Ignorance sure is bliss!

Have seen loadsa ads, ppts, etc urging people to save water... Not sure what does it take? Washing cars when people should be talking rain water harvesting!

Watch this lovely ad...

More Ads...

Nama Raste Namma Ooru...Hasire Usiru

Road widening is the least intelligent solution to our traffic problem. BBMP is pushing ahead with this mega project in total violation of the law.

It is internationally acknowledged that widening roads:

• Makes more people drive
• Increase traffic congestion
• Increases pollution
• Increases risk to public safety 

Road widening costs approximately Rs. 10 crores/km. i.e. Rs. 4,000 crores in total! Your tax money is spent on a project that has no guarantee of success.Road widening costs approximately Rs. 10 crores/km. i.e. Rs. 4,000 crores in total! Your tax money is spent on a project that has no guarantee of success.

There is a plan to widen 140 roads totaling 400 km. This is how it is going to affect us :

1. Destruction of thousands of homes and businesses. 2. Cutting down of 30,000 trees resulting in a 3 degree rise in temperature. 3. Increased pollution (which is already 3 times higher than accepted norms in many places) because of the higher traffic. 4. Loss of many familiar, beloved heritage and cultural spaces. 5. The destruction of Bangalore as we know it, and its conversion into a hot, dusty, characterless city like the thousands of others around the country. A walk  from Lalbagh West Gate to Town Hall called 'Namma Raste' is planned for Sunday, Nov. 9. It is to raise public awareness of these issues, and to get the government to rethink its traffic policy.

If you wish to do something about it please make time and be available for the walk to avert this insanity. The government should abide by the law and build the metro with more wisdom lest we end up with worse infrastructure having spent a humongous amount. The details of the walk:

Namma Raste Namma Ooru... HASIRE USIRU

Time: 11:00 AM

Date: 9th of November, 2008 

Venue: West Gate of Lal Bagah

Kindly use the flyers below (English/Kannada) to mobilize people.

      

You can also use the following posters if you please -

With good number of people and support from media we can save Bangalore from legacy of goofups politicians have been leaving behind and preserve the legacies that Bangalore is best known for - it's parks, trees and the excellent weather! :)

 A memorable moment from the Walk:

 

Are you smoking lives away?

Curbing the desire to write profusely on the subject. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well here are a couple of them...

Second hand smoke kills

For Guyz:
I thought at least the fact that it causes impotency (statistics proven that semen count reduces) would deter the guyz!!! :) If you have managed to have had kids then u shud know that the passive smoking is really injurious for them n ur wife (esp if she is pregnant). If u love them quitting shud be no difficulty...

For Gals:
Dark lips, discolored teeth and dark circles in under the eye don't look so cool! :) Need I say more for those beauty conscious damsels out there! The rest of it is only too redundant. Personally, I expect women to be more responsible... :)

Will hopefully update with pointers on quitting to help those convinced -

1. Dare to Quit
2. ...
3. ...


For those with the attitude - "If my smoking bothers you stop breathing" - may the good lord bless you with some wisdom since you have smoked it all away! :)

PS: These ads are collected from floating mails. I am hoping this is no breach of copy rights as this has been posted in good will. In any case I am a firm believer of copy left! :D

Donate Life & More...

This post has been pending for a long time and for a good reason (mebbe not such a good one). The other day I was adding the Blood Search application on Orkut and it had queries - frequency of blood donation, when was the last time you donated blood, etc. I would have loved to fill these if only... Then again I saw a Donate Blood message in a movie this weekend. Above all I saw a mail circulate urging people to donate blood as their bloodbank had run dry!!! So here is my experience with this noble deed...

Before I proceed I did like to mention the wonderful work done by Sankalp in this regard. You can call Sankalp help line 1062 and expect to get blood when all the blood banks have turned you away (Yes they do turn u away!!!).

