Plastics...

11.58 p.m. 29th May 08

It is close to midnight. There is an eerie silence that has engulfed the city as there is a power cut. A shower of rain had thrown the Bangalore city out of gear few hours ago. The rain water did not find an easy path to drain off…they occupied the roads, flooded them: this is the state of engineering here: there are no channels to drain the water into sewer. The situation in the drain is no good. They have their own enemy… plastics; the drains are heavily clogged by plastic covers. This is the state of any city or town at present.
In the process of reviving ‘Noyyal River’ in Coimbatore, nature enthusiasts submitted a report to the city corporation and have got a rule in place which bans usage of plastic covers at all stages. The point here is, the rule exists day-in and day-out and not just on paper. Moving further, I see a great need in creating the basic awareness of waste disposal and I firmly believe that this can be achieved only if we start it from our own home and our surrounding. Few years ago, the then ruling party in Tamil Nadu state issued an order requesting every household to install rain water harvesting sites in their house. Every other household now has it at least on paper. Even then, after an year, the water table rose to a considerable amount…imagine if every other household did the exercise with whole of their heart…
A small tipping point can change the fate of the world…I think so, Do you?
As engineers, we need to design for future at the least and we get the prophecy only by sharing our thoughts and ideas… Are we?

Trouble with my demat account...

One of my worst experiences with Religare Securities...Recently I opened a de-mat account with the BTM layout branch of Religare. Without me booking any orders, the guy managing my account there has done intra-day trading for which I am receiving transaction slip in my inbox. Moreover, the guys in the office act too smart …I need to check with their boss and pull myself out of Religare. By the way, de-mat in any other firm has the same risks. Only way out is to check the account on a daily basis… J

Train 0627

I was returning back from my native town. My train bound for Bangalore was scheduled at 10.35 pm, Tiruchirapalli junction (Trichy for short). This was a seasonal special train. At my aunt’s place I got to know that the train was late by 40 minutes. I reached the station at around 10.15 and punched the train number 0627 in the help-kiosk. It gave me a shock: the timetable said 0627 was bound for Chennai! Later I confirmed at the help counter that this was a special train. Suddenly, the speaker announcement said the train is routed to platform-2. I proceeded toward platform-2... in the next round announcement he said platform-4. Another train bound for Rameshwaram was arriving in platform-4. This caused the confusion: the passengers were in full chaos. Later in his Hindi accented English, he informed it to be platform-3. From then on, he kept sticking to platform-3. Boarding the train, I felt the tension vanishing and a ray of silence. It will be good, if they pay equal attention to special seasonal train announcements as well.

Right ecosystem nurtures…

My mom gave a plant to me 18 months ago saying ‘Let this plant divert you from the ever bright computer screen and work pressure to the reality of life’. The plant came all the way from Coimbatore to Bangalore adorned with only five leaves. Now the plant has around two dozen leaves! One more lemon seed found its way from my grandma’s backyard three months ago… Just after a cuppa lemon tea, I put the seeds in the pot and it got buried under the thick layer of humus on the top layer. We were closed for the weekend following May-1 for a span of four days. I sprinkled some water and bid good bye to my plant family comprising this indoor plant and a money-plant plus a croton. Post long weekend, yesterday, I noticed a centimeter long shoot from the edge of the pot. The lemon seeds have germinated. I like the way they have grown; straight pointing to the sky…
My plant family has one more member to its group… :)

It takes a heart to conquer Cancer...

Awareness is the key to conquer cancer and spreading cancer awareness is the prime most vision of Vasantha Memorial Trust. At VMT, we have been striving to spread the message that ‘Cancer is curable if detected early’ among fellow beings from all walks of life. The trust functions with blessings from well-wishers and volunteers. 100+ awareness sessions every month, 300+ patients sponsored, Jumble sale for cancer aid and Music concerts in aid of Cancer every year and many more events / milestones buoys our spirit and our mission. On a broader perspective, it takes a heart to conquer Cancer. Drop a web-visit to www.vasantha.org or mail vasanthamemorial@gmail.com to get to know how you can also be a part of this awareness drive. You can ping me too…