Sunday, January 20, 2013

Unity or Diversity???

Hello Readers,

New Year is here, and we all would have one or more resolutions for ourselves. This time, I wanna add another to the list that is not for me but for the people I know...especially all the busy bees out there. Never be too busy for the people who care about you...coz by the time you realize they care for you, it might be too late.

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India has always been the nation with diversified cultures and traditions. We as Indians have learnt to pledge to treat our fellow Indians as brothers and sisters right from schooling. However, once we are out of school we begin to learn the actual society which shows the flip side of the story. Everywhere we go, the questions about our identity keeps bothering us. And, then starts the bug in our mind trying to incline and bias according to the gender,sect, caste, religion, language, community etc; The bug inside makes us stupid day by day. Before we realize the damage will be done, and we turn out almost incurable. With this incurable and growing stupid bug inside, we transmit this ideology to another person/group. The stupidity intensifies and expands to the next generations. This has been a vicious cycle since decades. Why is that the neutral feelings that we have in childhood tarnish as we grow older? It is said that we grow wise with age, why doesn't this apply to us???

Our political leaders are an epitome of representing this stupidity at a higher level. Why don't they remember the high school history lessons about the 'divide n rule' attitude which allowed the British to conquer India??? But, the politicians seem to never learn a lesson from the independence struggle. We call ourselves worlds largest democracy and irony is that there is no democracy in real. From grass roots to the top level, everywhere we divide ourselves into infinite number of groups in the name of sect, caste, religion, language, economical, communal and what not. The smallest of reasons is enough for us to create a group and divide ourselves. Our leaders exploit this divide and tear us apart for their selfish motives. This is very much known to every citizen in the nation. However, we still remain so reluctant to change.

Indeed, we are happy to get divided in all possible ways. Since childhood I have been hearing two versions. One says Hindu Muslim bhai bhai and another is Hindu vs Muslim. Brotherhood is okay but why are we pitching against each other. While there are many efforts to unite these two religions, there are equal no of efforts to create a rift every now and then. In a secular country like ours, is it not contradictory to have parties in the name of religion or caste??? We still call ourselves secular...in what way are we secular??? If we are secular we should be tolerant. If we are tolerant, we would have never witnessed the worst of bomb blasts and riots in the name of religion. We have been neutral to both scenarios..in other words, we do tolerate other religions and we do riot to the slightest of disturbance. This leaves a confused expression to me most of the time..are we united or divided??? May be we are the kind of folks who say something and do something else. To the world outside, we are united and to nation inside we are divided. Divided into infinite no.of groups. You name it, we have it!!!

I wish we have more tolerance to each other and not let the selfish motives creep in, in the name of religion, sect, caste, language, etc to exploit us. Especially, when we vote, it is vitally essential that we put the individual priorities aside and assess the reality!

Cheers

Jyostna





Saturday, January 5, 2013

HAPPY 2013

My dear Readers,

Wish you all a very Happy, Prosperous and Green New Year. 

New year is the time for new resolutions and new plans. While you have your own resolutions & plans, please include something more to your list, just to contribute your part to the Green Planet.



Sharing some 10 wonderful ways to go green.

[Courtesy: ZED]

1. Install Solar Water Heater: If you have an electric hot-water heater and an unshaded, south-facing location on your property, consider installing a solar water heater. 
2. Buy Local Materials: Look for local materials to save money and energy on your own transportation. And whenever possible, buy recycled, secondhand, reclaimed, or waste timber. 
3. Use Native & Adaptive Landscape: Try to replicate this in your garden with a combination of tall trees (pines or sycamores, for instance), smaller trees and tall shrubs (maples, cherry trees, magnolias, hydrangeas, mountain laurel), shrubs (boxwood, burning bush, junipers), groundcover (grasses and creepers), and a litter layer of leaf matter, fallen branches, logs, and rocks. 
4. Cultivate a Pantry Garden: A kitchen garden can be a source of fresh herbs for daily cooking. 
5. Duplex paper print: The simplest way to cut down paper use is by "duplexing," or using both sides. 
6. Use Indoor Plants: The air inside a sealed, energy-efficient building can be 25 to 100 times more polluted than outside. Indoor plants are natural air filters, absorbing airborne pollutants and radiation from computers while replenishing oxygen levels.
7. Use a Shopping Bag: Take a reusable bag when you go shopping, and say "no" to plastic bags offered at shops and grocery stores.
8. Use eco friendly packaging: For eco-efficient and fully biodegradable food packaging, choose fresh fruits and vegetables.
9. Reduce ur SUV Travels: It takes about 35 medium-sized trees to offset the carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by the average SUV driving 15,000 miles each year.
10. Reduce/Avoid Air Travel: Probably the single worst thing you can do for the environment is to jet around for business or vacations. The best way to help offset the greenhouse gases your travels create is to support programs, such as renewable energy and energy-saving projects, which will help reduce the C02 emissions created by such air travel.


Start at least three of the above today and make a greener change! 

Cheers

Jyostna