Under A Dangerous Motto | Pushpa Iyengar

Under A Dangerous Motto | Pushpa Iyengar

It is so rare , one comes across honest IAS offciials. I felt like sharing it with my blog friends. This is old story, he might have moved on, but at the way in which Alex Paul Menon , another IAS, is on the news, this story is worth circulating.

The Curious Hat: Rural Tech Bio?

The Curious Hat: Rural Tech Bio?

A wonderful write up about a young man, and his interest in taking the BPO to rural area .

Summer - priorities- water management

Ok, everyone is reeling under the heated atmosphere. Another kind of heat is generated at random at home. Whenever a tap is opened, it will give stress to others. " Are they using water judiciously" is the hook that appears in the mind. If it is a helper, she will be more interested in finishing her chores and rushing home, by using the tap full  flow. The alert is more sharper.

                                      (Courtesy Google)

This gives rise to heated arguments, and admonishments.

Meanwhile, the overhead tank, the sump, are almost empty, giving anxiety to the head of the house. The freshwater tap, that is 6 feet under, comes to life, but once a week, for half an hour or so.

The search for the water tanker is on.. then comes the shock that water is costly. Even borewell water. A small tanker of 5 thousand litres costs , in march, 400, in end of march 1100! Welcome to Secunderabad area of the twin cities.

All these dramas are not played out in old city/hyderabad metro water supply areas. It is only on the cantonment stretch, the sinner do not get water supply for summer months. Very fair!

                                   (Courtesy The Hindu)

The citizens/netas are doing their bit. Finding out why / and why not, and the nuances of public administration, where words are used to only explain vaguely , how water supply cannot be regulated,  in Cantonment area.

Anyone who reads that,will wonder,what a dispute between Govt. departments, got to do with supply in my taps? But citizen is the last one to understand and appreciate administrative constraints, or ego problems or lack so sensitivity on the part of officials. They are sitting in big huge AC rooms with water flowing in houses without any problem so cares for ordinary middle and lower class guys. 

Meanwhile many of the houses have decided to take law in their own hands. Many have installed illegal pumps to suck the water , as and when supplied.

 So there it goes, another bothersome hook to alert the mind.When we notice our neighbours using the pumps for suction of drinking water, we get into arguments with them, and  a small fight. Every time we meet them near the compound walls, we need  to avert our gazes with  anger,  to keep our watch over them and our moral high ground.

Yes, we have charged our wells and borewell with rain water harvesting. But what is the use of only two houses in ten doing that?

Anyway , back to the daily grind. When we get the tanker after shelling out 1100, the head of the house has a good night sleep. But he admonishes all concerned, "careful" with a scowling glance at the terrace.I react with a sad,and dejected " may be we have to let those die". he gives me a deadly look and I grin to diffuse the atmospheric.

Meanwhile ,I am raking my brain.
Who is wasting water?
Where is it used more?
How to keep the dog area clean without using too much  water?
How many times should I use the washing machine?
Should I start regulating the supply pipe itself?

Most important , how to keep those plants alive ,and regulate water supply to them.

My domestic helper believes , just by throwing water over any area it gets cleaned, without using the broom, which is a strain on her health!If I restrict her , and start watching, my life gets more miserable. Unless I turn a blind eye, she gets mad at me! She loves  to  throwing water indiscriminately,while watering the plants, letting the water flow out with enough gushing noise alerting the neighborhood!

                              (courtesy Google)

So restricting her is the first job.I have a big talk with her and bring her into the planning and executing stages. "I should wash most of the clothes by hand, and collect the water and transfer it to the plants". easy.

In the kitchen, I get the tap regulated . I also make arrangements to collect the draining water in big basins, and use it for the hardy plants. The soap water is not acceptable to plants. I switch over to dear Rita powder/soap nut powder/Besan .Utensils are washed with utmost care, using paper for cleaning them first and then with little scrub and water.

The tea water and rice washed water are all used judiciously for plants. The plants are getting good nourishment now.

The most important area of terrace garden, needed more thoughts and expenditure. First I bought about 200 plastic plates/ small basins. Placed most of the plants in them. Bought full length pipe and started watering process carefully. For bigger pots, I have inserted pet bottles with holes and poured only that much water into them.
Hey, there is no draining of excess water now. whatever is collected in the plates, holders, is used back . Only fallout is lifting those pots all the time and checking for extra moisture. Tiresome, but temporary inconvenience.

