SHERLY CROW'S ENVIRONMENT ADVICE

so, i read recently, that Sheryl Crow has posted on her new blog that there should be a limit to the use of toilet paper in a bid to save the environment. while environment and its preservation is a cause i am passionate about, i see this as one of the most useless advices ever! sacrifice basic hygiene for um, saving trees? when you know that your co workers like Paris Hilton and all will make thei dogs write books that will be widely published by cutting these very tress???!!!!!! its rather stupid. while environment seems to be the new 'it' thing on the block, people are fast joining the bandwagon of people supporting this cause.

but in reality, none of them offer any advice on what an individual can do to curb global warming. political initiatives, though far more effective, are places where we will be wasting energy. politicians are usually too near sighted and contrived to come up with anything that has JUST good effects. its the people that you have to take a cause to. an individual is stronger than any ridculous system. all individuals is an undefeated entity. and this is what i wanted to do. i wanted to find out what a normal everyday doctor, day care worker, student or house maid could do to curb global warming. after all, they form a major chunk of the world population, not vain and stupid celebrities who prove time and again that you must have an IQ of below 100 to be famous, and waste their fame championing only those causes that involve visibly deformed little pitiable people.

in a world of nine billion people, time has come that we wake up. so i mailed every organization i could find on the internet, hoping that they would give me pointers on what non environmental activists could do to curb global warming on their part. i got no answer from all of them. like all charitable organizations, they want you money and signature on petitions, but will never tell you anything about the change you must make. ultimately, i used the one resource that is reliable, common sense. global warming is sue to high carbon content in atmosphere. while there is nothing i can advice about curbing the CFC's, as AC's and fridge are for our comfort, i do have some pointers, that i am aure can help, and be incorporated in our daily life. and we dont need to go back to stone ages, or compromise on basic hygeine for that. all of these and more, i put to practice in my daily life.

1) TRAVEL BY CYCLE WHENEVER YOU CAN:

now, use your common sense. if its 12 o clock and summer and you have temperatures above 30 degree celcius, or you are getting late for exams, you obviously wanna pick up that car or motorcycle. but there are so many places we travel by car that we dont need to. if its a class you gotta attend early in morning or sometime in evening, and if it isnt 40 kms away, then pick up that bicycle. something like back to school thing. you might say that your time would be wasted, but that is a lame and non existant excuse.

first off, how much time and money do you spend in gym subscription? or time in front of the television watching pure bullshit. or in front of the computer dating virtual strangers, thinking it makes up for not having a life out of cyber space? it takes 12 mins to travel 5 kms by a car, and 20 by cycle! just 8 mins for 5 kms. plus, you do something for your figure, that no gym can do. gym can give you legs like Gisele Bundchen.... thats a myth they sell their products by. and even if they do, you will have strech marks. cardio is by far the most effective form of exercise, and cycling possibly the only one that strengthens your joints and tones your legs. plus, it increases your stamina, which means you wont loose a race with your great grandfather ( i cant understand how teenagers dont die of embarassment out of that).

if you go in gruops, thats even better. also, use cycle for extremely short distances, like a quick ride to the grocery store on the next block. this one a deal, only an exceptionally dumb person will let pass.....

2) TURN OFF THOSE LIGHTS WHEN U DONT NEED THEM

ok, this is an extremely common and annoying habit that even i used to have. it takes concsious action for a month and then you will be habituated. so, turn off the electricity when you dont need it!!!! DO IT!!! you dont need lights at 12 in the noon, or AC in temperate climate. and you know somwthing guys.... if global warming happens any faster, your body will have to acclimatize to much higher temperatures. and you will even get toasted every time you go out in sun. stay out of sun, and your skin will look like an old toilet paper twice used. so, it makes sense to turn them lights off. other thing is, use individual electronic devices. like, dont turn on your comupter just to listen to music. GET A FREAKING IPOD!!! trust me, you will save a lot more on electricity bills than you spend on that damn ipod. just by turning off computers when not actively using them, a normal working office can save 1000000 rs every year in electrcity bills. computers are amazing, but they consume too much electricity.

