‘Mantra’ of smart parenting

I wonder how some parents manage to make the most of raising their children. Is there any magic formula? Yet, coming from similar family background and similar economic structure, how can children be so different? Is it that most successful parents know how to strike the right balance between discipline and frankness with their children?

1. Understand your child- Every kid is different. Acknowledging and respecting your child goes a long way to understand him better. I remember my 4-year-old niece asking her mother for permission to attend her friend’s birthday party next door. My cousin asked her to wait till other mothers send their children. To this my niece retorted smartly, “If all mothers say the same thing as you are, who will be the first one to attend?”

2. Reward your child- Every child craves for acknowledgement as we, adults, do.
Experts are of the opinion that children must be rewarded for their good behavious. The nature of reward can be as priceless as a simple hug or buying a Cadbury-to say that you love him and his thoughtfulness is appreciated by you.

3. Don’t pamper your child- Costly gifts do not guarantee a well-behaved child. So, if you are both working parents don’t feel guilty about it. All you have to do is explain your situation as candidly as is possible to your child, the rest they will understand being smart kids.

4. Don’t ridicule or overlook your child’s mistakes- The best thing to do is to ‘sensitize’ your child about the mistake and consequence(s) that may follow their actions. Then instead of hiding their mistakes, they will learn to take on responsibilities. That’s the greatest gift that you can give to your child- the gift of being responsible.

Just don’t cushion his every fall; be there, so he can see your proud face when he stands himself up on his own two little feet. In a nutshell, your child can be as smart and as well behaved as you want him to be.

Don’t blame Aishwarya

What’s the hoopla about mediocrity when the entire nation is run by mediocre or below mediocre politicians whose only measure of success is being in the limelight? Do we see any genius with a lion’s heart among the present crop of politicians either? So, why blame only Aishwarya?

If they are getting so much of media hype are we not to be equally blamed for choosing them in the first place?

After all, it is our taste that is dictating the market! If we don’t watch their movies or listen to ‘something’ that they call music that come in glossy skins or nasal voice or simply base voice, then no one will come running after us!

We are the people who go gaga over histrionics of Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav more than his role as a politician and his ‘contribution’ as the ex-Chief minister of Bihar. We are the people who keep silent when a singer like Mr. Reshamia openly bad mouths such a magnificent singer like Ashaji, ridicule the talent of late Kishore kumarji, in a similar talent hunt program! Where are we living?

So, can we really cry foul when we don’t do our part of the bargain responsibly? It is us: as viewers, it is us: as electorates, who choose our half-baked leaders and our pseudo-public figures, cheer them, follow them, give them more attention than they deserve and grovel at their feet. So, it is no wonder that we have to bear the brunt of our wrong choices.

If we are really concerned, then the foremost thing to do is change ourselves, our thinking, our way of reacting and then making wrong choices, and finally make a real honest attempt to raise ourselves from the same mediocrity that we are blaming others are having- that’s the only way we can exonerate ourselves from our mistakes and see the world around us changing.What’s your take?

Global Warming

Introduction

WHEN man gets sick he goes to a doctor, what does our environment do when it gets sick?
Does it come to man looking for an answer to its sickness? Does it hold man responsible for its ill health? How does nature give warning signals about its poor health? Is it in the form of average rise in global temperature -global warming- and its visible symptoms like global food crisis, floods, eruption of diseases, hurricanes, droughts, acid rain, erratic global temperatures with sudden snow fall in Baghdad (Iraq) and rainfall in Rajasthan (India)?

These are the questions that come to our mind when we find ourselves suddenly affected by nature’s fury. But the fury of nature is not a sudden occurrence; it is as old as our planet Earth. Then, why on Earth, are we suddenly sitting up and taking all these natural occurrences seriously? Have we noticed some anomalies in nature that we didn’t notice before, but we should have?

Has the time come for us to pay more attention to our environment- to the air that we breathe in, to the water that we drink, to the hospitable temperature that keeps us ‘live and kicking' -instead of taking everything for granted?

Nature’s warning

Gradual extinction of ‘polar bears’- Extinction of polar bears is now a reality. According to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ Alaska has already started witnessing multiple deaths of polar bears over the last couple of years, whereas, earlier a death of a polar bear used to be a rare occurrence. Polar bears are dying in their attempt to cross the increasing longer distances between land and the fast retreating polar sea ice.

Major eruptions of tropical diseases- Abnormal and extreme weather conditions all around the world are responsible for spreading of viral diseases (like Malaria, Cholera, Dengue Fever, Encephalitis) and loss of human and animal lives. Already extreme floods and droughts are affecting the availability of safe drinking water.

