Ooty - The Queen of Hill Stations in India

Getting to know the real Ooty - Things you won't get off the internet!

I don’t think I have ever come across a single place with so many names! Most popularly known as Ooty, this quiet South Indian hill station is also known as Ootacamund, Ottakalmandu, Whotakaymund, Udhagai and Udhagamandalam, its official name (for NOW). Ooty is the capital of the Nilgiris, or the Blue Mountains, and has been christened as the Queen of Hill Stations for its outstanding beauty. Founded in 1819 by John Sullivan, the then collector of Coimbatore, Ooty is a blend of British colonial architecture and a natural beauty unique to Southern India.



Click on the title to read my detailed article or paste the following link in the address bar of your web browser http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2010/07/ooty-the-queen-of-hill-stations/

Till death do we part? - Empowerment enables urban Indian women to end unhappy relationships

While being educated and financially independent is helping urban Indian women to now walk out of dysfunctional relationships, there are several social stigmas that endanger their chances of living a normal life post divorce. This article is an attempt to change this mindset of the society at large which considers a divorced woman to be 'substandard'.

You views on the subject would go a long way in helping this change to take place!

Click on the title to read my detailed article or paste the following link in the address bar of your web browser http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2010/06/till-death-do-us-part/

Changing Mindsets - The rise of the urban Indian woman

Urban Indian women have turned the mindsets of their generation and are surging forward towards farther horizons of success and progress. It will be, we can hope, only a matter of time when women of rural India can join in this wave of change.

Click on the title to read my detailed article or paste the following link in the address bar of your web browser http://indialeadership.net/2010/06/changing-mind-sets-the-rise-of-the-urban-indian-woman/

Why do we have such few GREEN days in Indian cities?

2nd June 2010 was observed as 'Paperless Day' in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Over a hundred thousand people from government agencies and schools participated in the event in order to help tackle the environmental problem of carbon emission and deforestation.

September 22 each year is declared 'World Car Free Day'. On this day, private vehicle owners should avoid using their own transport and use public/ government services instead. Such schemes are followed by several countries like China, Britain, France, Indonesia and Columbia.

Then, of course, there is the highly popular 'Earth Hour' when, on a specified day, for a specified hour, cities all around the world switch off lights in an effort to reduce energy consumption and control climate change.

Indian cities are developing at such an amazing rate that environmental conservation almost always takes a back seat. Just ask anyone who has been in Bangalore for the last 4-5 years (like ME) and they will tell you how the cities climate is disintegrating right before our very eyes. So why don’t we have more of such GREEN initiatives running across Indian cities? Given below is a link from the Ministry of Environment & Forests site which lists its major initiatives planned for last year (2009-2010).

http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Major%20MoEF%20Initiatives09-10.pdf

When I read through it, it sounded very complex, expensive and, at the end of the day, not very result oriented. Well, at least these initiatives won’t have any immediate impact towards improving the environment. State level initiatives DO get launched once in a while but these are half hearted efforts which are not followed through efficiently. It is obvious that, if we wait around for the municipalities and governments to start acting on environmental issues, we might end up living in a city that looks like a dump yard and feels like a sewer, hot, humid and smelly!

So what do we do?

What we need is well planned, well orchestrated and well executed drives like the ones mentioned at the beginning of this article. These drives can be planned by NGOs or the corporate world (Corporate Social Responsibility has got a log way to go in India). Individuals with great environment saving ideas should be able to get sufficient assistance from such institutions. We don’t want to end up with hundreds of small NGOs with limited resources. So it would be great if all the many NGOs merged into easily distinguishable and approachable departments. Once this infrastructure of Providers (Companies), Organizers (NGOs) and Workers (Volunteers) is set up and focused towards achieving specific goals that is when each and every city in India will be able to take care of its own environmental issues. Such collated strength will also enable us to get some hard to get help from the state/ central governments and ministries.

Being more organized, well funded, thoroughly planned and efficiently executed, I am sure that the people of not just India, but any country facing the kind of environmental challenges that we face, will be able to tackle the problem on a more immediate and effective basis.

And not just have ministries spending millions of rupees on research that never gets done!

While we are at it, here are some suggestions for GREEN initiatives and how often they should be held:

1. No Car Day – Once a month.
2. Paper Less Day – Once a month
3. Clean up your neighbourhood day – Once every quarter.
4. Plant a tree day – Once a year, with a commitment to take care of the tree for that year.
5. Recycling Day – Once a month. Set up collection points in as many areas as possible where people can deposit material collected over the month.
6. Family Picnic Day – Once every quarter. Families should be encouraged not to use electronics throughout this day, instead plan an outing to a local park for a fun filled, low environmental impact day.