3) PAPER BAGS, AND DUSTBINS

in india, due to administractive apathy, people rarely use the dustbin. USE IT! or throw thrash in someone else's house, so they will come throw theirs in your house. then you will know what kind of a nuisance littering is. another thing is, please stop sticking plastic. i know its inconveniet, as platic is the most useful material ever invented. but i would take a new approach than the more impractical Ban Plastic one... CONSERVE PLASTIC. use your head, come up with ways to limit the plastic content of your house. use air tight containers as opposed to those million plastic bottles. when you stock water in plastic bottles, you might wanna know that a few good quality ones are better than a 100 odd ones. or just use your coke bottles. ( i know ppl still prefer them over cans). stocking a lot of plastic bottles means more bottles to clean, which if you are a lazy bum, you wont do. this is actually extremely unhyegenic, as even platic, with a little bit of dust ( and the elixir of life water stuck all over it), is a germinating ground. you could be drinking those bacterias and viruses!!!!!

also, recycle whenever you can. invest your money on things you can recycle. this will create a market for things that can be recycled and manufacturers wont have a choice but to recycle stuff. consumers control the market, not the other way round like its happening. so, RECYCLE!!!

oh, and if you recycle intra house, you might save money and space too. lots of it. take a sunday and just clean your house. look at the things you have that you dont even need!!!! you work your ass off on a college degree and job to earn money that you eventually spend on things you dont even need, that clutter up your lovely house, and frustrate you!!!!!! it doesnt make any sense. so till they make recycling bin as common as public toilets and dustbins...... RECYCLE, inter and intra house.

ok, this is all i have for now. if anyone else has any suggesstions, you are invited to add em on here. look at these.. they are beneficial not just for environment, but for you too. they dont require you to compromise or go back to stone ages or burn to death, all of which are likely to happen if we remain indifferent towards environment. all they require is for you to be proactive and use your head. if you cant do this, you definitely aint saving on any toilet paper either.

so GO GREEN!!!! its not an option, its a requirement!

ABHIASH- GOOLASH

so, the dream girl married the gods son and the whole media has been buzzing about it as if it were the nitty gritty of the india-US nuclear deal. the wedding garments, locations, guest list and other such things have been published and discussed to no end. i once read some opinion poll in a local newspaper where the people happily said that they were curious to know about the details of the biggest wedding of the decade (yeah right). it really made me wonder, as why DO we give a damn. i mean, we have all been blessed with a life of our own right? then why do people wake up every morning to hear about what lipstik aishwarya rai would be applying on her mehendi? i mean does it seriously matter? or do we seriously have so much free time in a world where everyones complaining about how they dont have time for relationships and friendships? also, after the UN report on global warming, would temperatures be discussed with as much detail? ' its 41 degree celcius today and the temperatures have been since rising.' would people put a timer on that? but most importantly, how much paper and electricity is wasted in covering such bullshit? i mean, its great that we have cyber space where no trees are being cut, and in a world facing global warming no less, to be covered with ridiculous stuff about star hook ups and weddings.

now, indian media is as original as they get. so when they saw the UK and US papparrazzi come up with innovative and highly amusing name such as brangelina and bennifer or what not, they put their copious amount of grey cells to work with coining a term for the indian couple. after car wrecks like ashishek (eeks), they finally found a much less pathetic and lot more ridiculous abhiash ( sounds like the name of a long extinct crustacean). then, they filled reams of pages with news of abhiash goin to temples, getting married, paying a visit to the loo. all for the entertainment of that ridiculous bunch of loosers that should be nuked; ' the masses'.

while i didnt follow it all, despite the fact that they made headlines in mainstream paper everyday, sidelining the nuke deal and the gunning down of people in Vtech, Nasa and Hyderabad, apart from other more relevant and consequential news, i do wanna ask this question to everyone who did follow it. do you really care for this much coverage to a stupid event? they got married, good for them. media always gives one iron clad excuse for earning money for covering events of no importance, that they print what people want to read and see. but do people really want this?

ask yourself, how many times have you said that you didnt have enough time to do what you wanted to do, pursue hobbies or be with people you cared about. so you dont have time to understand your daughters teenage crisis, but you have time to delve into the details of a strangers wedding? you dont have time to contribute to yourself, your world or your committments, but you have time to watch the exclusive coverage of the couple arriving and all that? you dont have time to read about and take steps to curb global warming, or attend meetings of such order, but have time to stand in front of the gates of the Bacchans like loosers and cry your heart out?

what kind of a ridiculous hypocrite/looser would you be if you did that? no offence, but the only thing i feel sorry for are the trees that were cut to spin this much yarn, the electricity lost in covering this event and the vision deprived and contrived media professionals who will now be rendered unemployed as abhiash have finall become man and wife.

