3. Going Green.

OK... now I have slacked off again for a long time... Having promised to write about the tree plantation drive a long time back, here I am.. Better late than never, right?

Last Saturday(21st June 2008), having owed a lot for a long time to Mother Nature, I finally got a chance to repay her. I had gone for a tree plantation drive as part of the community affair events organised by the company where I work. We were a group of about 20 people who decided to forgo their saturday morning siesta, to spend a few hours getting their hands dirty, but for a noble cause. We had got in touch with an organisation called "Trees For Free". They are kind of like the facilitators between the ones who want to plant trees and the ones who want to get trees planted. Not just that, they have their own volunteer base for planting saplings in and around Bangalore. For more information and for volunteering for them, take a look at www.treesforfree.org. The place where we were supposed to plant the saplings, was the campus of "People for Animals". This place is a rehabilitation center for rescued animals, birds and reptiles from Bangalore. Here, they are nursed back to health and then released into the wild. While talking to the veterinary doctor there, one comment made by him really set me thinking about the impact we are having on the wildlife in the country. He said " Nowadays we keep hearing incidents about 'monkey menace' in many cities. What we dont realise is that we are a menace for them. Had we not encroached upon their natural habitat, they would not have entered our living areas." If anyone is interested in joining them or has a love for wildlife and nature, please get in touch with them on www.pfabangalore.org.

So thats the background information about the two organisations we dealt with that day. Actually the guys from PFA had made our task very easy. They had about 160 pits ready for use. We just had to collect the saplings from their office, go the respective sites allocated for the fruit, flowering and medicinal trees, and plant them. I was a bit disappointed at not being able to actually dig the pits too. But, it was still quite an effort to plant all the available saplings. We spent almost two hours doing it. In the end, we even had to carry huge water containers and water the saplings. One of the sites was close to the compund wall of the BGS global hospital. It was more like a garbage dump and I am a bit concerned about the safety and well-being of the saplings that were planted there. Seeing the amount of plastic waste lying around, we decided to do an impromptu plastic collection drive. We filled up two huge bags with loads of plastic litter. The PFA fellows assured us that they would dispose it off properly. They even sponsored lunch for all of us, at the nearby hospital canteen. For the first time in my life, I actually felt that hospital food is edible.

We had done a fund raising drive in office for the event. Out of the money collected, we paid some to "Trees for Free" for the saplings. The rest, we intend to use for similar events in the months to come. All along, it was a fun filled event. And we also got to do our part in saving the earth.. :)

2. Sunday Cricket.

It has turned out to be quite an eventful weekend till now. First, the tree plantation drive yesterday morning and cricket today morning. What tree plantation???? Where? When? How? Why? Answers to all these questions coming soon in my next post.

I am finally getting down to writing regularly. What better way to utilize a lazy sunday afternoon? Especially after playing some cricket with my colleugues early in the morning. And today I not just played, but created history. 22nd June 2008 will be marked as the day when I started playing leather ball cricket. Yes.... Its true.. I finally got around to playing in the big league.. ;). I know, there are kids less than one-third my age, who play pretty good leather ball cricket. Aint I too old to do that now? Nopes, as the old saying goes - Its never too late to start.

Also, good thing that I did play. Coz' I got in touch with a long lost dear friend of mine.. - my Bowling Rhythm. Yes - I CAN BOWL. This statement is especially meant for those unfortunate souls who have seen me bowl recently; and had to be at the batsmen's end during those hysterical moments. 57 times out of 60, the first bounce would be either a few feet in front of the bowler( thats me ) or a few feet behind the batsmen.. but hardly ever on the spot. I can proudly say that very few batsmen have been able to connect properly, coz they were busy laughing their brains out or rolling around on the ground, seeing me bowl..

But, having a real cricket ball in my hand today, seemed to have some kind of a magical effect. The equation turned around completely.. Agreed, I wasnt bowling like McGrath or Muralitharan, but atleast I was pitching on the green, that too where it can be called as good length. I just need to get some practice for a few more weeks and it shall be like the days of yore.