Mumbai Kolkata Gyaneshwari Express Derails After Blast - Maoist Hand Suspected

The Gyaneshwari Express connecting Howrah (Kolkata) and Kurla (Mumbai) was derailed after a blast and collided with a speeding goods train on another track. The death toll currently is at 35 but is expected to double as many people and bodies are still trapped in the mangled carriages. Rescue worker who report that trapped survivors are crying out for help from the boggies are having cut through the wreck to retrieve the survivors and casualties.

The blast took place at Jhargram which is has a high rate of Maoist activity and it is being reported that they are responsible for this act.

Helpline numbers have been set up around the affected area. These are:

Kharagpur -- (03222) 255751, 255735
Howrah -- (033) 26382217, 10722 (toll free number)
Tatanagar -- (0657) 2290324, 2290074, 2290382
Rourkela -- (0661) 2511155
Chakradharpur (06587) 238072
Jharsuguda (06445) 270977
Mumbai CST (022) 22694040
Thane (022) 25334840
Kurla (022) 25298499

Indian Blasphemy: Constable takes bribe from road side vendors

There is a lot of talk going on in the Indian leadership circles about what needs to be changed about India in order to push its progress. Amongst the suggestions thrown up was education for all, control of population, personal responsibility, a better government and so on. One of the most common suggestions was the annihilation of corruption. Makes sense, doesn't it? Easier said than done? But what I witnessed two days ago made me realize anew just how close to impossible this task is.

There I was, with my mom, shopping in the Shivajinagar bazaar in Bangalore. It was 4 o' clock in the afternoon and the area was packed with avid shoppers. The heat was unbearable so we stopped and picked up two kala khaTTa golas (Ice popsicles) which a little boy was selling for ten rupees each. Next to his stall was a man who was selling popcorn on a cart. We took our golas and moved aside to cool off. That’s when this pot bellied police constable strolled up to the man selling popcorn. He picked up a packet and in turn asked the vendor to pay him 50 rupees. The vendor smiled cordially and while indulging in small talk, stealthily handed the amount to the police man. The vendor seemed more eager to cover up this act than the law enforcer.

The constable then moved on and collected a gola and another 50 rupees from the boy selling them. All this happened in broad day light, in front of all the people present in the vicinity. What bugged me the most, was the attitude with the constable collected the bribes. He held his head high, behaved as though he was doing the vendors a favour, swinging his cane baton all the time.

The constable moved on. We finished our golas and went ahead with our shopping. A little down the same lane, an old man was selling jogging pants at an asking price of 150 rupees. As soon as he noticed hesitation on my part, he brought the price down to 125 rupees. Another woman joined us and started bargaining, asking him to sell it for 100 rupees. She walked off when he refused. The man must have been really frustrated to pour his heart out to a customer. He said that, he too, had paid 50 rupees to the constable we had seen earlier. He said that what the constable collected randomly on a daily basis, was in addition to a fixed monthly amount the vendors had to pay him to be able to sell their products.

Sure, road side selling of products is illegal but this is the only way that these men and women of all ages have to make a decent living. Corruption at such a base level, which exploits those who aren't even capable of supporting themselves, is simply inhuman and can carry no justification.

How does anyone fight a phenomenon like this? We as Indians are used to this kind of corruption, that in response to the question of what should be changed about India, someone responded ‘Nothing, India is what it is’. Sure, India has its own identity and its flaws make it look very poetic. But is mysticism worth the troubles of the common man? I know that the abolition of such social evils require mass movements, much like the one which got us our freedom. I know that this is a nearly impossible task. However, we can, at the very least, WANT to eradicate corruption? At the very least?

Rain, Chai and Bhajjis!

God turned on all the taps in his cloud garden today and just as I complained of water shortage in namma Bangalore, it rained in torrents here!! Well, at least SOMEONE'S listening.

I grabbed the opportunity and gave the family and myself a treat! A treat of.. What else? Masala chai and bhajjis of course. The serenity of it! Being at the rooftop (the covering shed of which was blown off a few days back by the approaching cyclone LAILA), sipping hot masala tea, having a choice of potato, chilli and onion bhajjis, all the while chatting and reminiscing with the family. It is a good time, a time like this, to miss those who are not with us. To remember the good things they have done as well as the bad. Appreciating them for their sacrifices and going 'tch! tch!' over their more stupid decisions. Going over childhood stories that have been repeated several times before, at a good time like this.

