2 small decisions I am happy to have made

Last month was anniversary critical mass and we were getting Tshirts done to mark the occasion.. here's where I got an opportunity to make 2 small but important decisions which I will cherish for a long time.

The tees were supposed to be ready by Wednesday morning and when I went to check out some samples in the evening around 5 pm on Tuesday, I saw some women were still working and they would have had to work till late to complete the remaining stuff.. I told the guy in charge that it is ok to delay the delivery by a day but the women have to go home on time.

The second one was really easy.. they normally pack each tee in a separate plastic bag and I obviously said no to it. So, that explains why the tees are so crumpled and messy.

I-Day in Bangalore as seen while on a ride

I did not have any specific plans for I-Day as I was puppy-sitting. But the cyclist in me got the better of me and I joined the I-Day critical mass ride. As I rode on Mysore Road, I saw flags hoisted on some buildigs and street vendors selling flags and little badges. One big relief was that there were very few plastic ones being sold compared to previous years.. some improvement.. One particular I-day celebration caught my eye from the top of the flyover.. it was of a Muslim girls school. All the students were dressed in spotless white clothes from head to toe, including their head/face covering. Made me ponder if this was really freedom.. I did not want to think too much and raced down the flyover.

There were 20 other cyclists gathered at the Press Club gates in Cubbon Park. We started after fixing the Indian flag onto one of the cyclists and rode along Vidhan Soudha and Parade grounds, attracting some attention, including from a journalist from CNBC.

I rode back on the same flyover to find a bunch of enthusiastic guys put up a huge flag on the shoulder of the flyover.. thatz the biggest Indian flag I have seen so far. I got down to take some pix and there was this guy on a scooter who had stopped too to be part of the excitement, or so I thought.. but what this guy said really spoilt the spirit of freedom of secular India. There was a mosque in the background and he did not want me to cover that in the pix.. how absurd! I just ignored him and did not care to even respond to him.

I had almost reached home when I saw 2 kids walking home from school.. one of them had the little badge on, but the other did not. I went back and put my badge on the other kid and she gave me a big smile and both posed for a neat snap :)

All in all, it was 4 hrs well spent on Independence Day.

Jai Hind

Dont throw waste, just dump it

I dont remember when and how I got the idea of managing waste at home; paper to start with and then moving on to kitchen waste.
Inspired by a TV program on handmade paper, my brother and I used the wet grinder at home to grind waste paper and made hand made paper out of it.. this was when we were in school :)

We were already using kitchen waste for the garden in a very unorganized way by just throwing it in the garden, but mom was not very happy about it because of the flies and rodents who would come to devour on it.

I then heard about using earthworms to convert waste into compost.. tried using existing worms in the garden but it was not enough. Then I consulted the HoD of Entomology at GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra) who explained the mechanism of vermi composting. I was very impressed by her knowledge and simplicity and more importantly for agreeing to spare half an hr for me.
I picked up some earthworms and followed her instructions to create rich black compost by the end of three months.. it was not without hardwork though.. firstly, the idea of buying 3 big cement pots to store waste did not go well with mom... and I had to change the place of the pots more than once.. one of the reasons was to prevent our dog from messing up with the mess..
finally it landed up on the terrace and that was not very convenient... but at the end of it, it was worth the effort.
I couldn't continue with the project as I had to move to a different location and when I came back, what do I see? A complete solution for converting kitchen waste into compost, without earthworms and such a neat design that it looks good too. When DailyDump visited our office with their products and services, I was very impressed with what they had to offer.
Needless to say, I use one of their products - the 3 pot Kambha and inspite of the ants, flies and maggots, it has found acceptance in our home.


As the name says, all you need to do is dump your daily kitchen waste into it along with a few dry leaves and shredded newspaper and mix it up once in a while. There are additives that hasten the process and also minimize maggots. If you do not want to get your hands dirty, there are service plans to take care of it for you. Overall, a neat design for a common problem. Infact, DailyDump was one of the finalists for TATA Nen - hottest startups.

There is a variety of products to choose from depending on the space that you can spare or the amount of waste that you generate or both. Some come with plants so you dont have to worry about taking out the compost and using it elsewhere. And they all come with a handbook.
I feel DailyDump makes for an ideal house warming gift, whether they like it or not! Afterall, we all have a responsiblity to the environment.

Here's an experience by another user.
http://sejswhirlpool.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/a-post-on-compost

So, till the time BBMP comes up with an effective and efficient system that we can trust, we can do our bit by reducing our contribution to the garbage dumps.

Not so guilty about driving in the city anymore

We recently bought a Reva, with the intention that dad and mom can drive around in a safe and convenient way, within the city. It may not be as safe as a standard car, but definitely better than a two-wheeler which has a constant fear of being knocked down by a bus or lorry. The Reva has given us more freedom and choice and more importantly a guilt-free ride for short distances within the city. There are no direct emissions, no sound, and a smooth and easy ride.. A friend of mine, Thej has a more comprehensive review on the Reva.
There have been many stares, curious on-lookers peeping in to see a gearless car, excited kids talking about the Reva and free advice from many people. One of the advice was from the guy doing the sun film - "mam, 3 and half lacs ge 'car'e togoboditalwa", meaning "for 3 and half lacs, you could have gone for a car itself" I told him this is indeed a car. The guys at the workshop somehow couldn't stop smiling and giggling at my choice.
All said and done, I am happy to be driving a state-of-the-art electric vehicle which is environment friendly to a large extent.

