Education in Rural India

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I am actively associated with Ekal Vidyalaya Movement, which runs One Teacher Schools in more than 35,000 villages all across the country helping more than 10.5 lac children in remote Bharat. (You can visit www.ekal.org to know more).
Recently I, as the President of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India, had the opportunity of taking Rodney Clark, a GM at Microsoft, USA to a few villages in Rajasthan to show him what Ekal is doing. I am happy to give below the report sent by Rodney on Ekal's work.
I hope you will enjoy reading this.
Rodney Clark, GM, MICROSOFT, narrates his experience of Ekal Vanyatra
It’s been more than 2 weeks since my feet touched the soil in the Village of Todi. A small remote village in the state of Rajasthan, India. We pulled into the village @ close to 3 PM on a dirt road, almost never traveled by car. I was in the back seat and when my door opened, my nose was filled with dust and the faint smell of mustard (from the crops growing around the villages). There was a lot of commotion and not understanding the Hindi language I couldn’t make out exactly what was happening. I could hear the loud banging of a bass and snare drum, I could see people scurrying but that was it. Within seconds, I was immediately surrounded by more than 30 villagers… By the time I could take everything in, I had been presented with 4 garland strands of flowers around my neck. I had one of the village women place the Tilak (ritual mark on the forehead that is viewed as a sign blessing, greeting) on my forehead, and my head had been wrapped in a decorative red cotton turban.
The day started with a meeting in my Hotel lobby in Delhi with Sri Vijay Maroo. Sri Maroo is the Managing Director of the Ranchi Express Group (a media outlet) and also President of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India. Ekal Vidyalaya a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing education and development in rural India. The goal of Ekal is to help eradicate illiteracy in rural and tribal India by 2015. Sri Maroo was accompanied by Sri Vijay Sethi a retired government official and a member of the Ekal executive Committee and Anush Kumar an Ekal employee who had just moved up from Southern India to dedicate more time to the cause. I had come to learn of Ekal and meet my new friends through fellow Microsoft Employee, Vasavi Epari. In October 2009, during Microsoft’s Annual Giving Campaign Vasavi shared with me the mission on Ekal Vidyalaya. As a supporter of early childhood education I was immediately curious on the impact that a cause such as Ekal could have in a country as Large as India. Vasavi later introduced me to Sri Subhash Gupta, president of the US Ekal chapter. I had the privilege of sitting with Sri Gupta where he talked about the work and goals of Ekal in supporting Education and development. I was impressed with the mission and on the spot committed to visiting an Ekal school on my next trip to India.
We left the hotel in Delhi slightly after 9 AM. Together we drove 3.5 hours (about 200K) South to the town of Alwar. Alwar is roughly 500K people and home to many of the Ekal regional volunteers for the state of Rajasthan. In route to Alwar, I started to get a better sense of life within India, outside of a big city. As a maturing global economy and market, India is still made up of thousands of small, rural towns and villages. These small towns rely heavily on farming and local trade to keep pace. I was able to see commerce in motion – the buying and trading of goods, workers transporting heavy loads and goods on camel pulled carts and buggys. To my surprise, I even saw an elephant being used for transport and removal of contraction debris. Sri Maroo was a gracious host. Along the route we talked Ekal Vision and we talked about the overall state of Education within India. As the conversation progressed I was able to slip in a few innocent questions about the sites and life in rural India (he could tell without asking that I was taken with the Camel buggies). Mainly however I kept silent and tried to take in as much of the countryside as I could.
We were greeted on the Alwar City limits by a team of local Ekal Volunteers. We were presented with flower garland around our necks and then preceded to the home of Sri Rajesh Bansal. Sri Bansal’s family had prepared a traditional Indian lunch. I learned quickly that the very basic rules of hospitality applied in Sri Bansal’s house – the more that I ate, the more that showed up on my plate. Thank you Sri Bansal! You have a wonderful family and I was honoured to be a guest in your home!
After lunch the Ekal team had a small conversation to confirm our plan and we were on Vanayatra (a Hindi saying for “with Forest” or “outside”) - off to the first village of Todi about 70Km and more than 90 min drive from Alwar. Considering I was the first to be fitted with a turban, I had a chance to watch the other distinguished guests receive their proper greeting. The welcome processional – with the endless bass and snare drum carried on for about 5 minutes. It took us to the heart of the village. Taking in as much as I could, I was surprised to see the cement buildings and structures. Some that I would describe as houses and some I would describe as multi-purpose shelters (possibly large multi family living spaces). The buildings were delightfully colored, mixing in an occasional blue, or pink or orange, as well as a mix of natural cement gray. At the center of the village was a small courtyard. This was also where they conducted classes and school for the children. The school floor was a raised cement platform adjacent to a fixed cement structure. And just like Sri Gupta referenced in our initial meeting, the school was indeed underneath the shade of the largest tree in the village. Once at the school, my attention turned to the children of Todi. Approximately 50 kids in the school ages 4-13 sat in 4 very organized rows. About 1/3 of the students were young girls. You could clearly see that this was not a normal school day. There was definitely some formality involved because of Sri Maroo’s status and I would imagine because of my presence as well. Sri Maroo was introduced, followed by myself and then the rest of the volunteers who had accompanied us on the trip.