Sure, we could be doing this whenever we want to yet it takes a special show by nature to give us a reason to celebrate, in our own small or big way, our failures and triumphs in life. Today, when we go back into our shells to reconsider our problems, when we sit together in front of the TV and watch Hindi soap operas that don't make sense, when I climb up the staircase and on the way to my room wish my parents 'shab bakhair' (Good night), I will send out a silent prayer to God. May he take the liberty of turning on those heavenly taps and soaking the city and our souls with an all cleansing downpour. So that we may yet again sip masala chai and have bhajjis and, if only for a hour, remember our blessings and forget our sorrows.

I wonder what YOUR chai and bhajji time is??:)

Indian Blasphemy: Top poltical parties wrestle as citizens BUY water

The Congress and BJP have been having a public duel over who is responsible for Karnataka's acute water shortage situation. While the center says that the state government is not utilizing its options and resources to maximum, the state's BJP government is accusing the center of not delivering on its promise of allocating extra MWs for the state. This is SO typical of political parties in India when faced with such situations. And while the people in charge of solving the problem are busy in throwing the responsibility into each other's courts, it is the common man who bearing the brunt of inaction.

The people of Karnataka, even its most developed city - Bangalore, are having to BUY water at exorbitant rates to fulfill their basic daily requirement. In the city, we recently went for 5 days without water supply. Lucky for us, our homes have underground water storage tanks and we ran out of water on the 3rd day. There is a slum area near our apartment and the people living there do not have this privilege. They depend on a daily supply of water to meet the household requirement. On the second day, we had people showing up at our door step with pots, asking permission to take some water. We allowed three such people to take water from our storage tanks. When on the third day we ourselves ran out of water, we were forced to contact companies who sell water. In normal times, a small tanker of water costs about Rs. 300/- and is enough to fill one storage tank. But during such times of need, the companies go into profit mode and charge 3 - 5 times the normal rate. We paid Rs. 900/- for water that could only be delivered the next day.

Thankfully, the common man of India is much more considerate than the people who govern them. The people who had taken water from us helped us fill a quarter of our tank from a well (Yes, there ARE wells in the city too) that was nearly a kilometer away. This is what we faced in the city which our government claims is good enough to be considered a metropolitan. One can't imagine the water problems in the suburbs and smaller towns.

The ministers say that the water shortage will be taken care of when the expected rains show up i another 15 days time. But the truth is, it has been raining intermittently in Karnataka throughout this summer! Compared to last year, the shortage should have been much less. Yet, not only are we facing water shortage but also excessive power cuts. So is there nothing that a common man can do to get their government to act in this great joke of a democracy of ours? Do we keep paying keep our inverters going and our water storage tanks filled and then pay taxes every year in hope that we won't have to bear the same thing next year around? Or do we let the government know that they are not fooling anyone with their false claims and blame games. The people of India are neither stupid nor blind. The common man needs to send out a clear message that you will not get our vote if you don't solve our basic infrastructure problems NOW (And not just provide non-stop electricity a month before the elections).

Indian Blasphemy: Power cuts in Cities and villages in a nuclear country

People have been complaining of power cuts in Bangalore for over a month now. Residents go without electricity 4 to 5 times a day, 1 hour each time. I am privileged, I live in an area close to the well maintained bungalows of ministers and government officials, so I go without electricity for 2 to 3 times in a day, sometimes we even get it back within half an hour!

Recently, my husband went to visit his parents in a little town in the Satara district. At 44 degree celsius, they face a daily power cut of 6 to 8 back to back hours. With temperatures reaching record levels, even the town's people who have been used to such lengthy absences of electricity are finding it difficult to cope with the heat. A few kilometers away, in a village names Supa, his aunt's family faces AT LEAST 12 to 14 hours without electricity everyday. And you can't even call it a REMOTE village. I mean, it is easily accessible by politicians during election time.

This is happening all over India. At such a time, in one of the groups that I am associated with, a question was raised which baffled me a bit. The question was, if I could change any ONE thing about India, what would it be? The replies were about how we need to educate every single Indian, get rid of corruption and red tapism and the usual suggestions. I kept thinking, we are a country with nuclear capabilities, we have some of the greatest brains in the world here and we have thousands of crores of rupees assigned for rural development in our budget. Yet, not only our villages and towns, but even one of our most developed cities doesn't get power 24/7. It seems like a farce, claiming to be on the verge of economic dominance when we can't even provide all our citizens with something as basic as electricity.

