Saturday, April 25, 2009

We all are responsible!!!

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Recently two days back “World Earth Day” was celebrated. On a large scale, activities were conducted in various corporate offices, govt sector and colleges. I believe it is good way to boost ourselves to pledge to protect environment. But, there is a question which bothers me again and again “who will take the responsibility of maintaining the environment once you are done with the day?". Who will take out the time and water the plants once they are planted on a specific day. Do bureaucrats who plant the trees and get there photos clicked go and water them, protect from stray cattles and other climate changes?

I agree it is not one person job to commit for environmental protection but, how many of us really think with respect of environment than as per our convenience. How many of us appreciate car pooling, riding a cycle or walking if the work place is closer, regularly check our vehicles, get the leaking taps fix, save water during our regular activities and ask our maids to save the environment. Most of the people do save the water and other things when they are short of it. If a day water supply is limited then every one tend to save every drop of water but rest of days it is used as per their convenience.

Other major area is teaching the maids and uneducated people to understand the importance of the environmental protection. Daily I tell my maids to close taps when not required but it seems they are deaf. Switching off the fans and lights are big jobs for which they need extra money. On road the maximum pollution is created by the auto, cabs and old state vehicles. But, surprising they all have pollution certificate.

It is said that one person can make a difference but I believe this is such a big problem that one person can’t do much. We all have to share our responsibility and then we can make a difference.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Marching towards the Conceptual Age...

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This is my first post on CSIM Vision. I am happy to get a new platform to share my ideas about the world.

I am a huge supporter of social media like blogging, social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter. It helps me connect and reach more people. I have made so many friends from these platforms which has helped me broaden my vision.

I start off my first flight on CSIM Vision with a "thought".

Human beings as a species has come a long way. We were initially cave people, hunter-gatherers, nomads, took up cultivation and agriculture, cattle rearing, settlements, tools making etc. All this gradually led to the "Industrial revolution". The Industrial revolution phase was transformed into the "Information Age" thanks to internet, books, printing etc.

Are we still in the "Information Age"? This is a serious question.

Daniel Pink the author of the brilliant book "A Whole New Mind" gives a very good answer.

We are slowly moving onto a "Conceptual Age".

Dan says in his book:

We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computerlike capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what's rising in its place, the Conceptual Age

The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers


We have lot of information on hand. Infact, more information than all of us can handle. The world we are moving into will depend on "how we make use of this information"

The growing awareness of "Social Entrepreneurship" combining the ideas of leadership, innovation, social change, business etc makes me believe that we as the "human race" are taking our first steps towards this new Conceptual Age.

What qualities or tools to use to succeed in this Conceptual Age? Do share your views. Probably we need a "Whole New Mind"

We will explore more about this in my next post.

Environment: Mandates and processes need of the hour!

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I have come across enthusiastic appeals to contribute towards saving the environment by modifying the way I go about my everyday life.

For example, I find it very difficult to avoid using plastics. I buy juice in a carton as against a plastic bottle, only to find that even the cartons use plastic linings to make it waterproof. After little research I come to understand that there is no alternative water-proofing solution to plastics that is affordable to common man. Similarly, I am piling up dozens of used batteries simply because I am yet to find an environmentally safe way of disposing them, even after actively searching for a recycling plant or safe-disposal facility close to Hyderabad . The same predicament applies to anything that can be connected to electricity from cellphone chargers to television sets.

On the other hand even when solutions are available for an environmental problem common man is not effectively sensitized. Consider the case of disposing kitchen wastes. Composting them to manure and using them as manure for plants is a tried and tested solution. However, the process of composting or the fact that such small compost bins are available at affordable prices are known only the to environmentally conscious.

So, good intentions of appeals to be environmental consciousness not withstanding, a tangible impact can be achieved only if proven alternatives are easily available for common man use supplemented by processes and mandates for sensitizing him on the issue.