Massive fodder for thought!

These days I here a lot about these stuff- global warming,eco-conciousness,carbon foot print etc etc. And I came across this movie by Al Gore- the inconvenient truth.

I grew up in a typical middle class family. There was no shortage of necessities, but wastage of any form was considered a crime. One look from my dad and uncles, and I would gobble up all the unappetizing vegetables on my plate. My brother and I would get reprimanded if we failed to switch off the tube lights and fans after we leave a room. When we went out, either our Bajaj scooter was running at full capacity or we would take the public transportation. Even today I can see my dad getting groceries from a local shop in those cone shaped paper babgs only.Plastic bags are very rare in Tirunelveli.Whenever we had a family get together, banana leaves were used as plates.Even when we go out on picnics I remember how my dad used to pack food in a banana leaf so skilfully!In hindsight, although most of what I have cited were prompted by economic reasons, I couldn't help noticing how environmentally sound these practices were. Today, as we battle global warming, and food price inflation, and talk about reducing carbon footprint and adopting a minimalist approach to life, I smile and wonder how complicated we have made our lives to be.


Are we as a society really heading back to where our ancestors came from? A leisurely pace of life. A physically demanding lifestyle like ploughing fields, drawing water from a well and well! walking everywhere to get things done.

One of my friends was extolling the virtues of brown rice over white. Is that not what our grandparents and to an extent our parents grew up on? In the process of modernization we have managed to strip rice of its natural goodness and then add the nutrients back through chemical means and make it fortified white rice. So indeed have we managed inject cows with hormones to give more milk and now search for ‘organic’ milk so we are not overdosing ourselves on hormones. We spray pesticides to keep the crops healthy and end up paying double for pesticide free produce.


In our pursuit of bigger homes, fancier computers, seasonal clothes, monstrous cars we have become a huge part of the equation. It all ties in with an earlier discussion here on this blog about going back to Nature and completing this Circle of Life. Here are some things each of us can adopt in our everyday lives to be part of this movement. To leave a bit of this beautiful planet we are on for our children and grandchildren.

I am yet to decide how or what I am going to do to get involved. The onus is on us as people of a generation that can take charge. The generation that can leave the world a better place than it found it.

Lucky for me, I can manage by borrowing a leaf or two from my childhood!

A peek into my mind

I came across this "meme" thing and was intrigued and wanted to see what I would come up with. Some surprised me as well. Anyways, here it is.

I am: right now at a place where I am looking to understand what I am
I think: way too much
I know: I am loved
I have: two adorable kids
I wish: I pursue my dreams with the same fervor as I start out with
I hate: being stood up
I miss: my mom and dad
I fear: being jobless
I hear: silence in between words
I smell: johnson's baby powder
I crave: interesting company
I search: for the right words to say.
I wonder: what I will be when I am 60
I love: my family
I ache: when I see people I care about in pain
I am not: as brave as I would like to be
I believe: in having faith
I dance: when no one is looking
I sing: only for my kids
I cry: more often than I would like to
I fight: for anything I believe is right
I win: if I really put my mind to it.
I lose: my temper more often than I wish to(especially with H.)
I never: regret being what I am
I confuse: H with inconsistent moods
I listen: when I care
I can usually be found: at home
I am scared: of being lonely
I am happy about: the way I have shaped up as a person
I imagine: my life will have a happy ending

I did it to put down how I thought now. Might take a look again later to see if things have changed?! Though, I would definitely like to know others’ thoughts

Failure ...

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

English

Yesterday while I was preparing Neha for her Spelling Test, we came across "laugh".So she asked me whyis the spelling simply not "lauf" and I had to explain to her whenever "gh" comes it is pronounced like "f".She hardly looked convinced! And the next word was "plough" and now she asked me why here "gh" does not sound like "f"? I gave a blank look and just told her what I had always felt ,"E nglish is a very funny language , kanna."

There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins were not invented in England or french fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. Is cheese the plural of choose? And, one moose, 2 meese?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?

When a house burns up, it burns down.

You fill in a form by filling it out and an alarm clock goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?
Does anyone have the answers? That might help me answer my 6 year old and the 6 year old in me!

Independence....

I am still mulling over what independence is...I see my neighbour's dog, sleek and well-fed, cared for and loved, with a collar that marks her lack of independence....and I see the street dog, with its ribs sticking out, cringing at the stones it expects to be thrown any minute, yet hopeful that a scrap of food will be thrown its way....is independence always good if it is not accompanied by financial independence? But yet so many people choose it...people in highly-paid jobs move to work where they will be independent, and do not count the rewards in terms of money.

