Recycling plastic bottles

I have been selling all used plastic bottles, boxes, and all other plastic things that are waste in my home to the local scrap buyer (kabadiwala) for many years. I know for a fact that if a kabadiwala is paying me money to buy old plastic then there ought to be a reason for it. I googled and figured that used plastic is crushed and processed to make different things, but I did not find a well written document which explained what really happens with all this plastic.

Just today, I read an article in the newspaper which gave me more reasons not to throw away the plastic that gets accumulated at home into the garbage bin. My husband sometimes makes fun of me, and my parents and sister think that I'm mad. Don't know what my friends would call me; I never discuss my recycling madness with them. I know what I'm doing and I'm happy being myself!

2012 is ending...

The one thing I really wished for was peace and happiness in this seemingly chaotic and unpredictable world when I wrote my new year post early January this year. Sadly, through the year, in spite of many highs on the personal front, several unfortunate incidents happened all around the world, and all of those affected me deeply. The young Delhi girl who was brutally tortured only to die was no friend of mine, but her death has a deep impact on me, and I know the dent that has formed will take a long time to fill. Every time I muster some courage to get on with life something bad happens, and I am back to square one. I often wonder how will I bring up my daughter, what values do I pass on? No, that’s not the exact question… I am worried about how will I keep my daughter safe, and yet, give her a reasonably independent life? I am sure that most Indian mothers with young daughters have this question on their minds at this very moment!

Protests, debates, candle light march, interviews… they all happen, but cruelty towards people just keeps going on and on and on. Today, in spite of all the good and the bad things happening around the world, I am living my life just like any other day; just that I am a little more shaken inside.

Tomorrow when I celebrate the coming of the new year with my family and friends I will be a little unsure about what to expect of the coming year. One thing that I am sure going to pray for is safety for my immediate family first and then everybody else. With such amount of filth in the society who knows if my family becomes the next victim!

  

Kasab dead... is justice served?

Today as I read this I remember that night I was glued to the tv just hoping and praying that the terrorists are caught and life in Mumbai gets to normal. Later in the morning I fell off to sleep for some time only to suddenly wake up to the sound of the tv. The news of the dead made me shudder inside. I still remember some of the faces of people who either lost a family member or just survived by luck.

Four years have passed. Everybody has moved on in life, and so have I. But i know that I am not the same person I used to be. I live in fear of death every single day. No matter how hard I try the fear inside me is intact. I think I'm scared of losing someone dear rather than fearing about myself.

Ajmal Kasab is finally dead. Finally the martyrs and those who died on that fateful day rest in peace. Judgement is done. Just that people like me need to know of many more criminals' deaths to live in peace.

For the record, Ajmal Kasab's execution is believed to be the second quickest in India. Considering that the second quickest execution took almost 4 years I am not sure whether I should be happy or utterly astonished. 

Anushka turns 2!

I have been planning this day for a few months. There have been nights when I was awake, and thinking of all the things that we'd do on our little one's birthday. I believe in doing things myself, and that becomes quite a challenge often, like putting streamers, balloons etc. I had no idea that putting streamers along the edges of the ceiling can be such a task! I spent many hours planning how to put them, and imagined for a few more hours as to how will they look like, but my planning failed completely because of the shape of the room, the fans etc! Thank God, Joy was such a sport and my mother-in-law was around to help!

I wanted the birthday to be a simple one, but it had to have all the fun elements. Visiting Sneha Sadan is no plan, it has become a part of our lives. Even before I conceived Anushka, Joy and I had decided that we will visit either an orphanage or an old age home for her birthday, and also have a regular get together with family and friends. It was just by chance we got to know about Sneha Sadan right before Anushka's 1st birthday and we visited there. We didn't have to think or plan anything after meeting everyone; without saying anything Joy and I knew that it is this lovely home that we will visit whenever we want to! In the 1 year we have built a bond with the children and the sisters, and they will always be a part of our lives.

We went to Sneha Sadan in the afternoon as we organised lunch for them. The children decided what they wanted to eat and accordingly, food was ordered. I'm not too keen that Anushka cuts a cake at Sneha Sadan as I don't want to remind the children another time that they don't have parents to take care of them. I know their pain and hurt and regret can never be reduced, but I don't want too add to what's already there. So, the plan was to have another 2 children whose birhdays were in August too to cut the cake along with Anushka... everyone cheered and sang , and it was such a beautiful moment! I hope my Anushka grows up to cherish these extra ordinary moments.

There was an early evening get together with family, and some of my students who Anushka just loves! Anushka loves ducks, her bath time mates! So, Joy suggested that we have a duck shaped cake. After a lot of research we decided on  a Donald Duck cake from Birdy's (our favourite cake shop). It goes without saying that the cake was heavenly to taste!

I always wanted to play the piano while singing the birthday song for my family, but that never happened, and another 1st time experience in my life happened with Anushka!

Here's the video!

Anushka participated during a game of passing-the-parcel by moving her hands and legs, as if she was dancing, while the music played! I think she loves gifting people; that was one thing she thoroughly enjoyed... giving away the return gifts!

A new beginning!

