Have been hearing / reading a lot about the oncoming Earth Hour.. March 27 is the day, when every one across the globe switches of lights for one hour at the same time..
4000 Cities in 92 Countries participated this time. A fantastic idea, virtually putting everything on hold.. The idea is to conserve energy. Per the report in the Dubai newspapers, they saved 170k KW in one hour. In Australia, it was equivalent to getting 42,000 cars off the road..
I am quite sure that there will be many such success stories in every country, every city. Every one would clamour to state what they achieved and people would be talking about it for a few days.. maybe weeks... And then..
Then we go to our normal lives, our daily routine, where we consume energy like there is no tomorrow. We will switch on all our lights, every single highway, every single multi storey building that we have.. Every single highway, every building, every showroom.. Our cities are going to be brightly lit for the next 364 days.. And then March 27, 2010, we will switch it over for one more hour.. And brag how much we gave to the society.
Did we really? No doubt this is a good idea, a good thought, but why can we not put this into routine practice? Can it not be done every day, every week, every month.. It is the same question that I have.. Why Mothers day one day of the year.. Fathers day too.. What about the rest of them? Are they not special.. People take an extra "effort" to contact their parents and show how much they love them? What about the remaining 364 days?
We have pushed ourselves to the limits of no return in many areas, and now we all try to improve our conciensces, by contributing to these once a year annual piligrimages. It is our way of telling the world, oh, we contribute..
Why bother.. Why have this fake attitude? Do we honestly care? Will we even remember it after one year? Reminds me of the no car day that the Dubai government recently did.. All RTA employees were informed of the no car day.. Come walking, biking, metro.. what ever, but not your car.. People came by Metro, some got dropped, some took the bus.. The fun part.. The Government paid for their tickets !!
Who are we trying to fool?
Mar 29, 2010
Mar 9, 2010
The Average Man
It is quite surprising. You think of some thing to write, you start and then you plan to come back as more thoughts come. You stop, take a break for a day, and before you know it, a couple of weeks pass out. Not becuase you planned it, for me, it is simply, will do it tomorrow. However when you come back, it is like you never stopped.
I was discussing a topic on cost of living recently, some people local, some recently moved in.. and the consensus was quite mixed. Of course, people coming from Bombay, stated that living costs were exorbitant back home, people here claimed that Dubai was unthinkable.
Bombay over the years has no doubt grown massively expensive. Demand and supply? Shortages? Real increase? No one really knows in my view. But the fact is that no matter what happens, the price is absorbed by the common man. The rate of increase in population, and the fact that disposable income has more than increased in the last 10 - 15 years, simply ensures that people will continue to spend.
More so, as every one wants to lead a good life, be seen in fancy restaurants, drive a car, have an apartment in a posh building, costs are bound to increase. Of course, as people get used to this kind of living, it becomes very difficult to ensure that the alternate source of income is a continuing trend and there are no hiccups to this.
Similar to Dubai, where I live. Costs have increased, two. Of course the main reason was the artificial inflation on the property market, second the view that anything any country did, we can do better. Good attiture, wrong approach. Rents are still sky rocketing, normal utilities have become more expensive, indirect taxation is simply at its best. People who are earning well, continue to earn well and ofcourse will continue to spend
But where does that leave the average man? There are still people who earn a lot less and living costs are a nightmare. People commit suicide on a regular basis, because they have expanded beyond their means. Current costs cannot be met, cannot be decreaased, and financial liabilities are on the rise. There are a lot of people, all around, who still face difficulties in making ends meet.
How does he survive, how does he live? Would he ever be in a situation where he can move to a better apartment in the Middle East or for that matter, back home when he goes. Would his savings suffice when he goes back home? Can he buy a house? Can he send his kids to the posh school that he dreame of?
What is indeed surprising is that Malls, Restaurants are all full throught the day, often making you wonder, is there really a bad time? Should people stop enjoying a good life when can? Of course, if no one spends, how does the economy grow?
A two sided coin, it indeed is
I was discussing a topic on cost of living recently, some people local, some recently moved in.. and the consensus was quite mixed. Of course, people coming from Bombay, stated that living costs were exorbitant back home, people here claimed that Dubai was unthinkable.
Bombay over the years has no doubt grown massively expensive. Demand and supply? Shortages? Real increase? No one really knows in my view. But the fact is that no matter what happens, the price is absorbed by the common man. The rate of increase in population, and the fact that disposable income has more than increased in the last 10 - 15 years, simply ensures that people will continue to spend.
More so, as every one wants to lead a good life, be seen in fancy restaurants, drive a car, have an apartment in a posh building, costs are bound to increase. Of course, as people get used to this kind of living, it becomes very difficult to ensure that the alternate source of income is a continuing trend and there are no hiccups to this.
