Garbage of blames

On 23rd July, Sunday morning, around 8 o clock, there is seen a corporation vehicle emptying huge heap of garbage dumped at the corner of a road of an area in Mysore. I, from the middle of group of green shirt volunteers noticed them taking the garbage with bare hands and filling onto the truck.  I thought I should talk to them, not to ask the reason for not wearing gloves, but something else. I went and asked them, why do people dump the garbage here? I think you guys don’t collect the waste every day! Why don’t you daily collect?

Frustrated having showered the blames by people I went on that morning, made me speak in such a manner. Every Sunday it is confirmed to the volunteers of “Swaccha Mysuru Swastha Bharatha” (Clean Mysuru, Healthy life) campaign organised by Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysuru in association with Mysore city corporation, to receive the heap of blames by the public who they go to educate on cleanliness and hygiene.

These volunteers go to each house, clean their surroundings, wake them up from their deep Sunday sleep, call them out to preach them on cleanliness, avoiding plastic, water conservation and warn about contagious diseases.

Some respond positively, some stay as if nothing happens to them, some would be murmuring within themselves, “Oho, as if we don’t know? Should we know all this from you.” Some thinks that these people don’t have any other work, they come to give unnecessary speech early morning. There is also another category of those spitting out blames. It looks like as much the volunteers do try to convince, the more they litter their openhanded blames on them.

The list of blamed includes neighbors, wind that carries garbage to their doors, pourakaarmikas, corporators and most popularly Mysore city corporation.  I am being the employee of corporation gets embarrassed. While defending the institution I work for I try to persuade them that they need to cooperate and not corporation can do everything. They better stop demanding burdened works from corporation. Few times the crowd will blast on volunteers when we get into conversation.

In this context when we spoke to the Pourakrmikas who were clearing the garbage, it seemed that they felt offended by my condemnatory talk. One of those guys humbly said “Madammore, dina hogtiv, Aidaidu bucket kasa haktar madam (We collect daily, each house dumps around five buckets of waste), pointing at the Pourakarmika lady “Eevakkang keli avru eshteshtu kasa tandu avrugu sustagade” (Ask our sister, how tiring is it to collect waste from this area!).

Then my co-volunteer asked them to say such people that it is not possible to collect waste beyond a limit and complaint on them or put a fine. They laughingly dragged their tone “Maaaadam, Adakke kasa ilband biddide” (That’s why the garbage is heaped up here) “Ma’am, we can’t complain on anyone, they just think we are meant to do it and we shall do it.”  There is no such provision too to impose limit for domestic wastes dumped from households.

Then I asked “Why are you not wearing gloves, you will be infected otherwise” One of them suddenly started pulling out the heap of waste and showed the mixture of wastes submerged in semi solid food waste “ Nodi madam, idnella gloves hakond baachakkagutta? Separate madakkagatta?” (Can these be cleaned completely with wearing gloves? It’s difficult to segregate the waste with gloves. So, we won’t wear it though it has been provided.) We just pitied on them, blamed the public who aren't empathized with them  and moved from there.

Volunteers do talk to Health inspectors, ward corporators on the complaints they receive from public. There always found sufficient effort from every side to stay responsible of their duty.

Many people do presume that government servants don’t work, they ignore their responsibilities! But after my joining to the service, I see here people work even after office hours, even on Sundays including higher officers. They are not rewarded anytime, but the blames even when they do the best to their potential.

It is more important to public that they need to cooperate rather being critical. Unless their cooperation there is no development. When corporators and environment engineers ask to segregate wastes, and provide them separate dustbins, we hardly see anyone does that! In many houses those dustbins are used to rinse cloths. When that is questioned, the question is ignored!

To be aware of basic cleanliness, one need not be a post graduate living in posh areas. Perhaps, the education from our schools has failed to impact on us in that line. Even most of the NGOs who are organizing cleaning campaign are just conducting cleaning drives involving volunteers, but not the work of education. There is a need to enter the minds of people, inculcate such temper of inclusiveness and cooperation. Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysuru is in one such effort.

When public is involved themselves; each day, bit by bit shall clean the whole locality. Most importantly the garbage of blames stuck to all of us got to be removed.

Which religion I belong to??

