In India, plant the traditional trees

Subsequent to my earlier post, there are several Indian trees that are inherently capable of reducing pollution, both, of air and of sound. They not only reduce pollution but help in significant improvement in the quality of soil and water retention. The icing on the cake is that if planted in significant numbers within cities they help stabilize and even improve the water table. With so much power retained within them, it is a pity that such fabulous trees have lost out the mind share of our intelligent and modern town planners.Neem, Peepal, Paakad, Jamun, Mango, Banyan, Bel trees are known for their high water retentin capabilities since times immemorial in India. In fact the botanical name of Neem - Azadirachta Indica - is derived from a persian word given to it by Arab traders when they first came to India. The traders found that this tree grew just about every where in India and hence they started referring to it as Azaad-Darakht-e-Hind - The independent tree of India.These trees not only retain high quantities of water but also help reduce sound pollution, specially beneficial in urban centres - since their wide canopies break sound waves. The widely spread out canopies further aid in a higher level of retention of Carbon di Oxide than most other trees. Their leaves and fruits falling to the ground help improve the nutritional value of the soil below in no uncertain terms. These are proven scientific facts and also substantiated by the value assigned to these trees in our Vedas. Right from Ashok to Sher Shah Suri there are records of how they insisted on planting these trees along highways, urban centres, shelters for traveller and water baoulisThe advent of the Britishers did not do anything to diminish this. Infact the British further aided in planting green trees all along the Highways they developed. It is the advent of Democracy and the rise of the people in the lat 60 years that has impacted our tryst with destiny so significantly. The sab chalta hai attitude has impacted our environment as much as any other facet of our daily lives.Further, the so called literate population, aided and abetted by what it feels is the correct 'western truth' has further aided the downfall of our country in as little as 6 years. They have not yet realized that even the 'West' no longer practices or preaches what they continue to abide by to this day.This is the reason why i feel that our future lies in the hands of the millions who are religious, even though they may be illiterate because while they may be illiterate, they are certainly not uneducated, as mentioned even by Pandit Nehru. The key is to be able to associate the environment with religion and then spread the word around across the length and breadth of this country.Now for some scientific facts -A single average tree absorbs 12 kg of CO2 while providing enough Oxygen for 4 human beings for a year. Trees planted in a single hectare of land absorb more than 6 tons of CO2 whereas a single long haul flight generates about 3.75 tons of CO2.1. Trees and plants that help trap dust particles, reduce temperature and trap other exhaust particles - Neem, Amaltas, Sheesham, Cane, Peepal, Mango, Jamun, Arjun, Saagwan, Tamarind2. Trees that help convert wasteland to fertile land - Babul, Arjun, Gulmohar, Kadamb, Amaltas3. Trees that reduce sound pollution - Ashok, Neem, Kachnaar, Banyan, Peepal, Semal4. Trees that help reduce air pollution significantly - Bel, Siras, Neem, Ulu neem, Bougainvillea, Sheesham, Peepal, Mahua, TamarindWe dont need too much funds. We need a lot much more of dedication and conviction and people on the ground to do that. Are we ready...

India needs a vision

In this 60th year of our Republic, India needs a vision. India needs an able administrator. India needs someone capable of driving this vision through. No, I am not talking about corruption, police incompetence, judicial delays, political dishonesty, pathetic levels of education, extreme poverty or lack of basic health facilities. These are all basic necessities and need to be fulfilled not necessarily by our politicians but definitely by our bureaucrats. All these are jobs for which, the bureaucrats have been siphoning off money since ages now. It is them who need to be made answerable not the politicians. We don’t even need politicians to fulfill these basic requirements.
We need politicians to bind this great nation together. We need politicians to create a vision and to show us that vision and to let us all feel a part of that vision. Leaders don’t get down to brass tacks. That is for the soldiers to do. Leaders need to break free and create a vision which the rest of us can see too and feel for. Nehru had a vision. So did Indira. Rajiv too had a vision. In fact he had a dream - the dream of a young nation. God only knows where it got swept away during the floods of Mandal, Kamandal, Communal and Terror.

