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.

Right solution for pain is to bear it..!

It was 5th March, Thursday; I was so much thinking of difficulties, especially of those downhearted I have ever observed. Everyone has one or the other pain including me, but to be happy or unhappy with it solely depends on each individual. Situations which are seemed ignorable to me is unbearable to somebody else, and sometimes those which are common to some people are surprising to some others!!. How do we tackle all these? Thoughts were moving on..Head was filled with this kind of thoughts for most of free time I had.

Sometime after came home from office, I comfortably sat on my chair cross-legged in front of computer table. It continued for more than half an hour. Now I got to walk out from the room, so woke up!! But unable to observe my right lower leg and feet have gone numb because of my body pressure which was on it for more than half an hour. Without knowing the inability of my nerves to control my right foot, I kept down the feet to stand on it without looking at it. Unconscious feet were not in proper position to carry the body weight, but were vertically hanging and I stood upon it. As soon as the body left its mass, the foot got wrenched to become flat and made a sound tutttt!!!, by the sound I realized some breakage happened, and looked down to see the hanging twisted foot. The pain was not sensible as still blood flow was not reached till the feet. I sat back on the chair to leave the blood circulation occur and see if it becomes normal. Within few seconds uncontrollably tears rolled down, the foot started swelling, and pain was unbearable!!

I didn't want to perturb my mother, so called up aunt to know how serious this would be. She suggested some home remedy and to consult the doctor next day as then it was late in the night. After sometime, as a saying “when you suffer, you suffer less” I calmed down myself with all my strength and wiped the tears, revealed my mother what happened and what did aunt say.

Obviously the mother of unconditioned love felt worried for the unfortunate accident happened not withstanding any big clash. She did all that which could sooth my leg the whole night. Next morning got medicated and now it’s recovering.

But as an addiction, my processor started to execute the thoughts of rest of the day where I was thinking of life’s difficulties, gave me a wonderful analogy of difficulties.

The pains are because of our mistakes. We cannot realize the mistake when we are unconscious of our behavior. Like the mistake that I was trying to operate an unconscious leg. We will not be aware of the pain we gave to others when we are insensitive to it. As I could not sense the pain until blood circulation started in that body part and it was not in the control of my nervous system. Once when nerves got energy to send signals to brain, the pain was unbearable!! And ultimately I was the one to bear it. Same way our whole surrounding should be seen as one body, each one is the organs of same body; by hurting anyone we will hurt ourselves.

The mistakes will happen when you have not awakened your consciousness to think what you are doing. When you awaken your consciousness you can sense the pain. So do just being conscious will help to solve problem? We have to be controlled to bear the pain, to bear all the evils. Then be strong to heal the wound and solve the problem. We should always be steady and know that unless anybody is too bad, everybody will always have a support like the mother I had!!. But however be the injury occur either consciously or unconsciously, pain has to be tolerated by that individual who committed mistake even though after a delay if not at that instant.

We cannot transfer our grievances to anybody. Difficulties make us more empathetic and efficient. For anybody, the only solution is to endure the pain till we get rid of it, but not to be depressed and weepy.

In all respect I wish we become conscious, gain control and know what are mistakes, bear the troubles and do not repeat the mistake for not to welcome the pain again.

"Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with courage and compassion, but never by blaming anyone"