The kids did their welcome prayer and then the teacher began to lead the students in a lesson on math (counting) and then into some basic sounds and reading. The kids recited many of the lessons repeating after a lead student or the teacher. A few kids were called to the chalk board to solve math problems – from simple addition to complex multiplication. Each kid that stood up appeared more confident than the next. During the demonstration Sri Maroo took some time to show and explain the curriculum and books that Ekal provided to the schools. The books looked like a traditional school / study book for basic math and reading. Sri Maroo also walked me through how Ekal tracked progress of the students. From attendance to simple progress reporting on key life lessons and skills. A simple hand written log / report that each Ekal teacher is required to fill out daily and submit to the regional team on a monthly basis. I was tempted to talk technology as an enabler but resisted in the moment.
Watching the kids interact and seeing them in this learning environment, there is no doubt to me that the efforts of Ekal are making a difference for the kids and for the Villages that are a part of their curriculum. In many of these villages, families rely on their children as wage earners and providers. The attendance records reflected that school and education has high value. I was pleased to hear the dialog between Ekal executives and Villagers encouraging the kids to also attend Government run schools in their areas. In the village of Todi, at least 1/3 by show of hands when asked, also attend a government run school in addition to Ekal.
My experience in Todi was repeated 2 more times. The next village of Barankabas , a village of 300 people who are working hard on educating the kids, and also working diligently to progress their organic farming methods – one of the key outcomes that Ekal is promoting in the various villages. In Barankabas I was honored with the privilege participating in the school session with the lighting of a candle that is lit traditionally to bring blessings over the lesson and gathering for the day. The lesson plan and curriculum demonstration was similar to Todi. This school had about 30 kids in the 4-11 yr range. Girls made up about 40%. The teacher in this school was quite young, maybe only 16 himself. The model calls for a teacher to come directly from the village in which they are serving. In this case, it was clear that this young man, while instructing the kids, was also learning how to become a leader in his own right.
Our last stop was the village of Banjara Basti. This particular village was population 100 and filled with transient and nomadic parents who move around often in search of better land and better living. The kids in this village were more curious than confident. It was evident in just the short amount of time that we were there that Ekal School was the only structured education that these kids might ever see, and potentially the only structure that these families see on a regular basis. Looking back, I wish we could have spent more time in Banjara Basti to get a better sense of the many ways that Ekal was supporting the village.
Prior to this experience, I connected Village to the notion of “poor”, “struggling” or “underprivileged”. While the villages may not have all the amenities of a large or developing city, they are rich with many things that are often times overlooked or undervalued in these more developed cities;
They are rich with Happiness – everywhere we went and every place we visited I saw smiles on the faces of the children, of the Village citizens, of the elders. They are rich with Respect – for elders, for their visitors for their teachers – whom themselves each come from the villages in which they teach.
They are rich in confidence – The kids greeted and talked with adults in a confident yet respectful tone. There were all mature beyond their years. They are rich in Hospitality – I felt welcomed in every village that we visited. The welcome processionals, which of course were flattering, each went out of their way to ensure that their guests were comfortable.
They are rich with Beauty – Beauty in many ways. The setting and surrounding within each village, the buildings and shelters, The play, the smiles, the people, the respect, all beautiful!
The simple lifestyle has brought about simple necessities. Education, health and well-being are clearly simple necessities. I was proud that at least for 1 day that I was living a part of the Ekal mission.
The day was over and we started our drive back toward Alwar. With the sun setting I had a last chance to take in a few sites; goat herders making their last trek of the day, wild peacocks flying in the mustard fields and countryside. It was a great time for reflection.
We made a stop in Alwar where we had a recap over toast and tea with the group of volunteers that had made the trek with us. While not fluent in Hindi, it was clear that all felt that the day was a success and a great experience. I was asked to share my thoughts and observations and had this to say;
That I was truly humbled by each and every volunteer who has chosen to give time to Ekal and promoting Education and healthy living in these remote villages. I was truly honored to accompany them on a visit. I was overwhelmed by the level of hospitality and that I was grateful to see and experience life in a small village. More importantly I was impressed with how the elders have embraced education and understand its positive impact on the kids. A great experience that I am thankful to have had. The drive back to Delhi was a little longer than anticipated – I also learned about mid-night traffic jams !!
Thanks again everyone who made this trip and experience a reality for me. I will cherish my experiences for a long time to come.
Rodney Clark