Since two days at office in the time I find to talk to my colleagues, the topic of discussion is majorly the religion conversion and terrorism. One of my coworkers wants India to be Hindustan. He claims how Pakistan has mostly Muslims, India should also be only of Hindus and no one else should exist in India. But I would never wish such notion is taken by anybody in my proximity.
He kept the point of the Australian prime minister addressed at the Muslims in their country after the attack in Sydney café and stressed we also should do such declaration in our country to counter terrorism. Before a day he insisted me to vote for Bhagavadgitha as our national book, and I voted for it.This was a point for me to speak further to pull him back.
India has kept till now the harmony among the people despite its peak diversity of religion, caste, language and culture. This is never because of any government who ruled us, but it was because of the forces left over by the great souls such as Buddha, Gandhi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Gurunanak, Kabirdas, Surdas, Inayat Khan, Basavanna, Shishunal Sharif,Vethathiri Maharishi and many more till today. They are the reason for rich diversity of culture in harmony which you would never get to see anywhere in the world except India.
Since childhood I am conditioned to respect all religion. We had a Muslim neighbor, Fathima aunty, who used to say that she would worship Lord Narasimha which is an Hindu god during Shravana masa (July-August) linking a story of her ancestors living in the Ahobilam of Andhrapradesh. When I was young I would eat rice only with the daal from Sopura Aunty’s house as the gravy prepared in our home seemed to be spicy to me.
When my ajji (Grandma) spilled hot milk over my thigh by mistake, it was Reshma Bhanu akka who took me to her house to console me as no one was there at home except ajji. Firoj anna would take me on his shoulder; throw me up and catch back to make me happy. Sopura aunty would tease my mother asking me whether I agree to marry her son. My Grandpa used to call Ismai lbhayi as “Smail” by which he was kidding  in his manners to remove “I” from urdu word as most Urdu speakers add “I” to most of English and Kannada words (Ischool as an example). Ismail bhayi would happily accept the tease and make fun by bantering at each other.
My cousin was taken to learn Arabic along our Muslim friends Muskaan and Salim veiling dupatta over her head. The teacher accepted her to teach Arabic as she would be left alone without her companions who got to attend Urdu class. We are still in contact with few of them. We would visit them when we go our hometown.
If I look at these things, I can say we were very happy living beside to each other. We required no conversion, no force to accept anything as our manner or culture. The real religion was the friendship which holds our families of different religion in happiness.
In school, we all students were loved by our entire teachers regardless of Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Our favorite teachers were Ms. Mary, Ms. Lina, Ms. Elizabeth,Ms.Jacintha, Sister. Dorthy, Sister. Sujatha, Sister Paulin. Especially during my high school I was mentored and loved the most by my two teachers Miss. Johny assempta and Sister. Cynthia saldana with whom I am in consistent connection.

I am Kousalya named after my birth that happened on Ramnavami is now grown up being contributed by all my friends and teachers who are true followers of their respective religions. I had never found a single mark of unsecular incident in my life. But the happenings I listened to in the news these days are frustrating though it physically has no effect on me.
For the atrocities occurred in Peshavara, My friend says,they should be thrown out of India stereotyping terrorism to Muslim. If we do so do they really then follow Hinduism?  Do we really deserve to accept Bhagavadgitha as our national book which says God exists in everything? Do we have really understood our Upanishads which says "Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma" (Everything in this universe is God)? Do we really accept to say "Sarve jano Sukhino Bhavanthu" (May everyone be happy), If people are against to these questions, then they can never claim to be a Hindu.
My friend said thorn should be removed from thorn when I was expressing my grief for the Ghar wapsi conversions happened in West Bengal. If the principle of thorn for thorn starts we would never see the flower on earth. To bring positive charge to a negatively charged body, we must add positive charges, but not negative charge. To remove hatred, love is the only solution. To neutralize acidic solution, you need to add basic but not the acid again. This is the rule of nature. Our everyday sufferings and uneasiness are the result of our failure to understand this truth.
The fight should only be at the end of salvation. That is when the battle of Kurukshetra was taken ahead by Krishna until which he was tolerant.
Tolerance is the best lesson taught by Lord Jesus where we see he tolerates all confronts to him throughout his life. Prophet Mohammed says Allah is the forgiving and merciful.
If Raama is to be alive, he would never accept the illogical exploitation on innocent people. If Mohammad were there, he would stay away from such religion which has misunderstood the meaning of Jihad. Jesus would never agree the irrational people wasting the time on unnecessary works.
All our heroes never established any religion, it is we who named it and become crazy over which is not even visible to us. When nobody decides in which religion we take birth!!, who are we to decide others to join particular caste?? If we obey our birth happens naturally, let us learn to live with nature.
Everybody is made of same molecules of DNA, proteins and water. Everything is made of the same atom in which the same neutrons, protons and electrons exist. Why should we segregate among everything which is not accepted for the creation?

