एक चांगली कविता

Got it on email from a friend

अडगळीच्या खोलीमधलं
दप्तर आजही जेव्हा दिसतं |
मन पुन्हा तरूण होऊन
बाकांवरती जाऊन बसतं ||
प्रार्थनेचा शब्द अन शब्द
माझ्या कानामध्ये घुमतो |
गोल करून डबा खायला
मग आठवणींचा मेळा जमतो ||
या सगळ्यात लाल खुणांनी
गच्च भरलेली माझी वही |
अपूर्णचा शेरा आणि
बाई तुमची शिल्लक सही ||
रोजच्या अगदी त्याच चुका
आणि हातांवरले व्रण |
वहीत घट्ट मिटून घेतलेत
आयुष्यातले कोवळे क्षण ||
पण या सगळ्या शिदोरीवरंच
बाई आता रोज जगतो |
चुकलोच कधी तर तुमच्यासारखं
स्वतःलाच रागवून बघतो ||
इवल्याश्या या रोपट्याची
तुम्ही इतकी वाढ केली आहे |
हमखास हातचा चुकण्याची सुद्धा
सवय आता गेली आहे ||
चांगलं अक्षर आल्याशिवाय
माझा हात लिहू देत नाही |
एका ओळीत सातवा शब्द
आता ठरवून सुद्धा येत नाही ||
दोन बोटं संस्कारांचा
समास तेवढा सोडतो आहे |
फळ्यावरच्या सुविचारासारखी
रोज माणसं जोडतो आहे ||
योग्य तिथे रेघ मारून
प्रत्येक मर्यादा ठरवलेली |
हळव्या क्षणांची काही पानं
ठळक अक्षरात गिरवलेली ||
तारखेसह पूर्ण आहे वही |
फक्त एकदा पाहून जा |
दहा पैकी दहा मार्क
आणि सही तेवढी देऊन जा |

 

Are our Sadhu Baba's similar to USA?

Click here to download:
RobockToonSciAmJan2010.pdf (2.16 MB)

I was reading an article titled "Local Nuclear War, Global Suffering" by Alan Robock & Owen Brian Toon in Scientific American, a magazine related to science as the name suggests.

The article is a good 8 pages long and it discusses what will happen to the world, if India and Pakistan goto a nuclear war!! The article suggests that India has about 50 and Pakistan about 60 nuclear war heads. Other nations, like Russia has about 15,000, United States of America has about 9,900 (These I believe are the conservative & publicly available numbers).

As I read through the article, I realised how much of the American Tax Payers money (The standard term used by the American's to describe, how every Individual contributes to the "development" of it's nation!!) is being spent on making analysis of a situation, which might never come true. And oh yes, in-case you have forgotten, the only Nation on this planet to ever drop a Nuclear Bomb was none other than the United States of America.

The same people who first showed the world of what can happen when you throw the bomb, then spend trillions more in making those 9,900 bombs. Then spend a few trillions more on asking the world to dis-arm their nuclear war heads. "You know, it is very bad... the bombs can destroy the planet. You got to be careful" - USA's stand for the world, but within the four walls of the Presidential Suite, "Make more Nuclear war-heads, we have to bear Russia's tally of 15,000 nuclear war heads".

And I fail to understand, how & why the other nations on this planet even tolerate a nation like USA!

They are like our own Sadu Baba's who tell the gullible people, on how to attain "Moksha" and they themselves attain a different kind of "Moksha" in their private chambers.

I am attaching the article in PDF format for you all to read. I found the pdf freely available on the internet on searching for a link for the article I could share.

 

My summer camping schedule

This summer I will be visiting the following locations :)

20th April to 25th April - Bandhavgarh
27th April to 2nd May Bandhavgarh
4th May to 9th May - Kanha
13th May to 18th May - Tadoba
18th May to 24th May - Kanha
25th May to 31st May - Bandhavgarh

I will be leading groups for Foliage Outdoors. www.foliageoutdoors.com

You all are kindly invited to join me this summer to view a few of the 1411 Tigers plus other Wildlife :)

 

‘Unbuilding blocks: Unblocking Building’

The Open Space + Aman Setu School

Summer Apprenticeship in Building and Rational Architecture  

Building = bricks+cement+steel+specialized architect

Or perhaps:

Building= wood+bamboo+thatch+mud

Or even

Building= cardboard+wire+plastic sheet+junk

Right?

But there’s something missing in all the equations: OURSELVES 

Why aren’t we involved in creating the spaces we use?

How can we use resources more rationally while building ?

Is there a reason for choosing or rejecting certain building techniques?

And most important of all, don’t you want to take building into your own hands? 
 

Open Space and Aman Setu announce

A summer apprenticeship in building (two modules):   

 

I) Natural Construction: (2 week module)  

19th April – 1st May 2010   

9:00AM to 6:00PM   

Learn how to design and build spaces using natural materials and junk. Experience the freedom of self-help construction through various techniques.