Up until today, the only equipment I had used for batting was a bat. Got to play with full batting gear today. I felt like a deep sea diver though. And that too, one whose oxygen supply is intermittent. Could have hit a lot more balls, without all those safety equipment sticking to my body. But, I guess, when you are facing the Shoaib Akhtars and Brett Lees on the field, you do need to protect yourself from all those mini-meteorites hurled at you. Hopefully, I will get used to it very soon. Coz you never know.. I might just be called upon to perform my duties on the cricket field for AMD.. :)

1. Travelling politicians.

My office being close to the Vidhan Soudha, in Bangalore, I am witness to one of the most elaborate, albeit annoying, rituals called 'VIP movement'. I guess, almost once a week, I get to see Cubbon road completely empty, from one end to the other. There are traffic cops at every signal and each break in the divider. Even the small bylanes are graced by the presence of these upholders of the law.As long as the whole cavalcade doesnt move out of sight, every ordinary person is barred from appearing on the road. Traffic is stopped at all the junctions, there are serpentine queues leading into the neighbouring roads. And all of this, for what? Just because one of our elected representatives suddenly needs to rush off for a relative's birthday bash, or has to catch a flight to go off on a foreign jaunt.

In case you are wondering why I did not use the title "VIP movement" for this post, it is because I do not believe that they are VIPs. A VIP is a truly important person in terms of how he/she has contributed to society, what skills the person has and how much influence is held over the collective psyche of a nation. I would say doctors, scientists, teachers, students are all VIPs. They are the ones who should be accorded the first right to reach their destinations on time. It isnt a rare case that students have missed their board exams because of being stuck on barricaded roads. What could be a bigger emergency than a doctor trying to reach a patient. Havent seen it happen myself, but the situation doesnt seem improbable, when an ambulance might have been stopped to facilitate the passing of a politician. At this stage, I can hardly suppress myself from making a comparison between this ritual and the crossing of animals on a jungle road, when on a safari.

A bigger cause for concern is the number of cars used in the cavalcade. In this age of global warming, where every government should play a pivotal role in formulating policies for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, how can this obscenely high use of fuel be justified? Even if there have to be many people travelling together, why arent buses ever used? Why arent more people packed into one vehicle? Why is it that only the regular commuters have to travel in overfull city buses? Why to call them our representatives, when they do not represent (and have never experienced) the true hardships faced by the common man?

Preface.

I have wanted to start this blog for quite a long time now. Some people take a few minutes to get started; some may take a few hours. But, being the lazy bum that I am, I am sure that I have created a record of sorts ( Guinness officials – please note ). It has taken me two years to get going. There are numerous living organisms with a lifetime way shorter than this. 

Anyways, now that the ball is set into motion, might as well express my gratitude to the one person who is to be held responsible in the following cases:-

1. Any kind of blasphemous post in this blog.

2. Mental tortures and emotional harassments being endured by the readers.

3. Any kind of financial, personal or material loss arising out of listening to any opinions given here.

4. etc.. etc.. etc…

That one person is my dear classmate, ex-colleague, roommate and lifelong friend – Mr. Anup Shende.

He has been literally pestering me to start writing this blog. My parents might not have told me to get serious and study, as many times he has hammered it into my head, that I should write a blog about all and sundry in my life. So, here it.. the culmination of two years of hard work (by whom.. you might have guessed)…

I would also like to thank all those people who were/are/will be directly or indirectly involved with all events/issues/discussions/places/trips/parties/fights/etc… I will be writing about.

As you might have guessed by now, am writing this post in the form of a preface. That’s because I intend to write it all in a book format, with chapter numbers assigned to every post.

Just trying to make it easier, in case a publisher decides to print this mumbo-jumbo and turn it into a bestseller. “Diary of a Guy” how does it sound? Had Anne Frank access to blogging, she could have saved a lot of pages (and earned brownie points with the environmentalists).