ENVIRONMENT AND INDIAN WOMEN

Women and environment are mankind’s greatest assets .It is time we worked towards the welbeing of both. Environment impacts everyone .However looking things from a women’s perspective the impact that environment has on her is tremendous.It takes a different connotation on women in the urban India as opposed to rural Indian women. Women are most vulnerable to negative impact because of their poor nutritional status.Water and food scarcity hits women the hardest as traditions and gender relations force them to decrease their intake to such an extent that extreme malnutrition and even death may occur. Lets take the women of the urban poor living in the narrow snaking lanes of the slums .She is holed up in there doing chores for her husband and subsequently children and if is lucky enough get employment in the neighbouring colony as a maid . She  then gets into  a vicious circle of housework for free and housework at a price and before long is reduced to a mere shadow of herself . In her one room home she has her kitchen where she inhales the gasses emitted while cooking food ,also the stench from the open drains outside ,the swarm of flies keeping her company . The curtains made out of her old sari (an absolute necessity for some semblance of privacy ),collects dust mites to spread respiratory diseases .Types of housing also affects her health…small houses,lack of ventilation and privacy to manage personal sanitation often leads to mrbidity. Her morning begins by queuing her utensils ,pail  etc for water at the common tap Then she stands in the line of  surging masses to relieve herself . Even here she gives in to her womanly instict of seving her household by prioritising and lets her man or children taking precedence over hers. She has learnt the art of supressing her nature’s call to the extent that affects her health in the long run!The cities have not been able to cope with the existing sanitation needs of the slum communities.posing serious public health and environmental risks for the entire city. Sulabh India is a venture in this regard where the human excretia is converted into gas for street lighting! In the summer heat she prays for rain and when it does,along with a little relief it also brings mud,slush and overflowing drains !The daily contact with water of poor quality due to pollution,stagnation etc exposes women to water borne diseases. Shortage of water leads to poor sanitation ,especially among women in the reproductive age group . Lack of toilet facilities in the increases the chances of infection . A rural Indian women ,is the overworked one when village ponds and wells go dry . She treks to ever more distant sources with utensils on her head and one resting on her waist . A pretty picture for the poets and writers who visualise such beauty that they write such emotive pieces.According to a study by UNICEF the principal collectors of water  in an Indian household are women between the ages of 15 to 35 years collecting about 192 litres of water a day for an average household.  When forests are destroyed it is they who go farther and father afield in search for firewood .In most forest bound economies ,women play a significant role . They are involved in food gathering fodder collecting and also rejenuating forests through indigeneous conservative practices. As lands are degraded and forests recede ,it is they and their animals that trudge hundred of kilometres in search of grazing land . Commercial interest has worked havoc with forests . Forests are their fundamental right to survival . In her inimmitable way she has crusaded against the mindless felling of trees .Amrita Bai of Khejralli village of Jodhpur dist of Rajasthan paved the way for the modern Chipko movement.They firmly believe that it is the forests that bear soil,water and air and the three substances are basic to their survival!  It is their livelihood  and their hopes that shrivel in the arid anguish of drought and are drowned in the raging fury of floods. When Factories spew harmful gases into the air the infirn,children and women suffer the contagium. At home she generally uses Bio mass fuels such as wood,cow dung ,and crop residues .Studies in carbon monoxide exposure have shown significantly high levels of toxic gas in the blood of women cooking with bio-mass fuels. When industrial units discharge their affluent into rivers ,it is the poor fishermen and their families who are deprived of their incomes .The water is unsafe killing so many people. Today the hotest topic is Environment .Any Magazine is incomplete without issues connected with it. The writing is very clear on the wall …man will perish if he does nottake recourse to any action.Every nation in it’s own way chalking out plans . In the tenth plan the mechanism of Forest Development Agencies have been reinforced.Vrikshsamitra award recognises the women’s contribution in the field of tree plantation.Toilet complexes …in order to protect the dignity of women of the poorer sections ,the Ministry as a part of National River Construction Plan has been emphasising the construction of toilet complexes.Under UNDP project Self Help Groups have been constituted. Efforts are made to generate awareness about renewable resources. Solar Energy,should be tapped in India of which we are richly endowed.Government Ministeries can do a lot if the people of a certain area will contact their local representatives and together work out a solution to the problem at hand!  To a women who is a victim to a marginalised environment the conferences about environment mean nothing .Not for her is the threat of Ozone depletion or the Green HouseEffect.All she desires is humane conditions , a desire to live with dignity!

