Spoken words

Well, I am not talking about the India - England ODI series, but rather the situation of Tamil Nadu, currently under the siege of heavy rains. Many parts of the state have been severely battered by cyclonic winds and torrential rains. The losses have been huge - both material as well as of life. Well, we cant control nature, but what we can control is how we handle the situation. We cant stop the rain, which is actually a good thing, but at least the losses and inconvenience can be minimized. Fine, let me not get carried away too far. Helping out the rural villages seems very far away, when we cant even manage the water in the capital of the state - Chennai...!! Every year its the same old story. Promises are made to improve the storm water management infrastructure, but barely a line is drawn after the rains stop. Badly planned suburbs as well as major streets submerged in a lot of water, with floating debris, doesn't make for a very pretty sight. And having more than a foot of ...

D iwali is here.. and like every time its a joyous moment of celebration and festivities. Not just in India but also in lots of other countries, where Indians are in abundance...! So as usual it involves a lot of celebrations, shopping, traditional stuffs... and the dreaded crackers. I am not a big fan of crackers, as anyone who knows me for more than 2 years would be able to guess why. The reasons are many, but the solution is in fact very simple. Don't burst crackers...!  One of the reasons is the pollution it causes. The other reason being the alleged use of child labour to manufacture them. And of course the fact that they are highly irresponsible objects to have fun with. F or the first reason, well, i suppose everyone knows the smoke and and noise that they produce. They hardly think of the long term consequences of them. We are actually contributing to Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide as well as other harmful gases, raising the levels considerably on the days of Diwali. ...

Nature can be beautiful, refreshing and kind. But on another day it can be brutal and devastating. Bihar is already a state that is writhing in poverty and disparity. As if the people of the state were not already suffering a lot, here comes another reason, almost every year...Nature.!.! Either its the extreme cold and heat wave that kill hundreds or Floods that just sweep a few more away. Floods is just one of the many of such rituals in Bihar. Floods strike, people are relocated, floods subside and people go back. Usually the floods every year are minor, and somewhat necessary to the agricultural sustenance. But this time it has been a massive catastrophe...! Not seen ever in this region since 1950. The problem is that the river Kosi didn't like to stay where it is. All rivers change their course over a period of time. But most do so gradually and take take decades to alter their path. River Kosi, however does so abruptly. It overflowed apparently due to a breach in a dam in Ne...