Cities are moving towards increasing populations and development of infrastructures.
Intellectuals are talking about better ways of making cities sustainable by mass transport systems to stop cars, by disincentivising cars, by making water recycling and harvesting mandatory. Institutions boast of their liquid and solid waste methodologies.
But no matter what is said and done- the crux is that one can never make a city completely or even distinctively clean, non-polluting- sustainability is out of question.
How can so much generation of sewage be sustainable? How can there be any technology which can convert so much of sewage into something usable? Can you think of any technology which can ‘eat up’ all the waste that we generate- so many plastic bottles and what not?
So, many people huddled together can never be sustainable and neither can be an urban sprawl. Cities are and would remain un sustainable. With increasing trends in urbanization and as the recent UN report puts that the urban population of the world set to increase – isn’t it a time that UN starts working against urbanization.
Everybody is missing the point and even the best of environmentalists or social thinkers cannot think of leaving the city. They are trying to find solutions in the city. And the answer is that the city needs to cease to exist.
It high time we understand that cities are against nature and will always be. Nature never wanted so many people to live together.
I am seriously thinking of shifting to a village and thinking of starting a campaign – chalo gaon ki ore
Monday, August 16, 2010
Of Dogs, defecation and humans
I was walking my dog the other day – as usual. The daily routine – two rounds in the area in between the service lane and the main road. I have now walked my dogs for around an year now in those service lanes. So, do my fellow neighbours.
My dog would go around a bush and after much adjustment of angles would finally deliver…to my respite. As then I can get back to my house and start getting ready for office. But I cannot acknowledge my satisfaction as I pretend to look away and ignore if my dog is shitting.
But today was different, just as my dog started his delivery…and as I looked in some other direction. I suddenly saw these four or five rickshaw wallahs, who sit there along the rickshaws waiting for people to pay for a ride to the metro station, looking at us.
They were all looking at my dog shit. I don’t know how can I describe their expressions – it was neither a smile nor a retortment, it was neither embarrassment nor anything else. But a thought came into my mind (Don’t know if I am correct)
Probably, most of them must be living in some slum nearby and go out to some bushy places outside civilization to shit. And they have to do it secretly perhaps, so that no one watches them and rebukes them for having spoilt the place. And…I am sure they must have been shooed away once in a while…while caught shitting.
And there Max was…the dog of a not so upper class Indian family, who had the right to shit in the middle of city…in the middle of the day…(not early morning)…and nobody can stop him because he is a dog.
What a wonderful city…where a lazy Labrador can shit wherever it wants but a hard working rickshaw puller would have to find a place to shit.
My dog would go around a bush and after much adjustment of angles would finally deliver…to my respite. As then I can get back to my house and start getting ready for office. But I cannot acknowledge my satisfaction as I pretend to look away and ignore if my dog is shitting.
But today was different, just as my dog started his delivery…and as I looked in some other direction. I suddenly saw these four or five rickshaw wallahs, who sit there along the rickshaws waiting for people to pay for a ride to the metro station, looking at us.
They were all looking at my dog shit. I don’t know how can I describe their expressions – it was neither a smile nor a retortment, it was neither embarrassment nor anything else. But a thought came into my mind (Don’t know if I am correct)
Probably, most of them must be living in some slum nearby and go out to some bushy places outside civilization to shit. And they have to do it secretly perhaps, so that no one watches them and rebukes them for having spoilt the place. And…I am sure they must have been shooed away once in a while…while caught shitting.
And there Max was…the dog of a not so upper class Indian family, who had the right to shit in the middle of city…in the middle of the day…(not early morning)…and nobody can stop him because he is a dog.
What a wonderful city…where a lazy Labrador can shit wherever it wants but a hard working rickshaw puller would have to find a place to shit.
The T3 experience: Prayer rooms
Heard a lot…read a lot about the new T3 terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Recently got my first experience of it.
Well…it certainly wasn’t a WOW! effect. It was ok. Yes…it does match up to international standards to a great extent.
But the thing which I liked most and noticed was the special prayer rooms at the airport. Never seen or lets say noticed prayer rooms at any of the international airports…I hav
e been to.
Thought…might as well go and see…what a prayer room looks like.