Don't pull down Adarsh - the tainted multi-storey bldg in Mumbai

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Read the news of the Environment Ministry giving orders to demoish the tainted multi-storey Adarsh building in Mumbai. Now, precious national wealth has been used - be it the cement, steel, labour etc. Why don't we make this a national monument and use it for education of the poor living nearby? Specialised courses should be made where the needy children are given education with values so that they do not indulge in corruption when they grow up. Specialised courses should be made where the needy children are given education which will not only give them a degree but also skills for an opportunity to earn.

The building should not be demolished and precious national wealth wasted. Disposing of the waste will be another big problem. Use this for the needy and let this building stand to remind us how we flouted all rules to see this coming up, how we kept our eyes closed while this was being constructed.

Should we really rejoice?

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Today’s newspapers had a headline on its business pages saying that the sales of a car maker jumped 17% in December 2010. Another headline today was that 20 new models to hit road in 2011. Now, I am wondering if we really should rejoice over these news items.
As it is our roads are choked with traffic. And this situation is not only in the metro cities but all the state capitals and even in smaller towns. These traffic snarls have led to the environmental deterioration, have led to road rages; we have been reading news of fights over parking space and to top all this we have seen deaths on roads, because of accidents, rising every day.
Can one imagine the toll these vehicles are taking on the health of each one of us. The exhaust from the vehicles is not the only culprit. What about the mental tension one has while driving today?
Yes, our economy is rising with more vehicles being produced, with more people getting jobs but all this at what cost?
I am of the opinion that we should produce more public transport vehicles – be it the buses or the metro trains. Better public transport for the people will surely help in reducing the number of vehicles on city roads.

National Resources For Constructive Use

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We have been regularly reading in the newspapers or watching on TV of news informing us of the demolition drive against illegal constructions or news regarding how influential persons have made constructions beyond the allowed coverage area. I am not a statistician or I would have said that so many schools or so many hospitals could have been built from the so many demolitions done in Delhi alone in the last one year. This goes on not only in Delhi but blatantly throughout the country. The basic issue is that this is not some black money which has been kept hidden or parked abroad. This is something which is visible. We have just overlooked it. We should wake up to this. The persons supposed to look after all this have been seeing the construction going on and in fact allowing it, though illegally. We must realize that it is our labour, our cement and steel which has been turned into rubbles. The country has lost so much. And, yes, we could have constructed a number of schools and hospitals for the needy from this cement and steel and labour.

India Has Done It

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Yes, we have done it. The opening of the Commonwealth Games last evening was just spectacular. The dazzling ceremony must have left the viewers around the globe spell bound as it did to me. As an Indian I am even more proud today.
Till the last moment many had apprehensions but things went smoothly. Even the media reporting weeks before the opening played its role. We may say that a very negative image of the country was created but then the media acted as a watch dog and may be this triggered the organisers to act on its toes. The opening made a point that small skirmishes can not tarnish the image of the greatest democracy on the world.
The national capital is looking all decked up. Very few instances of the common man using the exclusive games lane on road are being noticed. Delhites must be complimented for this.
It is now the turn of each one of us to see that we keep the city clean, stay disciplined on the road and show it to the world that India is great.

