Example set by Kaldari

The Sunday supplement of the Marathi newspaper Sakal has started a new column – Navya VaaTaa – New Paths – that chronicles efforts taken by people to save energy. The snippets up till now used to contain items like how someone has modified a bike to run on electricity or a wind mill that powers the mechanism to water the farm. Yesterday’s snippet was worth taking a note though. The village of Kaldari (kaaL daree) located in the Purandhar taluka of the Pune district has taken a new step in becoming energy independent. The physical location of this village puts it in a deep valley that limits the natural light. The sunrise is late and sunset early. The MSEB supply is erratic and plagued with load shedding. The school kids had to complete their studies in lights powered by Kerosene and the village pretty much worked the schedule of the sun. But they decided to change the things. The local self government – Gram Panchayat – chipped in INR 8,000.00, the villagers chipped in INR 20,000.00, and a solar energy project took shape to power the school at night. More than 4.5 Lac have been spent up till now to power the local hospital, veterinary hospital, street lights and milk storage plant. Almost all the families now use biogas as energy required for cooking. Sun, Wind, Animal Waste – whatever natural resources could be used, have been used. Kaldari has set an example, it is hoped that more will follow.

P. S. If you can locate the link on Sakal website, let me know. The site somehow refuses to load...

Got Any More Bright !deas?

Cancellation of the Idea Celebrates Pune event was a refresher of news. For a change the notorious Patit Pawan Sanghatana was not fighting because “our” culture was in danger or because the length of a skirt was too short or an amorous message was printed on a greeting card! They were actually fighting because Idea Cellular, in cohorts with the pesky KISS FM style radio station Radio Mirchi was trying to do something that a normal person cannot even fathom! The reason was the Celebrate Pune event! Idea and Radio Mirchi have been trying to find a reason to woo customers, hence the reason for this event. Why complain though? After all, they have the right to attract customers, offer schemes, advertise at will and prosper in business. Every advertiser is trying to find an innovative way. Idea and Radio Mirchi thought it might be cool to hold events and because there was nothing much happening, the decided to create an event – Celebrate Pune! Call different DJs or singers, make people buy tickets, let them sing, dance, have some fun and make money out of it! They even composed a song about it where the water of Mula Mutha was called "Tirth". What’s wrong with this? Well – this is what is wrong with it…

The other day, while driving through already crowded morning traffic, we found one lane of the Sangam Bridge closed. For what? A makeshift stadium for the Celebrate Pune event! Arcades were erected on the JM Road, Bund Garden Road and Dhole Patil Road – blocking the traffic. We even talked about it – how could this be allowed – it is blocking the traffic. I guess normal people are boring because they worry about such things. Who ever thinks such things will block the traffic?

The event was to be concluded yesterday at a new venue – the Jayantrao Tilak Bridge. The bridge was closed to traffic from Friday. It is okay if our already choked and unruly traffic is further put to test because of this. Were proper permissions obtained? When the members of the Patit Pawan Sanghatana reached the venue demanding the proof of the permissions, the organizers could not produce any. Because there were none! Our question was answered – it was allowed because no one bothered to ask! The news item also had it that the speakers flouted the norms laid down by the Supreme Court to control noise pollution.

And this is from one of the large cellular providers and a radio station company that is soon going public! Do you people have no respect for the law of the land? How could you, Idea and Radio Mirchi – how could you do this to us?

Surprisingly, the overactive media did not bother to take note of this. Loksatta had detailed news on page 4 and Sakal, smaller news on Page 6 – places where people will not take pains to look. Indian Express did not find enough merit in publishing this. Very surprisingly, it appears the Pune Municipal Corporation and Pune University were also partners in the event. How could the PMC approve of holding an event on the bridge that is used by many for their daily commute? Allow it to remain closed for three days and not even bother to check if the necessary clearance has been obtained? Something is fishy here; this big a scam cannot be pulled unless it had a blessing from higher up.

Are we all so blinded by rampant consumerism that laws can be bypassed? If smaller companies can show this attitude towards the Corporate Social Responsibility, do we even try to find out what could be happening in the bigger companies?

I do not listen to Radio Mirchi anyways – not even if I am bored to death. May be now it is time to cancel the Idea subscription that my parents have.

Oh, and the money you made from the earlier Celebrate Pune event will be put to better use if your executives are given some classes in Corporate Social Responsibility. Think about it, that might actually be a better Idea.

W Reads my Blog!

Interesting news item this – Bush: US on verge of Energy Breakthrough. All he says is that would “startle” most Americans. Why, it startled me! The head honcho of the Oil Mafia is creating a whole new world! Where did he get this idea? Could it have been this post by yours truly?

One of the reasons W gives for reducing the use of Petroleum products is:

Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he said.

Compare that with yours truly:

Almost all of the Petrol/Diesel that we use is imported. This makes us invariably dependent on the countries whose policies are often hostile to our national integrity.

On non-conventional energy sources, W says:

Bush said he was impressed with the growing commercial uses of solar energy.

"Roof makers will one day be able to make a solar roof that protects you from the elements and at the same time, powers your house," Bush said. "The vision is this — that technology will become so efficient that you'll become a little power generator in your home, and if you don't use the energy you generate you'll be able to feed it back into the electricity grid."

Compare that with yours truly:

In the meantime, though, we should still propagate the usage of solar energy. Let every roof-top be of solar panels. What would that achieve?

1. Treat each building or house as a unit. The unit will install Solar Panels for energy creation. For example, even if the energy generated serves 20% (I am just making this number up, if it is more, even better) of energy needs of that unit, it will reduce the shortfall of energy.

