Go Eco-Friendly

Festive atmosphere is on and the celebrations are high. Ganesh Chaturthi is round the corner and the preparations have begun days before. Idols are being purchased, houses are being decorated and sweets are being ordered. Festivities help the very cause of being in a society but not at the cost of our environment. So, why not go eco-friendly by going green. We have to stop purchasing idols with chemical paints and Plaster of Paris on it. It may look attractive but it takes years to disintegrate in water after its immersion. It has got many harmful effects on aquatic life. Chemical paints contain toxic substances which take really long to degrade. We have alternatives like shifting to the traditional usage of clay idols instead of Plaster of Paris. We can also make use of edible dyes and these days natural pigments such as turmeric are made use to paint the idols of the Lord.

The picture of Lord Ganesha you see above is the one brought in our house this year. Every year we bring home clay idol and immerse it in a bucket of water and that water is later used in the garden to water plants. Though arrangements are made for the immersion of the idol in public places people still immerse it in lakes. On the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi let’s take a pledge that we shall GO GREEN and SAVE ENVIRONMENT.

A green festival awaits us. Let the Lord of knowledge and success shower his blessings on mankind.

The Blogging Capital of India: Bangalore

Call it “The Garden City” or “The IT City” or now “The Blogger’s City”. Yes, Bangalore is now the blogging capital of India. The latest TCS Generation Web 2.0 trends survey reveals that there are more number of bloggers especially students in Bangalore than in any other city in India. 66% of students in Bangalore blog and I’m proud that I’m one among the many student bloggers of Bangalore. Namma Bengaluru is known for it’s advancement in technology and the new title – The Blogging Capital, comes as no surprise. Blogging is every student’s favourite these days. I personally love blogging because I consider this a platform to express my thoughts and improve upon my writing skills. I find no reason why I shouldn’t blog.

Way to go Bangalore Bloggers!!

Is this Modernization?

What exactly is modernization? I was a firm believer that young India is heading the right way because our ideas are modern. But when I took a step back and tried to analyze the present situation, I noticed that it is more of westernization than modernization! We Indians are known for our culture, our traditions, our languages and our spicy food. But these days in the name of modernization youngsters are driven by Western culture, their way of speaking and dressing. Western influence is running so high in India that everyone wants to eat pizzas, burgers and sandwiches and spicy house-made food is out of trend. This is ridiculous to say the least. I’m very clear with my thoughts here - I’m not against any culture but all that I’m concerned about is Indian culture which has a rich history of several centuries shouldn’t disappear forever.

Let’s now shift our focus on the other effects of the so-called “Modernization”. People often misunderstand modernization for taller buildings, more number of highways and luxury living. I do agree that modernization, as our oxford dictionary says, is ‘involving up-to-date techniques or equipment’. Have you seen the number of trees being cut down to construct a highway or these days metro? I remember when I came into this newly built house in 1999 there was just another house in the entire area. It was not a jungle but it seems it was an agricultural land some long time ago. I was a 3^rd grader back then. I’ve seen many poisonous snakes, scorpions and what not! I would like to share an incident with you which happened some 8 years back. While I was watching t.v (I still remember it was a SRK movie that I was watching), my granny anxiously exclaimed – Don’t move!! I looked around and I spotted a long scorpion next to me on the sofa enjoying the movie may be. It may seem scary but I’ve been lucky enough to grow very close to Mother Nature. How cruel we human beings are! We encroach on their peace of land and complain about it later. Now just after 9 years there’s not a single scorpion or a snake that I’ve seen in the past 1 year or so. I also remember sparrows and minas chirping inside my house but now they have vanished. Gone are those wonderful days when I used to savour the sight of those lovely birds and animals.

Let’s hope for a better tomorrow or rather a GREENER TOMORROW and do our bit to SAVE EARTH!