Similar to Dubai, where I live. Costs have increased, two. Of course the main reason was the artificial inflation on the property market, second the view that anything any country did, we can do better. Good attiture, wrong approach. Rents are still sky rocketing, normal utilities have become more expensive, indirect taxation is simply at its best. People who are earning well, continue to earn well and ofcourse will continue to spend
But where does that leave the average man? There are still people who earn a lot less and living costs are a nightmare. People commit suicide on a regular basis, because they have expanded beyond their means. Current costs cannot be met, cannot be decreaased, and financial liabilities are on the rise. There are a lot of people, all around, who still face difficulties in making ends meet.
How does he survive, how does he live? Would he ever be in a situation where he can move to a better apartment in the Middle East or for that matter, back home when he goes. Would his savings suffice when he goes back home? Can he buy a house? Can he send his kids to the posh school that he dreame of?
What is indeed surprising is that Malls, Restaurants are all full throught the day, often making you wonder, is there really a bad time? Should people stop enjoying a good life when can? Of course, if no one spends, how does the economy grow?
A two sided coin, it indeed is
Feb 6, 2010
Nationalism
Have been reading a lot these days of the comment that SRK made about having Pakistani players in the IPL and the resultant furore about the same. Hundreds of responses, lots of views and of course many people chosing to be politically correct for not upsetting Mr. Thackeray.
Who is right and who is wrong? Is SRK wrong for chosing to comment on something that has been permitted to him by the Indian Constitution. Is Bal Thackeray correct for stating that Mumbai is for the Maharashtrians and that the Biharis and the Punjabis and Muslims are not allowed?
The irony is that most of the people simply do not bother. It does not make a difference if you are staying in Mumbai or Bombay, a Madras or a Chennai. The generation to whom it mattered are probably long gone, and the generations today are simply struggling to make a decent living and ensuring that their families grow up in an environment where there is a chance to grow, security and stability.
Bombay has always been the land of dreams and it is this place where every one comes to try their luck. It is said, no one goes hungry in Bombay and every one manages to eke out a living. Imagine if all the Tata's, Birla's, Ambani's, Bollywood (of which Mr. Thackeray's DIL is a big associate), the Wadia's were not there. What if they had received the facilities in their own home states and built themselves there. What would have happened if the Kishore Kumar's and the Mohammed Rafi's had not come to Bombay to try their luck.
Bombay is simply Bombay due to the unique cosmopolitan structure that it has built over the years. More so that a majority of the people are all from the same country, unlike a New York or a Paris, where the cosmopolitan structure is built on immigrants, and visitors who chose to live there, rather than people from the interiors of the villages deciding to try their luck.
The sheer complexity of the country with its hundreds of languages, with its cultures and the blend of people who stay side by side, away from their families, building up a life of their own, in place they call home can never be replicated by any city.
I am sure Bal Thackeray knows all this. And he knows very well, that people cannot leave, as they have their lives to think about, their families.. How best to utilize this to his advantage is some thing that the Shiv Sena has been doing for years, with its brand of terror rule, with a group of people who have no aim in life, but to enforce terror and fear into the lives of other people. There is at times no no difference from the British way of divide and rule. The more you divide people, the less they would form together, and the less chances of any one standing up to claim ones rights.
I remember reading some where long back.. The day the Indian citizen realizes his rights and stands up for it, more than half the politicians would lose their job. Unfortunately, they do not care and this is why this brand of terror and incompetency continues. The Shiv Sena's self centerd belief is forced upon people to accept, to not have a view of their own, and to have a false sense of belief of casteism and stateism.
Unfortunately, it is the country that loses. It is the identity of a citizen that is lost. You are no longer an Indian, but a Maharashtrian or a Bihari or a Tamilian.. Until and unless we wake up to the realization that we are Indians first and Indians last, we will continue to go deeper into this rut of casteism and will forever have our Modis and Thackerays to contend with. These are the people we will leave our children with, growing in a an environment of hate and anger.
Easier said than done !!
Who is right and who is wrong? Is SRK wrong for chosing to comment on something that has been permitted to him by the Indian Constitution. Is Bal Thackeray correct for stating that Mumbai is for the Maharashtrians and that the Biharis and the Punjabis and Muslims are not allowed?
The irony is that most of the people simply do not bother. It does not make a difference if you are staying in Mumbai or Bombay, a Madras or a Chennai. The generation to whom it mattered are probably long gone, and the generations today are simply struggling to make a decent living and ensuring that their families grow up in an environment where there is a chance to grow, security and stability.
Bombay has always been the land of dreams and it is this place where every one comes to try their luck. It is said, no one goes hungry in Bombay and every one manages to eke out a living. Imagine if all the Tata's, Birla's, Ambani's, Bollywood (of which Mr. Thackeray's DIL is a big associate), the Wadia's were not there. What if they had received the facilities in their own home states and built themselves there. What would have happened if the Kishore Kumar's and the Mohammed Rafi's had not come to Bombay to try their luck.
