Saturday, January 23, 2010

Make Conservation a Habit

Give us some sunshine,

Give us some rain,

Give us some FOSSIL FUEL,

We wanna grow up once again!!!

You all must be thinking….Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman never sang this or none of the guys of Imperial college uttered this word in their rhyme!

Yes you all are very correct….it’s me who thought of fitting this term fossil fuel in between and ….see…. it really doesn’t change the rhyme nor the meaning….:) Well a day might come when we really will sing this rhyme not for fun but out of necessity.

Many many years say about 300 million years ago some Miss Plankton and Mr Zooplankton (ancient ocean dwellers) died and decomposed. They accumulated on the bottom of a seabed. This was the beginning of the deposition of fossil fuel reserves. And the “tadka “ of pressure, heat and a great deal of time (seasoning) converted them into non renewable sources of energy- FOSSIL FUEL.

An oil reservoir is not some vast underground lake but rather a seemingly solid layer of rock that is porous. Such reservoirs are found everywhere on the planet except for the continent Antartica!

Over 85% of our energy demands are met by the combustion of fossil fuels.

What is the scenario in India? India has approximately 1% world’s energy. It is said that our energy resources may last only for another 40 yrs….. (Oh my god…I should hurry before everything exhausts. I must buy as many as luxurious cars for myself and enjoy life!!...To hell with conservation I want to be happy!!!)

It has been very well stated by Mahatma Gandhi….The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed!!

Very true there is no end to our greed. There are many such people who don’t mind showing off their status by buying expensive cars one after the other. They are very proud of the fact that each of the family members owns a personal car. In some families… (I hope it’s not an exaggeration)…. Cars are assigned from Monday to Sunday! It’s been almost 7 years of my stay in Pune. The numbers of vehicles have exponentially raised and trust me it’s a fight a struggle driving on the roads here. I doubt if anyone really enjoys driving here. But again who cares, I can always cover my face and just leave some space for my eyes to get the sight of the road (this is what all follow). Pollution, traffic jams and many other social issues are to be only read but not absorbed.

Whenever at signal Kamendra and I observe many proud car owners honking as though they are the busiest personalities in the city and a single second delay is gonna cause them the greatest loss. A very common thing observed is….there is a single person driving Innova, Corolla, Skoda, Indigo, Honda City and a considerable number of small versions from Maruti, Tata too are included. How can these well to do, rich, sophisticated elements of the society be so negligent, dumb and mean? Not only they commit a crime of creating chaos but also they never put off their cars at signals even if it’s as long as for 1.5 minutes. Well this is applicable for the two wheelers too…kindly put off the vehicles at signals. You save fuel as well as minimize the pollution. Never think that how a single person can make a difference but you can always influence others.

We can always club with our friends and colleagues while going to a common destination point.

Imagine your savings if your LPG cylinder comes for an extra week or there is a cut in your electricity bills.

When we save one unit of energy, it is equivalent to 2 units of energy produced.

Never leave your room without putting off the lights.

Turn off the electric appliances, instruments if not in use.

If travelling alone in a car make it a point to help someone on your way back.

Take your car only when essential….why not use a 2 wheeler…trust me its more convenient as it doesn’t need a large area for parking, you can slide out from anywhere in a heavy traffic jam!

These things need a serious thought. Remember “the earth, water and the air are not a gift to us from our parents but a loan from our children”.

Hell….that’s not my call shouldn’t be our attitude!

I can clearly visualize that day when the world will be full of angry young Mr. Vijay with all the comforts…fabulous mansions but no electricity, a charter but no fuel and yes a desi mother too but no LPG to cook for her! There will be the fresh breeds of the Khans, the Chopra’s, the Khanna’s and god knows who all with their delicate darlings and a Mr. Rehman with uncountable Oscar’s with a hit composition to be shot on the train like our dear SRK and sexy Mallaika Arora-Khan did a Chaiyyan-Chaiyyan….on the same train but no fuel to run the train!

Gosh…it sounds terrible…..it’s never too late…..make conservation a habit!