I wish we learn to love not just human, but broaden our heart to care for everything in this universe.

"Be kind to all creatures, this is the true religion"

Song of Psychology

I came and went through all the emotions!


Once a time love entered, once hatred; Once compassion, once apathy!!
I realised and realised what is this?!


Now, I see I am controlled. All the traits just passes through me.
I observed and observed all the behaviours!


There were attitudes, which comforts me and which are uncomfortable!
I analysed and analysed this behaviour.


Now I see all are equal. All are comforting.
I searched and searched for who created it?


Now I am unfolding! I am realising myself. J

Vow! Nature, you are an amazing teacher !!

We were born with relatives but can at least choose our friends.!!

Two of my friends Paavani and Rithesh (names are changed) have become good friends who were just college-mates until recently. Rithesh didn't know that I and Paavani were friends since long. He introduced me to her on a reason after which me and Paavani knew he is introducing those who are acquainted each other and told the same to him. Rithesh is a good and helping kind of person which Paavani has also realized it.

Paavani, recently one day called me to inform about her joining to a new job. There was another comic instance to tell me along that!!

Rithesh’s sister was her colleague and she has several times altercated with her. Paavani once while talking to Rithesh has shared about her office and her work, then suddenly Rithesh asked about a person who also works there without mentioning it is his sibling. Paavani who disliked that person described the adversity of his sister. When he let Paavani know that she is his sister, she got stunned. She felt abashed for she scolded his sister right in front of him and has quarreled with a person whose brother is her friend whom she considers as a good person.

Then she called me who am a common friend to both to share all these. She told me “Kousalya, his sister is an arrogant, hoyden and harsh person, exact opposite to what wehave seen in Rithesh and I have had clashes with her in office. And now I got to know she is Rithesh’s sister which is embarrassing me.”

She continued“I won’t easily make friends, but I felt somehow Rithesh is a good person and started talking to him. How is Rithesh?? Is he really patient and helping as much as he looks to be?? When I think of his sister, I cannot believe he is her brother, you tell me Kousalya that am I with a good friend as you know him more than me.”

The scene of her complaining to Rithesh on his sister without the knowledge of them as siblings looked humorous to me, I started laughing at it. If joining a new job is good news, knowing that she has a friend whose sister is insulted in front of him is a bad cum comic news. As I knew Rithesh well, I told her “Don’t worry that it all happens. Don’t suspect your friend; it is common that two from a single family need not be the same. As far I know, Rithesh is a very good person anybody can ever meet. He has helped many people and very understanding.He wouldn't have mind for all you told about his sister”

We both continued to laugh for what has happened and finished the conversation.

I thought to myself “Paavani was feeling embarrassed at her talks with her friend and Rithesh might also have felt disgraced for his sister has not maintained good relation with his friend.

I remembered the lines I read in a book “I was born with relatives, but can at least chose my friends”.

Then I could think of the time when my idealistic, logical and rational behavior created conflict with my ritualistic relatives. Everyone will have such situations in their family and even with friends. Former is chosen by nature and the latter we can choose. Finally everybody is for us, we choose among them, we make friendship with whom we like and be away from those we dislike. But still I would say everybody around us is made for us.

It may not be possible to change everyone for you, but you can choose to change anyone provided the change is positive always.

“To cover the whole muddy earth with mat is inaccessible, rather what we can do is to make chappals for our feet to avoid the dirt sticking on us and also try to stitch for those whoever you can irrespective of anyone on this earth.”

Tension Vs Responsibilities

Recently one of my colleagues asked me how we are always got on to the tension. I replied "what tension you have?" See when I was child, there were tension of studies, later the tension for job, after job getting married!! then the responsibility of the family, one after the other keeps coming. Life is full of tension.

That reminded me a conversation between me and my little cousin few years back. It was a festive occasion in our home. All elders were busy in preparing the varieties of food. I am as usual, though little elder had to get along the children who are mostly my cousins. My five year old cousin asked me “ Akka what do you want to become after you grow adult ?”. I said I will become engineer as it was sure for me then to become an engineer. I asked her back “ what you want to become?” It surprises anybody to hear that. She said “I want to become “ Amma (Mother).”