around the world, we need to ask ourselves this. that are we really as depraved, and as free and our lives as uneventful to bother about stupid celebrity hook ups? what they eat, what they wear and all that crap? right, we all need a pass time. i mean terrorism and global warming are rather depressing topics to talk about, and for some reason, despite screaming about nationalism, the development of china, india and brazil, and the approaching of a globalized and new one world either doesnt interest many people, or doesnt fit in their limited cranial capacity ( or they like like to think it doesnt). but the coverage given to such things has become so ridiculous, that media has made a fool of itself.

the bringers of truth have become nothing short of monkeys dancing on any tune that plays around. now, if something doesnt get published as often, you can risk taking it seriously. beat it, we all need entertainment, but there is a difference between enjoying the lighter side of life, and turning life into a full blown circus that is inconsequential and stupid.

the question being asked today is, what will get mankind first, terrorism or global warming. ahh, it seems neither of these larger than life endings for us. we might probably die of stupidity.

i know this sounds too serious for something this flossy, but then anything that you wasted a percentage of your life speculating about, has to have importance..... think about it. at least then, we can use this media fiasco to gain some insight into the weird world of today.

KISS AND TELL

so, india has been on fire lately. why? richard gere pecked shilpa shetty and moral police is back in action. again. phew! i thought the poor folks would remain unemployed till another valentines day where they could harass the couples, while ignoring the copius amount of eve teasers that strut around for the rest of the year. after all, this is India, the land of great morals. our sentiments are made of thin sheet of glass, and completely disconnected from any sort of mental reasoning. mind, actually, is a vestigial organ out here.

because had mind been used in any of these cases, one would realize, that this was just a impromptu pecking and nothing abnormal for an american. actually, why american, dont the newspapers waste paper and print photo's of wannabe celebrities, pecking each other 3 nanometers away from their lips ( if that still counts as pecking and not kissing) all the time? where is the moral police then? or is it just that targetting Richard Gere will give them an international platform to parade their ignorance?

oh, i dont blame these people. they are acting like the responsible citizens of India, and raising their voice against breaching the cultural code in this country. the active participants of this largest democracy! we must applaud them. we indifferent youngsters should learn from them. i am just waiting for another celebrity to blow a french kiss. i am sure i might find my chance to serve my country when Johhny Depp arrives for the shooting of Shantaram. after all, this is what freedom of speech and action and democracy is all about. if you dont like something, cry foul, ask for an apology, and if the other person does not give in, threaten, beat up and burn. whatever it takes to get them to apologize for acting themselves!

but to these great protectors of culture and integrity of country, i ask you this. where are you hiding, when there are 7 hrs power cuts in vidarbha, band in the middle of the day. at a time when most students are having their exams, and temperatures are bordering 40 degree celcius and above? we pay the taxes. we have a moral right to the power and right to be provided basic necessities, right? isnt it immoral then, that under such inhuman circumstances, electricity is cut everyday! i dont care what problems power department is facing. when did thinking become an integral part of any action here?

i ask you, where were you hiding, when government imposed a overall 50% reservation for the minorities, that is surely going to deprive many talented students of opportunities, just because they belong to a certain caste? while the morality of this country is all up and high when they are taking channels like FTV and AXN off air for airing some vulgar footage, where are they hiding, when it comes to framing PG and U slots? vulgar songs from bollywood flicks are aired all day round on TV channels, even on cartoon network! so, little kids are exposed to this almost all the time. also, in india, no kid sleeps at a time decided by their parents.

look around yourself. this hypocricy is costing you and your so calles selective morals them most. people have all the time to raise their voices about trivial stupid issues, but the real ones are left ignored. forget global warming, forget terrorism, forget human rights violation. no, all we need is a peck on the cheek to raise voices and burn effigies. but when human life is being squeezed and taken away every moment, we lay here, unconcerned. no one will raise their voice and no one will pay attention.

to India, and to the world, as no culture seems immune to such stupidity, i just think its time we woke up and strated directing our efforts towards something that is actually of any consequence. wake up, before its too late.

to the moral police, by all means, find another hobby. the very actions that you blame for spoiling the so called moral fabric of this country, are given importance and impetus by people like you. in that effect, you are aiding them. however inconsequential they are.