I have always believed in suggesting things by setting an example be it cycling, avoiding plastic or using alternatives, saving electricty, paper, etc. But when it comes to blood donation, I can only set a bad example... Around 5 years ago when I met some people from a blood bank. They spoke of people who have donated blood over a 100 times. I was instantly motivated to accomplish such a feat. I had donated blood only twice then. But in the many years I have donated blood around only 7-8 times. I blacked out completely 5-6 times! When I didn't I had dizziness and a lot of uneasiness. Only once have I have been able to donate blood without any discomfort. Surprisingly this was when I had lost 10 kilos of weight toucing a record minimum of 55. I was without a job at Bangalore for 5 months. The last time I donated blood or rather attempted 'unsuccessfuly' was at St John's hospital when they took a mere 1cc of blood to test and I blacked out soonafter. I couldn't donate blood and to make things worse I felt rather queasy the rest of the day. I haven't donated ever since - I was told my blood might harm people! :(

Does this mean donating blood is a painful experience? For me yes but for most it is an effortless task taking less than 20 mins. It takes good 40 minutes for me and I feel the very essence being taken out each time I donate blood. The after math I have already described! :) Where do you belong - well you won't get to know if you don't try! :)

I donated blood for the first time when our tiffin wala in college came asking for A+ve. I knew mine was and happily volunteered. I had no idea how it would be - a govt hospital with little precaution taken. But I went nevertheless coz I have always believed nothing bad could happen to u doing some good. It took a significant bit of my will power to sustain through the act. When I was finally done they din't give me any juice or such. I blacked out on a chair outside. I could feel the cold water being splashed on my face - took me a while to figure out where I was. Now I am pretty used to seeing shocked faces when I recover! :) That one was special as I felt really fresh and thought I should black out more often - it felt like a good 8 hour sleep! ;)

It often bothers me that many out there could donate blood effortlessly but choose not to giving vague excuses - speaking incessantly about the common myths. I so wish I could do it as easily... Mebbe I will give it another try! :)

Why should 'one' donate blood? What's in it for him/her?

Good for health: Blood donation is good for the body(Do visit this link to convince urself). The body replenishes the stock in no time with fresh blood which is healthier. It's like a filtering exercise. Reduces heart risks and also a free check on your blood! :) One pint of blood (450 ml) when donated burns 650 calories in donor’s body - decent work out huh!!! ;)

Blood Loss: If you are a regular donor then your body is used to losing blood. God forbid, if you meet with an accident or suffer a severe hemorrhage you stand a better chance of surving the blood loss.

Save Live(s): Blood donated by you could 'actually' save someone's life and that someone may very well be you! :) It helps more than one person at times - Each whole blood donation can help as many as three people. One unit is divided into three parts: red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.

A great deed once every 3 months: Other noble acts of donating organs are once in lifetime opportunities... But blood you can donate all your life so long as you are healthy! :)


There is a need, a dire need!!! Especially in summers there is a shortage in blood banks as the college students and such are on vacation who form the largest group of blood donors. Many like me don't qualify - several girls I know are interested but underweight. If you have suffered from any disease you don't qualify to donate. Any good blood bank won't let you donate blood easily and would be very fuzzy about it. So the net potential donors are very few. The number of people interested in donating blood is shamefully low - only 3% of India’s eligible population donates their blood. The myths surrounding the subject scares most people away!!! Dispel some of them!

Some blood bank return patients without blood if they can't find replacements. People have lost lives due to this!!!

You may choose to be a registered donor but if the blood is already in a bank it may speed up things in critical cases. Blood banks charge only the processing fee and do not make profit out of this. You can get the names of some good blood banks from Sankalp. If you are not even registered what are you waiting for - some close relative/friend to succumb to lack of blood supply in the hour of need??? :)

If you fear you will undergo the same experience that I did - well I can only tell you that I am glad I did it and continued doing it despite the troubles. The wonderful feeling that comes along is something you would need to experience for yourself. It was so totally worth it. I think I miss it and I am doing it yet again! Let me see if the 20 kms of cycling and an hour of swimming has done me any good! :)

Why bother??? Just Cycle

Check your carbon footprint before u read any further!!!

Check one of the simplest options to reduce the same... :)

A very nice article on climate change published in The New York Times...

----------------

The Way We Live Now

Why bother?

By MICHAEL POLLAN

Why bother? That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change, and it's not an easy one to answer. I don't know about you, but for me the most upsetting moment in "An Inconvenient Truth" came long after Al Gore scared the hell out of me, constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on earth as we know it is threatened by climate change. No, the really dark moment came during the closing credits, when we are asked to . . . change our light bulbs. That's when it got really depressing. The immense disproportion between the magnitude of the problem Gore had described and the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was enough to sink your heart.