RICH INDIAN FILM ACTORS POKE FUN AT THEIR POOR BRETHREN!

I have seen the poor wearing tattered ,worn out jeans trying to hide their nudity and on the other hand we have the film stars earning crores dressed up in tattered jeans on purpose!Making fun of the poor and lowly…I suppose!

I had to write this when the other day a rickshaw puller echoed my sentiment about the torn trousers worn by the rich.

It’s all very well if they are scantily dressed ,barely dressed or whatever. But it is revolting to me to see them donning torn jeans from knees,thighs etc  why?I don’t understand .All I feel like doing is walking up to them shaking them to see reality.After all they must realise their role towards social responsibility!They are celebrity status because of their acceptance by the rank and file!How dare they make fun of the have- nots .

 I feel it it is the  most obnoxious fashion statement…flaunting their wealth by tearing off their new jeans in a country where the gap between the rich and poor is much as poles apart!Trying to emulate the poor and strutting with their noses up in the air.

What are they up to ? And that’s not all…

Horror of horrors… influencing the adolescents ( teenagers) of the middle class who scissor off their branded  jeans their parents so painstakingly buy !

What a pitiable lot the film stars are !Tell me who can reason with this narcisst lot! After all they are human , whose whole concern is to be noticed and be admired .On the other extreme,perhaps to feel the bliss of being a non entity!The extent they go to ,is anybody’s guess!

FOR COLD,DRINK PINEAPPLE JUICE

Reading today’s Sunday Magazine came across this….

Pineapple contains bromelian,an enzime with anti-inflamatory properties.

It fights infections and kills bacteria.

Drinking fresh pineapple juice helps soothe a sore throat and aids the body to expel mucous easily.

The bromelian present in pineapple also helps to calm cough arising due to the cold.

Pineapple juice also helps in treating other respiratory ailments like bronchitis,asthama and pueumonia.

Body pains experienced while having a cold can be soothened by drinking pineapple juice.

I am bowled over by the healing qualities of the fruit for cough and cold .A must try for you Mum!

ON REMEMBRING P.M. RAJIV GANDHI ON 21.MAY.

MOST OF THE PAPAERS CARRIED HIS IDEAS  ON VARIOUS ISSUES .
I FOUND HIS IDEAS ON NUCLEAR - DISARMAMENT VERY LOGICAL AND RELEVANT.ICOULDN 'T AGREE MORE!
I AM QUOTING FROM TODAYS THE TIMES OF INDIA
IT SAYS ...HIS STRONG ADVOCACY FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WON HIM ACCOLADES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.IN HIS FAMOUS SPEECH AT THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY,NEW YORK,JUNE 9 1988,HE HAD SAID,........
"THERE ARE THOSE THAT ARGUE THAT SINCE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR WAR ARE WIDELY KNOWN AND WELL UNDERSTOOD ,NUCLEAR WAR JUST CANNOT HAPPEN .
NEITHER EXPERIENCE NOR LOGIC CAN SUSTAIN SUCH DANGEROUS COMPLACENCY.
HISTORY IS FULL OF MISCALCULATIONS .
PERCEPTIONS ARE OFTEN TOTALLY AT VARIANCE WITH REALITY .
A MAD MAN'S FANTASY COULD UNLEASH THE END.
AN ACCIDENT COULD TRIGGER A CHAIN REACTION,WHICH INEXORABLY LEADS TO DOOM.
INDEED,THE ADVANCE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS SO REDUCED THE TIME FOR DECISIONS THAT ,ONCE ACTIVATED ,COMPUTERS PROGRAMMED FOR ARMAGEDDON PRE-EMPT HUMAN INTERVENTION AND ALL HOPE FOR SURVIVAL .
THE CHAMPIONS OF NUCLEAR DETERRENCE ARGUE THAT  NUCLEAR WEAPONS HAVE BEEN INVENTED AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE ELIMINATED.WE DO NOT AGREE .WE HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ELIMINATING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS BY PROHIBITING THEIR USE IN WAR. WE ARE WORKING ON SIMILARLY ELIMINATING CHEMICAL WEAPONS .THERE IS NO REASON ON PRINCIPLE WHY NUCLEAR WEAPONS TOO CANNOT BE SO ELIMINATED.
ALL IT REQUIRES IS THE AFFIRMATION OF CERTAIN BASIC MORAL VALUES AND THE ASSERTION OF THE REQUIRED POLITICAL WILL ,UNDERPINNED BY TREATIES AND INSTITUTIONS THAT INSURE AGAINST NUCLEAR DELINQUENCY"
21 MAY IS OBSERVED AS ANTI -TERRORISM DAY .ON THIS DAY  FORMER P.M. WAS ASSASSINATED IN A BOMB BLAST IN 1991.EVERY YEAR SINCE THEN AWARENESS IS GENERATED  IN THE COUNTRY ABOUT THE ILL EFFECTS OF TERRORISM .
DISCUSSIONS DEBATES,SYMPOSIA,SEMINARS ,LECTURES ETC ARE HELD TO SPREAD AWARENESS AGAINST THE MALAISE .