Bombay is simply Bombay due to the unique cosmopolitan structure that it has built over the years. More so that a majority of the people are all from the same country, unlike a New York or a Paris, where the cosmopolitan structure is built on immigrants, and visitors who chose to live there, rather than people from the interiors of the villages deciding to try their luck.
The sheer complexity of the country with its hundreds of languages, with its cultures and the blend of people who stay side by side, away from their families, building up a life of their own, in place they call home can never be replicated by any city.
I am sure Bal Thackeray knows all this. And he knows very well, that people cannot leave, as they have their lives to think about, their families.. How best to utilize this to his advantage is some thing that the Shiv Sena has been doing for years, with its brand of terror rule, with a group of people who have no aim in life, but to enforce terror and fear into the lives of other people. There is at times no no difference from the British way of divide and rule. The more you divide people, the less they would form together, and the less chances of any one standing up to claim ones rights.
I remember reading some where long back.. The day the Indian citizen realizes his rights and stands up for it, more than half the politicians would lose their job. Unfortunately, they do not care and this is why this brand of terror and incompetency continues. The Shiv Sena's self centerd belief is forced upon people to accept, to not have a view of their own, and to have a false sense of belief of casteism and stateism.
Unfortunately, it is the country that loses. It is the identity of a citizen that is lost. You are no longer an Indian, but a Maharashtrian or a Bihari or a Tamilian.. Until and unless we wake up to the realization that we are Indians first and Indians last, we will continue to go deeper into this rut of casteism and will forever have our Modis and Thackerays to contend with. These are the people we will leave our children with, growing in a an environment of hate and anger.
Easier said than done !!
Jan 30, 2010
Anger Management
Why do we simply lose our cool.. Perfect one minute.. Gone the next. Why do we, act perfectly rational at one moment and before you know it, are absolutely irrational. What clicks in that one second, that we just "lose it". We say something that our heart tells us that we should not be saying it, yet the mind does not listen. We go ahead and say it. Boom.. Baam.. And the arrow is out..
We sit and think it over, or do we really? We know what we said was not in place, yet we did. Are we apologetic for what we said? Do we regret what we said. And when we do, does it remove the pain inflicted at that point of time? Words once out, can never be taken back. We all know it.. "Sorry" has no value. And we all stive for it. .Yet we say it.. We totally mean it at the time we utter something.
The thought just comes to mind, as I too go through these situations. Something that some one said, some thing that some one did. We just did not like it. And we go all out. Makes you realise at a later point in time, that how powerful the mind of a human being is. It works faster than what we can imagine it to. It even does not permit us to be in control.
Are we all living in a society where people are all so frustrated with things that the first opportunity to go all out comes, and we do it? Is this frustration on life itself? Is this frustration on situations that we know are not when we are aware that people have short tempers, do just the thing that invokes the short temper. Why not do things that go not generate friction. Why do we have to ensure that we rub people the wrong way? Why do we simply not try? Where does it leave us? Midway in life, with no one on our side?
Can we learn from our mistakes? Do we take the effort to improve, or are simply that way, because we are that way and cannot change?
Time is a great healer it is said, and life moves on. It never waited for any one, nor will it ever will. Wounds heal, leaving little or no marks. Sorrows become rememberances. Good times become fond memories. Words uttered in a moment of madness, remain with us every day for the rest of our life.. Both with the person who said it and the person who was said to?
Is it worth it?
We sit and think it over, or do we really? We know what we said was not in place, yet we did. Are we apologetic for what we said? Do we regret what we said. And when we do, does it remove the pain inflicted at that point of time? Words once out, can never be taken back. We all know it.. "Sorry" has no value. And we all stive for it. .Yet we say it.. We totally mean it at the time we utter something.
The thought just comes to mind, as I too go through these situations. Something that some one said, some thing that some one did. We just did not like it. And we go all out. Makes you realise at a later point in time, that how powerful the mind of a human being is. It works faster than what we can imagine it to. It even does not permit us to be in control.
Are we all living in a society where people are all so frustrated with things that the first opportunity to go all out comes, and we do it? Is this frustration on life itself? Is this frustration on situations that we know are not when we are aware that people have short tempers, do just the thing that invokes the short temper. Why not do things that go not generate friction. Why do we have to ensure that we rub people the wrong way? Why do we simply not try? Where does it leave us? Midway in life, with no one on our side?
Can we learn from our mistakes? Do we take the effort to improve, or are simply that way, because we are that way and cannot change?
Time is a great healer it is said, and life moves on. It never waited for any one, nor will it ever will. Wounds heal, leaving little or no marks. Sorrows become rememberances. Good times become fond memories. Words uttered in a moment of madness, remain with us every day for the rest of our life.. Both with the person who said it and the person who was said to?
Is it worth it?
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