But the drop-in-the-bucket issue is not the only problem lurking behind the "why bother" question. Let's say I do bother, big time. I turn my life upside-down, start biking to work, plant a big garden, turn down the thermostat so low I need the Jimmy Carter signature cardigan, forsake the clothes dryer for a laundry line across the yard, trade in the station wagon for a hybrid, get off the beef, go completely local. I could theoretically do all that, but what would be the point when I know full well that halfway around the world there lives my evil twin, some carbon-footprint doppelgänger in Shanghai or Chongqing who has just bought his first car (Chinese car ownership is where ours was back in 1918), is eager to swallow every bite of meat I forswear and who's positively itching to replace every last pound of CO2 I'm struggling no longer to emit. So what exactly would I have to show for all my trouble?

A sense of personal virtue, you might suggest, somewhat sheepishly. But what good is that when virtue itself is quickly becoming a term of derision? And not just on the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal or on the lips of the vice president, who famously dismissed energy conservation as a "sign of personal virtue." No, even in the pages of The New York Times and The New Yorker, it seems the epithet "virtuous," when applied to an act of personal environmental responsibility, may be used only ironically. Tell me: How did it come to pass that virtue — a quality that for most of history has generally been deemed, well, a virtue — became a mark of liberal softheadedness? How peculiar, that doing the right thing by the environment — buying the hybrid, eating like a locavore — should now set you up for the Ed Begley Jr. treatment.

And even if in the face of this derision I decide I am going to bother, there arises the whole vexed question of getting it right. Is eating local or walking to work really going to reduce my carbon footprint? According to one analysis, if walking to work increases your appetite and you consume more meat or milk as a result, walking might actually emit more carbon than driving. A handful of studies have recently suggested that in certain cases under certain conditions, produce from places as far away as New Zealand might account for less carbon than comparable domestic products. True, at least one of these studies was co-written by a representative of agribusiness interests in (surprise!) New Zealand, but even so, they make you wonder. If determining the carbon footprint of food is really this complicated, and I've got to consider not only "food miles" but also whether the food came by ship or truck and how lushly the grass grows in New Zealand, then maybe on second thought I'll just buy the imported chops at Costco, at least until the experts get their footprints sorted out.

There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule. Scientists' projections that seemed dire a decade ago turn out to have been unduly optimistic: the warming and the melting is occurring much faster than the models predicted. Now truly terrifying feedback loops threaten to boost the rate of change exponentially, as the shift from white ice to blue water in the Arctic absorbs more sunlight and warming soils everywhere become more biologically active, causing them to release their vast stores of carbon into the air. Have you looked into the eyes of a climate scientist recently? They look really scared.

So do you still want to talk about planting gardens?

I do.

Visit the link for the rest of the article...

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Dodo Gyan

For those of u who strongly feel the desire to put on the AC in your comfortable car/office cribbin bout the heat - just think for a moment - the weather is bad in the first place due to the CFCs emitted from the AC which is also a fuel/power guzzler. U have in the least the option to switch on the AC - a farmer out there can only commit suicide after a failed crop!!! Think!!!

I have been trying to reduce my carbon foot print for long time now - having read about global warming in the 7th grade. Funny thing is (is it really???) we all hear about it and yet our apathy as always gets the better or of us.

The best I could do is cycle as often as possible and I am glad to see the interest rising in Bangalore which was clear this weekend at the Car Free Day and a similar event on the World Earth Day.

I have been cycling in Bangalore since 2003 and to work almost all the 5 years of my career now. This is despite the history of allergic rhinitis (Hay Fever) in the streets of Bangalore rife with dust, smoke and killer (pun intended! ;)) traffic.