Games - Image India

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Now it is the turn of each one of us to showcase our own contribution to the success of the Commonwealth Games starting in just one week. Special lanes have been created on the roads of Delhi exclusively for the participants in these Games. And when they will travel on these roads these visitors from abroad are eagerly going to watch us. They will watch us as to how we drive, how we keep our city clean. Let us not worry as to what the authorities should do on this count. Let us ensure that we will drive properly. It will help in better traffic management. There will be less number of accidents reported next day in the newspapers. And, yes, when these foreigners will pass by they will witness a disciplined, educated citizen driving the way it should be done. On the pavements we should ensure that at least we will not litter around. Not that they will see us in the act itself but also to ensure that they see clean footpaths. In the market place many of these visitors will come to see the Indian handicrafts and enjoy the traditional food that we have to offer. Let us make their visits memorable. Yes, we will do it.

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness

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Now that the Commonwealth Games are just a few days away we Indian should see to it how best the image of our country is projected. We have heard a lot about what has not happened, how we have bungled on the preparations etc. However, is it not the way we do everything at home. Even in marriages at home or the inauguration of a mall our finishing work goes on till the last minute, till the time the groom has come on the gates or till the time the chief guest is about to cut the ribbon.
Recently we were witness to photos of the games village with dirty sinks, toilets etc. Do we expect the high officials to visit each of these places to see if everything is spic and span. I am not justifying their lack of responsibility or the action that these high ups should have taken, but then what we, as a common citizen are doing.
We will have to introspect as to where have we failed in teaching ourselves the virtues of healthy living in clean conditions. We come across slogans saying ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’ at so many places. Still we do not want to realize that cleanliness can alone give each one of us good health.
Today in cities like Mumbai and Delhi we hear of thousands effected by Dengue or Malaria – all because of lack of cleanliness. And for this we just keep on blaming the authorities. What are we doing about this? Are we adding to the problem or are we helping in solving the problem?
It must be realized that the mosquito which will bite will not distinguish between rich and poor, between castes or creed. Let us vow that we will help in keeping our surroundings clean.

Education With Values

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Early in the morning today I had to go for a meeting. It was time for the children to go to schools. I could see a number of students waiting at several stops for their bus to come. There were a few who were going to schools in their own vehicle being dropped by their parents or drivers. At a crossing while I was waiting for the traffic signal light to turn green I saw a young mother jump the red light to drive her child to the school. The child was big enough to understand that her mother should have stopped instead of jumping the red light. When this child grows will s/he have regards for law, will s/he listen to parents when they tell this is right and this is wrong? Give this a thought. What are we teaching our child to do? It is not only the books which gives education to the children. It is the deeds that we do all the time which is also being observed by the child.
It is rightly said that giving education only will not be enough. This education should be with ‘sanskar’ or with values. Today, most of the laws are broken by literate people and not by the illiterates.

Bottled Water

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A friend of mine sent me a link to a video clip showing how indiscriminately we use bottled water. And how this effects the environment. I was really touched and started wondering aren’t we adding to this problem. We go to theatres, malls, exhibitions etc. and always carry a bottle. We even ask for bottled water in the best of restaurants. Similarly when we travel we carry bottles. Now a days even in public functions one is offered smaller packed bottles instead of the glasses used earlier. No doubt we would always like to drink good quality water to avoid getting sick. But then can an alternative be found. Yes, it can be done. We should ask the authorities to ensure that good quality filtered water is made available at the theatres, malls, exhibition halls, restaurants, railways stations, airports etc. Good efficient water purification machines can be installed. We will have to convince the people at large that the water available here is of good quality and can be consumed without risk. We should not think of short term gains and feel that this action would hit the manufacturer or the seller. Let us think of the global environment on a long term view. Today, we may be consuming millions of bottles every day. May be with this small gesture we can reduce this consumption and do our little bit for saving the environment.