Meanwhile, thanks to those years of re-charging the borewell, it is giving atleast 200 litres of water once in every 5 hours or so. Our daily schedule  ticks with the thought of water pumping, closing the pump, next  scehedule etc ..

Only mangoes and jasmine makes the summer bearable.

Lots of mistakes in this page, but I am mad right now and want to
share it with everyone!

River Ganga , again in news- 2

I had posted in January 2012 about our sacred River Ganga here.

Once again, I see another article published in this lovely page from Gobar Times. I would like to keep harping about cleaning this rivers. And hope readers will bear with me.

Just wonder whether the river will  flow,  in its formal glory in my life time?

மின்னற் பொழுதே தூரம்: பனித்தவளைகள், ஐஸ்வைனுடன் உருவான சர்க்கரைநோய்

மின்னற் பொழுதே தூரம்: பனித்தவளைகள், ஐஸ்வைனுடன் உருவான சர்க்கரைநோய்

Salute to Brave Hearts - Simple folks.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               Photo: G.N. Rao

"In a heart-rending tragedy, eight children between the ages of five and ten years, were killed and 20 others seriously injured when the school bus in which they were returning home plunged into a stream in Khammam district on Tuesday afternoon.

Around 40 students of L.V. Reddy Memorial School were packed into the bus after the driver picked them up from Vepalagadda village in Kothagudam mandal. The bus suddenly fell off a narrow bridge which had no parapet wall across Peddavagu stream, eyewitness in Tungaram village in Chandrugonda mandal said. The driver fled the scene after the accident, but was allegedly assaulted by some irate villagers near Malabanjara village in Kothagudem mandal late in the night.

Six students died instantaneously while two others succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Kothagudem. Local shepherds rushed to the rescue of the children and saved many of them from drowning.

Rash and negligent driving, the narrow road abutting the stream and the poor condition of the vehicle proved fatal for the hapless children, all of whom belonged to families of weaker section."

Courtesy The Hindu

You would wonder why should anyone reproduce the newspaper item as a blog post.

This is a tragedy,yet brave people have made a difference.

I was reminded once again about this, today in my mail. Another person  forwarded this item , which I thought is fit enough to be commended and brought to the notice of all my blog friends.

"Dharma Seethya Nayak, a shepherd, saved 25 children by pulling them out of the water.12- year-old displayed alacrity by hanging onto the window with one arm and pulling six of his friends.The little boy was drowned in applause, appreciation and recognition of his selfless act in saving six children when the school bus in which they were travelling in Khammam district plunged into a stream on the afternoon of March 20. Eight students lost their lives in the accident.

But for someone as young, the praise did not go to Praveen Prakash's head and he remembered his conversation with the cleaner, who was driving the ill-fated bus of the L.V. Reddy Memorial School packed with 40 children. “When I asked him why he was behind the wheel, he threatened to hit me and asked me to keep quiet. Minutes later, our bus nosedived off the bridge into the Peddavagu near Tungaram,” he recalled.

At a felicitation organised by the Andhra Pradesh Balaka Hakula Sangham (APBHS) here on Sunday, he said that after going through the harrowing experience, his only thought was that such an accident should not recur, anywhere in the world.

Soon after the swirling waters enveloped the bus, the 12- year-old displayed alacrity by hanging onto the window with one arm and pulling six of his friends, one after the other onto the top of the bus.

Dharma Seethya Nayak, a shepherd who was watching over his animals grazing nearby, saved 25 children by pulling them out of the water. His initially thought that a plane had come crashing down.

“Such was the noise and once I saw it was a bus, I did what I could, to save the students,” said the brave man who incidentally lost his grandson in the accident.

They were felicitated by Hyderabad Police Commissioner A.K. Khan in the presence of APBHS president Achyuta Rao and others.

Mr. Khan said he would ensure that proposals are sent to Central government, recommending Praveen Prakash and Seethya Nayak for award of the Prime Minister's Life-Saving Medal saying their act deserved recognition at the national-level."

The humane , selfless help by Dharma Seethya Nayak and  Praveen Prakash , needs to be appreciated, this day, when we doubt humanity is dying in our collective psyche.

Here, these innocent people have proved again, that good hearts are alive and kicking.

I salute them.