Biodegradable dish ware..

...sounds sophisticated?

....trendy?

..... a new entrant?





It is nothing else but the palm leaves (sheaths) that have been used since ages for various purposes in parts of India and I believe in most Asian countries. It is from the Areca Palm or the Betel tree as it is widely known in India whose nuts are used by betel/pan chewers. In Malayalam the sheath is known as “pala”. The same material is also used to make those umbrella like hats used by farmers that are now almost extinct. As children we used to sit on the palm leaves and be dragged along and even toppled! It was pure fun.


But it is this photo feature on Time that caught my attention and I was amused by the trendy name being given to it. Most of us have used the plantain leaves for our “sadhyas” and for those yummy “pothi choru” during train journeys. I have seen even these sheaths being used for such purposes but it now delights me to know that mass production of it is taking place (I read that it has been there since year 2006) in India and picnic goers in US will now use these instead of plastic plates.

Wonder why we in India discarded these for the plastic plates.

An award

The Proximity Award



These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

While I thank Smitha who has bestowed upon me this reward, with a note to give it to 8 others, I would like to take the route that another great blogger RM has taken. Have to admit that I am not as eloquent as Smitha and it is only when the “muse” visits me occasionally that I am able to pen something. Besides, Smitha herself has given the award to many of those bloggers who deserve this award more than me and since there are many more that I love to read, let me give this award to every reader of this blog who patiently hears me out, including Smitha.

P.S. Smitha I am sure you are enjoying your vacation and is too busy to track the awards but needless to say that I truly appreciate your gesture.

Which is the best example to follow

Came across the book, “Stories for Parents: by the Author Paulo Coelho. Couldn’t’ resist posting a story:

Which is the best example to follow:

Dov Beer of Mezeritch was asked:

“Which is the best example to follow? That of the pious man who dedicates his life to God without ever asking why, or that of the erudite man, who tries to understand the will of the Almighty?

“The best example to follow is that of the child” replied Dov Beer.

“ But a child knows nothing. It does not even understand what reality is!’ was the general response.


“There you are much mistaken, because the child has four qualities that we should never forget. A child is always happy for no reason. A child is always busy. When a child wants something, he or she shows great persistence and determination in demanding that thing. Lastly, a child is always very quick to stop crying.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess I have come across such people in my life and they are happy as a child is!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!






Chandrayaan-I was launched successfully early this morning.

Kudos to all those who worked tirelessly.

It was indeed happy moments to see the smiling faces of our scientists and to share their joy and relief. If everything goes as per plan we shall see the tri-flag also fluttering on the moon.

Air Powered Cars?

There are many options: if only we would adapt...

The world being obsessed with oil and its dictates, it is only natural that some of us are attracted (and obsessed?) to news like these. It landed in my inbox and upon googling, I find that it is a stale one which I missed.



“Air Powered Cars” developed by Motor Development International (MDI), a French car Company (family owned business) is to be marketed in India (Year 2009) by none other than TATA MOTORS.

The MDI GROUP is pleased to announce that an accord has been signed with TATA MOTORS of India. This accord will assign and grant licenses to TATA MOTORS for the exclusive implementation of MDI technologies in India.
MDI GROUP will continue to develop their Business Modal throughout the rest of the world by selling the licenses and turnkey factories for the production and marketing of all the MDI products.

It has speed starting from 110 km.hr and has zero emission.


After all the gripes and adulations received by NANO, let us see how this one fares.

Time reported it as a TAIL PIPE DREAM...

Water Powered Car

At this hour of ever increasing oil price and every major problem of this world blamed on this particular commodity one cannot but watch in wonder, eagerness and even a little misgiving this very important news...

Yes.. it is another Japanese delight. And if they go into mass production as they say, I cannot imagine its implications. Can you?

Water-fuel car unveiled in Japan
(01:21) Reuter Report
Jun. 13 - Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water.
The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.

A few links to think positively and negatively.... do find time to check the comments too..

http://nohardtimes.bloggerunleashed.com/business/genepax-water-power-car-from-japan-exxon-mobile-beware/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/13/genepax-shows-off-water-powered-fuel-cell-vehicle/

http://www.ewatercar.com/2008/06/water-powered-cars.html#more-3

That is the way!

I felt very happy reading this news. It is not often that you see such acts coming from those who have achieved much in their lives. They have gained the best education that our country can provide and should be on their way to enjoying some of the best jobs a company can offer. This is enough for one to forget the rest of the world and enjoy what they have gained with their hard work. But they have thought beyond themselves.

IITians run school for children of labourers

Yogesh Vajpeyi, IANS
Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh), September 27, 2007


The children of Bidokhar village call it Apna Skool, or our school. An NGO - formed by the faculty and student of Kanpur's Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - has set up the non-formal school in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh for elementary education of children of migrant labourers.

Great One liners

Thought I should post this here...

LESSONS IN LIFE

By Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45
lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested
column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK t o get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25 No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you re ally does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read some good books. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Mother Teresa - Food for thought

There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic. We believe our work should be our example to people. We have among us 475 souls - 30 families are Catholics and the rest are all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs—all different religions. But they all come to our prayers."

There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family.

Find them.

Love them.

Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.

Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.

Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well.

The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance.

It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. But we are perfectly happy.

Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.

A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and joy.

I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor. It was an order.
I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.

When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.
It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.

You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing.
Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.
Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little
child, you receive me.

Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.

If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.