A well carpeted room with some books lying there…(Kurans…Some Mullaji must have left there). There were some stands to keep the book open to read it. Interestingly, someone had indicated the direction of Kaba on the wall.
It felt nice that a space had been created for prayers…for reading namaz (I thought in my head)
Later…I shared the same with my wife. She felt irritated that a place had been created to do namaaz. She said why cant a person do Hindu prayers or read the Bible.
And instantly…I said “ who said it is for namaaz. Anybody could pray there. Its called a prayer room. Its just that a lot of Muslims actually do pray and do the namaaz. And a lot of Hindus or Christians don’t …or rather do”
There was a thought going on in my mind of an airport being a secular place. But then…when you can have smoking rooms at airports…why not prayer rooms. After all smoking is despised in all religions.
Way to go T3.
Second thoughts: I just saw that the symbol for the prayer room resembles the Islamic posture for praying. But..still I don’t think its reason enough to edit what I have written above.
Well…it certainly wasn’t a WOW! effect. It was ok. Yes…it does match up to international standards to a great extent.
But the thing which I liked most and noticed was the special prayer rooms at the airport. Never seen or lets say noticed prayer rooms at any of the international airports…I hav
e been to.Thought…might as well go and see…what a prayer room looks like.
A well carpeted room with some books lying there…(Kurans…Some Mullaji must have left there). There were some stands to keep the book open to read it. Interestingly, someone had indicated the direction of Kaba on the wall.
It felt nice that a space had been created for prayers…for reading namaz (I thought in my head)
Later…I shared the same with my wife. She felt irritated that a place had been created to do namaaz. She said why cant a person do Hindu prayers or read the Bible.And instantly…I said “ who said it is for namaaz. Anybody could pray there. Its called a prayer room. Its just that a lot of Muslims actually do pray and do the namaaz. And a lot of Hindus or Christians don’t …or rather do”
There was a thought going on in my mind of an airport being a secular place. But then…when you can have smoking rooms at airports…why not prayer rooms. After all smoking is despised in all religions.
Way to go T3.
Second thoughts: I just saw that the symbol for the prayer room resembles the Islamic posture for praying. But..still I don’t think its reason enough to edit what I have written above.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that there is a seperate prayer room for women.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Been there, done that@ IIM Ahmedabad
I am what you dream to be
- IIT Delhi
Whats the first thing which comes to your mind when you read the above on someone’s T-shirt. Yes! The person is from IIT, Delhi. Then whats the next thought which comes to your mind – you are not from IIT, Delhi.
The tag line literally spits on you. I wonder what went on inside the minds of the people, who thought of it. May be they were not serious about it but nevertheless, it does show how an Institute’s lingo tag line tries to put down the rest of the world.
Read this
Been there, done that @ IIM Ahmedabad.
Now, what do you have to say about this.
I understand that there is a pride attached to being in an institution but it should not be snobbish enough to put the other person down.
I don’t know what the world thinks but I don’t find it good humour.
I would much rather go with the T-shirt of JNU which has a ‘collage of words’ - of places in campus, which everyone remembers – Partha Sarthy rock, Pink Palace, Ganga Dhaba and many others. It also includes 615 – the favourite bus route of all JNUiites.
I don’t think the T-shirts invokes anybody in the street. Any other University guy would also feel warm as there are similar rememberable places in each university.
- IIT Delhi
Whats the first thing which comes to your mind when you read the above on someone’s T-shirt. Yes! The person is from IIT, Delhi. Then whats the next thought which comes to your mind – you are not from IIT, Delhi.
The tag line literally spits on you. I wonder what went on inside the minds of the people, who thought of it. May be they were not serious about it but nevertheless, it does show how an Institute’s lingo tag line tries to put down the rest of the world.
Read this
Been there, done that @ IIM Ahmedabad.
Now, what do you have to say about this.
I understand that there is a pride attached to being in an institution but it should not be snobbish enough to put the other person down.
I don’t know what the world thinks but I don’t find it good humour.
I would much rather go with the T-shirt of JNU which has a ‘collage of words’ - of places in campus, which everyone remembers – Partha Sarthy rock, Pink Palace, Ganga Dhaba and many others. It also includes 615 – the favourite bus route of all JNUiites.