It would be redundant to count the many benefits of cycling but for the fastidious I did like to share my motivation for the same:

1. A 82 year old gentleman from Car Free day, May 2004: The gentleman was fit and fine - enough to cycle with us. Slim and trim without the pot bellies 40 year olds usually sport (nowadays it is commonplace even amongst 25 year olds!!!). I dunno how long my life is gonnabe but I what I do know is that I want it healthy all along for sure! :)

2. A family cycling around ulsoor lake each day: There was this family fro - each member had a cycle and they cycled each morning the whole of ulsoor lake. I was amazed at the legs of the father - a good footballer would shy away in front of those well chiseled legs! ;)

3. Das who I met again this Car Free day: For those who think investment this is a quintessential example - Das used to take his four wheeler daily from Sadashivnagar to Jayanagar to his office spending 120 bucks on the fuel and then spend around 4K annually on the gym. He switched to cycling and needless to say he saved all the above expenses and is much fitter now! :) The cycle goes free each year... Neat huh! :D Probably this article will substantiate it further - Gas prices boost bicycle sales. If economics don't influence you enuf then time might - Car Vs Cycling.



4. Allergic Rhinitis: Yes the hay fever is a motivating factor since my homoeopathy doctor had mentioned the best way to fight the allergy was to get immune to the allergens. With cycling I am more than doing it in addition to the cold water bath each morning (sometimes more than once a day). The problem has been hibernating for long time now! I still get a headache due to a cigarette though!!!

5. Environment Freako within: Due to my health issues I had a tough time as a student and I made it a point to ensure that I don't contribute an iota to messing the environment. Hence, the freako!!! I did switch off every extra light burning if I could, turn of a dripping taps, and zillion such things that most people ignore so easily. When in the air conditioned cab my mind is anything but cool but when cycling my mind is at complete peace - possibly my best visionary hours besides the pot of course! ;) And in the night when I crash on to the bed I get the best sleep possible effortlessly - are the insomniacs out there listening??? :)

6. Gourmet/Gourmand that I am: I simply love eating anything - vegetarian of course! :) I hate to abstain from anything when it comes to food and with cycling I have been able to abstain from abstinence! :))

7. Teetotaller: I have been that for a long time now and it appears to be one species at the verge of extinction (much like the dodos! ;)). I find it strange that some people find smoking disgusting but not drinking - let's leave that for another post. With Cycling u can't afford these luxuries. These kill the stamina n u r better off without these any which ways! :)

8. Water therapy: I sit in an Air Conditioned office (I wud ban it if I cud. For now I just request it to be switched off as often as possible). I rarely feel like drinking water and I believe it will take its toll some day soon in the form of failing kidneys. Cycling is a saviour yet again. My intake of water increase manifold times due to the cycling. It is a good cleansing effect and I can see the benefits already.

9. Sweat it out: I have frens who have high cholesterol at "this" age. I have had colleagues who take pills for diabetes at 26. I know of people succumbing to a cardiac arrest at 23. So we can all blame it to the the IT lifestyle or choose to exercise with some discipline in eating habits. Spend time, money and energy going to a gym - obviously in a vehicle to save time (does that not sound ironical???). An aliter - cycle where ever u go - it may obviate the need to go to a gym altogether. I m going to combine cycling with swimming to get the best results - a complete work out! :)

10. Thrills making u road polite: Cycling in Bangalore is no less than an adventure sport (mebbe extreme ones like bungee jumping or sky diving). People don't notice u until they ram into u. Test how watchful u r urself! :) U know it is dangerous so u r extra careful all the time. U learn not to be aggressive knowing how annoying it can be for others. I think I am more sensible when I m on my motor bike now than I used to be... :) My best adventure was the 14 km ride to electronics city to HP office. They had a shower there and I think it is a must in each office!!! I got a real kick from over-taking the kinetics and mopeds! ;) The service roads were made better use of... :)

11. Anti Mugging effect: I was always wary of the many 'incidents' in Blr and rarely carried much cash or any credit cards. I always felt safer as few would think that a chap on cycle would be a good prey (unless u have one of those fancy bikes!). I did get attacked once as I walking my bike and was talking to a fren on my cell. I am not sure till date if it was for money or they mistook me for someone else. Luckily for me a 'hefty' guy pulled over to check what was wrong and those guyz fled. Anyways they wud have got just under a 100 bucks if at all. The cycling is still on. My last cycle was stolen but the zeal persists! ;)

12. Bad back: I had a muscle sprain in my back early this year. Swimming has helped a great deal. I can attribute the ache to a lot of things but one that strikes most to me is rather unique and plausible - the ab muscles are not used to the fullest putting a lot of strain on the back muscles. So despite the back muscles being strong and healthy u end up with an ache since they are overworked. My back is much better sinceI started cycling again... :)