Reviewing What We Teach

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The Government’s move to provide free education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 is a historic decision. It would certainly take time to get the act enacted in totality. It should be the duty of all of us to see how we can help in making this come true at the earliest. We will also have to review what we are teaching. A committee of experts should be formed to study the books that are used for teaching in schools all over the country. Recently I was helping my grandchild when his Class III examinations were going on. I was surprised to find a reference to ‘Loktantra Ki Sthapna’. Imagine a Class III student in the age of 8 learning about ‘democracy’. At another place there was a reference to ‘one anna’ – a currency that we replaced long back (in 1957 if I am correct). Either we should have a chapter telling the history of currency or use the current denominations. Imagine I had to first answer what is ‘Loktantra’ and what is ‘anna’ before helping him with his other questions.

Death on Roads

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I get quite upset whenever I read a news about people dying in a road accident. Today, 22 people died when a bus fell in a river in UP in India. I am informed that more people die in road accidents in India every day then by terrorism.
Lack of training of drivers of public transport system and also of private vehicles is one of the major causes for these road accidents. Overloading in public transport is also one reason. Other reasons could be poor maintenance of vehicles and also of the roads.
We as individuals should try to do our best to see that this untimely death of many could be avoided. May be we write to the authorities, use our influence in requesting them to be a little more vigilant.
While we can not do much to stop terrorism completely the deaths on roads can surely be brought down considerably.

Not Invited To Copenhagen Summit, Still I Care For The Environment

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The Copenhagen meet has started and the heads of nations of 193 countries are debating on climate change. The media has been active in giving us the news and views on this.
Let these big people take major decisions on how to save this planet and negotiate as to who should share the burden of climate change, make other policies etc.
Let me and you just concentrate on as to how, we as an individual can do our bit to save the environment and make this planet livable for our children and their children. The way things are moving now it seems that unless each one of us are serious about this problem – call it global warming, call it environmental degradation or what ever, may be we will survive but surely not the next generation. (And by survival it is meant that one lives healthily for an average life span.)
What can we do, as individuals?
Each one of us can certainly help. Do not ever think that your small little effort will go waste. Who knows millions like you are doing their bit and it is only because of these small efforts that we are still alive.
Just a few ideas:
Reduce the consumption of everything: I firmly believe that we should not consume anything that is not essential. I remember being told that before buying any thing think for a moment if I can do without it. This simple equation goes for anything and everything. I know if we reduce our consumption many of our industries will cease to exist but isn’t this better than we not existing. In the long run if there is no one alive who is going to use all that is being produced.
Reuse everything that is possible: This will decrease the demand of new products, which would help in saving of the environment.
Recycle everything that can be so done: A very informative article on rag pickers has appeared which throws light as to how they help in saving our planet. They work in the most unhygienic conditions and still it is their efforts which send many items for recycling.
Opt for better quality products: We should opt for good quality products which last longer. Cheap products have to be replaced faster and ultimately one ends up spending more – extra resources going to waste.
Improve maintenance of products: I do not have figures but I am informed that astronomical amount of money is wasted because of poor maintenance, in all fields. Just one example – phenomenal amount is wasted because the iron that we use gets rusted as it is not given proper regular coating.
Adopting trees for taking its care, pooling cars, bicycling wherever possible, saving water, saving electricity, driving properly and saving fuel on the road, and many such efforts can be made by each one of us to save this planet.
And yes, you must create awareness on this wherever possible – amongst friends, family or in clubs; in seminars, workshops, etc. You know, when people find out that you are so concerned may be some become a little more careful.
I know you would also have many such ideas – share them.

Less Cars, More Buses

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In the Indian newspapers we have been reading every day that the car sales have jumped in spite of the other factors which led to the economic slow down. A number of foreign car manufacturers in the country are faring much better in India than in other countries. However, I fail to understand how we are rejoicing in such a scenario. It will certainly give a boost to the economy, may give a little fillip to the employment scenario – but at what cost?
All the cities and towns are choked with cars. We witness traffic jams all over. The pollution level is constantly rising leading to health hazards and adding to global warming.
Should we then consider a ban on manufacture of cars and lay stress on improving our public transport system? We should produce more buses. We should even consider making the buses luxurious so that one is not tempted to travel in his/her own car. We will certainly have to build more metros and improve on the existing city transport system. Our roads will have to improve for these buses to run smoothly.
Let us not just copy the west and increase our consumption of luxury items for which our children and their children will have to pay a very heavy price.