I don’t think the T-shirts invokes anybody in the street. Any other University guy would also feel warm as there are similar rememberable places in each university.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Happiness
Who doesn’t want to be happy? – someone praising you/your work, a gift and what not?
Take an example: You are wearing a nice dress - looking good. Someone walks in and says “You’re looking great”. You feel happy - your day is made.
But just think for a moment, the source of happiness is an external source. You do not have control over it. If someone says good- you’re happy, if not – you’re unhappy. If the boss, a friend or your spouse says or writes good things about you – you’re happy. If not you’re not. The point is that your happiness and unhappiness is controlled by others.
As long as you derive happiness out of external sources (other people’s comments), your happiness is not perpetual and sustainable. Perhaps, ‘true happiness’ would come once the source is internal.
And for the source to be internal you have to be true to yourself. You have done good work say ‘Yes! I do good work’. Initially you will find it weird but as you nurture the dead light of inner happiness – true and perpetual happiness would emerge.
Being true to oneself isn’t an easy task as you have to constantly question yourself- Why do I like Allan and not Emmy? Why do I like Rock and not pop? Gradually, you will find that there are plenty of reasons behind what you do and think. Sustained questioning would bring you face to face with your true innerself.
Then you will be in a position to identify your true interests and activities which you need to do achieve perpetual happiness. So, question yourself, find your true self and be happy.
Over a period of time, you would find that there are a lot of things you do to “be there” in the society- because you want to move up the ladder of society.
But remember in another hundred years, nobody is going to remember that there was a person called “read your name here (rynh)” who became the councilor, Vice President, or whatever of a company on earth.
Think of yourself, you must have read a lot about a different people who were President of America or whatever- but after all how much do they effect your life. You move on as usual. They hardly matter to you in day to day life.
So, don’t sacrifice your little happinesses in life in order to “be there”. Do what you innerself says.
And for those of you, who think material things- a car, a laptop- can bring you happiness- You are right!
However, you would realize this happiness goes as you get used to the material. Sharing a joke with your friend, making love to someone, meeting an old friend, also give you equal happiness.
You slog hard to get that car, give away a lot of small happinesses on the way, which are equally important, while happiness just costs a cup of tea/coffee. So, remember to invest in happiness and not in materials.
Take an example: You are wearing a nice dress - looking good. Someone walks in and says “You’re looking great”. You feel happy - your day is made.
But just think for a moment, the source of happiness is an external source. You do not have control over it. If someone says good- you’re happy, if not – you’re unhappy. If the boss, a friend or your spouse says or writes good things about you – you’re happy. If not you’re not. The point is that your happiness and unhappiness is controlled by others.
As long as you derive happiness out of external sources (other people’s comments), your happiness is not perpetual and sustainable. Perhaps, ‘true happiness’ would come once the source is internal.
And for the source to be internal you have to be true to yourself. You have done good work say ‘Yes! I do good work’. Initially you will find it weird but as you nurture the dead light of inner happiness – true and perpetual happiness would emerge.
Being true to oneself isn’t an easy task as you have to constantly question yourself- Why do I like Allan and not Emmy? Why do I like Rock and not pop? Gradually, you will find that there are plenty of reasons behind what you do and think. Sustained questioning would bring you face to face with your true innerself.
Then you will be in a position to identify your true interests and activities which you need to do achieve perpetual happiness. So, question yourself, find your true self and be happy.
Over a period of time, you would find that there are a lot of things you do to “be there” in the society- because you want to move up the ladder of society.
But remember in another hundred years, nobody is going to remember that there was a person called “read your name here (rynh)” who became the councilor, Vice President, or whatever of a company on earth.
Think of yourself, you must have read a lot about a different people who were President of America or whatever- but after all how much do they effect your life. You move on as usual. They hardly matter to you in day to day life.
So, don’t sacrifice your little happinesses in life in order to “be there”. Do what you innerself says.
And for those of you, who think material things- a car, a laptop- can bring you happiness- You are right!
However, you would realize this happiness goes as you get used to the material. Sharing a joke with your friend, making love to someone, meeting an old friend, also give you equal happiness.