“Dear, now you should not say that, it gives a different meaning. You may become amma but you must say that you would become a teacher, doctor and some profession you want to live upon” I tried to make her understand. She did not agree but keep on saying “No, no I want to become mother.” She was too little to understand my technical words, she ignored whatever I told and ran to my mother saying “ I will ask Doddama (Aunt) what if I become mother after I am grown up.” This instance was made a comedy later to mock at her every time when we check what everybody wants to become after they grown up. We break into laughter whenever we speak of this.

We can understand that she had made a comparison between her mother and herself. She had made an observation that her mother supervises her studies and shows authority on her and everything in the house. She might even have observed other cousins and their mothers and everywhere it was same. “Amma looks to be happy and bossy kind. Its only we children who takes tensions of huge studies, homework, parent signature, exams, marks and so on.” So she analysed and thought it’s better to become Amma which is a tensionless profession and that position is respected and reputed a lot.

This case clarifies that such thinking can be done only by kids who are not aware of the life completely. If anybody thinks responsibilities makes tension, it only means that they need to work hard to gain experience. It is left to us to consider any task as either responsibility or tension. Elastic becomes flexible only after stress is applied.

In fact nothing gives us tension. It is we who take it as tension. Life is after all a series of continuous ups and downs. It is we who decides to be consistent with it. Let us not vary along the life. Having an attitude of being conscious of the fact that nothing worse can happen will make us strong. We should not let the life to control us, but we should control the life.

For a righteous, strong, non-greedy person nothing can be a tension. Live in the present. Take responsibilities as responsibilities, not as tension. Tension should not be the function of responsibility. Responsibilities should only make one matured, respectable and strong like a responsible Mother who is tensionless.

“ Tension is created when you expect and compare to others and relaxation is created when you accept and live along that.”

Justify thoughts before you believe it.. A story!! Courtesy to Tolstoy

Once there was a group of Men travelling from India to China through English Channel and on the way they stopped at the Island of Sumatra for fresh water.

As they sat a blind man approached them. Later they found he has gone blind from gazing for long and too persistently at Sun,trying to find what it is in order to seize its light.

He strove long to accomplish this, staring the sun for long, but final result was  that he lost his both eyes and became blind.

Blind man asked Light cannot be liquid, if so it could be poured from one vessel to vessel, it could be flown like water, like the wind. It is not fire, for if it were fire water would extinguish it. It can not be spirit as it is visible. So what is light?? It is not liquid, nor solid, neither fire nor spirit. It is nothing!!

Then a slave came along this blind man, placed his master in the shade and picked up a coconut shell from the ground and started making it into the night light. He twisted a fiber from the coconut, squeezed oil from the nut shell and soaked the wick in it.

As the slave start doing it, blind man sighed and said to him…

Was I not right when I told you there is no Sun..Don’t you see how dark is it, yet people don’t believe it, If so what it is??

Slave says I don’t know what the sun is. That is no business of mine. But I know what light is. Here I have made night light which helps me serve you and find anything I want in the hut.

Slave picked up the coconut and said this is my sun.

A lame man with crutches sitting nearby heard these words and laughed.

He went near the blind man and said, you evidently being blind all life not to know what the sun is. I will tell what it is!! Sun is a fire ball which rises every morning out of sea and which goes down among the mountains of our Island every evening. We all have seen this; if you had your eyesight, you too would have seen it.

A fisherman who had been listening to the conversation, said- It is plain enough that you were never out of your Island,if you were not lame, if you had been out as I have been in fishing boat, you too might have seen it. Sun does not set among mountains of our Island, as it rises out of ocean so it sets down in the sea every night. What I am telling is all true, for I see it every day with my own eyes.

Then an Indian priest of our party interrupted and said,

I am astonished that a reasonable man talks such nonsense. How can a ball of fire descends into the water and not extinguished.The Sun is not at all a ball of fire. It is the diety named Suryadeva who rides in a chariot round the golden mountain Meru. Sometimes the evil serpents Rahu and Ketu attacks Deva and swallows him. Then the earth goes dark. And our priest pray for him, may be he is released and then he is set free. Only such ignorant man like you who have never been beyond your island can imagine that sun shines in their country alone.

The master of Egyptian vessel said in return, No you are also wrong, Sun does not only raises in India and rounds only Golden Mountain.  I have sailed much on the black sea and every coast of Arabia. Sun is seen everywhere, Sun raises far in the east beyond the isles of Japan, and sets far, far away in the west beyond the islands of England. That is why the Japanese call their country Nippon, the birth place of Sun. I know this well, for I have seen myself much and heard more from my grandfather who has sailed every corner of sea.

