GO GREEN

Looking back i realise that i am one person who is not very passionate...more so in the context of being a student of JNU and the kind of politically charged campus it is, i find myself disengaged from all sort of political activities. I have never gone for rallies, nor general body meetings.. I have not been a part of any politically coloured activities even though i study in a centre where politics is everybody's second name!!!! Initially i kept out of all political activities when i was a fresher in the campus despite my peer's attempt to convert me to their colour ( there are several colours in JNU.. Red is the dominating one followed by the saffron and the tricolour, of late so many parties have sprung up which bears no colour too) ..My initial resistance was one way of keeping myself clear of any affiliations so that i can still remain independent and free to think on my own lines and support issues that i feel from heart. I did not like the idea of going to rallies, screaming at the top of our lungs and still have an iota of discontent against the party opinion. Since i am not an atheist red did not suit me, no other options were attractive enough. So i let it all be just there.

But there is one issue that my heart takes very seriously....the Environment.. I am not with green peace either. I see green peace posters once a while these days in the campus..(thats a welcome development, after all it took all a green supporter these years to reach out to JNU)
How my blood boils to see practices that can be easily avoided to save earth!
One basic thing is Plastics.. of course one welcome development in the campus is that plastic is banned. we are supposed to use only paper covers not plastic. However, my shopkeepers do ignore the rule at times. Despite the flouting, it is still welcome. many of us do carry cloth bags.. In fact as a kid i remember carrying a cloth bag when ever we went to market. Only the last ten years have been unkind in terms of excessive plastic. Even if i buy Rs 2 worth peanuts, the shop keeper will give it to me in a plastic bag. We are using plastic bags for no apparent reason.
We should refrain from using too many bags and that should be an action of collective conscience. I take pains to explain people.. my own friends and family that plastic bags can be avoided and should be avoided, they laugh. No one seems to under stand the gravity of the problem. At times i wonder how even educated individuals can just ignore serious issues like these.

My second discontent is against the glass and steel buildings. In India more so in south India, the weather is so beautiful through out the year. Even in north, though summers are hot, the weather is not treacherous like in Europe and north America. We still can manage with out air conditioning systems. In winters except for a few weeks in late December and early jan, its mild and plesent. Despite this, i wonder why architects in India are so fond of aping the west blindly and are constructing steel and glass buildings!! Not only are these glass and steel buildings energy inefficient, they need artificial environment, artificial lighting, artificial temperature control when simple steps like opening the window can do it. Look at the buildings in JNU, we never find it extremely hot in class rooms, not even at the heights of Delhi summers when the mercury sores to well above 40 degree C. Why do we do it when we dont need it? Why do we need air conditioners when the out side temperature is between 25-30 degree C. Is it not stupidity? This is the case even in cities like Bangalore where air conditioners are absolutely conspicuous consumption. There is no reason under sun that glass and steel buildings with artificial atmosphere should be built in Bangalore. After all it is called the air conditioned city (may not be now given the traffic) I remember on the the TERI buildings in Bangalore were build on the principle of eco-friendly. They also made it low cost and low maintenance cost. Cant all corporates follow a similar principle? They would be doing a lot to save earth in that case.
Hope we all wake up as soon as possible.