You slog hard to get that car, give away a lot of small happinesses on the way, which are equally important, while happiness just costs a cup of tea/coffee. So, remember to invest in happiness and not in materials.
Children and Parks
I still remember the days when we used to play on the streets. Still remember that dreaded neighbour, who would never return the ball which fell in her compound.
But some days back when I visited the locality, where I grew up, I couldn’t imagine playing cricket on the street – there was no space- cars parked all along. Almost 40% of the road space is now being used to park cars. Moreover, playing cricket or any other ball game around parked cars can damage the cars and hence prohibited. Poor kids!
But I was appalled when I read that a bunch of kids in GK actually got on the roads as they were prevented from playing in the local park. Why? Because playing in the park may ruin the plants in there. Then where do the kids go to play? The MCD, doesn’t have an answer to that although one thing is clear – Children are not supposed to play in the park.
Gradually, the expanding city is putting these questions to its citizens?
Being an educationist and environmentalist over that, I see a lot of similarities between the issue of ‘conservation of tigers’ and ‘conserving parks’. Just as throwing tribal people out of parks cannot save a tiger, similarly throwing children out of parks cannot save the parks.
Agreed, we need to have well done parks, which look good – but what is a park without any people. Actually, who needs parks anway – why do we need parks.
But some days back when I visited the locality, where I grew up, I couldn’t imagine playing cricket on the street – there was no space- cars parked all along. Almost 40% of the road space is now being used to park cars. Moreover, playing cricket or any other ball game around parked cars can damage the cars and hence prohibited. Poor kids!
But I was appalled when I read that a bunch of kids in GK actually got on the roads as they were prevented from playing in the local park. Why? Because playing in the park may ruin the plants in there. Then where do the kids go to play? The MCD, doesn’t have an answer to that although one thing is clear – Children are not supposed to play in the park.
Gradually, the expanding city is putting these questions to its citizens?
Being an educationist and environmentalist over that, I see a lot of similarities between the issue of ‘conservation of tigers’ and ‘conserving parks’. Just as throwing tribal people out of parks cannot save a tiger, similarly throwing children out of parks cannot save the parks.
Agreed, we need to have well done parks, which look good – but what is a park without any people. Actually, who needs parks anway – why do we need parks.
Why is every human being unique?
“Every human being is unique”
The above statement is oft repeated but no one really believes in it. There will be people swearing by this statement, especially educators but none of them are able to logically prove it. People generally give logics like “People have inherent talents, some people may be inclined towards painting, while others towards sports and still others towards academics.”
The above is fair enough but after all how many such interests can you count- fifty- hundred or two hundred, but still it would be difficult to prove the uniqueness of each human being because they are there in millions.
For me also, the statement has created trouble as I was trying to find the ‘uniqueness’ in me. It has been a great learning to decode it and understand it.
A friend of mine came to me, the other day and argued about it. He said, “How can each individual be unique? Look all the people do similar things- going to offices, raising children, partying- they are all the same? May be you can put them into broad categories- extrovert, introvert, aggressive, creative etc. But to say that ‘each one’ is unique, is an exaggeration.”
It was great for him to question the statement – it showed that he was thinking. A lot of us just start believing in statements without questioning them.
I think he rightly questioned the statement – If every human being is unique, why does everybody do the same thing? The facts negate the statement.
The truth is that a lot of the uniqueness in this world remains in the air. Let me explain this.
The factor, which makes human beings unique is their mind and thought process- yes!
Every human being has a different brain- different thinking. And everybody admits that. You would also surely agree with this.
At the mental level, everyone thinks differently – even a piece of furniture evokes different thoughts in the mind of different individuals.
Each incident and experience generates some thoughts in a person’s the mind, which are not shared with anyone as they are thought to be inconsequential. Its also true that many of our thoughts are half baked, irrelevant and probably nonsense- but nevertheless they are different for each individual.
Its only when you start nurturing these thoughts that subsequently your unique thoughts get processed.
The problem is that most of these half baked thoughts are not given importance and they vanish in thin air. You do come back to them but rarely do you remember them properly.