Cycling, cycling and more cycling on one fine Saturday

A couple of hours before logging out on Friday evening, got to know about a cycle inclusive planning workshop at Bangalore with interesting topics by eminent speakers. I was very excited that something like this was happening in Bangalore and that I had a chance to contribute my two cents to it. Last year when a friend of mine organized a cycle rally, I had come across BMLTA and their idea of making cycling as the prefered mode of transport for Bangalore. But I had thought that it was all only on paper. So was pleasantly surprised to see some progress.

Though it would have been apt to cycle to the venue, I ended up going by my new Reva.
The workshop started with introductions and context settings by the BMLTA convener, Mr. Gaurav Gupta and Rajeev Chandrashekar, MP. I was happy to see cycling getting the much deserved importance.
Then there was a nice video from cycling friendly cities like Amsterdam, Bogota, Copenhagen. Cycling is really in their culture.
As the day progressed, there were some serious presentations by architects, town planners and environmentalists on the challenges faced in designing for sustainable and non-motorized transport. I was amazed by the amount of thinking and planning behind a simple form of transport.

For me, the best part of the day came in the form of an imprompto cycling experience in the form of critical mass. Critical mass for cycling is a monthly cycling event in Bangalore to prove that we are also part of traffic and need to share the same infrastructure with all other vehicles.

I learnt the bike salute (check out this bike salute in front of the Vidhana Soudha). It was so much fun.

How can forget to mention this kiddo who easily did atleast 10 km with us!

There were some enquires at traffic signals and some questioning by policemen and a lot of stares! Our purpose was served.
Thanks to Mayank and Omer for arranging the cycle for me.. a cool, foldable Montague and a cycling experience comparable to the one I had in NYC.
Go.. cycle and save the planet :)

The 200 km journey of my phone and back

This is another unbelievable thing that happened, but this one is with a happy ending. About 6 weeks ago, I lost my new phone within a month of buying it.. and my brother and I have been trying to trace it with unprecedented support from the police and encouragement from some of my colleagues. After we got the details of the person whom my phone was last tracked with, lets call him, Mr.ABC, I got in touch with a constable, Mr. Nagaraj in Holalkere who passed the case to the Sub Inspector, Mr. Prakash Patil of Chikkajajur police station (Chitradurga, about 200 km from Bangalore). A few days later, Mr. ABC was summoned to the police station and interrogated, only to find that he had a different model of the phone which he had been using for the past 2 years for which he had the bill too. Obviously the IMEI numbers weren't matching. But, the tracker message can't be wrong. The SI also was convinced and promised to continue the enquiry. I put him in contact with the person-in-charge at the ACP office (Mr. Suresh) at Bangalore who had got me the address of Mr. ABC.

Today morning I got a call from SI Prakash Patil saying he was not able to establish any connection with my phone and Mr. ABC. I said fine, Thank you. What else could be done? I gave up and started planning on buying a new proper phone and all the contacts that I will have to feed in. After about 2 hours, I got another call from the SI seeking details about the phone model again, my address and how I lost the phone. I felt that he wanted these details to close the file.. actually, I had only an acknowledment for the lost phone, yet, the police were cooperating so much. Then he said, I have your phone here in the station. I couldn't believe it. I thanked him so much and told him that I would like to come to the police station and thank him personally. He was so calm and composed, just doing his duty, but I was so excited! He said they got the phone after some cross questioning on Mr. ABC. Apparently, Mr. ABC's friend Mr. XYZ's aunt had been to the same wedding that I had been to and she picked up my phone near the handwash and gave it to her nephew. And the 'innocent' nephew happily started using the 'gift' from his aunt. On 6th Nov, Mr. ABC put his SIM in my phone out of curiosity, for a few minutes. For his bad luck and my good luck, we were able to trace him and eventually my phone.
Coincidentally, mom is in Chitradurga this weekend and she collected the phone in the evening.

OK. it doesn't end there. I messaged Mr. ABC and 'thanked' him for returning the phone. After a few minutes, I got a call from him. I deliberately did not want to call him and create a scene. But, Mr. ABC himself called as he wanted to clear a few a things from his side. He explained how Mr. XYZ had got the phone and how he was not aware that it was not legally bought by Mr. XYZ. Infact, for the first few days of the enquiry, he had no clue why he was being interrogated. After he was told about the tracker message that came on 6th, it struck him that it could be because of Mr. XYZ's new phone from Bangalore. He convinced his friend to return the phone. Unfortunately, poor Mr. ABC had to pay the price for his friend's mistake.

All in all, a happy ending, and a great job by the police. A big thank you to Suresh, Prakash Patil and Nagaraj. I am happy to note that the system works :)

Hope this wasn't true

The seriousness of the situation did not strike me till after a day or so. It was too filmy to be true. I did not want to believe that a handful of young men could hold so many people hostage and the country at ransom. I hope and believe that those cold blooded, inhuman creatures will be tracked down & punished.
It is finally over now, after losing so many brave soldiers, policemen and innocent civilians.
I hope God gives the strength and hope for their families. A heartfelt thanks and a big salute to all those who laid down their lives with Hemant Karkare leading from the front.
I also hope that this serves as a warning signal to all fellow Indians to stop fighting over petty regional issues and come together for a bigger cause - the cause of our safety and progress.