One of my new students in one of the schools (not mentioning the name) is autistic. I know a little about autism, but this was the first time I met anyone with the condition. Though it was difficult to get his attention at the start, and make him play the piano; however, towards the end of the session he showed me the middle C on the piano and responded when I called his name. I felt it was a good start!

This school has quite a few children with various difficulties, and weak motor skills is the most common. Some of these children come to the music class, and respond quite well. And, when they are given a little extra attention they play correct notes on the piano! But this autistic boy's condition is a little bad, though he is good at math!

I always wanted to work with differently abled children, but I did not have the courage to do so mainly because of lack of training and experience.  Life, however, has presented me with this wonderful opportunity to prove to myself whether I can really do something to make a difference to those children who are a little different from most of us! 

Recycling audio cassettes

Audio cassettes are obsolete and are never going to make a comeback, I think. But, there are so many memories attached to those cassettes. Most of us have grown up listening to music on cassettes. Since recording music from one cassette to another was easy, many of us had our own personalised music albums.

With the newer technology for listening to music there is just no use of cassettes in our lives anymore, but to throw away such memories really hurts. I still have some of the cassettes that contain the compilations I had made several years ago. In fact, I threw away a few just a few months ago, and my heart broke! 

Just yesterday I was reading something on the Goonj site and while going through their recycles products catalogue I found that purses and folders that are made out of audio cassettes. What a lovely idea! 

This is how a folder made from audio cassettes looks like! There are other products, such as, pouches, wallets available as well. Find them at:

http://www.unwrapindia.com/shop/goonj

The few cassettes that I still have will go to a great place to get recycled, and I am not going to be upset anymore!

I googled a little to find out about products made by recycling audio cassettes and I found this video quite interesting. Here it is :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ePKiCYd4o

Anushka's Birthday Celebration at Sneha Sadan!

Anushka's 1st birthday celebration began on August 7 by visiting a home called Sneha Sadan in the suburbs of Mumbai that takes care of girls who are either abandoned or orphans. Anushka, along with Joy, my mother and me, spent time with the children there, and we indeed had a very good time! Though Anushka was initially a little quiet, she gradually warmed up to the children! Here are some of the photographs taken.

The celebrations continued in Goa! Here are the links:

http://chandrimaroy.blogspot.com/2011/08/palolem-one-of-most-beautiful-beaches.html?spref=tw

http://chandrimaroy.blogspot.com/2011/08/goa-in-monsoon.html

Something that I wrote in an interview a few years ago...

People are often asked to write essays during their interview rounds. Among many topics one of the recruiters’ favourites is “what do you think is the single most important problem the world is facing”. Even I had to write once on the same topic, and this is pretty much what I wrote. 

Problems, there are aplenty in the world we live in. Poverty, destruction, racism, pollution, population, the list is endless. If I have to talk about the single most important problem the world is facing, I would say the right for humans to live in peace. Asking for peace is such a dificult thing in today’s world. What attributes to this is debatable.

War and destruction are two words we learn at formidable years of our lives, when we read in schools about ancient kings and their stories of victory. Ironically, what we think is ancient is still so prevalent, probably in a more heinous form. People today still kill people for power, and often, in the name of religion! Terrorism has paralysed the society at large. As a kid I did not learn the word ‘terrorism’, probably because there was no need for it. But today, every kid knows what the word means and they also know a lot about terrorists! Wonder if there are solutions to eradicate the terrorists and terrorism from the face of the earth.

Talking about India, one cannot take a stroll in the park, or watch a movie at a theatre, or just go crazy on shopping without being frisked and being looked at with suspicion. There is hardly any ease of living.

To conclude, I would say that it is the responsibility of each human to ensure peace in whatever form possible, as we already have many other problems to deal with in our lives. If each of us learns to treat others equally, starts to accept and respect beliefs and opinions of others, the world will surely become a better place to live in.

Joy of Giving!

Joy of Giving Week starts today. I am doing my bit, are you?

I have been giving old clothes, cloth, shoes and chappals to Goonj for 3 years, and I am going to do just that this week! My husband and my mother have also packed some stuff to give. I am glad that we as a family are doing our bit to reach out to people. Nothing can be more satisfying than this!

My Diwali My Way!

The past 8-9 years, Diwali has just been a day when everyone celebrated and I stayed at home. The reason, there were just too many! But this year, it was different, though nothing was planned. Also, this was my first Diwali after shifting to Mumbai.

The whole day Joy and I lazed around at home. Late in the afternoon, Joy went to his office as there was a Puja happening there. While I was at home alone, I quickly packed the diyas, candles and chocolates that I bought for my parents and my sister. I am a recycle freak! People just might start hating me for reusing wrapping paper, ribbons, ornamentations, but I don't care! I am a firm believer of recycling everything that can be recycled.

I took out a rather new looking old basket, and some zari strips, and decorated the basket. It looked nice, at least I found it nice. That's what matters at the end of the day, isn't it? Joy returned around 7 in the evening. Then we lit the candles at home, and a little later, we went to my parent's place.

