World Environment Day

World Environment Day.

This day makes more and more sense with each passing year that we humans are successful in abusing Mother Earth beyond acceptable limits.

For someone like me who is passionate about Nature and the Environment, I was all participative in the Environment week celebrations at work.

A part of it was to come up with innovative ideas for saving the environment. And came in some really good ideas! While I cannot take any ideas from office contributions to put it up under my name - I am putting up ideas suggested by one of my dearest friend. I had asked him for his inputs on saving the Environment and I was Surpocked [Surprise + Shock] with his long email of ideas. With his permission, this goes on my blog page - as my acknowledgement for his contribution as well as for the good ideas presented.

1.  The Traffic police should start charging fines which should include planting of trees according to the severity of offense committed. [Loved this one]
2.  There should be 1Re. donation towards the "cause green" on every online purchase made (as we see a boom in Online shopping ) [Absolutely!]
3. New societies which are coming up should be made compulsory to leave SEZ land alone. [NOT at all sure if the selfish Govt. can leave the profit calculations out of this]
4. Car pooling should be implemented forcefully with strict laws. [Hmmm...]
5. Schools should mandatorily teach children how to recycle/reuse newspapers as they are the next generation. [Should start rightaway!]
6. We should discourage brouchers and pamphlets distribution, which would decrease usage of unwanted paper. [AGREE]
7.  New building constructions should include solar paneling.
8. Every house should have a rain harvesting plant/ plan.
9. Use of bio-fuel should be encouraged.(For the unawares - it is condensation of natural waste like animal excreta, fruit residual like sugar cane, coconuts, hay etc.. are made in a block for usage in household and also in industries ) [Good idea]
10. Every society should be taught to make bio gas.
11. Purchase only after clearing your stock of food , to prevent overstocking and wastage.
12. Use of solar cookers by families to be encouraged.
13. Individual houses should be encouraged for natural fencing between two houses - by planting trees rather than Cutting trees and fixing fences for separation.
14. Water usage should be calibrated as per family members and there usage.
15. Use of bicycles should be encouraged for short distances.

These were some of the bright and quite a few very implementable ideas. Each idea even if followed partially till we make a habit of it, would make a difference. Let's take a pledge to ourselves to try and minimise our carbon footprint as much as possible. Happy Environment day.

....& not forgetting - Thank you Dr. Joshi for your contribution! :) .. & Congratulations for earning a place on my blog! ;)

9 myths about Solo Women Travellers!

Solo travelling gets a lot of piqued interest in India. Though I belong to modern twin cities of Hyderabad- Secunderabad; I yet have to yet meet a solo female traveller in person.

Wherever my travels take me & I meet new people, different people express different thoughts about my travelling on my own. There are myths that people harbor about female travellers and here are the oft heard ones that I keep hearing - which sometimes irk me, sometimes get me amused.
Here are the Top 9 that get to me!

1. You must be stinking rich to afford solo travels - Well, I would love to get this true! I plan for each of my trip well and save and save for each trip! Its MY passion - so no one but I takes care of it from planning to executing to everything on between!
2. You mustn't be normal. - Seriously I have had people say this to me more than a few times. I guess in India if a girl travels on her own, it probably is considered abnormal. There is nothing like being abnormal though. It's about following your passion, even it comes to chasing it solo. 
3. You must be an 'advanced' person!: Whatever this means - the message I always get is that travelling on your own means you are one among the flighty types. Just becoz a girl travels solo, they are not looking for Flings! Rather any sane seasoned solo traveller will vouch that is far from the truth.
4. Your family must be too independent - Independent I am. But, Sometimes people express in a way that drives the message that the family does not care enough- to allow you on your own. Far from the truth. Infact I have to give my itinerary details in detail to my family before every travel..& I don't mind that. 
5. It must be easy for 'someone like you' to go out and meet new people: Generally solo travellers are ambiverts if not extroverts. It's a part of the necessary learning in travelling. But not always it is easy to do that. New people always give new vibes, and not all vibes make you feel comfortable.Your guard is a little more high in certain places and yes, I do feel shaky on certain grounds [Literally!]
6. We can be adjusted: I can talk of myself on this. While I am a non fussy traveller, people assume that just becoz I'm on my own, I can shift to the middle train seat, sit in the back seat in some travel car, change of balconied room in some hotel, adjust in the next batch of someplace to let some 'together people' together, etc. Well, I take pains to do all the above mentioned so that I get it right for me. So, while I am an accomodating person mostly, I do not adjust for certain things. Myth to be broken - we cannot be 'adjusted' as anyone pleases at All times.
7. You would get so bored and lonely - Not at all! Ask any of the ones from us; why - that's the precise reason we travel alone so that we can cherish the "my time". I for one, am a big champion for the 'My time' concept. So I am nor bored not lonely... 9 out of 10 times I am blissed out during these very travels.
8. Men are creeps for female travelling alone. - From my personal experience I can say that it is far from the truth. Ofcourse you'd agree continuing chatting up with someone after the basic acquaintances are made and you can sense the body language and listen to your personal GPRS - your Gut. And the times I have interacted with them, I have found they are absolutely normal people, not creeps waiting to lure any female traveller! Sad myth this. [This does not imply to go around loose in making new acquaintances - go with your gut, but Never Ever leave your guard] ... And lastly,
9. It is WRONG to do that!: This statement one can hear only in India. How a female should operate in the Indian society is so wired into the Indian psyche, that quite a few Men have told me it is Wrong to travel like that, as females are not built to stay without support, travel being out of scope. 

Well, to respond to that, I take a walk away from these people rather than telling them away - coz walking away leads me to another new destination!

There is one more thing  I missed out on which I Have to add. That being:

"Don't you drink?.. oh come on it's OK, you can order a drink. You travel so much..surely you would not be a teetotaler" When I'm clear enough with my reply, I don't  understand the need to not believe or question it. I've heard this on two specific occasions - by males and I made sure I was far-far away from those people from then on. [Mostly hotel aquaintances who start off making small talk.. and then try to get friendly.] My safety antenna would have been touching the sky then!!

Those are the few things I have encountered time to time which makes my resolve more stronger to break them. Not to prove a point really - but to just to revel in one of my passions.

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