Tagged: bangalore

As you might be well aware, green seems to be the “in” thing nowadays. Everybody wants to talk green and the corporates have jumped into the bandwagon – a simple effective way of gaining some publicity as well as getting a good Samaritan image. So in keeping in line with this tone, one company in Bangalore (the one I work for BTW) organized a run for promoting clean air in the city. Well nice idea! But.. It was held on a Sunday. So all the 1000 odd employees who ran for this, came in their gas guzzling, CO2 spilling engines all the way from distant places, while on a normal Sunday morning they would all have been sleeping in the comfort of their homes. So if a typical car emits 200g* of CO2 per kilometer traveled and taking an average of 5km traveled per participant, total additional CO2 that the city had to deal with that day equals 200 x 5 x 1000 = 1,000,000g or 1,000 kg in the 2 hours the event was held… plus the amount of pollution caused by other idling vehicles caught in this road block… well I rest my case So much for clean air!

Going green is a great thing and I am really happy that it is in fashion. But I think we should be wise enough to think of better ways to do it and ensure that what we do results in more good than harm. And probably the time has come when we should stop preaching and just start doing things. You and I may not be able to be angels when it comes to the environment, but we can do the small things that will make a difference in the end. There is this nice little green book from Morgan Stanley (yeah again Corporate ) that might help you get started – The Little Green eBook

Its been two weeks. I see a lot of changes here and there, but the essence of “home” remains the same.

I was in Bangalore for a week and in Trivandrum for another. Bangalore, every where I turn, there is something new. Trivandrum has a few things changed here and there, but overall it is just that same old city! Everybody was also apprehensive of me driving, to say the truth even I was, a bit. But it was not the least difficult. Ok, first few minutes I tried to do things “right” but very soon my Indian instincts took over and lo I was honking, not stopping at pedestrian crossings, not following lanes.. hehe.. it was smooth from then on! One thing that changed regarding driving in Trivandrum is the number of FM stations available. When I left, there was just one.. now I turn the radio on and there seems to be a channel every other frequency – Big FM, SFM, Club FM .. what not! Then I see that there *are* traffic symbols posted neatly in India, just that before I never noticed them before and even if I did, never knew what they meant. Enough of blaming the government, our road culture is the first problem, nothings gonna change without improving that!

Most of the week in Trivandrum was spent visiting & being visited by friends and family. I even cooked for them. The shock on my mother’s face when she saw me cooking (‘Chicken Trivandrum’ ) was a priceless moment. Nobody thought I had it in me to cook Well, not any more dear ones.. Even I can cook! Many evenings were spent idling away in the city.. brought back many flashes of nostalgia. I even managed to go to a cultural show organized by some department of my old college in the amazingly beautiful Kanakakunnu palace grounds. Sat there for hours with my college buddies… it was the best feeling ever!

It was a not a totally smooth transition, but not as difficult as I expected. Things seem changed, and I look at things differently than before.. But I am so happy being back