Empowerment of the poor

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In the last week of October I had the opportunity of attending the Ekal International Conference in Delhi. In this meet about 15,000 volunteers of Ekal had assembled, out of which some 13,000 were from remote India. Most of them were tribal. (I may inform you that Ekal runs more than 28,000 One Teacher Schools in the Indian villages. And the aim is to reach 100,000 villages with Ekal’s work by 2013.)
In this Conference these rural volunteers had come to interact with their urban counterparts, to let them know as to what capacity building has been done because of Ekal’s work.
From the stage a few of them narrated their experiences, in front of this mammoth gathering. It was a sight to see the confidence with which they were talking, the truthfulness which could be felt. (Many were talking in Hindi but some in their mother-tongue which was later translated for the benefit of all.)
An exhibition of the different areas depicted the work being done there. Even here all the stalls were manned by the locals and one could see their empowerment through the work they were doing for their community.
If more and more people come out to help such movements to empower the marginalized persons in remote Bharat, India can soon become a super power in the real sense.

Traffic jams and us

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Yesterday, while driving back from office, I was about 200 meters away from my home when I got stuck in a pretty bad traffic jam. With no signs of an early clearance I parked my car on the side and tried to find out what had happened. It was the usual story of people loosing their patience and not adhering to basic traffic manners. People in a hurry had driven on the wrong side and obstructed the vehicles coming from the opposite direction. And when the same story was repeated by many from all four sides at the crossing the traffic chaos followed.
It was a little later that I saw a youngster helping in making some sense on the road. I joined him and for the next one and a half hour we two at one end and a few others a little distance away managed to clear the traffic. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to provide some help but then I was quite sad too.
We, the literate ones, driving big cars do not have any patience. We feel that we are the only ones who have to reach early. We do not realize that may be there was a patient in one of the stranded vehicles who had to rush for medical aid, may be there were infants needing care at home. And one can watch this happening every day. A fraction of a second delay and we can not resist the temptation to drive in the wrong lane. Do we have any right to complain for any thing when we ourselves do such acts of omission?
Let us all be a little considerate and by small things like this we can serve the community that we live in, for the good of all of us.

Making a Difference

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The other day I was in Mumbai. Chatting with a friend, I was pleasantly surprised to know of how innovative one can become if one really wants to do something positive. He was talking about how in the school of his grand child the kids were asked to bring the electricity bills of the house. The children were told that the bills were very high and from next month this should come down. They were told of how the environment would be saved if they switched off the unnecessary light, or the fan or the Air Conditioner. This had such an effect on the child that he offered to sleep one day in his room with the AC on and one day without the AC. He will switch off an unnecessary light or fan and ask the parents to do the same. I was also informed that in that school no student can be dropped or picked up by his/her own vehicle or even a pooled vehicle. All students have to compulsorily come in the school bus. All of us should take a lesson.

Water & Power Shortage, What Are WE Doing ?

