Earth Hour, Do Indians Need Such an Hour?

So the Earth Hour came and passed by, making very little difference to me as I went through the grind of having to adjust with unscheduled power cuts in a city like Bangalore.

It was a week before the scheduled ‘voluntary’ power shutdown for an hour that I noticed how big the event was made out to be. Billboards sprung up at strategic points asking citizens to do their part in saving the Earth. I even saw Aamir Khan (my favourite actor) encouraging me through the leafs of newspaper to do my bit. But when the moment came (on 29th March, at 8.30 pm) I was praying hard that the power supply company BESCOM doesn’t 'enforce' Earth Hour by cutting off the power, and play a spoil sport for our dinner party.

Sorry Aamir Khan, I didn’t join you in your mission, sorry Australians and Parisians, I did not join you from my country for that one hour. But hey don’t forget the ‘sacrifice’ we are made to give during the innumerable hours every week due to unscheduled power cuts.

We experience Earth Hour almost everyday between 8am to 9.30am and then again at 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Do they enjoy such an Earth Hour in Australia, France, Chicago or Bangkok? How many of the children there have to study for their exams in candle lights every night? How many women in those nations go through childbirth in darkness? How many hospitals in these countries turn down patients due to non-availability of power or a generator?

The way I see it Earth Hour is just another glamorous way of ‘making a difference’. Yea, yea, it gives the progressive society stalwarts the satisfaction of saying "See I care for the world" but it is merely a drop in the ocean. Earth Hour is a concept for the Developed Nations, please spare the developing nations such as India.

Who is to answer for the amount of electricity already spent for making the billboards? What about the power and money spent behind the huge baloon floaters used to advertise Earth Hour? What about the live telecast hours and money spent in talking about Earth Hour? Who knows what statistics that may run into. I only wish the means of creating awareness about such an event should have been simpler and devoid of extravagant spending. After all Save Energy, Save planet, that's the idea right?

And why restrict the act of saving the Earth to just one hour out of 8760 hours in a year, when we can do our bit every day?

So here’s what you can do if you missed the Earth Hour by a candle.

• Switch off the geyser in your bathroom after 10-15 min. trust me the water will remain hot for a long time.
• Replace all your old incandescent (yellow illumination) bulbs with CFL and LED lights, these bulbs are four times and 10 times more efficient respectively.
• When TV is off, switch off the mains as well, this will help you save 20% of your monthly bill.
• Wipe off your hands with a tissue instead of using a hand dryer.
• Switch off your PC monitor when you leave your desk for more than 5 minutes. A monitor consumes 30% of your monthly bill.
• Go for a candle-light dinner once a week.
• If you own a restaurant try using LED lighting instead of fancy spotlights. They look more charming and save more power.
• Protest against the numerous billboards that your city keeps adding which are multiplying the usage of floodlighting required to light them up.

Ok I admit that I am guilty of not following at least 30% of the points above, but I am willing to go the extra mile beyond Earth Hour to make a difference. I do hope that others who joined Earth Hour also keep the momentum going beyond the 29th of March.
No more quick-fix solutions, climate change needs more practical actions.

Women’s Day, So what?

The fervour with which all daily newspapers remind us of Women’s Day is approaching and the festive look that the malls don around 8th of March every year, really must mean something BIG and IMPORTANT is about to happen. Right?

WRONG.

I don’t see what is the significance of the day, when we are continually involved in the daily rigmarole of trying to ‘prove’ ourselves equal or better than Men, or trying to thwart the attempts of the so called Moral Police Brigade that is thrusting us back indoors?

Just last month, the outrageous incident of women being beaten up in a Mangalore pub made headlines. And on 8th March, I saw no posters, Ads or women lib events (in Bangalore) referring to that shameful incident. I scanned the papers to look for any action taken as promised by the authorities to book the guilty. I was disappointed. None made headlines, or at least I didn’t come across any significant news about the same.

So what is the whole celebration about? Whats the big deal? The ‘capitalization’ of Women’s Day seems to be the only working ‘winning’ strategy to boost the morale of the Indian women.

According to the newspapers, it is the time when women investors ought to be wooed by financial institutions (quoting Hillary Clinton). Lusty ads of women specific discounts spanned the newspapers. From watches to jewellery, from furniture to electronics goods, from fine dining to holiday packages – they were all aimed at making my Women’s Day worthwhile.

One encouraging ad I saw was about health care packages that promoted awareness about cervical cancer and a discounted checkup in that regard.

So, as most women, I too went shopping on 8th March, responding to the several discount offers and made the most of it. But I knew I don’t have to wait for Women’s Day to get that heavy discount, since most commercial establishments put up such sale all the time.

So what is it that Women’s Day should give me that I don’t get any other day of the year?
Should it not give me a firm reassurance that my freedom is not curtailed by any organized hooligans? Should it not give me a firm belief that my work place will be more open minded about having a woman boss? Should the day not make me feel happy that I am a woman and so I am special?

Frankly 8th March gives me nothing of that sort; instead I just have some heavy shopping bags, aching feet, and a very light wallet at the end of the day.

A very temporary day I must say.

Should I join others in a protest rally to 'feel' or 'celebrate' womanhood? Do I do enough to make Women's Day worthwhile for others, instead of choosing to go shopping? I ask myself this knowing very well that the common attitude is to take a backseat.

Leave it to the college students and Women Lib organisations to take up the cause of sisterhood -- this has been the common plan of action for most women including myself. Is that wrong? I guess not.

I don't have to pick up a stake to drive it into the hearts of 'moral brigade' men to celebrate Women's Day. I don't have to look into the eyes of a Muthalik and scream abuses at him to bring justice for my sisterhood. I don't need to add yet another pink chaddi to the existing mountain of pink panties. I also don't need to respond to the many sale ads to celebrate.

But I could do two things to show solidarity with my kind - sms each of the women in my address book and wish them on the day (if nothing else, it shows them I care), and to pen a blog (which you are reading now). These two things give me only a satisfaction that the Day has been observed by me and to say what I have to say about it - "Women's Day, so what?"