The course participants will take part in the design and construction of classrooms initiated by students of Aman Setu School, Wagholi. The construction will involve various elements of natural building with a focus on earth construction. Participants will also explore junk element design and application, natural finishes, green roofs etc.

The course will flow through the following modules (Modifications will be made as needed to maximize contextual learning):

  • Natural Building
  • Anatomy of a building
  • Basics of Climatology
  • Solar Passive Design and Planning
  • Participatory Design/ Consensus Design
  • Building as Learning Aid (BaLA)
  • Introduction to Earth construction
  • Earth construction Methods
  • Basics of Soil
  • Experiential Soil tests
  • Soil stabilization and natural stabilizers
  • Designing in Earth: guidelines and thumb-rules
  • Natural finishes
  • Design and Construction in Junk
  • Component Design in Junk
 

 

II) Ecological Sanitation    (1 week module)    

3rd May – 8th May 2010   

9:00AM to 6:00PM

Learn how to design and built decentralized, cost effective, sustainable and appropriate sanitation solutions. Learn how to close the loop!

The course participants will participate in the design and construction of the Ecosan toilet block at Aman Setu School. The construction will involve various elements of natural building including earth construction, junk element design and application.

The course will flow through the following modules (Modified as needed to maximize contextual learning):

  • Sanitation Overview
  • Current paradigms
  • Linear vs. Looped models
  • Closing the Loop
  • Pee & Poo
  • Various kinds of ‘wastewaters’ and mitigation strategies
  • Reuse strategies
  • Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems
  • Technologies and components
  • Holistic Sanitation
  • Component Design
  • Designing the Sanitation process
 

Methodology:

Participants will study the theory as well as the practical aspects of different materials and technologies. The course will comprise of classroom sessions, but focus predominantly on experiential learning.   

Who should apply:

- Individuals who are passionate about ecological processes and sustainable development

- Individuals who are physically fit and can endure long (and enjoyable) working hours of manual labor

- Individuals need NOT have previous knowledge regarding construction or design

- Preferably individuals between the ages of 18-30.

- Individuals who love working in teams   

What you can expect on program completion:

- A reinvigorated spirit

- A holistic understanding of natural construction and/or ecological sanitation

- Freedom and confidence in application of particular technologies

- A Certificate of participation from Aman Setu and Open Space  

Investment:

I) Natural Construction:   2500 Rs

II) Ecological Sanitation: 1500 Rs   

Both:                              3,500 Rs.  

This includes:

-          Transportation to and from a central city location to Aman Setu

-          Breakfast and Lunch

-          Training material for respective modules 

How to Apply:

Candidates need to fill up and email the attached Registration form to soar.hub@gmail.com by 3rd April, 2010.

We are limiting the number of seats to 6 participants per course in order to ensure a thorough experience. Please send your application at the earliest.  

Open Space is a social change resource centre working to encourage debate, discussion and action on contemporary social, economic and cultural issues among youth and citizens.  

http://www.openspaceindia.org/   

Aman Setu is a school conceptualized and managed by the Madhavi Kapur Foundation.

http://www.amansetu.com/    

For Queries, Please contact Sourabh (98508 22 22 6) or Ujwala (020 25457371)

 

Home made Pizza

I made some pizza today for dinner. Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

  • Pizza base (ready made)
  • Tomato
  • Onion
  • Capsicum
  • Cheese
  • Mushroom
  • Veg kebabs (This time I had bought some ready to fry Veg Kebabs from the local store)
  • Italian seasoning
  • a little olive oil
  • Salt
  • Oh yeh.. and don't forget the Garlic
  • Any other sauces you might want to add to the pizza topping

Okay so to make it, all you need is to follow these simple steps

  1. Chop the onions, tomato & garlic into small pieces
  2. Chop the capsicum into fine pieces
  3. Chop the mushrooms and saute in a little olive oil, just to make them a little tender
  4. Heat some olive oil in a pan, saute the garlic
  5. Add the onions and saute till transparent
  6. Add the tomato and cook the mixture till they soften to form a paste like consistency
  7. Add the Italian herbs to this mixture and cook for some more time
  8. Add some salt as per taste
  9. Once this is done, take the base and make little incision on the base, so a little of the sauce enters the base.
  10. Spread the sauce evenly onto the base
  11. If you like, you can add some finely chopped raw onion on top
  12. Add the finely chopped capsicum onto it
  13. Add a few sliced mushrooms on top of it
  14. Top the pizza off with lot cheese
Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees Centigrade and bake the pizza for about 6 mins.

Voila... after 6 - 7 mins, you have some delicious home made pizza!!

You can cut the Veg Kebab and also put it on top of the pizza as a topping, like I did.

Sorry no pictures this time... was too hungry.. made it & shared it with mom. :)

About

A software professional & an amateur wildlife photographer