MOTHER BY SUKHAMRIT SINGH

Mothers must be grateful,

That they are mothers !

So that they can indulge in

The sweet emotion of mothering !

They never let you be!

Invade your privacy

Interfere in every moment of your life

When to have a bath,wash hair ,brush teeth

What to eat,wear

How to study and how much?

What friends to shun

If sitting in the solitary bliss in the toilet

Her voice spears in, How long do you intend being in there?

Come out!

Return from  a birthday party

And she can smell out any tell tale signs of mischief!

The amazing thing is she never gets fed up

Repeating the same ,over and over again

In the nagging tone of hers.

My mind rebels

And my tongue lashes- be quiet!

Away from her

Hanging out with my friends

The cell phone keeps ringing incessantly…

Reminder of her presence

Controlling me through remote control

 Mobile phones are hazardous. A statement so true!

Mother’s are so irritating!

Often at night when I am in the middle of watching

a serial on murder mystery-Sleep time… she declares ,

 switching  off the T.V.leaving me high and dry

 to unravel the mystery in my head and go crazy!

Morning when I am in my happy dreamland

She’ll ad nauseum ask me to get up

In all variations of tones

Slow,cajoling ,loud ,rude

In one breadth calls me her baby and in another a brute!

The dishes she cooks for me

Competes with the best dietician of a hospital

Bland and unpalatable

(Believe me if she starts a slimming centre

She’d feature in the rich and famous!)

Hence  I eat out or order from the eateries… to that

She lectures me with gruesome details

Of the disease that’s going to visit me!

As soon as I come on her radar

All she can think of is advice and more advice

She is a dreamer ,wants me to make a mark!

My birthday card was a calendar of 365

Days of good advice

Even the cup that she offers me milk says

“the best way to predict the future is to create it”!

Too much of everything is bad I guess

And I have just shut off…

All her good intentions fall off  my back!

Thus……

I have fallen into fun loving company

‘They have done well and pushed you in the well’

She admonishes.

My grades have fallen

I am obese

I am lazy

I back answer

I have disrupted my life

Night I am up watching T.V. ,catching up gossip with friends

till  the wee hours of the morning and .zzz. into the middle of the day!

Haven’t seen the sun rise for so many days!

You see, I have no time for study in the scheme of things!

A unit test or an exam

Sends me into a frenzy

Suddenly this desire to be a topper spurs me

I leave no ‘faith unturned’

Fervently I remember Him

A talisman I seek to do a miracle

Suddenly all places of worship seem to me housing God Himself

And I show in earnest my  obeisance, making promises…

With the test over the intensity of the faith douses!

All this because

I have chosen to disobey her

You Don’t !!!!

Because mother knows best!

You’re blessed ,if you obey

You’re lucky ,if you obey

You will rule the world ,if you obey

She is the one who rules the world through

Children who obey her!

Oops !!!!!!!!!

 Am I  on an advising spree ?

O mother!you’re omni…

MOTHER IS A MOTHER& THERE IS NO OTHER LIKE HER!

She is not my role model

Can’t be like her

Won’t be like her

She’s too good !

However she’s an inspiration

For me

To achieve,to excel , to be the best

‘Trust in God,and do the right’

This  adage of hers guard my every action

Everytime I fail

I have this guilt of not proving myself

Not being up to the mark say at my workplace

I feel as though

I’m letting down her faith and trust in me

Her  positive hand encouraging words

Along with my Dad’s(she is so much one with him that

I cannot think her as a separate entity!)

Help me to get up and walk on…

Life for me began with her around.

My mother best!

Beyond compare!!

Might sound trite…

Believe me

Her voice lifts my heart !

Her laughter makes me happy !

Her problems weigh me down

would love to share them all and ease her pain

I for one want her around

for all the time I’m here!

Amen!