Hurricanes and typhoons- Though the rising global temperature is not found responsible for the rise in the number of hurricanes and typhoons; but, according to the journal ‘Nature’, over the last 30 years, the typhoons and hurricanes have become more intensified and long-lasting, thanks to global warming.

The Greenhouse Gases – Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour are the main greenhouse gases naturally present in the atmosphere. But increased concentration of these gases causes rise in global temperature and as ‘heat-trappers’, they prevent the infrared radiations to be radiated back to space. This phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect, which is responsible for average rise in global temperature annually (global warming).

In normal condition, this greenhouse effect is responsible for maintaining average surface temperature of our earth at 32-degree Centigrade (58 degree Fahrenheit) annually- suitable for maintaining life on this planet.

United States ranks top as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the World! (Source: National geographic).

Human hands in rising greenhouse effect- While greenhouse gases are responsible for maintaining life, too much concentration of theses gases in the atmosphere disturb the fragile balance of nature creating havoc. Man is unsettling this balance in a number of ways- Deforestation, burning natural gas, coal, and oil, electricity production, population growth and land use, emissions from factories, vehicles etc.

The world is waking up

The survival of this planet and our own survival are now dependent in our collective understanding and taking corrective actions to fix this problem:

Kyoto Protocol- The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has adapted Kyoto Protocol in Kyoto, Japan, on 11^th December 1997. Like most countries of the World, India is also a member. Under this, each country which has given its ratification is allowed to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases. Those countries which emit less Carbon, as reward, get financial incentives by selling those Carbon Credits in the global market. Carbon credits are ‘tradable credits’ given as rewards to the developing countries for helping to curb GHG ( greenhouse gases) emission. One credit is equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide emission reduced. Companies of the World who are engaged in developing renewable energy instead of fossil fuels are eligible to get Carbon Credits.

India and Climate change mitigation Policy- As an active member of UNFCCC
(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in India, the Ministry of Environment & Forests acts as the nodal Ministry for all environment-related activities in India and also coordinates the climate change policy.

According to a recent report, India has bagged the topmost position among its peers for bagging the highest number of carbon credits issued (nearly 43%) and also the number of clean development (CDM) projects registered with the international CDM body.

Is carbon filter, the answer to arrest carbon emission? According to a latest development reported in Telegraph (India), Klaus Lackner, a physicist in Columbia University has developed carbon filters which can effectively suck up carbon dioxide from the air; the main concern is that an estimated 67 million filters are required for this task at a cost of trillions of dollars a year! The question is – who will foot the bill?

Is change in lifestyle, the need of the hour?- Beyond imposed sanctions and prohibitions, small life style changes without going for any drastic maladjustments by every one of us can go a long way to make a significant difference; it has the power to slow the pace of global warming!

Time to go ‘veg’- Studies have shown that 2.2 pounds of meat emits 36.4 kilos of Carbon dioxide. Not only that raising and transporting beefs, lambs by trucks, air planes, and cargo ships require energy equivalent to lighting a 100-watt bulb for 3 weeks!

Limit wastage- This includes wastage of food, fuel- switching the bulbs off, or turning off the water tap when not in use etc. When all the family needs is one car, one should not look for another, even when one has the means!

All these small things may seem trivial, but when collectively done can make a lot of difference; it has the power to make this World a much ‘safer world’ to live in!

My leader

THERE are some people who despite their political compulsions go out of their way to make our world a better place for others to live in, and in the process leave a mark for the posterity; for others to emulate. Needless to say, these people in India are few and far between, who have access to power and yet, who are fully aware of the rights of the people.

With the formal departure of Mr. Abdul Kalam from presidentship, there was little hope with the current crop of politicians in our country to fill this large void left by him.

Finally, we have found another great leader in Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a worthy successor of Mr. M.K. Gandhi, our very own ‘Bapu’. When our remembrance to Bapu has become limited to just paying a lip-service to him on a special day, it is heartening to know that there are still people like Mr. Gopal Gandhi among us who are not afraid to challenge the higher power in our country and question their authorities and duties.

Mr. G. Gandhi, who is currently holding the post of governor in West Bengal, refused to become a decorative piece and has come out time and time again to stand with the people of West Bengal. He has made sincere attempts to make our political leaders aware where their true obligation lies- party or the people of Bengal.

Aware of the wrath and criticism that will evoke from both the ruling party and the oppositions, Mr. Gandhi made his disapproval felt in the case of Nandigram; he questioned the performance of CMC (Calcutta Municipal Corporation) during the last year’s heavy deluge after visiting the affected areas himself; and finally he again stood with the mass when he invited load-shedding upon Raj Bhawan (two hours every day and thus sharing the plights of the common people.

