what I have made a beginning with. If you include any of these habits or know of anything else that can be done by everyone, be sure to pass them on. It is high time we stopped complaining and took steps by ourselves to contribute to conserve the environment. After all, we do need to make sure that our future generations get to see the beauty and bounty that Mother Nature has to offer. Let it not be something that they would get to see only in the pictures taken from our expensive cameras!

March 8, 2010

Yeh Swayamvar nahin, Shaadi hai :)

So Rahul finally got his Dulhaniya. I was fortunately at home on the day of the finale and it was not something that i would miss at any cost. The very fact that there were 16755 applications( he claimed that in an interview) for the title of Mrs.Mahajan had surprised me. Its one thing to be desperate to hog the limelight for two minutes, but choosing a platform such as the Swayamwar?! God, no! I think it is the girls who made it to the last three but did not get to marry the guy are luckier coz they got the fame and recognition that they needed and did not even have to marry the guy in return! Look what happened to the ganga ke kinaare wala guy from Rakhi's swayamwar. He charmed his way into the hearts of the right people and landed himself a show on NDTV Imgine.
Coming to Rahul's swayamwar, the guy stuck to the predictions and chose the front-runner for the title as his dulhan. He did not even give the kind of build up of hesitation and indecisiveness that Rakhi did on her D-day. The varmala was given to him, he stood in front of the three brides for about a minute and bang!, garlanded the dimply Dimpy. (The girl exudes fakeness throughout! The sharmaana and batting of eyelashes is so filmy. And it seems the fact that they both celebrate their birthdays on the same day is one of the bonds of their friendship! Something as lame as that? Please! ) Headlines today took 5 seconds after the varmala moment to declare it as breaking news.
Also accompanying this news was the fact that Dimpy was under contract with Maureen Wadia of Gladrags that she would not get married for some time. Mrs. Wadia is now planning to sue. Publicity from all sides for Dimpy!
The guy has been in news for drug abuse, is umpteen number of years elder to her, does reality shows, has an irritating laugh and a bad history. I really don't see what the cause of celebration at the girl's household was! But still, celebrate they did. Now that the shaadi is over, I guess it is some respite for other TV channels that were being hit by the TRPs of RDLJ. Whatever Rahul did it for- to clean up his public image or to start afresh, he made sure to grab the eyeballs and airtime of a lot of news channels. These channels will also do follow up on their status from time to time, jobless as they are. I hope the new Mrs. Mahajan gets to stay for a while longer than the old one. :) What would be an anti climax though, would be that she remains Mrs.Mahajan only and does not get to make it big in Bollywood ;)
Also watch out for Rakhi Swayamvar part 2. She will apparently get married in a swayamvar only.