Giri at 1140am on 20/03/2011.
Hello and wishing all of you a joyous Holi (the Indian festival of colours, bonfires, dances and mildly-intoxicating drinks made from bhang).
One wonders at the appropriateness of enjoying the onset of spring and summer (natural seasonal cycles) with Holi celebrations in India, in the light of the continuing struggles of entire communities in Japan that are combating the impacts of the earthquake, the tsunami and the radiations from the nuclear power plants. I guess that’s what life is all about – incongruities in human emotions and diversity of responses to events – exuberance in one part of the world and exasperation somewhere else; emotional and heroic, yet myopic responses by human societies to what may seem as apparently random existential and situational crises by some communities (think back on the 26th July flood situation in Mumbai) and, the stoic and equally heroic but well-thought out approaches to manage what is accepted as a probabilistic event (think of the 50 plant engineers at the Fukushima plant or the calm manner in which the Japanese public subject themselves to radiation testing and fuel rations).
One reader has also sent in some excellent ideas (triple bonanza, as Padma calls it!) for a fun-filled yet safe and perhaps profitable Holi celebrations. I am not still convinced about the conservation of water bit, but maybe such ideas can further be developed. As for me, I wonder if celebrations such as Holi (health and water consumption issues) and Diwali (noise and air pollution issues) need to radically change in formats keeping contemporary ground realities in mind! In any case, thanks to Padma for opeining up a discussion point.
This week, my experiences have left me with two other substantive thoughts. One is making me itch to immediately act on my own suggestion, while the other seems to increase my levels of cynicism.
The first experience was a wonderful afternoon that I spent with colleagues on Friday. It was a lunch at the Rajdhani restaurant in the new Oberoi shopping mall to celebrate the recent wedding of a colleague as well as a fond farewell to a colleague. The lunch itself, as well as the gifts that were presented, and the wonderful time that we all spent, resulted in a great team-bonding exercise. In all we may have spent, at the very minimum, about Rs. 10000/= on the gifts and at the restaurant. And this is where my thinking cap started working – I am sure that there may be at least 10 such office parties every month in Mumbai with expenditure on food and beverages on normally well-fed people amounting to at least Rs. 10000 at each occasion. Or Rs. 100,000/= every month. Or annually, Rs. 1.2 million. If only we had a well-structured city-wide on-line system (say an e-trust) wherein office-party planners had a way to donate 50% (or any percentage) of their party collections for a few focused socio-economic causes (say 5 scholarships to complete collegiate education, for a needy girl-child of Mumbai’s autorickshaw and taxi drivers.....), and get recognition for the same, I think we will have an efficient grass-root system of the employed giving back to those parts of society that support them through public services, even as they enjoy a well-deserved office-party.
The second experience was a conversation that I had with an acquaintance whose day job is to promote the cause of governmental climate change management initiatives amongst industrialists, traders, bureaucrats and individuals. In the course of the conversation, it transpired that this person shops (for the weekly quota of vegetables, fruits, groceries and toiletries) every weekend, along with the spouse and a child at a shopping mall that is located 5 kilometres away from the place of residence. This, when there are adequate numbers of good local vegetable and fruit vendors, local grocers and departmental stores within 500 metres from the residence! The reason for the 5 km drive is a well-air-conditioned and spacious mall that gives ample space for the kid to run around and play and also that the mall has good parking facilities. What? Why take a kid for your weekend shopping? The shopping mall is not meant for a kid to play. Why can’t one of the spouses take turns to do the shopping? Why buy packed fruits and vegetables when you have fresh ones sold closer to home? Even if one wants the convenience of credit-card spends, most local shops have these. And so for some individual fad and convenience, I realized that this acquaintance, who will be preaching about reducing carbon footprints to one and all, is essentially practicing a lifestyle that could possibly add many more carbon footprints than all of the seminars and events that will be arranged. The suggestion in this context is: Can someone calculate the carbon footprints generated annually by all the events organised on the subject of climate change and can there be a penal charge on the organisers of such events that ensures they practice what they preach?
That’s about all for this post. I am eager to know your views , so please keep sending in your comments and suggestions.
Till next Sunday, then....Cheers.
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