Visiting Sikkim— The Garden State of India

“LOOK at the Teesta, flowing so peacefully. You should see her in a rainy season when she becomes so voluminous that it is very difficult to compare with her now”, our driver Nandu alias Nandalal told us. All eight pairs of eyes turned in the direction where some people were doing river rafting. I remembered reading somewhere that Teesta has been graded on the International scale at Grade 4 for Safe River rafting.



Last year when we visited Sikkim, the road leading to the Gangtok was being reconstructed. We could see people working with heavy yellow land movers and other constructional machineries; but that does not mean the road looked any less pretty.


We were gaining heights with each successive tortuous turn of the hilly road, and suddenly we started feeling the presence of pristine cool breeze caressing our hot cheeks. On our way, we got panoramic view of tiny villages with houses looking like brown droplets with colorful prayer flags flattering in the wind amidst the greens of tall tress and the river Teesta flowing down fortified by the lofty mountainous range.

We had taken a hired car from New Jalpaiguri station on our way to Gangtok (capital of Sikkim). Though there are buses available from the New Jalpaiguri Station and the closest Airport is at Bagdorgra, we preferred the hired arrangement because we were going with our family, plus it gave us more freedom to explore the surroundings while we were gradually ascending the hill.

My husband, my brother, and sister-in-law were virtually competing with the digital camera to capture the best shot asking Nandu to stop now and then. I wonder how our camera survived the ordeal!

Because of the off-season, we got a fine accommodation in Gangtok at a discounted rate. There were plenty of hotels and resorts to choose from, starting from the most economical to the luxury types.

On our first day in Gangtok, after having devoured some delicious lunch with a huge pizza, plateful of momos (a very light and tasty local dish) and Sikkimese tea, we were ready for a quick local sight-seeing because there was less time left of the day. We visited the nearby Enchey monastry about 3 kms from the town and Tashi View Point from where we got the most amazing view of Khangchendzonga.

We also did some window shopping at the MG Marg and saw Lepcha weave bags, and some other special brass-iron pieces from a curio shop there. Here, I must tell you that Gangtok is a place with frequent rainfalls throughout the year and in our first evening in Gangtok we encountered quite a heavy shower! So, don’t forget to carry umbrella with you.

We also made some prior arrangements with one of the many tour operators in Gangtok for our journey to Nathula-Pass for the next day. We were told that tourists are allowed to visit Nathula only on specific days of the week. There is restriction on the number of vehicles that can visit Nathula on a day.



For tourists, prior reservation for Nathula is always advisable. Foreign tourists are not allowed to visit Nathula but they can visit upto Tsomgo Lake.

Gangtok became the capital of Sikkim only in the mid 1800s. The local crowds are quite an interesting mix with Nepalese, Bhutanese, Lepchas (“the raven folks”, original inhabitants of Sikkim), and Limbos. Here it is easy to spot young girls sporting trendy dresses and short flowing hair talking animatedly with elderly women in their traditional ‘bakus’, so are the smiling faces of lamas in their maroon and mustard robes walking sedately beside- a perfect blend of modern with tradition.

On our stay we found the local people conversing in English and Hindi besides their local languages.

Early morning, we visited the Baker’s café at MG Marg road and had some delicious breakfast with coffee, pastries, and again with some more momos before leaving for Nathula Pass (‘Nathu-la’ means whistling). Nathula Pass is on the International border between India and China and is situated at a height of 14,200 feet above sea-level and is 55 Kms from Gangtok, and it passes through the serene Tsomgo/Changu Lake, abode of brahminy ducks.

Nathula is quite an experience- the freezing temperature and the sweeping wind passing through our ears made a ‘whistling sound’ and bedimmed our eyes.

At Nathula, we also got the chance to chit chat with one of our Indian soldiers. We also saw smiling faces of Chinese soldiers through a distance. We could not take any photos of Nathula Pass as taking photos is prohibited in Nathula. On our return journey, we made a stop over at Changu Lake to relish our packed lunch that we had carried from Gangtok. Finally, we started for our descent to Gangtok.

The best time to visit Sikkim is between March-May when the state plays host to the International Flower Festival every year when most of the state’s 600 species of orchids, trees, about 150 species of gladioli, rhododendrons, magnolias, and other foliages are in full bloom.

