say no to firecrackers

Diwali – the festival of lights. And since it’s the age of extravagance and glitz the conventional lanterns are not enough. So there are fireworks. Half a kilometer long defeaning bombs and crackers rocketing into the sky. I never had much attraction for all these. And not because i think it is detrimental to the environment. Partly because I am scared and also because I can’t bear the noise. But i love the color and glitter minus the sound.

There are reasons why we should probably stop using crackers.

I know I know. We know all this. The crap about sound and air pollution. If I say “It increases noise pollution” you will be quick to point out that honking vehicles cause much more harm. If I bring up air pollution, you will hit back with all statistics on air pollutants where fireworks don’t even figure at the top.
But that is not all. The most appalling fact is the way crackers are produced. Kids are forced to work in cracker factories even when they know that it is illegal and fatal. Articles follow, let them do the talking

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2210459.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/27291982.cms

If you don’t know this already, I hope this piece of information changes your viewpoint.

Although there are so many things which need to be done to make the world a better place, this is one of those things we can definitely afford to do! This does not make our life any less comfortable, it is not indispensable, it just adds to our amusement for a few minutes. But surely there are more harmless ways of amusing oneself. It we can’t even find better ways than this, then we should be rather be amused at our lack of imagination!

I am happy to see that Sharav has steeply reduced it’s budget for crackers this time around compared to that of last year’s. I hope there will come a day when we completely do away with it. After all, being the educated and responsible citizens of the country (no comments on the dubiousness of the facts in the statement) we are supposed to set trends for others to follow. We have to put a stop to this. The first step is to stop buying crackers. Like the Nat Geo campaign to stop fur trade says, “If the buying stops, the killing will too”

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imagine!

I am one of those people who almost have an aversion to poetry. I can not look at them for longer than a couple of seconds leave alone read whole poems. This is my first attempt at writing one, and I am not counting the English classes in school where we would be forced to write stuff about saving trees and appreciating the nature.

I found a quote which should make me feel good.

All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling.

-Oscar Wilde

Needless to say, this is a genuine and no-frills effort. And don’t search for rhyming words. You wont find any. So, here goes

Imagine

Having chilled beer on a breezy beach

Feeling course sand brush your feet

Sipping red wine in dim moonlight

Playing Mozart effortlessly on the piano

Sketching your desire in charcoal

While listening to your favorite song

Imagine

Walking in a dark empty street

With the man of your dreams

To turn on the heat

Imagine

Finding never-never land

Where all your wishes come true

Where you always know what you want to do

Where the surprises are always pleasant

Serendipitous moments filled in

To give it an adventurous streak

Where plans don’t shatter

And hearts never break

Where people mean what they say

Where there are no dull moments

And you never feel lonely and lost

The fairytale world which I just drew

Now isn’t it just too perfect to be true?

So here I am

In this confusing world

Maybe it’s my fault after all

That I feel so lost

Feeling euphoric now

And depressed later

Wondering what brought about the lull

Who stopped the clock and whispered

“Nothing matters, it’s all pointless”

Who made me believe that this is all a mirage?

It felt like this was going to last for ever

But thanks to a mystery force though

The sun lit back again

I again swung back into my merry mood

It made me smile and fooled me into believing

That another pleasant moment was going to last forever.

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the rickshaw-wallah memoirs

“Aauto ma”.
No response.
“Auto?”
“No, we don’t…”
Again, “Auto? You want auto?”

This time coming in my way! Right in front of me, blocking the road ahead. I say, no, we don’t need an auto. He still persists. Maybe he doesn’t quite understand what I say. Girl next to me shouts “Free me chhod rahe ho kya?“. Unbelievably enough, he understands what this means and goes ahead giving a wry smile and pooh poohing his rick.

You wouldn’t really be able to recollect their faces if you had to. But then, when you think of the word, and a Chennai rick-wallah at that, a definitive character stands up in front of you. Some guy who has no ethics whatsoever, and yet counts on scaring us for not being kind enough to give him what he is asking for (I am talking about the fare), assuming that all of us believe in the there-is-a-god-up-there-who-is-watching-if-you-r-helping-the-less-fortunate story. And when you refuse to give more than what was decided before, ruling out the U-turn which he had to take reach the main gate as an valid reason for asking for more money, he says “I don’t want anything then”. Fine with me! I got a ride for free. And for the record, I have done this before. Twice.

I have dreams of those rickshaw-wallahs following me and running over me as an act of vengeance 8O

Another thing. Don’t believe them when they say they don’t have any change. They will take it out when they run out of time and patience to squeeze more cash out of you. Just wait and act like you can’t help it as much as them :P

And, I could go on and on and on. Now really, is there anyone out there who is interetsed in my rickshaw-wallah stories?! :-|

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