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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sons of the Motherland


A soldier at the warfront
searching an enemy to confront
His mother praying for his wellbeing
without his hands to hold or him seeing

A wife awaiting his arrival
with a baby yet to come
Him at the warfront
fighting for survival

The television blaring out the news
about the countries in a fray
the public merrily celebrating
the Independence Day

Do we realise the costs they pay
with their own sweat and blood
Courage and pride their only might
Against bullets and bombs in the night

I write this poem as a tribute
for the true patriots of the land
I salute the flag of our nation as a symbol
of my obeisance to the sons of my Motherland

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Elemental Truth



SIBM Bangalore Toastmasters Club
CC Project 9
The Elemental Truth

It was 7.00 am in the morning; the air was filled with the chirping of birds, the ringing sound of the milkman’s cart and the call of the newspaper guy. At 7 , usually the sun is out shining but I did not even bother to go the window and look outside, because I knew that at that time, the air is filled with pollution which makes visibility almost zero. It was preferred to buy bottled water because the pollution made the metro water unfit for drinking. Oh , as well as I didn’t have power for the last 2 days.

Toastmasters, do you know that the Rs 18/water bottle[wave it to the crowd] which we pay is not because of water scarcity but because of water wastage, the recent grid failures ,not once but twice are not because of power scarcity but because of unchecked exploitation of natural resources,  every time you use the axe deo[wave the spray], I am not sure if angels are falling,, but  the pollution level is surely rising.

Had Newton been alive today, he would never have discovered the Law of Gravity, because there are no trees nowadays from which an apple can fall.

The capital of Iran was forced to declare 2 days of extra holidays because the pollution level reached beyond permissible limits.

And that, friends, is the Elemental Truth.


Toastmasters...
Imagine a world with no power, plunged into darkness, a place where the moonlight is hidden by polluted air and the sunlight is too harsh to stand. A planet where even a spark of light

Is a welcome feeling, the warmth of the fire is a luxury, the sight [switch on the lights] of a fellow being a blessing.

A planet where you cannot distinguish water from a drink [show 2 bottles, one full of black coloured water and another a real coke bottle] .

[Forcefully, asking some individual toastmasters] Do you want such a planet? Would you live in such a home?  Which bottle would you drink from?

 [Pause....]
But where there are shadows, there is always a light somewhere. And the good thing is that the light is shining bright, far off, but still shining. While some people are ignoring the environment, 300,000 trees are being planted every day. The change is has already begun. And we need to be a part of it. We should be.
Research has shown that the coolness of the shade given by a full grown tree is equal to 10 room sized air conditioners running 20 hours a day.

In winter, trees help to keep the area warm and the heating cost can be reduced by 25%.

100 trees can help stop the soil from getting washed away by water equal to 400,000 litres of water.

1 tree can store 20 kgs of toxic carbon dioxide in a year and give out oxygen for 2 human beings.

I am sure you would be asking “How? What to do? I love clean air, clean water and a clean life but I am not sure how I can pitch in."

All you need to do is just PLOT.

PLOT stands for Plant Lots of Trees

Every one of us can help our planet by making PLOT the keyword in our daily activities.

Can we not plant a sapling in our own backyards and neighbourhood, wherever possible? Can we not nurture this sampling using our daily kitchen wastage?

We can ask the kids of the neighbourhood to plant a tree, nurture it and have a competition on whose tree grows the fastest.

For every happy occasion in life we can resolve to plant a sapling.

When we are booking tickets online, be it for travelling or a movie, there is an option to donate a small amount for planting a sapling.

There are NGO’s like The Sapling Project which have exclusive drives in neighbourhoods for planting trees.

By way of PLOTting , will can ensure a future which is bright as the sunshine, clear as river water, free as the air and solid as the earth.

We would then be leaving a legacy for our successors, because,

“We have not inherited this world from our ancestors, but have borrowed it from our successors”
Toastmasters, I’m pledging to PLOT to share this wonderful gift called Earth. Will you also do the same?