So make sure ur belly is all worked up not just to get a 6/8 pack - butt for better reasons! ;) And for the guyz out there - it is a scientific fact that women are drawn more towards guyz with firm posteriors than "anything" else - and cycling can do wonders to ur... ;) Strong calf muscles are a measure of masculinity also - so wat are u waiting for??? Go grab an ATB, MTB, or watever else u can find! As for the gals - no point wasting urself to Anorexia Narvarosa or letting ur worries go to ur waist. There are better ways to tone urself and fight the pollution (by killing it!:)). The disappointing thing about the Car Free day was the number of females - forces u to think if it is indeed a MAN's world!!! Wake up the feminists and otherwise!!!

If a dozen good reasons are not good enuf... wat is??? Probably some expert advice...

See what CTC - the UK's national cyclists' organisation has to say

A lot of people think I nag a little too much about this whole thing... dwell on the subject all the time. I guess I do coz I find it so difficult to put across this simple point. But I m glad that at least a few people did switch to cycling after repeated exhortations:

• A friend who used to jog 14 kms each morning got a thunder MTB to cross-train herself. She said it helped greatly.
• A colleague who loves bikes (motor and otherwise now) is glad he got one also.
• A dear friend in UK is now cycling daily to office (10 miles one way) and is also training for a 68 mile ride for a good cause! :)

Many got the bikes but din't use it enuf... Wun't blame them given the danger involved and the bad weather (thanks to... ). The good thing is the number of cycling enthusiasts in Blr is on the rise. Some of them go for really long trails. You can find communities on orkut -

Go Cycling Bangalore
Save Petrol, Go Cycling

Nice Groups:
Bums on the saddle (U can get good advice from these folks) Their Blog
Bangalore Bikers
BikesZone
Bangalore Pedals
Shree (If you are looking for some inspiration - he is the guy!!:)

I love seeing the pizza delivery boyz, at pizza hut, using cycles these days - tat's some welcome change!!! Hope some day cycling is common place in Bangalore like it is within IISc! :))

In case you are still not convinced about cycling, walking is a good option as well though the workout ain't that good - jogging is way better. Also, in case u find planting ur own food and composting too taxing - u cud in the least switch off your monitors when not in use and shut down machines before leaving (hibernate if u need to restore ur work). There are a zillion things u cud do - so do as many as u can while u can! :) We owe this to our future generations in the least...

For those extremely dependent on 4 wheelers there are car pooling options:

http://www.btis.in/

This is a very useful site if you are interested in car pooling, knowing the bus routes, traffic situation on a particular route in Bangalore...

Use car pooling to minimize traffic on road. Check also

http://commuteeasy.com
www.mapunity.com

Switching CNG instead of petrol is a good option also. Similarly at home replace bulbs and tube lights with CFLs. Probably these deserve a separate posts! :)

If you are convinced and you wish to go ahead and by a bike here is some valuable advice.

Happy cycling... :)
Dodo

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” H G Wells

Happy Diwali, IS IT?

On this auspicious day of Diwali I did like to share how certain few people choose to celebrate their Diwali.

I know of people who travel down to Tamil Nadu from Bangalore to get good deals on crackers and brag about the "steals". Some of the "IT" companies now provide crackers to employees also!!! I even found a nice and useful blog on Tips on buying crackers.

It's over decade since I have burst a cracker. I gave it up as a young teenager the minute I saw a documentary on Zee News about the Child Labor @ Sivakasi (I am not sure what it will take for you). I have seen today many sites speaking of ZERO child labor and stuff. These are rather heartening but I would not allow myself the luxury still... If it is not children the workers at such factories are at great risk and the accidents do keep happening (you may choose to ignore like the many others that you see in the paper each day). The articles below will give you ample reason to retain the doubts about the industries...

The bottom line is you can always celebrate the festivals in a way that "God" if (s)he really exists would be rather pleased if we respected the environment and the safety of many. Be it Holi, Diwali, Ganesh chaturthi, or any other festivals - we could ensure our happiness is not at the expenses of such essentials... :)

If you have already purchased the crackers and now have second thoughts which is good - you can always pass on the same to some not so fortunate children at some children's home... probably celebrate the festival with them and someone up above (possibly goddess Lakshmi) would surely be pleased! :) One interesting way could be to get together for some common fireworks in which case the pleasure is shared and the environment spared!!!