Brilliant

MBA-grad mints money from garbage management

Prerna Uppal / CNN-IBN



Published on Thursday , August 16, 2007 at 13:02 in Nation section

Tags: Noida, Garbage


New Delhi: Manik Thapar, an MBA graduate turned his business into a mission and vice-versa.


"When I was studying in the US people used to ask me how could I live in a dirty country. That's when I decided that I need to clean up,” says Thapar.

.........................

This is what I call people with brains plus committment and he has put to use his talents in the right place too. Our country begs for such innovative ideas and recently in Kerala the a whole city had to be shut down since waste could not be removed. The place designated for dumping was in dispute.

Congratulations Mr. Manik Thapar

More love and not less...

Let us face our problems with more love and not less love.

This was how Mr. William ended his interview on BBC this morning. Was listening to BBC radio while getting ready for work. He was talking about the controversial stem cell research and cloning.

William B. Hurlbut is a physician and Consulting Professor in the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford, Stanford University Medical Center. Born in St. Helena, California, he grew up in Bronxville, New York. After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris..

Dr. Hurlbut has come to national prominence for his advocacy of Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT), a scientific method of obtaining pluripotent stem cells without the creation and destruction of human embryos.

He was saying that while interviewing, 2/3 of the participants responded that they do not mind killing one baby to save another. Now William himself had to take a break from the medical school when a son with serious mental problems was born to him. This kind of emotional problems either takes a person closer to the Almighty for comfort or takes him to other means of comfort. William turned to the Almighty for answers he desperately sought by studying Theology. Being a scientist he could have put his heart and soul into further developing the stem cells harvested from Human embryos but instead developed an alternate method. He was saying that millions spent for research should not be used for feeding our vanity but for saving desperate lives. There are many medical conditions which is bearable and does not require massive funding, instead these funds can be used to save millions who are dying daily for want of medical attention.

He also talks about cloning.

If cloning were to be allowed imagine the scenario.. (my thoughts of course!)

1- Those much hated world leaders would never step down from power (they would be using all their power and money in creating a clone)
2- The gang leaders and underworld thugs would be inside and outside our jails.
3- The wanted criminals and terrorists will remain a threat forever.

It is very hard to like President Bush specially after the way he took the world into a new order of terrorism but I certainly agree with him on his stance on Stem cell research and cloning.

Rain water harvesting.

Today we had a discussion on water. The most precious natural resource that we have on earth and whose value is increasing day by day due to its ever increasing scarcity. That is when I recalled a conversation that I had with my Colleague who hails from Chennai. Chennai has always faced water problems since no major river flows through it. It depends mostly on the monsoon for water. But with the rain water harvesting technique, implemented by the former Chief Minister – Jayalalitha, he was saying that the ground water level has increased and they do not face water scarcity like before. Each house has implemented the system whereby the rain water during the monsoon season is collected and stored. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rain from roofs or from a surface catchment for future use. The water is generally stored in rainwater tanks or directed into mechanisms which recharge groundwater. This is appropriate in many parts of the world, such as western Britain, China, Brazil, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, Australia and India.

I also read that this technique was made use even 4,000 years ago! It was in Lothal, the ancient town of Harappa in Gujarat. Lothal is called the “mount of dead” since it is a very dry region. But it was a thriving port in yesteryears. It is proved that they had fascinating terraquaculture system — integrated land and water use practices. Click for further read.

I believe it is time each country pursued water conservation more seriously before we end up fighting major wars for water. State like mine which is blessed by abundant rain should invest in rain water harvesting systems and maybe this should be either made compulsory or the state should offer subsidy.

http://www.rwh.in/

Teacher

I know, today is not a Teacher’s day! But I have to write this down!

Our son was sick and missed his classes – well my children have been missing classes all these years but I was shocked, surprised.. but glad, happy and touched when his Teacher called up to enquire. In my entire career of Motherhood this is the first time I have received such a call. Maybe because there was going to be a Vocab test but my kids have missed them even before. She gave me the portions and even said it is okay even if he misses it. I was so touched that actual tears came into my eyes. It is great to know that such teachers still exist in our universe.. May God bless Suzzane and may her tribe increase.

I still remember the teachers who have influenzed me. My English teacher – Gita Miss , Maths teacher Mr. Arun – his Maths class was very interesting.. because he used to narrate the stories of the English movies that he saw. It went like a serial- after each day’s lessons he picks up the story from the last day. And how we loved his classes and yes we loved Maths too! Then there were many others.
Teaching is a very noble profession but one should take it up only if one is interested in it. I have been a teacher too. And it was the most fulfilling days of my life.

A foolproof Formula for Success by ARTHUR GORDON.. adapted from the Readers Digest

If a man is to move to the top and be entrusted with command decisions, there must be a plus factor, something that takes mere ability and doubles or trebles its effectiveness. To describe this magic characteristic there’s only one word: INTEGRITY

Basically, the word means wholeness. In mathematics, an integer is a number that isn’t divided into fractions. Similarly, a man of integrity isn’t divided against himself. He doesn’t think one thing and say another – so it is virtually impossible for him to lie. He doesn’t believe in one thing and do another – so he is not in conflict with his principles. It is the absence of inner warfare, that gives a man the extra energy and clarity of thought that make achievement inevitable.

Integrity means:

1- Living up to the best in yourself.
2- Having a high developed sense of honour.
3- Having a conscience and listening to it.
4- Having the courage of your convictions.
5- Obedience to the unenforceable.
And when a person has integrity, he has..
- boldness
- persistence
- serenity
and mind you it is difficult too but it is worth it..