We need a new dream and a new vision and we need it now. We need to break the mould, break the barriers to our own thinking and say, Yes, we can!

What is it that will create the magic pull for each and every Indian from each village, town, city, state and union territory? What is it that will take some time to form and yet will fire the imagination of each and every citizen of this great nation? What is it that will truly be a great tribute to this land with more than 5000 years of history and the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world? What is it that will bring a lump to your throat every time you see it or feel it or talk about it? What is it that will fill your chest with pride and unite you with each and every other citizen of this great land? What is it that will pay a tribute to the culture of this civilization while also inspiring its young citizens towards far greater achievements in the future?

The task is humungous but the answer is simple.

Our great visionary will build a massive complex which when seen from the sky will look like a Swastik representing the great Indian civilization and the ancient importance of this all powerful symbol. The complex will comprise a series of monuments and buildings each dedicated to the millennia through the ages. Each monument would depict something of importance right from the Vedic era right up to 1947. Be it the reign of Ashok or Samudragupta or Akbar or even Aurangzeb and Gazni. Another set of buildings will denote important episodes in the history of this great civilization like the Indus Valley civilization or scenes from the Ramayana or Mahabharata or the arrival of Saint Thomas in Chennai. Yet another set of buildings would depict educational systems during ancient times such as the Universities of Taxila and Nalanda. Even the not so goods of India would be shown here such as the Caste system, the Dowry system, the sati pratha and so on.

Towers in between the various arms of the Swastik would be dedicated to depicting the life and times of important personalities right through the ages culminating in the tallest tower being dedicated to all the people who died fighting during India’s struggle for independence.

This entire complex will not only be a one stop shop for all things truly Indian but also will be a living and breathing economy on its own providing jobs for thousands of people. It would have schools, shops, small scale businesses, handicrafts, pollution free industries all within the larger complex.

This complex will house the DNA bank and research facility for all Indians across the globe where they can search for their antecedents should they ever want to.

The architecture of this entire complex will reflect the development of architecture right from the Vedic era to the modern age keeping true to the age that a specific monument represents.

Where will this massive complex be built? Well, of course on the banks of the river Ganga, the holiest of holy rivers in India and just a stone’s throw away from Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

Why would this construction create a shared vision for each and every Indian? Because for the construction of this massive complex, bricks will be brought in from each and every village, town and city of India no matter how far or how inaccessible. At least one individual from each village of India will be offered a job at this massive construction site along with permanent housing within this complex when the project is completed. This would result in a mini India, right on the banks of the river Ganga, within the holy city of Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world!

From across the river Ganga, the ever smiling, ever benign, ever peaceful Buddha would be looking over this entire complex. His statue would be the tallest Buddha statue carved from a single stone perhaps taller than the Bamiyan statues.

Why would this be a unique complex? Because the tower dedicated to those who died fighting for our independence would be the tallest independent standing tower in the world with individual names of freedom fighters etched on it in stone.

Further something that would add to the uniqueness of this monument to India, made in the shape of Swastik, would be that it would be the only man made construction in India that would be visible from the moon when we reach there in 2015.

Who can deliver? It is the one and only, our very own, Behen Kumari Mayawati who would be able to realize this great vision in the name of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and with the blessings of the 10th incarnation of Vishnu, Lord Buddha.