Uncanny ha? May be he got the ideas after accidentally bumping into my blog while killing time in the Oval Office. May be he is as smart as I am! But what if, I am as dumb as he is?

Jokes aside – there has to be a serious attention towards the energy shortage and sustainability. One would hope the Energy Security policy that Dr. Manmohan Singh is busy formulating will go beyond the media-hype that W has created. But for once, we have something to be agreeable with the POTUS.

Shame on you Kaka

It has been a few days since the Shiv Sena attack on Zee Television for broadcasting the satire. And the controversy is behind us now, thanks to the mediation by the common friends. Although, I can’t help but comment on it. I happened to see the satire, barring a few disturbances from unscrupulous relatives calling during that time. But never mind that. Coming back to the satire, it left many thinking what was it that would agitate the Sainiks? And what was it that would make the Hindu Hriday Samrat appreciate the behavior of agitating Sainiks. The phrase “kaka malaa vachavaa” (uncle save me) has become a part of the language with a deep meaning to it.

For the benefit of those who are not aware of the history behind this phrase, the origin dates back to mid-to-late 1700s. Narayanrao was crowned the “Peshwa” much to the chagrin of his uncle. Uncle Raghobadada had his own aspirations and under the influence of his very aggressive wife Anadibai, Raghoba conspired to kill Narayanrao. Narayanrao had to run from his own body guards to save his life. He was eventually killed in an ambush, when he was running towards his uncle shouting “kaka malaa vachavaa” – a plea to his uncle to save his life. Raghoba was brought to justice and was given the capital punishment by the venerated Justice Ram Shashtri Prabhune (Later the sentence was reduced and Raghoba sent into exile.). The legend has it that Narayanrao’s ghost haunts the ruins of Shaniwar Wada even today and one can hear the cry of “kaka malaa vachavaa” echoing from the ruins.

Legends are legends – but since then, this phrase has represented betrayal and treachery. The satire was a representation of the condition of political scene we have today - betrayal and treachery. Is the Hindu Hriday Samrat not the uncle of the reneging Raj? Did he not favor his son over his nephew? Did the nephew not expect a fair treatment from his uncle? And didn’t the whole episode play out quite funnily when the aggression and taunting was at its height? What’s wrong if a little fun is made out of it? Is the Shiv Sena supremo so great that he be treated “holier than thou”?

And, as it has been pointed out ad infinitum, didn’t the Hindu Hriday Samrat start his career as a cartoonist and still claims that he is a cartoonist at heart? Has he not made fun of people in the past? Does he not still make derogatory and particularly insulting remarks about Narayan Rane, Sharad Pawar? But when the same or similar remarks are made about him, he and his followers are angry. If he had laughed with us all, people would have forgotten the satire…after all entertainment value of such satires are incidental and does not live long. But now, thanks to the agitations and Shiv Sena’s backing of it, this satire is going to live long enough to make sure more than deserved damage is made to the party.

And what is up with the Valentine’s Day violence? Our culture is not so weak that celebrating just one day a year after a long dead saint who tried to play cupid, will bring it down. And the funniest part of it was the apology by the Hindu Hriday Samrat because Sainiks hit the girls and women as well – which apparently is not okay. Excuse me? So, are we saying it is okay for the Sainiks to hit guys? Because last time I checked, our constitution did not discriminate on gender. If you are so trigger happy and like to hit someone, why be apologetic about it? What are you trying to do here by this apology? If you feel that somehow this apology will exonerate you of this crime, it will not. If you think, in a strange Orwellian sense, you are more equal than others…shame on you…

What would

Vice President Aaron Burr say to Vice President Dick Cheney?

Both the guys seem to have a many similarities in their personalities, but Cheney surely takes the cake in the modern days.

Three Frozen Moments

It was Sunday morning and I had stepped out to run some errands. There is this dark alley between the compound wall and club house that one has to go through while getting out. Well, it is really not a dark alley, but narrow it is for sure! Barely three feet wide – you have to say, “Excuse me” if you see someone approaching from the opposite side. I met someone who would perhaps not understand “excuse me” and that too in this narrow alley. It was a dog. Thanks to Maneka Gandhi’s anti-dog sterilization efforts, there are a lot many stray four legged friends than you would care for. Now, when I see a dog approaching, I try to ignore it and go my own way. Likewise, in this narrow alley, when I saw the dog approach, I stepped aside. Now, some of us are genetically programmed to yield to left, some to yield to right. Some of us have also reprogrammed ourselves to yield based on the country. So, I keep left, and yield so the dog would pass from the right. But the animal has other plans in mind. He (or it?) wants to have some fun. So the dog yields to HIS right, like someone from the other side of the Atlantic. We are in front of each other. So, I step to right, and try to move away from the dog’s path. The dog also steps aside – now to his left and is again in front of me! Well…I try to remember when I was potty trained last. Images of newspapers reporting, “Dog mauls man” start flashing in my mind. (Serious situations call for serious thinking.) So, I again step aside in the opposite direction and lo behold – the dog’s there. What is happening here? We seem to be performing waltz like the characters in Swan Lake…. I think the dog feels the scare in the eyes of a human. But surprisingly, it has adopted a submissive posture by now – stooping neck and lowered eyes. I am happy at least there is no snarl coming from him. But this time, I stand the ground. No more waltz with you dirty fella – I say to the dog. Taking a cue from my frozen figure, the dog steps aside and walks his way…whew!

Those three moments with a mongrel K9 seem like never ending bad dream. But my heart rate eventually returns to normal and I go about my business.