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The talk of the town is scorching heat and shortage of water. We have been hearing a lot about late arrival of the monsoons, heat wave conditions in most parts of the country, the people coming on roads to protest shortage of water and power. While we all keep on reading about this, seeing this on the TV and awaiting the rain Gods to help we should ponder as to what we are doing to avoid this crisis. It is high time that each one of us should also share this responsibility and just not keep on blaming the government. Every individual's effort to save can ease the problem to a great extent. And it is not only you saving but you also propogating this idea to others, you also convincing others to do the same. Various ideas can come to save water and electicity. Each one of you can help by exchanging these ideas through various means. Just don't feel that your effort of saving a bucket full of water or a Kilowatt a day would not be able to ease this grave situation. Imaging a million people doing this - what you get is saving of a million buckets of water and a million kw of power every day. So let's start this today, now. Some ideas given below (not all original from me)
1. Switch off any lights/fans, ACs, computers that you are not using or that you can avoid.
2. While running ACs see if you can share staying in one room instead of a number of ACs running at home or office.
3. While running ACs put this on a little high temperature, say 23 degrees instead of the minimum and use a fan also to ciruclate the cool air.
4. Avoid using lifts for short climbs.
5. Use power saving CFL lights.
6. Serve water to guests in bottles and empty glasses so that they can take only the quantity they want. (You rarely use the poured water in glasses once you take back)
7. Avoid unnecessary washing of utensils and clothes. Take your decision judiciously.
8. Get your car cleaned with a bucket of water and not by piped water.
You can keep on adding to this list. I would just like to add that please have consideration for those who do not have gen sets and invertors and who do not have stored water tanks or tube wells at their home.
You must appreciate that people staying in metros and bigger towns are so very well off and with politicians taking up their cause but there are areas which do not see power for hours and hours or may be even days (though power is provided to them) and there are people who have to walk great distances to fetch their daily needs for water.

Avoiding Polythene Bags

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In today's newspaper there is a news of heavy fines to be made on use of polythene bags even after a ban some six months back in Delhi. People have to be educated about this. Only a law and fine is not going to help much. And these poly bags are convenient and cheap and their use has increased so much. In this heat these poly-bags are also used to carry water by the poor people. However, it is the rich and educated who should understand the gravity of the situation more. Let us learn and teach to the others that we should avoid using poly-bags and instead use eco-friendly paper or jute bags. It is heartening to see a lot many people going to the market carrying their own bags. This is a lesson one should learn and implement. Even at home we collect our garbage every day in poly bags (though mostly used ones) and give it to the boy every morning who comes and collects this. Can we just dump the garbage by emptying our dust bin in the big bag that he brings? I will also request all readers to implement and influence others to stop using a poly cover for the invitations that we send out for marraiges or other occasions. Even without this poly cover the invitation will reach the destination. And to my media friends a request to use paper covers instead of poly covers for sending their magazines to subscribers. Simple actions can save thousands of poly bags (in different forms) daily. We should all join hands to take corrective measures to save our environment. Be selfish. This is for our own well being and for the well being of our next generation.

Vote, you must

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The elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in India are to be held in April/May. And this is the opportunity for us to elect some one who can deliver. Our system may not give us the ideal leaders. Still, this is the only opportunity for each one of us.
We keep on cursing our politicians, our system but this is also a fact that many of us do not go and vote. Sitting in our drawing rooms with our friends we keep on criticizing how the ruling government has bungled things but when it comes to elect a new government we go on holidaying.
We should also look to this inaction of ours from another angle. If we do not go and vote may be our vote is being misused. When you go and vote you not only do your duty as a good citizen but also see to it that no one else votes on your behalf. After all it is your country and it is your duty also to safeguard the democracy.
May be this would not solve all our problems but then we would be satisfied that we did try to elect someone we thought can make a positive change.
VOTE, YOU MUST.

Bulldozing Illegal Constructions

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Whenever I see a news item on the authorities using bulldozers to bring down unauthorized structures it gets on my nerves. Not that I support such construction work but then what were we doing when it was coming up. This was not something, like the unaccounted money that could be hidden under the bed – this was something being constructed in front of every one, very visible. Yes, the authorities from several departments must have come also and found out that the construction was being done without proper clearances or extra space was being created which was not authorized. However, since their pockets must have been filled this unauthorized construction must have been overlooked. And once the work was over all forgot about it till the time some other officials decided, or got Court orders that the unauthorized construction has to be razed. And the bulldozers came.
The person who made the construction was penalized and if nothing else had to pay for the cost of the construction which now has been razed. But, rarely we hear of action being taken against the officers who overlooked this unauthorized construction. If examples could be set, I am sure, officers would not dare to allow such gross violation of rules.
Have we ever realized that after all what colossal national wastage we are upto every day. The steel, cement, labour etc. etc. all gone to waste. Once the structure is brought down all these materials can not be reused. In fact it is another problem to dispose them. From this colossal waste we could have constructed hundreds of the much required schools and hospitals for the needy.
It is high time that we all realize this and not indulge in this national wastage of our scarce resources.