February 2008 : Green,Green Grass Of Home

The lyrics of the old country song by Tom Jones invokes nostalgic memories about one’s childhood - the sights, sounds, smells and the sense of belonging that one gets simply by being “home” – a place where the grass always remains green, the skies are blue and the air is clean!
An experience that is now available only at the top tourist destinations – an alluring invitation to ‘pay’ to feel this rare fresh air, bliss and tranquility. Amidst desperate yet seemingly lofty pleas to “Heal the World” and “Save the Planet”, the “home” we once knew and cherished is fading slowly. The problem of our environmental degradation is what a mathematics students would call a ‘non-polynomial type (called NP type) problem’, that which cannot be solved easily. Yet, a first step would be to first break it into simpler, manageable equations. The first term of that equation in our problem of preservation would be ME.

My grandmother asked me the other day about how not throwing the banana peel she was holding into the mounting garbage on the roadside is going to help. I told her “If you are doing it, there is a good chance everyone else is.” And that goes for eco-preservation too. If you are not doing your bit to solve this impossibly complex problem of preserving the earth for future generations, there is a huge chance no one else is thinking about it as well.

This month at Sattva, we are looking at how eco-preservation can start in your own backyard and extend to bringing water to famine lands. All in this concrete jungle that is Bangalore city. Our forefront section lauds the “supermodels” of conservation – the green campus of SAP labs, and the Iengars home in Banashankari that has protected and treated many a wild animal. The feature on ‘Eco-programs’ covers a wide spectrum, ranging from comprehensive revamp programs that deal with reclaiming entire cities to low cost environment-friendly housing that benefits the economically deprived sections.

Iyappa Masagi, featured as our Sattvic celebrity can be likened to the “Rag Malhaar” of the Karnataka people, striking blue gold with his immensely successful water harvesting and soil vitalizing schemes. We are very grateful to Mr. Chandrasekhar Hariharan, CEO, eco-bcil for sharing his rich insights into the technical know-hows of building “eco-friendly homes”, and
Mr Suresh Heblikar, renowned environmental activist, for rightly stressing the importance of sustainable development.

The refractive index section is a useful pin-up manual on “22 ways to save the planet”. And that could just be the first step. Spread the news. Encourage your families and friends to contribute to this new “environment savings” plan. For a Good Earth. For you and me.

Click here for the February issue.

Dream A Dream – Bala Janaagraha Exhibition

Vishal Talreja is the Director of Dream a Dream and an Ashoka Fellow. He shares his experiences about the Dream A Dream - Bala Janaagraha Exhibition.

Date: Sunday, 10^th February 2008
Venue: Government School, HSR Layout

On a bright Sunday morning, it seemed like all happiness, joy and colours had entered a small hall in a Government school in HSR Layout. Children from Dream A Dream’s partner organizations, Sukrupa and Makkala Jagriti were dressed in their best Sunday clothes for a very important function – The Dream A Dream - Bala Janaagraha Annual Exhibition on 10^th February 2008.

The Bala Janaagraha program is designed by Janaagraha to make children aware of their civic responsibilities. Dream A Dream brings this program to children from its partner NGOs. Over 60 children have been participating in a series of sessions over the last 6 months; understanding their role as citizens, how the government functions, how do we get water and electricity, etc. The theme for this year was “Transport and Traffic” and at the end of the sessions – the children are required to work on a project related to the theme. The project work was displayed in an exhibition format at this unique function. Three groups presented their projects on “Traffic Rules”, “Accidents and Road Safety” & “Pollution and Global Warming”.

The project presentations by each group included making a live model on their project theme, making collages and giving a small presentation on their project. The project presentations were enthralling and very informative to say the least. The children knew their concepts and facts well, spoke with supreme confidence and with a conviction that the solutions proposed by them were definitely workable. There was simplicity in their ideas such as more awareness in schools about traffic rules to tremendously innovative ones like using electric vehicles and creating cycle paths.

One group along with their volunteer guide had also prepared a powerpoint presentation on ill-effects of global warming. Their presentation explained how global warming happens through simple graphs and illustrations and was done so well that even the adults learnt things they didn’t know about Global Warming.

The coordinators from Janaagraha then conducted a quiz on civic issues – The children scored well in answering most of the questions which were taken from their course material. Finally certificates were distributed to all participating children.

As we ended the proceedings, I could not but feel happy and secure in the knowledge that our future is in the hands of these children. Children who are so much more aware and willing to change the abuse that we as humans have meted out to Earth for so many hundred years.