Since I am so used to doing nothing on Diwali for many years, I really didn't know what to do after some time. My sister is a religious person and visits temples very regularly to offer her prayers. And, she was going to a temple in Juhu that evening too. I had a plan, a plan that has been on my mind for many years. We decided that while she goes inside the temple and offers her prayers, I'll go around the street and distribute some food to the poor.

I found 11 men and women and gave them food packets. I also met one fairly young man who lost both his legs and was seated on a cycle. It was obvious that he needed some money too. In a country where fit educated people don't have jobs, what would a poor, uneducated, handicapped guy do? Does he have a choice but wait for people to come and help? I didn't get a chance to talk to him and find out if there was something I could do to help, but I intend to do that in a couple of weeks. I just gave him some money. Guess the joy of giving is a feeling that cannot always be expressed in words. I just know that when I was coming out of that street I was a happy woman!

After returning home we burst some crackers, me the least! I am just scared of crackers. After many years I had a lovely time with my family, and also celebrated Diwali my way! A little giving, a little sharing goes a long way....

Teach India Part 3

I received an email from Ms. Anjali Hari from Katalyst to send her my profile so that she could get started working with me, and I could become a mentor. We exchanged a few emails and spoke a few times after which she sent me a profile.The profile looked interesting. It was of a 19 year old girl, who faced many challenges along with her family in the struggle of life, and yet did not give up. She is a student of Engineering in a college in Malad.

I had heard of people finding a way to face the world and achieve things in life, but she was the first person I met, who so gracefully accepted the challenges, and is working towards making a difference in life.

I am happy to be associated with Katalyst in my little way. I hope I will be able to do more in the future, and help some more youngsters shape a life for themselves.

Teach India Part 2

I went to a school at Veera Desai Road for the orientation program of Teach India. When I reached the classroom where the volunteers were sitting I was shocked. I had no idea that so many people would actually come. It was overwhelming to see people from different age groups and background all gathered together to make this world a better place. My interest to be a part of this movement got strenghthened.

We waited for a little while before the representatives from the different NGOs started making presentations about their organisation. In fact, there were 3. After the presentations were made I chose to meet Ms. Anjali Hari from Katalyst as I found their requirement for volunteers was matching with my skill set.

There was a huge queue of excited youngsters to be part of her NGO, therefore, I had to wait for more than half an hour to have a word with her. People pushed me from one side to another, just to have a word with her, and I was testing my own patience while waiting to talk to her. I did manage to speak with her and briefly mentioned to her about the kind of training I do. She made a note of my contact details and said that she would get back to me.

That's how the day ended. On my way back, I thought that there should be more and more initiatives like this to spread education and reiterate the importance of teachers in our lives. Though I am a corporate trainer by profession, which is my source of livelihood, the pleasure and satisfaction that I will gain from being associated with Teach India will be immeasurable.

Teach India Part 1

I have always believed in doing a little extra to help people in need. I also firmly believe that it is very important to give back to life a little in return to all that it has given me. From my childhood I loved the idea of being a teacher. And I ended up being one as I grew up, though today, I am a trainer working in the corporate world. The good thing is that I still teach!

For the past 3 to 4 years I have had a strong desire to reach out to the underprivileged strata of the society and teach. I identified an opportunity to make my contribution when last year I saw the Times of India Teach India hoarding while driving. At that moment I couldn’t really figure what it was. After a couple of days I watched the television commercial which featured Bollywood star Aamir Khan. The commercial went like this, some kids came to him to learn something and he was in a dilemma whether he was capable of teaching. While he was thinking, one of the kids pronounced a word incorrectly and he immediately corrected the kid. While doing so he said to himself that even he, as a kid, used to make the same mistake, and how his teacher corrected him every time he went wrong. This commercial further strengthened my conviction about remaining a teacher at heart.

I realised that I could be a part of the Teach India initiative. Teach India is a social initiative from the Times of India that brings together children in need of education and people who can contribute a little time towards teaching them. I felt it was a movement to bring about a change in the way India lives. However, my excitement about joining this mission got completely shattered because I was told that by my Manager that I had to go to another city on a deputation and my working hours would be a little erratic. I was very upset but couldn’t do much as the job was also very important.

At that time I just hoped that this initiative continues and I could be a part of the same the following year. And yes, it did continue! Just a week and a half ago I was chatting with one of my colleagues when she mentioned that she enrolled to teach in the Teach India initiative and asked me if I would be interested. I immediately went through the site and registered, and this Saturday I am going for the induction. At the induction I would meet the volunteers from different NGOs who will assign me to a particular location and get details about the students and the subjects that I would be teaching. I am very excited and anxious to get started.

Who has the answer?

I have been humming Bob Dylan's 'Blowing In The Wind' since this morning, rather unconsciously till it hit me and hit me rather hard. A thought crossed my mind, am I happy that I'm alive? I don't know...

The following lines are circling in my mind while I'm writing this...

How many times must the bombs and grenades fly before they're forever banned?

How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?

How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?

Who has the answer, does anyone know?

GOONJ - A mission I feel strongly for

I'm a tiny part of this huge organisation... yet I am happy to be there!

Visit the following link if you care. http://www.goonj.org/