Next day, early morning, we started for Gurudongma Lake located at the highest altitude of 17,100 feet. The view of the lake was breathtakingly beautiful and the temperature was freezing at sub-zero. The journey to the lake was through a very treacherous terrain, but looking back, it was completely worth. We managed to savour the majestic sight of the lake for extra few seconds because of our acclimatization previous night at Lachen. Moreover, we knew that we were witnessing a once-in-a- lifetime experience of this beautiful dream-like lake in the early morning misty hours, looking sublime with fogs surrounding it.

Local people advised us to chew popcorn throughout our ascent to Gurudongma to beat breathlessness.

On our return to Lachen, we had our lunch and started for Lachung, a picturesque Tibetan village situated at an altitude of 9000 feet. We spotted some refreshing views of waterfalls. The sky was azure and bright and the breeze was clean and cool and we also had the opportunity to see some different species of Rhododendrons at the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary.

The next day, we visited Yumthang Valley or the valley of flowers. Situated at an altitude of 11800 ft. above see level, the valley offered us a breathtaking landscape of alpine meadows, rhododendron forests and snow peaks of Himalayas with Lachung river cutting across it. The entire valley cut out an ethereal view of amalgamation of colors with hundreds of species of Rhododendron, primula, and magnolia, dancing in the soft breeze against the vast field of snow as the backdrop.

On the last league of our journey, we spent some blissful 3 days in Pelling (West Sikkim). We stayed at the Upper Pelling because it had the best hotels and offered the best views to the Khangchendzonga in all its glory. The last night in Pelling, we also got the chance to see the beautiful Pelling in the full moon lit night! Try to conjure up a beautiful picture of milky-white mountainous range changing its hue to golden bright at the touch of the magical moon with an invisible magic wand! That ethereal sight made us feel so tranquil as if there was nothing left to conquer anymore; we got ourselves everything at that single moment.

The only difficulty that we felt in Pelling was when we did not locate a single ATM counter and most hotels did not offer to accept credit cards.

The next day we finally made our descent away from the beautiful and blessed Sikkim back towards the urban civilization. Sikkim has changed me forever—I felt myself a new person, a better and a very privileged person with so many priceless memories imprinted and cherished forever –the places that we had visited together, the changing colors of the snow-clad peaks in the moonlight, and also when the streaks of sunlight caresses it , the clouds and rains, the clear sounds of the chirruping birds, sight of wild orchids, dancing rhododendrons and magnolias against the cool soft breeze, the taste of levity that I felt inhaling the air, the smiling people... I can feel it, can you?

The Indian Book Carnival

Have you ever attended any Indian Book Carnival? I feel your puzzled expression-Book Carnival, not fair? It is a carnival because of sheer magnitude of passion and anticipation involved that the book lovers in this part of the World wait with all through the year. Have I been able to tingle your interest a bit? Why not join me in the most anticipated Book Carnival and experience it yourself?

The queue leading to the North gate of the fair has taken a huge uncoiled serpentine look that is adding to its tail every minute. The air is crackling with joy and merriment. For once, the parents are not minding their young toddlers running in gay abandon holding colorful balloons. The parents themselves are busy discussing ardently about the books that they are going to buy.

From where we are standing, there are more than 400 people ahead of us and an almost equal number behind us! The fair gate is going to open precisely at 2PM. Today is the fourth day of the fair and also a weekday- but that does not seem to deter these undaunting book lovers from leaving their places of work and participate in this event!

At last we are in the huge barricaded open arena. The first stall is to the left of the entrance gate and from there all other stalls are aligned circularly. This leaves a vast open space in the middle for visitors to stroll by, for food stall owners to display their snacks, and also where the main podium is erected.

Stall of my favorite publisher is choke-a-block full with people. A renowned author is launching his newly written novel. He is busy giving autographs while having an informal face-to-face chit-chat with his readers. One important feature of this event is that books are displayed openly for the visitors to touch, feel, and even smell, even if not being bought by them! Isn’t this great?

While browsing, we heard an announcement in the PA system. In the main podium an acclaimed French author will be felicitated. Every year this event is organized based on a particular theme, and this year is on Contemporary French literature. French delegates have already arrived in the podium, and we also joined the waiting crowds.

To give some rest to our tiring legs, we decided to have some snacks. On our way from there, we saw a young impoverished gentleman. He is showing his poetry book, written and published from his own pocket. All new writers are not fortunate enough to be backed by a publishing house, so this way he can show his work to the public. Who knows-he may be the next Shelly or Tagore!

Oh God! It is already late! Still craving for more, yet taking pity on our exhausted self, we decided to leave for now, still have 14 more days to go. Till then, it is time for us to bid goodbye to all of you. Hope you enjoyed it too, see you again the next year!