Green is the way forward !

So I bought a jute bag - mostly for carrying groceries back home. Going green is what it’s all about lately and this is my latest step at saving the world. I am not sure how much greener the world will be with me buying this jute bag. I have never been motivated with long term results – I like to see the change now. Very impatient I would say. But I guess there are certain things in the world that cannot be changed overnight and it’s always good to just do your part and not look for immediate results.





But anyway I feel good about the jute bag and thought of sharing this picture with everyone .

My first Blog Badge and completely proud of it :)

YAY ! I got my blog’s first badge !! tara rum tara rum *drum roll*.. tara rum tara rum..
– thanks a lot KG.

But that brings me to have to write ten honest things about myself. Oh well here goes.

1. I pray to god only when things aren’t going well.

2. When at life’s crossroads I ask parents for advice because I always feel only they have an unconflicted interest in your well being.

3. I fall in love easily.

4. I am very materialistic.

5. I do not buy nutella anymore because I cannot stop eating it till I finish the whole bottle or fall sick. *mostly I fall sick*

6. I tend to run away from difficult situations instead of confronting it.

7. I cry easily watching the silliest of movies. But I tell people around that my eyes water if the air con is set too low :-P

8. I still day dream about being a soccer star :) although most players hang up their boots by the time they get to my age :(

9. I go dutch to the point of splitting pennies :-P

10. I can't lie - not that I havent tried but I totally suck at it.

..and seven honest blogs – hmm. I don’t think I even read seven blogs. I am going to mention two other honest blogs that I enjoy reading may be later on when I find more I'll add them to my lsit.

Casuarina - http://writingtherain.blogspot.com
Bedatri Dutta - http://beadysea.blogspot.com

:)

Reality Check

Kerala trip was nostalgic, refreshing and an eye opener in a lot of ways. Landed there early in the morning and took a cab home. I spent most of the day inside the apartment cleaning and dusting it. Later in the evening I stood by the balcony that overlooked a busy street. There were two wheelers, autos, cars and buses all honking their way through in a completely disorganised fashion. What caught my attention was the road work that was going on below our apartment. There was a little kid sitting on a pile of red sand dug out red sand and holding on to what seemed like a piece of fruit that he had picked up from the streets. His father was busy working and his mother was chopping down plants in in order to clear the area. I wasnt exacly shocked because I have seen such scenarios in the past during my time in Kerala. I realized yet again that life is'nt all about that 100K dollar job or that M5 that has been on my wish list for ages. For some life is all about survival, that too one day at a time. For some it's about having clean water to drink and having atleast one square meal a day. For some its about being able to afford to send their little ones to school. For some it's about getting a new plastic sheet to cover the roof of their house in the slums so that water does not drip in on a rainy day. These are luxuries in their lives which most of us take for granted.

There was a lot of rain during the week -
I enjoyed listening to the rain sitting by the window. It was quite soothing to take breaths of the fresh moist air after the rain. You instantly feel a lot relaxed. One of the days I took a drive down to the village where I used to live when I was a kid. If felt nice to wander around the streets where I used to run around and play with other kids. I recalled that one of our hobbies during rainly seasons was to built paper boats of different shapes and set if afloat at one end of a flowing stream and see which one reaches the other end first. We used to run alongside our boats all the way to the other end. Those were the carefree childhood days. I even visited the little school where I had done my primary schooling - now it was shut down and deserted but I enjoyed a stroll through the bushy unkempt area which at one time used to be out playground bustling with action. *sigh*

On the drive back I stopped by one of the street side "nariyal pani" or "karikku vellam" shop. He charged 12 Rs per coconut which I thought was outrageous considering the fact that there are more coconut trees in Kerala than humans. Later he told me about how he has a knack for selecting the sweet ones by just tapping on the outer shell of the coconut. Amazing!

Visited a lot of temples and villages, attended a wedding and a reception and ran into a lot of relatives from different parts of Central Kerala. Finally it was time to go back and as I checked in for my flight I felt a bit of sadness creeping in as I felt I was leaving a place to which I belong. I never felt this way about my country before - hmm.. may be its the age catching up with me? As I walk into the lounge at the Cochin airport I see a different breed of people who are all busy scrolling away on their Blackberries or glued to their laptops while waiting on their cafe latte with skimmed milk.

I long to go back.