I am very thoughtful today; yesterday I watched a panel discussion on TV, in which, after listening to speakers from the IT sector and the police describing the security measures being taken to counter terrorism in this city, someone in the audience got up and forcibly made the point, that it is the poor people who are the least protected by the police, and they who are the most affected by acts of terrorism. So I am pondering over the eternal question of why those who need the most protection never fall under society's umbrella, why the weak are left to fend for themselves....

Are you ready to conquer the mountains?

I borrowed Oh, the Places You'll Go! from the local library last week for Neha and it turns out that I am hooked on to it since then. One can mull and chew over the contents of this truly inspiring book for hours together.

The book beautifully illustrates how a brainy and footsy person like you can conquer mountains in life. You will live your life according to the choices you make. You will fly high and you will be the best. This, however, does not make you immune to the downs in life. When those downs do happen, it will be scary, lonely and unpleasant to overcome. Nevertheless, you will move on without too much waiting and staying. You will learn to step with care and that life is a great balancing act. And at the end of it all, you will indeed succeed (alteast 98 and 3/4 percent of the times, according to some weird statistics by the author).


Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourselfany direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets.
Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there"
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find anyyou'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener therein the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high flierswho soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind,
because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly,
you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go,
you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are,
then,that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted.
But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out?
Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose?
How much can you win?
And IF you go in,
should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters?
Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not,
I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to racedown
along wiggled roads
at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles
across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear,
toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place..... ...
for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come,
or a plane to go
or the mail to come,
or the rain to go
or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go!
There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored.
there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame!
You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone,
there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some,
down the road
between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up manya frightening creek,
though your arms may get soreand your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed upwith many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life'sa Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...be your name Buxbaum
or Bixby or Brayor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss
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I am determined to own a copy of this book. Neha will enjoy the vibrant colors and the rhyming words and I will cherish the underlying lessons.

A very vetti post!

Parenting often makes you think about the oddest things in life. Of late, I have been fascinated by how the different parts of the human body can handle varying degrees of temperature. When I offer something piping hot to Nishant, I like to feed him the first few bites with my hand because I know if my hand can handle the temperature, the tongue, which is more heat tolerant than the hand, can handle it too. The opposite is true for hair wash. If the water is not hot enough for the body, it is good enough for the head. At night, I make it compulsory for Nishant to wear his socks because if his feet, which retains the heat in the body, is protected, he should be fine even if the blankie fails to keep him cosy. The one thing that is still a mystery though is how to protect the sensitive nose that sometimes acts like an immature sibling who turns green with envy when attention is lavished on the brother or sister. As I lay down fully bundled up with a pair of socks, a sweater and two comforters on me, content that nothing can come between me and my sleep, my nose makes it presence felt by getting a tad chillier. A battle pursues between my nose and my comforter for the next few minutes and before I know it, I slip into glorious sleep; only to wake up in the middle of the night when my body declares loud and clear that in my enthusiasm to stay snug, perhaps I went a little too far. Apologetically, I toss out my sweater and socks, before I slip into dreamland again.

The Kite Runner

After reading Khaled Hosseini's second best book, I had my heart set on his debut, The Kite Runner. As tempting as it was, I refused to finish the book in one sitting. I savored it, word by word, line by line, reluctantly turning the pages as the novel was drawing to a close. Have you observed how following a calamity, natural or man made, the media is rife with people stories; stories that provide first hand account of what had happened and what it was like to be caught in that pandemonium. That's exactly how I look at The Kite Runner as well. As a one man's narration of how his life was influenced by the ethnic clashes in Afghanistan, and the twists and turns in the nation's political setup.



Review: Whenever an ambulance or a fire engine passes by when I am on the road, my first reaction is to say a 20 second prayer. A prayer for the well being of the person who has met with the accident, and a prayer to thank God for making me and my family to be at the right place at the right time. That's the kind of reaction that this novel invoked. After reading the book, I felt awful for what the Afghans had/have to go through and wished that things changed for the better, sooner than later. Then I felt thankful for being endowed with the privilege of leading a normal life. As boring as normal can sometimes be, I am more than willing to take it any day.



Rating: Quick read, easy to follow, compelling narration, do yourself a favor by reading this book. I rate this book as outstanding.