Some other good options at the end of this Post...

An article from India today:

http://www.india-today.com/webexclusive/dispatch/20011117/arun.html#top

Rolling On Official apathy and a rural mindset ensure that child labour continues to thrive in the cracker town of Sivakas in Tamil Nadu. INDIA TODAY Special Correspondent Arun Ram reports on the social evil. Maari Amma squats in front of her little house in Thayilpatti village near Sivakasi with reams of text-book paper and a pencil-thick roller. Swish goes the roller down every page and before you know it, the 11-year-old has made scores of paper rolls to be sent to fireworks factories for making serial crackers. As she pauses for a moment to wipe off those beads of sweat on her forehead, she notices a colourful page which says, "A Letter to Grandpa". But it makes no difference: Maari Amma, a Class II dropout, cannot read. Back to work, she continues to roll the paper at break-neck speed. By the end of the day, she's made 5,000 of them, enough to earn Rs 25 for her family. Anantha Pandiyan, 13, is a bigger bread winner for his family in Vettrilai Oorani village, some 10 km away. "He can make more than one case of Lakshmi Vedi (small cylindrical crackers) a day," claims his proud father. What he doesn't want to discuss, however, is his son's studies. "Yes, he does go to school. But he is definitely better in his work than in his studies," is all he is willing to concede. With the sulphur-aluminium-gun powder paste smeared on his hands and chest, Pandiyan displays his produce of the morning: two rings of Lakshmi Vedi. Twenty km further, at the Virudhunagar district collectorate, a poster on the notice board asks, "Do you know a child between eight-18 years of age who has performed a brave act between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001? Contact: Indian Council for Child Welfare." It's ironical because there are thousands of them in Sivakasi, performing the despicably brave act of dealing with explosives and poisons to eek out a living, while the rest of the country enjoys a spectacular Diwali. But they simply go unnoticed. For years now, Sivakasi has been synonymous with child labour but little has bee precise number of the children working in the fireworks sector, it is because the government figures are either "comfortably" low or there is no concerted effort to gauge the ground reality—children working from home. A survey on working children conducted by the district administration with the assistance of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says there are 6,473 child labourers. However, sources confide that another study by the UNICEF, the report of which is yet to be made public, has put the figure at around 20,000. Says Santha, who heads the Development Action for Women in Need (DAWN), an NGO working on issues of women and children: "A huge majority of child labour in the fireworks sector operates from homes. Parents, unmindful of the extreme risk and health hazards, advise them to stay away from schools and make crackers since a child earns not less than Rs 20 a day to keep the fire in the house burning. It is a socio-economic problem, which the authorities have failed to tackle." Highlighting the hazards of dealing with poisonous materials like sulphur, salt peter, barium and strontium nitrates, Santha adds that her NGO has noted underdevelopment of the uterus in young girls who squat for long hours making paper rolls. There has been much hue and cry over such issues following which major cracker manufacturers like Standard Fireworks, Sri Kaliswari Fireworks and Arasan Fireworks stopped employing children in their factories. Countering the campaign against fireworks, these companies came out with advertisements proclaiming "zero child labour." But Sivakasi does not end with the few big players. Smaller manufacturers running tiny factories still find children comfortable labour. "Children are available for low wages and they do not form unions to trouble the managements," explains Muthu, an adult daily wage employee at a big factory: "That's why they are vulnerable to the social evil. The small-time manufacturers either covertly employ them in their work sheds or send work to their houses." A big impediment to the eradication of child labour. With brisk work going on behind closed doors or in the backyards of these homes, even random checks have failed to keep track. A small spark from an adjacent kitchen fire is enough to ignite the stacks of firecrackers kept in thatched-roof sheds here but neither the children nor their parents are bothered. Not that Sivakasi is an accident-free zone. It's just that mishaps just don't get reported. Says Santha: "At least two accidents happen in the district every month. Unless the casualties are too high, they go unnoticed." That way, both the villagers and the police are happy because the filing a case exposes the police's inefficiency in tracking down illegal manufacture of fireworks. In 1989, when an accident occurred in the Dawn Fireworks factory at Meenampatti village, the official figure for the casualties was put at 30. An inquiry by India Today, however, revealed that more than 300 people, including 200 children, were killed. The children never figured in the casualty list because that would have brought to light the authorities' failure to check child labour. This is especially true during peak Diwali season. Smaller factories, which are not allowed to store huge quantities of explosives, allow them to be smuggled to households. The average "pilferage" in such factories is as high as 20 per cent. "When a small manufacturer gets a big order," says an employee, "it is only natural that he has to make people work from home. So we take home work and to finish as much as possible involve children as well." The rules have it that no work should be done in factories after sunset and no electric equipment, including bulbs, should be used in the work sheds. The big factories have rules as stringent as a ban on metallic material, including watches, inside the worksheds. In contrast, children work in the nights at home with a lamp at a distance. In pyrotechnic, as the local fireworks production is called, aluminium powder is a vital ingredient. A trace of alumin spark to cause a devastating explosion. Unofficial studies show that children at work are often responsible for such accidents. There are about 500 small and big factories in and around Sivakasi and 1.5 lakh families are dependent on the industry. Though the population of Sivakasi town is only 70,000, on a working day the town teems with about two lakh people as fireworks employees from surrounding villages come in for work. Though a good percentage of this work force comprises children, the authorities are dismissive. Virudhunagar district collector K. Gopal, for instance, insists there is only negligible child labour. "We have a system in place. There are village development officers, mandal-level officials and the police. If any illegal manufacturing takes place, it cannot escape the eyes of all these people. Since we have no reports of illegal manufacture of fireworks, we have to believe that there is no such thing." Here lies the hitch. Accidents that officials speak of are not accidents that take place in the villages. There is a central government official posted in Sivakasi—the deputy chief controller of explosives. "I am here to monitor the industry as per the law. And my briefing does not speak about illegal fireworks manufacturing. I have to see if the standards are met in licensed fireworks factories. Only when the district authorities ask me to inquire into any accident, I do," admits the incumbent, A Subba Rao. With such official apathy, child labour in Sivakasi cannot be wished away in a hurry.

