Monday, April 20, 2009

A Day to Celebrate Earth

Earth Day is the largest, most widely celebrated international environmental event. Earth Day helps celebrate Earth’s unique place in the universe. It is the only planet in our solar system teeming with incredible biodiversity. Learning about and protecting this biodiversity is what Earth Day is all about. People all over the world celebrate our efforts to protect plants aAdd Imagend animals and to clean up the world we live in. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd each year. Why Celebrate Earth Day? Earth Day reminds us we all share the same planet. Sharing Earth means taking responsibility for what we use and how we use it. It is a day to think of the environmental challenges we face and how to solve them. Protecting Earth is every person’s and every country’s responsibility. Top 10 Ways To Celebrate Earth Day Earth Day is a time to celebrate the gains we have made in protecting the environment, but also a time to reflect and ask, "How can we do more?".
1. Educate Yourself. 2. Create Awareness. 3. Adopt Recycling. 4. Vote for politicians who share the same Green values as you. 5. Drive less by walking, cycling, using public transportation and car pooling. 6. Use Fuel Efficient Vehicles. 7. Use Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs). 8. Reduce your energy consumption 9. Turn Them Off lights, computers, TVs and other appliances when not using them. 10. Water Conservation.
Help the environment and help yourself through the actions mentioned above.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Circus, Then & Now

All eyes are glued to the main stage, as tightrope walkers, fire jugglers, trapeze artistes and clowns take turns to alternately amuse, beguile and amaze us, occasionally take our breath away too. A girl in a glittering bodysuit perched on an elephant's trunk enters to an enthusiastic applause. She proceeds to do a trapeze act, holding on to a ring hanging from its trunk, while the elephant, height increased by perching on a precarious platform, rotates counter clockwise. Seems like hard work, especially for the elephant, but it's all in a day's routine. Thunderous claps follow as the glittering lights are turned off and on to present the grand stage of the Circus feats created with high standards of performance and presentation. Despite a drop in patronage, circus still remains vibrant and continues to allure elders and children alike. I could see this when I went to enjoy the "New Golden Circus" one among the three circuses currently touring in Kukatpally & Attapur areas in Hyderabad.
In earlier days, circus used to evince a lot of interest among the public. People thronged the venue to have a glimpse of trained animals they might have heard or seen on papers. But after the Government's blanket ban on using wild animals in circus [Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Wildlife Protection Act, and Performing Animals (Registration) Rules] the turn out of spectators has come down considerably. But with the ban that was put in place years ago on the exhibition of wild animals, the aura associated with circus has faded away . Animals were the backbone of the circus. In the absence of the tigers and lions, it's the elephant, horses, dogs and birds that are performing mesmerizing acts to entertain the audience.
The two-and- half-hour show is packed with 26 items when 50-odd artistes put the show together to entertain their patrons, performing such daredevil acrobatics, balancing and coordinated acts, it leaves us all wide-eyed and in awe. As an ardent admirer right from my childhood, I have so far witnessed more than 25 Circus shows. I must say Circus is the first and may be the last real show business that has the ability to put people on the edge of the seat, with its awe-inspiring daredevil feats.No matter what kind of new forms of entertainment come and go, circus still remains vibrant and continues to allure elders and children alike, though at a lesser level of patronage now than before.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Year In Different Parts Of India & World

I have been searching to know about Tamil & Malayalam New Year Day [14 April] and then Greet my friends. I came across a website http://www.newyearfestival.com Different regions in India follow different cultures and so the New Year traditions also vary. Every Indian state has its own history behind the New Year celebrations. People in various parts of the country celebrate New Year as per their traditional calender. One can see vibrant colors and distinctive features of these celebrations. This website portrays New Year Resolutions, New Year Calendar, New Year by Religions. This web portal also has a section to provide New Year Special, New Year Messages, New Year Wishes, New Year SMS, New Year Recipes, New Year Quotes, New Year Poems, New Year Songs, New Year Prayers, New Year Symbols, New Year Parades etc.,
One more specialty is "New Year Around the World" with interesting details as to how & why various countries around the world celebrate their New Year's Day in different times of the year.
The Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India (SCFI), Nioda, India team must be commended for this excellent idea and maintenance of this site to place every thing about New Year. It is worth visiting http://www.newyearfestival.com

Sunday, April 5, 2009

5K Walk To Vote


The forthcoming polling day is not a holiday to enjoy. Go out and cast your vote as a responsible citizen for the betterment of life around you. This has been the message given by hundreds of volunteers, business leaders, professionals and scores of citizens from other walks of life including students, youth, and senior citizens of twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad who marched through Peoples' Plaza on Necklace Road [TankBund] in Hyderabad holding placards and balloons calling upon citizens to use their right to franchise. This 5 km walk was organized by “Let’s Vote” - a non profit organization that promotes societal development and positive nation building through sensitizing everyone to cast their vote. Mahatma Gandhi said: "Voting is not just your right, it is your duty". All of us also know “Vote” is a promise, a vow and a commitment to act as responsible citizens for the betterment of life around us. Voting is an important act of citizenship. ‘Let’s Vote’ is a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about this commitment. To spread the awareness about this vital national duty of every citizen who is eligible to vote, the “Let's Vote” campaign aims to reach out to the citizens of the society and bring about a paradigm shift in their attitude towards voting.
At around 9-30 am I met my friend Rtn Prabhakar & his band of colleagues at a breakfast meeting who participated in this Let's Vote walk. They clarified that the campaign had nothing to do with any political party and only aimed at creating awareness on the need to exercise franchise, motivate them to take active part in the voting process for the betterment of life around us. Mr. Trikiran & Mr. Anil who were in campaign T shirt sporting with a badge and a pledge card in hand shared their experiences and later sent me photos [one snap included in this blog]. Though I could not attend this walk, I browsed the Let's Vote website and its features. What impressed me is that the Let's Vote campaign includes online pledge which I have also taken at http://www.letsvote.in
The campaign with this walk would have certainly set a goal to increase the voters and raised awareness among citizens to motivate them to be an active part of the voting process. Let’s spread this message, Let's Vote! Let’s walk towards a better future!