There isn't ONE thing that India needs to fix but an entire army of similar half fulfilled duties towards its people. First, provide electricity to even the remotest village before the next elections, PLEASE. Then we can start with the 'developing' part again.

Coming soon: Water shortage :P

Namma Bengaluru.. Namma Auto Fume!

I hope I got that right!

I had the fortune of travelling by an auto (Rickshaw) this morning after a long time. The company cab, though not air conditioned, still protects you a bit from the pollution. A little trip in an auto really jogs your memory!

It is all ok if you have a blocked nose, the you can actually fool yourself by pretending that the diesel smoke is actually the mist of some distant unseen mountain. If you don't have a blocked nose, never fear, it'll be running into the records by the time you get to work! It is terrible for a person with resporatory problems or is allergic to dust.

I don't know if I am just being nostalgic (overly), but it seems to me that it wasn't this bad 3 years ago when I landed here. Seems to me its getting worse every year! And that too with all these trees around.

So, everyone knows its the diesel, the gov says that most auto's are fitted with LPG kits, but the ones that are not seem to be doing enough damage anyway! Try breathing when one such auto is throttling away next to you in traffic. Why can't ALL auto's be fitted with LPG?? AND the government buses! Some of these buses need to be scrapped, seriously.

I know deisel is cheaper that petrol, but I really think we should think about the environment when we purchase a car. We get LPG cars too (Atleast the small ones). Electric scooters should have been ruling the city, but in 8 months I have hardly seen 3-4 on the road. They are cost effect and cause no pollution what so ever! Reva is can still be spotted once a week maybe, but still, not as much as it should be.

We all know the answers - car pool, use elecrtric cars, switch to LPG, blah blah - but no one ACTUALLY follows it.

I wonder why.

The electricity board had to spend a bomb on television and radio ads announcing (Rather obviously) 'Save fuel, yaani, save money'. they had to link saving fuel to financial gain because only that would get the consumer attention. Who cares about the environment anyway right?

I for one have vowed not to use an Auto until and unless my life (or my job) depends on it. And if I get myself a bike, I am getting an electric one. I hope the people who read this will think about it too.

Recession? So what..

Recession... Down turn.. Slow down.. Lay offs... I am sick and tired of hearing it.

Sure, its bad. I certainly wouldn't want to be out of work right now. But I also know that things could be MUCH worse.

After a tumultous day at work, mind ringing with these words and thoughts, tired as hell.. I headed home. There I was, in my company provided cab, worrying and working myself up into a fever. My cabmates were quieter than usual too (We generally talk away to glory, using the transit time to fool around and release stress before we get home). Bangalore traffic was bad and the heat wasn't helping.

We stopped at a traffic signal.

So lost was I in my tought, that I didnt notice the person standing outside my window, hand extended, palm upheld. My first reaction was to jump with a start! Then I laughed at my own reaction... the person standing outside the window did not. I stopped laughing too.

The person was a kid, not more than 7 or 8 years of age. He had the straightest face I had ever seen, on a kid OR a grown up. One hand was extended palm up towards the closed window. The other was held up parallel to his shoulder. It ended in a stub, just beyond the elbow. No forearm, no wrist, no palm. Just a stub, an extended hand and a straight face.

All I could do was roll down the window, pull a 10 rupee note out of my purse and hand it to him. He took, expressionless, and walked on.

I reached home, changed, went into the washroom... and cried my heart out. What the hell was I thinking??!!

All thoughts of the present economic condition took a walk off the map. I kept thinking of the kid outside the window. I knew that his injury was probably not accidental. We know that little kids are often kidnapped or even sold by their parents, then amputated in some way or the other (Cut off hands or feet, eyes burned into hollows, ghastly wounds made on their bodies on a regular basis). Their life was like this not of their own making, they had no choice in it. They earned not for themselves. They degraded themselves before complete strangers everyday and had no other future in sight. And their I was, worrying about recession and whether I would get a pay hike this year.

I know this is a cliched dialogue, count your blessings. But once in a while, I really think we should. We spend hours and days whining and cribbing and complaining and worrying. While that kid faces what he does everyday, with the straightest face in the world.

There is a lesson. Life is shit sometimes, a lot of time and sometimes all the time. If there is nothing you can do about it, then smile and just face it. Think about what you DO have instead of what you don't. Sure, your dreams just took a back seat and you won't be able to progress for a few years, but you still have a life that you have SOME control over. You control you happiness. You can choose to smile.

YOU don't have reason enough to be the straightest faced person in the world.

Think about it.