Think of these kids when sparklers light up Diwali sky
Sivakasi (Tamil Nadu) | November 05, 2007 2:05:07 PM IST

Every time a sparkler lights up the sky during Diwali festivities, spare a thought for Karuppuswamy, Chitra and Muneeswari - three of the nearly 100,000 children toiling away in Sivakasi's fireworks and match industry.

The three children feature in a 25-minute documentary film, "Tragedy Buried in Happiness", shot by South Korean broadcaster Taegu Broadcasting Corp in August with the help of Manitham, a rights NGO working with children, Unicef, Amnesty International and the National Confederation of Human Rights.

No volunteer of the National Rural Health Mission ever visits 12-year-old Chitra, who has been confined for four years within the walls of her tiny room - ever since the child, a rank holder in her school, got burnt while making crackers in the town, 650 km south of the state capital Chennai.

Today Chitra cowers before visitors, drawing up a grey sheet to cover her burnt body and her half burnt face. Her eloquent eyes speak to Hyuk Soo Seo's camera and say all that she does not tell.

Chitra's mother is reluctant to admit how much she was paid, what was the name of the unit where the accident took place. She only complains that it would have cost Rs.200,000 for the child's plastic surgery and that no one has helped her daughter.

Karuppusamy, 14, sits in an alley, surrounded by his siblings, stuffing gunpowder into holding trays for crackers. His hands and face are shrivelled. Asked if he feels pain, he says, "No."

Muneeswari's hands are yellow; no, not due to henna. "The gum that the children in her work group use contains cyanide, which stains every hand that contributes to this industry," said G. Subramanian, executive director, Manitham.

On camera, Muneeswari, 12, says she gets Rs.100 per week for eight to 12 hours of work every day. Her earnings help her parents feed her siblings.

Manitham activists say there are about 100,000 children working in the narrow bylanes of Sivakasi, about 650 km south of Chennai and home to the fireworks and matchstick industry, employing 50,000 people.

"There is a ray of hope," said rights activist and advocate Ajeetha B.S.

"We are beginning to notice a slight shift in the ages of the child labourers. A few years ago we found 10-year-olds working in these factories, now we find the children a little older, about 13-14," Ajeetha told IANS here.