Then another man stopped and said “There is no country where the Sun raises or Sun sets, but in England people believe sun rotates around the earth. English are sure of this as they have been around the world and they have seen sun everywhere rises in the morning and sets at night.

I’ll explain you in detail that how suns moves on heaven and goes around the world.  And found unable to explain, pointing at the ships pilot he said..

This man knows more about it than I. He can explain it properly...

Pilot who was an intelligent had listened to the talk silently till he was asked to speak. Now everyone turned to him and he said:

"You are all misleading one another and are deceived yourself.  Sun does not go around the earth, but earth revolves around the sun. Revolving as it goes turning towards the sun in the course of each 24 hours, not only Japan, and the Philippines,Sumatra where we are now, but Africa, America and many lands besides. Sun doesn't shine for someone mountain or for someone island or for someone sea or for even just earth but other planets as well as our earth. If you look up at only heavens and not the ground beneath your feet you would understand sun shines not only your country." Thus concludes.

This story gives us many messages for our life. When you are to know, make sure you are guided correctly. Critical thinking gives right knowledge. Justify your thoughts and even that of others with your own common sense before you consider it right.

Give up the ego, form your superego. It is pride that causes error in your analysis and discords among men. As with the Sun it is with every concept. 

 

In the sky there is no distinction of east and west,people create distinction out of their own minds and believe them to be true –Lord Buddha.

Be the eco-friendly women!!

Few months back, we had cleaning activity in Srinagar, Banashankari 2nd stage government School as a part of Green club initiated by youth for seva. We had to take the students around the school to pick up all kind of wastes and clean the premises. Since there were so many students, we didn't have enough glouse to provide everyone, we decided to use hand wash after all the work. The work started, students were divided based on work and lead by individual volunteers, but later we found that we cannot continue the waste collection for certain category of waste with those small kids!! And we stopped this at certain places despite having hand wash to remove the dirt.

Can you guess what kind of waste that would be!!??

None of us could have concerned of it except those who have really experienced finding that waste piece of non-bio degradable material on road sides.

That is the disposable sanitary napkins used by all adult women!! Our team was concerned to get this touched by small kids.

The safe solution for the disposal of this waste is to burn completely. Most of us would dump it to the municipality vehicle or throw it in the areas where we consider the waste would be collected by corporation people. If it gets disposed safely that would be fine, if not this is a threat. The menstrual blood stuck on them becomes bed and butter to microbes. And those which gets on to the landfilling and reaches the mud in the road side could become the palace for bacteria and viruses. Contagious diseases are easily born and spread. It was more considerable fact when we found it in the school premises.

Approximately half the population of world are women. Two-third of them certainly uses disposable sanitary napkins. On an average if they use 4 napkins each month, 48 per year and 480 per decade. Chances of around 2000 napkins are used by each woman in her life time. Think of the whole women population generating this impossible waste. There can around 560 thousand tons of napkins getting added to the total non-decomposable waste every year. If it is burnt out, the air is polluted, ash generated, otherwise soil is polluted and the health of many living beings is also polluted.

What can be the remedy?

Use washable cloth napkins. We would have seen our mothers and grandmothers using it. We still think we may not be comfortable to run around and cannot travel comfortably. So, let us remember the names of all women warriors like Jhansi Lakshmi bhai, Chand bibi sultana, Marie curie, Mary Edwards walker, Queen Cleopatra, Mother Theresa, M S Subbalakshmi and many more who were existed before the introduction of disposable sanitary pads and their achievements and non-discontinued hard work. When it was possible for them, it is possible for us too along being green women.

You can make your own cloth pads. Now you can even get congenial washable cloth menstrual pads available in market. Find the link www.ecofemme.org or you can order writing at  aidsite@gmail.com from Jivika. You can also find more dealers online for cloth pads. The initial cost seemed to be high, but over the time and for the multiple uses, this is inexpensive. I have bought few from a shop called “Wellbeing” in Sahakarnagar, Bangalore and have used also. I am completely alright with it. You too can bear washing it for the sake of avoiding waste generation for land filling and contamination of water and soil. And there are lot of health advantages involved like less causing rashes, contact dermatitis for the sensitive skin in using the cloth pad(For more info -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloth_menstrual_pad).

We have cared for our beauty enough :), but this is also the time to care for beauty of Mother Nature and to become an eco-friendly woman.

Hope you all would find it sensible and take action immediately. And share it with others to spread the awareness.