Showcasing India's poverty

Its surprising indeed that a young and possibly one of the future Prime Ministers of this nation believes genuinely enough that the real India is reflected through the eyes of a poor dalit woman residing in one backward village. What is further ironical is that the Indian media including the press too tends to believe this. Why ironical? Because the media, specially the press, goes only to the literate few in India who can afford to buy newspapers and magazines. So obvioulsy this poor dalit woman living in a village is not one of those who would normally be buying newspapers and magazines.As for the television, i doubt if very many poor dalit women in rural india would have cable connections or even terrestrial tv with electricity in the house to watch the idiot box.One can yet excuse a budding Prime Minister who has studied abroad, has had a girl friend from an exotic land, has an Italian mother to boot and was born to a family of Prime Ministers, when he thinks that he is not from the real India but that the real India lies in a rural setting in the house of a dalit woman.WHat comes as a shocker is that even the media tends to believe that it is not part of this "real" India since clearly this "real" India is not part of the core or even the larger target readership / viewership of the Indian media! So all along for so many years we have been led to believe that the free media in India speaks for the common citizens. Its only now that we discover that these common citizens that the media purportedly speaks does not actually constitute the real India.How on earth or in any other country for that matter can a budding prime miniter take a visitor to a poor family and claim that to be the real India with the entire Media celebrating the great act? Is that really the real India? What does "real" India mean? Does this go on to mean that there are no despicably poor people in the socalled developed countries? If there are, then why doesnt the Indian set of ministers ever go to meet these "real" people? Are all the urban dwellers part of some "fake" India? Are all the rural middle class people part of yet another "fake" India?The media has celebrated an act that should have been castigated even before it happened. I think the budding Prime minister and the media should together apologise for this despicable act of showcasing thepoverty of a rural woman to outsiders. And for that matter, considering it happened in Amethi, what has this family of Prime Ministers been doing for so many decades? They havent been able to set their constituency in order all this while and they hope to rule this nation?! I call for an apology from Rahul Gandhi and would want him to desist from such inhumane and insensitive acts in the future. To begin with, i wish Miliband and Rahul have a sleepover at one of the rural poor people's houses in the UK to see what the "real" UK is all about.Sincerely,From a concerned tax paying well travelled international citizen

India politicians playing with India

Let us not kid ourselves. India is under seize. And as always, Indians know this much better and since much earlier than our fuddy duddy politicians. We live in our country the way people live in Gaza or perhaps in Srinagar. Bombs, murders, thefts, unaccountable or irrlevant politicians are a way of life.
We all go on with doing our daily chores, hoping and praying that while do so, we wouldnt suddnely die an untimely death. For us, life goes on, as it has to. Is there an alternative?
We cant hope for justice, prevention, security, safety, law and order.
How different does that sound from being in Darfur? I guess, the only difference is that we have skyscrapers, fancy cars and big shopping malls for the 10% population that can afford it. Otherwise, we are all living our daily lives praying not to get killed. If my guess is right, i guess the probability of someone dying such a death in India would be similar to that of one in Gaza or Darfur, if we discount the hugely larger population that we have. May be that is going to be our strength some day - terrorists getting tired of killing so many of us.
How, just how, can politcians continue to talk regionalism, casteism, religion, and of all the things, smoking bans whilst India goes through such attacks year after year.
They travel all over the world. Why dont they see that New York hasnt had another attack ever since, London hasnt been yet attacked but Mumbai has been repeatedly attacked. And its not just about Mumbai. Its the whole country. Why? How cold blooded can they be? Tragedy is that this includes all politicians, of all shades and hues. They are all for something or the other, for Marathis, for Sri Lanka Tamils, for Hindus, for Muslims, for SC/STs...there is no one who is for Indians despite all bullshit talk of Hindutva and Hindustan and what not.
What, if at all, can be done? I dont have hope from humans in India. Do you?

The game of elections in India

A game of money and muscle power to see who best traps the illiterate and uneducated simpletons.
We have one corrupt criminal politician playing against the other with the general population being the pawns.
The one who collects the most pawns wins the game.
The best way to collect these pawns is to efficiently use money to buy them or force to threaten them!
If one has to collect these pawns en masse, a third weapon in the armoury is to make them into blocks of vote banks rather than as individuals and then collect them through fear or money. The only way allowed to group them into blocks is to ironically divide them on the basis of caste, religion or language.
Welcome to the great Indian game of elections!