Another activist, not wishing to be named, added: "What is happening in India today is exploitation of child labour, be it in the firework industry or in the farms. The issue is not poor working conditions, it is exploitation of children."

India is estimated to have nearly 125 million child workers, 80 percent of them in rural areas.

Appreciating the documentary, noted lawyer and rights activist Sudha Ramalingam said: "We have been fighting to end child labour for more than two decades. The film is a shocking revelation of what still goes on."

But making the film was not easy. Subramanian said, "No Indian NGO or filmmaker was ready to shoot the film. We were, therefore, forced to go to filmmakers from Korea." The documentary is in Korean, dubbed into Tamil and English.

(Papri Sri Raman can be contacted at paprisri.r@ians.in)

(IANS)

Spread your joy this Diwali to others!!!

Write out a cheque directly to an NGO which is active in any cause that is close to your heart.

Choose from:

a) Karmayog Non-Profit of the Month (we have done due diligence on each and highly recommend them)
www.karmayog.org/npoofthemonth/

b) 900 NGOs in Mumbai (we have visited most, got details, and rated them as A+, A, B, C)
www.karmayog.org/nonprofits/npogriddisplay.asp?r=476

c) 15000 NGOs all over India (sorted by location and cause)
www.karmayog.org/nonprofits/npodisplay.asp?r=216

You get an income tax deduction from NGOs which have an 80-G certificate.

You can also donate online via ITZCash through the link on our home page.

Don't underestimate the financial and morale-boosting power that you create even if you only donate only Rs. 100!

Ganapati Bappa Morya!!!

After holi, diwali and many other festivals it is now time to put a conscious effort in celebrating this festival with a little more awareness.

Bangalore has lost a lot if it lakes to various reasons - don't let this be one!

Let the debate for/against IDOLATORY be at rest for a while and see to it that smaller idols can be used in a way mother nature is not displeased... :)

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Ecosensitive Ganesh Chaturthi

A campaign to make the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi environmentally sensitive and non polluting...

Environmental Impact of Ganesh Chaturthi

This festival, brings together thousands of people but in modern times is also contributing to serious environmental pollution. Besides the noise created by the several Ganesh mandals during the festival, the immersion of idols made out of chemical materials causes significant water pollution. The traditional mud idols have been replaced by plaster of paris statues which are then painted using toxic chemical dyes to make them bright and attractive to buyers. These materials poison water bodies, by increasing chemical and organic content. In the process, ecosystems in these water bodies gate harmed and plant and fish species die in large numbers. Water that has been polluted in this way can cause diseases when drunk by people living downstream.

The Problems

The materials used to make some Ganesh idols may be toxic!

Plaster of paris contains gypsum, sulphur, phosphorus and magnesium
Chemical paints contain mercury, cadmium, lead and carbon

Immersion of these can poison the waters of lakes, rivers and the sea by
increasing acidity
increasing solid matter
increasing organic matter
increasing content of heavy metals

Such pollution damages the ecosystem by
Killing the fishes
Damaging the plants
Blocking the natural flow of the water and causing stagnation

And damages health by polluting drinking water sources causing
Breathing problems
Blood diseases
Skin diseases

The Alternatives

Use permanent idols made of brass or stone
Do a symbolic immersion
Reuse the same idol again the next year
Use a small unpainted idol made of unbaked clay if you immerse the idol
Immerse the idol in a tub or a water tank
Collect the flowers and nirmalya and compost them
Avoid the use of thermocole and plastic in decorations

Several groups are now developing ecosensitive Ganesh idols that do not pollute. Amongst the materials that people are experimenting with there are idols made out of recycled waste paper, natural clay and other natural fibres.

In 2006 Kalpavriksh developed natural clay idols along with the disabled children of ASHA school. Read more about the idols here.

Raising Awarenesss

As part of the Safe Festival Campaign, Kalpavriksh has created posters in English and Marathi. These posters were distributed by the Center for Environment Education to schools and colleges in Pune and are also being distributed by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

http://www.gobartimes.org/20060831/festivals_you.htm

Some more insight about the way the festival is "currently" celebrated:

http://www.hindujagruti.org/hinduism/festivals/ganesh/evils.php // The videos are no longer present