Moreover, never are such thoughts put on paper or expressed in any other form (paint, sing etc). Hence, the unique thoughts of an individual remains in his/her mind and never come out. The individual also doesn’t respect his/her own thoughts. The result is that the individual keeps to the normal societal routine of going to office- raising kids and so on.- the society as a whole reflects monotony.
Its only when these thoughts come out that the uniqueness of the individuals come out. If an individual writes, draws, speaks, sings and above all take action on these thoughts, the uniqueness of the individual comes out. The people of our society whom we call unique- the actors, writers, painters, thinkers, politicians or whatever, are the one’s who got a chance to express their thoughts.- and the world gave importance to their thoughts.
If you don’t believe me just try it out for a month and you would find your uniqueness yourself. Take a piece of paper and start jotting down your thoughts- whatever non sense or sensible. Gradually you will find a pattern among your thoughts and you will you’re your own theories of life. Initially, you may find that all that you think and do is non-sense and perhaps for pleasure but later you would realize the potential- ‘the true uniqueness’ inside you.
For the rest of the world to realize your uniqueness may take some time but let me tell you that you have “arrived”. Remember uniqueness is in the expression- in any form- may be expression in a medium, which hasn’t even been thought of.
.
The above statement is oft repeated but no one really believes in it. There will be people swearing by this statement, especially educators but none of them are able to logically prove it. People generally give logics like “People have inherent talents, some people may be inclined towards painting, while others towards sports and still others towards academics.”
The above is fair enough but after all how many such interests can you count- fifty- hundred or two hundred, but still it would be difficult to prove the uniqueness of each human being because they are there in millions.
For me also, the statement has created trouble as I was trying to find the ‘uniqueness’ in me. It has been a great learning to decode it and understand it.
A friend of mine came to me, the other day and argued about it. He said, “How can each individual be unique? Look all the people do similar things- going to offices, raising children, partying- they are all the same? May be you can put them into broad categories- extrovert, introvert, aggressive, creative etc. But to say that ‘each one’ is unique, is an exaggeration.”
It was great for him to question the statement – it showed that he was thinking. A lot of us just start believing in statements without questioning them.
I think he rightly questioned the statement – If every human being is unique, why does everybody do the same thing? The facts negate the statement.
The truth is that a lot of the uniqueness in this world remains in the air. Let me explain this.
The factor, which makes human beings unique is their mind and thought process- yes!
Every human being has a different brain- different thinking. And everybody admits that. You would also surely agree with this.
At the mental level, everyone thinks differently – even a piece of furniture evokes different thoughts in the mind of different individuals.
Each incident and experience generates some thoughts in a person’s the mind, which are not shared with anyone as they are thought to be inconsequential. Its also true that many of our thoughts are half baked, irrelevant and probably nonsense- but nevertheless they are different for each individual.
Its only when you start nurturing these thoughts that subsequently your unique thoughts get processed.
The problem is that most of these half baked thoughts are not given importance and they vanish in thin air. You do come back to them but rarely do you remember them properly.
Moreover, never are such thoughts put on paper or expressed in any other form (paint, sing etc). Hence, the unique thoughts of an individual remains in his/her mind and never come out. The individual also doesn’t respect his/her own thoughts. The result is that the individual keeps to the normal societal routine of going to office- raising kids and so on.- the society as a whole reflects monotony.
Its only when these thoughts come out that the uniqueness of the individuals come out. If an individual writes, draws, speaks, sings and above all take action on these thoughts, the uniqueness of the individual comes out. The people of our society whom we call unique- the actors, writers, painters, thinkers, politicians or whatever, are the one’s who got a chance to express their thoughts.- and the world gave importance to their thoughts.
If you don’t believe me just try it out for a month and you would find your uniqueness yourself. Take a piece of paper and start jotting down your thoughts- whatever non sense or sensible. Gradually you will find a pattern among your thoughts and you will you’re your own theories of life. Initially, you may find that all that you think and do is non-sense and perhaps for pleasure but later you would realize the potential- ‘the true uniqueness’ inside you.
For the rest of the world to realize your uniqueness may take some time but let me tell you that you have “arrived”. Remember uniqueness is in the expression- in any form- may be expression in a medium, which hasn’t even been thought of.
.
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